What was I ever thinking...

I don't know about you, but I tend to get these 'great' quilting ideas, just as I am about to fall asleep.  So of course, it somehow materializes in my dreams.  A couple of weeks ago, you saw the circular sketch I posted and how I wanted to turn that into for my next project.  Well, it showed up in my dream as a brightly colored quilt on a dark background, in varying sizes.  Well of course, I woke up thinking, well I know what I am going to do for the next FANE (FiberArts North East) challange!

Well that piece has gone under some metamorphosis, not because I didn't like the design of the circle, but because I couldn't get it into my Silhouette Cameo cutter clean enough to make clean cuts.  Next I tired creating one large piece with many circles connected, all at the same size, but there were two problems that I bumped into that quickly changed my mind.  First all the circles the same size was boring, and second, at 3" in diameter, the detail was way too small to show like I wanted it to.  So instead, I started recreating my sketch at almost the same level of detail in the Cameo software itself.  Nope, still too small, but the good thing when working digitally you can stretch the object to any size you want.  So I spend hours creating these different circular designs, only to realize, that most of the detail was going to be too small to cut and even more so, to show the see through effect I was going for....  so after about another 15 hours or so of playing around in the software, I did a test cut on paper.

Ughhh, while most will work out nicely, some areas are still way too small.  Here's to hoping I can enlarge them quickly without loosing the integrity of the piece.  I already know that one part won't work at the size I have, because the paper ripped right up when I tried to remove it from the cameo mat...  the pieces were just too thinly cut!

Oh well...  I see more hours at the computer in my horizion..  But not tonight...  Sweet dreams everyone!

Renee

Lola Jenkins comes to Pelham Quilters!

As a TQS (The Quilt Show by Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims) Star Member, I get to watch all the available shows.  To be honest I watch some and not others, all depending on how interesting the subject 'sounds', or if I know the featured quilter.  Well, when I saw the intro for the show featuring Lola Jenkins, I almost didn't watch it.  In fact, I think the show had been available for a couple of months before I did.  Boy,  was I glad I did!

First, Lola was a very entertaining guest on the show.  She is energetic and bubbly, with this interesting voice. Yes, interesting is the only way I know how to describe it :-).  But what really got me was her personal story, how she came to quilting and how she tackled each step along her journey.  It is a very moving story!!  Please watch if you can.

But what got me to reach out to her, was when she said she had a goal of visiting every guild in the country.  So I emailed her and asked if she wanted to visit our small, casual guild in Pelham, NY.  She responded immediately, saying she would LOVE to come and that she was presently scheduled to be in NY in September, 2012.  So we booked her, and boy was that a smart move.

Yesterday, Lola taught her Fantasy Landscape workshop to the Pelham Quilters, or at least 9 of us and 3 guests.  We had a ball.  Lola shared her secrets of looking at fabrics with an eye for the scene we have in our minds, vs what fabric as a whole.  She shared the 1/3's principle of design and guided us to our own, COMPLETED, top of the day.

That is right, everyone in the class completed a landscape top and earlier than we had expected!

Let me share with you some pictures from the day....

First, pictures of the quilts she brought with her as inspiration...

This first piece is from Lola's online Art Deco class.  She uses it as a sample for the class.  It is a whole cloth style quilt, with black thread as the basis of the design and then the fabric is "colored" in with colored pencils and other coloring aids.


Each of the following pieces are done using Lola's collage approach.  I tell you, I will never look at fabric the same again!

It is amazing to see what can be done by clipping pieces of fabric from many different pieces of material and pasting it down!













Here are some of the pieces that were completed in this one day workshop...

Barbara and her Apollo Jazz scene.  To you recognize her sky from one of Lola's quilts.  Funny they had a lot of the same fabrics!

Cheryl's piece with her fire sky...




















Donna's, City meets Africa cityscape...  As always Donna listened to the instructions and thought out of the box.  This was supposed to be a 'fantasy' landscape.  I think she captured the essence of "fantasy".

Doris, one of the doll ladies joined us and did a serene, calming landscape...

 Doris Green and her gorgeous water scene. I love the boys running by the river bank.  Sorry Doris, it is prettier than you think....


















