Not Afraid of Color

design wall Mondays at smallquiltsanddollquilts

oh Scrap Sundays

slow stitching Sundays

https://melvalovesscraps.blogspot.com/

https://songbirddesigns.blog/

http://www.inquiringquilter.com/ Wednesday wait loss

http://www.myquiltinfatuation.com/

https://confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com/

finished or not

https://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com/

https://beadwright.blogspot.com/

Saturday, January 20, 2024

How many art projects shall I work on at once?

LOTS!


clockwise from top left: round robin center block, project quilting finish, RSC feathered star, RSC EPP block, and my mantra these days

calendar page from years ago

I went from languishing and uninspired to having several ongoing challenges and projects going at once...

spinning dishes

remember this trick from the Ed Sullivan show? (I'm ahem, of an age)

plus, I hope to also do Joy's table scraps challenge, and a friend and I are working on our drawing skills by doing prompts together. It feels good to be creating again!

My goal this year was to focus on my writing, both essays, autobiography and creative writing of fiction.

on the sewing front this week, I made the second of two planned blocks for rainbow scrap challenge each month, in the chosen color. This month, dark green and a feathered star block.

I got the pattern from the book,Precisely Sew and after deciding it might be a fun way to focus on color, I looked through my extensive stash of fabric and didn't have enough of a white with multi color to go behind all the blocks. I found this on sale at FabricShack in Ohio.

there was 1 yard left of extra wide backing which is about 2 1/2 regular yards!

I decided while I waited for the fabric delivery, I pieced the four segments with white, I was very excited to see the fabric in person, all the colors, shapes and birds!this will look fun on my blocks!

On the knitting front, I'm finishing up another pair of wool socks for DH.

As for drawing and painting, they seem to go hand and hand for me. I used my personal junk journal made from scrap paper and beads to write in this week, (because it was handy) trying out the game connections that Judy told us about on I Like Thursday...

then decided to try gesso to cover the writing and firm up the flimsy copier paper on this section

No migraines from it, yea! I picked up the brown paper from a chocolate while waiting for gesso to dry and folded it and cut it like a snowflake... then stuck it on the gesso, and rubbed more on the surface with my finger. I was surprised to see the detail that developed as it dried, and loved the texture!

well, I have to play with these items again, so see what comes of it!. On the other side I painted a little Valentine with the watercolor set that now seems to live on the kitchen table

kuretake impressionist collection...LOVE it

the gesso provides "tooth" meaning some texture for paint to cling to on even thin paper

I wanted to test some colors, so I did some petals, and then inked inside them with doodles

While visiting another I Like Thursday post, at CanadianNeedleNana, she had yet another lovely photo that inspired me... I love her photos, this time a cozy scene with her husband reading with pup Ned

I felt something seeing her photo, and feel something looking at the painting. Drawing is an exercise in seeing.

I grabbed a pencil, and sketched the scene. I didn't realize it was a water soluble not graphite pencil, so when I dabbed on some color it dissolved a bit. it's more distinct in person , and I went on to write a little fictional story the scene inspired.

safe and sound

by LeeAnna Paylor

Oh my gosh it was a cold one today, up on the mountain. He layered on every warm item he could, got Ned, and headed out to do the needed chores. Blustery winds tried to whip off his scarf and hat, frost bit his exposed nose, but he managed to do the work.

Ned resented the dog coat and boots, but there were scents to sniff, and things that needed peeing on.

The two males went about the property together, The man thinking of a fireplace and cup of hot tea, the dog thinking of a fireplace, a mans leg to snuggle against, and dog things.

They came in the house, pulled off snow covered coats and boots, both man and dog stood in front of the fire for a bit, thawing.

The man looked down into a pair of big brown eyes and said, shall we fix a snack and rest a bit? The dog wagged his tail to say yes, I'll have what you're having.

after their snack the man took up his usual place on an overstuffed easy chair, tilted back a bit, pulled the chain on his tiffany lamp for some light and took up a paper to read. Ned settled against his man's leg, and sat,

sighing that big labrador sigh, blinked looking at nothing, happy after his romp to be inside and warm and safe

Writing makes me happy, words coming together to create a feeling or mental image, connecting one to another. I will share some of them here. My wish for all of us is to use our creativity with abandon, enjoying it and expressing some part of ourselves.

linking to

design wall Mondays at smallquiltsanddollquilts

oh Scrap Sundays

slow stitching Sundays

https://melvalovesscraps.blogspot.com/

https://songbirddesigns.blog/monday-musings-6-26-23/

http://www.inquiringquilter.com/ Wednesday wait loss

http://www.myquiltinfatuation.com/

https://confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com/

face off

finished or not

https://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com/

Saturday, May 20, 2023

my creative week fast stitching, slow stitching drawing , painting and some learning too

it's been a week of learning (Zen Stitch workshop online) and making

Drawing faces and flowers, painting on paper and fabric, designing an Autumn quilt, trying techniques new to me like setting shisha mirrors and stacking straight stitches in embroidery. Trying some stitches in a slightly different way than I've done them before, using my supplies, getting new supplies...

