Week in Review 2017 - 06/23

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

LeeAnna Paylor, whose blog is Not Afraid of Color, suggested I try my hand at writing an "I Like" post. After the initial knee jerk reaction (more work; no way) I have decided to give it a go this week. Why the change of heart? It's simple really, I begin each morning by sitting at my desk and writing two pages in my gratitude journal. Much of what I am grateful for are things that I like. So, it isn't a big stretch to share some of the things I like wit you. 

Picking Up the Pieces #4,
my current in work in progress.

1) I like routine. The very fact that I start my day by writing in my gratitude journal means I don't have to wonder how to start my day.

2) I've been keeping a gratitude journal without missing a single day for approximately 20 years. I like to write with a Uniball Vision Elite Micro pen in a spiral lined notebook, preferably college ruled. The pen is vital. I like the way it glides over the paper. I'm left handed and writing with ink, especially using a ball point pen, results in blobs on the paper and ink smears on my hand. The ruled paper helps me with alignment.

3) I like getting my exercise in next. What I do varies with the weather and the day of the week. What rarely varies is getting my exercise in before the "work" of the day begins. This also means I only have to change from pajamas, to exercise clothes, to daily clothes, and back to pajamas most days. I also don't have to stop what I am doing, breaking the flow of concentration to get out and exercise. 

4) I like fruit in my cereal and since discovering almond coconut milk, that is my preferred cereal milk. Yum.  I am lactose sensitive and avoiding cow's milk makes me feel much better. I like feeling comfortable after eating. 

5) I like having a designated, always set up, studio space to create fiber art in. When I began quilting 30 years ago I used our dining room. Eventually, I took over a spare bedroom. It was cramped, but functional. Our move, seven years ago, gave me an actual studio, with room to spare. It's heaven. Although, I may procrastinate walking into the studio, I find when I do, it is easy to get work. I am like one of Pavlov's dogs. I may not salivate when I enter my studio, but I naturally start working with very little thought.

Here is what I have been working on this week: 

A detail from Picking Up the Pieces #4. Right
click on the image for a better view of the
feathers I quilted in the pink sections.

1) Work on Picking Up the Pieces #4 - Done!

2) Finish Picking Up the Pieces #1 and #3 - Not yet.

3) Pot(s) made this week - Done!

I have been practicing filling space with feathers while doing the free motion quilting on Picking Up the Pieces #4. I had lots of practice this week. The more I did the better I got at the logic of where to start, where to go next, and how to fill the odd spaces, while making it look like what is there was my intention all along.

4) Free motion quilting practice - Done!

Next week will be more of the same. Perhaps that should be less of the same. I have various commitments which will reduce, but not eliminate my studio time. I look forward to spending what time I do have on the following:

1) Work on Picking Up the Pieces #4

2) Finish Picking Up the Pieces #1 and #3

3) Pot(s) made this week

4) Free motion quilting practice

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

Week in Review 2016 - 02/05

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

Eight different ratios of
fuchsia and black (top 4) and
basic blue and black (lower 4)
were used to achieve this color run.

Kaboom! Some days I wake up and realize that I am facing a day of competing demands that feel like a series of Herculean tasks. How will I ever make it through? This can be especially difficult because it is easy for me to drift into "research" that branches from one investigation to another until I realize not only haven't I solved the problem I was researching, I have lost track of time and am barely aware of what I was trying to work out in the first place. So was the case this morning when I thought that I would just take a peek at the final lesson of my Basic Dyeing for Quiltmakers class. Big mistake. I was down the rabbit hole trying to figure out how to analyze the percentage of cyan, magenta, yellow and black (doable in Photoshop and recommended by Elizabeth Barton, our teacher) but NOT doable in Photoshop Elements that only analyzes color with a percentage of red, green and blue. I won't bore you with just how far afield I went with this. I did discover a really cool way to select a palette of any number of colors from 1 - 256 from a photograph - just not how to break down those colors into their turquoise, sun yellow, fuchsia and black blends. Poor Elizabeth. I must be a thorn in her side, seems I am always the one raising my hand in our virtual classroom for clarifications, fixes and workarounds. I've already fired off my first question of the day.

Complementary colors (opposite colors on a color
wheel) were used to dye this run.

