Small Things

I concentrate on large quilts, when I am counting up the projects that I have finished throughout the year, but the truth is that many small things are also created. My fiber art group, SAFA did a birthday card exchange this year, and we all enjoyed getting small pieces of art from each other, on our special days. I actually made many special cards, wall hangings and baby quilts, for special people. I enjoy giving hand made gifts. This year, like many people, I purchased an E-reader. I enjoy reading books on this device, but it also serves as a great photo album for my quilts. Of course, I made a cover for it! Here it is.

Baby It's Cold Outside!

It's 10 degrees outside this morning! In our part of New England we have lucked out, with no snow on the ground yet! I am writing and making Christmas cards, have almost completed my, "slice," for my first slice quilt to be done with fiber art friends and taking stock of the quilts that I have completed this year. Ho, Ho, Ho...it's almost Christmas!

It's finished: Lobster Boats

This quilt is complete and I am now working on my first slice quilt, with fiber friends. Pretty soon I have to inventory what I have finished this year. It's been a big year for painted whole cloths. Thats what Lobster Boats is.
Judy

In Process

I started painting this quilt the week before Thanksgiving, after painting nothing for a little while. As soon as I start with the painting, I feel better! It didn't take this one long to be finished with the painting process. It's on my machine now and almost done!

Racing Quilts

Here are the horse racing quilts that I created from my digital photos. They are the result of a day at Saratoga!

Feedback welcome.

Entries

I took down a picture of I quilt that I did, in order to comply with entry requirements, in an upcoming SAQA show. I wish I had not removed that post from my blog. It had great feedback from those of you who took the time to critique the work. The quilt was not accepted for the show, and I've lost the comments. Lesson learned.

Quilting on a Rainy Day

It's blustery today and I am working on my current piece and listening to classical music. I am quilting vertical lines to represent barn boards. I got so into what I was listening to, that I hit reverse instead of forward on my pick up roller, which rolls my quilt on my long arm. Then I hit forward, when I wanted to reverse! I thought, "This is like learning to drive when you're a kid!"

I guess I better, " park, turn off the machine, turn off the music, and go have a cup of tea!"

I will resume when I learn how to drive!

Painting Complete

It chilly in New England and definitely feels like cold weather is on the way. Our summer days may be a thing of the past. This is great painting and quilting weather. I have just completed painting ( I think! ), another picture on fabric. This is one that I have thought about doing for a while, and just didn't start it. Just a week ago, I slapped my first paint on the fabric, and the picture in my mind took off from there! As usual, it really doesn't look just like I wanted it to, but we'll see what it looks like as I add thread. Now for the stitching!

Great SAQA Weekend

This past weekend, SAQA New England artists met in Searsport, Maine. A great time was had by all. There were socials, workshops and plenty of networking among artists. My friends Wen Redmond, Michele Kincaid and I attended. It was a great artistic boost just to be among these enthusiastic women.

Two Racing Quilts Completed!

My first two racing quilts, inspired by my photos of racing at Saratoga, have been completed. No blog pictures yet, as they have been entered into a show. Here's hoping they get juried in!
I haven't worked on two quilts at the same time before, but working toward a short deadline, it was necessary. I am happy with the outcome.

Hurray For Art!!!!

It's a chilly soaker in New England, today. It feels more like October than it does August. It's a great day to work on fiber art. I am working on a new series from my digital photos taken at Saratoga Race track. The first piece is now on my long arm and the second piece is on my easel. It is so much fun to apply the first color to the fabric and to watch the picture emerge! It reminds me of the days when I used to do some creative writing, and the words would just jump off my pen. Hurray for art! Where would we be without it!

Inspiration is Everywhere!!!

Over the last week, I have been showered with inspiration! My husband and I traveled to NY state in our RV, and visited my family. Being embraced by people we love is a wonderful tonic! On Monday we went to the horse races at Saratoga, something we had not done in many years, and I took pictures with future art quilts in mind! Yesterday we set off in the RV again, and visited the NH Craftman's Fair in Sunapee, NH. Booth after booth of creativity inspired me and I was able to applaud the work of my friends Michele and Wen! I love to admire the work of other artists. I feel inspired and ready to start another piece of fiber art!

Making Binding......Yuk!!

I am doing one of my least favorite sewing tasks, today. I am making the endless strip of black binding, which is what I most often use to finish my quilt edges. This is a tedious task, and I would much rather go on to a new project. I have explored other finishes, but I personally like the neatness of this edge. So, on and on I go, sewing this three inch strip, folding it in half, steam pressing it, then carefully laying it on and pinning to my quilt edge. I will sew it on, turn the edge and tonight while I watch TV, I'll do the other hated step.....hand sewing it all the way around. The reward here will be....another art quilt finished! Now to make the label!

Vermont Quilt Festival Ribbon!

"Visiting Egypt," a painted whole cloth quilt, won a second place ribbon at the Vermont Quilt Festival! I am pleased as punch!

