Crazy By Design - Artist Interrupted

More Blueberry Peel Pieces

2012-02-05T15:44:00.001-05:00

I'm still working on the Blueberry Peel quilt. The main portion of the top is finished.

This is a shot of a portion of it.

I'm now piecing some more peels for a border treatment. The peels are in white and pale blue patterns and the background will be the darker blues and gray/black.

Finished another knitting project - a bulky yarn shrug. Perfect for keeping warm at the sewing machine when you want your wrists and arms free but still have your shoulders and back warm.

Studio Update - Jan. 10

2012-01-10T10:10:00.001-05:00

Obviously all my creativity has been soaked up in my studio and I have none left for creative blog titles.

I'm still working on the paper-piece Indian Orange Peel. I've made it to the stage of piecing and preparing the centers for the blocks.

I'm using a tone-on-tone white fabric paired with a light blue. The four-patch is first pieced in 5" strips and then cut into 5" sections, that are then pieced to create the final 4-patch.

Next the freezer paper templates for the centers are ironed on the four-patch and excess trimmed away. I'm saving the trimmings for potential use in the borders.

This is a example of what the finished block will look like, although these are not yet sewn together.

On the knitting front, the sock block has been broken! All of last year I had this particular yarn on my needles that I just did not like. But the practical side of me just would not let me pitch it out, even though I had no motivation to work on the blinkin' socks. So that one pair of socks took me about a year to complete! Now that they are done, I'm a happy sock knitting fiend once again.

These are the latest off the needles and I already have another patterned pair almost finished.

So let this tale be a lesson to you - sometimes you should just pitch the uninspiring project/materials!

Happy 2012

2012-01-04T15:07:00.001-05:00

January and February are always two of favorite months because that is when I have the most time to spend in my studio.

I also use the time to do a bit of reorganizing, as usual. Things seem to pile up in the studio through the year and there comes a time when you just have "clear the decks" to be ready to tackle the projects for the new year. To this end, I ordered a 14-drawer tower that I plan to use for embellishment supplies - beads, ribbons, fancy fibers. I'm waiting for it to arrive.

In the meantime, I'm still working on the paper-pieced quilt. I finished piecing all of the arcs and the next step is the center portion, around which the arcs are attached.

This is the mountain of scraps (at least 12" in height!) produced by this process that I'll be mailing off to a quilter who does scrap pictures. She said the color combination sounded perfect for night skies.

Scrap Storm

2011-12-02T10:03:00.001-05:00

I'm currently working on a paper-pieced bed quilt using Karen Stone's pattern Indian Orange Peel. I started this in a class sometime in the early 1990's and am finally getting around to doing something towards finishing it!

Nothing orange about it though - I'm doing it in blues, grays, and blacks (Blueberry Peel??)

As I'm getting into it I'm reminded of the incredible fabric scrap storm created with this method!

I actually love the look of this pile of scraps (which is why I let it pile up in the first place). There is an even bigger pile on the other side of my chair! It has always seem like such a waste to throw it away. So this time I've teamed up with another fiber artist who works with tiny scraps and I'm going to package them all up and send them to her.

I'm also keeping track of the time it takes to do each part of the process, which is fun to do now and then. This is not for the faint of heart or those thinking of going into business selling quilts like this. For example, I've already timed how long it takes to piece 4 of the arcs, which is what each block takes - about 40 minutes - and I'm going to need about 196 just for the main part of the design! I'll post the complete breakdown when I'm done.

Pressing Matters

2011-10-26T10:39:00.001-04:00

Just last week I received the Elna OpalPress that I won in the International Professional Quilter Association membership drive. It was perfect timing because I was already planning to wash and iron my accumulated new fabrics in preparation for my winter studio time.

It was very easy to set up once I cleared off some space on my cutting table.

Here is the mass of fabric waiting to be smoothed.

Once the press reached the proper temp, ironing the yardage was a breeze. Just lay out the fabric . . .

Close the press for a few seconds and it was done! Marvelous!

While it took less attention to do this pressing (so I could pay attention to the movie I was watching), you do want to be very careful when positioning the fabric on the board so that you don't touch the pressing panel. That pressing panel on the top is HOT! I brushed it briefly once with my knuckle -- ouch!

A finished stack of fabrics.

Overall the Elna OpalPress is wonderful and it is going to make pressing fabric yardage fun. I just wish I had the space in my studio to leave it set up all the time, but it is great that it stores and sets up very easily.

My very first sewing machine was an Elna AirSU, so I was already expecting that I was going to have a quality product from Elna! I bought it when I was 16 and it is still around - although at my daughter's house.

I'm still debating whether to share it with our inn (the Greenville Arms 1889 Inn) housekeepers! I'm sure it would make ironing sheets, pillowcases, and table linens much easier, but I'm loath to give it up myself! May have get another one just for them. I'll have to try it out in the laundry myself this winter, when I do most of the housekeeping myself.

My husband says now I can iron his shirts. I told him I would leave the instruction manual out for him! ;-)

Squirrel-ish Dilemma

2011-10-10T17:12:00.001-04:00

I want to be happy with this, and I am with most of it, but still it is not quite right.

The dilemma is that to fix what I think needs fixing could require removing most of what I've already done. Gads! Suggestions are welcome.

My next moment in the studio is not until next Saturday, so I'll be mulling this over all week.

Hear the Music

2011-10-02T19:00:00.001-04:00

I finally decided what to do with the rabbit figure I created last December. The rabbit has been on my design wall all year just waiting for inspiration to strike.

I was cleaning up my studio and came upon stack of leftover cut-outs from making guitar ties. I spread them out on my cutting table trying to decide if there was some way to reassemble them into a "fabric" sheet that I could use again, when out of the corner of my eye the rabbit beckoned. I lay the rabbit on top of the scraps and noticed that the colors were very complementary for the rabbit and when reassembled in a random fashion were scrambled enough to become an almost neutral background.

Well, that was that. I call this piece "Hear the Music."

I'm currently working on squirrel piece. The squirrel and tree were created by the same technique as the rabbit.

Right now I'm working on what other elements I'll add, such as the grass. Nothing is stitched to the background yet, so this is very much a work in progress.

I'm also playing with the idea of adding some sort of flowering tree/shrub blossom in the upper left corner, just to contain the eye within the composition.

Knitted Knitting Bag

2011-08-21T16:13:00.001-04:00

I've been trying to finish up all the unfinished projects laying around my studio, preparing for winter when I can work on some new larger scale projects. As I work during the year, some projects general a lot of "stuff" that get stacked all over the studio, so that by now I and barely see my cutting surface (the floor with a large cutting mat).

Then there are the projects that sit around waiting for some missing part or motivation to finish them.

One of these is this knitted tote bag that I must have started several years ago. It had been waiting for the bamboo handles, but I got those over a year ago. It was the motivation that was lacking! I think I was intimidated by the process of attaching the handles. So silly, since it turned out to be quite easy.

The tassels were fun, too! I lined it with a light weight denim fabric.

What a Crazy Pear

2011-07-06T15:29:00.001-04:00

I've been having lots of fun creating small fabric mosaics with the subject of pears. I choose pears for their interesting shape and interesting blend of colors.

After doing the first with a rather neutral light brown background, I thought I punch it up a little with BLUE! After all, according to Charles Gruppe (an oil painter), blue sells! LOL! It's also one of my favorite colors.

After completing the one above I was debating whether I should do another, because I do have other half finished projects on my design wall staring me in the face and demanding to be finished, but it's like pistachios - you can't stop at one!

But then the whimsey took hold of my brain and I sent my Pear Out to Sea.

That was it. I put away my tiny squares of fabric tiles before I started on Pear on the Moon, or Pear at Times Square. I'll have to let these ideas percolate while finishing the squirrel and rabbit pieces that I started last winter.

Studio Art Quilt Association Auction Piece

2011-06-21T18:47:00.001-04:00

I actually managed to finish a piece for the SAQA reverse auction this year. I started it last week thinking to myself "I'm really getting it done early this year so that I don't miss out" because I remembered the auction being in the Fall. Then I looked at the deadline on the SAQA site - July 1st! Gads, right around the corner.

I love mosaics and have been making several fabric mosaics to fit in a bunch of frames that I had purchased during my street art fair days. So I thought I'd do a 12" x 12" version for the auction (not framed).

The reverse auction takes place in September. You can find out more about it and also preview other pieces on the SAQA website.

A Light in the Forest - SOLD!

2011-06-06T17:17:00.001-04:00

One of my favorite color impression quilts just sold!

It had been hanging in one of guest rooms at the Greenville Arms 1889 Inn but now it has gone to a new home.

Material Collection

2011-06-04T12:27:00.001-04:00

A couple of weeks ago there was a fabric shop hop in our area, and while I knew I wouldn't be able to make it to all the shops (eleven), I hopped where I could.

My current fabric collection themes are grays and reddish browns. I have a couple of large scale pieces in mind that will need this palette of colors, so I'm stocking up.

The first shop I went to (which wasn't actually in the hop) was The Patchwork Co. located in Windham, NY. This is a relatively new shop. Because they are located Windham, they specialize in fabrics by Windham Fabrics.

They have a lot of Civil War repro fabrics, which have some very nice grayish hues.

The next shop I visited was The Joyful Quilter in Glenville, NY. This shop had recently relocated to a much larger shop and I was anxious to see the new place. I was not disappointed! It is a wonderful spacious and bright shop with a fabulous selection of fabric.

I came away with the 5 yards pictured at the top of the photo below. The shop is known for its collection of bright modern fabrics. I had a hard time resisting them, but I stuck to my gray and red/brown theme.

The final shop stop was the QuiltBug in Esperance, NY. This was my first visit to the shop and I love it! I also discovered that by the back roads it is only about 30 - 40 minutes from our inn. So now I'm going to have to add this shop to my "support my local shops" rotation!

They had a fun selection of color basics and fun novelties. I broke from my theme to get those yellow chicks fabric! Can't resist silly farm animals.

Back in the studio I've been working several mosaic pieces. The one seen here is one that I'm working on for the SAQA Auction which begins in September.

I had thought that I was getting a head start with this piece, vaguely remembering that the auction was in the Fall, until I looked at the deadline as I wrote this blog! The pieces are due by July. I better hurry.

Crazy Neckties - A New Batch

2011-05-10T17:45:00.001-04:00

Finally completed another two batches of Crazy Ties. One set has a Fall/Halloween theme. Here's a couple of examples:

Then the other set is music/guitar themed:

Above is the one that was quilted with Aurifil 12 wt thread, that I was mentioning in a previous post.

The guitar ties are being held for David Taylor, one of Australia's top watercolor artists, who is coming to teach a workshop for us in September. He has been asking me to make these for a couple of years. He bought another one several years ago and likes to wear it to award ceremonies, but needs another for a change. Once he picks the one he wants, the others will be available for sale.

I'm still debating whether or not is is worth it to go the etsy route with my ties or just continue selling them at our inn, the Greenville Arms 1889 Inn, gift shop. Because each one is unique, I'd have to have to separate inventories - one for etsy and one for the inn. Hmmm. Will have to contemplate that a while longer.

Falling In Love Again - with Aurifil

2011-04-27T12:10:00.001-04:00

It's always wonderful to rediscover a material that you already have in your studio. I'm talking about 12 wt Cotton Aurifil thread.

I've been making Crazy Ties to restock my supply for our inn gift shop (and a special request from one of our art instructors). This particular type of Crazy Tie is quilted and it is always fun to play with specialty threads on these - metallics, holographic, neon, and heavy weight threads.

The quilting can be used to either blend in with the fabrics or to stand out as the main focal point of the tie.

With the 12wt Aurifil thread it TRANSFORMS the fabric! I love the look and the feel of the transformed fabric. Call me crazy, but I love to pet this fabric and feel the texture and heft of the thread.

Here is another view where you can really see the difference in the look of the fabric with and without the Aurifil quilting. With the Aurifil, the quilting takes center stage.

This is a quilting treatment with regular 50wt Mettler polyester thread. You can see how the fabric remains the focal point instead of the quilting, which is the a supporting player.

But now I feel the desire to round out my selection of Aurifil 12 wt! I especially like the variegated colors.

Missing Quilt

2011-03-12T18:40:00.001-05:00

The fear of everyone who has every shipped a treasured item!

My friend, Janet Adkins, just sent this message to me:

My quilt, Kaaterskill, was shipped from Golden, Colorado on February 16, via UPS 2nd Day air. It hasn't been seen since. It was picked up, but never scanned. UPS claims they've looked for the package, but they can't find it. They're willing to issue a claim, but frankly, money won't replace this quilt.

I'm hoping to find someone at UPS or elsewhere who can put some pressure on them to look for the package. I've registered it on the Lost Quilt page, put it up on my Facebook page, and I'm trying to get the Times Union consumer advocate to look into the case.

Everyone I've talked to about it feels the quilt will come back, eventually. But I've already had to withdraw it from one quilt show, and I just found out it's been juried into the AQS show at Paducah - this is it's last chance to enter that show.

If you can help, I would really appreciate it. I can't believe I'll never see this quilt again!

If anyone has seen this quilt or knows of something that might help find this missing quilt, if would be greatly appreciated.

Creative Mojo with Mark Lipinski

2011-03-03T15:11:00.001-05:00

I've been invited to co-host the internet radio show Creative Mojo with Mark Lipinski on March 9th.

I'm so excited about this because Mark Lipinski is such a "wild" and dynamic person. This is how his website describes him - "international
quilt teacher and quilt fabric designer and creator and former
Executive Editor of Quilter's Home magazine, Mark Lipinski.
Dubbed "the bad boy of quilting" by the international press,
Mark's no holds barred, brutally honest, riotous PG-13 talks
are half quilting and all stand-up comedy."

Creative Mojo airs every Wednesday at 3:00 pm Eastern time and runs LIVE, with listener call-ins, for 2 hours. You can tune in by going to Toginet Radio and click on the listen live button on the right hand side of the page.

However, if you are like me, you might find the podcast easier to find time to listen to (although you won't have the opportunity to call-in to the live show.) You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and download all of the past shows to catch up on all the zany fun!

On the show that I'll be co-hosting the guests will be:

Scott Jeffrey, who wrote Creativity Revealed: Discovering the Source of Inspiration. (I've already loaded this one on my Kindle.)

Margaret McCraw, who wrote The Relationship Code. (I'm reading this one now. Interesting theories!)

Mark Montano, an all-around uber crafter, who recently wrote the paper crafting book, Pulp Fiction - Perfect Paper Projects. This looks like it has some great creative idea.

Judi Ketteler, author of Sew Retro, a Stylish History of The Sewing Revolution.

I tell ya, after I got the list of guests for the show and looked up their books on the internet, I wanted to run out and get them all. I'm so looking forward to the discussion on the radio show. Hope you'll listen in!

Finished a Sheep Sweater

2011-03-01T17:37:00.001-05:00

I just completed my first sweater that used more than one color of yarn. It was certainly a trial managing the different balls of yarn all at once and maintaining an even tension. I was pleasantly surprized with the finished sweater.

I like whimsy and this design fit the bill. It is by Fiber Trends and is called Sheep-Go-Round. The yarn I used was Valley Yarn's Goshen, a cotton/modal/silk blend. Very nice to work with.

(I just found out that they also have a really over-the-top design of a sweater with a fuzzy sheep's face making up the entire front of the sweater. I'm tempted but would anyone admit to knowing me if I wore it? LOL!)

