Merry Christmas

Only a few days left until Christmas.  I got my tree decorated this last week and lights up outside.  It really comes fast and then over so quickly. When I was kid, Christmas was really a joy.  I lived in Chicago and it was always snowing when we went to church on Christmas Eve.  We played in the snow, made angels, ice skated and dug tunnels along the parkways. Shopping for special gifts and baking was a very wonderful time of my life. I now live in Southern California, so no snow but has really be cold lately. I miss too that the real meaning of Christmas is disappearing in our society.  May we remember it is the birthday of Christ and that is what we celebrate.  Most of my family is gone or moved away, so it's just husband, daughter and grandson.

Today is my birthday- a  Christmas baby I am,  and not feeling old at all.  I keep very active, creating and quilting.  Walk every morning and being successful in a good weight loss this year.  Got the best card from my sister-in-law that said "Forever 39" and that's really what I feel like.

A Very Merry Christmas  to everyone and much peace for the New Year 2012.

New Fabric

Doing something I have wanted to do for a long time with my art quilting. This is a piece of my new fabric I am having printed at Spoonflower.  A yard contains 3 different blocks repeated 3 times.  They are some designs I made in my fun program "Kaleidoscope Kreator" using some of my flower photos.  I am anxious to get my order and design a fun art quilt for some new one day workshops I am planning.  Anyone can purchase this fabric, or fabric from other designers, on the Spoonflower site. I have purchased fabric from them from other designers and have been very impressed with the quality of the printing and service.

My fabric is called "Kaleidoscope Blocks".  I'm having fun with this and have several more things on the drawing board for classes and having other fabric printed. 

Christmas is almost here

I know Christmas comes so fast and all of a sudden I need to be ready.   Since I have been doing watercolor classes, I decided to paint our Christmas Card this year.  Well, after countless of tries I was not happy with any of them. So, I cut them up and did a collage with the pieces.  Our last class in October was textures.  I tried saran wrap, salt, stamping leaves, negative painting, and several washes. I think it has turned pretty neat.

I like working with the watercolor, but find controlling the water very difficult. I am seeing some practice paying off with my washes.  Drawing seems to be my most difficult part of it all.

Now to see about printing them and on to creating some gifts. Have a couple of purses I want to make for family members. 

Another Postcard

Here is another postcard  playing with the negative technique.  Did several and I think this one was the best - watercolor does take a lot of practice, practice -- just like free motion quilting.

Latest Painting

This is my latest sketchy/painting with watercolor.  Oregon has flowers everywhere, in every town in hanging baskets on corners and planters.  I decided to try sketching these beautiful  Nasturtiums in oranges.  I am getting more comfortable with the water color paints and think my sketches are improving.

Postcard

This is postcard I did with the negative painting technique.  Added a few tendrils and some shavings from my water color pencils on to a wet surface. Fun technique.

Practice Watercolor

I am learning a new technique of negative painting, in my watercolor class.  It wasn't as easy at it looked on the demo.  Practice is key, and these are my practice pieces.  With each one, I learned what not to do and some of what do.  Composition is not the greatest, but I think planning a bit better would have given me a better perspective of a composition.  I learned, each layer should be very dry is the key to success - I used a hair dryer and I think some of the times it was still a little damp and I didn't get the expected result.  My last piece is not shown yet as it is a postcard the class is doing on an exchange, and I can post it later.  Was a great fun technique to do.

Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show

I am back from a wonderful week at the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show.  It started on Sunday the 3rd with a Fiber Arts Walk through the town shops where I was able to view lots of unique techniques where artists were, dyeing, stitching and selling their wares.   I attended "Quilters Affaire" which is the week before the show where classes are taken. I took a class from Leonore Crawford and her painted flowers, see post below, on the 4th of July -- they don't stop for a holiday when it falls during quilt week. Also took a class with Frieda Anderson with her dyed fabric in fusing and learned some new tips for working with fusing. 

Sisters Mountains

"Alice in Wonderland" Exhibit

Quilts on porches

Quilts in shop window.

