Week in Review 2014 - 04/25

Ariana's Building Blocks64" H x 49" W

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

It's spring in Appleton, WI, my home town. The birds are sporting their brightest plumage of the year, pairing up and building nests. My husband and I relish this time of year as everything comes to life. We take advantage of the ice free ground and warmer weather to walk the neighborhood, noticing the changes and chatting about this and that. This morning the dominant topic was financial planning for our retirement, still nearly a decade away. What we didn't include in this discussion, but something that I think about is what, oh what to do with all the quilts I have made over the years. True, some like Ariana's Building Blocks have been given to friends and family. A few quilts have been commissioned or sold. However, after making 5 - 6 quilts every year for over 25 years I have more quilts than even the Princess and the Pea could sleep on. My children have not expressed an interest in my work. Who knows about my grandchildren, but I assume they won't my quilts either. I could use some help. What plans have you made for quilts? Any recommendations?

Hip, hip hooray! Ariana's quilt is done. I will send it to her next week. That is one quilt I won't have to worry about  when it is time to downsize. It did dominate my time this week as you can see.

1) Ariana's Building Blocks previously known as Tumbling Blocks I 

a) block and square up the quilt - Done!
b make the binding - Done!
c) attach the binding - Done!
d) make the sleeve - Done!
e) attach the sleeve - Done!

2) Leah Day projects.

Blazing Spiral
A free motion quilting motif by Leah Day

a) Baste the face, torso and arms to Express Your Love II. - On hold until the quilts with deadlines are completed.

b) Do Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting lesson. - Done!

I tried my hand at Leah Day's Blazing Spiral. I found this pretty tricky despite the fact that I am normally comfortable with spiraling in and out of shape. This would be a great motif for tree bark or reptile skin. 

Life Book 2014 Lesson 17
Taught by Tascha Parkinson

3) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments.

It was a wise decision to tackle the mixed media lessons in Life Book 2014 this year. Each assignment gives me a chance to explore design principles from repetition to scale. I am also enjoying learning different ways to systematically approach drawing people and animals. This lesson was taught by Tascha Parkinson. Her work features girls with apple kissed cheeks. The lesson gave me another opportunity to incorporate text in my artwork.

4) Little Lake Butte des Morts in Fall (Due August 3) - a commissioned quilt - On hold until quilts with earlier deadlines are completed. 

Start piecing the quilt.

5) Tickling the Ivories - make and attach the label.

Now that Ariana's quilt is done it is time to move on to other projects. Here are some of my ideas for next week:

1) Little Lake Butte des Morts in Fall (Due August 3) 

a) Create the blue print for this quilt
b) Start the piecing 

2) Wild Apple 12" x 12" Opportunity - (Due August 15)

a) Determine if any of my free motion quilting samplers could be repurposed to suit
b) Create several 12" x 12" or smaller works for the exhibition

3) Leah Day projects.

a) Baste the face, torso and arms to Express Your Love II. - On hold until the quilts with deadlines are completed.

b) Do Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting lesson.

4) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments.

5) Tickling the Ivories - make and attach the label.


I am now linking up to two blogs on Friday's. The first is Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting Project and the second is Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays.

Weekly Report 2014 - Week 04/11

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

Front Side of Tumbling Blocks after
the inner panel has been quilted.
Most browsers will provide you with an
enlarged image if you click on an
image in the blog.

I had forgotten just how heavy, or should I say HEAVY an intricately pieced quilt can be when I am trying to manipulate it under the needle for free motion quilting. At first I thought the heft was due to the fact that I opted to baste the quilt with safety pins instead of hand baste it with thread. However, even after 75% of the pins have been removed it feels just as heavy. True it is larger than I normally work, approximately 70" H x 50" W before it is trimmed. My suspicion is that the weight is due to all those seams, so that instead of two layers of fabric and batting I am really dealing with three layers of fabric.

My tip for working with such a heavy piece - yoga. No other exercise routine I have done over the years has done a better job of aligning my back, keeping metacarpal tunnel syndrome at bay and building my upper body strength. On a previous blog I stated if you only want to learn one yoga posture than chose Mountain Pose. That is great for releasing kinks and bringing down stress levels. If you want to get the benefits I mentioned earlier, then add Downward Facing Dog and a reverse wrist stretch to your repertoire.

