Weekly Post!

Yep...it appears I'm now down to weekly posts!  So hard to write about what I'm working on when I can't show what I'm working on! 

So for Throw Back Thursday...this is all I have...our traveling exhibit for the Aussome Study Group has now come to an end.  The quilts have been traveling for several, several years!  Best I can tell we started our first exhibit in 2008-2009.  We've had two separate exhibits but it's a lot of work for the lady's...I'm usually in Florida when they have to take the quilts to the venues.  All I have to do is make the quilt(s)!  HA  These are just a few of the pieces I got back. I'll post more since I can't post what I'm working on!!

Anyway, my horses are now home and hung in our bedroom! 

And these are my Georgia O'Keeffe/Tiffany, reverse applique quilts.  All of the quilts for the exhibit are 20"x24".  I really need to go back and see how many I've made for each exhibit.  I actually forgot some of the pieces I had returned but no surprise there, right!  HA

Tiffany all finished!

Yea...well, you might get tired of seeing this piece in progress...but it's finally finished!  Which means, this is the last post of my Tiffany Peacock! Woohoo!

Yes I did add a sequin and bead for the eye!  Have to have at least one bead on my piece!!!

Well, it's 99.9% finished.....I didn't notice until I took this detail pic...do you see the little 'unfinished' area!!  Look at the bottom feather on your right!   DANG!

So guess the next time I need a little hand work for a few minutes this will be it!  HA


 And, no, I won't post another picture when I finish this stitching!

Back at Tiffany!

So now that my sewing area is all cleaned up I can get back to ongoing projects!  First up is to finish my Tiffany Peacock for our Master's Exhibit. 

 Actually, I finished the upper blue part of his body yesterday afternoon, you can see my needle and thread on his head.   I just need to stitch his little 'head dress' and of course sew on a bead for his eye! Then add black binding, label and sleeve and he'll be finished.  This is my 2nd Tiffany piece...you can see my 1st piece here.  I don't forsee me making another Tiffany piece for the exhibit but you never know! 

 I love the process of reverse applique my Q Buddy, Susan, developed (you can see some of her work here and here!).  

It is quite labor intensive but so well worth the effort...plus, Susan's technique fits in with my love of hand work...although, Susan hand quilts all of her pieces!  I cheat and go between hand and machine.  My work/workmanship will never equal Susan's but I still love to create pieces using this technique (you can see another of my quilts using her technique here).  

This shows the pieces laid out on my cloth pattern.  Susan bastes her pieces down....yep, I cheat again and fuse mine!  I use Misty Fuse which is quite light and easy to sew through. 

This is the back of the piece...hard to visualize but a solid piece of black fabric is placed on the front of the piece...more basting (can't fuse this step!), etc.

And now it's following your basting lines to cut and needle turn your 1/4" for the leading.    Yes, as I said, it is labor intensive but SO portable!  With all the basting it's so easy to just pick up your thread, needle, scissors and off you go!!!  But it is a lot of work up to this point...ok, it's also a lot of work doing the needle turn but such a wonderful technique and quite different from the so called 'regular' reverse applique method.  I much prefer Susan's and I'm so happy she taught me how to do this technique!!!  She's a good Q Buddy!!

So off I go to sit with Kalee out in the lanai...it's in the 60's and just a beautiful, sunny day.  Still coughing...ugh...runny nose, eyes...ugh...Zyrtec is in use.  Oh, I did sign up to take a class on Craftsy!!  It's a class from Sally Melville on Knitting Essentials....I love, love my E'nveloppe cape/shawl and my shrug I made from her patterns.  Since I'm a self taught knitter I thought it would be a good idea to learn some real knitting!!  Sally's books are wonderful...I purchased one of her books , Mother Daughter Knits.  She also has patterns on Ravelry, which is where I got her LEnveloppe pattern.  Tomorrow will be the start of my class...I want to finish Tiffany today..then knitting tomorrow...thank goodness for retirement!!!

What a difference a day makes!

What a difference a day makes...twenty four little hours...Before I get into some art work/knitting....we're having a warm up in Michigan so our 6+ inches of snow is now gone!

Thursday & Friday this week - 6+ inches

Today with 48 degrees!!

Some snow left in our neighbors yard!

At least by staying inside for a day or two, I do get lots accomplished!  I moved all the furniture in the downstairs/family room and also did the same in my dye/work room area!!!  I have a few items to take to Goodwill and filled up some of our recycle bin!  So that's a good day's work!! 

I've also finished the front and back of my knitted project BUT  I don't know how to put the front and back together...It's quite confusing, well at least for me!  I can't grasp what it is I'm supposed to do...so I'll just wait until our last class, which is Tuesday.  We still have to make a sleeve for one side but until I get the front and back together, I don't even know where that sleeve should be!!  Geezzzzz

I'm also working on attaching my Loudermilk piece to the canvas.  My fingers get a little sore so I take a break after working a side.  I still haven't decided whether I'm painting or attaching the circles I have cut for the borders.  The hot glue gun may call to me yet!

And now for TV work, until I find out what to do with my knitting project, I'm still hand stitching the peacock.

