LIFE IN THE TIME OF CORONA

DAY 4

The June block -Jacaranda tree with squirrels-is complete.  All applique, embroidery, and ribbon work completed. 

 

I have 3 blocks completed, 5 blocks mid-stage, and 4 blocks which are my problem children. All the mid-stage blocks have been appliqued and most have been embroidered.  My problem children have needs ranging from new background,  to fabric for trees is wrong, to fabric choices need improving.  I love this aspect of the work.

Here is the pattern for the quilt.  The pattern is about 20 years old.  Backgrounds on these blocks are"old-fashioned" batiks which be lovely color blends which are almost impossible to find now that manufacturers go for patterned batiks.

The 4 corners of each block is crazy quilting which I have never done but looks intriguing.  Here is another version of the quilt by Lori Hockett:

I like the overall coloring of this one better.  It appears more blended without the sharp edges formed by the crazy quilting in the original.  I am not there yet tho-plenty of time to sort that. 

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Corona impacted me yesterday for the first time.  Sheltering in place is no problem for my husband and I as we are natural introverts who do best entertaining ourselves.  For us, it would be torture to have to socialize all day so I can sympathize with those having trouble staying home.  We are flip sides of the same coin. 

The impact was a minor problem with my bank acct at Bank of America and wanted to resolve it.  Even tho we belong to a special group of acct holders and I am sure I received the best treatment possible, I had to go thru a long list of prompts for 5 minutes after which I was placed on hold for what I was told would be fifteen minutes.  After 20 minutes the line disconnected.  It is a minor problem and I will try again.  It causes me anxiety as it seems like a beginning of a breakdown in society wherein it will be hard to solve problems without major effort. Early days, tho.

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You will notice I changed the name of my journal.  I like this better.

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YOUR MOMENT OF ZEN

A moment of reflection, humor, or beauty in these trying times 

SOME GOOD NEWS! YEAH CHOCOLATE!

Happy Creating!

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.

    DAY 2 IN A "JOURNEY OF OUR ISOLATION"

This block is from my new project which is a calendar quilt by Piecemakers.  This pattern combines my need to applique plus my love of embroidery.  The embroidery is not quite finished-fox needs a face and I have to plant some flowers in the grass.  This is a cherry tree in full blossom.  Silk ribbon will make the blossoms and the second photo shows the beautiful variegated pink/rose ribbons.  Ribbon embroidery is a bit new to me so makes me a little apprehensive.  There are 12 of these blocks, of course, and one large center.

Here is a lovely thing...

My perle cotton threads.

I NEED HELP WITH THIS...ANYONE?

Comments are not coming thru to my email so I don't know if I have one unless I look at the blog.  I know I have been out of the loop for 9 months.  Have there been some changes?

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I go out to the mailbox armed with my can of lysol (put 'em up!).  I spray the mailbox, door knobs and the mail.  How about you? I have heard from lots of older quilters who follow the same precautions.

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Here is something that occurred to me while stitching.  We are asking the young people-mostly millennials-to stay home, don't socialize, no dating, no shopping-we are asking them to stop what comes most naturally to them.  Of course, not all are being socially responsible but many are.  

I hope the boomers who denigrate this group will remember that millennials did them a service and that boomers need to return the favor.

Boomers mostly seem to vote their 501ks and ignore the very real problems of the younger people to wit:

climate change

massive student debt

massive cost of college

lack of good jobs

automation

these are all I can think of now as I am a boomer not a millennial

I think we as a group have been selfish in the deferral of solutions to very real problems an act which seems to echo Marie Antoinette's  "Let them eat cake".

END LECTURE

YOUR MOMENT OF ZEN
A moment of reflection, humor, or beauty in these trying times 

These photos are by Ed Mis of houses in February showing icy lake effect weather.  I was reminded of scenes from Dr Zhivago and the ice houses in the tundra.

Happy Creating!

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.

DAY 1 IN A "JOURNEY OF OUR ISOLATION"

Blogging appears to be a dying art. Now seems like a good time to revive it as a way of reaching out to others during a period of self-isolation when people crave interaction with others. I am adopting my title from Daniel Defoe's A Journal of the Plague Year.  So I will tell you what is occurring in my little corner of self-isolation and in the small world around me.

