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