Toward the end of the week I just watched the lessons and stored up plans to try them later because my mind was full. (plus the occular migraines take a lot out of me)

I often try out ideas on scraps of weird fabric, or oddly shaped scraps of paper. These are contained in a box of parts... bits and pieces of lovely components waiting to be turned into something new.

One of the lessons was reverse applique in a bold primitive fashion. I've done it in heirloom style where you don't see stitches so this idea was bold. One lesson was painting fabric by squishing it in your hands, no thanks, but I reached into the magic parts box and pulled out these three painted pieces to try the embroidery method.

The fabric is apparently poly so it frayed like crazy, and I was too lazy to find a hoop to control it, so I just stitched the stamped bit with a big perle cotton in turquoise, cut out the center, pulled it back and tacked it down with coral perle cotton colonial stitches. I do french knots but now have this knot in my arsenal to use and I like it!

I expect this to turn into a sketchbook cover soon, after more construction!

I am learning Shisha techniques for fabric, and by learning I mean I made a dogs dinner of the whole thing...

The instructor had us make a pin cushion... (an ENORMOUS one) I had to use a button instead of mirror for my experiment, and never quite got the concept down but finished the pin cushion.

I liked the shape, the colors of felt and thread I chose, I liked adding a tiny circle and stitching to make little flowers, the colonial knots are very cute. I'll tune in to learn shisha from Sarah Humphrey instead of this teacher I think.

the trimmed bits of felt caught my eye, and I arranged them into a dragon fly... I like the idea of adding this to something, with beads of course and pretty threads

While watching the videos I sketched two teachers, while having my morning coffee...

of course on scraps of paper from cutting out the pin cushion template... using just pencil

I kind of like the triangle shape of the paper!! When doing a portrait from a photo I look to see what makes that person different from other people... tiny angles of an eyebrow, shape of a nostril, lips... etc

it is training my eye to see... to draw what I see not what I think I see

speaking of which one very talented artist who does thread sculptures decided to teach instead, how to notice lines in organic matter to be stitched later (here is an example video of hers )

these were drawn with my new birthday pressie from dh... which I'm finding very useful for lots of things... calligraphy as well as sketch. One of them is gray, the others black different shaped nibs

I would use the leaf drawings to do this with thread onto solvy, then dissolve that to have the lines left to use in art. whee!

I discovered this person because amazon sent me an email that I might like her... and I do!

I did another exercise by creativecove on drawing iris

and I loved it, but I also love iris' colors so I added in a bit of paint

Koi watercolors, small round brush

over the pencil and shading, pretty effect. Then adding a few black inked lines and white gel pen

I dug into my orange scrap bin this week to work on the blocks for my "portal" quilt... a walk in an autumn forest

cut 2.5" X 10.5" rectangles, pair them up, both face up, cut on diagonal....

pairs ready to cut on diagonal

sew two colors together into two blocks, retrim to 2" X 10" and go to the design wall to start that process

I love using fabric like paint, taking it down to color with the added excitement of the prints! All from scraps and now becoming a beautiful whole piece because they are all working together, cooperating to make something greater than any one of them.

In my heart this is the way humans should be... each unique, each bringing beauty to the whole, working together to make life better for all.

It's a dream, but it keeps me going in these days of insecurity

I am holding on emotionally by a thread of hope

As artists we are people, we are influenced by what goes on around us, our thoughts and feelings, and as artists we seek to interpret what we see, hear and feel.

To keep sanity I use art to escape and since autumn colors make me feel peaceful, that's where I'll be...

immersing myself in color, in slow stitching and fast stitching like these blocks, in color and letting it soothe my spirit

can you relate?

find your creative happy place y'all

design wall Mondays at smallquiltsanddollquilts

oh Scrap Sundays

slow stitching Sundays

link party

http://www.inquiringquilter.com/ Wednesday wait loss

http://www.myquiltinfatuation.com/

https://confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com/

off the wall Fridays

face off

peacock party

tgiffriday

finished or not

https://myblog-lunchbreak.blogspot.com/

Saturday, April 29, 2023

my creative week

this was a week of sewing, writing, and watching video lessons... with one drawing

hand sewing hexies, tiny quiltlets from scraps, and one drawing

the sewing primarily was "middle sewing" involving a lot of putting blocks together, basting a quilt, finding appropriate fabrics, making design decision that take time but don't show well in a round up.

