Posts Tagged ‘Boxer’

Going To The Dogs

Friday, February 6th, 2015

I guess it’s been about a week since I’ve posted progress, and there has been quite a bit even though I have not had much time to work. I have finished the fire, worked in some of that grass and added to the tree. Also sewed together a lot of pieces that have been up on the design wall long enough to feel comfortable. It is so important to live with the choices for a while, before sewing them, to avoid having to un-sew them!

prairiefire12

Because my bits of available grass fabrics are small, it was necessary to add a rock to fill in a void. I tried four different fabrics before settling on this one; too dark and it didn’t show, too gray and it didn’t blend. There will be more on the other side so this one will not be “lonely” Rocks are common jutting out of the ground here on the prairie. It was not in the original plan, but I work intuitively and add or take away as needed. That grass behind the tree is only laid in there right now because the dark spot on the tree blended into the background too much. I will probably sew it in.

I was working to a deadline at the end of February for this piece, but on re-reading the call for entry I discovered that it will be too big. I can’t cut it down without ruining it so I will have to find something else for that call, darn it. I might be on information overload.

News came yesterday that “Snow Buddies” has been juried in and will be going to the MidAtlantic Quilt Festival in VA. Feb 26-Mar 1.SnowBuddies

 

“Who Me?” is currently showing at the Topeka Art Guild Gallery.

WhoMeFull

I will be there tonight for the First Friday opening of this new show. Looks like Feb is going to the dogs!

“Who, Me?”, New Work

Saturday, March 29th, 2014

Word just in that “Who, Me?” currently showing at the QuiltFest Destination Savannah in GA has won an Honorable Mention in the wall quilts category.

WhoMeFull

I’ve been machine quilting on the next dog quilt, the one that I had put aside to focus on the Jesse quilt. If you were following along, you may remember that the exhibit that I am making this one for does not allow photos to be published before the show, so I’m sorry not to be able to show you the progress. It’s a big one, and the going is slow.

 

Empty Spools Students

Wednesday, February 26th, 2014

I finished the freezer paper, including the tic marks yesterday for the new project and am anxious to start the cutting and sewing! But first I want to show you my students from “Empty Spools”. I am so proud of them!
I’ll go around the room in the order that they worked.

JoyceES14

Joyce was working from a photo of her grandmother in her wedding dress, a very ambitious project for her first attempt at Picture Piecing but I think she is doing an amazing job! That little bit of blue in the eye is only laid in to keep Grandma from looking like a zombie for now. Joyce enjoys making portraits in various styles and she will probably ink the eye in later. The flowers with dark background fabric was a lucky find at Back Porch where we shopped Wed.

SusanES14

Susan is working from a photo she took of a Mama Robin showing her baby what a birdbath is for. This photo only gives basic information so Susan brought reference material and is really bringing them to life! This is her second Picture Piecing project. Another lucky fabric find is the Marsha Derse light green that she has laid into the birdbath to be the water. It has the perfect color and built in ripple lines. She will cut it up and add the reflections of the birds.

LindaES14

Linda is making this beautiful Sanseveria plant for her first attempt at Picture Piecing and I think it is going to be wonderful! That lovely hand dye is the perfect background to set off the leaves. She probably does not have enough of it so is trying to distribute it throughout, mixed with other fabrics which will only make it richer. Bits of lighter leaf edge fabrics in chartreuse and blue green will accent the dark leaves and add sparkle to the piece.

JanetES14Janet2

Janet’s rendition of this photo of her son in Ireland is being done in a combination of straight seam and curved seam piecing. She has done Picture Piecing before so she is up to the challenge and is doing a great job. I love that she chose to do that amazing tree with curved seams. Can you see that his red hair is a piece of autumn leaf fabric? Genius! Janet gets two pictures because I want you to see the curved seam part that didn’t make it into the first shot.

BarbaraES14

Barbara came to the workshop with no photo, just a sketch, because her inspiration came to her in a dream! This was her first try at this process and she made excellent progress. There will be a second elephant a little darker than the first. That batik she used really gives the illusion of elephant skin wrinkles and look how she found the eye and the ear within the print! Her very well behaved Boxer, Shelby was our mascot for the week!

RobinES14

Last but certainly not least, was Robin with her photo taken on a visit to Yellowstone. The orange that accents this scene is sulfur and there is steam from the geysers against the dark hills. She brought wonderful fabrics to portray the scenery and was able to find the perfect gray cloud fabric for the reflections on our shopping trip to Back Porch.  This was her first time using this technique and she made an amazing amount of progress in the time we had available.

It was a pleasure o work with these ladies and I hope to be able to share “finished” photos with you later!

