Sewing Saturday from turquoise to orange, goddesses to pumpkins

 

For this week's sewing discussion I have three small finishes. The photo above shows the transition in color of the month at RSC from turquoise to orange.

The calendar says we are getting into Fall even if our temps remain nearly 100 F and the wildfire smoke is choking us when we go outside.  We are having record breaking heat when it traditionally was cooling off. 

My three finishes also show the transition from turquoise to orange and don't they compliment each other?  

I love Fall. I grew up in Florida where we had two seasons, hot and less hot, but watched TV and saw the pretty colors Fall presented in the Northeast... and loved them. Fall meant softer weather in the midAtlantic region, it meant glorious pumpkins and golden leaves against bright blue skies, scarecrows appearing on front porches alongside miniature hay bales.

When are you most productive creatively? I wake up earlier than I want due to noise and intrusive sun here but take my time drinking coffee and checking on the world via my computer each morning. 

Being retired I am able to more or less set my schedule, and I like to tiptoe into the day. 

Lately I am doing a drawing or painting in 5 minutes each morning before I get dressed for the day. I have supplies at the ready next to my computer to make this transition into creativity as simple as possible. 

This little baby pumpkin watercolor is today's offering. The 5 min rule means no dithering over brushstrokes, allow the color to lead you, see what shows up. I like the lights and darks as well as where the paper stayed color free making highlights. I like blending color on the paper, seldom doing a green leaf without a dab of brown or dash of red, I like using the nearly dry brush to do a shadow. 

I am constantly learning. 

I quilted the latest improv turquoise piece and saw another goddess figure in it. I let my hands wander over the lines with threads while joining the three layers.

 I liked seeing the quilting lines show up

Shadows create those lines. I saw this as a cave painting sort of, so I quilted symbols sort of, parallel lines for water, spirals for eternity and for women's shapes, triangles for growth. 

I bound it in silks, a single fold to reduce bulk of silk

Finished!!

Then I began to add beads... tiny crystal stars, dark blue bugle beads, silver and blue fish with sparkling gold bugle beads, a word of hope

and a repurposed bracelet gave me the components to do some more triangles dangling off the bottom

She will join the other color studies hanging in tiny studio 2. (one tiny studio room to design, one to hold supplies) This little improv pieced uses some of the many tiny scraps from my recent fall kaleidoscope

I loved the striped fabric binding with it, and it might stand in for this month's table scraps challenge

but this one really made me happy!!! I did the little improv piece second down on this but didn't want a mug rug. What to do??

I looked thru my fall fabric scraps for ideas and thought how adorable the little scenes were, so three different fabric scenes plus some additional prints went together into this piece that will hang in my stairwell. 

I'll share close ups

all bound with my pretty sparkly mylar stars on orange fabric. 

One time I mistakenly pressed this and the stars came off on my iron... opps so now I only use it on pieces that will not get hot. 

It's fussy to use but so effective....

Next up I would like to sew on some simple borders to the bats and boos quilt, and choose borders for the kaleidoscope quilt. Both are larger and will be more challenging to quilt on my small machine. 

To answer the question I asked earlier, when are you most creative, I'd say mornings for painting, and afternoon's for sewing. Writing seems to flow when it flows... know what I mean?  My sketchbook stays out on the table all the time as one never knows when inspiration will hit! 

Happy sewing my friends!

LINKING WITH

https://thejoyfulquilter.blogspot.com/2021/09/september-2021-table-scraps.html

http://frombolttobeauty.blogspot.com/

off the wall Fridays
can I get a whoop whoop Fridays 
tgiffridayfinished or not 

myquiltinfatuation Thursdays

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

Midweek makers wednesdays  

https://scrapatches.blogspot.com/

 

design wall Mondays at smallquiltsanddollquilts
lovelaughquilt.mondays

patchwork Sunday                    
oh Scrap Sundays 

 scrap happy Saturdays

paint party Friday petals and lettering

For paint party Friday today, I have a series of my creative exercises of morning paintings (done in 5-10 min) They are small enough to turn into greeting cards, often on torn watercolor paper. 

three colors of imaginary flowers that started from this...