The good news, as you can see from all the pictures, is that I managed to finish last week's lesson. There were many assignments, including dyeing neutrals, shades, over-dyeing and even painting with dye. It was a very full week as you can see by my list of accomplishments:


1) Work on Deep Waters - (Due March 15) - Done!

Deep Waters after cropping with the facing pinned to the
backside. You can see the pins from the front, too.

What a disaster, but with a reasonably happy ending, this piece has proven to be. The white caps I added to the water virtually destroyed the piece. I did my best to stay OPEN (word for the year) to various solutions. I tried picking the stitches out. The stitch work was too intense and the stitches too tiny to do this even in good light with strong magnification. I tried appliquéing over the stitch work. Then stitching over the appliqués. Better, but my whole cloth piece looked patched. Finally, I just cut the bottom 2/3 or the quilt off. Not bad.

Fun with free motion quilting.
There is something so compelling in
a curved line quilting motif.

2) Free motion quilting practice. - Done!

It has been a while since I just sat down at the machine and doodled a free motion quilting design for fun and frankly, stress relief. This design is one from the second year of Whirls 'n Swirls motifs. I've called it Feathered Pods.

3 Do some surface design work - Done!

I managed to dye my way through 5 yards of 60" wide fabric in a single week.

I opted to over dye turquoise. The
original color of the cloth runs
across the top. That same color was
over dyed with black, basic blue,
fuchsia, orange and yellow.

4) Beware of when I find myself shutting down and find a way to stay open. - Done!

I was extremely upset by the disaster I was making of Deep Waters. It took great courage and conviction, but I managed to stay open to the idea that it was salvable. 
I am going to have to stay open to a week where my schedule is unpredictable. I have jury duty starting on Monday. In Wisconsin, where I live, this means calling in daily for a week to determine whether I need to head to the courthouse the following morning. If I manage to have any days at home, here is what I plan to do:

One of the fabrics I hand painted with
dye. This assignment was to use
the dye solution as is versus
thickening it. This is a bit like
painting with colored water - only
broad brush techniques are easy to achieve.

1)  Finish Deep Waters  by hand stitching the facing and adding a sleeve - (Due March 15)

The good news is that I can do this at the courthouse or at home!

2) Free motion quilting practice.



3 Do some surface design work


4) Beware of when I find myself shutting down and find a way to stay open.

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

Week in Review 2015 - 4/17

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

I was concerned what the back of
Mondrian Tackles Fibonacci would
look like once I started beading.
Now I wonder why I worried.

This week I have been thinking about the importance of reviewing finished work and making those final adjustments that make all the difference. For example when I am expecting company, my husband and I don't just vacuum and dust, we fold up the blankets that protect our furniture from the wayward cat claw, make sure the towels are neatly folded in the bathrooms and be sure to have some food and drinks that meet are guests dietary preferences and/or restrictions. I might move a flowering plant from a window, where it is normally placed to get light and put it somewhere to fill a void or enhance the decor. I go through a similar procedure as I finish a quilt getting it ready for submission to calls for entry. Now is the time to look it over with a more critical eye. Is there anything else needed? Are there errant threads and cat hair that need removing?

When I first quilted this 3" H x 4.5" W section I used a
primary colored variegated 40 wt. thread. It stood out like
a neon blinking sign. I removed the quilting but never
replaced it until yesterday. This is much more subtle
and fits with the rest of the quilt.

This week was all about those small adjustments that make a big difference as I finished up Mondrian Tackles Fibonacci. 

1) Mondrian Tackles Fibonacci - (Due May 1, 2015)

a) Trim to size - Done!
b) Make and attach bias binding - Done!
c) Make and attach sleeve - Not yet.
d) Make and attach label - Not yet.

The border required some major tweaking. I had planned
on it being just 1/2" wide once it was trimmed.
Unfortunately, all that lovely quilting and beadwork
meant that the inner section is noticeably off square
and therefore a 1/2" border looked horrible. Instead
the border was trimmed anywhere from 2" - 2.5" to
help give the illusion of a rectangular design within
the border. To reduce the waffling in the border I
quilted it after I bound the quilt.

2) Free motion quilting practice. - Done!

I quilted the border of Mondrian Tackles Fibonacci with feathers. The more I quilt feathers the more I enjoy doing them. Makes me wonder why they were so diabolically difficult to learn.

3) Post the number of days I have worked in my studio in 2015 - 31.5/126

4) Perform a random act of kindness - Done!

