IN WHICH I CONTINUE WITH MY INKTENSE JOURNEY WHILE THE 100 YEAR RAINS POUR FROM THE SKY

I hang out on Pinterest a lot.  I found the idea for the above Mandala design there.  I love the repeating elements and the inktense pencil colors are so vivid.  When I make these painted pieces, I first draw them, then transfer the drawing to a high thread count cotton, prepared for dyeing, fabric-tho simply washing a piece of fabric prepares it for dyeing.  The fabric finish just needs to be removed.  Then the piece is quilted.  On this one, I wanted some darker lines and some finer lines.  The darker lines were stitched over about 4 times with the black thread while the fine lines were sewn once.  Here is the quilted piece before coloring.  

The piece below has been quilted but not painted yet.  I am no sure what I want to do with it .  The drawing is from Dover Publications-a great source of copyright free designs.  I like it for the detail and because of it's faintly Jacobean English appearance.  By the way, the four legged creature is a dog, not a deer.  

Here is another piece painted with the Derwent inktense pencils.  The inspiration for this design was Russian leatherworking patterns.  They adapt really well to this medium.

Lastly, the latest and greatest of Helen Godden's BOM Alice in Wonderland.  Isn't this just so fun and cheerful!  It measures 12x28.  Her BOM uses Jacquard Lumiere acrylic paints which are pearlescent and so alive.  I am especially proud of my color blending on the background and the flamingo.  

I will begin quilting it this afternoon then head back to my worktable and my beloved inktense paints. Quilting these blocks which are already painted is pretty nerve wracking especially as these are quilted with black thread.  Further, any stitches leave holes in the painted fabric so if one makes a mistake and wants to remove the quilting stitches, big ugly holes remain.  I removed some really bad stitching on one of these blocks thinking....Well, I will just paint over the holes to cover them up-but no....this does not work--the holes still remain.  So all your flaws as well as beautiful work will be there for the world to see. Oh well...........

AND NOW

YOUR MOMENT OF ZEN

(to calm you in our increasingly insane world)

A beautiful photo of an egret by Douglas Croft

HAPPY STITCHING (AND PAINTING) UNTIL WE MET AGAIN!

I am linking up with:

Slow Stitching Sunday, Bambi's Blog, Making Monday,  Em's Scrapbag, Esther's Wow, 

Midweek Makers, Whoop Whoop, Finish or Not!, and Off the Wall Friday.

IN WHICH I HAVE SOME INKTENSE 

FABRIC PAINTING TO SHOW YOU!

I have been spending the past few weeks playing with my Derwent Inktense pencils and blocks.  I won't show you my earlier efforts especially the one where I used absolutely all the 72 colors available.  In fact the hardest part for me is to discipline myself to using a few colors, the necessary colors, instead of using all the colors because they are BEAUTIFUL!

The pattern above was adapted from a Mexican embroidery.  I colored the background with a wash made from the blocks and the flowers and leaves were done with the pencils.

Again here I used the pencils.  This bird is adapted from Madhubani painting from India but with my own take on the colors.  I call it The Contradictory Feminine.  I quilt the outline on Queenie, my sit down long arm Tiara quilting machine using Quilter's select for batting for all these pieces.

These pumpkins were painted using the inktense blocks.  The idea comes from Linda Bratton's blog.  She demonstrates a bit on how to do shading.  Most of the paintings I have done are flat-that is they aren't given dimension with shading.  Though I have signed up for an on line class with Desiree Habicht called "Art Applique Fall Leaves"  which isn't applique at all but lessons on how to shade fall leaves from yellow to orange to red inside one leaf-to make realistic but painterly leaves.

 

This is just a pretty design I saw on Diane Evens blog and thought the design was very flowing and green and purple is one of my favorites.

This little scene is another attempt at shading.  This design is from Lisa Capen.  

The colors are fade proof and washable.  This is accomplished by using a fabric medium mixed with a little water.  The application  of the medium is the trickiest part because adding too much makes the paint run outside the quilted lines which is lovely if that is the effect wanted.  I have learned how to manage this pretty well tho I am not showing you my earlier efforts!

Lastly, here is the latest block from Helen Godden's painted Alice in Wonderland BOM.

These blocks use Jacquard Lumiere acrylic paints which are very different from the inktense.  Inktense-both the blocks and the pencils-are really just water soluble inks.  The color is laid on the fabric then medium (or aloe vera ) is applied to make the color come out and to make it permanent.

The acrylic paint if easier to use and, to my untutored eye, more forgiving.  With Helen's blocks, we trace the pattern on black fabric, then paint, then quilt-first in the unpainted black lines for stability, then, using black thread we bravely quilt in the patterning.  The June block has just come out and it is wonderful.  It is never to late to join one of Helen's Aussie personality BOMs.  Go to https://helengodden.com/  to check it out.  

