Week in Review 2014 - 05/02

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

Many, many, many years ago I read an article in a quilting magazine by Katie Pasquini Masopust on how she periodically takes a break from her demanding schedule of lecturing, writing and creating art, by doing a simple no brains required scrap quilt. I believe the method she used to make these quilts is called Mile a Minute, but I may be confusing two articles. What struck me was not the method used to create the quilt, but the need to break out and play periodically. That is precisely what I did this week.

Detail from Raspberry Lime Rickey

I have an opportunity to hang a few small pieces at a local gallery as part of the Wisconsin Visual Artists. The work must be 12" x 12" or smaller. I prefer not to work in this size, so have no pieces available to offer. However, I have been longing to play with Carol Ann Waugh's method of creating quilts with the preprogrammed embroidery stitches on sewing machines. What I love about Carol's method is that it lends itself to creating a piece that can be cut into several smaller pieces. These pieces can be hung separately or hung to form a contemporary style grouping.

Carol gives several great tips in her video on how to do this method effectively. One, is to use a 90/14 needle since often the thread of choice will be thicker than that normally used for piecing and quilting. Two, watch the video to see how she guides the fabric. This helps avoid puckers and bunching that can come from the typical hand position of parentheses around the needle. I would like to add third. When working with metallic threads run several beads of Sewers Aid  down the spool of thread and let it sit a few moments before threading your machine. 

A full view of Raspberry Lime Rickey.
Currently it is 16" H x 18" W.

This week is proof positive that I can stray from my plans. Here is how I strayed:

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

a) Create the blue print for this quilt - Not yet.
b) Start the piecing  - Not yet.

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 - Nope

I decided to use Carol Ann Waugh's method to create a couple of pieces for the Wild Apple.

b) Create several 12" x 12" or smaller works for the exhibition - Started

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. - Done

The motif this week was Fish Tails.
Must say I love motifs that pivot and echo,
both to work up and visually.

4) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments. - Done

The only assignment was to watch an interview by Tamara Laporte with Carla Sonheim. 

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


Next week is my last week to work in the studio in May. It is also a week filled with non studio commitments. When I do make it into the studio here is where I plan on focusing my attention:

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) Create several small 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.


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 2013 - 06/14

"Tree Serenade" - 48" H x 40" W

I am a member of Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA,) an international organization whose mission is to bring attention to art quilts as an art medium. This mission has helped shaped my own mission in recent years. I still enter calls for entry for art quilt shows, but now I am just as likely to enter calls for art, when fiber is listed amongst the accepted categories or is not specifically excluded. That is why I chose to the enter the “Michigan Fine Arts Competition” held at the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center in Birmingham, MI. My piece, “Tree Serenade” made from recycled practice pieces I made while doing Leah Day’s 2012 assignments, will be in the exhibition. If you will be in the area between June 28 and August 23, 2013, please drop by and then share your experience with me.

I managed to complete both of the major non-studio obligations I referred to last week and still find time to make it into my studio for 2.5 days this week. Here are my studio accomplishments.

1) Adoration – Done!

a) Attach the label – Done!

b) Add to my website – Done! Adoration is now on the opening page of my website. If you click the image you will go directly to Adoration’s page.

2) “Oyster Shards” (deadline 8/20/2013)

a) Create the oyster shell template – Done!

These oyster shells were made off quilt to be appliquéd on later.
They range from 8" - 12" long and 4" - 6" wide. 

b) Make an oyster shell to be appliqued to the background. – Done! I made three!!! However, I am thinking of tweaking them just a tad more to add blue/purple rings of concentric ridges in the pearlescent portion. I will be testing several thread options to see what looks best.

A closer look at one of the oyster shells.  The pearlescent center
is created by layering the same tulle used in the sea foam from last
week, but only a single layer. The rims were fused in place with
Steam a Seam. This held the tulle in place during the quilting process.
Once they were quilted I cut them out so that they can be appliquéd to the quilt.

3) Leah Day

a) Express Your Love

         i) Cut facing strips. – Done!

         ii) Stitch facing strips to the quilt. – Done!

         iii) Hand stitch the facing in place. – Begun.

         iv) Attach the label. – Pinned in place.

b) Do whatever assignment Leah comes up with next. – Done!

"Foundation Puzzle" using a thread of variegated peacock colors.
Leah does this by spiraling from the outside in and then travel
stitching her way back out along the spiral. I prefer to leave a
wider channel when I spiral in and use the channel to spiral back
out again.

c) Bonus Project – I finished my sampler from last week using Carol Ann Waugh’s rattail finishing technique. This is a fast and effective way to finish a quilt, especially smaller pieces. Carol Ann Waugh, like Leah Day, is a Craftsy.com teacher.

Doesn't the rattail finishing technique work well on this piece?

4) Signature experimentation – Not this week.

a) Design a new signature motif.

5) Pictorial Painting – Not this week.

a) Watch the lesson that demos how to quilt the Canyon piece.

b) Quilt "Canyon."