Dorothy's inspiration fabric had these gorgeous fall tree's...



















Jacqueline another of our guest for the day, did a wonderful desert scene...



















I love Lorraine's New England scene with a lighthouse and sail boats...



















Here I am with my second Sister Chat piece or as I will call it, Sister Chat II !


















And a former member of Pelham Quilters, Gwyn, a doll maker and Doris's sister as she adds the last rock surrounding the river.

 Now, the queen of landscape collage, Ms. Sandra herself. Her birds are lovely as usual.  Sandra and Donna would ruin the class curve if this was a real art class :-). 

I love June's farm scene.  It looks like a little bit of Tuscany. 

It was a wonderful day, with a wonderfully group of talented women.

A special THANKS to Lola for traveling all the way from Oklahoma City in her PT Cruiser, with her sister Darlene as her co-pilot!

More from Quilting By the Lake 2012

Well you saw what I worked on while in Syracuse two weeks ago in my last post.  But I thought you would like to see what some of the others in my studio class worked on.

I arrived on Wednesday for the 3 day studio with Philippa Naylor.  But the QBL old-timers knew better.  They were there for the 2 day studio and 16 of them stayed in the class to make it 5 days with Philippa Naylor.  What a treat.  Wish I had thought of that! 

But anyway...  this is what greeted me as I walked in the room.  I knew I was in the right place :-)..

Well actually, I didn't get a picture of this when I arrived, but this is where she was at the end of the week.   Diane designed this quilt using PhotoShop Elements and then enlarged the pattern.  This is a quarter of the total quilt.  It is going to be phenomenal when finished.  I hope she sends me a picture :-).  Oh and no, that is not the title of the quilt above it.  Apparently Diane always takes Philippa Naylor's studio classes at QBL and that is something Philippa wrote for Diane 2 years ago.  Sorry to say it, but the consensus was she wears the title well :-).   Funny note, Diane and I decided we were sisters separated at birth.  Our fabric choices for the week were practically identical...  In fact, we ended up swapping fabric while we were there.  She didn't feel she had the right orange and so I offered her a piece from my stash.  Well wouldn't you know it, it was the same Carol Bryer Fallert gradation fabric that she used for the purple!  Of course, I got a wonderful new hand dyed from Diane :-).  Yummy!!

Sitting next to Diane, was Ellen.  Ellen had many pieces going on over the 5 days and one was just better than the other.  No over analysis here.  Ellen was done with this piece when we arrived. 




As you can see, she has another rolled up in the corner behind her.  That was piece made from a Jelly Roll, using the Jelly Roll Race pattern.  I didn't get a picture of it unrolled, but it will be the background fabric for a silhouette style applique.  I like that idea.  Will have to try it for one of my appliques.  Thanks Diane :-). 

This was the piece Diane worked on while we were there.  Oh my,  you have to love how she used that hand dyed background.   Those birches just come alive off of the fabric.  It really looks like you are in the woods at sunset.

The birch trees were made as an applique unit.  She did some thread sketching on the tress before adding them to the background. 

Delicious wouldn't you say!  Can't wait to see how she quilts this one.

Now my friend Donna Chambers and I went to QBL together.  Donna has been toying over the idea of making a quilt in honor of her grandparents who helped start a local church.  They donated a stained glass window when the church was built and translating that into a quilt has been a dream of Donna's.  Well, she used the creative energy in the room to kick-start this dream.  Like me, she arrived armed to tackle a couple of different projects.  But I am so happy she decided on this one.

Donna a goldsmith by trade, is not use to working in such muted colors.  At first she wasn't pleased with the way the inner glass was coming along.  Well, I can tell you, she added a piece of her signature rust metallic fabric around the inner glass and the piece was instantly transformed.  Whoa...  then adding the purple bottom and she knew it would be another winner.  Here she is adding the applique flowers to the center glass.  The bottom will have a photo of her grandparents.  As you can see there is another panel pattern to the right of this first panel.  That will be the stained glass that was donated by her grandparents best friends.  But I think she made a wonderful start in the three days!




