Saturday, July 9, 2022

"Crocus" finish plus all the colors from this week!

 

Welcome to the creative round up for the week! Above is a painting I made from a lesson by Tamara LaPorte! I love elephants who are wonderful parents and great friends. 

Here are two more paintings done from her recent workshop of teachers

I read this somewhere this week...as a painter we have one job, cover things in paint. I heard this when watching a video about the impressionists... and love it. No pressure, enjoy color and watching it dry...

I learn from each painting, about color, shading, line and shape. When I start from an image, I try to see what is there not what my mind thinks is there... I change it but want to capture an essence

As to sewing this week... well... let me start with the color of the month, purple scraps at RSC and my twinkler block...

pattern at superscrappy

the colors so far
and what was left when I cut out a lot of scrappy circles for an upcoming project...

Several projects kept me busy but I'll show those later when they are further along... the big finish is 

"Crocus"

"Crocus" about 16" tall by 38" long/wide

How I love it... I started with the bottom row... tiny strips becoming leaves and grasses...

Note: little shell buttons like flowers of spring

I get lost in the organic beauty that each improvisational addition makes... until I get enough to put into a strip of grass... then added another row more like stems...I'll show lots of close ups so you can see how fun the quilting came out... a mix of walking foot and free motion, a mix of cotton threads and sparkly delicate metallic threads.

after the row of stems comes the flower heads emerging in Spring. These curvy shapes were left from a project years ago, the flowering 9 patch blocks.... nothing goes to waste, it goes into the parts dept. 

I love the process of adding more. I'm still adding beads by hand to catch the eye on those blossoms.

As I added bits, and pieced the puzzle together, I imagined the quilting lines... and it goes amazingly fast once I start. Or I just lose track of time... "another little line here"  "this needs a bit of gold thread"

"I think I'll lay a strip of yellow green here and raw edged applique it to the strip" Following my heart, my intuition, listening to audio books, periodically looking out the window at the scrap of a mountain view in the distance, acknowledging the hail as it hits a window, petting Milo who keeps a poodle eye on me as I work.

 It creates a diversion like no other, the blessing of having a tiny workspace of my own in an upstairs bedroom.


Like I said, the shell button flowers are a start to the beading... all put on by hand after the quilt is finished. 

This represents a few months of work... like a puzzle, piece is sewn to piece, row to row, quilting lines added, hundreds of choices made along the way. 

I usually do 2-3 posts a week, in case you're new here... and each one seems to include art... that's my life at the moment!

Now I hope to hang the latest quilt over the mantel for a while... and need to tend to the growing pots of wildflowers on the back porch

linking to a few parties: 

patchwork Sunday                    

design wall Mondays at smallquiltsanddollquilts
lovelaughquilt.mondays 

finished or not

art for fun Friday


30 comments:

Sara said...

The elephant and the frog - just beautiful. The Crocus piece is a perfect canvas for the beads and embellishments. Looking wonderful.

PaintedThread said...

I am loving those stars!

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

Love seeing your painting, but the Crocus piece really hooked me. (Probably because it's fabric!) Love seeing what you do with those leftover bits and pieces!

Duke said...

Your work is always so creative and beautiful!

grammajudyb said...

Oh my! LeeAnna, I am in awe! Love, love, love the crocuses! Amazing!

MissPat said...

Ooh, the elephant is wonderful and the frog,too. (I have a small frog collection and a bunch of frog fabrics). You should do a collage quilt of an elephant. I think there's a pattern (designer name escapes me), but with your talent for improv and drawing, you could come up with your own, I'm sure. Hope Milo is feeling better.
Pat

Frédérique - Quilting Patchwork Appliqué said...

I love the elephant, and the frog is fun too! Lovely paintings.
But your crocus are, my, so so pretty!! Beautiful grass, quilting, embellishments, everything is gorgeous!
Thank you for sharing your beautiful work!

Quilter Kathy said...

Your paintings are wonderful! I fell down a rabbit hole after visiting the link you posted!
Your Crocus piece is also amazing!

Kim said...

Your elephant is so sweet....oh those eyes! When I was a little girl I always wanted a baby elephant. The impressionists are my favourite artists. Love the thought of "covering things in paint" and you do this so wonderfully, Leeanna. Your Crocus is a joy! Everything about it is a celebration of colour, design and intuitiveness.

gayle said...

