Week in Review 2014 - 11/28

Closeup of the quilting in Bargello Blessings, the
quilt I made for my sister.

Closeup of the quilting in Bargello Blessings, the
quilt I made for my sister.

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

Yesterday was Thanksgiving here in the States. Since moving to Wisconsin, 1,200 miles from the majority of our family, we have traditionally celebrated the feast with another couple in a similar position. I miss those Thanksgivings we used to host with 12 to 20 family members around the table. Now that there are only four of us, we trim way back on the side dishes. Somehow I still managed to achieve turkey stupor and I didn't even go back for seconds. Another tradition on Thanksgiving are the phone calls from  family members. My brother who moved to Oxford, England, like other expats, treated himself to a few slices of turkey and peas. He had two pressing questions. First, he just wanted to hear about what we were serving so he could be transported back to the feasts of our youth. Second, he wanted to know if I had finished my sister's quilt in time to send it to her before her first chemotherapy treatment. There was an addendum to that second question. Would I be sharing a picture of the quilt in this posting. The answer is yes.

I spent fewer hours in the studio this week due to the holidays. Despite the shortened hours here is what I managed to accomplish:

Closeup of the quilting in Bargello Blessings, the
quilt I made for my sister. I chose a pale pink and
lavender variegated thread for the the quilting. Sometimes
it blends with the top, sometimes it doesn't. I rather enjoy
the peek-a-boo nature that this gives.

1) Night Vision - (Due January 31, 2015)

a) Finish the quilting - I moved the quilting much closer to the finish line. The more I do the more the veins of the leaves stand out. It is becoming a very textured piece with a dimensional feel. Yeah!


b) Blind stitch the frog in place - not yet
c) Square up the quilt - not yet

2) Free motion quilting practice. - Between my sister's quilt and Night Vision I got sufficient free motion quilting practice.

3) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments. - Done!

It amazes me that after 48 weeks of LifeBook lessons there can be any more mixed media techniques to learn, but there are. The background to this piece was done by using petroleum jelly as a resist. Wherever the petroleum jelly was applied and then painted, the paint could be rubbed off. When this done with five layers of paint a wonderful antiqued, weathered look is achieved.

4) Surprise for my sister (Due November 24) - Done!

I finished in time to ship the quilt on November 22nd. My sister was delighted, especially with the purple palette, her favorite color scheme.

a) Finish binding the quilt - Done!
b) Add the label - Done!
c) Ship the quilt - Done!

One of the reasons I am have been so determined to keep the momentum going on Night Vision is that I know the reality of the holiday season means less studio time. With any day I can steal for studio time next week I plan on doing the following:

1) Night Vision - (Due January 31, 2015)

a) Finish the quilting
b) Blind stitch the frog in place
c) Square up the quilt

2) Free motion quilting practice.

3) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments. 

4) Design the piece to follow Night Vision.


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

Week in Review 2014 - 11/21

Isn't this a lush palette? I love the energy of it. The
artist is my 3 1/2 year old grandson, Ben. 

Tips, Thoughts, and Techniques:

Move over Tortoise, the Hare is up from her nap and raring to go. Normally, I see myself as the tortoise from Aesop's Fables. I am a steady plodder who ultimately reaches her destination. This pace allows me to take in the scenery. I thrive under this way of being. Every once and a while I need to prod myself  into a faster pace. This has been one of those weeks as I determinedly make my way to the finish line. I am not there yet but if I can maintain my pace for just one more day I should be.

The back side of my sister's quilt. It is
a commercial, lush flannel that looks
hand dyed. If you click on the image
you should be able to tell that 100% of
the quilting is done.

1) Night Vision - (Due January 1, 2015) - Chose to ignore in order to achieve a more pressing goal.

a) Finish the quilting
b) Blind stitch the frog in place
c) Square up the quilt

2) Free motion quilting practice. - Done!

The idea was to create a front and back
page. I opted to make two separate pages.

This week I tried out a series of free motion quilting motifs involving hearts for my sister's quilt. I normally quilt intensely with the biggest gaps between stitch lines being approximately 1/4". However, intense stitching is not appropriate for a comfort quilt since the quilt will loose its softness and pliability. I pushed myself to achieve a midscale with gaps ranging from 1/4" to close 1 1/2" depending on where elements of the motif fell.

3) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments. - Done!

I think I am finally getting the hanging
of adding text to my mixed media pages.

