Auditioning Backgrounds

More auditions.  First a peachy busy batik which is still pretty light and tends to blend with some of the fabric in the units.  That could be good or bad.  So next some calmer peach batik that I could piece to make it less flat.

So there’s definitely a contrast.  Too much?  Onto the darks next.  Grays and browns.

This last one is a warmer brown with some black.  So far I think I like it best.

I’m rearranging the units and trying to see how much tilt I want.  Then I began to wonder:  are 6 units just too many for this piece?  What if I broke it into 2 or 3 related pieces.  So I cropped an image for possible a triptych

And what I like best is the fragments off the edges. Which means I get to make more units and chop them up!    Its time to take a break and think about the possibilities.

Progress on Judy’s Challenge

I decided to stop after 6 units. I was having so much fun making them but didn’t want this piece to be too large.  I still have all kinds of components on hand in case I decide to make a companion piece.

Now the layout.  That’s the hardest part.  I was pretty sure that just joining all the units would be busier than I would like but I tried a few combinations and photographed them:

Yes, too much energy.   So I separated them a bit on a piece of neutral batik:

And now I am faced with the dilemma: do I want a horizontal or vertical orientation.  I like the background fabric but its bland.   Now I need to add back some energy.  One of the prints used in the free-piecing caught my eye because of the circles:

So I cut up blocks of it and spent a good deal of time rearranging them.  But I am still not satisfied.

I think the blocks might be too big.  And too regular. Maybe I need strips?  Time to leave it on the design wall and revisit it in a day or two.  In the meantime I am wide open to suggestions.

Judy’s Challenge

Judy’s Challenge Fabric

Way back last March I signed on for Karen Musgrave’s new challenge.  The fabric for the challenge came from a stash left behind by her friend Judy.  You can read about it in Karen’s own words.

The rules were simple:

1. Have fun!
2. The quilt must be free-form/free spirited.
3. The challenge fabric must be used and visible in the quilt.
4. You are encouraged to share your process and finished quilt on your blog.
5. You will need to share how you stretched yourself and moved out of your comfort zone.
6. Deadline to finish is May 1. (Please send me a photo so I can post them all together.)
7. Have fun!

Read more: http://connectionsbykaren.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2012-03-03T11:03:00-08:00&max-results=7&start=14&by-date=false#ixzz1tkiLHkjQ

I thought I’d get started quickly but it didn’t happen.  We had the deal with all the dead trees that had to come down.  Then I got a bad cold.  Then I had to go out of town.  Then I came back to a couple tight deadlines.  Judy’s fabric stayed on my design board while I tried to figure out what to do.

Yesterday was my Mother’s birthday and also coincidentally the deadline which I had now missed.  Mother’s been gone for 25 years.  Breast cancer.  So  even though I have missed  the deadline (sorry Karen) I decided to shove everything else aside and start Judy’s challenge.  I’ve finished 4 units (blocks?)

I’m working in a color palette that is very different from what I have done. I’ve been a hand-dye and batik girl for a long time but  I am using all kinds of fat quarters of prints that are probably as old as the challenge fabric .  I know I moved here with them 1 1 years ago.  And they are a cool contrast to the batiks.

I don’t have a plan.  I have no idea where I am going. That’s fun and exciting.  And I promise to work on nothing else until this piece is together.

And my studio is a happy and hopeless mess.

Hope Karen will forgive me.  If you want to see some neat quilts here’s the link to the quilts from Karen’s 1950s Fabric Challenge.

Wild Whooping Crane Hatches in Wisconsin

Milagros: Hope 30" x 20"

Last year I made this piece to celebrate the hatching of chick (W3-10).  The parents had nested each year but their eggs were infertile.  Last spring an egg laid by a captive crane in the breeding program was swapped for their infertile egg.  They raised this chick successful to fledge.

Today Operation Migration reports this same pair has successfully hatched one of their very own eggs.  The photo of the parents with the chick is the May 2 entry in their Field Journal.

Tree Memorial Finished

For Four Who Stood Tall 1892-2012
40" x 25"

After a couple of weeks on the design board while I weighed my options I finally took this piece to my machine yesterday and added the needles using free-motion stitching.  And it went better than I thought it would.  So it is finished.

One big stump hole is filled in.  It makes the turn in the driveway easier.   And the day lilies will fill in now that there is more sunshine.

The other big stump hole and all the chipped wood and bark still need to be dealt with. and quickly if I want to fill in with ferns.  I would like to plant a hydrangea as a memorial.

The other two stumps will soon be hidden by bracken and then life goes on but not quite the same without these four giants.  I have this piece as a reminder and the making of it helped me with the sadness of losing four gorgeous trees.

Storm Warnings

Storm Warnings 18 x 24

Last year I was invited by Machine Quilting Unlimited to participate in their Seasons Challenge.  Twelve artists were selected to create 18″ x 24″ pieces to depict their assigned season.  Other than the uniform size, the only requirement was the use of machine stitching.   I was thrilled to be invited so of course I accepted the invitation.  When we were assigned our seasons and I saw the list of  participants I felt very honored to be included in this group of exceptional artists:

Spring:  Sue Reno, Heidi Zielinski and Patty Hawkins

Summer: Patricia Anderson Turner, Eileen Doughty, and Roxane Lessa

Fall: Judy Momenzadeh, Carol Ann Sinnreich, and Lea McComas

Winter Patt Blair, Kate Themel and me.

My winter piece depicts the Charlevoix lighthouse in one of our frequent wind storms.  I had wanted to interpret winter without using snow as an element.  That might seem odd since we usually have long, snowy winters here but I wanted to see if I could convey the feel of the season without that convention.

My dog, Annie, and I often walk along the shore of Lake Michigan and the lake really does take on a different aspect in winter.  I used a combination of my own hand-dyes and commercial batiks for the composition.  The water in the foreground is the last scraps of my favorite-ever piece of hand-dyed fabric.  I dyed it for  On November Winds, one of my Blackbird pieces, and to me it looked as much like the winter lake as a winter sky.  The crashing waves were cut from a not very successful attempt at shibori and I was glad I hung onto that piece.

We haven’t been able to show our pieces until this week when we received our copies of the May/June issue.  I was so excited to see the other artist’s pieces.  They are gorgeous!  The photos of Storm Warnings in the magazine are far better than my snapshot here on the blog.  The stitching lines really show up with professional photography.And the issue, as usual, is full of great articles including one by Kate Themel, Eileen Doughty, Caryl Bryer Fallert and Ellen Ann Eddy.

May/June 2012 Issue

Machine Quilting Unlimited is available at Joann Fabrics and Barnes & Noble.   Issue are also available online.

The Skeleton of a Tree

WIP approx 41 x 28

I’ve added the shape of the skeleton of the tree using some dyed silk organza from my stash of sheers.   Yes, the trunk was really that tall.  We have other trees of the same approximate age (110 years old) and height (over 100 ft.) so I used them as models for the general shape.  I didn’t think I wanted a lot of detail.  And I wanted only one tree rather than the four we lost.

Its been up on the board for the past several days while I contemplate needles.  Part of me like the austerity of the skeleton while another part of me wants to depict the tree in its former glory.

So it wait. Patient. Like a tree.