Busy Weekend

Monday, February 18th, 2013

Saturday I got back to the sewing, tweaking what was already sewn as these past two weeks of just looking at it made me see some places that could be improved. Also sewed a few of the section seams. This morning’s e-mail brought a couple more leads on the fabric search so perhaps I need to wait a bit longer before cutting background!

Yesterday afternoon a friend and I went to see the musical Parade, a show I had never heard of, and it was VERY good! So no sewing yesterday.

Probably not today, either, as I need to prepare two quits for shipping – “Colorado Kids” to AQS, Lancaster and “Who, Me?” to IQA for Celebrate Spring. Last week I sent “Foxglove Fairy” to Mid-Atlantic Quilt Fest.

We have a crew of workers here installing new Pella windows so today  looks like a good time to go to town, anyway!

Have You Seen This Fabric?

Saturday, February 2nd, 2013

Monday it was just beautiful here, with a record breaking high of 77 degrees then yesterday it was 0. We went on a fabric quest but with no luck. I used this batik in the shadowed areas of the Kom’s coat and when I was working on the background, I decided it would be just perfect there, too.

wheatbatik
Unfortunately, I have only a little left and it is old. I have searched in vain online, so now I appeal to you. have you seen it anywhere? There must be a shop somewhere that still has some they would love to get rid of. It is a greyed blue mottled background with lighter frosty looking wheat. Kind of large scale with the wheat portion being 3-4 inches. I’d love to find a half yard or a yard somewhere. Please let me know if you have seen it anywhere.

The newest issue of American Quilter just came with a nice article on Seasonal Palette and one of the quilts they showed was “December Dawn” Both as a nice full view and as an installation shot. Great coverage!!

Good news, two acceptances. “Colorado Kids” will be going to AQS, Lancaster and “Who, Me?” to “Celebrate Spring” at the IQA shows starting with spring. “In The Bleak Midwinter” is currently showing at the Topeka Art Guild Gallery and we had a great crowd last night at First Friday in spite of the cold.

Boxer Finished, Local Wins

Thursday, December 13th, 2012

Ooops, it’s been awhile, and I was doing so good!

Last Friday was First Friday and I attended the reception for “Inspirations”, that collaborative exhibit of art inspired by photography. This year we had the main show of new work at the Classic Bean in Topeka and my entry “Prairie Power” won first place in the “People’s Choice” voting. It’s always gratifying when a quilted piece is recognized as art amongst paintings.

prpower450

We also had an exhibit of some of previous years’ entries at another venue, Nexlynx in Topeka and “Majesty” received a Second Place there.

Majesty450

The Boxer is finished and I am happy with how it turned out. I always prewash all of my fabrics because I still do find some that will run, and when I wet this piece to block it one of the hand dyes did run in spite of that. It was a green so any bleeding it may have done on the front is not noticeable, but can be seen very slightly on the back. Luckily it was not a problem, but it does reiterate the need to prewash.

WhoMeFull

WhoMeDet

This shot has too much pink showing, because the morning sunrise was hitting it. Adding green helps but makes the background greenish.  It is nice and sharp though and shows the quilting nicely.

Gardening in December

Wednesday, December 5th, 2012

We have been enjoying the most beautiful weather! I know, that is not normal and probably not a good thing. I quilted for awhile,

but it was just too nice to stay inside so I spent the afternoon weeding in the perennial beds after my walk. These are the same beds I renovated after returning from Maine in August but in spite of that and heavy mulch there are so many weeds! At least they come up pretty easily. Surprisingly, the earth is moister than I expected as we are way behind on moisture here. The prediction is for some snow soon so I will have plenty of time to sew. I watered the Hellebores and a few shrubs and roses and called it quits at 4 o’clock.

Boxer Top Finished

Saturday, December 1st, 2012

Here’s the finished top – this was a lot of fun! I started with a yard of the background and pretty much used it all. I love it when old fabric finds  a home because I have more than I will ever use.

Boxer Progress

Thursday, November 29th, 2012

Busy, busy with the sewing, this is the best part!

Just to make it more interesting, and also to make it say “Springtime” I added the tulips. The wonderful hand dyes for the tulips and some of the leaves was purchased in Houston this year at Festival from Friestyle Handdyed. Just perfect!

Boxer Background

Sunday, November 25th, 2012

I replaced the piece over the eye for one that was darker to make his eyebrow better and decided it was time to lay in some background. I was looking for something sort of abstract, painterly, but could not find it in my stash. I did find this nice floral that sort of fits the bill. This is a piece of fabric that has been in my stash for about 20 years! I originally bought it back when I was doing traditional quilts with the idea that it would make a nice baby quilt. I think it will do fine here and I am happy to have finally found a place for it!