2012 watch out

to all fellow out of bounders.... happy new year! looking forward to seeing so much more work including self portraits and maybe an entry into the pnqs... or whatever its current name is...

workshop @ pacific northwest art school

As promised (and now with laptop back) here are some photos of fugitive media silkscreen printing done by Sharon, Jill and I in October workshop with Kerr.

Looking Ahead

#15 of the Improvisational Quilts (from Judy)

It's called 'What About the Parrot?'  And like all the others, it's around 45" wide and 60" long.

A Quilt of Variation (from Judy)

This quilt is a little hard to explain.  The idea was that of a single variation in each 4-square block.  The variation could involve either rotating the entire block 90 degrees or rotating one square in the block 90 degrees, or replacing half of one square with some other fabric.  I started in the middle (column 5, row 5: you can see a little round spot/a yellow flower pin head in that block) and worked around circularly, ending at the upper right hand corner.  The sashing is 1/2 inch; each square is 5 inches on a side.

It is big enough at this point (about 45 inches across) for me to see how it works.  Next one, I think, I start at the upper left-hand corner and work linearly so I don't have to end up with a square.  But it is a pretty interesting design principle, I think.  One of the things I learned is that striped fabric is good and another is that vague prints are useless.  Maybe stick to stripes and solids next time?  If you have any thoughts about it/suggestions, I'd be happy to hear them.  ---Judy

Coupeville, continued

Day 3 and the dyes are out and we are making deconstructed screens.... Printing this afternoon, we hope, if they dry.... Weather has changed to rain or light drizzle so no outside drying takes a little longer...
Some amazing pieces/samples coming

Coupeville, Wa

Hi Ladies
Sharon, Jill and I are attending a fibre workshop at the Pacific Northwest Art School..

If the laptop is functional will add pictures during the 5 days - if not you'll be able to see some of the days when I get home and get back online... Already have a fab sunrise from the front deck of the vacation rental we have....

take care
Sybil

Finishing Number 14!

Judy:  Finished this today, #14 in the Improvisational Quilt Series, called 'Sundown'.  It's 44x60 inches.

And #15 is already up on the design wall.  It's called 'What About the Parrot?'

Also, for our quilt show/sale down here this weekend, I've made almost a dozen flower pins.  They're pretty cute.  They're each about 5 inches across with free motion quilted centers.

Quilt Show

My Point Roberts Quilt Group is having a quilt show on Saturday, September 3, 10-2.  The only place to have a quilt show here is the Community Center, which has two rooms and a hallway where we can hang quilts.  Although those rooms are already kind of filled up with furniture of one sort or another.  So it's something of a challenge.

It's hard to know whether we will have too many quilts or not enough quilts when you have a small space but have only 14 or so members, not all of whom quilt.  And we will have a little sale of quilted goods as well.  Fortunately, I have these 14 quilts of the 'Improvised Quilt" series to use as the backbone, so we can use all of them or fewer of them if that is necessary.  But it still makes for a nervous approach to the show.

I've been making flower pins for the sale part and some of the other members will do quilted baskets, and there will be purses, pillowcases, covered books, and all that stuff.  Wish us well!

Meeting

Loved today's meeting. There is nothing better than good friends, beautiful quilts and delicious food!

Quilting in Spain

I've been emailing some with a Spanish quilter named Lola Ruiz whom I came across on flickr. She has a website with some great quilt photos, some hers and some other peoples', as well as some interesting posts on how she quilts. Some of the blog is in English and some is in Spanish, but the pictures speak a universal language, so look at the galleries and check her links as well. Very nice stuff! Inspiring. I wish i spoke Spanish well enough even to know how to say inspiring.


If the link above doesn't work, go to

http://quiltsimprovisados.blogspot.com


--Judy

Another Quilted Basket

I tried using the customary linen scraps with intense free motion in this one and was pretty pleased with the results.

This is what the 13" square fabric looked like when I was finished with it.  Then I cut it into four pieces and repieced it and by then it looked like this:

Lighting a little different; the color in the first picture is more accurate..in the finished basket, the color got too blued.  need to work on it.