Mosaics with Fabric Tiles

2011-02-28T16:23:00.001-05:00

I've always loved mosaics, probably because they are sort like puzzles and you put them together with lots of tiny pieces. Don't know why I like working with tiny pieces, but I do!

Having finished my first goal of 2011 with the completion of the 5 traditional quilts for our inn guest rooms, I now have some time to get back to some art quilting!

As often happens when you are in that "in-between-projects" state, I'd walk into my studio with my mind spinning with hundreds of ideas, but not sure which one to start with, and would instead immediately consider some sort of procrastination project like cleaning or organizing my studio. Yikes!

So the best thing to do to avoid something as horrid as organizing my studio, is to jump right in with a small project that can be started right away and is quickly finished for that satisfying feeling of getting something done.

I decided to do a mosaic pear.

The pieces are about half an inch and are backed with Misty Fuse. I have used Steam-a-Seam II for the mosaics I've previous made, but as I had none handy, I reached for what was handy - the Misty Fuse. It was quite nice to use. After selecting the fabric I was going to use, I cut small sections, about 6" x 6", of each and fused the MF to the backs. I could then cut a batch of fabric tiles from these pieces as needed.

All the tiles are stitched/quilted with varigated rayon thread from Mettler or Sulky.

While finishing it, I was thinking that I'd have to find another image to work with for my next piece, but already I can see different ways of working with the same image - playing with different colors, different angles, different backgrounds.

I created this piece specifically to fit the frame. I have a couple boxes of these frames leftover from when I sold my work at art and craft festivals in California.

One More for Tradition

2011-02-20T16:40:00.001-05:00

I've reached my goal of 5 new traditional quilts for our inn guest rooms! The final one is a Full sized quilt and it is a scrappy Ohio Star pattern.

The quilts still need to be quilted but, since I'm not doing that part, I can now get on to other projects! I have a full month before the workshop season begins and I plan to take advantage of every available minute that I can get in my studio.

The Happy Accident

2011-02-19T10:20:00.001-05:00

As I often discover in the midst of working with designs for quilts or art quilts, an accident, mistake, or total disaster can be turned into something that is just as good or even better than what you had in mind in the first place!

When I was creating the design layout for the quilt I posted the other day, I accidently clicked the wrong button in EQ7 (Electric Quilt) and every other row of the blocks shifted one column to the left. After I exclaimed in dismay at my mistake, I took a second look and said "Hmmmmm. Nice." So I saved that design for later before I went back to recreating the first design.

But that wasn't the only oops that resulted in my next quilt. While cutting out the white blocks, I forgot to account for the seam allowance in my measurement, and of course, I didn't think of this until I had already cut out all of the white blocks! So now I had this stack of blocks that were half an inch to short.

So when I returned to my accidental design, I just decreased the height of one of the strips of fabric that made up the colored blocks by half an inch. To then make it appear that this was my intention all along, instead of having purely a gradation of blues in the block, I decided to use at least one blue fabric with some yellow in it and then the smaller strip piece would be a yellow fabric.

This is another queen size quilt destined for a bed in one of our inn guest rooms.

The Beauty of Simplicity

2011-02-17T07:33:00.001-05:00

Last year while browsing through some quilt magazine I saw an ad for a book about "modern" quilts. On the cover it featured a quilt with a simple design of stripes composed of gradient colors of blue interspersed with stripes of white. First of all, blue is my favorite color, so that is what caught my eye in the first place, but I was further entranced with the elegant simplicity of the design and the knock-out contrast that the white fabric provided for the blues.

So being the normal red-blooded quilter, I said "wow, I've got to make one of those."

I used EQ7 to create the block (a narrow 12" x 3" block made of of six 2" x 3" pieces of fabric) and then design the layout and size.

The blue blocks were all strip-pieced (2.5" x 40" strips sewn together and then cut into the blocks).

Here is the resulting Queen size quilt.

This picture really doesn't it do it justice because of the lighting and the angle, but I'll get a better picture when it is totally quilted and finished.

But I loved the result so much, I immediately continued the process and made a matching Twin size quilt. (We have 5 guest rooms at the Greenville Arms 1889 Inn that have 2 beds - a Queen and a Twin, so this will be a good set for one of these rooms.)

Pinwheel King Quilt

2011-02-15T12:15:00.001-05:00

It's been a while since I've blogged, but I've been busy doing blog-worthly work so that I'd have something to blog about!

I finished the top for the second King Quilt. It is a scrappy pinwheel pattern. Using white fabrics for contrast really made those bright fabrics "pop."

This will go off to be quilted by Eileen Keane on Monday and she'll be bringing back the first King Quilt ready for binding and putting on a guest room bed at our inn, Greenville Arms 1889 Inn.

It has been a snowy winter with some impressive icicles forming on buildings all around town. Here is a shot of the ones outside my studio window.

They were quite beautiful when the sun shone through them.

In between quilts, of course, I'm knitting. Here are my latest pair of socks. These are the first lace patterned socks that I've made. They are knit in Summer Sox by Classic Elite - 100% cotton.

More Strip Blocks for a Queen

2011-01-15T10:37:00.001-05:00

I finished another quilt top towards my goal of 5 done this winter. I have just one more to go.

Sigh, what I wouldn't give for a longarm machine. I currently send all bed quilts out to someone else to do, but would love to be able to do them myself. Not because these other longarmers don't do a great job, just because I'm a do-it-myself kind of person! Well, I can dream.

Today I'll start the final quilt top.

In between, quilting and WORK, I've been knitting, of course. We recently took a trip over to Webs, in Northampton, MA. THE best yarn store I know of. I gave my husband a certificate for a knitted sweater for his birthday, so we had to pick up some yarn for that and I also stocked up on sock yarn - my favorite thing to knit when my brain is too tired to think of anything else.

This is the yarn for the sweater.

and a couple of the sock yarns.

All of the yarn came from the extensive discount yarn room/warehouse at Webs. This is the best feature for the budget-minded knitter who still wants top quality yarns.

Studio Report

2010-12-19T08:10:00.001-05:00

The rabbit and squirrel are pinned to my design wall and patiently waiting for their moment to arrive. (Looks like they are watching that field for Spring growth!)

My studio it too small to have too many projects active at one time, so they will have to wait until Christmas crafting is finished and then I have to resume work on the 5 bed quilts that are my top priority to finish this winter (3 down, 2 to go).

So a quick look around my studio shows the Christmas minis that I'm working on. I'm sending these instead of paper cards.

I debated whether or not to send these as postcards through the mail, but then decided that I'd attach a cord to the tops to turn them into Christmas decorations/ornaments. I figured that by attaching a way to hang them to start with, it wouldn't be left to the recipient to figure out what to do with it or how to hand it up. To attach the metallic cord I inserted tiny grommets in each upper corner and threaded the cord through them.

What's fun about creating these little minis is trying out different threads. For the most part I work with Superior's Bottom Line in the bobbin. On the top I also used their metallic thread, their Highlights thread (loved the punch of that neon color), and their glitter thread (always a favorite way to add the hint of sparkle).

My other favorite for the satin stitch around the edges, besides Superior's Highlight, was Mettler's rayon thread - for its smooth, shiny finish. However, I also tried Curicini Tre Stelle's 12 wt cotton thread (see mini below) and was mightily impressed with the wonderful dense, smooth coverage it produced. Very nice and no problems with tension adjustment. (I use a lot of metallics and heavy weight threads when quilting, so I always automatically reduce the upper tension on my Bernina to around 1 or 2 and use a 90/14 needle.)

Unfortunately, I didn't have any 12 wt Aurifil on hand in colors that would work for the minis, so can't compare it for the satin stitch, but I have always liked it when I want a highly visible quilting stitch and so used it on several of the minis for that purpose.

The rest of my studio is still a mess with all of the hat boxes and hats that I haven't had time to deal with and with various parts of the bed quilts in process, not to mention the pile of yarn balls that were the result of my undoing a knitted coat I had made. (The two you see are just some of the 10+ that are piled on the floor.)

So that you have it, the current state of my studio.

More Animals Assembled

2010-12-15T10:16:00.001-05:00

Ok, so that's not a scintillating post title. All of my creativity must drained into the squirrels.

The next animal I create during the Hudson River Valley Art Workshops retreat is a squirrel. Technically a Gray Squirrel, but all of the Gray Squirrels around here are two-tone. It's fun watching them outside of my office window. Occasionally I'll see one outside the window of my third floor studio. They are always shocked to see a human that far above the ground! LOL.

It is a fun process to create animal figures. The tricky part is getting the right expression and maintaining the animal-ness while using commercial prints. I like the commercial prints for the little "surprizes" you see - like the flowers on the belly of the squirrel.

The next step will be to come up with a scene to put these critters in.

Fused Animal Figures

2010-12-09T12:58:00.001-05:00

I'm getting a little break from my regular duties as innkeeper and art workshop director, to join in the fun in the studio during our December retreat. I am giving some informal lessons on how I create the rabbits for my rabbit series. I use two different techniques and was going to show both, but everyone is having such fun with the fused method (which is faster. LOL) that we have gone from rabbits to squirrels!

These are two of the finished rabbits. The one on the right is mine and the one on the left is by Leonie Lister of Australia.

I'm supplying the fabric, so Leonie and I are working on tables opposite of each other and selecting from the same stash, but you can see what a difference it makes with how the values are used and where they are placed on the figure.

These rabbits will eventually be put in a composition with other similarly made elements, but because Leonie, just loves squirrels, we all decided to jump to that.

This is the start of my squirrel - the freezer paper templates.

If I had made the squirrel the same scale as the rabbit, I could have put them in the same composition, but I decided to go for the mondo-sized squirrel. Watch out for your nuts!

Is Lint Really the Issue

2010-12-01T17:00:00.001-05:00

I finished using all five bobbins worth of Aurifil 50 wt thread and took the standard shots of the bobbin case and throat plate area.

Yeah, there was lint. Pretty much similar to the lint build up seen with the Curicini Tre Stelle thread. So I have decided that I better do another test with less expensive brand of thread I had been using, to see if there was really going to be that much difference.

So here is a pic after one bobbin of use.

Hmmm. Not a whole lot of difference between this and the Italian threads.

But then I was thinking . . . is lint really that big of deal or is it just the red herring of thread attributes? I mean so what if there is some lint -- after all what do you expect with cotton? Is the presence of lint going to make that much difference in the quality of the stitch or use of the machine? Yes, you do have to clean the lint out of the machine for the best continued performance, but that's just a part of maintenance.

So let's forget about the lint! Let's focus instead on the more important qualities of the thread - the appearance of the stitch, the way it is handled by the machine, and range of colors!

I thought that the Italians were pretty close in this comparison. The stitches were beautiful and the thread ran smoothly through the machine. I'll give the slight nod to Aurifil, though, on the stitch appearance -- the thread really did seem to just melt and become one with the fabric.

However, the difference between the Italians and the cheaper thread was quite marked. I could feel the ridge of the cheaper thread stitches on the surface of the fabric and the louder noise of the machine running with the cheaper thread was definitely noticeable. With the Italians, the machine just purred.

The end result -- I'm giving up using the cheaper thread! Yes, I am definitely on a limited budget but since I'm not using up billions of yards of thread per year, I feel that a thread that can make my sewing machine purr is worth it!

Both of the Italian thread companies offer an array of thread weights and materials, which I'll be comparing as I come to a project that can use them. I'm especially interested in trying the heavy weight cotton threads, as well as the wool and silk threads because those are the threads that a meant to be seen on the surface of the work.

So here's a toast to the Italians! They are as smooth and sweet as a Sauterne!

I'm still working on piecing quilt tops, so if I notice any other aspect of note about these threads, I'll be sure to mention it.

The next top is a Queen size and it will use a simple 3.5" x 12" block design that will appear as stripes of blues alternating with white. These are my blues.

Aurifil Test Begins

2010-11-16T13:19:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I started the comparison test with Aurifil. Just like for Curicini Tre Stelle, I wound 5 bobbins and cleaned and oiled the bobbin case.

Here is the pics after completing one bobbin full.

The throat plate lint build up looks similar to the results for the Tre Stelle, but the bobbin case looks less linty.

As expected, this thread handles like a dream. Smooth, quiet, and stitches that practically melt into the fabric.

I'm still only on the second bobbin, but completed the blocks for the scrappy pinwheel quilt top. I had to take the blocks out to the carriage house studio to use the floor space as my design area. First I set up the blocks on the tables in stacks of like colors - my design palette!

Next I lay out the blocks, being careful to keep a pleasing mix of colors in all the rows.

I had to stand on a ladder and hold the camera above my head to try to get as much of this quilt top in my photo frame as possible. And if you think that was a funny sight, imagine me picking up all of these blocks and keeping them in order as I stacked them from left to right!

Curicini Tre Stelle Prelim Results

2010-11-16T13:00:00.001-05:00

I finally used up 5 bobbins of Curicini Tre Stelle 50 wt thread. I say "finally" because it seemed to last forever. This fine 2 ply thread allowed me load up the bobbins with more length than I could get with my previous brand of thread. Nice!

Here are pics of under the throat plate and in the bobbin case after the 5th bobbin was emptied.

So there is a bit of lint build up, but is this from the thread or the fabric? To early to tell (unless someone more familiar with lint patterns can enlighten me!) In addition to now testing Aurifil, I'll also do a similar 5 bobbin test with my previous much cheaper thread to see how that compares with these two fine Italians.

But I must say that even with a little lint build up, this thread was beautiful to use. It ran smoothly and quietly through my Bernina and lay down nice low profile stitches. Already, no matter who comes out on top, I'm sold on these quality threads.

I'm on to my second king-size scrappy quilt. This time I'm using 2 triangles to create a 4" square, and then arrange these into a pinwheel block. I'm loving how many squares I can assemble with this thread before emptying a bobbin.

The Italian Face Off - Aurifil vs Curicini Tre Stelle

2010-10-25T18:23:00.001-04:00

And so it begins . . .

I was so intrigued by my first experience with fine Italian threads that I've decided to do a head to head comparison between Aurifil and Curicini Tre Stelle.

I first learned of Aurifil at the Houston Quilt Festival back in 2005 and immediately fell in love with their 12 wt variegated thread. I like to use variegated thread for quilting and the 12 wt was a nice hefty thread that was still thin enough to run through my Bernina.

The Curicini Tre Stelle thread is new to me, but is a from a company that has been around for decades.

The first round of the Italian thread faceoff will be between 50 wt threads doing regular piecing. I use a Bernina 1260 and a 90/14 needle (because I don't like changing needles between cotton and metallic threads!)

In this corner is a grey 2-ply 50 wt Curicini Tre Stelle thread.

I've filled 5 bobbins and cleaned the bobbin case.

Then in this corner, anxiously waiting his turn, is a white 2-ply 50 wt Aurifil thread.

I am piecing regular commercial 100% cotton squares with a straight stitch and will go through 5 full bobbins. I'll be counting thread breaks and checking lint build up after each bobbin finishes.

So far, I completed 1 bobbin full of the Curicini Tre Stelle. This is what the bobbin case looked like afterwards.

Sort of linty! Could be from the fabric, could be the thread, but won't know until the full test is finished. I'm thinking I may have to also run this test with the cheap brand of thread I was previously using just to get a data point on linty-ness.

Other than the lint, the Curicini is running smooth and beautiful through my machine and creating lovely stitches.

