Happy Halloween

I've been absent on my blog lately. The reason is a very good one. I've been so totally absorbed in creating that when I finally stop for the day I am to tired to post on my blog.

I promise that I will soon show and tell you some of the projects that I've been working on. Please hang in there.

The guy with the hat is my DH. I love that old guy.

ArtQuilts XV:Needleplay

I am proud to invite you to the exhibit ArtQuilts XV:Needleplay opening Nov 5 at the Chandler Visions Gallery in Chandler AZ. My art piece "Love" will be on display during this exhibit.

The art work used on the postcard was made by a fellow art quilter from our area, Terry Jerrard-Diamond.

Would love to be there for the opening but can't make the trip right now. If you are in the area please visit and I hope you enjoy.

October Focus Meeting

Our Focus Fiber Art group met this week at my house. It was an interesting meeting. It seems that the majority of the group was in a USE-UP/GET-RID-OF state of mine.

Diana and Veronica had been to the State QSC Retreat this month and they decided to take all their cutup fabric and just make something. Both ended up with really interesting pieces from their scrap bags.

Dixie is trying to get rid of her old teaching samples. She took a lot of them and made "Lovies" for Diana's quilt guild in Spartanburg. A "Lovie" is a small piece that has a soft backing for a child who is in distress and needs something to love. Dixie also used some 30-yr old batik from Java to make a beautiful Hawaiian applique wall hanging.

Veronica had one piece that she wanted to add circles to the surface. She always likes to have handwork for the evenings in front of the TV. The background had been done for a while so she brought it our and decided to add the circles.

Barb, had also been cleaning up her studio but her concentration was on books and magazines. I happened to see what she had on top as she walked in the door and quickly grabbed three books on making dolls.

Marge brought her ever expanding piece, it will eventually be a king size quilt. Marge is a very patient, exacting quilter. Her methods make for a very well constructed piece. She plots all her pieces out on the computer and this is where she gets her patterns. Marge shows us the grafts.

I am again working on Uncle Dave. I need some light gray hand-dyed fabric that Vicki Welsh is dying for me. Got and email the end of the week that she was going to the dye studio Mon. or Tue. sooo I should be back in business soon.

We always have such a good meeting. We missed Judy and Janet. Janet hope you're well soon.

HiFiber: Limitless Imagination Exhibit

Exhibit held at:

The Artists' Loft
121 N. Townville St, Seneca, SC.
Open Wed-Sat 10 to 5.










Just a little less than two years ago this fiber art group had their first meeting. HiFiber is an off-shoot mini group from Lake and Mountain Quilt Guild. It is made up of members who had experience as a traditional quilter but wanted to break out of the box, as well as members who had spent years already out of the box.

After a few meetings, where we discussed what we wanted to accomplish as a group, we decided that we would use "Fabric Art Workshop" by Susan Stein as our guide to explore new techniques. This exhibit is the results of those almost two years worth of work by 14 members.

During one of the first meetings someone mentioned an exhibit as the final results of this project and many of the members were reluctant to commit to an exhibit. Most feeling that they were not ready for a showing of their work. I think this exhibit proves how wrong they were.

Poster Quilt

Recently my friend Lynda Doll and her husband Ted visited us for a few days. I met Lynda through teaching at her guild in North Georgia. We became friends and visit each other several times a year.

Lynda belongs to a fiber art group in her area. They have taken on a challenge that will last for two years. I think I remember that there are about twenty in this group. Each member was to choose a poster that they liked and wanted it created in fiber. They were to cut it up into pieces, as many as they wanted, in any shape they wanted.

Each member drew pieces, most having at least four pieces to get done. They chose the order of due date by alphabetical order. Lynda having the last name of Doll was one of the first to have her pieces finished.

When they visited, Lynda brought her piece for me to see. She hasn't sewn it together yet but I think you will get the idea.

This type of project if one I would very much like to do. Maybe when I find just the right photograph I can find enough people who are interested in joining me with a challenge.

Chiaroscuro

Wikipedia definition of Chiaroscuro (English pronunciation: /kiˌɑrəˈskjʊəroʊ/, Italian: [kjarosˈkuːro] "light-dark") in art is characterized by strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for using contrasts of light to achieve a sense of volume in modeling three-dimensional objects such as the human body.

Last month I joined an on line group, Fast Friday Fabric Challenge, http://fastfridayquilts.blogspot.com/. The idea of this group it learn, help each other, do a project fast, this is the hard part for me and one of the reasons I joined the group. A challenge is issued on the last Friday of the month and is supposed to be done by the following week or not. There is no pressure.

This month Cynthia Morgan issued a hint several days before the first challenge. The word was Chiaroscuro. After looking the word up on line, I had slight knowledge of the word but wanted to make sure, I immediately started noticing how the light struck the trees outside our window, how it played on the clouds and water. In other words it made me notice light.

We were spending a few days at our friends house at the beach and the light play on the clouds was spectacular. These photos are from their back porch.

The photo I chose for this project was one of my granddaughter, Aubrey. It was taken by her mother at the beach when the sun was low in the sky. The photo was full body so I chose to crop her head to a portrait size. While in PhotoShop I went to filters and applied cutout to get the abstraction. I used this as my pattern. I used four values of fabric to achieve this look.

On the critique section of the FFFC blog Cynthia asked if I had considered using a lighter and darker fabric than what I used on the first piece. I have been working on another larger piece for a while and the second photo is a result of that project. I think it covers Cynthia's question. This is also Aubrey but from a different photo. I have learned a lot by this challenge, it has opened my eyes wider to take in what I actually see around me. I'm looking forward to the next.

What A Great Day

I had planned to write about something else today but had such a great day in my studio that I'm going to write about my work.

Both my husband and I decided we would take the day to work in our studio. My husband is a woodturner and he has been making some really beautiful candle holders. He put the finishing touches on those today and made a small pepper mill.

I have three projects going. Two of them have been hanging on my design wall for months. I have posted about the piece I am making titled "Uncle Dave" but I ran into a snag that had put that project on hold. I need some hand dyed gray fabric. Vicki Welsh is presently trying to dye some close to the color I need. I also decided that I was going to have part of the design come off of the bottom of the piece. I've done this many times before so that is not the problem. The problem stems from the fact that I need to put a part of Uncle Dave's body in front of the object. I know that I will come up with a solution it just takes time and planning.

Planning? Well I don't always do a lot of planning when I work on a piece. Most of my finished works have undergone many transformations before I call it finished. The other piece I am working on is just one of those. I started the part of the piece in a class at Arrowmont. The class was on surface design, printing on fabric. I used PhotoShop Elements to make the design and then printed it in four banners to make a large image. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to make it larger by adding other elements. I took the photo that I manipulated in PhotoShop and did more manipulation in filters until I came up with six different photos. I added a boarder of black around the center design with gray along the sides. I then put three photos on one side and three on the other.

After I had done this I ran across a piece that I had made out of fabric of the same photo. My mind started reeling and I decided that I didn't like the six photos, they were too pat and everything was too symmetrical. Besides I like the one I made out of fabric better so I decided to make three to go on just one side. I got that done and found the center piece was not square and that threw off my lines. So, I took it apart. As I was doing that another idea came to me so I acted on that today and I am elated. I'm so excited about how this piece is turning out. This time I did have to do some major planning/math, which I hate, but found it to be necessary. I will post photos a little late.

I also worked on a new doll that I am making today as well. I told you I was busy today. I have the doll finished with the exception of the facial features and the hands. The doll will be either sitting or laying on the back of a turtle. That has been another real experience. I'm signing off because I need to mellow out a little so I can sleep. Today has been a great day.