As part of QBL the teachers make aprons to be auctioned off on the last night of each session for QBL scholarships.  Well I told you in my last post that Philippa had such a great wit and personality.  Here she is introducing her apron models.  Oh yes, I said models, not model.  As always Philippa outdid herself.  She made 3 aprons for the auction and they were modeled by her husband and two sons :-).

The QBL Dancers:  

 
She even made them bow ties in honor of the the Chippendale Dancers.  Of course, her aprons took the highest bid of the night!  Way to go Philippa!!

So that was my first QBL experience.  It was wonderful.  So wonderful I have already signed up for next year.  What am I taking you might ask?  A 5 day class with Hollis Chatelain!!  WooHooo.....

Until next year QBL.....

Cheers!!

Quilting by the Lake - 2012

So I finally made it to Quilting By the Lake!  I have been wanting to go for the last 5 or 6 years, but neither time or money seemed to work in my favor.  Well this year the stars aligned and I got 2 friends from my art quilters mini group to go with me.  Thank You Donna Chambers and Sandra Parrott!!

Together we attended Session II and took Philippa Naylor's Studio Workshop.  We were closed out of both of her classes for session 1, so a word to the wise....  if you see a class given by Philippa in your area, jump on it quickly!!

Well, I couldn't have been happier. First, Philippa is a wonderful person and an equally wonderful teacher.  She has such a sunny personality and such quick wit.  But boy, can she work a room.  Her teaching style allowed her to address everyone's questions in a timely manner, while still leaving enough time for you to progress your projects and for her to give numerous demos on things the students requested or topics she thought were appropriate for the class.  What a great style.  This is definitely NOT an independent studio!!  Especially since the projects we worked on were so varied in nature.  Folks took advantage of the fact that Philippa started in the fashion design business.  So while many of us worked on quilts, others worked on pants, jackets, dresses and such.

My goal for the 3 day studio workshop was to learn how to transform my sketches into full size patterns and then turn the pattern into a quilt.  Well, my mission was accomplished.  We started by looking over photos of my quilts, so she could get a feel for my style.  Then we looked over some of my sketches.  We discussed the various techniques she would use to make each of the quilts I had sketched and decided on one that would give me the opportunity to learn a technique I had not used before.

This is the original sketch @ 12" x 18".  Sorry it is a little light, but the pencil lines aren't showing up very well.  I just wanted to give you a clue of what I walked in to the workshop with :-).....

This is the quilt in progress on the design board @ 40" x 60"  (I tried taking a picture of the full size pattern, before I started placing fabric, but that was even lighter than my sketch in the picture :-(.

This is a picture of the center partially completed, without the applique or side 4" panels :

And here is a picture of Philippa and I in front of the quilt as we wound up the 3 days : 





Unfortunately, I have deadlines on other pieces that I need to meet before I can pick this quilt back up.  But, I am anxious to get back to it.  I have side borders that need to be added to complete the top.  We discussed how it will be quilted, including trapunto and embellishments.  Oh yes and hopefully with the tips I learned from Philippa, I won't cut through my quilt top when cutting away the batting around the trapunto.  But guess what ....  yep, she taught me a trick for that too!!!




I'll share photos of some of the other pieces folks worked on later in the week.  Including the gorgeous piece Donna is working on.
  WooHoo!!

Until next time, Cheers :-) !!

Pelham Quilter's 3D Mariner's Compass Workshop

This past weekend my local quilt was fortunate enough to have one of our own guild members, Mary Ann Ciccotelli, host a folded fabric 3D workshop.  Most of those in attendance chose to work on the gorgeous Mariner's Compass that Mary Anne made as the class sample.
But one adventurous quilter decided she wanted to use the technique to make a sunflower.  So the usual suspects gathered for a fun filled day of fabric folding and friendship.

Lorraine, our guild President, was the adventurous one in the bunch.  Here is a picture of Lorraine working away.  Tell me she isn't having a great time!

Here is Lorraine with half of her sunflower completed.  While in Lancaster last month, she brought a fuzzy piece of brown wool to use as the sunflower center.  Can't wait to see the finished result.  Knowing Lorraine, I won't have too wait long!

Donna and Paula, two of our newest guild members, worked really quietly on their pieces.  I had to sneak over and try to catch Paula at work.  She was a busy beaver...

