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Archive for February, 2020

I’m Still Here

Friday, February 28th, 2020

This week was busy and I didn’t get a post done. This is my weekly torn paper collage, using the New York Times Sunday magazine.

I got the photos of my SAQA Oregon Habitat quilt back on Monday and got it entered. I will share more about it after the jurying.

In April, I am teaching a prayer flag workshop at Trinity Cathedral for the Art for All Ages program. I have started gathering supplies and am getting some samples made up. I cut bleached muslin into 8 X 10 pieces. I like to paint with Jacquard Dyna-flow paints.

Here is the fabric drying.

It was a nice day yesterday, so I painted outside on the deck. Tomorrow, I plan to get some images printed or transferred onto the flags.

I got a nice surprise this week, one of my friends tagged me on Instagram for a giveaway of beautiful natural dye cotton thread. We won and mine arrived yesterday.

I do not have a design wall here in the condo. There are times I really want to work on one. I saw some felt tiles on an Instagram ad and ordered 12 of them. They are 12 inches square so I am going to make a 3 foot by 4 foot design wall that will look classier than using styrofoam covered with felt. I will post a photo when I get it up.

Thanks for checking in!!

2020 Weekly Torn Paper Collage

Monday, February 17th, 2020

After missing a week, I managed to hang on to the NYTimes Sunday Magazine last week. I created a more positive vibe, as I thought about creativity.

Yesterday, after church service, I checked on my acrylic pour painting that I had left to dry on Wednesday. It looks even better now. I am very happy with it. My first painting had little bumps from trapped air bubbles. Allan, our instructor, showed me how to use a propane flame to get rid of them.

Today, I am planning to finish the quilt I am working on. I have an appointment to get it photographed on Thursday. I have HFD (High Fiber Diet) meeting tomorrow and SAQA on Wednesday so today it is.

Thanks for checking in!

Weekly Torn Paper Collage & Other Stuff

Sunday, February 16th, 2020

I have had a busy week, finishing my quilt for the SAQA Habitat exhibit. I had it professionally photographed on Thursday. Yesterday and today, I spent a lot of time cleaning up my studio/multipurpose room. When I am in the midst of a project everything just piles up. I also got the fridge cleaned and did some major food shopping.

On Wednesday, I took my last acrylic pouring workshop, I picked a large canvas and so used a larger cup for layering the paint colors.

It took a lot of twisting and turning to get the paint to cover the canvas. Here are the wet results – looks like marbled paper!

I hope to pick it up tomorrow to see how it looks dry.

I found out on Friday, that a friend had tagged me in an Instagram post to win some beautiful naturally dyed thread. We won!! This is what I am getting. I am scheming something special for them.

My next project is to make some samples for a Prayer Flag workshop that I am doing at Trinity, starting in April. I have been collecting some nice stencils for the students to use. I will share what I am doing on the blog.

I’ve Been Busy

Friday, February 14th, 2020

This piece is under the machine getting quilted. I will have more about this later.

Last Saturday, my High Fiber Diet group had a curator’s event at the Artreach Gallery in downtown Portland. Our current exhibit is titled “No Shrinking Violets”, with a purple theme. The first quilt in this group is mine, titled, Frippery. The main elements in this were created in a workshop with Betty Busby. I started with a photo of a spiky flower that I played with in photoshop to simplify it. I then drew o top of it, using a special iPad program. That was turned into a design that I could resize and cut on the Silhouette Cameo. I painted a non-woven fabric and cut the 4 elements. I added lots of dots with paint because Betty says everything is better with dots.

This is my other piece juried into the show. It is called “Can You See Me Now?” and is based on the poem,

I never saw a Purple Cow,
I never hope to see one;
But I can tell you, anyhow,
I’d rather see than be one.

I have been taking an acrylic pour workshop on Wednesday nights at Trinity Cathedral. This was my first attempt, last week.

The process requires mixing acrylic paint with a flow agent, Elmer’s glue and a bit of silicone oil. The different colors are layered in a cup.

Then, you put a gallery wrapped canvas on top of this and flip it over. Wait a minute or two for the paint to drop and remove the cup. It looks like this.

Then you pick up the canvas and move it side to side to move the paint around to cover the canvas. This was my result this week. I really like it.

I am thinking of taking a good photo of this and having it printed on silk by Spoonflower.

My torn paper collage for last week did not get done because someone recycled the NYT Sunday magazine before I could have at it.

Slow Stitching Project

Tuesday, February 4th, 2020

I just finished stitching this panel for the 25 Million Stitches project. Here is a link with the information. https://www.25millionstitches.com/ People from all over the globe are stitching panels, mine is 17 x 35 inches. The 25 million stitches are to commemorate the 35 million refugees around the world. The work done by many of the stitchers is exquisite. Some just cover a panel with seed stitches. I did some extemporaneous motifs and then did seed stitches around them, using up my odds and ends of embroidery thread.