Back to Harvey

Since my challenge piece is finished, today I went back to work on Harvey.  While Bouree was sleeping, I got a lot done :)

This is what Harvey looked like the last time I showed him.



And after working on him today, Harvey now looks like this.



Pretty good progress!  And I even got a little quilting done on Sampson.

Time to stop now though, Bouree is up and demanding some attention!

More Progress in Spite of My "Helper"

I have almost finished my Fiberactions challenge piece...just the edge finish and some bling left to do.  It's a wonder though, that I got it done with all the "help" I had from Bouree!

Today's post features some photos from yesterday of that crazy helper and  another peek of the quilt.

Bouree on the quilt



Bouree using the take up roller as monkey bars



and giving me the "what did I do" look!



And the last look at the quilt until the 15th...



Be sure to check back for the reveal!

 

 

Back to Work After Isaac

Finally!  All the cleanup is done around the house and yard. We are still waiting for a couple repairs to be done...but they are things we cannot do ourselves. So while we wait for the repair people I got back to work.

I finished the applique on the "Dream" quilt, so now it's waiting it's turn to be quilted.  "Clyde" also is finished and waiting his turn on the longarm.  I started piecing the background for the big Dream quilt..this one is for show so it will take a while.

I started painting the 5th fish in my series of 6..meet"Harvey"



On this one, I'm changing the order of things...the background will be painted last.

And I got a good start on my Fiberactions challenge piece due Sept. 15th.  The color challenge this time is a Triadic color scheme.

These are my chosen colors



I started by marking my background pattern like this



and this



I then mixed my dyes and sprayed the background colors. After batched and washed I added the applique ...a small peek below



This afternoon, I loaded it on the frame. Hopefully quilting will begin tomorrow.

It  feels good to get back to work...but it really feels good to have the AC back on again. :)

 

 

Gammill's Quilting Doodle Stitch & Share Party

This weekend Gammill invited their owners to a virtual doodle stitch & share party on their Facebook Fan Page.  It's always loads of fun to see everyone's quilting style!  Since it's been a stormy weekend here in New Orleans, I can't dance with MY Gammill, but thought I'd take you down memory lane so to speak,on a tour of my own style of "doodle quilting".

Since all my quilts are art quilts...either applique or painted wholecloths, most all of my quilting could be called doodle quilting.  Just like I doodle in my sketchbooks, I doodle my quilts.

So hang on, here we go!

I doodled through the jungle at "High Noon"





and I doodle in the flower garden in the rain



I doodle in the dandelion fields under the moonlit sky



amongst the leaves of lime and feathers so fine



I doodle in frames to fill the space



And even kitty tails get a taste



But my last case was under the sea...I doodled fishes fat and thin



and even that Moray's den



I doodled sea grasses and coral fair



then I doodled some more in the octopus lair



And can you believe it? I even doodled the Queen's hair!



And there you have a peek back at my quilting doodles. I hope you enjoyed the look back. Be sure to go to Gammill's Fan Page and see how the other  Gammill artists doodle their quilts!

 

 

Clyde

Another dreary day here in New Orleans, but it's getting colorful in my studio as I begin to bring "Clyde" to life!

Even though I have shared my painting  process  many times over the years with photos, videos and classes...I always get lots of questions, so I'll go through the process again here.

Yesterday, I transferred my drawing to the cloth in preparation to begin painting.  I used Prismacolor pencils in  colors close to what I will be using to paint to transfer the outlines. Today, I made the masks in preparation for the background base painting. I do this with different materials as the mood strikes me...sometimes soy wax, sometimes freezer paper.  This time I used freezer paper.  Here they are all cut and ironed in place on the background.



Next, I start layering color on the  background.  I prefer to use very liquid textile paints,  inks or dyes because they leave absolutely no stiffness on the fabric. To  keep them from seeping too much under the masks, I thicken them. What I use as a thickener depends on the colorant. For dye-like thin paints I use plain old cheap shaving cream; for inks I use aloe vera gel; for dyes I use sodium alginate.

On this piece I used Jacquard's Dye-na-flow thickened with shaving cream. Here you can see the background after the color has been added. The masks are still in place.



Once the background is fully dry, I peel off the freezer paper masks.



Later in the process, I will be adding more surface design elements to the background...I prefer to save that  until I get the main elements painted.

But for now,  Clyde is ready to get some color!

 

Working the Rainy Days Away

It's been quite stormy here the last few days, but that hasn't slowed the progress down a bit in my studio!  After a great week with  three of my girls, I've been splitting my time between several projects.

First, the machine applique on the "Dream" quilt continues and is nearly done.  Photos of that next week.

Second, the painting of Sampson is completed!  I hope Sadie and Henrietta approve of him...



I just loaded him on the Gammill for quilting to be started when we have a day without so many thunderstorms.

Third, I'm hand basting and hand piecing my "skewed" silk hexagons



50 done, 73 more to go :)

And last, I transferred the drawing  of "Clyde" (the next up in my fish series) to the cloth for painting.

Busy couple of days for me, but a great way to spend the rainy days!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back to Normal...

We had a great week! But now the girls are on their way home and I'm catching up on laundry, cleaning and the like.

Tomorrow, it's back to work!