Juried into Images

Just received my letter of acceptance for my quilt, Feathered Friends, which will appear at Images 2010, at The Lowell Quilt Festival.

This is the first painted quilt that I have done on black sateen.

Not Accepted at The Whistler

Well, I don't regret doing it, but I wish it had been jurored in! Here is my rejected work, "Vincent's Garden."
It is based on Vincent Van Gogh's, "Irises."

Entry sent

My Masters' art quilt interpretation has been sent to The Whistler! Now I will wait to hear whether it is juried into the exhibit? Here's hoping! It has been an enjoyable process.
The name of my entry is, Vincent's Garden.

The Concept Continues

In previous posts, you can see the start of my fiber interpretation of the masters. I hope that I'm chaneling Van Gogh.......hold onto my ear!!!! I am really enjoying this process and hoping that what's in my head, is coming out my hands. To be continued. I'm almost ready for thread painting!

Why do we quilt??

Nancy G Cook, fiber artist, http://nancygcook.blogspot.com
brought up the subject, why do we quilt rather than just paint on canvas, for those of us who paint and then quilt fabric? I have been thinking about that as I work on my current piece. For me, the answer is, I just LOVE the process. My usual projects encompass a process that I love to do: take the photo, paint the picture, enhance it with thread! There is no part of this that I don't enjoy, so this makes me very blessed. Photo to fiber, that's my thing!

Could This Be Art ???

I'm continuing to work on my, Masterpiece," excuse the pun! The tools of the trade may have changed, but the concept is still trying to get through. It is taking shape in my mind. Now we'll see how it takes shape in fabric!

Painting From the Masters

On quilt art, they often discuss doing art from other people's pictures or doing art that may look like another's work. I usually skim these posts and delete, because I basicly work from my own digital photos. Last year, while at the Lowell Quilt Festival in Massachusetts, I went to visit one of the smaller galleries, The Whistler. I loved that little gallery and thought that this year I would try to do a piece that I could enter there. Well, this year, they have a required theme, Reinterpreting the Masters, and that didn't interest me. I don't want to reinterpret anything, I just want to do my own work. But, this little desire to make something to enter at the Whistler has nagged at me, and I have been going to try a quilt with irises from my garden pictures, so can I try an iris quilt for the Whistler? Of course I've waited late on this project, because I am still quilting my Palm Beach quilt, and I generally work on one thing at a time.

To make a long story short.......which I can never do, if you know me......I set up my easel in the living room on Wednesday evening. While I watched the NBA playoffs, I painted my version of Van Gogh's irises. I may add paint, I may add fabric, I will do thread painting. Anyway, it may turn into nothing, but it's what was in my head on this subject, so thought I'd try it. What do you think? Have I taken this assignment too literally? I looked at the picture and kind of painted my version onto cloth.

Enries in Local Art Show

Yesterday, I dropped three quilts to the Exteter, NH, Buds and Blooms art show, which opens tomorrow, at the Exeter Town Hall Gallery. I debate with myself about doing these things. Do I really produce anything that anyone wants to see at an art show? There will be paintings and drawings, as well as work from area fiber artists, usually. For a long time, I was unaware that these little shows even existed in my area. What these events do for me, besides giving my work a little public expossure, is to give me personal encouragement. It makes me feel good to dress up a little and mingle with a small group of creative people. Like going to quilt shows, I feel these small gatherings validate the time and money I spend on my work, dare I say, "My art?"

I spend most of my time at home, alone, so this is my creative outlet. So tomorrow, I'll venture out briefly to be part of the little group and enjoy the imaginative work of others!

One of the quilts entered is my little quilt, Beach Birds. The other two were in earlier posts, Catching the Wind and Water Lily.

Another Show entry Sent

Well, the quilt with the ducks got entered into a show today! I never did post the entire picture of the finished quilt, because of talk on the quilt art list, about posting pictures of quilts on websites, which is prohibited by some shows. So I didn't really know what to do with the quilt when I finished it? I brought it to my art quilt group, SAFA, and my friends liked it. So, today I entered it in the upcoming Lowell Quilt Festival. I hope that it gets in! If so, my ducks will swim their way to Massachusetts! Quack, quack!!!

Camel Ride to Vermont

My quilt, Visiting Egypt, seen in earlier posts, was accepted into the Vermont Quilt Festival. Some of you know that the quilt was based on a photo of my friend's trip to Egypt, so my friend Michele will be riding that camel to Vermont in June.
I went to the Vermont show for the first time last year, and I was really impressed. I am very pleased to have a quilt in the show.

Street Scene in Process

I am in the process of painting my newest quilt, based as usual on a digital photo. I love the photo, and hope to do it justice.

Finally Painting Again !