This is the back side of Tumbling Blocks. It
is much easier to see the progress I made
with quilting from this perspective.

Despite a week with a few extra commitments I managed to make good progress with my number one quilting project. Of course it didn't hurt that the quilting motif that made the most sense for the majority of the piece was a mid-sized stippling.

1)  Tumbling Blocks I (Due April 30) 

a) finish quilting the inner section - Done!

Ultimately I opted to quilt on the black and white blocks with a mid-sized stippling. There is so much happening visually with this quilt that anything fancier would just get lost. I didn't quilt the colored blocks in order to give them just a bit more sculptural relief. 

b) finish quilting the border - Started

Close up of the stippling from the back side. 

c) block and square up the quilt - Not yet
d) make the binding - Not yet
e) attach the binding - Not yet
f) make the sleeve - Not yet
g) attach the sleeve - Not yet

I just couldn't resist doing something other
than stippling in the outer border. I purposefully
opted for a blending versus contrasting thread
on the front side so that the eye wouldn't
be distracted from the bold, overarching
pattern of the pieced quilt.

2) Leah Day projects.

a) Baste the face, torso and arms to 





Express Your Love II. - On hold until the quilts with deadlines are completed.

b) Do Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting lesson. - There was no lesson this week






3) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments. - Done!

Tam Laporte taught this lesson on creating a Quirky Animals totem.

4) Little Lake Butte des Morts in Fall (Due August 3) - a commissioned quilt - On hold until quilts with earlier deadlines are completed. 

Start piecing the quilt.

5) Tickling the Ivories - make and attach the label.

It is down to the wire for finishing Tumbling Blocks. The big question is what will happen first. Will I finish the quilt or will my grandchild be born? You will know the answer to this either next week or the week after that. Obviously I will be focusing on finishing up Tumbling Blocks next week with brief dips into other projects for balance.

1)  Tumbling Blocks I (Due April 30) 

a) finish quilting the border
b) block and square up the quilt
c) make the binding
d) attach the binding
e) make the sleeve
f) attach the sleeve

2) Leah Day projects.

a) Baste the face, torso and arms to Express Your Love II. - On hold until the quilts with deadlines are completed.

b) Do Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting lesson.

3) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments.

4) Little Lake Butte des Morts in Fall (Due August 3) - a commissioned quilt - On hold until quilts with earlier deadlines are completed. 

Start piecing the quilt.

5) Tickling the Ivories - make and attach the label.


I am now linking up to two blogs on Friday's. The first is Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting Project and the second is Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays.

Week in Review 2014 - 04/04

Sample quilted with gray variegated thread.

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

Often, when I meet someone new they ask me what I do. The conversation follows a predictable path that frequently leads to my new acquaintance stating that "I would love to do that, but I just don't have the patience." Do I have more patience than she? Am I more patient than most people? Certainly I can't answer that question. I tend to look at this premise differently. What I have learned about myself and come to accept, grudgingly about myself, is that I am tortoise. I am a slow, methodical person. When I accept this and don't rush, I do better. When I go against my

Sample quilted with jewel toned variegated thread

nature and push to go harder, faster or longer than I am comfortable with - disaster! In fact the longer I am in the business of making art quilts the more I slow down, at least in some aspects of the creation process. I spend far more time these days auditioning fabric choices, designs, quilting motifs and even techniques before I settle in on one or another. For example with Tumbling Blocks I did a fair amount of auditioning the border before I selected the one with the stained glass feel and corner blocks. I also tried out two very different thread possibilities for quilting the black and white blocks. I ended up selecting the gray variegated thread versus the jewel toned variegated thread.

Last week I was wondering whether I could settle down and concentrate this week. I did. As you will see I did 100% of the first item on my list plus a bit more. Yeah!

1)  Tumbling Blocks I (Due April 30) 

Tumbling Blocks, pieced but not quilted.

a) Finishing piecing the top - Done!
b) Piece the backing - Done!
c) Baste the quilt for quilting - Done!
d) begin quilting - Done!