I painted a very quick flower on  printer paper scrap I use for notes... on the left below

I liked it although when you paint on printer paper the color attaches immediately and the water distorts rather than moving the color around like it does on 140 lb watercolor paper (on the right) 

I loved it, the energy, and lines, the tiny dots like stamens. You can compare how the same paint and brush impacts the two weights of paper. 

this had more orange mixed in, and my "chop" on the back

 

inspiration in my wildflower patio pot

more faces painted, drawn quickly on printer paper scraps while watching youtube videos

She has a face with character and I drew her with watercolor pencil all in brown, from a history video host I was watching

this one was just to see a portrait done in green pencil

and while watching videos I watched one on lettering... using block letters 10 ways

just in the sketchbook

 Link here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MYUDh24Gqc

Linking to

https://paintpartyfriday.blogspot.com/

http://floralfridayfoto.blogspot.com/

I Like Thursday #261

Welcome to this week's really short list of likes!

I'm still here, sweating in nearly 100F heat instead of the usual more temperate September temps. It makes me very testy. I am sewing and painting... I've continued to do a 5 min painting each morning while I have my coffee. I've finished three small quilted works. 

 The paint post is tomorrow and the sewing post is Saturday, hope to see you then.

I'm listening to the next book in the Kilts and Quilts series on audio while in studio. 

I'm taking my time to finish the delicious e book The Tangled Vines as I got it free from Prime : a young woman learns her family is not who she thought, and inherits a winery in Italy, the layers of information peeling away like an onion. 

We watched the movie Home Again on Netflix with Reese Witherspoon and a lovely cast of good actors. It was just terrific. Two thumbs up! 

On youtube this week:

Another cross -species connection... all living in peace, all their lives are enhanced by understanding

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QuQBnv3R_Y

TV

We love the mystery show "My life is murder" out of Australia with Lucy Lawless... and it's back! We watch on ACORN, a new show drops each Tuesday.

Fantasy Island   is just terrific... a scripted drama update from the original show. Love the sort of magical way they deal with people who come to deal with some kind of issue.

Dreams

well, it's sold but look how some people live... my style to a T 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsaFEDaww4E

finally, do you want to giggle?

 

Milo's Moments

Now what! Mama and Daddy have a new obsession with my toenails. 

Mama: you mean talons? We let them grow too long so we now are trimming and grinding them weekly til they can be called toenails again. 

Milo: well can you do it without touching my tender feet???Also my ears have to be cleaned every night now, and that's no fun!

Mama: you're telling me? Well you're having horrible allergies from the smoke and heat combo.We always give you a treat for letting us clean them

 Milo: ooooooo is that why I get the extra treat at night? heh heh

Mama: you  know that!! Every time you get off the table you run to the treat cabinet wagging your tail

Milo: oh, well, yeah... thanks Mama!

I really like those treats!

Please visit these people keeping lists of likes too this week!

 grammajudyb.blogspot.com

   http://littlepenguinquilts

 craftscaviescontras

  http://imworkingonaproject.blogspot.com/

 

https://scrapatches.blogspot.com/   

https://canadianneedlenana.blogspot.com/  

https://whataboutrheema.blogspot.com/   

http://3poodlesandanana.blogspot.com  

https://www.homesewnbyus.com/ 

 

https://knittingquilter.blogspot.com/    

 the knitty quilter

https://quiltschmilt.wordpress.com/blog-posts/    

https://100sweets.blogspot.com/ 

https://faithtrustandbreastcancer.blogspot.com/ 

 http://www.piecefulthoughts.com

LINKING WITH

friday bliss

https://brianshomeblog.com/ 

https://www.knitbygodshand.com/

http://itsasmalltownlife.blogspot.com/  

http://goodrandomfun.blogspot.com

rosie and the boys nature pics 

friday smiles at a stitch in time 

Sewing Saturday odds and ends

 

I started sewing about age 5. I remember visiting my grandmother and standing by her lap as she hand pieced fabric scraps onto thin telephone book paper. I remember thinking how beautiful all the colors were as they joined each other. 

