Last Post of the Year, Week 52

Well, we are finally at the last week of 2016!  My last entry for the year is what I was wishing for on Christmas, and what we certainly DID NOT have: A White Christmas.  This area of the country had extremely warm temperatures for the day, and it will continue throughout the coming week, so that we will end the year on a warm note. 

If I can't have a white Christmas in reality, I can create one in fabric!  I used commercial fabrics and a little bit of silver mesh for bling.  That's supposed to be a small pond in black; not sure it's totally believable, but then, it doesn't really have to be!  I love the fabric I used for the sky, with the rays coming from the horizon.  I'll have to remember that fabric when I'm looking for sky fabrics. 
I hope everyone had a wonderful, blessed Christmas and that the New Year of 2017 (EEK!) will bring lovely surprises, lots of creativity and JOY to you all!  Thanks for sharing my 2016 weekly project with me, it's been fun!

Week 51

You can probably tell by this point that I enjoy doing squares and rectangles, since I've done several over this past year.  It just somehow speaks to me.  Maybe next year I need to switch to circles?  Spice it up a bit?  Well, I may have to work on that!  This week I wanted to work in blue again, mainly because it is so reminiscent of winter; skies and snow and all.  We have finally had a dusting of snow and the world has turned magical, especially in the mornings when the sun hits the ice covered trees.  Just beautiful.  But I digress. 

The fabric on the left side has a Christmas tree in silver in the fabric, so it just seemed natural that it would go in this square.  And of course, we have snowflakes in the central square.   I decided to add some orange for a bit of  pop.  There's only one week left in the year and I will have completed 52 pieces!  WOOHOO! 

Week 50

Week 50!  We have only two more weeks in 2016.  Wow, this year has flown by.  My piece this week is a bit uninspired, but it's done, so there's that. 

It's funny, I have a lot of blue fabrics but I seldom work in blue! 

In trying to keep with a wintry theme, I decided to pull out some blue pieces, but really had a difficult time putting them together, hence this piece of squares and rectangles.  As I said, a bit uninspired.  I'll try to be more creative next week!  Maybe get some time in the studio to really play.  That's when the fun happens! 

Week 49

This week came on me too quickly!  Combine Christmas decorating and my granddaughter's 3rd birthday, which takes us to Oklahoma City, and I simply ran out of time to work in the studio.  So today I managed a couple of minutes to put together Week 49's entry.  It was done in a hurry, so I can't really say it was time playing in the studio; more like "OMG, I've got to get this done!"  We've all been there, haven't we?

As you can see, I managed to move away from fall colors, and made a more wintry scene.  We haven't seen snow around here yet this season, but we've been promised a couple of flakes tomorrow night, although I am not holding my breath for that!  In any case, Week 49 is done.
 

Week 48

I have returned to the fall colors for one more week although I'll probably change the color scheme next week; after all, we'll be into December by then and Winter colors should prevail. 

I must admit, however, that I feel quite comfortable with autumn colors, the colors of the earth.  I confess to having a plethora of them in my stash, so it's only reasonable that I use them from time to time.  And what better time than the fall changing of the seasons?  This piece is done with all commercial fabrics.  The background color on the left did not photograph well; it really is a mossy green or deep avocado green, but it looks gray in the photo.  The gold fabric is a marbled fabric I have that is predominantly white on one end and it gets darker into the golds until it is   almost all brown at the opposite end.  Thus, Week 48 is done and I head, crashing,  into Week 49!

Week 47, Back to Fall

Here it is Week 47, and here in Oklahoma we have finally seen some fall colors on the trees.  We're running about 2-2 1/2 weeks behind our normal seasonal change.  We usually see colors around mid to late October; this is the week of Thanksgiving!  So the colors spoke to me again, and I created this piece:

The sky and grass area are commercial fabrics, with some fussy cut leaves in the foreground.  I used dyed cheesecloth for the "leaf" color (which I felted in using my embellisher, or felting machine) on the trees.  I may yet add some additional items in the piece, but it is done enough to count as one of my weeks' entries. 