  My fiber buddies suggested using some straight lines in some areas, which I did and I quite like it.

The lime green area is where I'll add straight stitches.  I'm using some hand dyed turquoise thread so hope I don't run out!!



Tomorrow I'm off Christmas shopping with my bud, Alice and of course we'll have a nice lunch too!!  Tuesday will be a busy, busy day...Kalee's spa day, then I'll head to the grocery store for the rest of my dinner items (I'll be cooking Wed., thru Saturday!), then after I make Bob and I an early dinner, I'll be off to see one of the patients from the Assisted Living here in town.  She's moved to a new facility where there are more activities and the building is on my way to knitting class.   Then off to knitting class to see how dumb I am for not figuring out the pattern!!!  Let's hope!

A long way to go and a short while to get there!

 I'm still working on hand stitching the feathers for my Tiffany peacock piece.  I've had to rip out some of the feathers multiple times until I found just the right color and weight of threads to use.  I'm a happy camper now so it's just a matter of getting busy and finish the stitching.  Then onto binding and label!

We have seven artists that we're creating art quilts for our traveling exhibit for 2015-2016.  So far I have one Tiffany finished,  and my Peacock will be the 2nd, a Peter Max, two Ugo's (I'm using my Talk of the Town as one and Hex Horse as the 2nd) and of course my Zachery for Dr. Seuss!
I still have to create something for Blue Dog (by George Rodrique), MaryAnn Beckwith (a Michigan artist) and Rick Loudermilk.  Actually, I've been working on my piece for Rick Loudermilk.  I'll be posting progress on that piece in a day or two.

Yep...I do have a lot of projects to do and a short time to get them done...but I will!  OK, I hope I will.

Here's the start of my L'Enveloppe shawl/cowl piece I'm knitting!    Yes, a girl has to keep busy!

I had my first class on Tuesday afternoon...we have a really good instructor, Marsha Stauffer,  at Beyond The Rainforest in Grand Blanc.  They don't have a web site but do have a FB page.   Marsha is quite good at making sure everyone is comfortable with following the pattern and showing new tips/techniques.

I have a long way to go but it is pleasant to be back knitting again.  The yarn I'm using  is really soft and a tad darker than what shows in this picture.  I wear a lot of black/gray so I think I'll get a lot of use out of this 'Enveloppe' top...especially in Florida.  You always seem to need just a little something on your shoulders when eating out!  Or is that 'drinking' out!!  Either way...I'll use this...now to finish it before we get to Florida!

Just another Sunday...

Coffee, stitching and football..although, it's weird to be watching football at 9:30 in the morning.  I still don't get the football "across the pond" but if the Lions are playing,  we'll be watching regardless of the time!

I did finish all the hand stitching in the blocks on 'hex horse' last night.   I'm pleased with the stitching and think it worked much better than doing any free motion work on the piece.

I'm leaning to not put beads on my horse!  Duh!  What, you say!  I'm afraid it will be overkill and based on the work of Ugo who is the inspiration for this piece, I'm not sure yet.  I may try some but who knows.  I also am thinking of binding it rather than facing but again not sure!  I have a nice golden brown piece of batik that may look good and pull in the colors of the horse.





 So what to work on as I'm deciding!  Start hand stitching on my Tiffany peacock, of course! I've already quilted the background and now it's time to start stitching the feathers.

My thought is to hand stitch small feathers inside each of area of the bird. I can see it in my head but....I just penciled in what I consider to be feathers!

So while the Lions are trying to get some points in this game!  I'll start stitching to see which threads I'll use.  I have some Aurifil 28 wt, Maderia Lana and,of course my go-to, embroidery threads to try.  This may take awhile just deciding which thread to use!  Decisions, decisions......

Busy hands progress!

I don't know where the hours or days are going anymore!  I started this online dog training course which is consuming my time!  Yes, it's worth it but.....I can't believe how much time I'm investing in reading material for the course lessons (we have a lesson five days a week - each lesson should be completed up to 3 x's a day! - 5-15 min. sessions!).   I can't say I'd rather be sewing...I do enjoy the lessons but my day is gone before I know it!!
I do have three hand projects that I'm working on and decided on Monday to start the quilting for my peacock piece (Tiffany).  You can see my '3rd' attempt here!  I didn't get that much accomplished but it's a start.

I will be adding hand stitching on the peacock after I finish with the machine quilting.  Perhaps a few beads in addition to embroidery work????











Almost finished with this stamped piece I started last week.  

And in between the piece above, I've been working on the leaf background piece.


I've finished some of the borders (inside and out).  Still debating on the stitching I'll use for the plain red border.  All the black strips will have some type of feather stitch on them.

So enough computer time for now!  I've already walked Kalee and did one of our lessons...I think it's going to be an Applebee's Long Island night!!  Works for me!!  Then I get to take Kalee for a walk and do lessons (again) when we get home!  No wonder I sleep well at night...just need more than six hours of sleep...but that's another post!

Just another weekend

A beautiful, sunny Saturday...I made us breakfast, did dishes, weeded the front and sides of the house, dusted and vacuumed and now doing laundry....so it's now computer time.