I have finished off one simple quilt top, but the challenge will continue on the next! Stay tuned for scintillating photos of lint build up or lack there of.

(Sorry, no wet t-shirts or tight Italian pants in this faceoff. I'll have to leave those images to your imagination!)

Quilt Making Frenzy

2010-10-13T20:16:00.001-04:00

Ever since the wedding quilt frenzy, I haven't been able to let go of the desire to make more standard quilts. It has been partly because I realized my scrap pile was threatening to take over my studio. I also needed more room for fabrics that I use in my current work, not the wild multi-patterned novelty-type fabrics I had purchased in the past. So the old stuff had to be used up, because, of course, I couldn't throw it away!

I also realized that I have been at our inn, the Greenville Arms 1889 Inn, for 6 years already and have only completed a quilt for only one of the rooms. I feel like such a piker! Here I call myself a quilter and haven't even made quilts for the rooms -- although my art quilts are all over the place! But I wanted to put "my mark" on the inn as an innkeeper - something that might last longer than I. (Although I am not planning any departure from the inn anytime in the near future!)

I also just like assembling pieces of fabric and it is a very relaxing thing to do when you are too exhausted to think of anything else.

Another motivator is that I bartered one of our workshops at Hudson River Valley Art Workshops for some longarm quilting services. The workshop traded is coming up and I don't have any of the quilt tops ready! So I'm piecing at every chance I get.

Nothing like a pile of chain pieced triangles. If I'm lucky I might have one quilt top ready by the time the workshop is over.

I was approached by a distributor to try out a line of Italian thread, Curicini Tre Stelle. It is a 2-ply long staple thread, reportedly just like Aurifil, another line of fine Italian thread. I tried the 50 wt cotton for piecing. The difference between this thread and the much cheaper brand that I had been using was marked! The Curicini ran through my Bernina like silk.

Now I'm curious about the Aurifil 50wt. I have some but was waiting until I used up the cheaper stuff I had (waste not, want not!). But with the difference between the finer thread being so immediately noticeable, now I want to see how the two Italians face off!

Wedding Quilt Appreciation

2010-10-11T16:30:00.001-04:00

My new son-in-law, Zeke, showing his appreciation for a quilt large enough for his 6'4" height!

The wedding quilt was used at the wedding as the backdrop for a time-release photo "booth" - a special camera snapped a picture every 10 seconds and guests stepped into the booth to strike poses with funny paper eye glasses. However, I neglected to take any photos of the quilt! I'll have to wait for the official photos.

So now for some non-quilt related photos of the wedding! As mother of the bride I get to show off the bride in my blog if I want to!

Me and my mom.

Bride and groom with my mom, brother, sister, husband, and sister-in-law.

Me and the bride!

The happy couple.

The happy bride.

This kiss, this kiss . . .

The Wedding Quilt is Done!

2010-09-14T19:50:00.001-04:00

I finally had a sunny day when I was also ready to try to take a picture of the log cabin quilt that I made for my daughter's wedding on October 2nd.

It's not an easy thing to photograph a king size quilt by yourself, let alone on a slightly breezy day! (Wasn't too bad, just blew over once.)

I wish I could have had the whole thing hanging straight but it is mostly.

Tomorrow I ship it off to California to await the wedding. My daughter plans to use it has the backdrop for some of the wedding photos. I'm also using a photo of the quilt on a special chocolate bar that we are making as favors for the wedding

It was a relief to finally finish this huge quilt, but at the same time I'm sorry it is done. I enjoyed handling all that fabric and sewing all of the pieces together.

I'll probably continue working on some more traditional quilts while our workshop season is still in full swing. Then come winter, I'll switch to art quilts. I have some ideas for some larger scale pieces and the workshop studio will come in handy for that.

We had a week off over the Labor Day weekend and flew to Seattle to spend the time with my daughter and future son-in-law. My daughter was a good daughter and immediately gave me the address and directions to several fabric stores and a yarn store!

With a store name like this how could one not shop for yarn with abandon?

These skeins are destine for a "break out" sock. I've been using the same simple sock pattern for years. It's time to try something with a stitch pattern to it! This is why I choose a more solid color yarn.

I bought this yarn with the idea of making a shawl or shrug to go with my mother-of-the-bride dress. But who am I kidding . . . I won't be able to finish something like that in the remaining time!

Then this lovely bunch is going to be turned into washcloths, while I try to convert my knitting style into "picking" instead of "throwing."

I finished another pair of socks on the flights back and forth from NY. Knitting is a great thing to while away the time in coach. Not enough room to do much else!

Then I blew the rest of my fiber shopping budget on fabric.

I'm trying to stock up on dark and light values, as my stash is heavy in the medium values. Sorry, I forgot the name of the quilt shop, but it is just down Market St from Cupcake Royale in Ballard, WA. A nice shop with friendly people. The fabric is contemporary, with a lot of "Amy Butler" types of colors and prints.

Modern Retro Ties in Black

2010-08-12T10:43:00.001-04:00

My daughter and her finance have asked me to make some custom skinny ties for the groom and groomsmen (and woman) at their wedding. They wanted a solid black tie that looked like a '50's skinny tie.

But being me, I couldn't resist trying a little decorative stitching on my prototype tie!

However, I did send this sample tie for final approval! If they want plain, I'm happy to make them that way.

I like the way the stitched version turned out though, so I might have to make some more to sell at our Inn.

I use to sell these Crazy Ties at street fairs in California and they did fairly well, but I must have had over 40 ties leftover when we moved here. They have been steadily selling at the inn and I have to restock!

One of our artist instructors, David Taylor of Australia, has specifically requested another tie when he teaches here next year. He wears them to his exhibit openings and when accepting awards!

Fields of Promise

2010-06-22T16:30:00.001-04:00

I couldn't wait. I was going to wait until after I had taken a good photograph of my latest Fields of Promise piece before hanging it up at the inn, but it was taking too long to find a moment to set up my photography area. So I hung this one:

And this one in our front dining room.

I'm midway through the quilting on another Field of Promise piece and am hoping to finish it this coming Saturday.

David Dunlop is teaching a workshop at our inn this week and he always has such enthusiasm for art of any kind that it is hard to not catch that enthusiasm and want to get into your studio and create!

That Other Thing

2010-05-20T21:04:00.001-04:00

Ok, I didn't mean that previous post to sound like some sort of pity party. I most certainly do not regret my choices, but for me, it is easier to be an artist when I can accept that, at the moment, my other career comes first.

I can stop beating myself up over missed opportunity deadlines and stop agonizing about how long it is taking to finish my next art quilt.

There is, after all, a strong tie between my desire to be an artist and my dream of building an environment where artists can come together for learning, encouragement, and community.

When I first got into quilting and art quilts, way back when, I was a workshop-taking-fiend. Yes, I wanted to learn everything I could and find my own path, but also the value of being able to spend 6 hours a day with like-minded people who understood the language I was speaking, who were seeking the same thing that I was, was priceless.

Even though I was not able to take a retreat-type workshop at the time, I could understand the tremendous freedom one would have if they could put aside their daily lives, even if just for a week, to eat, drink, breath, and live in your art and to be around others who were doing the same.

For me, the benefit of the workshop, is not just what you learn from the instructor, but what you learn from your classmates. This is not to say that who you take a workshop from isn't important. It takes an excellent teacher to facilitate and encourage a learning-rich environment such as this and to recognize that everyone can learn from everyone in the class.

I love being an innkeeper and workshop director. I love being around artistic and creative people. So that is my choice and I'm sticking with it! But I'll never give up creating my own art because it is what I am.

That One Thing

2010-05-20T18:25:00.001-04:00

Today on the Quiltart list a question was posed - "What is the 1 thing you need to be successful as an artist?"

My first thought was that I needed more time, but that is such a pat answer and doesn't really lead to any kind of solution.

So my second thought was I needed another lifetime. While this answer doesn't offer the struggling artist any solution, what it does do is recognize that sometimes you just have to accept the reality of your choices.

The reality of my choice is that I choose to pursue a business that requires a lot of my time. I'm talking about being the owner/director of the Hudson River Valley Art Workshops. I have chosen to put my all into a business that I hope will further the success of other aspiring artists.

I want so much for this business to be a success, that I have recognized that I must put my own art on the back burner, even though there are times I feel the loss acutely. But I am only one person and I've made my choice.

I'll still revel in every moment I get in my studio and still create my art, but I'm not going to worry about being a success as an artist. I don't need that kind of stress!

Mini-Winter Landscape Quilt

2010-04-29T16:38:00.001-04:00

An artist friend of ours is going through a tough time and so I thought I'd make her a quickly little landscape quilt. She is a watercolor painter now, but use to be a fiber artist, so I know she will appreciate the work.

This week at the inn, Natalie Sewell is teaching her fabric landscape class which always inspires me to make more landscapes!

I'm still itching to do some more work on the paper and fabric journals that I started in Kathyanne White's workshop.

But realized as I was clearing my tables to work on the landscape piece that if I want to make progress on more of these collaged journals, I'll need a more efficient way of storing all the STUFF. Right now I have stuff, such as beads and buttons and ribbons tucked away in a tall plastic set of drawers. Unfortunately the drawers are tucked away in a corner with a table and other stuff blocking the way! This makes it difficult to get any work done when you have to fight your way to the stuff you need! This may be a project for next winter.

It's in the Bag at Gloversville Sewing Center

2010-04-13T20:30:00.001-04:00

Can't believe it has already been 2 weeks since I went to Gloversville Sewing Center to buy some orange fabric for the back of my daughter's wedding quilt!

But I found two fabrics that worked well together and luckily there was enough on the bolts, although I emptied one of them! And since I dropped over $100 dollars on this purchase, my shopping bag was 2 fat quarters sewn together. Clever and appreciated -- nice fabrics, too!

I have put together the back for the quilt in a checkerboard fashion using 15" squares of these two fabrics. (Sorry Adina, I just couldn't restrict myself to the use of just one fabric! But it will look great!)

I'm taking it to the longarm quilter's at the end of the month and she'll quilt it in May. Once I get it back I'm going to try to get a picture of it hanging off the second floor balcony of the Inn.

Now that that is done it is back to art quilts.

I made another "fields of promise" piece last Saturday and will finish putting the sleeve on it this Saturday. Then it will be ready to photograph.

Carol Taylor is teaching a workshop with us this week at the Hudson River Valley Art Workshops and her vast arrange of fancy fibers for sale has put me in the mood to do a little couching of yarns myself - which I did on the Fields of Promise 2.

I was collecting fancy fibers way before I became a knitter. I like using them to cover the edges on raw edge applique. I love the sparkly stuff - great for adding the little bit of umpf to the lines of a piece.

I couched yarn or metallic cord over all of the Moon Series quilts. This is one of them.

Sewing of a Different Nature

2010-04-01T08:41:00.001-04:00

I thought I was going to get to start a new art quilt, but then I remembered that I had sewing of a different nature to get done.

One of the loveseat cushions in a guest room was getting frayed in one corner, and having inquired about professional reupholstering costs previously, I decided to give it go myself! (Not putting down the work or the worth of professionals, but we have a lot of furniture and not unlimited funds! LOL)

Luckily it was just the cushion needing help, so I was confident that I could do a reasonable job.

So here are the results.

I should mention that I'm a big fan of MacKenzie Childs and their wildly decorated furniture! Obviously, this it not quite as wild, but I'm starting gently!

I think it turned out rather nicely. I just made a simple zippered box cushion cover without welting. I made matching arm covers, but I'm thinking I now need to make new cover for the pillows in a coordinating moss green fabric for some more contrast and to complete the "patchwork" look.

Today I go shopping for the orange fabric I need to complete my daughters quilt.

Disappearing Posts

2010-03-28T19:20:00.001-04:00

Think you are seeing things? Thought you saw a post there and then it was suddenly gone?

It's not you, it's me. I use Blogo to maintain all of our blogs and it is way too easy to be so busy writing a post that you don't even bother to look at which blog you are posting to until it is too late!

Got make sure the brain is engaged before clicking POST. Sheesh.

Air Pen Doodles and Knitting

2010-03-27T16:18:00.001-04:00

Here is my air pen doodles. Fun. Probably won't be getting one until the winter when I have more time and can also go to the big art studio with more air ventilation. My 3rd floor studio is tiny and does not get much in the way of air circulation with just one window.

Finished another couple of knitting projects. Another fickle finger scarf and some more socks.

Can one have too many hand-knitted socks? I'm not sure -- I'll have just keep at it until I know!

The socks I keep, the scarves I sell. I recently sold quite a few of my scarves, so I'm working to restock.

New Toy Craving

2010-03-26T18:25:00.001-04:00

I finally got the chance to sit for a moment with Susan Shie and have her show me how to use an airpen. What fun.

It takes a bit a practice to avoid blotchy lines but once you get in the groove, it's not too bad. I could see the possibilities.

But I will have to learn not to gesture when talking if I have an airpen in my hand!

I just doodled, drew silly things, and wrote meaningless sentences, but even that would be fun to paint and then cut up to use in something. I'll have to take a picture of my "masterpiece" and post it later on.

I already know the piece that I NEED this airpen for. It is an idea that I've had for a long, long time but hadn't been sure how to pull it off. It may still not work, but at least now I have an idea of what to try!

If the airpen doesn't work, I can always turn it over to Mark for decorating the chocolates!

The Air Pen that Susan uses is made by SilkPaint -- in case any one wants to get one for me! LOL!

In Search of Orange

2010-03-24T20:32:00.001-04:00

I finished the top for my daughter's log cabin quilt and started putting together 15" squares of fabric to form the backing. I was using a wild assortment of novelty fabrics and multi-color fabrics (you know -- the ones that don't fit in any color family!).

I was almost finished when I thought I better check with my daughter to see if this would suit her style. So I email her and asked if she would mind a quilt back that included fabric with pictures of sushi eating cats!

I was not surprised by her answer. I should have known. My tastes do tend to be a little more "colorful" than hers. But how can I argue with someone who always looks fabulous and so put together. She does have a wonderful sense of style and fashion, even if different than mine.

So now I am in search of the perfect orange. I used an orange fabric, by Robert Kaufman - Designer Essentials, for the center square in each log cabin block.

But this is a long discontinued fabric and so I've had no luck finding any more. However, since the center square is so tiny, I guess it won't make a difference if I just get a fabric that is similar in color.

But of course I just can't accept any old orange fabric. It must have something interesting in it!

I've seen some potentials online, but I think I'm going to have to go shopping at a local shop to see the fabrics in person.

We have a break in workshops coming up next week so I'm planning a little shop hop of my own.

Susan Shie is here this week teaching a workshop. It is very interesting watch her use an airpen to do the writing on her diary quilts. Makes me want to run out and get one!

She brought a number of pieces of her work. Such incredible detail and texture.

It is a small class, so I thought that maybe I'd get a chance to sit in and watch. But the work of running an art workshop program, inn, and chocolate business is never ending. 14 hour days are the norm.

But it is all worth while when the people tell me what a great time they are having and the teachers say what a wonderful place is it to teach. That is my reward and what keeps me going.

Log Cabin Times Two

2010-03-04T17:15:00.001-05:00

I have finally finished the two sets of blocks for the log cabin quilt I'm making for my daughter's wedding. (One for her and one as a back up if any disaster should happen to the first one!)

This afternoon I took the blocks out to the carriage house art studio to lay them out in the final arrangement. I'm happy to have such a big floor space to do this in. I don't think I could have spread it out in any of the other rooms of our inn - Victorians were are not known for large rooms!