Week 46

I have veered away from my fall color jag, and moved onto rusted fabric. This piece uses fabric I rusted (the background fabric has writing on it naturally) which is placed onto black fabric.  I then added a rectangle of black fabric with decorative stitching.  The smaller rectangles are hand stitched (BTW, it is very difficult to hand stitch thru rusted fabric; glad I didn't do more hand stitching, my fingers wouldn't have lasted much longer!) onto that. 

The white written fabric is cut using pinking sheers and I used scrap book copper brads to hold down the squares.    The whole piece is glued to stabilizer.  

Week 45

Here we are at Week 45 and I am still working with fall colors.  In fact, they are the same fabrics as last week, in a different configuration. 

I added some decorative stitching to each of the pieces which are glued onto my stabilizer.  I would also quilt in the ditch if I decide to use this piece in a larger quilt.  And maybe add some decorative free motion stitching within some of the blocks.  We have only seven more weeks of the year, only seven more seven inch pieces to complete!  This year has gone by fast! 

Life Cycle

I have just completed a new work, titled "Live Cycle".  It is the result of a local fiber group challenge, the theme of which was "Time Flies" where we had to use three different techniques in the finished piece, and it had to measure larger than 16 inches and smaller than 36, with any combination within those parameters.  My piece measures 32 x 36.  It consists of three panels, each of which can stand on its own, but together they create the life cycle of a sunflower. 

I used painted and heated Tyvek, with beading,  as the centers of the sunflowers in the first panel.  The second panel has French Knots (for hand embroidery) in the center of the sunflower, with beads on top of the knots, and in the centers of the 3-D white flowers at the bottom I have used Angelina with stitching on top.  The last panel has silver foiling in the sky using Bonash powder, which gives the impression of stars in the sky.  I used raw-edge applique throughout the entire piece and free motion stitching.  There are several 3-D effects in each panel and Broderie Perse (sp?).  Panels one and three measure 11.5 x 32 and the middle panel measures 13 x 32 inches respectively. 

I wanted to make sure the different techniques used did not overpower the piece as a whole, and separating the work into three panels, with only one or two techniques used in each panel helped me overcome that problem. 

I was unsure exactly how to execute some of the techniques within the piece, so I made a sample piece, 12 x 12 to kind of work out the logistics with in the piece.  I donated this work to the Spiva Art Gallery (in Joplin, MO) auction to raise money for the gallery.  It sold, WOOHOO. 

While doing this piece I discovered that it was very difficult to bead the painted Tyvek.  I had attached the front fabric to a heavy stabilizer and trying to push a needle through the stabilizer as well as the Tyvek took a toll on my fingers!  So in the Life Cycle piece I omitted the stabilizer and beaded the Tyvek before I added it to the fabric.  Much easier!  Sometimes making a practice piece helps work out potential problems, and this was one of those times. 

Week 44

We are supposed to be in autumn here in the US, but it certainly doesn't feel like it.  Our temps have been above normal for most of October, and according to the weather service, November isn't going to be much cooler.  Above normal temperatures are forecast for the next several days.  Will fall ever materialize? (Pun intended)   Despite the warm temps, I continue to hold onto autumn by creating fiber art in fall colors, even if the trees are not cooperating! 

So here is Week 44's entry, a strip pieced melange of fall colors, all commercial fabrics, separated by strips of black.  I don't know, maybe I should begin making pieces with Christmas fabrics----do you think we could stir up some cold weather THAT way?  I may have to resort to some drastic measures if this keeps up! 

Week 43

The piece for Week 43 is cut from a larger piece of "fabric" I made using all sorts of different materials.  I used roving, yarns, paper, fabric, metallic mesh, & cellophane, fused it all to my stabilizer both front and back and then sewed it all down in a grid pattern.  I made several of these pieces in different color ways.  This one is primarily orange, with lots of other colors thrown in.

We have only 9 weeks left in the year!  I can't wait to see what kind of weird thing I come up with next week!  This has been a fun, and productive, 43 week experiment so far!

Week 42

We are now at Week 42 and I decided to do some "wonky" stitching with bright fabrics.  I tend to be a bit too organized, even when I'm doing wonky, so this didn't turn out exactly as I had planned, but it is, in fact, done, and that is what matters on a weekly schedule!!

