Week in Review 2016 - 02/12

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

The final assignment for Elizabeth Barton's dyeing class
was to select a photo, isolate some colors from it and
then dye fabric to match the selected colors. I chose this
photograph, taken by my husband, of a sunrise over
Lake Winnebago.

This week I have felt like student who has been gifted with multiple snow days in a row. I had thought I would be spending my days waiting around the courthouse with a 100 or so of my fellow citizens wondering if I would be asked to sit on a jury or not. Every time I've been assigned jury duty that is how it goes. Not this time. I called the night before, as instructed, and learned that I wouldn't need to come in the following day. Checked again the following night and lo and behold I wasn't needed at all! This meant the week was my own again. I haven't felt so gifted with unexpected free time since my daughter and husband went away for a school camping trip and my son was invited to spend the weekend with a friend. That was in 2000. How did I use my time in 2000? 100% in my studio except for when I was eating or sleeping. I began and nearly finished a quilt that I dubbed All About Time. It was sheer bliss.

These are the colors I selected from the photo.

Here is the same grid, but with the
colors that I dyed. Elizabeth kindly
told me that it is most important to
achieve a palette that works well
together vs. matching the colors
exactly. Close enough.

I didn't spend 100% of my week in the studio this time. I have too many other obligations to do that. However, knowing that I would have jury duty I had worked ahead or cleared up many obligations. How did I spend this bonus time? Pretty much like any other week but with a deeper appreciation because it was unexpected. Here's what I managed to accomplish:

I had fun using my newly acquired EQ 7 skills to good
use to design Sunrise Obsession. This is an EQ 7
rendering and NOT a pieced quilt or even my fabrics.
I have started a quilt based on the diagram using my
hand dyed fabric from the class. 

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

I have finished hand stitching the facing and begun to attach the sleeve.
2) Free motion quilting practice. - Done!

Isn't this a lovely floral motif. It is so simple once you
understand the concept of how the petals are formed.
The design is Faye's Flowers by Lori Kennedy.

It's been a while since I have treated myself to doing an Inbox Jaunt motif. Lori Kennedy tends to create images that can be repeated in borders or used in open spaces in a block. I love the look of her work, but have little practical use for it in my quilts. I just couldn't resist Faye's Flowers though. It was remarkably simple and fun to stitch out. 
3) Do some surface design work - Done!

After several very, very intense weeks of dyeing yards and yards of fabric for my class with Elizabeth Barton, I was expecting the final class to be more, if not twice as much of the same. Instead, I only needed to dye eight different fabrics and I was done.

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

My favorite part of my twice weekly yoga class is shavasana. It took me many tries to reach the deep relaxation I achieve, but now I am there within seconds of getting into the pose. This week it was suggested that we try reclining with a block behind our spine and another behind our head to achieve a chest opener or expansion. My first thought was absolutely not. Then I realized I had shut down before even giving it a chance. So, I tried the modification. No, adding blocks to my shavasana is not going to become part of my yoga practice, but at least now I am making an informed, open decision.

I am anticipating carrying forward the feeling of abundant time I achieved this week into next week. Here is how I plan on spending that time:

1)  Finish Deep Waters  - (Due March 15)

a) Finish attaching the sleeve;
b) Create and attach the label; and
c) Add it to my website.
2) Work on Sunrise Obsession

3) Free motion quilting practice.
4 Do some surface design work
5) 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.

Weekly Report 2014 - 09/26

Two more leaves and a frog left to go
on Night Vision.