One of the advantages of testing techniques and other aspects of putting together the current project is that I have practice scraps to do further testing. When I first started piecing the hexagons I did a test strip first. When I needed to test the quilting motif I simply pieced that strip with some black fabric. This way I had something to hold on to and I now have the beginnings of my next sampler to practice my Leah Day free motion quilting motifs.



2) Leah Day projects.

a) Baste the face, torso and arms to Express Your Love II. - On hold until the quilts with deadlines are completed.

b) Do Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting lesson. - Done!

Isn't this a fun quilting motif? Leah Day has given it the title, Alien Eggs. Honestly it reminds me of spermatozoa. ;) It could make for subtle commentary on the right quilt.

Leah Day suggests that this motif, Alien Eggs would make
a great sashing motif.

My take on Dyan Reaveley's lesson.

3) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments.

Our teacher for Life Book this week was Dyan Reaveley. It was listed as a bonus lesson versus one of the more intense featured lessons. All I can say is that Dyan packed quite a bit in for a bonus lesson. One thing I struggle with is how to incorporate lettering/text in my art work. Dyan has a simple solution to this. She had us write out a full page of stream of conscientiousness text on separate page. Next we drew the outline of our shapes, such as tree trunks and flowers on top of the text. These shapes are painted with watered down permanent ink. Finally the shapes are cut out leaving approximately 1/16 of an inch extra. Very effective, don't you think?




4) Little Lake Butte des Morts in Fall (Due August 3) - a commissioned quilt - On hold until quilts with earlier deadlines are completed. 

Start piecing the quilt.

5) Tickling the Ivories - make and attach the label.

Not a bad week. I have a few commitments next week, but hopefully I won't loose my momentum. Here are my plans for next week and beyond:

1)  Tumbling Blocks I (Due April 30) 

a) finish quilting the inner section
b) finish quilting the border
c) block and square up the quilt
d) make the binding
e) attach the binding
f) make the sleeve
g) attach the sleeve

2) Leah Day projects.

a) Baste the face, torso and arms to Express Your Love II. - On hold until the quilts with deadlines are completed.

b) Do Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting lesson.

3) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments.

4) Little Lake Butte des Morts in Fall (Due August 3) - a commissioned quilt - On hold until quilts with earlier deadlines are completed. 

Start piecing the quilt.

5) Tickling the Ivories - make and attach the label.


I am now linking up to two blogs on Friday's. The first is Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting Project and the second is Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays.

Weekly Report 2014 - 03/28

Detail near the center of Tumbling Blocks

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

This week I have been suffering from a severe case of monkey mind. If you aren't a yoga practitioner or don't spend time meditating daily, monkey mind is probably a new term for you. Basically, it means your thoughts are zipping from one idea to the next. The thoughts can be wishful, full of anxiety and cycle through a continuous non productive loop, much the way monkeys swing from branch to branch. When I can't settle my mind, I find it difficult to settle into my work. Fortunately my monkey mind did slow down periodically, so that by the end of the week I had made some progress. Here is how this week went:

Tumbling Blocks at week's end.

 1) Finish piecing Tumbling Blocks I (Due April 30) 

I almost finished piecing Tumbling Blocks, but not quite as you can see from its picture  on my design wall. I got hung up on design decisions. I knew I wanted color fabric between two strips of black for the border. The sticking point came with how intensely to piece the colored fabric and how wide each of the border strips should be. I settled on a progressive 1" of black, 2" of colored and 3" of black. Rather than miter the corners I thought I would replicate the three stacking blocks from the inner panel for the four corners. I began laying that theory out on my design wall - DISASTER! The three blocks stack to 4" and the 1" black strip plus 2" color strip cut the stacked blocks in half. Instead, as you can see from the picture, I went with a 1" black strip, then 4" color strip, followed by a 1" black strip. "But wait," you ask, "why is that outer black strip clearly wider than 1"?" That is because for once I remembered to make the outer border several inches wider than needed for ease of machine quilting. 