5) Night Vision - 

a) Add the label - On hold until I need a second label

1) Mondrian Tackles Fibonacci - (Due May 1, 2015)

Yeah, the front side of Mondrian Tackles
Fibonacci is done. All that is left takes
place on the backside.

a) Make and attach sleeve
b) Make and attach label
c) Add to my website
d) Post progress to finished photos on FaceBook

2) Free motion quilting practice.

3) Post the number of days I have worked in my studio in 2015

4) Perform a random act of kindness

5) Night Vision - 

a) Add the label - On hold until I need a second label

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

Week in Review 2015 - 1/30

Panel #1 - This was my very first try creating feathers two
different ways and playing with the shape of the plumes.
Note the organic versus cookie cutter shape to the plumes.

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

Panel #2 - Can you tell that the plumes are
more rounded, less wonky now?

A common sentiment voiced by those of you who generously comment on my blog posts is how you wish you were as organized and/or productive as me. I understand your feelings. I often long to do what I see others doing. Should I be writing books? Seeking more teaching opportunities? Creating more pieces worthy of submitting to Quilt National? Creating more videos? Advancing my surface design skills? And those are just some of my artist longings.

I often debate as to whether I have struck the right balance between my art and my family. I live 400 miles away from my closest relative and over 1,000 miles away from all my other relatives. No matter who I visit or how many visits I make in a year it never feels like I am visiting enough. Am I using the life I have been given wisely? Cheryl Wheeler, a favorite singer songwriter of mine, addresses this very topic in her humorous song, Unworthy. I highly recommend that if you ever have the feeling that you aren't doing enough you listen to her song.

If this gets you thinking about the balancing act of family, health, career and leisure why not make a quilt on the topic. SAQA has an exhibition aptly named Balancing Act that is looking for quilts on this topic. The exhibition will be premier at IQF Houston in October 2015.

Panel # 3 - At this point I can go around corners,
create a feather  wreath by only marking the circle,
fill in triangles and mix up feathers with plumed swirls
for an all over design. The filler design was done
with no marking at all.

My week has been the antithesis of balanced. I woke up Sunday morning and realized that Mondrian Tackles Fibonacci had, as in HAD, to be quilted with feathers. Despite years of practicing my free motion quilting I have done very little practice with feathers and what I have done has been less than satisfactory. I remembered that Angela Walters teaches Free-Motion Quilting with Feathers on Craftsy.com. I signed up for the class then, I spent 100% of my studio time this week doing all ten lessons, each with at least three different variations on the lesson theme. It was worth it. I still struggle occasionally with how to start the first plume of the feather, but now all my plumes are well rounded, I can create them going either up or down the quill, mark feathers, or just do them free form and fill any shape with feathers surrounded by a variety of FMQ fillers.

Panel #4 - The final lessons. Now I can create fancy
corners and central feather motifs for borders. I can
combine feathers and backgrounds to achieve
elegance and texture.

1) Night Vision - (Due January 31, 2015)

a) Add the label - on hold until I need another label. Otherwise I have to use a full sheet of ink jet printer fabric for just one label.

2) Mondrian Tackles Fibonacci - (Due May 1, 2015)

b) Sandwich quilt - Done, but I will probably undo much of it now that I will be marking it for feather placement. Sigh!

c) Start the quilting - Not yet.

3) Free motion quilting practice. - Absolutely - enough for the next month or so. :)

4) Post the number of days I worked in my studio in 2015 - 12.5/126

5) Perform a random act of kindness - Done

Backside of Panel #4
This will be more like how my quilting will look in
Mondrian Tackles Fibonacci. I purposefully used
contrasting thread on the front, so that both you and I
could see what I was doing. The back thread blends
with the fabric so that only the quilting shows - not
the thread.

Next week may be just as unbalanced as this past one. I'm expecting most if not all my studio time will be spent quilting Mondrian Tackles Fibonacci. You never know, though, I may be struck by another brilliant (crazy?) idea and be off and running again. I do have the following game plan to remind me what my intentions are.

1) Night Vision - (Due January 31, 2015)

a) Add the label - On hold.

2) Mondrian Tackles Fibonacci - (Due May 1, 2015)

a) Start the quilting

3) Free motion quilting practice.

4) Post the number of days I have worked in my studio in 2015

5) Perform a random act of kindness

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