The arrangement I needed to get the right size for a king size bed is 9 blocks by 8 blocks. (The blocks are 12" blocks.)

This is one of the tops.

Unfortunately, that means that this particular arrangement (Sunshine and Shadow) does not come out even. I'm thinking that I'm going to drop that last column and make up the needed width with a border.

This is the second one.

I'm shooting to finish these tops including borders by the end of next week because our first workshop checks in on March 14th and that means my available quilting time will be sharply curtailed! Besides the fact that the art studio floor will no longer be available as my design area!

A Snow Day

2010-02-26T15:27:00.001-05:00

Winter has finally blanketed our area with a hefty amount of snow. Unfortunately, one of the downsides of living at your place of business, you don't get to have a snow day because you can't get to work! So while my normal work day continued, I did get to take a break to tromp around in the fluffy white stuff with our two dogs - Hudson (the Dalmatian) and Bree (the Ridgeback).

I just love a snowy landscape. Very inspiring - art quilt-wise! All those stark whites and blacks, with shadings of gray and blue.

Restocking the Stash at the Joyful Quilter

2010-02-15T19:50:00.001-05:00

Making 2 king size log cabin quilts has depleted my stash of navy blue, moss green, chocolate brown, and tan fabrics. The stash was definitely in need of a refill.

This was just the excuse I needed to plan an outing to theJoyful Quilter in Glenville, NY. One of my favorite shops and shop owners, Bob Silverman of the Woodstock Quilt Supply shop had recently closed his shop in Woodstock and joined forces with the folks at the Joyful Quilter and I wanted to go check it out!

Here is Bob cutting all of the fabric I just couldn't resist.

The shop had a wonderful selection of fabrics and was full of light and quite joyful.

I had a hard time sticking to just the colors I needed, but came away with this batch of fabrics.

I already have a number of them washed, ironed and cut into strips.

Log Cabin Set 1 Done

2010-02-02T15:23:00.001-05:00

It feels good to be making progress. I finished the first set of 72 log cabin blocks.

Now I'm starting on the second set. Thank goodness that old groundhog saw his shadow today and we'll get 6 more weeks of winter. Always a good excuse for staying indoors and sewing!

I finished another knitting project. This time a fun scarf. The pattern was called Fickle Fingers and I found it in Interweave's Knits magazine. I don't remember the issue, but it was a couple of years back. This was a quick knit and I really like the way it turned out. It will definitely be one to do again.

Knittin' and Stitchin'

2010-01-24T15:44:00.001-05:00

It's been a while since I had a chance to blog. We've been busy at the inn making, packing, and shipping chocolate orders. (Where is my winter going?!)

I'm continuing to work on the King size Log Cabin quilt - a wedding gift for my daughter. This is the first traditional bed quilt that I've made in quite a while and it is taking more time than I imagined. I'm certainly glad that I've started this early - the wedding is in October. I'm actually making 2 of them because I want to have a back up incase anything goes haywire along the way with one of them. If both turn out fabulous, then I'll have one more quilt done for our inn rooms.

I'm almost finished with the 72 blocks for the first set. I'll finish the second set before I layout the two quilts so that I have more flexibility with which blocks are used with which version.

I've also been knitting in the evenings when I hang out with Mark and/or Hudson and Bree.

This is a picture of a sweater I completed a couple of months ago - finally got a picture of it. I had fun trying to take a picture of myself with it on. I used the timer function on the camera and set the camera up on the fireplace mantel. I kept dashing back and forth to "strike a pose" that didn't cut off my head, didn't make me look silly or fat, and still showed off the sweater - which was the main thing.

Still cut off my head a bit, but the sweater looked best in this shot.

Inspired by the View

2009-12-23T19:07:00.001-05:00

In between making Christmas gifts for friends and family, I started a new series inspired by all the farm land in our area. I've always loved the view of a farm - with vast fields of rows upon row of something. When driving through farm country I'd guess at what each field was growing.

I even liked the empty fields because they seem to always hold such promise. What would be their next harvest?

This first of the series I called "Fields of Promise"

It is about 24" x 15". The "field" part is pieced. The horizon landscape is raw edge collage.

I have 2 other "fields" prepared, but have not yet decided how I will treat them.

In the meantime, I continue work on my daughter's wedding quilt.

Our office assistant and chocolate saleswoman, Delores, gave me a wicker towel rack to use in my studio. It is doing a great job holding all of the fabric strips for the log cabin quilt.

I set it up resting between a drawer and my cutting table. It closes me in to my sewing area, but that is mostly a good thing! It is very light weight, so it is easy to move around. Handy for my small studio space.

Here is a closer look at the rack.

On another topic, I'll admit that I am a sock knitting fiend. I can't stop. It is a very relaxing thing to do and I love wearing socks that I've knit myself.

Here are a couple of my latest.

I'll never wear boring white socks again!

Winter Studio Bonanza

2009-12-11T09:52:00.001-05:00

Every winter as the workshop season at the Hudson River Valley Art Workshops draws to a close I always envision a bonanza of time to spend working in my studio. Let's see if it actually happens this year!

Last year the chocolate business took off, so most of my "spare" time was spent packing and shipping chocolate to the over 100 stores that carry our chocolates. This year we have more employees, so hopefully that will free up my time for fiber art!

In the short break for Thanksgiving I did actually get to start on a new series of landscape quilts and finished one of them. I have a stack of quilts in one of our guest rooms waiting for me to have time to photograph them.

I've also realized that my Crazy By Design website has been woefully neglected. It is pitifully out of date and the design/layout is so "yesterday". I started a new design last winter, but same story - chocolate got in the way!

In between the fiber art I'm working a a wedding quilt for my daughter. She is planning a 2010 wedding and I'm hoping for a late 2010 date to give me plenty of time to finish the quilt! She has requested a log cabin quilt in the colors of navy blue, moss green, and chocolate brown. I have about 11 blocks done and 60+ more to do to finish the king size quilt!

A Bit of Studio Time

2009-08-23T20:18:00.001-04:00

Haven't had much time in the studio lately because we've been so busy with the workshops and then when we do get a small break the weather heats up to the 80s and 90s with high humidity - and then you can just forget about staying for more than a second in my studio - no A/C, no fan = no me in the studio.

But last Saturday it was reasonable, so I set to work on another of my left over Nancy Crow workshop projects.

I had it hanging on my design wall for more than a month. I was waiting for inspiration and/or procrastinating because the ideas I was having for it would mean un-stitching some areas. Not what I was looking forward, too. So it continued to hang there.

Finally a couple of weeks ago, I decided that maybe it just needed more units to make it a larger piece. So I took out the fabrics we had made in the class -- but then, DANG -- I couldn't for the life of me remember how we had put together the units in class. I could have kicked myself for not taking better notes or pictures. So the project sat some more.

Then this past Saturday I gave myself a good talking to and said "shut up and just do it! You KNOW how it is done, just start doing it and you'll remember." I should listen to myself more often, but it worked. I stopped trying to think about what I was doing and just did it.

So here is a shot of the project ready to be quilted. I added another row of units and I liked it a whole lot better.

I could see getting carried away and continue making unit after unit, until the thing was ready to take over the world, but my studio is small and hot and I'm not prepared to wrestle with anything larger at the moment.

I'm quilting it with a light blue metallic thread and a pale variegated thread of blues, greens, and pinks. I haven't decided whether I will square it up when I'm done or let it keep its funky shape.

Eye on the Prize

2009-06-06T16:14:00.001-04:00

It seems I'm getting all my blogging done today, along with all the other little odds and ends that pile up on my to do list.

I have been getting a little time in my studio here and there, so this is my latest completed work.

I called it Eye on the Prize because it does sort of look like an eye to me, but also because "keep your eye on the prize" is a phrase I often repeat to myself when I'm have a difficult or discouraging day. The prize, of course, is living a joyful life doing the things I love and being with the people I love.

If you've been following my blog you might recognize that this was one of the pieces that I started in the Nancy Crow workshop that I took last year. I had been in such a rush to complete the top at the workshop that I had just randomly sewn some sections together, but I had never been quite satisfied with them. It hung on my design wall for a long time while I glared at it, trying to figure out how to fix it.

I finally just took all the sections apart, found more unused sections, and more of the left over fabric and then rearranged and reconfigured the pieces. I am much happier with this new version.

Another new technique I used with this piece was to face the edges instead of using my usual narrow binding. I didn't want a binding to detract from the composition.

While I was out photographing this piece I figured I might as well snap a couple of shots of some older quilts that I somehow never took pictures of.

This first one is called Color Blocks 1 (obviously, I meant to do more - still might!) It is a take on the graphics used on the cigar band of a Cohiba Cuban cigar.

The blocks are joined by zippers. This is so that you could rearrange the composition and zip it back together. Another idea that I meant to explore more. Color Block is hanging in Room 14 in the carriage house.

This next one is called Card Trick. This is not the best of photos because the wall is showing, but I wanted to take a quick shot in case it sold before I got any photos!

It is currently hanging in upstairs hall of the carriage house (next to the McKnight).

My next task is to get these up on my website. Maybe tomorrow. ;-)

February and March Landscapes

2009-04-24T18:22:00.001-04:00

I finally finished the two landscapes that I was working on.

This is the March landscape and the one below is February.

It is always interesting to look at the pieces as photographs. For some reason I always see an aspect of the piece that I had not noticed while I was working on it. Maybe it is because the photograph puts some "distance" on the piece and while I'm working on it, it is too much "in-my-face" to notice some details.

In any case, I am happy they are done. Both are 15" x 15".

Gardening in My Mind

2009-04-19T18:47:00.001-04:00

My daughter just posted on Facebook all of the things that she just planted in her garden in California. I just had to sigh. Yes, I do miss the good practically-year-round gardening weather in California.

It is not quite warm enough to start planting here in upstate NY, still might get a cold night. But even when it warms, I think I'll have to pass on the new and just work with what we have at the moment.

But I can garden in my mind. Jackson and Perkins is tempting me with their 2009 roses. Here is a beautiful example:

The Summer of Love Hybrid Tea Rose. So appropriate because we are close to Woodstock!

I think this would be a good image to work with when doing a color impression quilt. Maybe that will be my next project.

I'm almost finished with the landscape pieces. Still doing the final edges and hanging sleeve for the back.

We have a little break between workshops, so hopefully I'll get some studio time. The next one starts April 30th, although we do have an art therapy group coming in this next weekend for their group retreat. They even hired a yoga instructor for one day!

Forget About Coloring Easter Eggs!

2009-04-11T18:03:00.000-04:00

Here is what I colored for Easter!

In case, you've never met me -- red is not what I was born with. But I always wanted to give it a try since my brown hair did have natural red highlights.

I needed to brighten up my day, week, whatever. Maybe I miss coloring easter eggs! ;-) Good thing my hairdresser didn't have any blue, pink, or purple dyes!

Counting Sheep

2009-04-10T08:39:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I was feeling a bit low, probably from lack of sleep, so I started counting sheep.

After dinner I was browsing the internet after a search on "wool sheep" and "how to raise sheep". Yes, I know this is crazy, but I was to tired to think straight! ;-)

There are lots of interesting sheep varieties and the wool on the wool varieties certainly looks fine and soft. Hmm. Maybe a couple of sheep would look nice on the "back forty" (really the back 4)! Yeah, right! Like I need another job.

Well it is fun to dream.

I'm almost finished with two more landscape quilts. Just need the finishing edge. I was going to call it quits with this series, but then what happens . . . I go outside and start looking at the trees and think . . . Hmm, there is more that I can do to improve this series. Sigh, it never ends. Thank goodness!!

More Progress on Landscapes

2009-04-01T15:49:00.001-04:00

I got a quick shot of one of the landscapes that I'm working on. This is after I added the trees. I like that the pinkish fabric in back of the trees gives it a different "feel" than my previous winter landscape.

I'm still working on the trees in the next of this series. But I've come down with a miserable Spring cold and don't feel like doing anything in my studio. Maybe in a couple of days.

Being Drawn Out

2009-03-30T19:53:00.001-04:00

Every time I see an artist who is fine and talented at drawing, I resolve spend more time drawing. Of course, I've also resolved to start practicing the clarinet again and to learn to speak the Spanish of my father, but thats gotten no where either. But I guess I don't have to beat myself up over it. It's ok to keep resolving. Certainly if I give up resolving it will absolutely never happen.

So I resolve to spend more time in my studio this year.

Yesterday I spent some time on the landscapes that I started. I didn't get any pictures, but I did make some good progress. The trees are finished on one of them and I'm in the middle of the second one. I'm debating about using a ink to add the hints of budding leaves. Our Maple trees have red buds and the Lilac are green. I was also considering using beads. I'll have to see which works best.

What's in The Works

2009-03-16T09:23:00.000-04:00

A discussion came up on the Quiltart list about "what's on your wall". My design wall doesn't usually have my current project but more likely the project that I am waiting for inspiration. When I get stuck I hang the thing up so that I can stare at it for a while and sometimes I'll get ideas for it while working on something up.

So here is the state of my design wall at the moment. The red/blue/white piece is from the Nancy Crow workshop of last year. I have some ideas for it, but it will have to wait until I'm done with my current work. On the bottom is the latest of my winter landscape series. Above the and partially hidden is a piece called Winter Leaves II. It's waiting for a frame.

Then above that is my drawing/pattern for rabbit to be used in the future and a photo of the harbor scene that I used for my Kingston Festival piece.

Here is the real design "wall" - the table next to my sewing machine.

I'm working on two more winter landscapes. I've completed the backgrounds and now they are ready for trees.

This one is sort of a February/March landscape as I've added some more pinkish color to the landscape.

Then this one is moving more towards Spring. I used some light greens in the foreground.

And while I'm giving a tour of my studio, I might as well show you my inspiration bulletin board.

Ok, so it is not so much just an inspiration board as a collection of stuff!

On the knitting front, I'm working on another sweater. This one is using a wool/cotton blend yarn. Nice and soft and fun to knit. Really shows the pattern. It is the back of the sweater.

And, of course, I always have some socks going. These are in a wonderfully soft alpaca yarn from Misti Alpaca. Love these cool blues and greens.

On something totally un-fiber related, Mark finally had his bonfire last night. I don't see the attraction of setting things on fire and watching it burn on a cold cold night, but it did create this one interesting design. Doesn't it look sort of like a horse in the flames?

How Could You Go Wrong with a Blue Rabbit

2009-03-13T19:49:00.000-04:00

I am trying out a new blogging application called Blogo and their logo is a blue rabbit! It is suppose to be super simple to use and you don't need to be in a browser to create blog posts.

You can also just drag and drop photos to the blog from anywhere on your computer, and then drag them around in the blog post until they are where you want them to be. Cool. Here is my test pic. This is Mark and I on our wedding day - we eloped to Reno! That was in 1992.

It also lets you crop the photos in blogo.

More winter landscapes

2009-02-02T15:45:00.003-05:00

I just finished another version of my winter landscape. This is fun! The title is "Upon Another Winter's Day".

This one is 15" x 15". I used more fabric variations and tried to represent different types of trees. After making the first one I had noticed the maple trees that I can see outside my studio window and saw that all of their major branches started down low and reached all the way to the top. I thought I had really blown it with the way I did the trees on the first piece! But then I noticed the trees outside of Mark's office window (which is where we keep the espresso machine - my first stop in the morning after taking the dogs out for a quick walk) and saw that their branching structure was very much like the trees in the first landscape.

