WIP Wed - The Barn Raising

 I started building the barn for my sheep - Is that the correct term for one animal, I always hear sheep used in the plural? I think she's alittle light in the forehead, maybe use some thread to darken or shade a bit.

She needs a name though - any suggestions?

My mountain top project is almost done - just the binding left to do by hand.

When both are done, I will do the unveiling together - stay tuned!

Bartonsville covered bridge / quilt bloggers fest

If you like to look at great quilts go to the quilters blogger festival site and visit all the quilty goodness.

There are lots of links to some really talented quilters, so check it out and support them. :-)

 

The quilt I'm posting about was made right after hurricane Irene came thru last year. I thought of it because of Sandy coming thru. It is done with fusible appliqué, then quilted down with different colors of thread.

I sold it but if I remember the size was about 28" by 18" or so.

 

This is the photo I used to make the quilt - the bartonsville covered bridge stood strong since 1805

 

And this is what was left after Irene. You may remember the video of the bridge falling into the river. It was all over the news and was truly a great loss.

the bluest eye - a painted quilt

I love the banned book challenge so much I made another one. There are an amazing amount of books on the list to choose and I love a creative prompt on which to point me in my arty quilty direction.

Go here to check out the banned book project - the deadline is november 1st for the challenge but you can always just pick a book to give you inspiration just for fun.

I picked The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison and went out of my comfort zone of applique on this one and painted it, then quilted it. I will take you along the process.

First I found a photo of Toni  Morrison (might as well use the author's eyes, plus she is such a natural beauty)
after cropping down to just the eye area - print it out and go over the stand out parts with black sharpie.

then when you place the white cotton fabric over it, you can see thru - pencil trace those important parts

I used good quality acrylics and this aloe after sun gel above for a medium while painting so it doesn't dry to fast and helps with blending. You can spend a lot for an acrylic medium but this works just fine

I also like to put the photo on my iPad home screen to look at while painting.

my fancy palette - yes, it's a meat tray and yes it's washed :-)

I taped the fabric to a board so it won't move around and just played doing the skin first, looking at the photo for the shaded areas ect.

doing the eyes last, see the difference between above and below

it's that little light or highlight that makes an eye look like an eye

now to add some eyelashes with a pencil - they are thread painted on later

Square up, add a border and then quilt

the eyelashes are  the last to go on

I'm not a great artist but if I can manage to pull this off then you can too - try some painting
and just let go and have fun with it ;-)
(by the way, the photos of the work in progress were taken with just a lightbulb inside and the end result ones (first and last photos were outside with better light so they are more true to actual)

wip wed 10/24

 oh so close, but yet so far! only half the binding to finish on the mountain scene I showed last week. 

I love how the sneakers came out :-) they are traced from a photo of my feet, then drawn on a light moddled batik fabric after applying wonder under 805, then cut out, fused down and then thread sketched over the drawn lines that I used a fine fabric marker to draw.

I liked this mountain scene idea so much I made another one - this is with cut out trees this time but the same sky - lighter mountains - have yet to quilt and bind.

the sheep I started awhile ago has had no progress at all lately - poor guy is still waiting for a barn to live in.

I have to decide on a color for the background barnwood - any suggestions?

now for my moms masterpiece, she didn't finish the one I posted last week, but look at her finish for the week  - how awesome is this! we are talking hand applique on all those bias stems and buds, perfect mariners compass points and that curly border thing - wish I had a couple of close ups to show. she is very precise with her quilting unlike her daughter (which is why I stick with art quilts)

now this is the ultimate work in progress - doing 4 of these puppies together for one amazing quilt. 

I couldn't imagine doing it, but it is gorgeous. 

Well done Mom!

rainy day with abbey

I just had to share this short video of my girl Abbey in the woods on a rainy fall day.

She is as sweet as she is beautiful :-)

WIP Wed

I haven't finished anything in the last week or so and thought well back to work in progress wed.!
this is a mountain top scene in progress - look at that sky fabric, I love it and wish I had bought a boatload.

and this beautiful scrappy star is my mom's WIP - isn't it great!
love the colors and a nice black area there for some awesome quilting
I know you can do it Mom :-)

I will show both of these projects completed next week :-\
right mom?
consider this a challenge - lol!

and I just wanted to thank those that left comments on the last post about dave's toe surgery
(the toe truck comment made me laugh - thank you for that and I will share with him)

The Fabric of Our Lives

In the lobby of the hospital here in Burlington Vermont hangs a quilt. On the sewing machine that it hangs from is the inscription "The fabric of our Lives"

My partner for 30 years had a bad infection in his toe and has been here for the last few days. Luckily he is in no pain so we are able to observe the hospital without to much stress involved. It is quite an interesting and huge place - bustling like a city one day and quiet and serene the next. 

Well now, how bad could this place be with a quilt in the lobby?

To kill a mockingbird

The last week of September is banned book week where we celebrate the freedom to read. Whatever we damn well please no matter what some narrow minded people try to do by banning some books. Luckily even if a book does get banned by one particular library every American has the right to go get and read any book they choose.

 

When I looked at the banned book list I was surprised to see how many there were. I can understand some of them such as Adolf Hitlers book but most just baffle me. Some quilting buddies on twitter talked about doing a banned book challenge and I of course wanted in. I found this 50th anniversary edition cover. - printed it to the size I wanted. - mirror imaged it and voila!

Vermont inspiration

 

I love the way the light falls this time of year, especially when there are clouds to filter.

This photo has not been edited or filtered in any way.

CPP 10/6/12

Creative Prompt Project

Let's keep the ball rolling

Looking thru the eye of a needle

 

 

Not enough time?

 

Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresea, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein. ~H. Jackson Brown, Jr

(Taken from Lyric Kinard's newsletter this morning)