Here is where I plan to focus my energy next week:

1) “Oyster Shards” (deadline 8/20/2013)

a) Find a way to add concentric, believable ridges to the pearlescent portion of the oyster shells. Possibilities include various threads and paint.

b) Create a quilt sandwich with the pieced background fabric, batting and backing.

c) Baste the sandwich.

d) Add the oyster shells.

2) Leah Day

a) Express Your Love

      i) Hand stitch the facing in place.

     ii) Attach the label.

b) Do whatever assignment Leah comes up with next.

3) Signature experimentation

a) Design a new signature motif.

4) Pictorial Painting

a) Watch the lesson that demos how to quilt the Canyon piece.

b) Quilt "Canyon."

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 2013 - 5/03

Remember how "Canyon" looked before it was painted?
Read further to see how much it has changed.

I’m back! For those of you who read my blog regularly and thoroughly you may have noticed that I had a planned two week gap between studio progress recaps. The reason was a scheduled trip to the southwest that finished up in Santa Fe, New Mexico for the SAQA conference. If you are interested in art quilts than SAQA is the organization for you. It includes over 3,200 international members, mostly art quilters, but also patrons, gallery owners, business owners and students. It is because I joined SAQA’s Vision Project and chose as my personal project to spend 120 days in my studio for the 2012 – 2013 fiscal year that I am so focused on production in my blog.

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques

I wasn’t the only one in Santa Fe. I discovered my Craftsy.com painting teacher, Annette Kennedy was an attendee as well. She graciously chatted with me on several occasions. I took a seminar lead by Carol Ann Waugh on what is required to become a professional art quilter. Outstanding! Carol is another one of Craftsy.com’s teachers. I love her method of how she finishes her art quilts and plan to use it when appropriate. Carol demos her rattail finishing technique on YouTube.

It is always difficult for me to transition back to a disciplined workweek after an absence from my home. Nevertheless I did ease my way back into my studio. By my fourth day back I was in synch again. Just how much in synch can be determined by reviewing my plans for the week against what was accomplished.

1) Pictorial Painting

a) Continue to watch the portion of the lesson that demos how to paint the Canyon piece. – Done!

b) Finish painting "Canyon." – Done!

This week "Canyon" received some plants and more
definition to the road.

Check out the plants in the desert, particularly their shadows. I have always struggled figuring out how to include shadows in my artwork. These shadows work for me. Yeah!

2) Express Your Love

a) Do whatever assignment LeahDay comes up with next. – Done!

All that is left is the body!
"Express Your Love" is designed by Leah Day and executed by
Gwyned Trefethen, who selected the thread and what stitches
to use where.

Actually I did two assignments. I did one assignment for the week that I was away and then this week’s assignments. Both involved free motion spirals. The first was a combination of spirals and circuit board. The second was simply spirals as a filler. I love free motion quilting spirals. They flow naturally through my muscle memory. However, circuit board does not. So, I found alternating between executing a spiral and then a circuit board awkward.

The circuit board with spirals free motion quilting is
featured in the lower of the two purple ribbons. The
middle turquoise ribbon is done in spirals only.
Click on the image to see an enlarged version.

3) Adoration (Shooting for a deadline of June 1, 2013

a) Cut the backing and batting for Adoration. – Done!

b) Prepare the quilt sandwich. – Not done.

c) Select the quilting threads. – Not done.

d) Start quilting. – Not done.

This is a detail from "Adoration" after I painted in the eyes of my grandson.

I am really, REALLY struggling with this piece.  I made several “rookie” mistakes when assembling the pieces. The orientation lines are visible through the lighter fabric as is the edge of the dark blue background. Actually, I had tried to use lighter orientation lines and use markers that could be washed out, but I just couldn’t see them sufficiently. Once I got the marks dark enough to see to be useful, they are too visible. I am hoping that by adding paint and quilting these problems may resolve or at least be much less obvious.

What I did do is start the painting with my grandson’s eyes. I will add a dab of highlighting to the eyes next week.

4) Bonus project. Signature Experimentation

For years I have struggled with how to sign my artwork. Should I use my full name? First name only? My initials? Some artistic rendering of my initials? What about the date? While wandering one of the galleries in Santa Fe I came upon a signature that I liked that incorporated the artist’s initials and date. I played around some first on paper and finally created this. My addition was to frame the signature as well. I am not totally satisfied, but do feel I am to something.

My first experiment on how to sign my artwork.

There are so many enticing opportunities for me to apply for where my work can be shown. What holds me back now is having enough work submit. Therefore, I am determined to buckle down and create. Here is what I plan on achieving for the week ending May 10, 2013:

1) Pictorial Painting

a) Watch the lesson that demos how to quilt the Canyon piece.

b) Quilt "Canyon."

2) Express Your Love

a) Do whatever assignment Leah Day comes up with next.

3) Adoration (Shooting for a deadline of June 1, 2013

a) Paint the shadows, highlights and fine details necessary to bring the piece to life.

b) Sandwich the quilt.

4) Signature experimentation

a) Design a new signature motif.

5) Plan the next art piece.