Merry Christmas

Here is a Christmas Dove sending you a message of peace and joy for Christmas this year. OK, I know its not the white dove of peace that you would expect to see, but its still a dove. And it wishes you  a Merry Christmas in spite of its tawny color!

Yarn Shopping

In addition to the various laces used to depict windows in buildings, I also purchased some very cool yarns at Strands and Stitches in Laguna Beach. One of the yarns I used as a railing along the water front edge. It is the variagated blue green wavy piece just above the top of the boat. I also used another flat yarn on some of the buildings. With the popularity of knitting, there are many cool yarns on the market to use in fiber art pieces, so don't pass up a yarn shop just because you don't knit!

Lutrador Clouds

A couple of years ago I bought a package of "Lutrador" at Soft Expressions in Anaheim. I really did not know what to do with it, until this project came along. I needed some low clouds, so I opened my package of Lutrador and started to tears pieces off. Pretty soon I had some clouds to stitch on to the piece. I have seen Lutrador used for snow in other quilts.

I don't know about you, but I think this justifies buying more stuff that I have no idea what to do with!

City Scape Water

For the water on the city scape, I place a dark organza over a light blue fabric that had a water like appearance. I needed the dark organza because the light fabric didn't look like an evening scene of water.

Next I used various pieces of tulle on the organza to depict reflections of buildings.

It was a cold and stormy night...

I finished my city scape for the Nobel Seasons Winter exhibit. I am calling it "It was a cold and stormy night...". It is based on a photo I took of Seattle from a cruise ship.

I used a lot of laces, ribbons and other trims to depict the look of windows in sky scrapers. I had a lot of fun doing this piece and plan to do more "cityscapes".

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving, wherever you are! Here are a couple of shots of a Thanksgiving pillow I made a couple of years ago. I used a lot of beading on this one!

Winter City Scape

I am always working on more than one project at a time, either because of deadlines coming up, or because sometimes I like to do machine quilting, and other times I want to do some other stage of a project. In addition to the Tall Stems wall hanging, I am also working on a winter city scape for an exhibit.

Here is a view of the sky and buildings early in the process. I want it to look like a winter scene, so I used a fabric that has slanting silver lines, similar to rain falling.

The buildings are made from a variety of fabrics with prints that give an idea of windows or building facades.

This project is due at the beginning of December, so I better focus on it for a while!

Nobel Seasons - Fall

The "Nobel Seasons- Fall" Exhibit will be on display at Soft Expressions in Anaheim from November 12 - January 12. This is a collection of fall themed art quilts that have been traveling the country for the last year at different venues. I saw it last year at Road to California and loved all of the varied interpretations of "fall". The piece to the left is my "Pheasant" fiber art piece, which is part of this traveling exhibit. If you have a chance to see this, I hope you will stop in and do so.

Flowers in Tall Stems 2

This is a close up of the flowers in the Tall Stems 2 fiber piece. I have used some silk, cottons, and lace sections to depict the flowers. I placed some additional batting behind the flowers to give it a bit of a trapunto effect. It needs some machine quilting to reinforce the idea of petals, and then some beading of course!

A Larger Version of "Tall Stems"

Tall Stems 2

Last spring I did a small fiber art piece called "Tall Stems". I made it based on a vase in one of my watercolor still life paintings. I decided I wanted to do a larger version of this and here it is in progress.

I am shooting for a look of a vase on a table with a wall behind that has wall paper on it. This is a close up of the fabric I am using for the wall paper, and the strip of fabric I am adding to look like a stripe in the wall paper. The strip is made from a light weight gauzy type of fabric I found in the bridal section. I will post more on this piece as I make progress.

Recent Sketches

Here are a couple of sketches from my most recent trip to the North Umpqua River. I just got back from a camping and fishing trip there with friends. One afternoon I spent some time with my friend Renee by the river doing some sketching and solving all of life's problems. It was very therapeutic!

Sketches

I like to do a sketch in one of my sketch books any time I go on a trip that allows me the opportunity to sketch.  This is a sketch from 2008 from a trip I took at a beautiful river in Oregon called the North Umpqua.  It is way to take home a "souvenir" of the trip.

It's Done!

Here is the finished "Gated Community" piece. Its just a whimsical piece, and hopefully now I have the flamingo thing out of my system. 

This is the back of the piece. It is a flamingo print I purchased from Beyond the Reef. This is an only source for tropical themed fabric. I have been waiting to use this fabric for a flamingo quilt for a couple of years! I put a faced edge on the quilt, which is the dark blue edge that you see from the back.

Details



the gate

 This is a detail of my "Gated Community" art quilt, made for the "Gates" challenge for Quilt on the Wall. I went with the idea of a private community of flamingos secure behind a fence and gate. I made the fence out of a net fabric that I dyed with a little blue fabric ink. I put a beaded trim around the fence to border it. I then put a frog closure on the gate as the closure.


