Saturday, August 10, 2013

Week in Review 2013 - 08/09

The week began and ended well, it was midweek that got a little dicey. When my husband and I went to bed on Tuesday night, we knew rain, possibly heavy during thunderstorms, was expected after midnight. What we didn't expect was howling wind, the trees outside our window blown nearly horizontal and the sky lit up brighter than any fireworks display. Turns out we were witnessing the fringes of one of five tornadoes that bounced through northeast Wisconsin. We consider ourselves lucky. There was no damage to our property and minimal tree damage in our community. We did loose power almost instantly and it stayed off until Friday morning at 4:00 a.m. 

I had already spent Monday and Tuesday in the studio. I usually spend Thursday as well. Wednesday being my computer/business day. Needless to say no business was transacted on Wednesday. Here is how I adapted to unforeseen circumstances.

1) Companion Oysters (Deadline 9/01/2013)

a) Determine whether to add shadows and if so, paint them. - Done!


As you can see I opted to paint just a hint of shadow leaning
towards wet sand.

b) Layer and baste the quilt sandwich.


This is how I spent Wednesday. Fortunately, I had already
prepped the three layers, cutting out the batting and backing
and ironing the top and back. You may recall that Companion
Oysters is over 42" x 42" in its unfinished state. I actually
needed some of Thursday morning to finish the basting.

c) Start the free motion quilting. - Not done.

2) Leah Day's weekly assignments

a) Finish last week's golden lock. - Done!


I finished the foundation pieced golden tress on Monday. I
was curious to see how it would look in situ. The sheen in the
picture is a layer of plastic that I have drawn the goddess
portion of Express Your Love II on. I find this one of the best
ways to position appliqué pieces. 

b) Do whatever assignment Leah comes up with next.

This week's free motion quilting motif was Happy Stitch. If you have been following Leah than you know this is the biggest leap I have ever taken when tweaking one of her motifs. To see Leah's click here. I thought it would be fun to see if I could create a crowd of faces watching an event. I played with hairstyles, mouths and eyes. Perhaps next time I will even add ears! Lots of travel stitching was required. I focused on flow more than accuracy. Those faces do make me smile.

Gwyned's version of  Happy Stitch
renamed Smiley Faces.

3) Pictorial Painting - Face "Canyon." - In my dreams. 

Assuming the weather cooperates :) here are my plans for next week.

1) Companion Oysters (Deadline 9/01/2013

Start the free motion quilting Companion Oysters.

2) Leah Day's weekly assignments

Do whatever assignment Leah comes up with next.


3) Pictorial Painting - Face "Canyon."

I am now linking up to two blogs on Friday's. The first is Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting Project and the second is Nina Marie's Off the Wall Fridays.

8 comments:

  1. Brilliant! I love the faces! Oysters look pretty darn great too. :)

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  2. That little bit of shadow is a nice touch. Even though it is a small part, it adds a lot.
    Glad you escaped the storm damage. Scary stuff. A few years ago, we had a tornado go through our next door neighbor's yard. We heard "the train" that night. Hope to never hear it again. We still have part of someone's roof wrapped around one of our tree tops.

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    Replies
    1. My goal for the shadow was to have it look like midday on the beach. I actually studied shadows outside and then played with playing a geode under a lamp to get a sense of where a shadow would fall and how it would dissipate. The seaweed on the sun side of the shell is purposefully more sun-drenched/washed out than on the shadow side.

      We woke up to the wind, but were far enough from the tornado to miss the roar of the train. The trees looked more like palm trees in hurricane than oaks and maples.

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  3. Such a cute job on those faces! I think it could easily be a background for a Halloween quilt as well...maybe with a well placed "Boo!"

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    Replies
    1. You've got me thinking about adding masks to the faces. Love the idea of adding Boo.

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  4. I'm so glad I scrolled back in your blog to see the scale of your oyster piece, Gwyned. I didn't have a clue how big it was until I saw you standing beside it. Wow! I can't wait to see what how the piece progresses.

    I also really like the golden lock. I can't figure out where it's going to go on the piece, but that lovely pieced curve sure is impressive!

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    Replies
    1. Perhaps you will see Oyster Companions in person, Vivien. I am thinking of entering it in Synthesis.

      The golden lock/tress is one of 7 locks that make up the goddess's hair - much like yours, I see.

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