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Archive for the ‘Construction series’ Category

Quilting Done

Monday, February 15th, 2010

After a false start and several hours of unquilting, I have finished the quilting on Meander. This photo is a little fuzzy, but you get the idea. My original plan was to quilt in curves, following the lines of the river, but it just looked terrible.

This is another in my construction series, and I have basically done linear quilting, sometimes with some waviness, and I realized, to fit my aesthetic, I needed to do that with this piece, even though it meant stopping the stitching at the river for each row. I found some variegated thread that worked perfectly. I used a different thread in the lower portion.

I had originally tried to do a zigzag stitch around the river, but with those deep curves, it did not look good. So I went in with the zigzag and free motion quilted it. I really like the organic look of it. Click on the photo to see a close-up.

I still have to finish the edges – probably a satin stitch with the variegated thread. Tomorrow night is our meeting when we turn in our quilts. I will be bringing them all home with me as we are doing the jurying of the show at my house next month.

Don’t forget to check out the Tote Tuesday 3 auction tomorrow. There is some great stuff to be had!!

My Artist Cloth is My Muse

Saturday, February 13th, 2010

It seems that whenever I am stuck I can always count on my fabric to lead me in an artistic direction. When I started this piece, I had totally different fabric in mind. As I started pawing around, the top two pieces jumped out at me. I love how they play off each other.

I fused the fabrics and then folded and played with layouts until I got this background.

I decided it would be best to do a reverse applique for the meandering river so I drew a meandering line and then took the rotary cutter to it. Here it is as I poked some turquoise silk under to see how it would look.

I am anxious to quilt this because I think the quilting will add a lot to the background.

The movie, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, was quite good. To fit it into almost 3 hours, many layers of the story had to be discarded. The director was there. He is Danish. It was fun to hear him talk about making the movie,

I haven’t posted the pup lately. Here he is in all his laid back glory.

Meandering

Friday, February 12th, 2010

I was totally stressed last night, trying to decide if I could make another quilt before Tuesday and if so, what? I looked through all my plane photos. I googled birds eye view and views from planes to get some inspiration.

Ta da, I came up with a meandering stream/river. I have cut a rough version of how the river will meander with some fabrics I am considering for the topography. The turquoise has been disqualified for the river. Also, the river will not be that wide.

I dyed some silk charmeuse for the meandering river.

I was getting so distracted trying to work on this because I still had a mess from the last two quilts I made. So, after lunch, I took some time to put fabric away and clean up the studio.

Ahhh! Now, I can get to work. I got all of the fabric fused. I will get up in the morning and get to work.

I am feeling pretty good about this because it will be another piece in my abstract landscapes, using my art cloth.

Tonight, Mr C and I are going to the Northwest Film Festival to see The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, a Swedish film of the book we just read. It is quite long. I hope I can stay awake.

Going in Circles

Sunday, January 10th, 2010

You didn’t think that I would make irrigation circles that look like the real thing, did you? I spent most of the afternoon, fusing silk fabrics to start a smaller version of the irrigation circles. I made two copies. This one is about 18″ X 21″.  I am having lots of fun with this.

However, while I was pulling out silk fabrics, I found a discharged piece of silk that is just yelling at me. I put it on the design wall and I keep looking for fabrics to work with it. So I feel pulled in two directions. Can I make two pieces at the same time? Oh, and don’t worry, I don’t think that lime green is working, either.

I haven’t posted a photo of Scooter lately, so here he is, doing what comes naturally, sleeping. His winter coat is at least and inch and half long, now. He looks like a little tub of lard!

Flash Dancing

Thursday, January 7th, 2010

This is a detail of Green Flash. I finished it today. So, I am flash dancing. Here is the full image.

I felt this piece needed something to give it some focus so I added the little squares of green silk in an undulating pattern which I stitched with matching thread. I love the counter point to the linear pattern of the quilt and the bit of whimsy that this detail adds. It made me happy to to this today.

For those who don’t know why I have titled this Green Flash. There is phenomenon that happens when the sun sets over the ocean and supposedly, just as the sun dips below the horizon, there is a green flash.

I found this photo from Coastranger on Flickr. It illustrates this phenomenon.

I also have finished my chapter for the book. I just have to write a bio and an artist’s statement for each of  my other pieces.