Nothing exciting this weekend...lots of projects in the old brain but need to get them down on paper or fabric. I started this Tiffany piece for our Master's exhibit last fall using my  bud's, Susan, hand reverse applique technique.  Honestly, I'm not happy with the workmanship on this one....I started outlining all of the black and now I need to do some free motion quilting to finish it up.  Just not sure if it will get finished.

I am pretty good at finishing projects I start, even when I take a class/workshop.  I only have a few pieces I've not finished...but this one is bugging me....so we'll see where it goes or what I end up doing with it.

I do have lots of hand work projects to do but I like to save those for night time TV work.  Tigers are on so that's what's usually on at our house.....well, dryer calls!!

Count down is on!

Yep..countdown for both Christmas and heading south is on.  And with being so far ahead and relaxed! this year, I've been playing!

 I finished all the applique on my Tiffany piece...so now it's time for hand stitching in addition to free motion quilting.  I might get time to sandwich and outline quilt so the piece is stabilized before we head south...

But the fun, fun thing I did is this!

I know it doesn't look like much but....my daughter called me yesterday and asked if I've ever done any 'arm knitting'...what the heck is arm knitting!!  I never heard of it....Dawn informed me she had made 3 scarves in a little over an hour!   She then sent me to YouTube where there are several videos showing how to arm knit.  Basically, you're not using needles but your hands and arms to knit with!  Check out this pic below!   You can check out this site too for instructions.  The young lady is quite clever!

I didn't have any chunky yarn so I just used some fiber yarn I had on hand!  It really looks better on than in the picture...but if you knit and have arthritis in your hands, this is the best alternative!  It's so much fun to do...BUT....make sure you have 30-60 min. of uninterrupted time!  It's hard to walk around the house with yarn on both arms!!

Reverse applique

Still working away on my Tiffany piece....OK,  I'm having a heck of a time with blogger lately...if I have a pic I've 'turned' in edit program, it still won't load properly...hmmmmmmm

I've reloaded, saved, yada, yada and still can't get it to load properly...so I'm off for a glass of wine!  Frustrated to say the least!!!  UGH

A fun weekend and surprises!

The opening for our exhibit went great.  Lots of fun but we did miss Mary (who was not feeling up to par) and Carol (who was out of town on vacation).  There are always quite a few folks  who come to the opening...OK, so a few are college kids looking for free food and drink...but that's ok!  Last year we actually had some college students who where quite interested in the art work and our processes...didn't find any of those this year!  Kinda funny but there was another huge! event taking place this weekend on the street where the art council sits!  You'll see a picture in this post!

Blurry!!!

I didn't realize how blurry this picture was too!

And look who else joined the quilters!

 Flint has a bike event every year and the past two years it has taken place the same weekend as the quilt weekend.  We did have two women who came to the exhibit and hubby's were looking at bikes and they were looking at quilts!  Guess that worked for them.

And when I got home Friday night look what was in the mail for me!!  A surprise from my Q Buddy, Susan!!!  THANK YOU my friend!!!

So cute!!!!

While I was sitting waiting for herds of folks to come see our work!, I was able to start the 'first cut' on my 2nd Tiffany piece for our exhibit.  This is the peacock design I showed on my blog that I'm doing.  This is the bike of the piece.  The black is on the front, which is what I'm cutting away to create the leading.  There are different shade of greens and blues, which you can't see!  But you will!

So this was the first cut and I managed to get this piece appliqued..almost to the point.  At least I've made a dent!  Figured I wouldn't get to this until the winter.  I want to finish up my Road Less Traveled for the online challenge for the Art Quilts Around the World blog.  So off I go to get some laundry started and some work (ok not really 'work' - sewing!) done!

Here we go again, for the 3rd time!

What can I say....I'm a ditz!  I started the reverse applique on my sun piece (again!) and guess what I did!  I cut into an area that I shouldn't have...I can't 'fix' it and I'm getting frustrated with this piece SO...I ordered some Clover 1/4" fusible bias that I'll fuse the leading for the stained glass look!   Now I just have to 'unsew' all the basting, red line stitching and the parts I've already appliqued!  BUT.....

I found another stained glass pattern to do for my Tiffany piece!  I'm using some silk dupioni for some of the applique and then some old, old Pat Campbell's Fossil Fern!  I just had a small piece but enough for the feathers.  I'm using a white batik for the white you see in the background.
I'm also going to add some circles of the silk dupioni in the feathers and lots of hand stitching once the leading is all in place.

Today I basted the black fabric in place and I'm now working on stitching the center of my lead lines.  Woohoo!!!


And in between time, I'm still working on my latest cuff.  This is about 3" of beading so far and I really like the pattern and the colors.

We had an early dinner of  chicken kabob's w/ veggies today so dinner and dishes are all done!  Tigers won their game so Kalee and I will go out on the deck and either bead, unsew or stitch!  Decisions, decisions!!!
Temp is still 80 @ 5:05 p.m.  Our walk won't be until 8 p.m.!