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

Have you ever noticed how the direction your art takes you reflects your non art life? I have. Even knowing that this happened time and time again I am startled when I "see" the connection when none was intended. My children are both in their 30's now. When they were teenage poster children of adolescent rebellion my work was abstract, but meticulously controlled. The titles were downright scary, reflecting my state of mind, such as Balancing Act, Hope Springs Eternal, Insomnia and Breaking Through Depression. When I gathered the images reflecting the last week's work I couldn't help but notice how much I am using green. Green is my go to color when I crave a long compassionate soothing hug. This summer has been particularly difficult for the seniors in my life. We lost my father-in-law, nearly lost my mother-in-law a few weeks later, lost her brother, one of my  sisters was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer two weeks ago and yesterday I signed the papers for the aunt whom I have been caring for for over 10 years to be enrolled in hospice. Just reading that sentence has me gasping for breath. However, studying the gentle curves of Night Vision and feeling the calming influence of the green, I can relax. How very fortunate I am to be able to self sooth through my art.

Bumble Bees in Flight
A free motion quilting design adapted
from Lori Kennedy's design

All three projects I worked on this week feature green. Here they are:

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

a) Continue the piecing - Done

Often at this stage of a quilt I am beating myself up over the fact that I don't feel the work is coming together. So far, so good. I am pleased.

LifeBook 2014 Lesson 39
Covering up old work to make it new

2) Free motion quilting practice. - Done!

Do check out Lori Kennedy's blog The Inbox Jaunt for a wonderful ongoing collection of free motion quilting designs. I'm fan. Can you tell?

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

This week's lesson was about salvaging old work intuitively, with the flair and confidence of a preschooler wielding the paint brush. It's done. I've done better. It is times like this when I need to remember that failure and/or disappointment in one's work is part of the process.


I expect my time to create art next week will be limited. Any time I do have will focus on:

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

a) Continue the piecing

2) Free motion quilting practice.

3) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments.


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 2014 - 07/04

Thread painted fall leaves
before being added to
Little Lake Butte des
Morts in Fall.

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

Happy Independence Day to my American readers and happy Friday to the rest of you. What a powerful word independence is. As a grandmother of five under the age of 7 I have watched all but the youngest become independent, at least in their ability to choose what they will or will not wear or say good-bye to diapers. In other words independence can be relative, because all my grandchildren are still dependent on their parents to provide them with food, shelter, transportation and affection. I have no doubt that for now my grandchildren feel more independent than they are in actuality. I feel pretty independent myself as I create my artwork. I can't recall when was the last time I used a pattern that I didn't tweak to make a quilt. Even when I practice FMQ motifs designed by others I can't resist seeing what happens if I do this or that to the original design. This week I am over the top excited about how I chose to create thread painted branches and leaves for my commission quilt. Was it an independent idea? Not really. Did I follow someone else's method? I wouldn't say so. I simply borrowed an idea here another there and then took the plunge. 


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

a) Finish attaching the two tree appliqués - Done!
b) Start adding the details such as the cattails, branches and leaves. - Done!

I expect I will get some questions on how I made the fall leaves and branches. I'll do my best to guess what you might ask and answer it here:

See http://theboredzombie.com/project/thread-painting-a-beginners-tutorial created by Susan Owenby for basic materials and instruction.

I used a pale green tulle with the Solvy that was recommended. I did NOT use Sulky thread. I prefer to use thread from Superior's King Tut series. These are ALL variegated 40 wt. cotton. When I didn't have the right color Superior thread I use Marathon's polyester and/or rayon thread. The advantage with the Marathon thread is that you can build up the thread more without breaking and it has a wonderful sheen.

I marked just the basic lines on the Solvy for where I wanted the branches and approximately where I would change colors for the leaves. From there I just winged it.

There isn't much difference from FMQ to thread painting. I use only a straight stitch that isn't engaged, since I drop my feed dogs. Most teachers recommend using a zig zag, but I find the straight stitch more intuitive for me. A good YouTube tutorial for watching how to thread paint was created by Nancy Prince. It is: http://www.nancyprince.com/First_Flowers_Workshop.html

My final step will be to attach the thread painting motifs to my quilt. I will do that stitching them to quilt  with a bit more thread. At least that is plan.

Open Leaf with Spiral
This week's FMQ motif found at
the Inbox Jaunt, but modified by
yours truly.

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

a) Mat and frame the work. - Not yet.

