Summer Work

...or should I say summer play? In between reading, cooking, baking, hiking, tennis and summer veg time I did some fiber work. The past few summers I had a Tangled Textiles challenge quilt to complete and I missed that so decided to make my own challenge and came up with three little wall quilts.

 I used some sun printed as well as procion dyed fabrics to create this one, inspired by the water and vegetation. I went for simple quilting lines and lots of it, using up lots of old spools of thread.

 Then I used a piece of my hand-painted fabrics below. I cut the fabric into strips and made tiny seams adding in the inlays. Again I used simple line quilting.

My third little quilt isn't as colorful but it has lots of meaning to me as I used mussel shells for a circle of life, blues for the ocean and sky, quilted abstract overhanging trees from the cliffs and round rock shapes for the shore, then added fringe to represent the seaweed I found along the shores. This one takes me back to summer vacations by the ocean. 

I made a couple little bags and this one is from some sun prints.....

And now it's back to the clay ..... I am still stocking my etsy shop but here's one of my new pieces, a fun one for Halloween.

And a couple other pieces that I happen to be photo-ready....

Garden news will come yet. And with back to clay time comes back to teaching. Classes begin next week but if you're thinking of joining but are a snow bird or for whatever reason can't be there at the start you can join anytime. Happy Autumn Everyone!

Around the World Blog Hop

Dolores from True Blue Canadian has given me this honor to participate in the Blog Around the World. When you visit Dolores's blog you're welcomed by her header photo of scenes from Canada. Just read her sidebar under "About Me" to learn what, where and when of the photo. Dolores is a hand-quilter, something I admire as I use my machine whenever possible so it's enjoyable to see others who are so good with the hand needle. She also knits, another skill I have never learned and she visits and takes fabulous photos at quilt shows ...and she shares those photos with her readers. I visit very few shows so I really enjoy the virtual show tours Dolores takes me on. 

Hopping along...

1. What quilting/sewing thing am I working on?

I'm working on brainstorming for the current quilt challenge over at Tangled Textiles. So all I have to show for it at this time are quick sketches of ideas as I try to choose my direction on this one. 

I have several little projects on my sewing room table waiting to get done, like pressing the coffee filters for pages in notebooks which I have gelli printed in the past but will make some quilted covers this next round. A few pots need stitching added to them and mini quilts need to be made for a few others.

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I think the most obvious is that I like to mix my two passions of clay and fiber together. I started with simply weaving rims on pots, then started adding stitching on pots and making mini quilts for vases, wall pieces, teapots, etc.

I often incorporate bits of nature like petals and seeds into my work or simply add a few clay beads or buttons to finish a quilt.

3. Why do I write/create what I do?

For the 'create' part of the question I'm sure everyone who creates any sort of art or craft knows the feeling of doing it because we have to, something in us makes us want to create with our hands. It is simply who and what we are. Each time I clear my tables, put away my supplies something nags at me to pull it all out again, stare at it until I'm suddenly busy cutting, sewing, throwing or whatever it takes to try and create what I see in my mind.

For the 'write' part of this question it started when I joined the Quilting Arts forum several years ago and people were meeting and sharing their art. I'd visit all sorts of blogs to see others' work and as we met each other online I was asked "where's your blog?" and that's when my blog started. I enjoy meeting and sharing ideas with others and I also like to have this sort of journal of a few of my creative endeavors along with lately, photos of nature from my yard.

 4. How does my writing/creating process work?

I start with brainstorming then make quick sketches or notes of my ideas. Some of my starting thoughts include questions for myself like do I want to make a statement, create a conceptual piece or do I want to create art for the sake of art, something aesthetically pleasing? Do I want to focus on a certain subject, shape, form, colour, etc? Do I want to focus on a technique or is the piece to dictate the techniques used? From the sketches I start pulling out the materials I may use and then more brainstorming as I pile, sort, rearrange, making changes and notes in my sketchbook. Then finally I start cutting and sewing or the equivalent with the clay. And finally here are a few of my past quilts......

Blog Around the World continues.....

From here we'll make our way back up the States to Beverly's blog, Fiberhart and Lisa's Upstatelisa, then hop across the border back into Canada and head out west to visit Brigitte at A Loose Bobbin. Beverly, Lisa and Brigitte are all amazing fiber artists and each has lots to share. You'll enjoy their work and their blogs!