I have more ideas for variations on this theme, so I can't want to have some more time in my studio.

But at the moment I am tackling (yes, I watched the Super Bowl - yaa, Steelers!) the task of sorting and organizing our attic storage area. Boxes are still in there that have been untouched since being put there by the moving company - 5 years ago! I'm trying to eliminate as much stuff as possible. I already posted the first batch of stuff on eBay today (my seller id is kimiscbd). Sorry, no fiber art related stuff yet, but I'm sure there will be before I'm done.

Creative Thaw

2009-01-23T17:03:00.003-05:00

While the snow and ice hasn't thawed, I finally got a moment in my studio! Thank goodness for deadlines or I might not have made it back in the studio until Spring (or at least after chocolate season).

I had promised to create a piece for the Studio Art Quilt Associates (New York branch) Trunk show and I was already late! So looking around my environment for inspiration, I recalled the winter landscape I had enjoyed on the way home from Albany last week. I was marveling at the slight pinkish tinge to the sky, just at the edge of the tree top line, that turned to bright blue as it went further up in the sky.

I call it "Upon a Winter Day". It is 12" x 12" and after its run in the trunk show, it will be donated to the SAQA auction in November.

I used a rotary pinker to cut out all the elements, because I didn't want a hard sharp edge between fabrics, and then stitched them in place. The trunks of the trees are strips of fabric, but the rest of tree is thread painted.

Had such fun creating this that I'm itching to make some more based on the same theme.

A Creative Freeze

2008-12-22T14:01:00.004-05:00

Ok, so it has been cold here lately, but I exaggerate about the complete freeze of creativity. It is true that I haven't had the time or motivation to do anything fabric art-wise, but I have been knitting, sewing curtains, sewing chocolate show display booth table covers, photographing new chocolate creations! Of course, the only thing creative/artistic in this list is the photographing.

My husband/chocolatier has been creating some new vegan confections (due to popular demand) and he has discovered that I take more creative photographs of the finished product.

If you check out the Life By Chocolates website, you'll start to see more of the product pictures featuring fabric backgrounds and maybe some other fiber art materials!

The next two photos are of our chocolate bars. The first one has the bar resting on some gold raffia ribbon that I have used as a binding material on some of my art quilts.

This next pictures has the chocolate bars resting on a couple of spools of Superior Threads Rainbow thread. I love this thread and the colors go great with dark chocolate!

This next pic is of the new Vegan Tea Set truffles (tea-infused dark chocolate). I have them sitting on top of a ceramic cat that I bought on a Brownie fieldtrip to San Francisco many moons ago (when I was of the age to be in the Girl Scout Brownies!)

Here is my knitting chair-warmer! Bree, a 80 pound Rhodisian Ridgeback, thinks that she fits just fine curled up behind me on this wingback chair. I don't think this is helping my knitting, but at least my back is warm.

We also had a nice long visit from my daughter, Adina, over the Thanksgiving holidays. We made our annual trek to Webs yarn store in Northampton, MA and managed to load up on more yarn no matter how hard we resisted. The shopping spree was Adina's birthday present from us.

I'm crossing my fingers that I get a change to get back in my studio before too long.

Glacier Park in Montana

2008-11-07T19:30:00.004-05:00

I never get tired of going to Glacier Park. I think this is the 3rd or 4th time. If I could have a home in one other place it would be in Montana. It suits me like a snap button shirt and John Deere boots. ;-)

Here is Adina at the edge of Lake McDonald.

The water was crystal clear. These pebbles are under water.

We were there on a calm day so the reflections in the lake were stunning. I could sit and glaze at this view all day.

This is on the way up to the summit.

We were lucky that on the day we visited the "Going to the Sun Road" was at least open as far as the Logan's Pass visitor's center. They were started to prepare the road for the annual winter closing and this road is now closed (as I just saw on the park website.)

This was shot at Logan's Pass, where there was a bit of snow on the ground and quite breezy. We would have explored for a while up there, but it looked like rain was on the way, so we drove back down to Whitefish for a nice dinner lakeside and then returned to our inn for an evening of knitting.

The next morning we got up early again and headed back to Seattle to catch our flights home the day after that. Of course, we had to stop at Paradise Fibers in Spokane on the way back.

This vacation was way too short and since I got home to pure chaos, it seemed like a distant memory the second I got to the inn. Sigh. I love being home, but I am looking forward to our next mother-daughter adventure!

On Sunday, I'm giving a lecture for the Hands Across the Valley Quilt Guild in Amherst, MA -- close to my favorite yarn store. But I'll resist a quick stop over because Adina will be coming for a visit for Thanksgiving and a trip to Webs Yarn is sort of an annual tradition.

The last workshop at the inn is next weekend (with Larkin Van Horn -- there is still room in the class for any of you last minute sign up type people!) and then I'm hoping to finally get back in my studio.

Bound for Montana

2008-11-04T17:07:00.004-05:00

We were on the road to Montana at the crack of dawn. Not even the local coffee shop was open yet! I had to be content with a little chocolate for a caffine fix.

We took the ferry back to the main land and had smooth sailing from there on. It was funny the way the GPS system kept insisting we return to the road while we were in the middle of the water.

We drove straight through to Spokane - our first destination. We just had to stop at Paradise Fibers, a yarn shop I had discovered when I was searching for some Chunky Misty Alpaca (a fabulous soft and thick yarn) on the internet. Too bad I forgot to take a picture, but this shop was located in back of an adult "book" store! It wasn't in the same shop, but in the building behind. It was a very unassuming front door as it looked like the back to a warehouse -- which it sort of was -- a warehouse of yarn! Once you were through the door you were immediately in yarn paradise. Both Adina and I dropped some cash at this place. The people who worked there were very helpful and friendly and gave a great tip of a place to have lunch. Again, my memory fails me, but was within 10 minutes of the shop and had delicious food and great mint lemonades.

This is a shot from the Wild Horse monument, looking away from the momument and back in the direction we had come.

Here is Adina, with the horse monument in the distant background on top of the hill. I know it is hard to see in the photo, but it was composed of a "herd" of horse silhouettes. A marvel sight!

Finally we arrived in Montana. We got there probably between 8 and 9 at night. Whew, that was one long drive. Our lodging was at the Hidden Moose Lodge in Whitefish. We immediately when to our room and went to bed.

Our room was on the left hand corner, right where the walkway is leading.

We were going to be in Montana for two full days, so we decided the the first day was going to be devoted to exploring the town and shopping! We made a good haul. (No, Nordstroms is not in Whitefish! That was from Seattle.) Adina was being good and buy mostly Christmas presents. (She is so organized!)

I bought myself some John Deere cowboy boots! It's been a very long time since I bought cowboy boots and I was pleasantly surprized to find that they now came in a round toed style! My feet can't take the pointy toed ones any more. But these were very comfortable. I got the John Deere colors only because it was the most practical color choices for wearing around the inn and our crazy dogs -- besides I like green. There was a very pretty patchwork boot, but I was afraid the dogs would scratch them up in no time.

I also got several long sleeve shirts, including a flannel one with snap buttons! I love snap buttons. I use to make my own snap button western shirts. (I wonder what happened to them?)

I can't remember the last time I actual bought clothes for myself. It was wonderful fun, especially shopping with Adina!

So that was our shopping Montana day. The second day was our touring day when we drove to Glacier Park.

Whidbey Island and the Four Sisters

2008-11-02T17:02:00.004-05:00

The story continues . . .

Before leaving downtown Seattle, we, of course, had to visit the flagship store of Nordstroms to visit the shoe department. Adina found a few things to try on (not shoes) and so we saw the very elegant dressing rooms!

After our shopping, we had lunch at a wine bar. I forget the name of it, but Adina is making a face (just for fun) because she hadn't wanted to come in the place because it was a wine bar! But it turned out to be an excellent place for lunch (even if you don't like wine.)

Then it was off to Whidbey Island. It was fun to take the car ferry - something I hadn't done since I lived in PA.

This is the view from the front door of the Saratoga Inn on Whidbey Island. It is owned by the Four Sisters, Inc. The name of the company was part of the reason I choose it as a place to stay! It was a lovely inn and the staff was very friendly and helpful. They even packed us a nice bag breakfast on the day we left because we left at 6:30am.

Here is Adina on the front porch.

The first day we walked around the town of Langley, which is where the inn is located. It was a very quaint town with beautiful views of the sound. We even found a yarn shop. That evening we found a fabulous little restaurant, Prima Bistro, for dinner and discover that they had my favorite - sweetbreads - as an appetizer. That settled it - we came back the next night, too! Everything was delicious.

The second day we drove around the island, stopping in Coupeville for lunch and also discovering the small shop that was used in the movie Practical Magic. We drove up the island as far as Oak Harbor -- mainly because I had forgotten to bring my camera battery charger and had to get to a camera shop where I can get a replacement!

On the way back down to Langley and the inn, we found a great little pottery shop and discovered that they were also having a fiber art exhibit! So Adina bought a nice set of mugs and I admired the fiber art of Janet Steadman. Beautiful work!

This is a picture of the sunrise as we left on Tuesday morning at the crack of dawn.

So began our 10 hour drive to Whitefish, MT.

The Silence is Broken

2008-10-29T09:11:00.004-04:00

Wow, its been close to 2 months since I last posted anything. I still haven't had any art time, but I thought I'd pipe up and let you know that I haven't disappeared under a pile of leaves. (I've been raking leaves for quite a while and most of them are still on the trees!)

In the last two months I may not have had any art time, but I did get away for a wonder week vacation with my daughter in Seattle and Whitefish, MT. It ended too soon. I'll be posted pictures and such from this vacation, for the benefit of family members who have been asking to see pictures for weeks! Then I'll get back to the fiber art stuff.

Here is the happy adventurers at the start of the trip.

Our first night was at the Sheraton in downtown Seattle. Adina arrived in the afternoon and I arrived in the evening. We picked a downtown hotel for our first night so that we could walk to the Pikes Market the next morning.

The vast colorful array of fruits and vegetables did, I admit, make me long for the long growing season of the west coast -- just a bit.

Adina took lots of pictures of the displays, too.

Lots of displays of seafood, too.

We had breakfast in a little cafe with a great view of the harbor and then continued walking around the market vendors. We came upon the very first Starbucks location. There was this cool 4 person band playing out front.

Here is the inside of the Starbucks. The line was long but we had to get a latte, just to say that we had. ;-)

We did find a nice yarn shop in the area and I bought some yarn. Unfortunately, I know forget the name of the shop! But it was within walking distance of Pikes Market.

On the way back to the hotel to pick up our car, I saw this street scene and had to capture it. It reminds me of the architectural drawings of my father.

From Seattle we drove to Whidbey Island, where we'd stay for the next two nights.

Time to Play At Last

2008-09-12T19:36:00.003-04:00

I was lucky to have the time last week to join the workshop taught by Lesley Riley here at the inn. Who knew roofing material could be such fun! I'm talking about Lutradur a synthetic fabric-like material that can be painted, stitched, stamped, cut, burned, heated, and transferred onto.

Here is the mixed media book that I started in the class. Still a lot to do to finish it, but it was great playing with the image transfers and the Lutradur. I'm definitely going to have get me some more of that stuff!

I also finished hanging/setting up the exhibit we're having at the inn of work by the Califoria Fiber Artists. I have posted pics of exhibit on our inn blog. So check it out.

Fiber Art / Quilt Art Workshops for 2009

2008-08-19T16:17:00.002-04:00

I must be on a website update roll. I just finished updating our website for the Hudson River Valley Art Quilt Workshops with all of the information about our 2009 workshops.

Two down, two more to go.

Finally Some Web Progress

2008-08-13T08:02:00.002-04:00

I'm finally seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. I have uploaded my updated website and now have pictures of my newer work and also more importantly, information about the workshop I am teaching this year!

I still have to do some more tweaking and update the "What's New" page (I don't know why I left that for the last, but I did.)

We are between workshops today and the sun is shining. It looks like a beautiful day to work in the garden, and since I just repaired the garden cart I should start doing some much needed trimming, but my back is hurting like crazy. So maybe I'll use that as an excuse to spend this glorious day in my studio!

Still Laboring on My Site

2008-08-08T19:53:00.003-04:00

It is an endless process managing a website. Just when you think you're nearing the end you discover that there are updates to be made on your updates.

Today I worked on updating/creating the second level gallery pages. I added small image versions of all the new work (or older work that I finally had photographs of). While in the midst of this I realized that I needed to update my art catalog datebase with all of the new work so I would then have the detail at hand to update the website, with things such as size and price. So now I have to tackle that project.

Next I'll have to create the detail pages for all of the images. This is the page that shows a large version of the image and other information about the specific work. Gads, I could spend weeks on this.

So I've had no time in my studio lately, which make me long for winter. Here's picture of what I'm talkin' about!

I'm going to have to do a winter quilt one of these days. I'll have to start collecting white/grey fabrics.

So to keep myself from going innsane (not a mispelling ;-) I've been knitting (mostly socks) during the few short moments when I can keep my eyes open before going to bed.

I know this not exactly exciting blog commentary but it's all I've got for the moment.

Web Revision

2008-08-01T18:51:00.002-04:00

I've given up. I started a whole new design for my Crazy By Design website but have decided that given the amount of free time I have (like none), it was just going to take way to long. My poor website is already woefully out of date (the danger of blogs - the website gets neglected!). So I have been working on sorting through all of the pictures I have and making a list of what I need to add to my existing website. The sorting of digital pictures is done. Now I just have to ready them for web publishing.

I was going to hire out my website redesign, but discovered that it just wasn't in the budget at the moment. But I would definitely recommend it if you can afford it, even if for the only reason that it could save you a lot of aggravation!

I have finally started quilting the landscape that I have been working on, but I doubt I'll get much time in the near future to work on it. We are starting in the season when we have workshop, after workshop. Not that I'm complaining about that, because I love this life, but one does yearn for a bit of time for one's self now and then.

I'm also itching to do some more work on the pieces I started in the Nancy Crow workshop. Sigh. I long for snow, which of course will mean that it is finally winter and I'll have time to spend quilting.

You know it seems like I'm always saying that I don't have enough time. I think that is what should be put on my headstone - "She didn't have enough time." LOL! So true, no matter how old I'll be.

Masters - Art Quilts

2008-07-16T16:10:00.003-04:00

I just spent several happy hours curled up with a treasure trove of inspiration. The new book, Masters, Art Quilts by Martha Sielman published by Lark Books is most definitely worth getting for your library.

The thing I like the most about it is that rather than the usual one or two images per artist, this book has multiple pages full of work by each of the 40 artists highlighted in this book. Being able to see this range of work really gives you a much more thorough glimpse into the artist's voice. Each section includes insights from the artist. The insights touch upon their process or their inspirations.

I enjoyed seeing the familiar and the new. Many of the artists I already knew about (some I've taken workshops with or I have hired them to teach workshops for the Hudson River Valley Art Workshops), but there were also many artists who's names I'd heard of, but have never before seen their work or some that I'd not heard of.

It is a wonderful chronicle of some of the most talented artists working in fiber today. I hope that this chronicle continues in more volumes of this book. It would make an excellent encyclopedia of fiber art. I immediately decided to buy a duplicate of this book to put in the inn library because I didn't want to let go of my personal copy! I'll also be adding it to the stock of mini fiber art supply store at the inn. It is that good.

