LIFE IN OUR STRANGE TIME DAY 173

AND GETTING STRANGER ALL THE TIME

Moth block from Helen Godden's Midnight Madness.

I changed this block quite a bit as the original has a moon and I want my moon to be in another place on the final design.  I thought a lantern would be suitable for drawing moths to the light instead of the moon.  As Helen pointed out to me, it has strong diagonal lines which will limit it's placement in the overall layout.  I may change it as I work with the concepts I have for the final piece. Unfortunately, for the background I choose a fabric which is out of stock everywhere seemingly rare as hen's teeth (so many of our aphorism are dated from the time when 90% of Americans lived on farms).  Hancock's says they will have some soon.🤞

Here is another question for everyone....I have been attempting to add pages to my blog and have added two.  I have several more in draft form but no matter what I try, i cannot publish them.  I know some of you have pages-please tell me the secret to this.  All advice welcome.

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Speaking of the plague in our times. I am one of the best suited to isolation which we rigorous maintain due to our ages and health concerns.  My life in isolation is not too different from other times-I am a home-body , a bit agoraphobic, with a busy and creative internal life.  In the past six months , I have not entered any building but home and rarely spoken to anyone outside of home.  I value the on-line world of blogging and on-line quilt classes and quilting/painting facebook  groups (I am a moderator for one quilting group).  These are a real outlet for my social side and I am glad for it.  Each blogger/facebook member has interesting stories of how they are faring in this time and what they are working on.  We creator/quilters are a lucky group.

Since I have to wait for black background fabric, I am going to start quilting (gulp) the tree blocks.  Have the thread, have the backing, just need the courage.

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AND NOW....

YOUR MOMENT OF ZEN

I collect staircases.  We go around in our everyday lives , see the everyday world but I see no reason why  beauty or interest cannot be injected into it.  Street art is one of my favorites as you can probably discern from the zen moments.  Why isn't street are everywhere?  

Over the next few posts, I will share my staircase collection-here are some....

Do you feel the little girl's happiness that these stairs are there for her to run up and down on?  Photo by Abe Kleinfeld.  I think the stairs reside in my old stomping ground in hilly San Francisco.

Why have an ordinary balustrade when you could have this strange and lovely piece.  Photo came with no attributions as to place or photographer.  

Staircase to the Uni library at Univerzitet Babamand

Looks like the most calming place in the world. Transport me there, Scotty!

Post linking up with:

Patchwork and Quilt at www.quiltingpatch.blogspot.com 

Sew and Tell Monday with Bambi at http://bambisyr-evaj.blogspot.com/
Monday Making at http://lovelaughquilt.blogspot.com/
Design Wall Monday at https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/

LongArm Learning at http://cheekycognoscenti.blogspot.com/

Free Motion Mavericks at http://lizzielenard-vintagesewing.blogspot.com/

Keep creating, stay well, stay cheerful

LONGARM LEARNING NOT JUST ON TUESDAY

Merry Mice from Helen Godden's Midnight Magic BOM.  Painted with Jacquard Lumiere paints on a muted black scroll fabric from Timeless Treasures and micro quilted with 50 wt aurafil.  I loooove the colors in this block .  The painted area is about 8.5 inches or 2.3 cm.

Speaking of centimetres, did you know that only 3 countries in the entire world are not on the metric system?  Of course, the US is not.  Also Burma and Liberia.  That's it.  Kind of embarrassing to be so backwards.  I notice on Amazon, lots of articles show measurement in metric.  My daughter in India writes about the heat saying it is 42 degrees...I mean...how bad could that be...well in Fahrenheit that is almost 108.  I am making an effort to learn the metric system ...one more way of being in touch with the rest of the world.

Usually Missouri is hot and steamy in August but the past week or so has been about 80 degrees with lower humidity.  It has been lovely weather.  It is humidity that takes such a toll and makes life so hard.  Humidity makes winter colder and summer hotter.

Next on my quilting agenda is my 12 calendar blocks.  I am always nervous I will just ruin my beautiful work with some lame quilting job but generally turns out okay.  The nervousness makes me procrastinate.

AND NOW....

YOUR MOMENT OF ZEN

 Cakes beyond your wildest dreams

Tortik Annushka is a Moscow-based, cake designer who also has a school for pastry chefs and on line classes for aspiring cake designers.  Google her or check one of her media sites for more of these unbelievable masterpieces.

And just in case you thought this was a big hoax and nothing so beautiful or realistic could be a cake, I give this:

Pretty amazing and pretty fun.