Judy

Trees and Beyond

The show has been hung

I've got a few photo's and will add them as I can

it looks very good - thanks to Jim for wonderful display stands..

farbic forest / trees

Hi Ladies

It is my goal to take pictures of our display next week and create a cd/dvd that can be shared with those that can't see the show. also I will get pictures of each piece so we each have our piece for future reference..

have a great day of stitching

Guild presentation

Nice presentation today ladies. I have spoken with Carol A. as she took many photo's and I hope I will get a copy of them and create a dvd or at least post some here

And, Finished Piecing

This one (which I said was #13, but is actually #12) is called 'Nara,' the old imperial city of Japan.  Here, it's all pieced but not quilted.  Next!

In this, there is an orange gate, a rural tori gate, some wrapped fish, a bamboo forest, some cherry blossoms, and some ikebana flowers.  plus a lot of vintage kimono fabrics, as well as the usual melange of special fabrics.

Lasagne Recipe

Mushroom Vegetarian Lasagna

1 pkg (10 oz/284 g) fresh spinach (I use one 10 oz bag)

3 tbsp. olive oil

3 shitake mushrooms, finely chopped

1 portobello mushroom (4 oz/125 g), finely chopped (I use 3) (and I use some regular mushrooms thrown in – everything finely chopped)

1 large shallot or small onion, finely chopped

1 jar (700 ml) spaghetti or pasta sauce (Bertolli Five Bros. Pasta, summer Tomato Basil) I use Classico)

1 jar (6oz/179g) marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped (I use 1 tin regular artichoke hearts)

1 1/2 tsp black pepper

8 oz (250g) spinach lasagna noodles (I use fresh plain ones)

8 oz bocconcini or mozzarella cheese, sliced or grated (I use one Bari package)

8 oz mascarpone or ricotta cheese

1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

1. Rinse and trim spinach, shaking off excess water. In saucepan, cook spinach, covered with just the water clinging to the leaves, over med-high heat for about 5 min. or until wilted. Drain in sieve, reserving cooking water. Press out excess moisture from spinach, chop coarsely and set aside. Penny didn't do this: she simply chopped the spinach and added it to the saucepan at Step #3.

2. In a large saucepan, heat oil over med-high heat. Cook shitake and portobello mushrooms and shallot, stirring often, for 5 minutes.

3. Stir in sauce, artichoke hearts, spinach and pepper. Add enough water to reserved cooking water to make 2/3 cup. Penny added artichoke water from the can. Stir water into sauce mixture. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

4. Meanwhile in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook noodles for about 8 minutes or until tender but firm. Drain. Penny bought fresh pasta--no pre-cooking. Penny's getting impatient and lazy in her old age.

5. Spread about 1 cup of the sauce in the bottom of a 13x9 inch baking dish. Cover with one-quarter of the noodles, then one-quarter of the sauce. Top with one-third of the mozzarella cheese, then one-third of the ricotta, then 1/4 cup of the parmesan. Repeat the layers twice.

6. Arrange remaining noodles over the top, spread with remaining sauce and sprinkle with remaining parmesan.

7. Bake at 350 F oven for 30-40 minutes, or until bubbly. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Makes 8 servings.

If using uncooked noodles, add more sauce liquid.

Brenda used 2 portobello mushrooms and regular mushrooms.

A Great Piece/Peace Falls

I have just finished the hand-quilting of #12 ('Aerial Views') in this long series of free-pieced quilts that still lack some comforting/comfortable name.  And, after I folded it up and put it on the couch till morning when I will do the binding, I felt a great peace come to the fingers of both my hands.  They felt as free and easy and flexible and graceful as the hands of a 10-year-old, which they don't usually feel and which they definitely are not.  So it is some kind of sign.

The piecing of number 13 is near done, but maybe 4-5 days before it is ready to be quilted, so there will be some resting for the fingers.  What a nice feeling.

Here is number 13, whose name will be 'Nara'.  It has a final outside 'surround,' which one might call a border, but i don't.  it will be mostly dark with some blue in the upper left and lower right edges.