The artists included in this book are:

Jane Sassaman
Michael A Cummings
Ita Ziv
Cher Cartwright
Noriko Endo
Deidre Scherer
Carolyn L Mazloomi
Hollis Chatelain
Linda Colsh
Charlotte Yde
Joan Schultze
Judith Content
Kyoung Ae Cho
Jette Clover
Eszter Bornemisza
Pauline Burbidge
Yvonne Porcella
M Joan Lintault
Katie Pasquini Masopust
Nancy N Erickson
Susan Shie
Caryl Bryer Fallert
Jeanette Gilks
Jane Burch Cochran
Pamela Allen
Therese May
John W Lefelhocz
Miriam Nathan-Roberts
Jenny Hearn
Terrie Hancock Mangat
Wendy Huhn
BJ Adams
Inge Mardal & Steen Hougs
Chiaki Dosho
Inge Hueber
Michael James
Velda E Newman
Anne Woringer
Clare Plug
Elizabeth Brimelow

Last Nancy Crow Workshop Project

2008-07-14T18:15:00.004-04:00

Since my floor is now clear, I was able to get a quick picture of the last exercise project that I did during the Nancy Crow Workshop.

This is the "mother" of stack and whack. ;-) It is fun to do because you never know what you are going to get and can create endless combinations of color.

I created 6 units because I used 3 colors of fabrics. I was running out of time at the end so I just grabbed 4 units and sewed them together. So I didn't have the time to figure out which units I liked best together. This means that this combination could change completely before I'm done with it. I'm also toying with the idea of just using a component of the composition surrounded by some other unit. Who knows. It is on my design wall and is next in line to work on after I finish the townscape I started this past winter.

Here is a close up of one of the units.

For comparision, here is the piece that I created from the same exercise in the Nancy Crow class that I took in 1998. In the 1998 class, she had us do the exercise first in black and white and then in color (I never made it to the color version). It's called Forest Vortex and is currently hanging in one of our guest rooms. The border is creating with a free form crazy quilt-like piecing method that I learned from Diane Leone (former owner of the Quilting Bee in Mountain View, California). Then I added appliqued leaves swirling to the center of the piece because it looked like a vortex!

Paige asked how I learned to piece the pieces that I created in Nancy's class. Well, it is probably a combination of experience from multiple workshops and classes. It was very useful to have the sewing classes in high school, for example, because I learned how to do inset seams, how to handle the fabric going around curves, and other clothing construction methods (this is useful knowledge for knitting, too). I also took a traditional sampler workshop many years back. The instructor made us promise to piece at least one of the blocks entirely by hand. This really gave you a close look at the seams and how they fit together. The book we used in that workshop is by Diane Leone and I think it is just called The New Sampler Quilt.

I'm sure that in the first Nancy Crow workshop, she gave us pointers on piecing the irregular shapes and curved pieces, but I can't remember for sure, I just know that I learned it somewhere.

I finished one other piece on my day in the studio. The title is The Collection. I'm going to frame it in a shadow box frame, which is why I have not done any finished of the edges. I've been wanting to try a shadow box frame from my work and this is a good excuse to order one now. I'm going to try a frame from the American Frame company. I recently order a frame from them to replace one of our room mirror frames and I was very happy with the quality of the frame. I'll post a picture when it is done.

I used some silk cocoons, mulberry bark, and silk rods from a multimedia pack from Stef Francis that I bought at Friends Fiber Art shop in Lowell, MA

That's it for a day well spent! Ah, I feel much better now.

In the Studio At Last

2008-07-13T12:30:00.004-04:00

It's been more than a month, but finally I made into my studio to do more than just look at the fabric and sigh.

I was faced with the choice of clean up this mess or just shove the stuff aside on my sewing desk to give myself enough space to finish off something creative.

Well, I didn't have to think long on that one!

So I finished the piped facing for the collage piece that was a result of a workshop with Rosemary Eichorn.

I'm calling it "Inheritance" (which is in reference to the saying that the meek will inherit the earth).

It was certainly a fun process, but already I can see things that I would have liked to to differently, but then again that is what workshops are for! Experiment, practice, learn. If you're lucky you end up with something you really like.

I really like the way the piped facing looks on Rosemary's work, but I don't know if I'll use it again myself. It was a bit too fussy for me -- probably because it was the first time I tried it!

So having satisfied my creative hunger. My next task was to put my studio in order so that I could find my floor once again and make it to the fabric shelves without tripping on something. By condensing the fabric into taller stacks, I was able to make room for all of the solid color fabric that I got for the Nancy Crow workshop.

It only took two shelves. Wow, it seemed like a whole lot more when I was lugging it around in the suitcase and bins.

I also finished another piece and took pictures of the final exercise that I did in Nancy's workshop. You'll have wait to see those because now I need to set up the new iMac we got for the office. Our office assistant has been waiting patiently for it for over a month.

Still Under Water

2008-06-21T18:20:00.002-04:00

That's just figuratively, not literally! My studio has still not been put back together after my return from the Nancy Crow workshop. But I've told myself that I just need to go in there and put just one or two things away each day and it will be finished in no time. Well, I'm still working on it.

As soon as I can see my floor again, I have to x out a day on my calendar, go into my studio and refuse to come out! I'm hoping to get some time during the July 4th weekend.

How Do You Piece That Thing?!

2008-06-10T11:06:00.003-04:00

Someone asked how I managed to piece the 30-color abstract that I did on day 4. Well, the answer is I'm still working on it!

The way that I am approaching it is to first piece the easy stuff - those pieces that can go together with relatively straight seams to create a "unit" that can then potential be later sewn to the unit next to it.

In the picture below I have circled two of the units that I have assembled this way. I haven't sewn the two units together yet because I'm still working out the sequence. You need to figure out in advance how you are going to fit all the units together so that you don't box yourself into a corner. And even if you do, you can always resort to applique, by I'm going to try to avoid that. It is also a good bet that the look of the piece may change slightly during the construction because I might change a shape to make it easier to piece or I might add another shape somewhere for the same reason. That is why Nancy calls this improvisation - just wing it as you go along.

But as much as I long for a bolt of fusible at this point, I am going to try to piece the whole thing together, as that is part of this project and a major part of the challenge.

It's definitely not going to be easy.

This is probably the part when I should have been asking Nancy for help. She had asked me why I hardly ever asked for help during the class. I didn't know what to say. I know I have a hard time asking for help even when I desperately need it. Probably has to do with some shyness/self-worth issue. (Did you know that in kindergarten I was forced to go up to the teacher and whisper good morning to her in her ear because I wouldn't say it out loud with the class? Good grief, what was that about. ;-) Don't worry, I can now say good morning with the rest of them!

I was hoping to get in my studio this week but we are having a bit of a heat wave here in Greenville and my studio has no air conditioning, so I am procrastinating. Maybe if I can find a small fan . . .

Last Day at the Crow Barn

2008-06-09T19:05:00.004-04:00

Wait a minute, wait a minute. I think I'm confused. Well, just a little disclaimer - I may be mistaken about which day some of these projects began and ended. I just looked at the pictures I have for day 5 and realized that is is quite possible that some of them actually occurred on day 4. In any case, the pace was grueling.

So on the second half of day 4 we started to make fabrics composed of solids, solids and prints (stripes and plaids). We were suppose to have 5 light values, 5 middle values, and 5 dark values.

It actually takes longer than you think to sew strips together, especially when each strip is 40-plus inches long! I only had time to put together the lights, 4 middle values and 3 dark values. Below is a pic of some of these composed fabrics.

Here is some more.

Then on the dawn of day 5 we were instructed to cut up our created fabrics to create a design that featured a repeated unit. This project was the most fun for me. Maybe it was because this was something familiar, as we had done a similar project in the first workshop I took with Nancy. Maybe it was because I finally got to use some bright non-solid fabrics! (Oh, by the way, Nancy has a wonderful fun selection of fabrics in her own mini fabric shop at the barn. Lots of great prints and patterns. I did my share of shopping here!)

I created the design by pinning the units first on the design wall and then came the tricky part of putting it together without having to resort to inset seams -- I only had to do one. Whew. I think this is my favorite of all the work I did in the workshop.

The final project was, I think, the very first "stack n wack" technique, or at least I had done it in the first Crow workshop way before all the Stack n Whack books came out -- by at least 3 or 4 years. You stack four large squares (like 24" squares) and cut a certain number of lines and shapes through the four layers, then reassemble them using the different contrasting fabrics. I used 3 fabrics and cut through 6 layers. (No matter how many times I told myself to keep it simple, I refused to listen. Boy, I'm stubborn. ;-) Anyway this project is a lot of fun, too. Nancy said she saved this project for last just because it was so easy and fun.

Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of this final piece! Probably because I was racing like a fiend to get it finished before the deadline. I barely made it. I'll post a picture later this week once I clear a path through my studio so that I can get a good shot of my design wall. I'll talk about it more once I have the picture up so that you can see what I'm talking about.

The final part of the workshop was the grand "gallery showing." Each of us had to take turns hanging up all of the work we created during the entire workshop and then giving a short (3 minute) presentation about what we got out of the workshop and what we thought of each of our pieces. Everyone was encourage to take photos during these presentations as a reference. It was quite amazing to see the body of work that each person created.

Unfortunately the person who I asked to take a picture of me in front of my gallery of work did not get the whole wall of work. I guess she thought it was better to get a closer shot of me. (Looking rumpled, of course.)

So, what was the final analysis of the workshop: I loved it. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Yes, it was grueling. Yes, there were times when I thought I was crazy for doing it and working until I was exhausted (I do that at home already. I don't want to do it on my time off). But I do think I will continue to use what I learned. I do think that I final get some of the concepts that Nancy is trying to teach, and if I took a workshop from her again, I'd learn even more.

I think you just have to be prepared for hard work in Nancy's class. It is not a "fluffy" class. As she says, it is a graduate level workshop and you have to be there because you want to give it your all. You have to be prepared for the deadlines and the 12 hour work days. Of course, all of this is really self-imposed because not once did Nancy threaten to kick someone out for not completing a project! But to me, even though I desperately needed time to relax, I couldn't not try to push myself to keep up with the pace. I get the chance to take very few workshops, so I was going to get the most I possibly could out of this one, and that meant keeping up with the projects. But my words of advice -- keep it simple! I'll try to remember this myself next time.

Regarding the supply list - of course, I didn't use all 100 yards of fabric, but having that range of choice made creating the compositions much easier than they would have if I had had a much more limited palette. Also I now have the fabric to continue playing with the lessons we learns. Most important -- bring lots and lots of black and white fabric. I'd bring twice what Nancy suggests. Many people ran out of what they brought.

Some people used polaroids of their work in progress to help them with their designs, but I never looked at my digital pictures after taking them. So leave the dated camera or printer at home, but take lots of digital pictures so remembering the processes later on when you get home.

With all that piecing I thought for sure that I would be going through spool after spool of thread, but I only used up one large spool of Star thread and I used it in both the bobbin and on top. It is good to have lots of bobbins so that you can prewind a whole batch of them in the beginning and don't have to stop midway in a project to wind bobbins.

I took extra rotary cutter blades, but never changed the one I started with. Maybe because I'm too use to using the blades until they are really annoying instead of just starting to be annoying.

I don't think there was anything that I wish I had remembered to bring. I followed the supply list (except for the polaroid/printer) and used everything.

I enjoyed spending the week with like-minded women. It was fabulous to see the wide variety of work that was created. I tend to be very quiet in group settings, but I loved listening and watching.

Nancy, John, Nathan, and Margaret were wonderful hosts.

I definitely recommend taking workshop retreats where you get away from your every day life and immerse yourself in the creative process and the community of artists. I'll be waiting for my next opportunity!

Day Four at the Crow Barn

2008-06-08T13:15:00.004-04:00

Ok, so I finally have a moment to blog to my hearts content! We had a full house at the inn yesterday which meant I was making 30 breakfasts this morning.

But back to the regularly scheduled program . . .

Day three ended with the critique and since the critique didn't hurt (I had heard that Nancy was quite strong with her opinions), I retired to my hotel room exhausted but anxious for the next day.

The assignment for day four was to create a composition in black and white using squares, rectangles, triangles, and lines in various sizes. The size was to be relatively small. You were suppose to just pin something up on your wall and then sew it together quickly. Nancy "encouraged" us by saying, "the Japanese students had the design created and sewed together in less than 2 hours."

No one in our class came close to completing something that fast!

This is what I came up with.

I'm still seeing very architectural elements in everything I've created so far! (My Dad was an architect, so maybe I have a repressed desire to follow in his footsteps. At the very least I know that I am very much my father's daughter.)

This simple little desire was quite the bear to sew together. I was still working to finish it when the next assignment was given in the afternoon. But I wasn't too far behind, so wasn't worried.

But then came the next assignment . . .

We were to recreate that black and white design but with a few little twists: it had to be MUCH larger, instead of black and white it had to use 30+ colors, and all of the shapes had to be "whobberjawed". (Whobberjawed is roughly translated to mean "Wonky" or "Larger, Twisted, Bent, and Generally Skewed".) Again, Nancy mentioned the speed of those Japanese women!

This is the assignment that caused the most teeth-gnashing, hair-tearing, and the desire to sit in a corner and cry. (Ok, I'm exaggerating about the crying, but not by much!) I think I must have put up a design on my wall and taken it down about 5 times. At one point, when Nancy came by to see if I needed any help, I looked at my composition on the wall and pointed to one piece of fabric in it and said "that's the only part I like." And then I took everything down off the wall except for that one piece.

The really hard part was the whobberjawing because you also had to maintain the design elements of the original black and white piece so that when they were put side-by-side anyone could easily see how one was abstracted from the other.

Many people commented that another difficult part was using 30 colors. This wasn't too much of a problem with me because this time I had come with enough solid colored fabrics to have a choice. It was a little tricky to keep the dark/light contrast that the original black and white piece had in the color version, though.

So, drum roll please . . .

There it is - pinned on the wall. If you're wondering which was the one piece I had liked and kept from my previous design, it is the orange and the blue piece in the upper left corner. It is still my favorite part.

I think at this point I had just started to sew it together. Gads, I think I must have paused to stare at the thing so many times just trying to figure out how in the world I was going to piece this thing together. Where was some fusible when you needed it!

Nancy is very opposed to fusibles because they are not archival. I hear you, Nancy, and while I do love piecing and will continue to do a lot of it in my work, there are times when a fusible will make things so much easier! I can definitely see the value of using a fusible to create design studies, so that you can knock out several designs quickly to find the one that works best and then maybe recreating the best one in a pieced design.

In any case, I wouldn't have dared bring a fusible into the barn! So I struggled and struggled to get this beast pieced together. At 9:45pm I gave up. I too worn out to think straight, let alone sew straight. (The next morning, I heard that a number of classmates had begged to stay past the 10:00pm barn closing and were there until 11 - 12 pm.)

I got back to my hotel to find the front door locked. Obviously I was out after curfew! Luckily, an employee who was just driving out of the parking lot saw me at the door and stopped to let me in.

I fell into bed, had my champagne and piece of chocolate, reviewed the millions of emails that my husband sent to me about a million little things and tried to reply, only to have the emails sit in my outbox because the internet connection was too slow. Very frustrating.

Too tired to even knit. I'd definitely need a double shot latte then next morning.