I sometimes find that 7 inches is too small for the design I imagine; this would have been better if the horizontal strips were narrower.  But that is what this experiment is all about; playing with ideas and seeing if they work or not.  And if not, how they might have been improved.  It's a learning process.

Week 41

I dove into my stash of Oriental fabrics for Week 41.  This piece is made with commercial fabric and a small piece of my Sashiko stitching on Dupioni silk, machine stitched to my stabilizer. 

I have several fabrics with Oriental kanji (Japanese writing characters) and I love how they play off of the other fabrics.  This piece is reminiscent of my Messages from the Orient II, which was sold earlier this year. 

Week 40

Week 40---can you believe we have only 12 more weeks in 2016??  I can't.  And I am proud of myself for staying current on my new year's promise to do a 7 inch piece each week of the year.  It has been a fun project, maybe I'll continue it next year.

The piece this week is also inspired by autumn colors, as was last weeks' piece.  Our leaves here haven't begun turning yet, and it may not be a very good color season because of lack of rain, but we'll see what happens in the next couple of weeks.

I simply glued the pieces onto my stabilizer and I'm not really sure how I will quilt this if I end up using it, but I did like the combination of colors.  I'm currently working on a large piece with these colors in it, so using them in my weekly piece was just a continuation on a theme. 

Week 39; Fall has arrived

This is Week 39 and Fall arrived on Thursday, September 22, although the weather at that time felt more like mid-summer.  We have finally had a cold front come through, so today was a truly wonderful, crisp fall day.  And my Week 39 piece is here to celebrate my favorite time of year! 

The green piece in the background is a marvelous hand dyed piece my friend Vanya gave to me.  It was just perfect for the autumn leaves I cut out of the stripe fabric that is on the top and bottom of the block.  I did free machine stitching on the leaves, using yellow thread on the orange leaves and orange thread on the yellow leaf.  I like the finished block, and may do some other fall-inspired pieces in the next couple of weeks. 

Week 38

Well, here we are at week 38 and I am ready to post the piece, woohoo!  I had to rummage through my "extra drawer" which is where I put all the pieces of fabric I've surface designed, with no plans for using them.  There is a lot of inspiration in there, just waiting....The drawer is bursting. 

Anyway, I found this cute little fishie I'd silk screened, and figured it was as good a time as any to use him. 

I used Lumiere acrylic paint in green and turquoise through sequin waste for the bubbles and stitched some hand dyed fabric to the sides, squaring it up with two strips of black. 

Who knows, if I keep this up, I'll actually USE some of those wonderful screened and painted fabrics and papers!

Week 37

This week I decided to pull out a piece of tissue paper fabric I had made awhile back and see what I could do with it.  I added a bit more paint and some more words, then thought that a strong tree might work in silhouette. 

Now as I'm posting this, I'm thinking that a swing hanging from that main branch would work.  Hmmm, maybe.  I'll have to think on that a bit. 

I used some metallic/shimmery paint that I have in spray bottles, but you really can't see the shimmer in the photo.  The fabric is a black and white random print that I didn't even know I had.  Such is the onus of having so many fabrics (and so little time!)

Week 36, Late

It's week 36 and I have had some computer issues, so this posting is a bit late in the week.  But it is done, so that's what counts, isn't it?  Anyway, the computer has been cleared of it's virus, and we are good to go.

The piece this week is made with my hand dyed fabric onto which I put some tissue paper writing and small circles.  I attached the tissue paper to the background fabric with gel medium.

When the medium was dry I then added circles (made with a toilet paper roll) in black and gold paint.  I waited for the paint to dry overnight and heat set the piece.  I would probably do circle stitching in the open areas if I ever use this piece, and I do like the words from the paper.  The top piece of paper was a piece of dress pattern tissue. 

Week 35

This week's piece is something totally different.  I started with a piece of commercial fabric that has grey dots on it.  I then added two vertical strips of black fabric on top, off center from each other.  Next I added a horizontal strip of black fabric and on top of that is a piece of glitter mesh fabric.  I couched some silver cord around the edges of the glitter mesh to outline it.

