Week in Review 2013 - 06/07

Tips, Techniques and Thoughts:

My newest work in progress, “Oyster Shard’s” background was free form curved pieced. I used a method similar to the one Alicia Merrett’s demonstrates.  The first thing I do is press and starch my fabric BEFORE I cut it. I prefer to pin my fabric before sewing. To match the seam I flip the two pieces of fabric to be seamed wrong side up and lay them out, as they will be sewn. Then I mark the tops, bottoms and halfway points of each curve on both fabrics. These marks are where I will place my pins. I prefer to use an 1/8” seam allowance for curves. As you can see in the detail photo, I am able to achieve a smooth seam allowance.

Detail from "Oyster Shards" highlighting the curved piecing.

It has been a busy week in my studio. There is something very heady about starting something new. Just as there is something energizing about clearing out the clutter from prior projects. I did both. I even caught up on my Leah Day assignments. Here is how the week played out.

1) Adoration

a) Attach the sleeve – Done!

b) Make and attach the label – Printed but not attached.

c) Add to my website – Not yet.

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

a) Piece the three (oops four) background strips – Done!

The background for "Oyster Shards" is pieced. When
finished the quilt will be ~ 24" H x 36" W

b) Create the oyster shell template – Partially done. I have the image printed out. I still need to transfer it to freezer paper.

Tight close-up of "Oyster Shards" to show the sea foam strip.

I created the sea foam by laying from bottom up, sea fabric, white tulle that already had imbedded glitter, eyelash yarn and a second layer of tulle. I then quilted the layers together with small, medium and large circles. I travel stitched around the larger circles three times to build up thread.

3) Leah Day

a) Express Your Love

         i) Square up quilt - Done!

         ii) Make binding – I have decided to face this quilt, not bind it.

         iii) Attach binding – No longer applicable.

         iv) Make and attach label – Printed, but not attached.

b) Finish last week's assignment from Leah Day. – Done!

I am having a lot of fun creating tableaux with the assignments Leah is handing out.

The turquoise and white threads are stitched using Ribbon Stage.
I created the red flaming sun with Inside the Sun. I varied Leah's
motif by finishing the sky with small spirals.

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

As soon as I saw Leah's motif, Cobblestones, I knew I wanted to stitch a formal garden using Cobblestones for the path. In one of those moments of synchronicity the very next pattern to learn was Permed Fern. Note I purposefully built up the thread along the path's edges to give a feeling of curbing. The cobblestones are stitched with a variegated 35 lb. weight thread. It is predominately gray and blue-gray, with a very occasional brick segment.

"Fantasy Garden" is approximately 10" square.

4) Signature experimentation

a) Design a new signature motif. – Not done.

5) Pictorial Painting

a) Watch the lesson that demos how to quilt the Canyon piece. – Not yet.

b) Quilt "Canyon." – Not yet.

6) Bonus Project – Cleaned up my studio, replacing fabric on the shelf and clearing off my design wall of all reference and sample materials from completed quilts.

I have two large pieces of non-studio business to attend to in the week ending June 14. I don’t expect to accomplish everything on my list. However, this is the game plan for all the projects I have coming up.

1) Adoration

a) Attach the label

b) Add to my website

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

a) Create the oyster shell template

b) Make an oyster shell to be appliqued to the background.

3) Leah Day

a) Express Your Love

         i) Cut facing strips.

         ii) Stich facing strips to the quilt.

         iii) Hand stitch the facing in place.

         iv) Attach the label.

b) Do whatever assignment Leah comes up with next.

4) Signature experimentation

a) Design a new signature motif.

5) 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.

Weekly Review 2013 - 05/31

 I did it! I made the June 1^st deadline for entering “Adoration” for consideration in the ArtQuilts Lowell 2013 exhibition at the Brush Gallery. It was at the Brush Gallery, more than a decade ago, when I saw my very first collection of art quilts hung in a gallery setting. I was mesmerized. It became my goal to get my work accepted into one of the Brush’s future exhibitions. I have been privileged to have my work selected twice before. The theme this year is “Tangled Up in Blue.” Getting juried into an exhibition is always a crap a shoot. I’m willing to roll the dice on this one.