Saturday was Quilt Show day and volunteers start really early hanging 1400 quilts all over town, from porches, windows, walls and parks. I really enjoyed the special exhibit from some girls in Portland. Their group "Cover to Cover" all read the same book and then each makes a quilt for the book - this exhibit was "Alice in Wonderland". It was really unique and they dressed up in Alice style and greeted viewers.  All in all a wonderful 2 weeks in the area - Sisters, Bend and Sunriver. 

Recent projects

Painted Rose

Been a while since I have updated my blog - we are doing a lot of traveling.  I took a class with Leonore Crawford at the Sisters, OR Quilt show.  The Rose is my finished project I painted in her class. We used Seta Color and I am really happy with this flower.  I will find a background to put it on - I will fuse it - and finish it up.  I really enjoyed her class and like the technique of painting from a photo. 

"Techniques Sampler"

I have also been working on a small quilt "Techniques Sampler" that features a lot of the techniques I use in making my art quilts, including my beaded seams/panels.Flower is painted with crayons and circles are made with the Bernina circle attachment. I will be teaching it at Redlands Sewing Center, Redlands, Ca sometime in the fall, after we return home. 

My sketching class

Wild Iris

Lupine

Working on my sketching while traveling in the trailer.  I couldn't make class last Saturday and Diane (instructor) made a video for those who can't come or live to far away.  The double spread page is the class project I did with a Lupine flower.  The single flower "Wild Iris" I did yesterday after finding it growing all over a big rock we climbed up yesterday to view the ocean in Brookings, OR.  I have lots of Iris at home, but had never seen these small Wild Iris - they are about 4" tall and grow very close to the ground with long slender leaves.  I like my Iris the best, as I got better contrast. I love the technique of stamping with leaves - really cool.  I am learning so much from Diane.

If you are interested in the video, it is available from Diane at www.Desireesdesigns.com under "workshops".

Also, check out www.Sketchy5150s.blogspot.com for some awesome work by instructor and students.

Wildflowers

We have begun our travels up the Oregon Coast. I love flowers where ever I go and photograph lots of them on our trips. I am practicing my sketching some more and did this journal sketch of the wildflowers I saw yesterday  Lots of buttercups and poppy fields, hills with clumps of purple Lupine and Azaleas like I have never seen - they are trees, not bushes like we have at home and are covered with flowers in large clumps at least 8-10" across. 

Rose Petals

I have been practicing my sketching and watercolor painting for journaling, with the Sketchy 5150's group.  Our challenge this week was "petals" and since my bike is in the garage under tarp, I decided the easiest was going to the garden.  I have some awesome roses and iris this year.  The roses are very large, some 6-7 " across when fully opened.  This is one of my light pink roses that has a yellow base - very similar to my "Princess Diana Rose", but more pink.

I drew the rose this afternoon and posted it on the Sketchy 5150's blog and decided it needed more shading. Our instructor, Desiree, says that watercolor is very forgiving - and she is right.  I let me first part dry thoroughly and came back in to shade with watercolor crayons and a little finger rubbing and I am much more pleased with this page - I might even give it a little more dark at the very center top for a little more definition.

I am having fun revisiting my sketching and trying this "journal" thing, I will be taking my sketching and watercolor stuff with me on our vacation this year -- want to try some scenery - but the single items is giving me good practice.

Fun stuff

Took a class at "Create" Costa Mesa this week with Jane LaFazio on Fusing Sheers.  We used lots of fun paper and fabic, inluding napkins, organza, all kinds of sheer stuff, stamping, stenciling, thermo faxing, ribbon, and thread.  Hands were so covered with medium, I was still peeling off after  2 days.   Loved the class, fun co-students, wonderful, sharing instructor.  This is a photo of the three I finished.  They need some stitching and will do that later. When you hold them up to the light they are transparent, kind of like stained glass.