She gifted me with little scrappy squares of fabrics, from used clothing, all different fiber contents colors and patterns. She showed me how to use her mother's treadle machine, how to carefully put edges together and keep them straight as the machine pulled them backwards while stitching. 

The little drawers were full of items and I loved looking through them. Sorting it. Snaps on flimsy  cardboard, threads on wooden spools, old thick straight pins, buttons of every size, usually white. The long bobbins so weird looking to a little girl in the 60's used to watching the Jetsons Saturday mornings, and bewitched after school. 

I felt grown up, being allowed to run this machine and make decisions about which ugly square to sew to another. I automatically matched corner seams as I sewed. After giving minimal instructions, Granny returned to her chair and her work. We worked side by side in the same room. 

It lives with me now... and I still love it so

 

She was never one to waste words of praise like people do today. It didn't matter to me, I was being inducted into the world of sewing, and that was what mattered. That machine was my territory after that day. Granny never used it since she once sewed over her own finger, but let little me jump right in!

I went on to learn embroidery, crocheting, hand piecing, clothing construction making all my clothes through college. I didn't go back to quilting until I took a winter class while living in Canada. I learned how to draft my pattern, cut with scissors the shapes needed to fit back together into a lovely pattern, and hand quilt. I thought about Granny, long gone from our lives, and how my love of sewing started. 

I made my first quilt in the 1980's, a sampler of two colors, three fabrics. My next quilt was an art quilt for the little girls I watched as a nanny. I traced each little hand, drew balloons of solid fabric and put their names in them, strings from the balloons to their hands done in calico. 

The quilt I worked on next was a double wedding ring top hand pieced by Granny for my sister when she married. I hand quilted the full sized quilt and gave it back to my sister, who promptly put it in a plastic bag in the top of her closet. 

This was about the time rotary cutters were invented, speed became the catchword "quilt in a day" and I took a workshop in how to speed my way through quilting. 

While everyone was making a quilt in a day that took years to finish, I banked back and forth from traditional blocks to applique, from rotary cut blocks to clothing to doll making to knitting, to macrame to beading, to painting, to stained glass, to pottery and any artform I could put my hands on. 

However, I never stopped sewing.

 I moved up to the hand me down 1940's singer machine, and eventually my indulgent husband bought me a Bernina that I still use. I continue to do a variety of styles, love the rotary cutter but now often use it to cut free form art quilts. I still hand piece and think of Granny. I mostly machine quilt but because of a back issue, must break down bed quilts into sections. I wonder what Granny would say about my artistic work that combines love of painting, 3-d embellishing, saturated colors and modern fabrics purchased for so much money. 

Now that I am retired I sew pretty much daily. My studio space is small but mighty and works for me. It is my happy place, and I admit I sometimes go in to putter around when in between projects. Just sorting, folding and re-stacking fabrics in the drawers can stimulate me to make something. 

I have never lost my love of scraps. Tiny pieces that should likely be thrown away, I see magic in as they touch. Ooo look at the red violet next to the lime green and purple! Crocus! Where is a golden scrap? 

So this week, as I looked through the halloween collection drawer for a backing to go with my nearly finished bats and boos quilt, I spied an apron fabric my friend gave me. I always take any fabrics offered because even an apron fabric printed on muslin is fabric that can be cut up for the print. 

how fortuitous!  The tile kitchen counter is tearing my shirts, so I was planning to find an apron pattern anyway... of course I didn't follow the instructions, I lined it in a gray upholstery fabric my sister gave me in the 80's. It's sturdy and not pretty so who cares if it gets stained? I can wear the halloween side out for two months and then flip it over to wear the gray out. 