Appliquéd corner motif

2) Leah Day projects.

a) Baste the face, torso and arms to Express Your Love II. - On hold until the quilts with deadlines are completed.

b) Do Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting lesson. - 

There was no free motion quilting motif to practice on this week. However, appliquéing the stacking blocks was done in a method I learned from Leah. Remember all that English paper piecing of hexagons that I did several months ago? I did a mix of machine piecing the blocks  and then basting the resulting motif over the perimeter of a paper form cut from hexagon graph paper  I gave it a heavy dose of spray starch and pressing before removing the paper. Don't those edges, inside corners and points look nice and crisp? 

3) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments. - Done!

Life Book 2014 project

This week's lesson was taught by Lesley Riley. Her focus is on transferring images to fabric and paper. She has had a product developed that she refers to as TAP, Transfer Artist Paper. I didn't have any, but I do keep EQ Printables: Premium Cotton Satin 283 count fabric sheets on hand. So, that is what I used to print the picture of my granddaughter, Mikayla, for this week's project.  I feel I am getting the mixed media bug, because I actually felt let down that the assignment required such a simple background. I just used a stencil to apply gesso roses and then painted with diluted spray ink.

4) Little Lake Butte des Morts in Fall (Due August 3) - a commissioned quilt - On hold until quilts with earlier deadlines are completed. 

Start piecing the quilt.

5) Tickling the Ivories - make and attach the label. - Not yet, but there is no rush.



Will I have monkey mind again next week? There is a good chance. What set it off is that one of my two half sisters (the back story can be found here if you missed it ) got in contact with me. We have a date to chat by phone on Sunday. What should I ask? What shouldn't I ask? What will she ask? What should I answer? It is a bit like working out the border of a quilt. In truth, many options work, it is just so tempting to go for the best and always believe that there is something even better out there that remains elusive. The big decision for next week is how to quilt Tumbling Blocks. I am currently leaning towards stippling, perhaps with Xs and Os scattered through out, since the quilt is for my grandchild.

1)  Tumbling Blocks I (Due April 30) 

a) Finishing piecing the top
b) Piece the backing
c) Baste the quilt for quilting
d) begin quilting

2) Leah Day projects.

a) Baste the face, torso and arms to Express Your Love II. - On hold until the quilts with deadlines are completed.

b) Do Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting lesson.

3) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments.

4) Little Lake Butte des Morts in Fall (Due August 3) - a commissioned quilt - On hold until quilts with earlier deadlines are completed. 

Start piecing the quilt.

5) Tickling the Ivories - make and attach the label.


I am now linking up to two blogs on Friday's. The first is Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting Project and the second is Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays.

Weekly Report 2014 - 03/21

Detail of the backside of Tumbling Blocks

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

I have been piecing Tumbling Blocks this week. Each block (cube, hexagon) finishes at 2 3/8" and is made up of two diamonds and two triangles. In other words there are lots of tiny pieces and the back of the top is nearly obscured by the seams that I have pressed open. Usually I use my Rowenta iron to open seams and press the back side flat. However, it just won't do with so many overlapping and nearby seams. It is so easy to shift a seam in the wrong direction, creating unwanted lumps in the quilt top. Instead I am opening the seams on the back with my Clover Iron and then flipping the top over and flattening the seam again, but with my Rowenta. If only I had thought of this method years ago.

The Tumbling Block
quilt after Tuesday's
piecing session

With my ironing method resolved I could get to work in the studio. This is what I did:

1) Continue piecing Tumbling Blocks I (Due April 30) - Done

I am getting a good rhythm down now that I am a 2/3 of the way through piecing Tumbling Blocks. All the time piecing gives me time to think about how I am going to quilt it and if I should add borders. 

2) Leah Day projects.

Jagged Flames is done in turquoise.

a) Baste the face, torso and arms to Express Your Love II. - On hold until the quilts with deadlines are completed.

b) Do Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting lesson. - Done

This week's motif was Jagged Flame. It is the section that I quilted in turquoise. I continue to struggle more with straight line quilting than curves. This motif is worth the struggle, though. I like the primitive feel to it.


3) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments. - Done

Family connections made after
viewing Finnabair's lesson.

