Fiber Artist
Keeping the nose to the needle is yielding good progress. Here’s a peek at how it’s shaping up. My friend Sherry Boram said she liked this collaboration. I had not thought of this quilt in quite that way, but she is absolutely right — it’s great to be working with Grandma again. I’m on track […]
Goals are good — deadlines can be overwhelming. That’s life. I have a solo exhibit opening October 1st and I set myself the goal of having a significant number of new works completed. It’s crunch time and I have two pieces yet to finish. I’ve shared some of my grandmother’s fine hand work before and […]
I realize that this is just fabric and thread but I am pushing myself in new directions and it feels more like walking a tightrope. One slip, and well, let’s not go there. I’ve had this piece on my design wall long enough. Time to move forward with something. The next layer of quilting is […]
While I work out quilting designs for the sunflower scrap I’m working on the fourth broken ginkgo quilt. I have each piece of the pattern solidly stitched on the very edges and have begun the quilting. I tend to quilt very densely — some refer to this as quilting it to death — so keeping […]
I’m having a lot of fun creating a bouquet of sunflower scrap pieces. Here is the second piece well under way. I chose to use a square scrap for this one. Yes, those are a lot of pins. After stitching the pedals and seeds I was concerned about distortion so I blocked it. I used […]
I recently shared the beginning of a new project using a scrap of printed sunflower fabric. I thought I had my direction well-defined and that this foot-square piece would be whipped out and on my wall in no time. Nope. That was not the way it was to be. I had some learning and stretching […]
Beginning something new is always a shot of adrenalin to the creative flow. While pouring over a stack of Machine Quilting Unlimited magazines, an article by Jenny Bowker (May 2011) called “Starter Scrap Quilting” piqued my interest. Jenny likes to start with a small scrap of large-print fabric, add borders, then extend the pattern of […]
When was the last time ‘operator error’ was good news for you? Well, it turned out to be good news for me this week. Just Wednesday I shared some cyanotype prints with you, pointing out that one had a blotch caused by a water spot. I puzzled over this spot at the time I noticed […]
The leaves in the garden beckoned me so I pulled out some of my prepared fabrics from Blueprints on Fabric and created a few prints. I used a small clipping from Jennifer’s oakleaf hydrangea and a cluster of dried flowers from the same plant. A spot of water on the fabric created the large blotch […]
My experience at Asilomar Conference Grounds has been exciting for so many reasons. Just being at this jewel-in-the-crown California state park is a wonderful experience. Here are just a few reasons why. This is the sunset view from my room. (Click on photos for a larger view.) Walking on the boardwalk. . . Interesting stumps! […]
I’m working on a third broken color piece using the ginkgo leaf — yes, it’s a bit of an obsession. But I don’t mind. I never tire of the ginkgo leaf. I’m using the same pattern I used in February intentionally. The first one I made was sent to Studio Art Quilt Associates for the […]
Today is the 159th anniversary of Vincent van Gogh’s birthday. Happy birthday Vincent! The words to Don McLean’s hit song Vincent has been swirling around in my head for several days now and, unlike other times when I’ve found it annoying to have a tune linger this long, I’m enjoying its calming effect. Postmark’d Art […]
I’m happy to be closing in on the finish of another broken colors quilt. I have been wanting to return to this method since completing my first piece which became a donation for the SAQA 2012 fund-raiser. I’m eager to finish this one so I’ll have it on my wall to enjoy. The white lines […]
I spent all day Wednesday hanging out with three friends — Denise Oyama Miller, Aileyn Ecob and Jean Jurgenson — learning a design technique new to three of us. Last year Aileyn and Jean said they wanted to learn about the technique Denise uses in some of her art quilts. She calls it broken color […]
Here are 12 of the 14 stockings I completed. As the final stitches were being done, my mind turned to the possible uses for these little charmers. Naturally they will be wonderful on the Christmas tree. But how about using them on your holiday table? Or hanging them on a door? Or attaching them to […]
I had more fun than the law will allow yesterday putting the final decorative stitches on the applique designs for the mini stockings. (See my earlier posting about the start of this project and the book I’m using.) Next up is assembly — and with 14 of these little cuties to finish, I’m very glad […]
You read that right. Just last month I was thrilled to take the tree down on December 26th. For me, when it’s over, it’s over. But I also had such a wonderful Christmas Day with friends at our house that I’m already thinking about Christmas 2012. So. . .when I joined friends this last Saturday […]
I played with quite a few possibilities for thread painting the final maple leaf prints. I wanted a clear contrast to the weight and value thread I had used the first time around. I chose two threads: a dark navy and a 1960’s green (think Laugh In, mini skirts and Goldie Hawn), both 60 wt. […]
I’m hearing this from several sources — Simon Sinek recently posted an article entitled “Go Slow” and Jenny Lyon talked about slowing down in a class I hosted recently. Simon addressed the subject as a life-style issue. Jenny was referring to the peddle-to-the-metal approach for quilting. Her experience has taught her that if she wants […]
I cleaned out my lint trap the other day and couldn’t throw it out. You see, I usually toss the lint so frequently that I don’t have much to toss. Thanks to my recent slovenliness in this area, I had a nice 1/4″ deep pile of lint in an interesting shade of gray. Well, one […]
When the paint has dried — I use Setacolor Transparent paint — the fun begins. This print is 17″ x 22″. I always enjoy the surprises: the effect of the rock salt, my last-minute decision to add some muddy brown paint here and there, the variation of the blue. When my friend Jennifer […]
The needlefelting machine has been idle for simply too long. Time to dig out the wool roving and do something with it! And look what I found while pulling out the roving. It’s an embroidered snippet (about 6″ x 8″) of who-knows-what that my cousin left me from his estate. It looks like crewel […]
I couldn’t resist using the three metals — copper, silver and gold — that I just used for postcards in my next small quilt. I’ve just finished the quilting and I have it prepared to block. Since it’s just 14 inches square right now, it shouldn’t take long to dry. I’ve already decided […]
The moment we stepped outside for our morning walk with the boys I could tell it was going to be a real summer day — you know, the kind of tomato-ripening weather you usually have in July and August. Well, that kind of heat eluded us all summer. But it’s here today and I couldn’t […]
I’m back working on the Woodwardia fern quilt and am reminded once more how much I truly enjoy each step in the process of creating an art quilt. Right down to the final hand stitching of the binding, I’m enjoying the work. Having just completed smaller pieces with much smaller quilting patterns, this takes focus, […]
Getting the edge of a quilt right is important. For me that means the edge will be easy to handle as I stitch the binding on, both by machine and by hand, and the quilt will lay flat — no ripples. There are two things I do to achieve this. First, I stitch the edge […]
Heather and I meet for dinner and a glass of wine, then it’s off to the studio to discuss details of our collaborative piece. A full stomach and a relaxed attitude makes for a very fluid discussion. We are making progress but there are many details to iron out. Right away we agree that a […]
The next pattern to be created was the tree. We knew we wanted something big and majestic. After browsing quite a few photos of trees on-line, we borrowed features from several trees and drew our pattern directly onto transparency film, transferring the pattern to freezer paper on the wall. (I love the technology of now […]
Heather is a painter/print maker, I work with fabric. She hasn’t worked with a fiber artist to create a piece and I haven’t worked with a painter/printer. The process has been an exiting one. The exhibit we’re aiming for opens September 1 and we’re not close to being done yet. I’m feeling the pressure. Our […]