For some reason, I found it hard to make a selection for my next quilt subject. I had sorted through digital photos, had lots of good subjects, but just couldn't seem to get started. I think that starting a quilt is like starting a lot of other things, you pick a picture or design, and then you wonder if you can do your idea justice? That old, "Fear of Failure," raises it's ugly head. I hate to take a picture that I really like and make a mess of it. Of course practise makes improvement! Notice that I didn't say practise makes perfect, because in my opinion, art is never perfect. Perfection is in the eye of the beholder.
I started a street scene today. This is new for me, so let's see if I can do one of my favorite streets, justice? Let the sketching, painting and stitching begin!

He's Back !

Maybe my old friend, the pheasant, is deciding that he wants me to make a quilt of him! I no sooner wrote my last post, walked out onto the screened porch, and there he was! He squalked loudly and ran into the orchard. He really is a handsome subject for some fiber art.

Looking Through Photos

It's a beautiful day in NH. It really has begun to look and feel like Spring. I have raked some of the old leaves away from those tender green shoots, that are just popping up through the soil. I have also been scanning through some of my digital pictures from last year, trying to settle on the subject for my next quilt. Will it be last summer's flowers, my friendly pheasant, who hung around our house last summer, waking us at dawn, or another favorite family picture like, " Bizzy's Birthday?" All of these pictures will probably make their way to cloth, sooner or later. The question is, what's next?

Happy spring!

Quilting on the long arm

I am quilting ducks today. I have been quilting this painted quilt on black fabric, for the past few days. I am at the point of questioning myself. How much quilting is too much? Adding thread to a painted whole cloth, changes the appearance dramatically. As the quilt is spread in front of you, suddenly you see too much thread. Suddenly I think, "Well, now I've ruined it!" Faces are the hardest part for me. In the past, I think that I have erred on the side of too little quilting. I am trying to be bolder in my quilting approach. I wonder if other quilters struggle with this?

I am going to show a small shot of my ducks, not the whole quilt, just a piece. Have I wrecked the face? Oppinions welcome. Now back to thread work. Yikes!!!

Painting Ducks

I have been painting a new quilt over the last few days. I would love to post my work in progress, but now I am wondering if I should? I think I have eliminated my last quilt from some shows that I might have entered, because pictures of the work have been on my blog. I think I won't post duck pictures just yet. I really want my blog to be kind of a work in progress journal, so maybe I should just not enter shows where published pictures are a problem? Don't know, haven't decided yet? Feedback anyone?

Snow Dyeing Results

Well I certainly didn't have outstanding results. I have two more blah pieces, which I may over-dye at some point. I did manage to use up the old dye pastes, which had hung around for a year, so I did accomplish something!

Snow Dyeing -- Yikes!

There were so many snow dyeing messages on quiltart, that they drove me nuts! Then I thought about that piece of fabric that I had soaked in soda ash last February and some left over dye paste, also a year old. So, guess who has a pot of snow on the porch! Oh well, guess I had to try it.

Egypt Quilted

Well, I'm in the home stretch with my first major quilt of the new year. I have just added the binding and need to stitch it down, but I'm pretty happy with this painted quilt. I have done very dense quilting on this one. I don't always do that. I have finished it in a month's time, so that is also a good accomplishment for me.

Some people who looked at the painting in progress were interested in how it would look quilted, so here it is. Feedback is always welcome.

Masters Art Quilts at the Quilt Museum

Yesterday, my fiber friends Michele, Kathy, Linda and I, took a trip to the New England Quilt Museum in Lowell, Ma. What a truely fabulous collection of quilts! I have had The Masters Art Quilts book since it was released, and it is one of my favorite books, but as it happens, pictures of these quilts do not do them justice. To stand in front of the work of Inge Mordal and Steen Hougs," Ringed," and the work of Hollis Chatelain, " World of Tuaregs," is a breath-taking experience. All of the of pieces inspired us to reach to higher levels with our own work. We had a really lovely and inspirational day.

Quilting Egypt

My current project is now on my long arm. We'll see what it looks like as thread is added. I am moving along much faster on this painted quilt, than I usually do! I guess this was the right quilt to start in the new year.

New Project in Process

I am painting another quilt and realize that this is what I love to do! My friend Michele took a trip to Egypt recently, and as soon as I saw the picture of her on her camel ride, I knew I had to try to put that scene onto fabric. Some scenes just grab you, and this one grabbed me.

I love working on big projects. I can't wait to finish painting and start quilting!

A Lesson in Book Making

At the monthly meeting of SAFA, Seacoast Area Fiber Artists, my friend Wen Redmond taught us some book making skills. I have never done this before, but Wen is a pro, and we had lots of fun. Here is my book, almost complete. I still need to add some gel medium to seal the pages. Great new project!

Continue With the Familiar

We are two weeks into 2010, and I haven't exactly hit the ground running! I am thinking about which projects to start, instead of just starting them, so I have come back to the familiar. Here are some seagulls, painted on a small piece of hand dyed fabric, a sheer overlay added for water, and then quilted. I have added my signature small sea shells.

I've done these before, but doing the familiar is better than doing nothing.