I can tell you she is working in blue...  but unfortunately she left too early for me to get another picture. :-(.

Donna, always has such wonderful fabrics in her stash.  Makes you wonder where she get's them all from. 

She is sooo busy at work here, she didn't even bother to look up, when I came by.  I can see the blues and reds, with a hint of something dark...  hmmpphhh....

                                                                                                    
I see light and dark blue with gold, in this stage it looks almost like an oriental fan....  especially with the way she is peeking over the top :-).

(Pop on over to Donna's website.  She is one gifted jewelry designer.)




Blue must have been a popular color, because Millie also worked in blues.  The background to her compass points was blue as well.  Here you see Millie preparing her background pieces before sewing the compass points into the background.

Here is Millie with a quarter of her compass sewn together.  She used rust and bieges as her compass points.






Jean and her mother, Evelyn, worked side by side all day.  Jean choose black, white and red as her colors.  They really looked sharp together, even though Jean doesn't like to be photgraphed, so I don't have great pictures....

You can see her here pressing one of her seams.  Don't you love her fabrics!  Those points are going to look sharp on the black.













Evelyn was just getting started when I took this picture, so my apologies..  but here is Evelyn sitting calmly working on her first wedge.....

Evelyn took the time to fussy cut her print fabric, so that all four of her front compass points will have the same design positioned in the center of the point.


Here is a picture of my day's work.....  of course, no picture of me.  As you can tell my compass is on much more complex than the class sample.  I wish I could say it was by design, but it is called a slip in directions. 

So you will have to stay tuned for a finished picture of mine.  You see, my background wedges are cut too small, so my circle is actually a half circle :-)....

Either way...  we had a ball.  Mary Anne is a fantastic quilter, who enjoys finding new, easier ways of  tackling complex patterns.  She has many quilts using this basic technique...  the mariners compass, the sunflower, a color wheel and even a highly decorated turkey!  Take a look at her website or her blog  to see some of her work, and of course if you or your guild are looking for a fourth generation quilter to teach you a new technique, give Mary Anne a call!

I am now ready to tackle a 15 month old UFO

For those of you who have been reading my blog for awhile, you might remember some posts focused on 'decisions'.  It was one of my design it myself pieces, I started back in Spetember of 2008.  I got as far as this...

I fused all my scrolls on, then started appliqueing them and stopped.  Why?  Well I am sure I had a bunch of reasons back then, that sounded good...  hahaha.....  But 15 months in a drawer, let's be real....  ughhhh....Oh, I loved the fabrics and colors, so it wasn't that it wasn't speaking to me anymore.  No, it was fear!!!!

That's right, I said it!  I was afraid of the piece.  I saw this really wonderful top, that was calling for wonderful quilting and I just knew that I wasn't up for the task.  At least not at a place mentally that I 'thought' I could do a decent job quilting it.  All those open spaces....  I couldn't just do free motion meandering...  what a waste of a pretty piece that would be!

But now ....  I think I am ready.  15 months of practicing and I think I am up to the challenge!

Now one more DECISION...  what to quilt...  feathers....  more scrolls....  do I do some trapunto???

Hmmmmppphhhh.....

The juices are flowing... what about yours?

I had a great night quilting last night!  My round robin is coming along nicely.  I really like the fabrics and colors.  The design says Renee!  Can't wait to show it to you...  but that will have to wait until after 7pm on March 1st....  that's our next guild meeting.

But now that my creative mojo is back on track, I was thinking today....  was it really just being with my quilting friends on Saturday that finally got me going?  Almost 6 weeks I looked at the piece and my stash....  multiple visits to quilt shops, multiple conversations with quilting friends on ideas....  nothing.  Then, all of a sudden it clicked.  Now don't get me wrong, I am happy...  actually thrilled that it did, especially since the due date is coming up quickly and I am the organizer of the round robins for my guild.  Surely I couldn't be tardy.  But what would I have done?  Would I have just slapped some fabric on it to say it was done...  without making it mine...  without ?????  I sure hope NOT!

So with this in mind, I have one of the curious questions again...  where do you find inspiration????  how do you get unblocked, when you just can't seem to get going????  Is there a secret you can share with the rest of us??  :-)