Few here seems to be taking the BIG C seriously. People old and disabled and young and vigorous drift in and out of Walmart. Schools have finally closed today in my rural town but there are groups of kids wandering around and playing with each other. Finding child care must be very difficult at this time if both parents don't have the luxury of staying away from the workplace.  Andrew Yang makes a lot of sense right now.  Missouri has recorded its first death.  In total MO has tested OMG only 266 people.

But enough of this doom and gloom.....I wish I had a better photo of "Curiouser and Curiouser", an Alice in Wonderland themed quilt. I sold this quilt to an "Alice" aficionado. I love it when my creations go on to live their on life independent of me.  Here are some other photos:

https://helengodden.com

This quilt is Helen Godden's design.  She has a block of the month each year with wonderful images to paint and quilt.  The above is my second foray into this process.  Most of the work is from Helen with some touches of my own in some of the design, painting, and quilting.

Visit her page if you are looking for something to do.  I would recommend to begin with Feathered Friends quilt.  Each year becomes a bit more difficult tho Helen takes you thru the whole process with 2-3 long videos explaining everything.  She holds your hand.  It looks hard but is actually easy.

I finished this quilt Dec 2019.  So what have you and I been working since then?  Well, I guess we will have to check back in with each other. Personally I will be doing shorter blogs but talking with you more often.

YOUR MOMENT OF ZEN
A moment of reflection, humor, or beauty in these trying times 

What is with this toilet paper hoarding?  Can't figure that one out.  Or the grocery store fisticuffs over bottled water.

Happy Creating!

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 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.

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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.

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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.

IN WHICH I WISH EVERYONE A HAPPY SOLSTICE

However you celebrate it!

What to say?

The past few months have been a thoughtful time for me as I attempt to investigate my creative future.  I have begun several projects this year-completed some and abandoned others-and learned in the process what works for me and what does not.

Feathered Friends BOM with Helen Godden

I loved working on this project.  I loved the paints, the birds, the colors, and Helen's fun FMQ designs. You can see it is not quite finished as I had a hip replacement at that point and am still recovering.

I have to say my kitty was not very supportive during this final assembling and quilting as you can see:

So good so far....Kitten is giving everything a close once over checking my work but then............

she does this! She finds my work hilarious!  I mean really! Her job is to be supportive but I guess her true thoughts could not be suppressed. Good to know who your friends are. 

You can see on the design wall behind "She Who Is A Traitor" that Chuck, Susan and Me is back in play.  I have resumed quilting it.  While I recover, I am planning the stitching as each square is quilted differently.  

Along with painting Feathered Friends, I have found that I just love Fmq especially on the lovely "Queenie", my sit down long arm quilter.  I began this blog expressing my very real fear of Free Motion Quilting and now find that with the practice and experimentation undertaken that this is also a big factor in my creative life. 

So....paints and FMQ .......two items for my creative portfolio (birds and flowers are a given).  Here is a Kaylee Porter download which is FMQed and then painted with Prismacolor pencils.

Also applique is a favorite as anyone who has followed me knows.  Yes, but here's the rub.  Applique is time intensive and at age 71, projects cannot be entered into lightly. 

And this brings me to my abandoned projects: 

This is a charming, colorful pattern and you can see I appliqued 6 months dutifully before deserting.  Dutiful was the feeling I had when I worked on this.  Duplicating this lovely pattern by designer Reece Hanson of Morning Glory Designs, was frustrating to me as the applique was very time consuming which I would not have minded except I was doing someone else and not exploring my own path. The two block on the right were my favorites.  I loved the combination of rigid blocks with the curvy flowers.

 

Here is the second project I am letting go.  

Sandra Liechner's Naturalist Notebook.

The Purple Finch is the last block I completed.  I feel I have done nice work on these but so what?  Basically my efforts are an attempt to copy what she has done and "I" am not really involved in the process.  Why should I do a lame after-image when she has already done the perfect one. For this much work, I would rather do my own adaptation of the series.  So, I doubt I will do more of these tho I love them.

Next time I will show you some of what I (probably) will be working on.

FROM OUR WALK ON THE WILD SIDE

Surprising a flock of pelicans at the lake

YOUR MOMENT OF ZEN

A winter image: Windblown frost clings to berries in Maine.

Happy Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Rohatsu, Happy Omisoka whichever winter holiday is yours.

Happy Stitching!

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.