On top of the mesh I again added a strip of black fabric and another piece of the glitter mesh with cord around the edges.  And finally I put a small rectangle of black fabric on top of it all.  The effect of all the fabrics is that of being pieced, but in reality the fabrics are simply layered on top of each other. 

Week 34

I have been doing some ice dyeing of cheesecloth, and I used some pieces in this weeks entry for Week 34.  The background fabric is a commercial piece and I then sewed strips of colorful fabrics on top of it.  Then, for fun, I added small pieces of dyed cheesecloth and one metallic mesh, just to give it a bit of bling.   (although in the photo, the bling doesn't show up well.  It's on the last piece on the right, under the turquoise cheesecloth)

I rather like the raggedy look of the cheesecloth on the piece.  It was a fun piece to do!

Week 33

My entry for week 33 is a technique I was inspired to try.  I saw an article in Art Quilting Studio, Summer 2012 issue, by Caren Sachs where she used strips of fabric, sewed down randomly.  I decided to do a couple of fiber postcards and liked them, so I did the same for a 7 inch piece for this week's contribution.  I had added some fancy yarns to the postcards, and if I use this piece, I would do the same.

The yarns go in varying lengths from the top and some from the bottom.  It adds a bit of movement.  I also added some copper findings to the postcards, which gave it a bit of bling as well.   

Week 32; On Time!

I'm back on time for this weeks' entry, Week 32.  This piece was inspired by one I had seen some years ago, although I don't have the name of the artist who made it.  I used a single piece of multi-colored fabric and raw-edge appliqued some curvy strips of a black, white and gray fabric on top. 

If I use this piece in a project, I imagine I would heavily quilt the background fabric.  The strips are sewed down with a machine blanket stitch. 

SAQA Auction happens soon!

My friend Susan Rienzo alerted me to the fact that SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) has chosen my auction piece, Serene Waters, as one of their ads for the upcoming online auction!  I am blown away.  Here is the ad:

As you can see, the auction begins on September 16th, and you can see all of the wonderful creations up for bid at:  http://www.saqa.com/auction  I have donated a 12 x 12 quilt for the past several years.  The funds collected through the auction help support SAQA and pay for such things as traveling shows and exhibits.  A worthy cause, and you get to own a piece of fabulous, one of a kind ART! 

Week 31

This week I am on time, yea!  I have some fabric with maps of the world on it, and decided to use some of it in this piece.

I did some satin stitching around each piece, and if I use it, I would probably add some circle quilting in the brown areas. 

Week 30, Late

My entry this week is quite late because I've had an infection in my right arm, keeping me away from the studio for way too long!  I finally had the dexterity to make this piece, again in black and white.  I used strips of black on white which morphed into greys and then into black, with a strip of red in the middle.  The only stitching I've done is on the outer edge, to hold the piece together. 

Week 29

This weeks piece is a total experiment, and I'm not sure if it really worked.  I took a piece of black fabric as the background, then tore up a dryer sheet which had been painted with silver Lumiere paint.  On top of that I added a glittery mesh.  I didn't like the mesh all over the dryer sheet, so I took the piece to my sewing machine and sewed around each silver piece.  Then I took my small scissors and cut the mesh out of the areas where the dryer sheet is. 

I like that the dryer sheet has organic looking edges, but I'm still not sure I am pleased with the end result.  Well, it was an experiment, and sometimes the magic works, and sometimes it doesn't!

Week 28, late

I am posting late for my week 28 entry, too much going on plus I've been dealing with a bad infection.  So much for that.  My entry this week is another weaving, this time with black fabric and some of my rusted fabric.  I love rust with black, can you tell?  In any case, it is done and now it is posted!  YEA!

Week 27

I'm trying a new technique I learned from an online workshop by Rayna Gillman, on strip piecing.  Now, I know how to do strip piecing, but her finished works are a bit more intuitive than the way I have worked in the past.  I like her idea of therapy sewing; just sewing 2 strips of fabric together with no real plan; then when you have a bunch made, you can try to assemble them together.  If I can stay focused enough, perhaps I can make a full art quilt using her technique, and maybe this is the beginning, who knows? 