Tips, Techniques and Thoughts:

"Adoration's" formal exhibition photograph. Note how the edges
of the quilt can be seen, but any distracting background cannot.
Also, if you click on the image to enlarge it you should
be able to see the quilting, not just in clothing, but everywhere else.

I have been entering my work in exhibitions since 2001. This has taught me that I cannot predict with certainty whether my work will be accepted or not. Sometimes I get into an exhibition I think is a stretch. Other times I am rejected by an exhibition that I felt was a sure thing. I do know that if I want my work to be considered seriously and not rejected outright that the caliber of my photographs is vital. I don’t have access to a professional art photographer. My husband graciously agreed to learn how to photograph my art. I have learned how to resize his photographs and extract the art from the background in order to adhere to the image requirements of any call for entry. The best resource for learning how to photograph your quilt is Holly Knot’s instructions. Gloria Hansen’s book, “Digital Essentials” is where to turn once you have a digital photograph that needs to be prepared for call for entry, website, blog or on-line gallery such as Etsy.

While I wait to hear from the Brush Gallery I will continue to work in the studio. Here is what I focused on this week.

1) Adoration

This is the detail image I submitted with the entry. Note
how it could be work as a full quilt. Also, because it is
a close up the quilting is easy to see.

a) Finish quilting “Adoration.” – Done!

b) Bury dangling quilting threads – Done!

c) Square up the piece in preparation for facing. – Done!

d) Face – Done!

Bonus – Completed entry for the Brush Gallery, including time spent to provide a high-resolution image of the Adoration removed from its background and a detail image.

2) Express Your Love

"Express Your Love" has been cropped. This works well for
a blog image, but is a definite no no when submitting an
image to a call for entry.

a) Finish last week's assignment from Leah Day. – Done!

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

Bonus – Finish quilting Express Your Love!!

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."

5) Plan the next art piece. – Done!

Now that “Adoration” has been submitted to the Brush Gallery I can return to finishing up the projects I set aside and starting my next art piece. Here is my plan for the week ending June 6, 2013:

1) Adoration

a) Attach the sleeve

b) Make and attach the label

c) Add to my website

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

a) Piece the three background strips

b) Create the oyster shell template

3) Leah Day

a) Express Your Love

         i) Square up quilt

         ii) Make binding

         iii) Attach binding

         iv) Make and attach label

b) Finish last week's assignment from Leah Day.

c) Do whatever assignment Leah comes up with next.

4) Signature experimentation

a) Design a new signature motif.

5) Pictorial Painting

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

b) Quilt "Canyon."

Week in Review 2013 - 05/24

I have been infatuated with quilting “Adoration” this week. I set myself the Herculean task of quilting quite a complex pattern in the background section. I made a few mistakes that I picked out and one near an edge that I opted to leave in. I doubt even I will be able to find it. How did this infatuation effect my week? Not a single item on my to do list got checked off, BUT if I can maintain my pace for a few more days I should finish quilting, squaring up and facing “Adoration” in time to make the June 1, 2013 deadline. This week’s plan remains my plan for the week ending May 31, 2013, so I will only state it once.

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

a) Finish quilting “Adoration.”

Full view image of "Adoration" with the balance of the
Grandmother's hair and navy blue background left to quilt.
The dangling threads will be buried in the quilt.
Click on the image to see an enlarged version.

 Areas quilted this week were the medium blue background, the grandmother’s face and neck and half of her hair.

b) Bury dangling quilting threads

c) Square up the piece in preparation for facing.

d) Face

2) Express Your Love

a) Finish last week's assignment from Leah Day.

b) Do whatever assignment Leah comes up with next.