Student Work

I taught a class at Redlands Sewing Center this last month and thought I would post some of the students work.  It's always a pleasure to see the creativeness that comes out in each student as they move through the weeks.  Although most are not finished, you can see how each design using the "Steampunk" theme was interpreted.  All the fabric was dyed with "Seta Silk" in our first week of the class. Then they learned to connect the panels with a "lacey free-motion stitching".

 

See my quilt in Machine Quilting Unlimited

If you haven't seen this magazine, it is a must for every quilter, beginner to advanced, domestic machine or long arm.  I started a subscription to it a couple of years ago and recently sent in a photo of my "Connections" quilt.  Lo and Behold they put it into there "Northworth" section, "Quilts from our Readers", May 2011 issue, Page 70.  They have wonderful information throughout their publication, check them out with the link at the left.
 

AQS Quilt News: Winners - AQS It's In the Bag Contest

AQS Quilt News: Winners - AQS It's In the Bag Contest

I'm a winner!

Best Bag Winner

I won "1st Place" and "Best Bag" with these purses I designed for the American Quilting Society contest, "It's in the Bag". All bags entered will be auctioned off after the upcoming Quilt Show in Paducah, Kentucky to support the Quilt Museum. I painted the front door garden with watercolor on fabric

Back of bag 1st place Winner

Front of bag 1st Place Winner

Spring Snow

Oh, such a pretty sight!   Here it is April, my daffodils and lilacs were blooming here in California. Roses and Iris budding - Now we get freezing weather and snow last night!  This is not just a powdery snow, but heavy 3" of  ICE! My sago palms are covered in icy snow - California palms don't like that.   My yard is really going suffer - good thing I picked a bunch of lilacs for the house the last couple of days!  We usually get snow once a year, but not this late in the spring. 

Spring has sprung - somewhat

Enjoying all this wonderful weather we are having. 

 

This is my favorite time of the year in California. Weather is just nice and comfortably warm, grass is getting greener from the rains and flowers are blooming on trees and in the garden.  While my roses are really sprouting new growth the daffodils are in full bloom. Got some very nice orchids coming out, this photo is one on my front porch and on the patio 4 huge stalks are getting ready to open any day now.  They say rain is coming again next week, but it does make the air fresh and the gardens sprout.

Now, there are those pesky weeds and I will have to find time to get out there and clean them out - maybe next week after a rain and the ground is soft.  The older I get, the harder it is to bring myself out on my knees, then trying to get up.  I love my yard and flowers, but it suffers somedays  when I can't find time to get out there and fuss with it.  Also, with having time spent in Oregon each summer, my yard really misses me.

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New Quilt "Connections"

Full Quilt

Closeup

This is a new quilt I have been working on the last few months.  Comprised with multiple panels, stitched together with free motion stitching on water solvable stabilizer with 30 wt. cotton thread in the bobbin and 12wt cotton on the top. I dyed all the doilies and did a lot of beading and embellishments.  I had it accepted in the Oklahoma Quilt Show this last weekend and just saw on their site I had won a 1st place ribbon in the "innovative/art" category.  Always exciting to win a ribbon.

New Class Quilt

Getting back to creating and here is a class project coming up in April. I always find that new students to art quilts are very intimidated with being creative. I designed this small quilt "Visiting Steampunk" to demonstrate some easy, basic techniques to use.  Students will learn techniques which includes tabletop dying with Seta Silk dye for iron/heat setting, some of my favorite simple free motion quilting styles, cutting up the dyed pieces for a quilt, connecting blocks with free motion stitching, embellishing with found objects and old jewelry for the Steampunk theme. Students will also learn about different supplies to use in art quilt that you won't find in the quilting aisle. 

Sold

Sold, oh how nice that expression sounds. I received notice today, that my 12" Block on the Members Wall "Fall is Coming"  has been sold.  Such a wonderful feeling!  See September Archive for photos.

Haven't been up to much this last month.  Between the Holidays, taking care of my daughter after her surgery and having surgery on my foot, creative work has been slow to get done. Just two gimps trying to help each other!    Did do some dying for a class project I am designing -- hope to have photos up soon.  Want to work on some more zentangles too!  Oh, so much to do and so little time.