And Now For a Brief Intermission

2008-06-05T19:10:00.004-04:00

Ok, Ok. I know I promised to not take so long between posts, but I have a life you know. ;-) LOL! Actually it has been so hectic and crazy at the inn with the workshops and the chocolate that I haven't been in my studio to even put away the fabric that I took to the workshop in the past 3 weeks. So actually I don't have a life outside of our businesses at the moment. However, relief is in sight. We have no workshops all next week, so I should have no problem finishing off the Nancy Crow workshop story.

In the meantime here is my intermission photos!

The Irises are in the garden at Olana, the home of Frederick Church, who was one of the Hudson River School Painters of the early 1900's.

This is the woods above the Katerskill Falls, which was one of the favorite painting sites of the Hudson River School painters.

I get to visit these places when I deliver lunches to the painting workshop groups. So, while I'm working hard and putting in an at least 16 hour days, I at least get to see some inspiration for future fiber art!

Day Three at the Crow Barn

2008-05-29T16:17:00.004-04:00

I was raring to go on the second day of class because I was so happy to have kept up with the projects -- and I had found a Starbucks close to the hotel for my morning latte!

So that day started out like the first one, the assignment was posted on the wall, we all copied it down, Nancy explained it, and away we went.

Today's assignment was to use the fabrics we created yesterday afternoon to create two compositions. One of them was to be big, bold, and dramatic! The other was to be small and intensely busy.

I thought that this was going to be a piece of cake because this time I remembered to create strip-pieced fabrics that had "lines" (thin strips) on the outer edges. Wrong!

This is where the gnashing of teeth and hair tearing started. I started with the big and bold design because in order to be dramatic, I'd need large pieces of solid color and if I started to cut them up for a small busy piece, I may not have the right thing for the larger piece.

I think I must have pinned a design on the wall and then taken it completely apart at least 3 times. I was really wishing for that flannel sheet for the wall now. And even though Nancy thought my color choices were fantastic, the same could not be said about my design! Arrgh. The time went by so quickly. We had to have the two compositions completely sewn together by 9:00am the next morning because then we'd have a critique.

I finally settled on a design that I liked reasonably well and set to sew it together. Hmm . . not as easy as I thought, but I just tackled it bit by bit until I had it done. Whew.

But then, egads, now I had to create the small busy piece and I was running out of time. So I threw something together and hoped it would do. I think I left the barn at 9:00pm that night. (The Shaw Inn locks their door at 9:30pm so I had to get back before that.)

So here are the two pieces I ended up with. I do like the large one but the small one you can tell was just thrown together.

One of the questions we had to answer during the critique was if we were satisfied with the composition of the small piece or was it something that we just threw together to get it done! Obviously, I was not the only one who had problems with time.

For the critique we all moved around the room to each person's work area where that person had to stand by their work and be photographed (Nancy encouraged everyone to take pictures of the work of everyone else for reference -- but NOT for posting on blogs). Then the person had to answer the questions that Nancy posed in an articulate and thoughtful manner! I don't remember the specific questions but they were generally about explaining how we met the assignment requirements and how we interpreted them. I'm not sure I was too articulate, but I survived it. ;-)

I was happy to head back down the driveway to the inn at the end of the day. Ready to fall into bed.

Addendum to Day Two

2008-05-28T15:03:00.003-04:00

Yes, indeed, anonymous commenter, there was much gnashing of teeth and tearing of hair but that was yet to come! Day Two had only a bit of eye rolling and sighing as I tried to create a connected composition with fabric that had mostly lines in between shapes. I'll know better next time -- I hope!

As I said, I left the barn at 8:30pm, which was a lot earlier that others. I was relieved to have actually kept up with the assignments at that point. The first class I took with Nancy I had to leave and go home each day at 5:00pm because I had taken the class locally and had my family to contend with in the evenings. So I got so far behind in the assignments that I don't even want to think about it. So this time I just put my head down and focused on getting it done!

I was so happy to have a good selection of fabrics, the appropriate solids, to choose from so that I didn't have to spend time agonizing over making the wrong fabrics work together!

And since I am writer who agonizes over saying the right thing, I am going to spead out the blogging about the workshop over several days. ;-) But I won't let it go for weeks this time.

Day Two at the Crow Barn

2008-05-28T13:55:00.007-04:00

I'm doing two posts on the same day because I know some of you want to get down to what actually happened in the workshop!

But first a word about the environment of the Crow property. The minute I arrived at the property I knew that I would enjoying being there just for the magnificence of the property. First off I love old barns but they were surrounded by flowering trees and shrubs. Every morning as I walked from my car to the barn studio I would take deep breaths of the heavenly scents of the lilacs.

And I loved the whimsical sculptures created by Nancy's husband, John, that could be found throughout the property. I'd love to show more pictures, but Nancy is very opposed to photos taken of her workshop to be posted on blogs and I'm not sure how far this extends - whether includes photos of her property or not. So I'll mostly be showing only photos of my own work. But I took lots of pictures! ;-)

So class started promptly at 9:00am and the first assignment was put on the wall. We all feverishly copied down the instructions because once they were removed from the wall, they would not be put back up! Then Nancy explained the assignment and sent us off to our workstations.

The first assignment was to work with just black fabric and white fabric. We had to choose one color to be the "Lines" and one color to be the "Shapes". We cut the fabric in the strips of various widths and then sewed them together in different configurations to create new fabric. Then we had to cut up this resulting fabric into units and create an interested composition featuring the lines.

This is my result still in the design stage. (Note: I should have paid attention the suggestion to bring a batting sheet or flannel to put on the design wall. I was forever pinning and unpinning pieces to the wall. Of course, the design walls were wonderfully pinnable anyway.)

I struggled with the design until Nancy stopped by to explain that to make the lines into a composition, they needed to connect in someway. Duh, I think I finally got it.
Below is my finished piece. I'm not sure I like it -- it looks like a floor plan to me, but it at least looks like a composition. I think I needed to have more "Lines" on the edges of my made fabrics to make the composition come together. I had trouble getting the lines to connect.

We did a similar exercise in the first workshop I took with Nancy. I don't have a picture and don't know where it is (I might still have it), but believe me the result in this 2008 workshop is much better!

It is an interesting exercise and I'm anxious to try it again at home (maybe in the winter!)

That was the morning assignment. After lunch (also made wonderfully by Margaret), we were given the afternoon/evening assignment.

The second assignment was to choose two solid color fabrics and create new fabrics in the same manner as the Black and White assignment, but this time we would do two sets of created fabrics - one using color A as the lines and one using color A as the shapes. We were suppose to pick one "favorite" outstanding color and then a contrasting color. I choose a brilliant blue and a soft brown.

Nancy stayed in the studio in the afternoon from 2:00 to 5:00, but then left us to our own devices in the studio until they kicked everyone out at 10:00pm. (Dinner is served at 6:00pm and of course, can't forget snack time at 3:00.)

Sewing strips of fabric together may not seem like a lot of work but everyone was cutting and sewing like crazy and still it took all evening and then some to get everything done. The strips are all cut selvage to selvage, so these are lots of long seams. We had to have all of our made fabrics complete because the next morning we'd be getting the assignment that would use these fabrics. I think I left at 8:30pm that evening feeling very tired.

Still, when I got back to my room at the Shaw, I broke out my bottle of Mumm DVX Champagne and popped that cork. A glass of champagne and a nice piece of chocolate. What a great way to end the day.

Day One at the Crow Barn

2008-05-28T12:43:00.006-04:00

I'm finally getting moment to blog about my experience at the Nancy Crow workshop! I was reminded to hurry up by an Anonymous reader (and you know who you are. ;-) because people are waiting! I know my mother has been bugging me about it.

Anyway, my plans to blog daily were very quickly thrown out the window due to the bad internet connection at the hotel, but more importantly by the fact that I was too exhausted at the end of the day to do anything other than read and respond to the millions of emails sent by my husband (and I thought I would be able to get away from work by driving to Ohio, right).

So what happened? Well, here's the deal:

On Sunday morning I left my comfy room at the Bedford Resort...

And drove off towards Ohio in my fabric packed car . . .

I arrive in Lancaster, OH at around 3:00pm and checked into my room at the Shaw Inn and Restaurant. While it was not quite the Bedford, it was clean and comfortable.

Next stop -- The Barn! They were well prepared for the needs of people bearing loads of fabric. There was a drive way that looped around the barn so you could pull up right next to the doorway to unload. It all went very quickly with the help of Nathan, Nancy's son, who made it look easy carrying in all the heavy stuff for me.

I was one of the last ones to arrive, but I quickly set up my studio away from home - setting my sewing machine and fabric stash in my little corner.

After set up time, the dinner bell rang and we all followed the call. A lovely dinner, created by chef Margaret Wolf, was set out buffet-style in the dining room area. With both workshops (the other workshop was taught by Fran Skiles) there was almost 40 people there.

After dinner, we were given a brief overview of the workshop plan and rules of the barn. Then one by one we stood up and introduced ourselves. There were quite a few people from New York and there was also another innkeeper! I think the furthest anyone had come was from Hawaii. It was a wonderfully deverse group of talent and professions. But what was also amazing was that two women who had been in the first Nancy Crow workshop that I took in the early 1990's in Mountain View, CA were there, too! They were both in the Fran Skiles workshop that week and were staying around for the following week for the Master's class with Nancy.

The class was to start the next morning at 9:00am sharp, so we all went home to our respective hotels to get a good nights sleep.

Off to a Nancy Crow Workshop!

2008-05-11T08:11:00.007-04:00

I'm finally on my way to the workshop at Nancy Crow's Barn in Ohio. I am so excited about taking my first away workshop! I'll finally get to experience what everyone does when they come to our workshops.

I thought I'd never get on the road yesterday. I had not even packed anything until that morning, as we have been so busy at the inn, with the workshop, and the chocolates. Gads, it is always something!

Here is a shot of the "Fabric Beast", as Mark called it. It's all of the new solid color fabric out of the washer/dryer and waiting to be ironed. Will I get it done in time?

The answer is No. But what could I do when I ran out of time -- I just stuffed the wadded fabric into a plastic bin and loaded up the car.

Anyway, already it is marvelous to wake up this morning with no breakfast to make and no calls to answer, no bills to pay (those will come later for sure!), and no toilets to fix!

I decided to start off with an "attitude adjustment" by staying my first night away at a posh resort in Bedford, PA - the Bedford Springs Resort. I hadn't actually planned to do this, but I had had no time to make reservations for a place mid-way between home and Ohio. Also because I had no idea where I'd be when I was ready to stop for the night because I had no idea when I'd actually get on the road yesterday morning. Plus I had some stops at some stores a long the way to drop off some chocolate samples.

So at 7:00pm yesterday, when I had had enough driving I told myself that the next town I came to that had reasonable sounding lodging advertised along the highway, I'd stop. So I came to Bedford and there were several lodging possibilities, but I also noticed a sign for Bedford Springs Resort - "history restored". Sounded like an interesting place to check out. So I followed the signs and discovered this huge posh resort out of the pages of the elegant past!

I was not exactly elegant looking after 7 hours on the road, especially with a car packed to the gills with wads of unironed fabric. But I put on a brave face and left my car with the valet and went into the check-in desk. I only flinched a bit when the nightly rate was quoted -- I figured, what the heck, I really deserve and need this break/holiday and it would be my Mother's Day treat! So I said just give me a room on the low end of the rate scale!

So this is my "low end" room! I think I've died and gone to heaven. I think I danced around the room in glee for at least a couple of minutes.

It was late already so no time or desire for a regular dinner (not to mention that I had nothing suitable for wearing in the high class resort dining room), so I ordered a cheese plate thru room service. Lovely.

Then I thought of Sherry B, who was a student at one of our workshops last year. Every day after the workshop was done, she ordered a glass of champagne and sat on the porch to relax before dinner. So decadent, so deserving, and what a great way to treat yourself. I remembered making a vow that if I ever got the opportunity to go away to a workshop, that that is exactly what I would do! So here's to you Sherry!

Winter Leaves

2008-04-30T17:52:00.005-04:00

Here is my latest creation. It is called Winter Leaves. I made it for the NY SAQA trunk show and for the SAQA auction that will be held later this year. It is 12" square.

I have a companion piece started but it may be a while before I get to work on it. I've be distracted with other things.

For the first time I got to join in the fun at one of our workshops. The instructor was Rosemary Eichorn, who I have always wanted to take a workshop from and never had the chance even though I use to live not that far from her in California. We collaged and played with tyvek, expanding paints, melting felt with a heat gun, and other cool stuff - like painting and melting potato chip bags!

Rosemary also showed us how to add piping on the edge and a facing finished border. Nice. I'm not quite finished with the piece that I created and as usual I'm not quite sure if I like at this moment. I think it needs something still.

Then the other distracting, but exciting news is that I am finally going to get to escape to a workshop myself! We had a free week in May and so I looking around the web just to see if perhaps a workshop that I'd like to take happened to be during that week and I found one -- Improvisations with Nancy Crow at her barn in OH! Yipeee! The class was full, but I put my name on the waiting list and crossed my fingers.

In the beginning of April I got an email from The Barn saying that the class was still full and would I like a refund of my deposit or did I want to wait and see if they got a last minute cancellation. What the heck, I told them to let it ride. So 2 weeks ago I got the good news! I got in! But now I had to face the reality of the infamous Supply List.

The first thing I did was post a query to the QuiltArt list about which was the best online fabric shop for quick and cheap stash building. The QuiltArt folk know everything! But, wow, I was totally overwhemed. Not only did I get a great bunch of suggestions for online shops, but a number of generous women actually sent me some fabric from their personal stash. Nancy Hinds, Sue Hill, Diane Pigg, Pam Morris -- Thank you so much! You're my heros.

The issue of course is that Nancy requires solid color fabrics and I rarely get such a thing. Below you see the entire extent of my solid fabric collection. I have some "near solids" but I know that Nancy frowns on that. Oh well, I'm taking my "non-solids" anyway, but I did just put in an order for some of the Kona solids. (I got mixed reviews on the quality of Kona solids, but as they were also the cheapest, I decided to get them anyway, as one person on quiltart wisely said, I'll be using them for class work and if they are cheap I won't be afraid to use them!)

I'll be taking my laptop with me to the workshop and hopefully won't be too exhausted to post my progress.

A Neater Studio - For the Moment!

2008-03-11T08:50:00.005-04:00

My studio is neat and organized -- or at least for the moment. I thought I better snap a few pictures before everything goes to heck again.

All my fabric is neatly arranged and I can easily see that I need more lights and darks!

In this pictures you can see the new Elfa drawer units that I bought. Lots more storage and I can finally have all of my threads and UFOs in easy reach. (You can also see that the clutter is starting to collect again!)

And speaking of UFOs, I'm finally finishing this Crazy By Design sign that I started when I was in California and selling my work at art festivals. I wanted to create a booth sign and thought it would be nice to have an art quilt sign rather than a painted or printed sign.

I have it bound but will now add a finishing touch of beads around the color patches under the C and the D.

This past Saturday I also worked on a landscape/townscape that I'm creating in hopes of entering it in some big show. I've already missed the deadline for the exhibit that I originally intended it for (this is starting to be my new MO) and the next is fast approaching and I have yet to start the quilting. If I miss all the deadlines I'll have to post pictures here. I hate not be able to post pictures just because some venues will only accept work that has been totally hidden from view. What if the piece you enter doesn't make it in the exhibit? Then you've had to keep something your proud of hidden away (like hiding your feelings) and by the time you can bring it out into the light, you are already onto the next several projects and the elation of finishing it is long gone. Oh, well. I have no time to worry about this at the moment.