Love love love that elephant! (It may be her eyelashes that sealed it for me!)
"cover things in paint" is food for thought - though in my case I seem to be covering them in fabric...

Linda @ kokaquilts said...

Love your crocus piece, so much detail. The beads & buttons will be delightful additions. And the rainbow collection of stars are super.

Miaismine said...

I love your painting of the elephant! It reminds me of the coat of many colors…lovely. Honestly, your work would be so awesome in an art show! So pretty and colorful!
I’m really liking your twinkler blocks! I saw “Crocus” at Kathy’s Quilts and just knew it was your beautifully organic work!
I’ve started playing with beads with my crocheted shawls…they add a bit of something extra as well as a nice weight to create a drape.
Yes, getting lost in creating is soothing to the soul! Happy creating this week!

Joanne said...

Hi LeeAnna,
That's the coolest elefant I have ever seen !
Gorgeous work on the crocus quilt !
hugs, take care,
Joanne

The Joyful Quilter said...

Wow, LeeAnna!! Paintings, posies, and PURPLE? All gorgeous!!!

Karen @ Beatrice Euphemie said...

Your creativity is amazing, LeeAnna, and so inspiring! Love the paintings - the colors and details. I especially love the sea painting with the moody background. Your quilting is so pretty - the stars, and the crocus, which is a work of art. I love your process and how Milo loves to watch. I hope he is feeling better. I had to laugh at 'the parts department'. Now I know what to call all my scraps! :) The wildflowers are so cheery. x K

Elaine/Muddling Through said...

I love your crocus piece. It is gorgeous and so detailed. I'm sure it is a joy to the touch as well! Good job!
Somehow I missed your comment on my blog earlier. I'm sorry. My greenhouse is one I bought several years back from Overstock.com. I have no idea if they have more, but it was about a hundred dollars and easy to assemble.

Susie H said...

What a beautiful art piece. I love my crocus flowers signaling Spring and I love your Crocus art reminding me of Spring. Nice job, LeeAnna!

Sherrie said...

Hi,
Love the Crocus piece....so pretty. I love looking at your drawings and paintings...
I can't draw a straight line with a ruler...so I'm admire anyone that draw
and paint. Have a great day!

Sandy said...

The quilt is coming along so well. I enjoy seeing all your projects, they're always so interesting. LOVE the frog.

Sandy's Space

Susan said...

Great looking blocks for RSC!

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

Love the ART!!!! and Milo - what a great friend
Your elephant is so amazing - that one stole the show for me!!!

quiltingbydawn said...

Wow! What lovely art work but I really love your crocus quilt! Thanks for sharing your process with close-up details. Love the improv and the embellishments!

Leanne Parsons said...

Your paintings are fabulous and the Crocus piece is just gorgeous!

Gillena Cox said...

Wow!!! Your fabric art is fabulous. Happy you linked to Art For Fun Friday

Much💚love

chrisknits said...

Great explosion of colors in Crocus. Thanks for linking up with TGIFF

Su-sieee! Mac said...

LA, I love all your awesome art work. Wowza, wow, wow! I love the way you work and create and be.

Tails Around the Ranch said...

Wow, your paintings are really shining! Very well done. Lately I've been pretty disappointed with my efforts; guess I need a LOT more online tutorials. Always a pleasure seeing your beautifully artistic creations. Kudos to you!

Jennifer Fulton Inquiring Quilter said...

I've loved watching you make Crocus little by little. Now it's bloomed into something amazing! Thanks for sharing on Wednesday Wait Loss.

piecefulwendy said...

Your paintings are always fun to see, and your RSC blocks are so pretty! Crocus is such an amazing piece; wish I could study it up close and see all the fun stitching and embellishments! You do beautiful work.

JanineMarie said...

Crocus must look so lovely over your mantel. (Photo, please) Weird thing just happened. I hadn’t received email notifications of your posts for some time and because I’ve been preoccupied with non quilty/non social media things lately, I hadn’t tried to figure out why. Today I got an email notification with a whole string of your posts. What fun! Time to settle in to see what I’ve missed.