Sunday, August 30, 2009

End of Summer 09

In just over a week I will be back in school. In some ways I am looking forward to it and in others I am not. I expect I will enjoy a couple of the classes, but not sure about the Graphic Design class. I know I will probably be happy with the output, but... getting there is hard no two ways about it, and I have been very lazy this summer. On the plus side I will have more material for the blog which has been a bit neglected this summer.

What have I been doing these past couple of weeks, I have been working on the quilting of a small quilt and the design work on a challenge piece. First the small quilt, I am calling it Late Arrival



I updated the photo I originally uploaded on 9/2/09, this one is better, had some sun this morning. Heavy machine quilting in the outer border with more simple quilting for the inner borders and triangle pieces. Center blocks were paper pieced, and I used hand dyed fabrics, Cherrywoods I think, and the hand marbleized fabric for the yellow/red/green corners. I am thinking about adding some beading to the yellow border, but haven't gotten that far yet. The pattern there was done with pearl cotton on top of the machine quilting I did earlier. Not as even as it could have been but I am not sure I would want it more precise. I just managed to finish the binding on this last evening so it still needs some work - the beading if I decide to do it, a hanging sleeve and a label.

My other project has been sitting and waiting for me, I got the design done and the fabrics picked out and the pieces that need to be sewn down cut out and glued down but not much further. Since this was supposed to be my challenge quilt for July this is not good. Oh well and now I have another challenge from the FFFC challenge group, transparency with a horizontal design element. Have been thinking about what I want to do but haven't really done any design work on that just yet.


Again not a very good photo, for this one I used the flash so the light isn't even. There will be a spider web between the two uprights when I get around to quilting this. I am sure I want to add beads and there are plans to include a spider in the center of the web.

Hope everyone had a wonderful summer. I am still selling some of my quilting books on e-bay and trying to add items to my Etsy shop. As always comments are welcome.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Lowell Quilt Festival


Not a good picture I admit, but the best of what I took I fear. This is the inside of the Tsongas Area in Lowell, MA. where I attended Images 2009 last Friday. Great show, with venues all over the city that also show fiber art. I only had time and energy to view the main show, the exhibit of MA historic quilts at the NE Quilt Museum and the exhibit of art quilts at the Whistler.

Saw some beautiful quilts, some art, some traditional, and I enjoyed my day out very much, though it was exhausting. I was able to listen to the gallery talk at the Quilt Museum, very interesting esp. as I love to look at older quilts. Some of these quilts were almost 200 years old. The Whistler quilts being modern art quilts were at the completely opposite end of the quilt spectrum. Lovely work, the Jury selected some beautiful and interesting quilts, I really loved the best of show.

I did take pictures, just pictures of Lowell, which is a historic city that has been greatly restored. I don't usually take pictures of quilts at quilt shows. I will if I am asked to for a special reason, and have taken pictures of friends quilts to show other friends who couldn't attend the event. Last fall I took a lot of pictures at a show, both of quilts and overall, so that I could create a brochure of the event for one of my classes at school. But I don't take pictures for me to have and review. Don't get me wrong I love looking and seeing what others have done, but I don't want/need to have pictures. Am I alone in feeling this way? I see a lot of folks with cameras taking pictures, do you take pictures at shows, if you do why?

I have started selling many of my quilting books on E-bay. I need to de-clutter and I realized that while I had read the books when first I purchased them, I don't usually go back to them for any reason so they are just sitting on my shelves and collecting dust. So I am selling them. There are some I will keep for various reasons (because they are good reference books) but most of them will go. I think not using the books is like my not wanting photos, I don't want to make someone else's quilt. Not sure I have quite developed my own voice but I am trying to.

As always comments are appreciated.

Friday, August 7, 2009

August Update

Just a short note today then I am going to go off to the Lowell Quilt Festival in Lowell, MA. Should be fun and I should be able to see lots of wonderful art quilts at one of the related exhibit sites.


As for what I have been doing, nothing finished which is why I haven't done any blog updates. I did spend some time sketching in the Blue Hill Exhibit area, deer and these people. Nothing finished and I don't think these are all that wonderful, I need to spend more time sketching from life. Sorry the image is so light, I did do some adjusting in photo shop, but there is only so much that can be done with a pencil drawing done with a fairly light lead. The Blue Hill exhibit area isn't exactly a zoo, they have animals but only those native to the Blue Hill's and MA. Most have been injured so couldn't survive in the wild. I am sure the turtles could, but ....

Otherwise I have been working on a couple of quilts, I have designs for a couple of challenge pieces. One is at the need to sew stage, but I have been working on the quilting on the top below. I finally (after literally years) decided on an outer border pattern, got it marked, and now finally finished quilting yesterday. Still have some threads to tuck away, and obviously the inner sections of the quilt still need to be quilted. I want to see if I can find some dark green quilting thread for one of the inner borders, hopefully a vendor will be there with the threads I want, King Tut. The thread I was using for the outer border was of an unknown brand and I had trouble with breakage. I am tentatively call this Late Arrival, but am open to other suggestions. Leave me a note here or to my e-mail. Not saying I will change the name, but I am not totally satisfied with my current ideal.


Late Arrival

When I had finished the outer edge of the quilting I wasn't sure that I cared for the look of the variegated thread I used. But I think it is growing on me. Good thing as there is no way I would attempt to take it out. It is very close quilting and would be a nightmare to take out, not to mention that it would probably ruin the top.

My other activities have been to sell some of my quilting books on e-bay and to open an Esty shop. Neither have been what I would call totally successful, but I am slowly getting rid of some of my library of quilt books which I never or rarely use. I am sure I have priced some of my Esty items too high, but darn it I won't give away my labor. This is mainly an experiment to see what happens and I am willing to give it a bit of time. The sale of the books on e-bay will support the Esty shop.

Per usual all comments welcome.