Our teacher this week is known as Finnabair. Her work is lush, layered and captivating. I highly recommend you drop by her on-line gallery and check it out for yourself. The theme for the month is connections. No surprise I opted to do another piece based on being an adoptee who just found her birthmother and discovered she had two half sisters. The face is my birthmother's face. The three flowers dangling from the ladder like yarn represent me and my two half sisters.


4) Little Lake Butte des Morts in Fall (Due August 3) - a commissioned quilt - On hold until quilts with earlier deadlines are completed. 

Start piecing the quilt.

5) Tickling the Ivories 

a) Make the label - Not yet.

b) Attach the sleeve and label. - The sleeve but not the label is attached.

Next week will look much the same as this week, as I am in the home stretch of piecing Tumbling Blocks. Here are my plans:

1) Finish piecing Tumbling Blocks I (Due April 30) 

2) Leah Day projects.

a) Baste the face, torso and arms to Express Your Love II. - On hold until the quilts with deadlines are completed.

b) Do Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting lesson.

3) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments.

4) Little Lake Butte des Morts in Fall (Due August 3) - a commissioned quilt - On hold until quilts with earlier deadlines are completed. 

Start piecing the quilt.

5) Tickling the Ivories - make and attach the label.


I am now linking up to two blogs on Friday's. The first is Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting Project and the second is Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays.

Week in Review 2014 - 01/31

Gwyned Trefethen posing in front of her piece,
Botswana Bounty.

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

I got my hair cut this week. It is about half the length I was sporting in this relatively recent picture of me in front of Botswana Bounty. I am in the minority. I have never dyed my hair. I think of that choice not obsessively, but frequently. I prefer the contrast of salt and pepper hair to an all over brown or even the auburn I would be tempted to try if I ever did dye my hair. I feel fortunate to make many conscience choices like this and have no regrets. There are so many choices to make when quilting: which quilt to make, what fabric to use, what techniques to use, which tools to use and one of the biggest choices for me, whether to attempt to earn a living as a quilt artist. I really admire those who can support themselves with their art. I am also acutely aware of how much time is spent to achieve this. Also, how much of their income comes not from selling their quilts, but from lecturing, writing books and selling other products. I am comfortable with my wishy washy stance of doing what I love, being grateful when I sell a piece, but not being driven to spend the time to develop my passion into a sustaining career.

One of the advantages of not writing books, touring the country lecturing, selling my wares at quilt festivals or teaching on-line is that I get to spend more time in the studio doing what I love, making art. Here is how I spent last week:

1) Got Jazz - This is an invitational for Fiber Artists Coalition. It has been giving me conniptions. I did do some research into an idea I had based on using my 9 degree wedge ruler. I think it just might work.

a) Select the fabrics - Not yet.
b) Plan out the basics of the quilt - Part way there.
c) Start the quilt - Not yet.

2) Express Your Love II - A Leah Day project.

a) Continue piecing the arms from hexagons. - So close. I will probably finish today!
b) Baste the face, torso and arms to the quilt. - Not yet.

3) Do Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting lesson. - Done!

Leah Day's free motion quilting motif - Kidney Stones

I loved this motif. It was easy to execute and I think, very aesthetically pleasing. 

4) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments.

My take on Marieke Blokland's
mixed media assignment.

Our teacher this week was Marieke Blokland. Her instruction was so good that I was actually able to create highlights and shadows by layering paint on the face and then use what I learned to do a similar layering on the arms. Marieke is known for her exaggerated faces with large luscious lips and fanciful hair. 

5) Tumbling Blocks I - 

a) Finish cutting out the blocks. - Done!

b) Cut out the background pieces. - Done! OK, not really. I decided that I didn't need the challenge of all these extra pieces just so that the tumbling blocks around the perimeter could be seen in their entirety. This is a gift for a nursery, not a quilt I am planning on entering into a show. I opted to cut myself some slack, especially since I have a very tight deadline with a show quilt.

c) Start piecing the quilt. - Done! This is proving to be more time consuming than I thought. Fortunately the pieces are easy to line up and with some judicious pinning most of the points are meeting as they should or close enough so that only someone with their nose to the quilt can see the lack of alignment. 