Reveal Day

Wow, the summer has flown by! I did one thing with fabric this summer and that was the quilt challenge for Tangled Textiles. Here's how mine turned out, along with a photo of the binding audition..... for more photos that I took as I was working through this quilt check out this link.

For this challenge Lisa dyed a beautiful piece of fabric for each of and sent it along with some yarns and charms. Our challenge was to incorporate here fabric and embellishments into our piece. Check out what everyone else came up with at Tangled Textiles blog.

Reveal Day at Tangled Textiles

Our theme was 'artistic license' so after reading many definitions of the expression I decided to use my artistic license to depict the Monarch caterpillar, a Monarch egg and a milkweed leaf, the only food a Monarch caterpillar eats. I'd read so much about the Monarch's migration between Mexico and Canada being endangered that I've been in my garden daily monitoring my milkweed and the Monarchs, both the butterflies and the caterpillars but mostly concerned about the caterpillar because it is the caterpillar that is not surviving due to human actions such as the use of pesticides which of course kills the caterpillar. I had that experience myself when a large number of caterpillars had eaten all my milkweed and were going to starve if I didn't get more soon so I rushed to the closest nursery, told them my dilemma and luckily (I thought) thay had a large supple of beautiful milkweed. I bought two large plants, put them in the garden, transferred the remaining caterpillars over to the new plants. Within a few days most if not all of the caterpillars had died. It suddenly struck me that the reason the plants looked so beautiful was because they had pesticide on them! I called the nursery to inquire and sure enough they used Organicide on them. I was told it would lose its effect in a couple weeks. Well, the caterpillars only live as caterpillars for two weeks so they were gone. Fortunately more eggs were laid on the leaves after the Organicide had worn off and I now have many more caterpillars in the yard. Today I enjoyed watching two butterflies fly about in what appeared a very happy flight about the yard. If you made this far, thank you! Here's the story of my quilt now.....

I started looking closely at the plants in our yard, then searched the internet for close-up photos of the milkweed leaf. Then I did a rustic sketch of my idea and did a color version on my Asus tablet. 
I found the perfect piece of hand dyed green fabric in my stash which I used for the leaf. I laid out what I thought would be the body of my quilt. 

I did a few sample pieces of painting in yellow veins but opted to keep it simple and clean, choosing the 'less is more' idea. I did some simple machine quilting and finished the egg with some gold metallic thread to represent the importance of this single egg and the life of the Monarch Butterfly it represents. We need to stop and consider what we are doing to our environment and the other animals when we create and use chemicals in the name of making farming easier, food nicer looking, more abundant and whatever reasons are given for spraying our food fields and yards with pesticides. 

I hope you'll add some milkweed to your yard and help provide a breeding place for the beautiful Monarch.

Check out the other Tangled Textiles "Artistic License" quilts here. 

To read more about the Monarch and how it is being threatened and what we can do, check out these sites and others:  

National Geographic    World Wildlife Fund          US Fish and Wildlife Service        

               David Suzuki Foundation                                  Monarch Watch

The Making of Music

Tangled Textiles has its reveal day today for 'Music'. I'm glad to have these challenges as it gets me into my sewing room and it also pushes me to work through problems with a project instead of just setting it aside and moving on. Below is how I arrived at my version of 'Music'.....

Sketches and more sketches ... dancing notes .....

  ... I considered making the theme "Every good boy deserves fudge"... did you learn that phrase along with 'face' to learn your music lines? 

 .... perhaps a winter scene?....

 Finally I settled on a version of above but with a treble clef as the center of interest.....

 I remembered doing a quilt for the challenge "Rhythm" and wanted something similar for the background. I was thrilled to find I already had a hand dyed pieced that said 'rhythm' to me and it was in the colors I wanted.

 I did need to dye the matching strips ..... and found Dyna Flows to quick and easy ...

I considered several options for the black lines of the notes and treble clef but finally decided to hand stitch cording onto the quilt ...

 ....it was lacking something. I wanted the treble clef to be dancing and singing with the backup of notes, but this wasn't it....

  ....so I added the dance trail of the treble clef as it had entered the stage .... seemed to tie the piece together and ground the treble clef......

  ....but those notes were too stiff so I ripped parts out and tried to make them a little more graceful.....and I added another cord next to the original cord of each of the white notes. I'm hoping the music show is ready to go!

Overall I'm happy with my final piece although those notes still aren't as graceful as I would like .... but there's always the next challenge ..... and this one was fun!