I used a couple of commercial fabrics with some of my rusted fabrics and a discharged shibori orange piece I had.  After I had put it together, I found another fabric that would have made the piece sing, but I had already made a 7 inch piece, and didn't feel like tearing anything out!  Such is life, eh?

Half-Way Point---Week 26

I have made it to the half-way point of the year; it is week 26!  My piece this week is made up of cut and torn strips of fabric which were machine sewed onto the stabilizer. 

 The browns look a bit red in the photo, must have been the lighting when I took the picture.  I am ready to hit the next 26 weeks to finish out the year of weekly pieces!  Stay tuned!

Week 25

I made another square using the wonky log cabin technique, this time with some ethnic fabrics I had.  I think it might have been better if I had used a couple of additional fabrics; the repeats are a little too pronounced.  But it makes for a very different look from last weeks' piece and it is colorful.

Summer has begun in full force and next week marks the half-way point in 2016.  Time keeps marching along; so far I am keeping up with it!  Yea!!

Week 24

I was inspired by a Craftsy course I have by Judith Trager titled Beyond Log Cabin to make my contribution for this week.  I have always loved the log cabin design and have made several variations on the main pattern, but I had never tried her technique before.  I find it addicting, so you may see other pieces along these lines!

The piece is done in all greens, although the picture somehow looks very gray!  There is no quilting on it yet; if I use it in a larger format I would quilt it.  We are well on our way to the middle of the year which is week 26; can you believe half the year is gone already??  I can't!  See you next week with another piece. 

Ocean Memories Accordion Book

I just finished my accordion book, which was inspired by one of the weekly 7 inch pieces I had done awhile back.  I did, however have to alter the book's cover so that I could put the title of the book on it.  The original 7 inch piece did not offer enough space in the wavy sections to write the words I wanted to add!  Here is the finished piece; scroll down to see each panel.

The book is assembled with bamboo sticks and turquoise jewelry wire.  And of course, the title of the book is "Ocean Memories".

 The first panel is a beach scene, raw edge applique.  The palm fronds are 3-D, stitched down where the spine of the frond would be.  I have added some glitter paint along the stitching of the waves, to simulate the sun on the water.  Plus I have added a couple of "shells" to the beach sand.

The next panel is an underwater scene, with fish, coral, fabric shells and some real shells that were gathered in FL, plus some beading to create bubbles from the fish and an added beaded "coral". 

  We are still underwater here, with some fabric "kelp", sea horses (the one on top is a real dried one), and jellyfish, made out of a glittery sheer.  Eyelash yarn is used for their tentacles. 

This last panel is the sailboat sailing away from the tropical island, with the setting sun in the distance.  And so ends the journey into my ocean memories.

I have entered this book into the FAO (Fiber Artists of Oklahoma) exhibit which will be at the IAO gallery in Oklahoma City from July 15th through September 3rd of this year.  I have entered three pieces and hope that at least one of them passes the juror's scrutiny!  I won't know until July 6th if I've been accepted, so it'll be an anxious month until then!

Week 23

I gave a demo last month on Tissue Paper Fabric at my regional SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Assoc.) meeting, and in order to show how I've used paper fabric before, I had to drag out all my paper samples.  The mere act of sifting through them made me want to use one for my weekly pieces.  I like the layered effect that the papers and stamping produce. 

This piece was made with pieces of map paper and decorative napkins, with a layer of regular white tissue on top.  I then used some sequin waste with Paintsticks, and sewed some glitter mesh on top.  Have to add a bit of glitz, you know!  I have also finished my ocean book, and will post the results soon. 

Week 22

We are well on the way to the half-way mark for the year, and I have my piece for Week 22.  In keeping with my black and white theme that I've had going for the last few weeks, this week's piece is a weaving using black and white fabrics, and yarns with a couple of eyelash yarns thrown in for bling and texture. 

This weaving was actually done a couple of years ago, but since it fits in with my 6 inch pieces, I'm going to use it for one of the weeks.  It was done on a cardboard look using black yarn as the warp; when finished, I fused it to my stabilizer.

