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Archive for the ‘Finishing touches’ Category

Line Dancing Done

Tuesday, August 7th, 2012

I got this sandwiched and finished quilting it last night. I have named it Line Dancing or maybe just Line Dance. It was fun and I am thinking of doing a series of this motif.

Here is a detail – I did a zigzag edge using the variegated thread I used for the quilting.

I also finished writing my article about the two aspen quilts I made. I am going to let it sit for a bit and then read it with fresh eyes and brain, later.

I am feeling pretty good about my work ethic right now. I seem to  have good energy and am able to keep up with the work I need to get done so that I can take a couple of weeks off, soon.

Here is yesterday’s 3 x3 and today’s.

Slip Sliding

Monday, July 23rd, 2012

I am kind of coasting through the days, right now. Just getting the bare minimum done. Since I am taking off at the end of the week, I am feeling less inclined to start something new right now. I ordered some fabric for the Rhythm and Hues show for the High Fiber Diet show at the Latimer Quilt and Textile show late this year.

I finished the house quilt. I just need to sew rings on the back for hanging.

Here is the special label that each piece gets.

I realized that I had not pulled my linen and cotton clothes out of their winter storage. I have them washed and was going to iron every thing today, but I only got two tops done. I think we are in for several weeks of real summer weather.

Tomorrow, Miles and Mia are coming over to earn some money by doing some odd jobs for us. I am going to have Mia help me sort my fabric scraps by color. I think she might enjoy doing that. I will report on our progress tomorrow.

Persephone and Pomegranates

Thursday, July 12th, 2012

Today is the reveal for the Twelve by 12/20 mythology challenge. To read the story of the myth, please go to the Twelve blog.

I made this piece with batiks as I have the others in this series. I love working with them and mixing them up in a design. This time, I did all the quilting with black thread. When I first made this, I was not going to put a figure in it. I really do not like the human figure used in quilts. I don’t know why and don’t flame me!!

So, I had an idea of how I could add Persephone to this and not have to worry too much about creating a body. I made this drawing.

I then scanned it and printed it on silk organza. I carefully cut it and fused it to the quilt and then stitched it with black thread and added a pomegranate.

Here are a couple of details:

I have had a busy and productive day, getting ready for the STASH meeting today and finishing my water piece. Here is Wednesday’s 3 x 3.

 

An Exercise in Futility?

Tuesday, May 29th, 2012

This is my Alternate Universe quilt which I created by using a freezer paper template and Softscrub to discharge. I originally used beads in gel medium in the rings, but it looked really bad. I was able to remove them and spent some time over the last month or so embellishing the rings with Perle cotton. I finished today and looked at the area opposite the rainbow ring and there seemed to be crocking from the rainbow thread. It may have gotten damp while I have been hauling around.

You can sort of see it where I put the red arrow. What to do?

I figured I had nothing to lose so I spritzed it with stain remover and threw it in the washing machine with a dye magnet and washed it.

Here is a detail shot of that area after the washing. I haven’t had a chance to steam press it, but I am very happy with the result. There is natural color change from the discharge, but the crocking is gone.

I started this quilt when things started going crazy with politics a coupe of years ago. It is not a very pretty quilt, but it was not meant to be. It was to portray my angst of waking up and hearing the news and wondering what universe I was in. With the events of today — it certainly has not gotten any better.

We had a nice meal with the Portland family yesterday. I grilled a half a salmon and made a scrumptious berry/rhubarb crisp.

Today, I had tons of SDA e-mails to generate and a meeting with Diane, one of the Artists Among Us co-chairs. We reconciled all of the financial stuff with my database so that I can now generate requests for checks for the artists.

So, no 3 x 3s today. Mr C and I are having an evening marathon of catching up with Season 2 of The Killing.

Really Orange

Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011

We are leaving for New York two weeks from today. In that time, I need to get three pieces finished — all small. Two are gifts and I probably won’t post much about them. The third is our last colorplay quilt for Twelve by Twelve. Terry chose orange. She gave us specific directions about the orange — “I want to see a strong, saturated orange ranging anywhere from cheddar to flame, but pure and unadulterated.”

I have some commercial batik oranges, but not much else. I decided that I wanted to play with this a bit so I went out to Art Media to pick up some orange Dynaflow. I also replenished by yellow and scarlet.

I grabbed some raw silk for the texture and a piece of shantung organza, which also has nice texture. I wet the fabric and painted with shades of orange with some yellow.

I hung it out to dry. The joists for the new deck make a great place for me to have a clothesline!

Tonight, I ironed them and had fun adding black markings. I used a tiny paint brush, a pipette, a chop stick, a syringe and a string.

This is the organza piece.

This is probably the last I will show you this as I create my imagined composition out of this fabric.

This little piece is going to a new home:

For a hanger, I found this in the belt making section of Mill Ends and stitched it to the back.

It is nice to have a few days o feeling great and time to be creative.