Pears #3

Pears #3 began with the photograph which I wanted to be the center of attention. Usually I put my focal point in the middle or the lower sections of my piece so I challenged myself to make the piece work with the focal point higher up. I am happy with the outcome. I think the reddish batik helped balance the pears.


In the meantime I have a fig tree in my front yard that I have been guarding anxiously. The deer already ate my ripe figs once and there is a gorgeous one just waiting for one more day to be perfect. I should be doing figs! Maybe that will be my next series. I love the look of fig leaves.

Tote bags and pears

We got a new pattern at Quiltz so I had fun making tote bags this week. I am going to teach a class this fall - they are quick, easy and make great gifts! They each took about an hour to create.

I created my second pear quilt using a photo that I took in the kitchen. I had so much fun playing with my pears and photographing them. You may see more photos of them in the future. I really like being restricted to one color palette. I think the pieces will all look beautiful together when they are completed.

In the meantime, I did finish my second Black and White quilt but I can't show photos for a while. I also started a large collage type quilt using painted fabric from Bali. You will just have to wait a while longer for that one too!

Branching out

I began "Branching out" after a walk up my favorite mountain. I had to fend off Rascal who thought that my wonderful sticks were for him. When I placed them on thick teal paper from Thailand, I loved the contrast but the color was a little too bright so I covered the paper with navy blue tulle. Quiltz is carrying gorgeous "Silk and Ivory" thread for needlepoint and I just had to play with a little of it.

I laid everything out on the brown fabric, took a photo and then took it all off so that I could do the quilting. Then I sewed the pieces on top. The red skeleton leaves came from Thailand too. I really like the yarn that travels underneath the leaves and needlework.

Pears

I have been extremely productive this week. I made this leaf for my friend Sherry who wanted a fabric piece to protect her hand painted wooden chimes from Bali. The leaf is similar to that painted on the chimes and the colors match. Best of all, I used Bali Batik fabrics for the project.


I am beginning an online workshop using Jane Davila's book. I have decided to use pears as my theme and stick to the colors that I found on some scrap booking papers. They were at a yard sale and the pears came with them so I decided that it was meant to be. This is my first in the series. I used some hand painted fabric, silk, scrap book papers and sheer ribbon. It was so much fun to just play with a manageable size. It is 9 x 12.
What I didn't tell you is that I finished a large black and white quilt for a contest and a challenge quilt that will hang at Middleford Yarn Store in November. I can't show you those photos until closer to that time...unless you want to see them in person....

Faces

This is one of the faces that I made for the "Full of Smiles" quilt. A new line of fabric came out in skin tones so I just had to make a quilt using the different fabrics. My dear friend, Jayne volunteered to do all the hair and I think she did a super job.

Rogue Art Quilters Beach challenge

Chuck Schulman took this beautiful photograph while on vacation in Italy. We chose to use it as our inspiration and we picked two fabrics that everyone had the choice of using. We also required some glitzy thread and a curve in the quilt somewhere. Here are the results:

Suzanne McBride calls hers "Life is a Beach" and she created that umbrella by covering one she found. It is a very 3 dimensional quilt.

Patty Duggan loves the human form and the string bikini is the challenge fabric. She calls it "Beach Plans".

This is my quilt. I used both challenge fabrics for the sand and I played with soy silk fiber to create the water and the waves. The umbrellas are also very dimensional.

Ellen Cholewa created "Sun Brellas" by playing with photo shop on her computer. I love the graphic design.

Elaine Turcke use rocks that we made in a Linda Schmidt workshop. They are created using puff paint and fabric paint. Very effective.

Cathy Lang painted her umbrellas and added beads for fringe.

She also played with soy silk fiber.

Carol Stocking calls her quilt "Beach House" and she used both the right and wrong sides of the challenge fabric in the foreground. She also used soy silk, fabric paint and cotton balls to get that wonderful water.

All of the quilts are on display at Quiltz in Ashland.

Ole and Blue

I spent 5 days in Sisters at a quilt retreat this week. Two days were spent in a wonderful class with Gabrielle Swain where I learned all about design and hand applique. It will be a long time before you see the quilt from that class but I am inspired.
The second class was with Jane Davila for only one day but we played with fabric, paper and lots of found objects. I created these two pieces in her class with a little follow up at home. The first one is called blue because I focused on finding pieces in that color family including rocks, paper and yarn. I loved sewing on the letters to finish it off.

The second piece was inspired by the wooden birds that I picked up at a garage sale on my way to Sisters. They look like they are from South America so I wanted a fiesta sort of feel. I couldn't find the letters to spell out "fiesta" so I settled for "Ole". I used fabrics that my friend Joanna had given to me for the class and had great fun digging through her box of treasures. I couldn't have done it without her.