3) Free motion quilting practice: - Done!

Lori Kennedy, author of the Inbox Jaunt tends to design quilting motifs that work well in sashings, because they are linear or in an open block, because they are pictorial. I prefer FMQ that doesn't require pre-marking and can fill any shape. This week I played with Lori's Open Leaf Spiral to see if I could break away from the stacked leaves look. If you look at the left side of my work you can see I started to stack the leaves to get the "feel" of the basic leaf and going from left to right and back again. After that I went free form. :)

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

I have nothing to share here since the assignment was to watch a video interview. 


I am off to celebrate Independence Day with good friends, good food and good weather! Then I will buckle down again next week and tackle some of the following projects.

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

a) Start adding the details such as the cattails, branches and leaves. 
b) Block and square up the quilt.
c) Start facing the quilt.

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

a) Mat and frame the work.

3) Free motion quilting practice.

4) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments.


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 2014 - 06/27

Little Lake Butte des 
Morts in Fall
gets perspective when
the trees are added.

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

My life is currently weighted heavily towards the National Bike Challenge. Technically the challenge isn't competitive. It simply encourages participants to get outside and ride regularly. However, if you are naturally competitive (who me?) then it is tempting to ride every day and expand the distance you ride. There is something rewarding about watching those miles add up. It is as addictive as watching a quilt evolve and then observing the quilts stack up over the years. I have no idea how many quilts I have made over 25+ years of quilting, but I am sure it is over two hundred by now. If I had set out with a goal to make two hundred quilts I probably would have quit before I reached ten quilts. The thought would have been too daunting. That is why I focus on just one or two quilts ahead. It is the same with my biking. I cope with one ride at a time. If it is long one then I break it down to just making it to the next ten mile marker. It is not so different from quilting one block at a time or with my art quilts completing one next step. It is only upon looking back that I can see just how far I have come.

This week felt like biking up hill into a head wind. The week is done. I'm tired. I don't have much distance to show for it. Still I did make progress as you can see:

Close up of Little Lake Butte des Morts in Fall

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

a) Create and attach two tree appliqués - Almost

That certainly sounded easy enough to do, but it wasn't. I had the ingenious idea that I would back the tree versus turn under the seam allowance. How tough could the pillow case turn method be? It turns out very tough when the trees are only one to one and half inches wide. It does give a clean line and a wonderful 3D look though.  

b) Start adding the details such as the cattails, branches and leaves. - Not yet.

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

a) Mat and frame the work. - Not Yet

3) Leah Day  and other free motion quilting projects.

The Wave with an addition of sea foam

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 or find another FMQ motif to try. - Done!

This week I chose The Wave as my FMQ motif to test and tweak. This is strictly a play/practice piece. If I were to use it on a quilt I would need to practice more off quilt until I could create more consistent echoes of the wave and keep to similar sizes according to the guidelines. On the plus side I did the whole practice piece without a thread break and think my tweak of adding sea foam between the waves is rather effective.

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

LifeBook 2014
Week 26's assignment

This week's lesson on contour face drawing is what I need and because I need it I had a fair amount of fear about executing it. My two weakest links, in my opinion, are drawing faces and creating depth by understanding where to place highlights and shadows. I still have a long way to go with my drawing skills, but this piece already achieves two things I haven't managed before. First, it accurately portrays the age of the image I used for reference (I usually add decades when I start adding shadows) and there is a bit of a 3D feel with the girl in front of the halo, the crease below her nose dipping in, her nose protruding from her face and her chin jutting out from her neck. 

Usually the reward for making it to the top of the hill is that you it is followed by a little to no effort coast down the hill. Will this be my reward next week? I sure hope so. Here is what I might be breezing past:

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

a) Finish attaching the two tree appliqués
b) Start adding the details such as the cattails, branches and leaves. 

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

a) Mat and frame the work.

3) Leah Day  and other free motion quilting 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 or find another FMQ motif to try.

4) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments.


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.