True, the hair is part of "Adoration" but the quilting motif
is my interpretation of Leah's Connecting Ocean Currents.

I actually did try Leah’s latest lesson on a free motion quilting pattern she named Connecting Ocean Current. I used it for the tendrils in the grandmother’s hair.

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."

5) Plan the next art piece.

Tips, Techniques and Thoughts:

A question I am asked frequently is “where do your ideas come from?” The simple answer is from my way of being. Where did that way of being come from? I expect a part of it came from a combination of nature (I am adopted) and nurture. However, the root of tapping into this being happened when I joined an on-line study group that tackled “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron. It is from this book that I learned about synchronicity. Call it what you will, the more observant you become the more aware you are of connections and signs everywhere. That is what happened when I was debating how to quilt the grandmother’s hair in “Adoration.” I had several ideas, but it wasn’t until I checked into Leah’s latest assignment that I found my answer just when I needed it. I am so convinced of the power of living “The Artist’s Way” that I use it as my text for mentoring private students. 

Week in Review 2013 - 05/17

"Adoration" after the baby and grandmother's blouse have been quilted.

It is time to reflect on the week that just passed to record what I did and did not accomplish.

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

a) Quilt Adoration. – 50% Done.

I am quite pleased with how the quilting is coming on this piece.  It would go faster if I used monofilament thread, since I wouldn’t need to change threads frequently, nor would I need to bury all those thread ends. I fell that the ability to blend, lighten or darken areas with thread is worth the extra effort.

Detail from "Adoration" showing the echo style quilting
used in the baby's face. Shadows, highlights and details
have been enhanced with stitch.

b) Square up the piece in preparation for facing. – Not done.

2) Express Your Love

"Express Your Love" is nearly done!

a) Finish last week's assignment from Leah Day. – Done!

This detail from "Express Your Love" features motif quilting
in the goddess's body.

Last weeks assignment was to mark and outline stitch a motif. I opted to simplify Leah’s motif and create what I hoped would look tiger markings.

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

An even closer look to show the Chicken Scratch stitch
used in the goddess's face.

This week was to fill in the motif with Jagged Scribble. This is similar to Cat Hairball (used in the white streaks of the hair) but with straight lines and sharp angles. I have renamed this stitch Chicken Scratch. I used a 30 wt. cotton thread that was a gift from Liz Porter (of Fons and Porter) when she stayed at my house while teaching and lecturing at my guild. I never would have thought to buy this for myself. However, it stitched beautifully and has a wonderful luster despite being cotton.

3) Signature experimentation

a) Design a new signature motif. – I didn’t design a new signature, but I did sign "Adoration" in the lower right corner while quilting that section.

4) Pictorial Painting

a) Watch the lesson that demos how to quilt the Canyon piece. – Not done.

b) Quilt "Canyon." – Not done.

5) Plan the next art piece. – Not done.

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

In her comment on my last post Stella Nemeth asked me “is it possible that your goals can't be met?” The simple answer is absolutely. It is even very likely that my goals can’t be met within the week that I assign them to myself. The follow-up question could easily be, “then why set them?” I set goals as a way to think about what projects I would like to tackle and what the next steps for that project will be. It also helps me prioritize my projects. Just because I don’t meet a goal the first time and even second or third time it rolls round, doesn’t mean that it will never be met. In fact, many of my projects have been completed since I started sharing my game plans publicly. The fact that all my goals are rarely met in a given week is like seeing a glass half full or half empty. If I dwelled on what didn’t get done, than my glass would be half empty. Instead I see my glass as half full. I get great satisfaction seeing the progress I make each week and marking off a step as done.

Here is what I plan to tackle in the week ending May 24, 2013:

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

a) Finish quilting “Adoration.”

b) Square up the piece in preparation for facing.

2) Express Your Love

a) Finish last week's assignment from Leah Day.

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."

5) Plan the next art piece.