Posts Tagged ‘Workshop’

August

Thursday, September 3rd, 2015

August has been  busy month! My last multiple day engagement for Guild programs/workshop in Oklahoma happened and it was a fun trip with lovely ladies.  Even fitted in some fabric shopping, though we did not find the one I was looking for.  One more trip – next week to Kansas City, then I will be officially retired!!

We went to Wichita over the weekend for the Opening Reception of the Wichita National All Media Craft Exhibit where “Snow Buddies” is being exhibited. It has a great spot , well lighted where you see it as you enter the gallery; looks good!

WCFTA-SnowBuddies

While we were in Wichita we visited the Botanic Gardens, The Indian Museum and the Zoo.  The weather was near perfect and I was exhausted by the time we got back home! But it was fun!

Since coming back I have finished the Heron top using some of the fabrics that I found that looked like they might have possibilities.  I un-sewed some of the previous work to insert the new fabrics and I think it is going to be OK. HeronTop

Yesterday I squared it up and selected a backing fabric but have not yet layered it for quilting.  I think another deadline has squeezed in that will need my attention first!

News came that all four of my entries to the Visions of the Flint Hills Art Benefit and Sale at the Buttonwood Gallery in Kansas City were accepted.  “Harrier Hunting”, “Prairie Power”, “Drifted”, and “Grasslands” will be there.  This is an art exhibit so it is always gratifying when my quilts are recognized as art! The opening reception is on Oct 2 and the show runs through Nov 27.  Sales benefit the Friends of Konza Prairie.  Be sure and check it out if you are nearby.

HarrierHunting

Sold two quilts!

Wednesday, July 29th, 2015

Things are going well here in Des Moines; what a nice group! Now the weather, that has not been so great. VERY heavy rains have caused some flooding in the area and some drenching of quilters but luckily it was not raining for the unloading of the quilts. The rest of the week looks like it will be clear and cooler.

The brand new “Beneficial Burn” quilt sold after the first lecture, as well as the “Bluebird” sample quilt. I had announced my impending retirement and the fact that all of the sample quilts would no longer be needed and were now for sale. I have not even posted that to my website, but hope to get to it after I get home.

Today is the “Coneflowers” class and tomorrow we will work with foundation paper piecing the “Third Weekend” and “New Leaves” quilts. It’s been a fun trip so far with lots of pattern sales, and I’m looking forward to the workshops.

Day Four At Hudson River Valley Workshops

Thursday, April 16th, 2015

Day Four at the Hudson River Valley Workshop, much progress is being made!

LeavesCorinne hard at work:Corinne-LeavesJean’s original photo:OrigRedRocksIn Progress:RedRocksJean hard at work:

Jean-RedRocksThey are doing a super job!

I loose track of time but one afternoon after the designing and enlarging of the patterns, and preparing the freezer paper patterns, we took a road trip to Selkirk, NY to the Log Cabin Quilt Shop where the students were able to find some great fabrics to fill the gaps in what they had brought with them. I was not really planning to buy more fabric as I already have more than I will ever use, but I cannot pass up a good grass fabric, and some more of the brown marbley one that I may be running low on, plus a few fat quarters I couldn’t pass up.

NYFabric

Busy Week

Saturday, February 14th, 2015

It’s been a busy busy week! I got “Snow Buddies” shipped off to MAQF and several more entries made, thank goodness the books are caught up, but I do need to finish getting everything pulled together for taxes. My two twice weekly classes (Art History and Yoga) are going well but they do cut into my time, taking me away Tuesday and Thursday afternoons!

In spite of all that, there is progress to report. The foreground is finished (I think) and I was able to use quite a bit of the special grass fabric, by sub-dividing the larger original pieces to accommodate the scraps that I found.  A few more rocks add to the composition.  I took away the dark sky I was considering and laid up a piece of lighter sky, but I’m thinking it is too light, maybe it needs something more “dusk”.  I’m not quite sure yet.  One has to listen to the fabric, the composition and the subject matter!

prariefire13 It is so fun to see it change and develop and I see some other little bits to change, and pieces to sub-divide.

prairiefire14While I usually do straight seam piecing, it has been fun to do this one in curved seam piecing which I think compliments the scene and really isn’t all that hard.  I’m liking that lighter tree and thinking ahead, will probably give it more branches in the quilting. In addition to the hand dyed main tree fabric there is a batik in the smaller branches. The success of this technique is so dependent on fabric choices!