Judy, I love the quote about everything getting out of the way when we create. That's how I feel when I am working in the studio. Gradually the outside world and its problems disappears, and if I am really lucky it is just me and Spirit.  ann

Taking My Own Advice

I was working this morning on the center panel of the next 'free pieced' quilt (this would be #13 and it seemed like it might be a bad luck number).  My former husband was in Japan recently on an extended trip and brought back a couple of packets of vintage kimono quilt pieces and i wanted to use these as the basis for the quilt (in the same general manner that I had used the maiwa squares), but it didn't seem to be working out.  this center panel is about 30 inches by 45 inches and has two additional 'borders'.

this afternoon, after a very unsatisfactory morning, i returned with the hope that i might be able to figure out what the problem seemed to be.  i figured it might help if i had a little more blue in it, to echo one of the 6 'focal' pieces.  but otherwise, nada.  and then i remembered the quotation and just let my idea go and trusted that whatever i had done would work, and i just started sewing it together.  by dinner time, i had pretty much finished the upper half and it did look like what i wanted.  may just look like chaos to anyone else, of course, but i was pretty pleased.  maybe tomorrow it will look all different. who knows?


judy

Getting Everyone Out...

I came upon this today in a book review:

"When you start working, everybody is in your studio--your friends, enemies, the art world and, above all, your own ideas--all are there.  But as you continue painting, they start leaving, one by one, and you are left completely alone.  Then, if you're lucky, even you leave."

As good a description as any I've ever read what it is like to be in a creative mode.

Judy

Fabric Bowls/Baskets

Update on this: after the meeting at Penny's last week, I went home and tried adapting Charis's paint methodology to the fabric base.  The base, as we discussed, might be a previously done piece that we no longer wanted to keep.  For the reverse side, I just sewed together some similarly colored blocks that I'd done some time back and now had no use for.  It ended up being a piece about 14 inches square.  I lay the blocks on the back of the finished piece and then just free-motioned it all together, very densely.  (i didn't use any fusible and the original piece had some quilting and batting+front+back).

Then i painted both sides with slightly thinned white acrylic paint.  I didn't have house paint at hand.  After it dried, I put some red metallic shiva stick on it, in no particular manner: just to bring out the stitching here and there with some red shininess.

Next, I cut the square up into the pieces to make the basket (i can tell you how that's shaped if anyone is interested) and sewed the three pieces together and, Voila!  Here's the photo.  (again, it's about 10 inches wide and 5 inches high and 3 inches deep.

The red flower was just something hanging around and it's just pinned to it.  I liked the 'ears' standing up this way, although previously i have fastened them down in a loop with rivets.  If i decide to keep the flower, i'll probably velcro it on.

judy

Progress on Trees

I've finished the second tree quilt and, like Jill, I'm going to think more carefully about what I agree to do in the future.  These quilts were both challenges, but for different reasons, although the size/proportions were strange to work with in both.  However, I am pleased enough with both.  The back of the 'Tree Sprite' has a 'cape' of black voile with radiant green satiny-y stripes.  It shows just slightly, billowing a bit at the edges, but not in the photo because I hadn't attached it at the time I took the photo.  I will deliver this up to Jill tomorrow at Penny's, but for those of you who won't be there, this is what it looks like.

There's a rabbit down at the bottom in the brush, and a bird on each tree limb 'arm.'

also, here's a link to the fabric baskets that I talked about at the meeting today.

judy ross

playing

With my studio not quite finished as you can see I still found a little time to start to play on a new piece.. It's almost a "What if?" play piece. I dyed the kona crush in an IDye and painted this much with 2 seta colours. still needs more.....

Seasons of a Tree

Here it is finished: 20 inches by 80 inches.  I forgot to take a photo of the back, but it has strips in gradations of green with a maple leaf in the center section.  Now, to get the other one done.  Today, I made a needle-felted goldfinch to sit in its branches.  Tomorrow, a robin, maybe.

Big Tree Project, Stage II

Here is the winter segment to go with the fall segment.  There's every chance i could get this finished by the end of February!  judy

Big Tree Project

Update below.
This is the first of the four panels (spring, summer, fall, winter) of the same basic tree/landscape form.  the leaves on the autumn tree are cut out with pinking sheers from painted silk paper.  There will be a lot more leaves, but i didn't see a lot of point to pinning them all on ..  you can get the point.  i think the spring flowers will be washaway lace and the summer leaves crocheted .  but i'm not sure of that yet.  each piece is about 19 inches square,  so the whole thing with some dividers will be 80 inches.

I removed the earlier picture and replaced it with the finished Autumn section.

Trees, More..

Not done much on the big tree quilt project, but decided to work also on a 52-tree postcards for the year.  You can see them here. In general, one a week, but as ideas come: might as well get ahead for when one has guests and no sewing much gets done.

It helps to be thinking about trees, thinking about ideas regularly, I find.