I now have completed the squares for two RSC block sets made last year... I added an entire row of black and white squares to go with the colorful scrap blocks done last year, but like the first set I'm reluctant to show it until it's done, but here is one

and each time I made one black and white block, I cut away little triangles, which I then decided to sew into hourglass blocks. No measuring, just sew odd shaped triangle to odd shaped triangle,

until I had a lot of them. I don't know if this is considered improvisational, but it feels that way.

I played with arrangements but when I noticed this fabric left from my big blocks...

just a fat quarter (of a yard) and saw the musical cats, I decided to set the wee blocks (2" square) into a frame

yep, that's cool. They were not tidy nor even, but I didn't let that get in the way of making this for my husband, the guitar player who loves cats

finishing about 7" square

for table scraps... he's playing "notes"

no scrap too small, no scrap wasted. I miss being part of a quilt group in Maryland that gave me bags of what they considered too-small scraps. These came from making the large person sized quilt on the wall

the hexie project is together, pressed flat, layered with batting, with felt as backing... I'm quilting it now, and went through two discarded thread choices before settling on gold metallic. So far I've gone around the finished edge twice with straight stitch, after unpicking the buttonhole stitch I tried in the beginning

I wanted to be finished with the quilting before sharing it but it was part of my creativity this week.

I trim the felt close to the edge as a finish. I've gone through several choices for quilting the center but think I've decided on straight lines radiating from a center point, maybe.

Making art is not linear.

there are many decisions, all the way to completion.

I've never liked the phrase, " it's not over til the fat lady sings" having battled with weight all my life, but it's not over in art-ing til the last detail is on and the artist is satisfied.

this little lady is my true triumph this week. I LOVE her. She came from my heart, my mind, my spirit this week, a woman secure in herself, wearing a daffodil in her hair.

It is much MUCH more difficult to draw with pencil than paint, IMHO. Drawing is intentional, one must look closely, and call the shot before putting down a line. Paint can spread, move, blend by itself, it is often impressionistic in my world. I could paint the idea of a portrait, but this black line on white paper is strong.

I did an initial drawing, then went back, layer by layer, additional flick of a pencil, an erasure, a blending of graphite to shadow. Another layer of hair added... and she had slightly different eyes that felt somehow wrong to me.

After looking at her through the week, between sewing blocks, as I passed by, I erased one tiny area of her eye changing the shape slightly, rounding it just a millimeter more and suddenly she looked different.

I've grappled with noses, and lip lines. I like hers. I am always learning about shadow. Clothing and shoulders are often challenging. Not having a picture to go by is challenging.

I love this bit so much...

Her necklace. I want one like this, gold with three drop pearls. The face has been my go to design for years. I painted large now framed art with stars like this in the past. I'm glad I could give this to her.

Even now, in this photo I see I should remove some shadow along her chest line.

Isn't it wonderful to learn by doing?

I " spaved" this week with threads.

These are daily functional 3 ply cotton threads 50wt from "connecting threads"... and they are a great price from the online store. I find them to be smooth, strong, and gorgeous colors. If I were going to quilt stores I might purchase Metler for daily piecing but these are great and to me, in my usage, stronger than the aurofil the young quilters seem to favor but I find breaks too often.

I was visiting the blog (https://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com/) and she recommended these threads for hand swing EPP. I ordered the set right away from amazon, a great price at only $3 per spool in the 6 spool set of gorgeous colors

they are called cottonized poly, are 80wt so thin as a hair almost, very very very strong for pulling repeatedly through epp pieces, smooth, disappear in the stitching but the colors are wonderful. I'm glad I risked getting them sight unseen!

as a video treat, and I haven't tried this yet, I leave you with this

..... a cool method of joining the final binding ends

https://youtube.com/shorts/F2N6QelobsQ?feature=share

https://thejoyfulquilter.blogspot.com/2023/04/april-2023-abc-table-scraps-link-party.html

design wall Mondays at smallquiltsanddollquilts

oh Scrap Sundays

slow stitching

https://quiltinglearningcombo.blogspot.com/

http://www.inquiringquilter.com/ Wednesday wait loss