With so few assignments left in my LifeBook journey I have decided not to invest in any more mixed media supplies just so I can do an assignment. This means I am having to improvise. This has proven to be a good thing for me. The more I stray from the supplies used by the teacher, the more naturally I stumble upon solutions that emphasize my voice versus hers. Doesn't the ballet dancer have quilt potential? I love the layers and dimension of this piece. 



4) Surprise for my sister (Due November 24) 

This is where 90% of my focus went this week. I don't believe I have ever pulled together a quilt so quickly. I spent many hours auditioning quilting motifs and ultimately settled for a hearts and spirals pattern. I wanted to convey my love for my sister and give her solid hugs of compassion. She begins her chemo on December 1st. I'll share the front of the quilt after my sister receives it. I don't want to ruin her surprise.

a) Start the quilting - Done! It took me two days to do 100% of the quilting. 
b) Square up the quilt - Done!
c) Bind the quilt - Half done.
d) Add the label - Not yet.

A close up of the spirals and hearts motif I chose to
quilt my sister's chemo quilt with.

Next week I hope to be back to Tortoise mode, since if all goes as planned my sister's quilt will have shipped. I do have many more exciting quilting journey's coming up, including my first solo exhibition that kicks off with an artist reception on December 6. I'll post more on that soon. I have other projects to focus on, too. Here is the plan for next week:

1) Night Vision - (Due January 1, 2015)

a) Finish the quilting
b) Blind stitch the frog in place
c) Square up the quilt

2) Free motion quilting practice.

3) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments. 

4) Surprise for my sister (Due November 24)

a) Finish binding the quilt
b) Add the label
c) Ship the quilt


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

Week in Review 2014 - 11/14

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

The second LifeBook 2014 lesson I completed this week.
It works like an Advent calendar. The feathers
lift up to reveal positive messages below. What looks like
doilies is actually my newest stencil.

I have been practicing free motion quilting designs that
might work for my sister's quilt. I stumbled upon
this on a YouTube video that appeared on the sidebar while
I was looking at something else. It is going to require
a lot more practice for me to achieve the "backwards"
feathers and transitions from one heart to the next.

Like many artists who work with fabric I started my journey as someone who enjoyed handwork for relaxation. I had done needlepoint, crewel, knitting, crocheting and sewn some clothes for myself and my daughter. I tried quilting in 1974 when the only book I found was on English paper piecing. I bought Laura Ashley remnants to make the quilt with. I worked on that "quilt" on and off for a couple of years and don't think it ever grew to even a 12" square. There is a reason you don't paper piece thin wale corduroy. :) I gave up on that quilt, but not on the idea of making a quilt some day. 

Then Eleanor Burns came on the scene with her Quilt in A Day series. I took an evening class at the local high school. It was an 8 week course to make a quilt in a day. Thank goodness that quilt was auctioned off for charity. Ugly is too kind of a word. What that class and that quilt did give me was the courage to make another and then another. At first I followed patterns, considering myself quite adventurous when I changed the colors. Then I started modifying patterns. Now  all my work is my original design. What I called myself has changed with time, too. I have been a quilter, quilt artist, textile artist, fiber artist and now, although I still gulp when I say it, I call myself an artist. 

I was getting so frustrated doodling and redoodling the
feathered heart motif that I played with a simpler pivoting
heart motif that is echoed.

This week I have started to call myself, Gwyned Trefethen, Private Eye. Clearly I listen to far too many mysteries while I work. Why the new title? I lost some ground this week when my thread started breaking while I was free motion quilting. It takes perseverance to follow each lead in order to resolve the dreaded thread breaking problem. I tried all the usual tricks without an improvement. Then I added a bead of Sewer's Aid to the spool. I've done this before for metallic thread, but I was using my favorite Superior King Tut cotton thread. I'd never needed Sewer's Aid for that before. Sewer's Aid is a liquid silicone that allows the thread to glide smoothly through the eye of the needle, but also through all those other eyes and the tension discs. I could tell the hang up was in my tension discs, but loosening the tension didn't help and I feared if I loosened it too much the tension needed for even stitching would be thrown off. It was the combination of dogged checking the usual suspects and the eureka moment when the problem was diagnosed and resolved that allowed me to close yet another case of (said in a deep resonant voice) the dread thread break.

Another section of Night Vision is quilted!

I didn't spend all my week as a Private Eye. You can see by what got accomplished that I was mostly in artist mode.