My workshop at Hudson River Valley Art Workshops is only a couple of months away and I am getting excited to share all of this fun with my students. We will be exploring all aspects of creating a work of art that is original to them!  Want to learn about designing, color and composition as well as sewing those seams (straight or curved)?  Hope to see YOU there!

I have linked this post to Off The Wall Friday — go there to see lots of good stuff!

Another Finished Piece from Asilomar

Monday, December 22nd, 2014

Robin finished her Yellowstone scene! I think she did a great job, adding just enough to make it real, but leaving out enough to keep it from being too busy. I love how the lines of the sky and the hills oppose each other adding interest and how the clouds reflect in the water. Her quilting adds the finishing touch to this memory of her trip to Yellowstone.

Yellowstone

Posting this brings back memories for me, too, of the wonderful week spent at Asilomar for Empty Spools and the fun times we had in the workshop. I’m looking forward to doing it over again at the Hudson River Valley Art workshops in April – join me?

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!

Pet Postcards and Exciting News

Friday, September 27th, 2013

This week I finished my 3 pet postcards to send off to Houston IQA for the Pet Postcard Project, so I am cross posting this to Nina Marie’s Off The Wall Friday. These will be for sale at Festival for $20.00 each. Last year if I remember correctly they earned about $20,000.00 for a no kill shelter in Houston and should surpass that this year. I hope lots of people will participate for this worthy cause.

petpostcards

These cards were super easy as all I did was to machine quilt the printed fabric and bind them, but i think they came out good.

I got word this morning that my entry to the LaConner Quilt Museum show in WA., “Foxglove Fairy” has won an award! They won’t say what til after the Award Ceremony, so we’ll just have to wait and see!

FoxgloveFairy

Exciting news on the teaching horizon as well – I have a five day retreat workshop scheduled for 2015 at the Hudson River Valley Art Workshops in New York!! I’m looking forward to this new direction in my workshops as I will be doing one this coming February at Empty Spools in CA., as well! If you would like to learn to design and piece your own original work of art, just choose your coast and join me!

Colorado Coneflowers Class

Wednesday, September 11th, 2013

In July, I traveled to Colorado to do a guild program and workshop on Picture Piecing the Coneflowers pattern. This morning I received the first finished project photo from participant Sharon Signorelli!

SharonSignorelli

I love it when I get photos and permission to show them!! Sharon did a great job. I especially liked how she varied the colors of the flowers and she got really nice contrast against the background with both her flowers, stem and leaf.

Thanks, Sharon!

Machine Quilting Unlimited

Saturday, April 20th, 2013

My issue of the new Machine Quilting Unlimited magazine arrived yesterday- the May/June 2013 issue with my article and my “Prairie Fire” quilt on the cover.
MQUMayJune13

It is gorgeous, I am so happy with it! There is a six page spread inside with lots of pictures and text detailing my process.

MQUinside

Look for it wherever quilting magazines are sold and watch for my workshop at Empty Spools, Asilomar!

Wheat Batik, Empty Spools

Saturday, February 16th, 2013

I really did think that someone, somewhere would know where some of that Wheat batik was when I posted it to the QuiltArt list with thousands of members. It was gratifying to see the number of quilters who responded with offers of similar fabrics. But I already had similar fabrics and was holding out for THE one. Along the way I followed all of the leads and even ordered a few that I thought might work as it became apparent that the right one was not going to surface. The one on the left is the one I wanted and the others are possibilities. But they are mostly lighter in color than what I wanted. The current trend with the blues is less grayed than the one I was looking for, But the white dog contains some beige-y blues so maybe these will be even better.

insteadfabric

Thanks again to all who tried to help!!

So now, I guess I am ready to carry on and reconnect with the cutting and sewing using the fabrics that I have. With my luck, once I cut and sew the “right” one will come along!!

In the interim I have been busy with tax prep, designing some new work and hand quilting on the Oak and Acorn quilt. I have entered some more shows and shipped some more quilts.

My contract for teaching a five day Picture Piecing Design workshop at Empty Spools, Asilomar a year from now has arrived. So for those of you who are intrigued with this process, I hope you will consider signing up for that. It will be a wonderful place to spend a week in February 2014!