6) Little Lake Butte des Morts in Fall - a commissioned quilt - 

a) Draft the contract - Not yet.
b) Select the fabric - Partially done.
c) Start piecing the quilt - Not yet.

Next week I must stick to my convictions and remember that the choices are mine and stay confident in the choices I make. Here are the next steps in my current commitments:

1) Got Jazz - Due March 15th

a) Select the fabrics
b) Plan out the basics of the quilt
c) Start the quilt

2) Express Your Love II - A Leah Day project.

a) Finish piecing the arms from hexagons.
b) Baste the face, torso and arms to the quilt.

3) Do Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting lesson.

4) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments.

5) Tumbling Blocks I - Continue piecing the quilt.

6) Little Lake Butte des Morts in Fall - a commissioned quilt

a) Draft the contract
b) Select the fabric
c) Start piecing the quilt


I am now linking up to two blogs on Friday's. The first is Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting Project and the second is Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays.

Weekly Report 2014 - 01/10

Warding off the inner critic

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

If you follow my blog, then you know I signed up to do Life Book 2014, a series of mixed media lessons taught by a slate of talented practitioners of this art form. The classes cover more than mixed media, they are designed to silence the inner critic, to let go of perfectionism and to let one play. Since I have zero formal art training and have only taken one mini drawing class several decades back I am truly a neophyte. I find it both humbling and freeing to be a beginner. I expect a learning curve. I don't expect to create a museum worthy master piece. So, why am I so hard on myself when it comes to making art quilts? Why does every piece have to exceed the previous one? I really don't have an answer. Just an unreasonable belief that if I have done it (doesn't matter what the it is) before than I ought to be able to do it again or even exceed my bench mark the next time round.

1) Take Three - Decide whether the piece is finished or if it needs something else to bring it to life. - I am still deliberating about this piece. My latest thought is I might be able to crop out a portion that I like and scrap the rest.

2) Express Your Love II - A Leah Day project.

a) Start piecing the arms from hexagons. - Done!
b) Baste the face and body to the quilt. - I am waiting to finish the arms before attaching the three assembled hexagon pieces to the quilt.

3) Life Book 2014 - Do this week's assignment. - Done!

This was a fascinating process. It began with a guided meditation via video to find our inner guardian, color and word for the year. I was pretty skeptical, with a caviler what is the worst that can happen attitude, figured I would give it a try. I kept my eyes closed for the full 15 minutes and let Tamara Laporte's words wash over me. I was surprised to find myself staring at single cat's eye in a misty, pulsating wash of rich honey colored atmosphere. My word wasn't quite as clear. However, the ebb and flow and pulsating nature of the atmosphere lead me to the word - undulate. This is the pace of my life, a steady rhythm of energy and relaxation. 

The second part of the lesson was to watch Tam create her personal inner guardian, a charming, sweet girl with long locks and butterfly wings. My inner guardian, by comparison, is more fierce and all knowing. I think of it like the Greek version of the evil eye, where you wear an evil eye to ward off the evil eye. Frankly, I was shocked to see that 99% of the people who posted their mixed media inner guardian angels did some version of Tam's. There were one or two animals, but mine was the biggest departure. 

My inner guardian angel whose job it is
to protect me from dismissing, belittling
or in away disparaging my work.

We had a second mini lesson this week. This focused on creating a mixed media piece with the guide "What I want most of in 2014 is… I realized I wanted understanding. I want to understand others, I want to understand myself and I want to get a better understanding of all these new supplies and materials I am working with doing mixed media journaling. 






4) Tumbling Blocks I - Cut out more of the blocks. - Done!

When I wasn't messing around with smearing and layering paint, I was cutting out my tumbling blocks. I did sew a few together just to prove that I am cutting them correctly. I still have another 33% or so to cut of the tumbling blocks. I have been playing with different layout ideas on my design wall. It is impossible to light the design wall well for photography, but the pictures should give you some idea of the work involved.