1) Night Vision - (Due January 1, 2015)

I continued to free motion quilt the leaves of Night Vision. I have about 1/3 of the quilt to go. I am setting myself a goal of finishing one bobbin's worth of free motion quilting every studio day. Since I use Bottom Line thread those bobbins last for hours.

a) Finish the quilting 

It takes courage to make the most
of a bad situation. 

b) Blind stitch the frog in place
c) Square up the quilt

2) Free motion quilting practice. - Done

3) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments. - Done

I completed the assignment from the week before and this week's as well. Yeah! I am caught up again. I am rather fond of the self portrait. It doesn't look much like me. However, I made another leap forward with capturing light and shadow. Even more impressive I very creatively got myself out of a jam when the left eye was ruined when my pen gushed just as I was adding the pupil. My solution was a very creative, contemporary, runway worthy hairdo. :)

4) Surprise for my sister (Due November 24)

a) Finish piecing the cut strata. - Done!
b) Sandwich the quilt - Done!
c) Start the quilting - Not yet.

A teaser from my sister's quilt. This is the one that will
be quilted with a heart motif.


Which persona will dominate next week? Personally I am rooting for the artist, since there are many things I am eager to tackle. 

1) Night Vision - (Due January 1, 2015)

a) Finish the quilting
b) Blind stitch the frog in place
c) Square up the quilt

2) Free motion quilting practice.

3) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments. 



4) Surprise for my sister (Due November 24)

a) Start the quilting
b) Square up the quilt
c) Bind the quilt
d) Add the label


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

Weekly Report 2014 - 11/07

All that practice of free motion quilting in odd shapes
pays off when you challenged with quilting around frogs
webbed fingers and between leaf veins.

Tips, Thoughts and Techniques:

Close up of the free motion quilting on Night Vision.

I have included some form of cardiovascular exercise as part of my weekly routine for over 20 years. For the past several years cycling has become my sport of choice. It has two drawbacks for me. First, it is weather dependent, so the season is limited. Second, developing my "seat" after seven months off the bike is frankly excruciating.  This year I am attempting to circumvent those problems. I bought myself a trainer. This allows me to turn my outdoor bike into an indoor bike for the winter. I can keep all my biking muscles in shape, including my "seat" and not suffer biking in frigid or downright dangerous conditions. There is a draw back. It can be boring even with my iPod running through favorite tunes. I am willing to put in the time just for the hope that next spring, when I can ride outside again, I will have lost little ground from the season before. This is precisely why I make it a point to practice free motion quilting weekly when I don't have a quilt ready to be quilted. It helps maintain my eye, hand and foot synchronization. Now that it is time to quilt Night Vision, all that maintenance work is paying off.

If you click on the image you should be able
to see what has and hasn't been quilted
on Night Vision. 

1) Night Vision - (Due January 1, 2015)

a) Continue quilting - Done!
b) Blind stitch the frog in place - Not yet.

2) Free motion quilting practice. - Yes 

The basic design comes from Steven
Speight. I tweaked it some.

This week I pushed full speed ahead on Night Vision. I figure that is practice enough.

3) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments. - Half done.

A hint of the
surprise to come.

I finally finished the assignment from Week 44. This lesson was chock full of teeny tiny details and multiple parts. It reminded me of making a sampler block quilt. Each block teaches you not just a different pattern, but a different way to assemble and stitch the pieces. I still have Week 45 to do and it looks quite intense as well. At least I have started watching the instructional video and know what the first couple of steps will be.

4) Surprise for my sister (Due November 24)

a) Finish piecing the 40 strata strips. - Done!
b) Cut the strata - Done!
c) Start piecing the cut strata. - Done!

Two more weeks to go before I plan on shipping this quilt. It is going to be a squeaker. I'm loving the treat to just let the design unfold with no decisions to make. It is a nice break from my more constant creative problem solving art pieces.

Next week will be more of the same. Sometimes all I can focus on is pedaling on down the road. This is what I expect to see along the route:

1) Night Vision - (Due January 1, 2015)

a) Finish the quilting
b) Blind stitch the frog in place
c) Square up the quilt

2) Free motion quilting practice.

3) LifeBook 2014 - Do the assignments. 

4) Surprise for my sister (Due November 24)

a) Finish piecing the cut strata.
b) Sandwich the quilt
c) Start the quilting


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