Signage

 This is a close up of the signage sticking out of the plant growth in front of the fence. The signs say "private" and "flamingos only".

Gated Community Edging

 This is the edge of the Spoonflower fabric on the background fabric. I need to cover this edge to make it look better.

I am going to cover it with some lace trim. This is the trim I am going to use. It was white, but I used Tsukineko ink pens on it and gave it a multi-colored blue/green/whitish appearance. Next is sewing it down.

Flying Geese Quilt Guild Quilt Show

The Flying Geese Quilters Guild will be putting on a quilt show this weekend at the Soka University in Aliso Viejo. The quilt show runs on Saturday and Sunday from about 10 am to 4 pm-ish each day. This guild, which I am a proud member of, consistently puts on one of the best shows in Southern California. I have seen many of the quilts in the show and they are stunning. If you have a chance, this would be a good show to check out!

Boo Boo Pins

 I have started to do my machine quilting here on my Gated Community art quilt. You can see some red/orange yarn in a couple of spots. Those are "boo-boo pins". I learned this trick from Paula Reed. You tie some brightly colored yarn on a safety pin. If there is a spot you need to come back to and fix something, put a boo-boo pin there and return later. I use these all the time when I have to remember to do something somewhere on a quilt.

Gates - Just a Start

Quilts on the Wall is having a Challenge entitled "Gates". I have wanted to do a flamingo art quilt for a while, so I am going to use this as an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. I am going to have my Gate quilt be called "Gated Community" and incorporate a flamingo painting I did a few years ago.

Here is the start of the quilt. I took a photo of my painting and sent it off to Spoonflower to have it printed on fabric. Then I placed the Spoonflower fabric on the blue fabric. It's just a start at this point.

Cool Blue Vase Series No. 2 Close Up

 Here is a close up of the beading.

Here is a close up of the picture on the wall.

Cool Blue Vase No. 2

Here is the second "Cool Blue Vase" with the quilting done and beads added to the stems. The beads really help a lot when you see it in person.

I quilted a picture on the wall in the background, along with a swirling pattern on the wall.

Cool Blue Vase Series No. 2

This is the second in my "Cool Blue Vase" series. It is just at the beginning stages here. I am going to add beads to the stems and do some quilting on it. It looks bleak right now!

Geometric Landscape

Here is my latest postcard quilt for my Serendipity Group. The theme was "Geometric Shapes". I am working on a larger landscape art quilt right now, so I decided to try out some ideas on a smaller scale here. There is a lot of geometry in building shapes, so I thought it was a good match with the theme. I sent this off to my friend Mary Beth Kile, who is also a member of the Serendipity Group.  

Cool Blue Vase with Quilting

Here is my Cool Blue Vase after quilting. I did an echo quilt pattern around it. Next up is beading and binding.

Add caption

I am starting another series of small wall hangings. The background fabric is a cool blue from the "Fairy Frost" series, and I have used an Asian blue/yellow fabric in the vase and side panels. I have three still-life's using these fabrics in the works right now.

At this stage I have fused the major shapes to the background fabric. The next step is to do the stitching down of the applique pieces, and then machine quilt the background.

Have a great day!



Approaching Mott Bridge

 This is a photograph of my Bridges Exhibit entry, "Approaching Mott Bridge", at the IQF Long Beach Show. We were not allowed to publish photos of these before the show. But, since it has now been weeks since the show is over, I think I am safe!

The theme of the exhibits was Bridges, so I created a fiber art piece based on my experiences on the North Umpqua River in Oregon. This river has a famous bridge - Mott Bridge, and is known for legendary steelhead fishing. I have included a steelhead jumping a waterfall and a depiction of Mott Bridge in the background.

This quilt is now traveling with the Bridges Exhibit. I believe it will be at the Pennsylvania National Quilt Show in September.

Batik Vase Embellishing

I added some beads and buttons to this piece and I think that helps it quite a bit. I am going to call it done as far as embellishing is concerned.

Here it is done, except for the facing I will put on it. Next it goes to the inspector...

...and here is the inspector, asleep on the job again! What are you going to do!

Batik Vases - some progress

This is one of the Batik vases pieces I am working on. I added some Angelina fibers to the base of the flowers and it is staring to look better. Next I am going to sew some beads on.

This is a close up showing the machine quilting pattern I used on the other Batik Vase piece. I tried to emphasize the batik pattern in the fabric, and just kind of traveled around the background. The white flowers on the vase are parts of some lace that I had. I love to use lace on my fiber art pieces!

Thread Lock

Starts and stops for machine quilting can be problematic. If you stitch too many times back and forth is it too obvious. If you stitch too many times in one place it makes a "tag" on the back. If you do too little, your stitching can come out.

This is what I have found works for me:

I go back and forth with a short stitch once or twice. Then, on the back I put just a touch of thread knot glue at the start or stop. I use a small, inexpensive paint brush to dap the knot glue on the threads. I have found this to work very well.