I have also been working on a redesign of my website: www.CrazyByDesign.com. It is way over due. I had been hoping to hire a web designer to do this, but after getting several estimates, I had to accept that it just wasn't in my budget for now. So I am going through the labor intensive process of doing the thing myself. I know that the prices that professional web designers charge is worth every penny because it requires lot of work and knowledge and graphic design abilities. Unfortunately, I more time than pennies and even the time is in pitiful supply. I designed my current site and I'm hoping to get the new version up in the next couple of weeks.

2008-02-12T07:39:00.000-05:00

I still have had only minimal time in my studio because it seems like I'm working around the clock on not only our workshop and inn business, but now it is Life By Chocolate. I am glad of the business, but exhausted by the end of the day (if not sooner).

In my studio I am currently working on a piece that I will hopefully have ready to enter into one of the Quilts, Inc exhibits but because of their strict rules, I can't show you progress pictures! But picture this -- because my studio is small and has no large table space, I'm having to use my floor space (all of about 4 x 6 feet) as my design area. I sit on the floor and cut and design. I'm under the ironing board, so when I have to iron a piece, I must scoot out from under the board, then slowly scramble to my feet, trying not to step on the design, the scissors, or rotary cutter (closed, of course!). I'm making progress, but slowly!

I have finished another knitting project - a wonderfully fuzzy and soft sweater made from Dakota yarn by Tahki. The pattern is from Knitting Pure and Simple. Knitting I have time to do because I can do a little bit each day right before my eyes refuse to stay open any longer while sitting in bed with the dogs playing like wild banshees all around me. (Focuses the concentration to have to work in these conditions and not drop stitches! LOL.)

I'm standing in front of our Valentines chocolates display at the inn. We now have our chocolates in 3 local co-op or health food stores, so it is going fast, but there is still some there for the last minute Valentines gift or the "oh, no I forgot to get anything for you for Valentines" gift after the fact.

We had a tiny ice storm the other day which dressed the shrubs and trees in the most wonderfully glistening glaze.

We are lucky to be on roads that are kept very clear of ice and snow, which is why I can still be in love with the winter! Although, there hasn't really been much of anything to keep clear of. There is currently just a minimal dusting of snow and the sunny is shining this morning. The weather report is predicting snow this afternoon, but we'll have to wait and see. We are in an area that these storms somehow shift away from at the last minute.

Well, better finish up with the blogging and get to work this a.m. I have chocolate bars to wrap for a new order, and Mark just created a new variety of chocolate bar and needs a new wrapper designed.

My First Solo Exhibit

2008-02-02T08:36:00.001-05:00

Yesterday we hung my first solo exhibit! It is really gratifying to see a selection of your work all hung together, especially at times when you are feeling like you haven't done anything worth while it such a long time. LOL.

The exhibit is at the Massry Residence, 180 Washington Ave Extension, Albany, New York. I am the featured artist on their lobby wall for the months of February and March. I was invited after a student at one of our workshops recommended me to the director at the residence.

I'm looking a little disheveled because we drove up to Albany as a "nice" little ice storm was just picking up steam and so I was dressed for mushy weather and the result was some wonderful hoodie hair!

Other exciting news is that our online store for Life By Chocolate is live! Check out the chocolate bars that feature images of some of my quilts.

Putting it in Reverse

2008-01-24T08:17:00.000-05:00

I've come to the conclusion that working in the Carriage House studio is just not going to work this year. Already it is almost January and I haven't picked up a rotary cutter or taken a stitch all month. I did get my fabric sorted (a very satisfying task - it's a amazing to discover things you didn't know you had!) and I have set up a new set of shelves in my upstairs studio and purchased a set of elfa drawers that I'm hoping to set up today. Then the great reverse action will commence - moving all the fabric and stuff back to my third floor studio. Well, I need the exercise.

I will do my best to create something worthy of photographing for my blog in February!

So what have I been "frittering" my time away on in January? It seems that there is more art workshop business in this "off time" than ever. I'm in the process of finalizing the schedule for 2009 (if any readers have any recommendations for teachers now it the time to tell me!). I have all of the painting workshops scheduled and have just a few more fiber art workshop spots to fill. Then comes all of the associated stuff that it takes to get ready for the current year of workshops that start March 2nd.

Another winter task that has been consuming vast amounts of my time is our new chocolates business, Life By Chocolate. I am the main business and marketing person. I designed the new online store website layout (going live soon) and I also designed the wrappers for a new line of chocolate bars. It was my idea to use images of my quilts on the wrappers and so most of the names of the bars have been created to work with one of my quilts! The picture below is of the Wild Rabbit bar and it has a portion of my quilt "Rabbits in the Grass" on the side. The bar is made of a fabulous Fair Trade 70% cacoa South American chocolate and has a hint of Turkish chili.

Well, I better quit this blogging and get back to printing more bar wrappers. I'm also the chief bar wrapper and packaging expert. LOL.

Fabric Sort Has Begun

2008-01-15T18:43:00.000-05:00

I have moved all of my fabric stash out to the carriage house studio and I started the great sorting project today. I've had no time to actually create any artwork yet, but I've at least gotten some good exercise! My regular studio is on the 3rd floor of the Main Inn, so moving all this fabric (Man, it is heavy) down the stairs and over to the Carriage house took quite a while. (Who needs a Stairmaster!)

One thing I have noticed is that I just don't have enough fabric in light and dark values. Most of it is in the middle range of values. Darn - I guess I need to go shopping. LOL.

I hope I get something more out of the studio move than sorted fabric, but I guess that isn't a bad thing either. We have been really busy getting the Life By Chocolate website and online store up in time for Valentines Day. I'm doing the web page layouts in PhotoShop and Mark is taking the photos and entering all of the info in the online store database. My brother, who is our website host (Blue Cliff Hosting) will convert my PhotoShop designs into web pages. Mark will soon be creating a line of chocolate bars and the wrappers will feature my quilts! (I'll be designing the wrappers, too.)

I have been invited to hang a solo exhibit of my work in Albany! I'm hoping to check out the site tomorrow (when I take 2 of our vacumm cleaners in for repairs). I'm not sure of the space so I need to find out what size pieces can be hung and then hope I have enough that will work!

Finally a Day in My Studio

2007-12-29T10:04:00.000-05:00

Today is suppose to be my day in the studio. I'll let you know how it turns out because it is also Mark's birthday and he wants to set up an area to photograph his chocolates (to start setting up the online store for Life By Chocolates.)

I'll have to accept some of the blame for not spending more time in my studio because I've been having a serious "Jones-ing" for yarn. First I had to finish the gifts I was making (socks for Zeke and Mark) and then I finished a sweater for me.

(Good models are so hard to find, so I had to crop off the head. LOL)

This sweater is made from a Jo Sharp pattern (Sommerset) with RYC Soft Lux yarn (recommended by Adina). It is wonderfully soft and nice to work with AND because Webs Yarn now has it on sale I had to finish the sweater to see if I liked it enough to buy more for another!

But now I'm trying to stop myself from buying more yarn because I know I have enough to keep me busy for the rest of the year, but so many sales and so many fabulous fibers. Somebody slap my hands before I click through to the Webs site again!

Well hopefully my day in the studio will take my mind off of the yarn! I'm planning on finishing off some lingering projects and then I start putting together my teaching plan for my first workshop! I'm teaching a 3-day workshop at Hudson River Valley Art Workshops in Dec. 4 - 7, 2008. We'll working postcard-sized, exploring various materials and elements of design. Plus, as an added bonus the studio will be open to the public so that people can stop by to see the work and purchase it for holiday gift giving. I'm really excited about this workshop - should be lots of fun!

Frosty the Pumpkins

2007-12-27T19:11:00.000-05:00

Here is the picture of the frosted pumpkins that I tried to put up early. Unfortunately, they no longer look so fairy-tale-ish. They are turning to mush and I'll have to get a big shovel to transport them to the forest compost heap.

I have nothing new to show for myself, as I have not been in my studio for about a month. I have the sleeve and label to sew on the Dwelling piece and then I'll have to figure out what I'm doing next. I've printed out the information about several calls for entry, but I may just ignore them and let my muse lead me where it will.

Is WordPress the Next Step

2007-12-10T16:21:00.000-05:00

There is a discussion going on on QuiltArt about the relative merits of the various blogging options. If I had had the time, I would have chimed in and said that I've been using Blogger for about 2 years and haven't had any trouble with it. But then what happens when I try to add a picture to this post -- Error Message. Sheesh. And yesterday, there was a point when the pictures in previous posts weren't showing up. Double Sheesh.

So no pictures for you this time. I was just going to post a picture of the frost on the pumpkins. I had heard of this happening to pumpkins but had never actually seen a frosted pumpkin -- they are very cool. The entire pumpkins was frosted. It sparkled in the early morning light. Looked like something you'd see in a fairy tale.

I had no pictures of the Dwelling piece that I finished on Saturday because as usual, I forgot to bring the camera with me to my studio. Camera on the first floor -- studio on the 3rd floor. And on my studio day, I dare not show my face outside of my studio or be in danger of being dragged into some other "5 minutes" task that takes the rest of the day.

Laura Cater-Woods is teaching at here this week. It is always wonderful to have Laura here. She is like a breath of fresh air - always makes you feel upbeat and eager.

I love it here, even when the driveway and all of the walkways are like blocks of ice! I was out this morning at 6:30 am sprinkling snow melt on all of the walkways and luckily our snow plow and salt service arrived in time to prevent my having to salt a path across the driveway from the Carriage house to the Main Inn. I love how everything is crunchy and sparkling, and my Yak-Traks did a good job of keeping me from slipping.

I'm returning to California on Friday. My daughter is graduating from the Monterey Institute with a Masters Degree in International Security and Conflict Resolution. I am so proud of her. She is amazing. We will be in CA for just 5 days but it be enough time to have Christmas as Adina's house, dinner with friends, a mother-daughter day out, and a celebratory dinner at the French Laundry in Yountville.

Gaffitti

2007-10-28T10:53:00.000-04:00

Wow. Two posts in one month. It must mean the workshop season is winding down and I actually have a moment or two to do something other than work!

Carol Taylor is starting her second of two workshops today. Seeing her work and watching what they are doing in her workshop sure makes me itch to get in my studio to start strip piecing!

But what did I do with my couple hours of studio time -- cleaned my studio! This is one of my favorite procrastination techniques (besides knitting). But sometimes the studio just really needs it - stuff gets everywhere in stacks and stacks until you can barely move without upsetting a stack.

Just two more weeks to go before I can move my studio to the Carriage House studio for the winter! I'll be able to stay out there until the end of February. It will be wonderful to have so much space.

Here is another piece I created for the Deconstruction/Reconstruction exhibit. It is called Graffiti and is made from Spanish rice sacks. I use acrylic paint on the sacks and then stitch it with Aurifil 12wt thread (which makes a nice thick line). When taking the train into NYC I enjoy checking out all the graffiti that you see along the way. So this is my interpretation of graffiti. I used the "traditional" paint, but then used thread as a "quilter's graffiti."

This my current project for the California Fiber Artist's Dwellings collection. It is at the phase where I'm about ready to start stitching, but I still have a few more details to ad - like the yellow dashed line for the roads between the rows of houses.

Fall is finally here and the leaves are falling! Fall is a beautiful time of year up here. The weather is perfect - not too hot and not too cold.

New Blog Title

2007-10-12T07:17:00.000-04:00

I changed the title of my blog from "Crazy By Design - Day By Day" because who am I kidding . . . I'll never have the time to blog daily! I consider myself very lucky to blog quarterly. So now it is "Artist Interrupted" as that is how I feel my life is at the moment -- constant interruptions from whatever I'm doing.

Last Saturday when it was suppose to be my day to work in my studio, I don't think I was ever in there for more than half an hour before I would be called downstairs for some reason or another other. We had a lot of inn guest checking in that day, and while Mark is suppose to be handling this, he always picks Saturday as the day to do chocolates - a task that often cannot be interrupted without bad results. So guests are arriving and Mark is no where to be seen and he can't hear them from the kitchen. This means that because I happen to be the one seen first I'm suddenly pulled into checking in the flow of guests and showing them to their rooms and helping with luggage, and then while I'm down there I may as well take care of the dogs and make coffee, etc. Sigh.

Well, enough of my whining.

This week is our Retreat week and we have a wonderful mix of fiber artists and painters. I think the painters are getting a real kick out of watching what the fiber artists are creating. Kris Moss and Patti Turi are the fiber artists. They are doing really cool stuff. I'll have to take some pictures today.

But what have I been doing, you ask. Well, I'm working on my Dwellings piece and a lecture that I'm giving next week at the Bethlhem Art Association. It will just be a slide show lecture, but I want to show pictures of the Dwellings piece in process. I hope I have the time to get the process finished!

Below is an image of one of the pieces I did for the Recycled exhibit with CFA. It is titled Fashion Crossroads. It is made with old suit swatches and strips from one of Mark's shirts.

New Fiber Art in August

2007-09-05T17:24:00.001-04:00

I finally got around to prepping a couple of photos of my recent work and that is only because we had a few days between workshops! I'm usually so busy during workshops that I barely have time to work on any of my own fiber art, let alone blog about it.

This is a picture of my very latest. It is called Rabbits in the Grass and it is going to be displayed in an exhibit by the California Fiber Artists at the Pacific International Quilt Festival this October. It's so funny that while I lived in California I never had a quilt in this show, but now I'm in it quite frequently.

Here is another one that is going to the PQIF exhibit. It is called Oh, Sunny Day III.

I have a folder of other pictures prepared for this blog, but I think I'll hold on to them for the next time I post, in case I don't have much to say -- like this time.

Finally Some Light on the Situation

2007-06-27T08:19:00.000-04:00

I finally have the start to a reasonable set up for taking pictures of my work. I followed the recommendations of Holly Knott, who has a great little write up on her website about photographing your art quilts. I still have to play with the set up a bit because there doesn't seem to be enough light with just the trumpet bulbs (maybe I need more than two).

So yesterday I took a bunch of photos of both my new work and some of the older work for which I never had good photos.

Here is a nice detail shot of Angry Rabbit.

I'll post more pictures later because some of my new work is on the way to its new home and I don't want to spoil the surprize for those receiving them, and also some I may submit for exhibitions and I need to read the rules before showing them in public!

Katie Pasquini Masopust

2007-04-26T21:31:00.000-04:00

I just had the pleasure of watching and listening to Katie's slide lecture about her career as a quilt artist. I am just in awe. I took a workshop from Katie way back in 1993 (or there about) when I was just starting with art quilting. I still use the techniques I learned in this class today in some of my work.

But seeing the progression of her work and learning that she still uses the same basic construction techniques as she has always used makes me think why do I worry about keeping up with everything that is new in fiber art? Why do I make myself crazy trying to master all of these techniques when I already have quite a few in my repertoire that I am happy with?

I'm thinking I should be spending more time learning color, composition, and creativity (the title of Katie's workshop here).

Well, in any case the group of people in this workshop are having a blast and I wish I were a participant! I definitely recommend a workshop with Katie, no matter where she is teaching. But she will be back at the Hudson River Valley Art Workshops in the Fall of 2009! We'll be posting pictures of this current workshop on our inn blog, probably early next week.