My sister didn't see the value in that old fabric, she was finished upholstering her easy chair. There was about 4 yards left of old time fabric that is about 55" wide... a LOT for me. Things some people see as trash I see as useful. I believe we need to have some fabric that isn't so pretty, because in life there are times when you just need fabric you don't mind using. 

the goddess piece ready to quilt, the fall runner binding in progress

 When I pieced the Ricky Tims Kaleidoscope quilt last month, I had Waaaaayyyy too much wasted fabric and of course kept it. I started with the tiny scraps of color and enjoyed sewing them together to see lines of stitching, and colors. A true Kaleidoscope to me! Like the tiny glass pieces that clinked in my childish hands as a little girl. 

I quilted it this week along with several others, treating it as if it was a bed quilt or a piece of art. I like the fan shapes that happened and the use of pretty fall colors. It makes me think of sunlight through colorful leaves, pumpkins, sunflowers, acorns. I found this more expensive fabric that would look terrific as an edge treatment... I'll just use it instead of saving it! 

My back is sketchy, so when I rotary cut long strips now, I have to make sure they are totally straight when reopened, so I am very careful when cutting. To make sure it's going to end up straight, I carefully fold selvages together as I was taught in school, squidging the fabric back and forth til it hangs straight. Then I fold it up again putting a paper under the second fold so as to see clearly, and adjust it til all the edges line up on a long ruler, which means the fold lines are all exactly the correct angle.

the paper doesn't need to be straight, it just visually helps to see the fold line

 Move the ruler over and make my cut. Perfect! 

I pieced the long fall quilt around the tiny abstract, and it's quilted ready for binding, then hanging in the stair well to enjoy through the season

I still divide my artistic time between painting, writing, and sewing. I know Granny would appreciate my love of fabric, and the care I take to construct all my quilts so they lay flat and look tidy. 

Granny used scraps from clothes instead of store bought fabric, because her family was quite poor in cash, she told stories of having to walk the cotton fields of Alabama scrounging junk cotton for batting. These days some people mistake wealth of cash for importance. What would Jesus say? 

I have no children to leave my quilts to, but I have taught children to sew. I sew because I must.

LINKING TO

can I get a whoop whoop Fridays 
finished or not 

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

Midweek makers wednesdays  

https://scrapatches.blogspot.com/

 design wall Mondays at smallquiltsanddollquilts
lovelaughquilt.mondays
sew can do mondays

keepingitrreal

patchwork Sunday                    
oh Scrap Sundays 

SoScrappy

paint party friday a painting a day

 

also practiced lettering here

I've been trying to paint something each day, preferably in 5-10 minutes. This reduces the dithering and worry of painting a magnum opus each time and gets me in the creative mindset for the day.

it's a pretty display on my desk for now!

they sometimes end up as cards for friends... tear watercolor paper into fourths and fold. 

I just loved how this one came out, the spray of pink flowers especially. I tried to replicate it...

but on a beach for my painting pal Sonja who also likes to watch paint dry

these two showed up, unfortunately just drawn on scrap computer printer paper

yesterday I felt like trying to do a portrait with just one color of pencil. The only thing I did was soften the cheek area with the water pen after. Then I experimented with dots as background filler 

tombow watercolor markers and water brush

the dots wouldn't spread on printer paper so I tore a tiny piece of watercolor paper to try them again.

with no goal in mind but to see how a series of dots in blue and gray acted when dampened, this happened. I like that some dots remained and some blurred into the paper. I felt it needed another color and swiped on the orange... then sketched a hint of a lotus

I like how the pen skipped on the damp paper, and how the orange blended in when I tapped it with a paper towel. Love!! Keeping this one! 

and this little somebody started the week on Monday... and now sits in the studio to make me smile

unfortunately also painted on printer paper 8.5" X 11"

 

I have been highly enjoying the series on youtube, Find out Fridays where artists make a piece with supplies they are given...

if you need me, I'll be watching paint dry