Quilting

This is my current project,

A fish quilt.

Loving the colors and the fish.

The bottom quilt is a king size quilt for

Brandon.

My grandson who is working on his masters

in dairy feed in Michigan.

I have made 7 bed quilts since Christmas.

my goal if for all family member to have one. 

Raffle quilt

 I got the raffle quilt back from Cotton Corner and

they did a great job. Now I just have to bind it and

I can deliver it to them next week. This is a fund

raiser for the Chesterton Art Center.

 I love the colors and will bind it in brown.

It is so beautiful outside that it is hard to keep

my nose in the studio. I got all my planters around

the house done now just to let them grow.

I went colorful this year yellow, purple, red, blue.

Lots of variegated foliage too.

I even put a pink  bougainvillea in one pot.

Well of to the studio to bind the quilt.

Pretty in purple.

 I do love the color purple.

Right now the garden has lots of purple.

From the iris to the gazing ball.

 I got Gwen Marsten's book Minimal Quiltmaking.

Read it cover to cover this week-end.

Loved the book and loved the quilts.

Especially the pale colors in the chapter

on minimal color.

They remind me of sunsets and sunrises.

the insides of flowers and other things

soft and pretty.

I see some of this in my future.

Nancy Crow workshop

I did an impulsive thing.

Signed up for a Nancy Crow workshop in December.

In Muskegon Michigan right on the lake.

In the lake effect snow area.

For a whole week.

Think positive.

I am going to have knee surgery October 10 for a

torn meniscus. Bothered me since May.

Time to get rid of the pain.

 I will have 2 months to get in shape.

What a great incentive.

SO I went to my stash to look for 80 solids.

I found 13.

yikes.

I went on line and ordered 56 more.

I will dye the rest of what I need.

She recommends 80 to 100 one yard cuts.

plus 5 yards black and white each.

plus 9 grey

and the list goes on.

I figure I can wash and iron all of this

while I am recovering.

It is great to have a new project.

I have been burned out with the knee and

all that has gone on this summer.

This will recharge my muse.

:)

 

 



Ending 2011 & beginning another year

I am ready for the new year to begin.

I begin a new series on skies.

Winter skies, Spring skies, Summer too.

Morning skies. Sunsets. Storms.

The list is endless.

2012 here I come.

Being in the studio for hours on end is my goal.

But first a day of quiet with my mate of 49 years.

Good by 2011.

Back in the studio.

                        Can you see the piles of fall leaves .
                        Last night it occurred to me that the
                        pinking wheel would make cuts like
                        edges of leaves. Love the colors.

                          Spent the afternoon with a tweezers applying
                          leaves and ironing them in place. Now to
                          add  the leaves on the ground under the trees
                       . Than I will be  ready to add the hand stitching
                         with the hand dyed threads  that came in the mail
                          from Artfabrik today. Lovely colors of fall.

Saga of today's art quilt.

Choosing the fabric. 

                                 A good start by lunch.

After lunch I got serious about the embellishment.

I couched Artfabric heaviest thread on as an accent.

The final results

                                         Put back in the frame ready to hang.

Played with the scrapes.

This will go onto a greeting card.

I will send this to New Mexico

to my newest collectors.

Love making my own Thank You cards.

I really appreciate people who appreciate art.

Purple is the color.

Up or down. What do you think?

I had some time to waste

I had some scraps laying around.

I wanted to practice finishing  the edge.

A new art quilt is born. 

                   

I love the color purple.

Whether is is silk or flowers.

                          It has been raining since 8 pm last night.
                          At least I don't have to water the flowers.
        

Art from the show

A nice grouping of art from Jasper County Art League.

Starting 2 new quilts.

The painting that inspires the quilt

The beginning of the process.
Fusing the batiks to the thermolon base.
Doing the base quilting for texture.
Now on to the detail and embellishment with thread.
I am using Artfabrik's thread #12 burnt marshmallow
It makes the best tree trunks.

The inspiration for the second art quilt.

Combining quilting and paint  makes for a good start.
I just love this scene. Looking forward to seeing it completed.
I ordered a some new colors form Artfabrik for this quilt.

I hope to finished these this week.
Than I will go back to the silk quilt dreamscapes.
That is between glazing and firing the kiln.
I will fire Tuesday & Wednesday.

Fabric & Birds are my weakness.

I found MORE fabric and it has birds on it.

I am doomed.

Alexander Henry June Bug fabric is too cool.

 Now I just have to think of some way to use it.
Paint a bedroom Robins egg blue.
Make pillows of the large prints.
Use the small prints as an edge on curtains.

 
Yesterday I took a piece of my snow dyed fabric
and made a cover for my class notebook.
 I stitch a swirl design on the front.

I made pockets in the front and back

to hold my wallet and supplies.

                                    
The back one holds the dental tools I talked the dentist out of.
No cavities-that was good news. We all love the dentist. Right.

Golden Hills Series Art Quilts

This is a new series of 5 mini art quilts.

They are stylized landscapes of the wooded hills in fall.

The fabrics in this series are silks & Tapestries.
I find these unusual fabrics at Lemon Creek Fabrics
 in Berrien Springs, Michigan.
 She gets them from New York each season.
I find the really unique fabrics inspire my quilts.

My first quilt

This was my first attempt at quilting. My grand daughter Liz asked for a quilt for her wedding gift. She picked out the colors and  wanted a large square motif. I thought simple just make 12 inch square and sew them together. Well is wasn't simple but it was fun.  Three weeks later it was done. I learned a lot making that quilt. First of all not to be so ambitious but she is very happy with it. It suits her artistic nature. She is studying art education in Fort Wayne.

The finish of the tote saga

While the totes have their home. Am I glad I let them choose

 because I would have picked wrong.

My daughter choose the mans suit tote

My sister choose the front one on the right

Betty got the front left one.

Amy choose the flower pocket  tote

Starla choose the African tribal tote

And that left Liz the collage art major

with the bright pink Fasset fabric tote.

SO

I will have to make myself one.

Now to choose fabric again.

SO at the end of Christmas day

with 30 people

30 stockings

Dirty Gerty game with gifts

after everyone left.

My supper was 2 cups of tea

and 3 Motrin.

But is was great fun.



Ho Ho Ho Day 3 of Making Totes

                   Day 3 of making totes. Colorful tribal fabric .

 This will be my sisters Christmas present. She loved these colorful fabric  especially the tribal women.

               The zippered pocket will hold all those items you don't want falling out  accidentally.

                                                The lining is as colorful as the tote

A closeup of the front pocket detail. I machine quilted the pocket and highlighted it with paint sticks.

The next tote will be red and purple a nice combination.