Week 21

This is the 21st week of 2016, and I have just completed my 21st piece.  It is a Twisted Log Cabin, done in black and white.  I first tried to paper piece with the stabilizer as the foundation, onto which I had traced the pattern, but quickly found it to be too cumbersome, so I then printed the pattern onto typing paper, and pieced it that way.  After it was completed, I tore the paper away and glued the finished piece onto my stabilizer.  Much easier! 

I've done several twisted log cabins before, but always with gradated hand dyed fabrics; this is the first one I've done with prints.  It is a bit busy, but I think you can still see the twist in the colors. 

Our trip to New Mexico, WHO KNEW?

We took our first trip to New Mexico, Angel Fire to be exact, a week or so ago.  The cabin we stayed in was a lovely log cabin with a loft.  Very comfortable.

And yes, that is snow on the ground.  We had over 4 inches of snow on the way up to Angel Fire, and while there it snowed the first night.  It melted during the warmth of the day, though.  The weather was quite cool overnight with the daytime temps in the 60's and 70's--very spring-like and comfortable.

Angel Fire is at about 8500 feet, with surrounding mountains achieving over 10,000 feet; snow was on the higher elevations continuously.  There were breathtaking views in every direction.  One day trip took us to the Rio Grande Gorge, with a view from the bridge that was heady, to say the least. 

The city of Taos was fun, with wonderful restaurants and numerous art galleries.  (And a couple of fabric shops with quilting, silk fabrics and hand-dyed silk ribbon)

Another day trip took us to the city of Raton, where we discovered an extinct VOLCANO (WHO KNEW???) in the nearby burb of Capulin, wisely named the Capulin Volcano!  The trip up to the top of the volcano was nail-biting, with me driving and definitely NOT looking down over the side of the road where there were NO roadside rail guards. 

We bravely walked the tiny paved trail to the top of the volcano rim (with several breathing breaks!) and the view was truly spectacular, you could see for miles.  The volcano erupted about 56,000 years ago and volcanic rocks are visible all along the highway leading to the volcano.

Wildlife was plentiful everywhere you looked in northeastern New Mexico.   We had mule deer feeding on the grass in the front and back of the cabin almost every day, and a resident bunny was also observed.

On the Enchanted Circle drive, we observed mountain sheep

and also saw prong horn antelope (more difficult to photograph from the moving car) when we drove to Raton.    It was almost like going to the zoo.  All the animals we saw were completely nonchalant and just looked at us curiously as we drove by.  Definitely not like our local Oklahoma wildlife.  Our trip came to an end, as all vacations do, but we plan to return to the area again, or perhaps stay at Santa Fe next time to take in some of the sights around there.  

Week 20

We are at week 20 for my weekly 6-inch pieces, and this is my submission.  I am working in black and white using a stitch and flip technique. 

 The fabrics are stitched onto the stabilizer that I am using for all my pieces; it is Pelon's 910.  I used 4 black with white patterned fabrics and 5 different white with black patterned fabrics for the strip piecing.  No additional quilting has been done. 
I am still working on the ocean book and hope to have it finished in the next couple of weeks. 

Week 19

This piece is the last panel for my ocean fiber book, and the Week 19 entry.  I have done some FMS (free motion stitching) to enhance the reflection of the sun on the water. 

 I now have to finish the back of each panel and then assemble the "book" but I hope to have it done for the FAO exhibit as the entry process begins the end of May.  When the book is complete, I will post the results. 

Week 18 late post

I'm late posting Week 18 because we went away for a week to New Mexico, and didn't have internet access.  That was a bit of a surprise.  So even though I had week 18 done, I was unable to post the picture.  It is another panel in my ocean fiber book:

The jellyfish are made out of a shiny sheer fabric, with some eyelash yarn for their stingers.  I may still add some more kelp, as I found marvelous hand-dyed silk ribbon at a shop in Taos.  We'll see. 
Anyway, week 19 is already done, but I need to take a picture of it in order to post this weeks' contribution.  It should be up by Wednesday....