The thread knot glue I use is made by Dritz and it is called "Thread End Glue". I purchased it at Joanne's. I do not wash my fiber art pieces, so I can't tell you how the glue holds up if you put it in the washer.  If you have trouble with starts and stops, you might give this a try.

Batik Vase with oil paint stick flowers

Well, I added some oil paint stick to the flower shapes and it is better. Next I am going to add some Angelina fibers to the base of the flowers and see what that looks like.

But that will have to wait, because I am off to the IQF Long Beach show today! Hope to see you there!

Batik Vase

I am currently working on some small pieces that I plan to sell. This is the first of two that I call Batik Vases.  The background fabric is a batik with all the colors of the vase and flowers in it. The vase is a organza, and I put fusible on the back of the flower fabrics and cut them out. The white flowers are sections of a piece of lace. Next step is quilting.

This is the coordinating batik vase. The background is the same and the vase fabric is the same. I used the lace on the vases to add some additional unifying element to the pieces.

I have couched yarn to make the flowers and stems. The flowers look a little ghostly at this stage. I am going to fill them in with oil paint stick and see if that helps. Then quilting.

 I will post photos from the next stages soon.

A Budding Artist

This is the Yearbook Cover for an Elementary School in the Central Coast. Why would I show it here? Because it was created by my nephew, Shane Tryon! Shane is only 8 years old and won the yearbook cover contest for the entire school. I am obviously very proud.

I think he did a great job with this artwork. In particular, I love the multi-colored dots placed around the school logo. Great job Shane!






Desert Sunset 1 got a ribbon at the Fair

I haven't been to the Orange County Fair yet, but I submitted this art quilt in the FiberArt division and I just learned there is a ribbon on it! Yippee!

I don't know what the ribbon is for yet so I will have to check it out Thursday when I am there. This Thursday I will be working at the Flying Geese Quilters Guild booth from 4:30 - 7:00. Stop by if you happen to be there at the same time.

And thanks to my Sister-in-law Melodye for letting me know about the ribbon!

Bridges Exhibit at the Long Beach IQF

If you haven't gone to the International Quilt Festival in Long Beach the last few years, you have really missed a wonderful quilt show. The exhibits are overwhelming, and they have a large number of vendors that allow for some fun shopping!

This year I have a quilt in one of the exhibits called "Bridges". This is a Quilts on the Wall Exhibit, and the image at the left is the postcard for it created by Jo Griffith. The postcard is a compilation of parts of each of the fiber art pieces in the exhibit. I am prevented by IQF from showing my quilt here until after it shows in Long Beach. If you make it to the show I hope you check out this exhibit, and have lots of fun too! And congrats to my friends who have quilts in this show.

I didn't get to finish this post the other day due to technical difficulties!

Anyway, after rolling the quilt up, I tie it keep the roll together, and then slide it into a bag I made to keep the dust off. The photograph below shows the quilt in the bag. I make the bags from light-weight, "slidey" fabric so it goes easily over the cotton fabric of the quilt.

Then I prop the whole thing up in the back of a closet. I think it works pretty well. I actually first learned to roll my quilts face out during a class from Hollis Chatelain. I guess if it's good enough for her, it's good enough for me!

Storing a Quilt

I don't like to store my quilt folded up. I either hang them on a skirt hangar in the closet, or roll them. When I roll them up. I put the top side of the quilt facing out, so that the wrinkles or creases from rolling show up on the back. I roll them around something like this pool noodle. I wrap batting around the noodle, then roll, roll, roll!

Bird Of Paradise is Done

I finished my Bird of Paradise painting. It is done in watercolor. I now have to look for some other tropical subject matter to paint, since I like to do things in a series. I think this may also end up as a fiber art piece at some point.

Hibiscus - Postcard Quilt



Hisbiscus

 This is my postcard quilt for my Serendipity Exchange. The theme this time is "Flower". I painted a hibiscus from a photo I took while on a cruise in the South Pacific a few years ago. I used Tsukineko ink paints. I practiced some new leaf machine quilting patterns I recently learned from Cynthia Catlin in the background. For the border I couched some yarn around the edge. This is being sent to Linda Friedman as we speak. I hope she likes it.

Umpqua Leaves Construction Detail



trapunto effect

 I thought it might be helpful to see how this applique technique works. After cutting out the leaf shapes and placing them on your square, you place a layer of batting behind the square and stitch the leaves down. You stitch on the leaf itself near its edge and then in the middle of the leaf. The leaves are raw edge and the batting piece is approximately the same size as the square.


trapunto effect

 Then you turn the block over and trim the batting away around the leaf. You try to trim as close to the stitching as possible. Once all your blocks are done you stitch them together to make the top.

The top is then layered with batting and the back, and quilted in the background around the leaves. This effect "pops" the leaves out.

I learned this in a class taught by Jill Howes at Flying Geese Fabric. I have used it to make other applique motifs pop out on other quilts.