I finished quilting Chuck, Susan, and Me (aarrgghh!)  I photographed it but the photos did not turn out well and I got bored with the whole thing.  Maybe later-I am proud of it.

FROM OUR WALK ON THE WILDSIDE:

We walk on paths thru the woods on Truman Lake near our home.  Truman lake is primarily a flood control lake and there has been so much rain in the drain basin that the lake has reached record levels.  We have had about 8 times as much rain as usual and also record tornadoes-seemingly one per night in Missouri to watch for.  And "they" say there is no such thing as climate change!

Earlier this spring, we were walking in a pathway I call the Black Forest path because it reminds me of a path Hansel and Gretel would have taken-all twisty with the trees so  close and seemingly ancient, bending down to catch and grab you. This is my favorite path-tho there is another one I call the Cathedral path because of all the tall arching trees whose tops bend together just like the vaulted ceiling on a Gothic cathedral.  

Anyway, some eagles built a nest along the Hansel and Gretel path. Kind of a fuzzy eagle photo-she was sitting away from the nest to draw attention away from it.  The other photo is looking up from under the nest which was about 3 feet wide.

AND NOW

YOUR MOMENT OF ZEN

a dancer

HAPPY STITCHING (AND PAINTING) UNTIL WE MET AGAIN!

I am linking up with:

Slow Stitching Sunday, Bambi's Blog, Making Monday,  Em's Scrapbag, Esther's Wow, 
Midweek Makers, Whoop Whoop, Finish or Not!, and Off the Wall Friday.

IN WHICH I CHECK BACK IN TO THE BLOGOSHPERE AND SEE HOW THINGS ARE

Here is what I have been doing:

This block is the latest in Helen Godden's BOM “Curiouser & Curiouser” which will tell the story of Alice in Wonderland.  Now I am not the biggest Alice fan but I love her programs and signed up to learn more about fabric painting and quilting.  However, I have fallen in love with this quirky BOM.  

Here are the blocks so far (Feb, Mar. and April):

This is a mystery BOM so we don't know the layout of the blocks yet but aren't the colors wonderful?!!

I am learning so much and enjoying the fun in “Curiouser & Curiouser” BOM with Helen Godden. Every month is a new block based on Alice in Wonderland. You don’t need to know anything about painting because she teaches us all with the videos. The added advantage of signing up later is you can see what other have done on the private facebook group.The videos are excellent-full of detail.  Also Helen is a very nice, funny lady with an Aussie accent.

Here is the link to Helens' page to learn more:
https://helengodden.com/produ…/curiouser-curiouser-2019-bom/

I enjoy Helen's patterns and videos so much I signed up for an extra class called "Polygon Parrots"

This is the painted block before quilting.  We use Jacquard Lumiere paints which are easy to use and very forgiving. And this photo is after quilting.  I quilted mine a bit differently than Helen but she loves to see what others make of her designs. Mine is Parrots at Sunset-You can see the setting sun in the lower right.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chuck Susan and Me has all the quilting completed (whew)....All that remains is to sew on the binding.  Here is a sneak peak to whet your appetite:

 

this quilt was so much work...,arrggh! but all done now and I like it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am finally beginning on Yoko Saito's Pattern Imaginary Garden-a pattern from Quiltmania which is heavily appliqued.  I have decided I will not make big quilts anymore but rather focus on quilts not bigger than 4x5 or so.  So I had to shrink the pattern down by about 50% which made the appliqued elements very small.  

Looking at alternatives, I find two choices:  one is raw edge applique thus:

Which looks okay but this method usually works best with fabrics with high thread count like batiks,  I am afraid that my calicoes will shatter when I stitch them tho the stems above seem okay.

The second method is intriguing: shadow applique.  All the raw edge applique pieces are ironed down and then covered with a sheer organza.  The quilting is done then through the organza at the edges of the applique.  

The colors are dimmed a bit but all the colors are bright and can take a bit of dimming.  The finished quilt will have all the quilting on top of the sheen.  There is also some embroidery which would go on top of the organza.  Has anyone else done shadow quilting?

AND NOW....
YOUR MOMENT OF ZEN

Best bookcase ever

HAPPY STITCHING (AND PAINTING) UNTIL WE MET AGAIN!

I am linking up with:

Slow Stitching Sunday, Bambi's Blog, Making Monday,  Em's Scrapbag, Esther's Wow, 
Midweek Makers, Whoop Whoop, Finish or Not!, and Off the Wall Friday.