Climbing and helpers

First I want to show you the helpers who hang out in the studio with me. Ilan is 6 and Rascal is almost 2. They are evenly matched at tug-of-war and they keep me entertained.

Darcy is a collie who just got a complete makeover. He seems much happier now that he can actually feel it when we pet him!
The Illustration Friday word this week was "climbing" so I used my rubber stamps again and had fun embellishing the piece. I have also been working on lots of other projects which will be unveiled slowly. Stay tuned!

IF: Pale

Once again blogger has decided to turn my photos when I post them. Grr.... I am going to have to figure out why this is happening. In the meantime, I will tell you that I have started a new project. If you got to www.illustrationfriday.com you will see an incredible number of blogs by artists in lots of different areas. Every Friday a new word is posted and the idea is to create something inspired by that word. My first word was : Pale and aside from the look on your face when you see something scary I wasn't sure what to do. I checked out the dictionary definition and the first description that came up was talking about pale as being a division between one area and another so I ran with it.
I have also completed a King Size Lone Star quilt top but I won't be posting it until it is quilted.
We had a great meeting with Diane Ericson at Quiltz on Thursday night. I came away with a lot of ideas on how to get creative but the biggest thing for me was her comment: You want people to say "look what she did with the fabric" not "look at that fabric". That one hit home. I also got the message to stop saving my favorite fabric - use it! And I plan to do just that.

Art group Self portraits

My art group has been working on self-portraits for the last few months and we unveiled them the other night. Carol made this beautiful bowl and brought it with the following words:

Her life is at a turning point and she is waiting to see what will fill her bowl next.

Denise did this piece using wax and angelina fibers and all kinds of found papers. Unfortunately it didn't photograph well.

Jayne began with a cigar box which she decorated completely.

Inside was fully decorated with found objects pertaining to her or beginning with her initials: JLW.

She included a book in which she collaged pictures of herself in new and different settings:

Unfortunately, blogger wants to tilt the picture so you have to tilt your head with some of these!

I created a piece from things in my studio and gleanings from garage sales. I began with the circle and had fun attaching items. The smiling photo is me when I am in my studio. The other photo is me when I have to cook for people! The photos spin around.

I attached cooking items and sewing items and wrote my name with game board pieces.

Maya made a beautiful book of collages and once again you have to tilt your head to see them. They were hard to photograph and I wish that I had gotten pictures of more of the pages.

Patty says she has big ears and never leaves her house without lipstick so here she is....freckles, bags under her eyes, wrinkles and all.

We sure don't see her that way!

Wendy's piece is also about finding herself - a common theme among us. She is definitely not afraid to use yellow.

We all had a great time creating our pieces and sharing them with each other. Now we are pondering the next art challenge, a name for the group and direction for the coming year. It is sure to be a good one.

New Year - New show at the Medford Library

To start off the New Year, the Rogue Art Quilters have a show at the Medford Public Library. The theme is books or reading and we all used one particular batik in a variety of colors. We also had to put text on the quilt somewhere. This gentleman belongs to Terry Stone.

Sarah Breckenridge did a lot of bead work and hand quilting.

Rona Barnes used lots of "fish tales" for her quilt. Can you identify all of the stories? Her sign gives the answers:

Patty Duggan created a whimsical piece with a book worm on it.

Pat Gleitzman featured "The Secret Garden" in her quilt. Wonderful details:

I photographed my two favorite kids, Shoshana and Ilan and photo transfered them to fabric.

Elaine Turcke used her grandaughter as her model.

Denise Johnson used Rumi for inspiration.

Cynthia Mckee scanned books onto tissue paper which she affixed to fabric. The bindings on some of them look like real leather. This is one to see close up.

Photos just don't do it justice.

Christine Smith retitled her books to be appropriate for cats.

Carol Stocking opted for a book on Penguins

Her ice is fabulous. The show will be hanging for a few months so all you locals should check it out.

Last post of the year

Since it has been snowing a lot here my evenings have been pretty free - my days too for that matter. So I finished up a lot of projects. We got some great new striped batiks at Quiltz and I just had to do something with them so this wall hanging was born. It is a great brightener on a gloomy day. We also got in a gorgeous line of flannels and I just had to create a snuggly rag quilt using some of them. Luckily my co-worker, Carol volunteered to do all the snipping. It took her three hours. .. and I really appreciate her help.

I knit these scarves for the two kids who I babysit for. Shoshana picked the yarn and Rascal had a field day with it before the knitting began. Two balls of ribbon yarn wrapped around him, Darcy(the collie) and the coffee table. It looked like Mardi Gras in my house. He was so pleased to see me when I returned home to the mess.

I am teaching a class on felt applique and I needed a quick and easy sample.

This one was fun to create and the sewing was easily done during a couple of meetings that I attended. I was really tempted to buy more wool felt after creating it but I stopped myself from filling that online shopping cart when I realized that I really don't need $150 worth of felt....the colors were so gorgeous that I wanted it all. Ah well...

maybe next year.

Hi Everybody,

This is my last post of the year because I am off to Egypt on Tuesday to celebrate my mother's 80th birthday. She is a retired travel agent and we just can't get the travel bug out of her blood. Should be an incredible trip with the whole family.

I am pretty proud of myself looking back on this year. I actually posted something every week except one! Not bad. And I have four things to post today to make up for future misses. I intend to continue my weekly postings upon my return so expect to see something mid- January. I do love blogging because it keeps me on track and it is great to share what I am up to.

So a special thanks to those of you who read my blog and especially to those who make comments. May your holidays be full of love, health and happiness and may your New Year bring more of the same plus a lot of creativity.

Much Love,

Karen

Add Pizzazz

It has been another busy week with lots of quilting going one. I started the Asian quilt at the store a while ago and I just had to get it off the wall and finished so that took priority. It is a simple pattern using great fabrics.

I am gearing up to teach some new classes so I also needed to get some samples done. This one is for my Add Pizzazz class. We will be playing with Angelina fiber, fusible braid and crystals. I had so much fun creating this one. The braid fuses really easily and I like the look.

I quilted it with a variegated thread and I was very happy with the outcome. The flowers seem to be dancing.

I know this picture is in here twice but I can't figure out how to get rid of it!

Batik Scarf

First I have to apologize. I have been so busy the last few days that it only hit me Monday morning as I was running out the door that I had forgotten to post! This has been a crazy week. I was notified that "Slick" was accepted to the SAQA Transformations Show and I am thrilled beyond belief. The funny thing is that I made that quilt for me - because I wanted to try new techniques - not because I was hoping to get it into a show. So I have learned a huge lesson - I need to create for myself rather than for others....
My mother saw a scarf at our fabulous local yarn store, Websters and she wanted me to see it. The original is made from silk but I tried it with batiks. After a few mishaps, I finally figured out an easy way to create it using Solvy and I love the outcome. I will be teaching a class on it at Quiltz next year.
I have also been making a Lone Star quilt as a commission and after sewing diamonds together for about 4 hours, I discovered that I cut them at the wrong angle and I have a 6 pointed star instead of an 8 pointed star. Quite the surprise! Back to the cutting mat...
I will post more next Sunday. I promise.