Post linking up with:

Patchwork and Quilt at www.quiltingpatch.blogspot.com 

Sew and Tell Monday with Bambi at http://bambisyr-evaj.blogspot.com/
Monday Making at http://lovelaughquilt.blogspot.com/
Design Wall Monday at https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/

LongArm Learning at http://cheekycognoscenti.blogspot.com/

Free Motion Mavericks at http://lizzielenard-vintagesewing.blogspot.com/

Keep creating, stay well, stay cheerful

LANGUID WEEPING WILLOW IN THE AUGUST HEAT

At least there is a stream in which to cool off or perhaps go fishing.  The little mice are playing in the marshy area among the cattails.  

My aim was to use washed out greens and even some gold-greens for the leaves to show that summer is moving towards an end, things are dying out, losing their bright summer looks.  The leaves are pointing downwards to contribute to the lazy, slow summer feel.

August was my most stubborn problem child.  No background was right and the foreground was too blue or too green, and the mice always hid in the fabric. After a lot of trial and error I arrived at this final version.

Lots of water side vegetation.  Do you like my pretty ceramic fish?  When I get to the crazy quilting part of this which is seeming like my life's work, there will be more of these small delights among the 

rest of stitching activity. 

I am thinking now about the quilting.  I will machine quilt it but not sure what size thread.  Maybe 100 wt wonderfil invisafil?  I have used that before and my Tiara, Queenie,  likes that thread.  I might use a few colors like pale blue, pale gold, pale pink or maybe just use a light cream as invisafil sinks into the fabric.

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All set up to begin fabric painting.  I am painting Helen Godden's Midnight Magic BOM.  You can see more on her webpage https://helengodden.com/store/midnight-magic-bom-2020/.  Her class prices are listed in Aussie dollars which translate into about 66 to 75 cents in US dollars depending on the currency values at that moment.  She has excellent painting and quilting videos for each block

 

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This photo reminds me of my father who was born in 1911.  He was in 1st and 2nd grade in San Francisco at the time of the 1918 -1920 pandemic.  He told me everyone in school wore masks for most of this period.  Here it is 100 years later and we are back at it.

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AND NOW

YOUR MOMENT OF ZEN

Incredible moths...first the dead leaf moth in brown and then the walking leaf moth in green.  Photographs by Robert Clark.

These camouflage experts are fascinating.  Here are some more:

And then there is this moth which is just plain amazing.

I am linking up with these wonderful quilt sites

Oh Scrap at http://quiltingismorefunthanhousework.blogspot.com/
Patchwork and Quilt at www.quiltingpatch.blogspot.com 

BOMs Away at https://www.katiemaequilts.com/blog/
Sew and Tell Monday with Bambi at http://bambisyr-evaj.blogspot.com/
Monday Making at http://lovelaughquilt.blogspot.com/
Design Wall Monday at https://smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com/
Colour and Inspiration at https://www.cleverchameleon.com.au/blog/

Keep creating, stay well, stay cheerful

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 APPLIQUE PAINTBOX BEGINS 

ITS THIRD YEAR OF BLOGGING

And here is what I have to show on this anniversary.  Progress on Nature's Notebook.  Veining on the leaves and petals, french knots, touches on the goldfinch, and some stems for wheat.  The petals were particularly troublesome.  I began with 60 wt sewing thread as recommended by the designer to detail the petal but I thought it was too coarse looking. I ended up (arggghh!) pulling out this detailing on 2 flowers and replacing it with a blue-gray 100 wt silk thread.  It was worth it.  

Here is helper kitten doing important quality control work.  She thinks her eyes look pretty next to the petals.  I included this photo as the petals are detailed in the 60 wt which you can see looks to heavy. (so hard to capture the correct colors).

May 1 will see the release of the new Aussie painted bird block (Yay!) and the appliqued color block.  2017 was without doubt the worst year of my life and for most the year my design wall was empty.  It is coming to life like the world in spring which makes me start happy dancing.

Three wonderful projects.  The gray and orange fabric is just an idea for developing the color scheme for the Imaginary Garden quilt by Yoko Saito. After the two BOMs, I will resume feathering the Goldfinch and planting the landscaping.

We have, of  course, had lots of Goldfinches at our feeder but my attempts to capture them on film is somewhat lame but you can see the pretty color. I like the texturing in this photo.

Practice has not made perfect yet but I keep working on it.  Here are some practice pieces from Angela Walters Free Motion Challenge Quilt Along on the exquisite new Tiara II.

And the next bit of practice on gridworking. Pinned and ready to stitch baste. It will be 50 and 60 wt for me.

One thing I have discovered is that I like finer wt thread.  I like denser quilting and finer thread has less build up.  I tried some 40 wt glide which worked really well but the look was to heavy for me. 

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From our walk on the wild side:

Mossy path thru the spring woods

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Lastly....your moment of Zen

The lovely flowered walkway in Hong Kong at the Un Chau Estates

HAPPY QUILTING UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN!

I am linking up with:

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