The gradations between the three
tumbling blocks are very, very subtle.
However, in good light they are visible
from six feet away. Once I have the black
and white blocks laid out to my satisfaction,
I will add a few red blocks.

This image shows the three variations of black
and white tumbling blocks.

Next week is a short week for me due to other commitments. This is where I hope to focus my attention over the next two weeks.

1) Take Three - Decide whether the piece is finished, if it needs something else to bring it to life or whether I should scrap it and start over.

2) Express Your Love II - A Leah Day project.

a) Continue piecing the arms from hexagons.
b) Baste the face, torso and arms to the quilt.

3) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments.

4) Tumbling Blocks I - 

a) Finish cutting out the blocks.
b) Work out the final layout of the blocks.
c) Cut out the background pieces.


I am now linking up to two blogs on Friday's. The first is Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting Project and the second is Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays.

Week in Review - 2014 - 01/03

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

I have a confession to make. It has been years, perhaps even decades, since I made a New Year's resolution. Why? Because more often than not the goals attempted in a New Year's resolution aren't achieved and it becomes just one more thing to beat myself up about. Instead I prefer to focus on much smaller more attainable goals that over time surprise me with just how far I have come. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why I so love taking classes that peak my curiosity or promise to teach me something I long to be better at. I particularly enjoy that my classes aren't affiliated with a degree or even a grade removing the pressure to master everything so that I can regurgitate it at the end of the term. I am free to play! 

Here are the classes I have taken over the past few years that I highly recommend to others:

1. Leah Day provides lessons on free motion quilting. She just started up a new course that is sure to be a winner for anyone wanting to become confident in free motion quilting. 

2. Craftsy.com has lessons on all things craftsy whether you want to decorate a wedding cake, sew your own custom fitted garment or like me want to know how to paint on fabric to create highlights and shadow.

3. If you write a blog, run an Etsy shop or maintain your own website, then you know how important it is to have good pictures to support your prose. I turned to Ed2Go for a class on Photoshop Elements.

4. This year I will be taking a mixed media class hosted by Tamara Laporte titled Life Book 2014. What really sparked my interest about this class is that the course is taught by over 20 different mixed media artists. Each of the artists take a turn teaching one or two or more of the classes each week.

1) Jazz Trio - Add the figures to the stage. - Done!

Take Three

2) Leah Day's weekly assignments:

a) Foundation Piecing - 

i) Baste the face and body to the quilt. - I am waiting to do this until I have the arms pieced.
ii) Start piecing the arms from hexagons. - I am still basting the hexagons. I should start piecing the arms next week.

b) Free Motion Quilting - Leah Day is starting a new class. I won't be taking it since she is getting back to basics and I don't need a refresher course. I am going to miss the excuse to try a new Free Motion Quilting motif each week.

3) LifeBook 2014 - Do this week's assignment. - I have done the first assignment and begun this week's second assignment.

Life Book 2014 Week 1 Assignment

The gist of the assignment was to start the page by writing out all the negative thoughts and fears I have about making art. It was done in pencil. You can see the writing under the paint. Then using layer upon layer of technique including water-soluble colored pencils, gesso, splatter paint, stamping and dragging painting with a hard edge the negativity is covered up. Finally two hearts are added one being my vulnerable self the other being my supportive voice. The words in ink are being spoken from the supportive voice to my more timid vulnerable self.

The second assignment is to create a mixed media piece portraying my Inner Guardian Angel, or the supportive voice. 

4) Tumbling Blocks I - Cut out more of the blocks. - Done! I have 25% of the quilt cut out, including cutting off the corner tips for ease of precision piecing. I figured out that I will need more than 1,500 pieces to make this quilt. 

One thing is for sure, I am not going to run out of things to do in my studio next week. Here are some of things I will be working on.

1) Take Three - Decide whether the piece is finished or if it needs something else to bring it to life.

2) Express Your Love II - A Leah Day project.

a) Start piecing the arms from hexagons.
b) Baste the face and body to the quilt.

3) LifeBook 2014 - Do this week's assignment.

4) Tumbling Blocks I - Cut out more of the blocks.


I am now linking up to two blogs on Friday's. The first is Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting Project and the second is Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays.