A Few Spring Break Pictures

We had a lovely time exploring Dallas during the kids' spring break. The swan boats only hold three people. No problem... I enjoyed walking around the lagoon while everyone else pedaled the boat.

Claire wrote a book about Lincoln for her school's "publishing company." Here is the cover shot.

Cool sculpture outside the science museum.

We also visiting the Dallas Museum of Art. The Fast Forward exhibit was so interesting. I'll have to write more about that soon.

Excellent Comments

Thank you ALL for your thoughtful comments on the landscape. So Helpful!

Kristin said "I'm not sure how literal you want to be..."

This is an important question. I don't want to be too literal. That's not what I'm going for. In some of my most successful small pieces -- there has been nothing "realistic" about them, but they are still obviously landscapes.

Like this. It's called "Hillside Homes." Just 4x6"

But I don't want to ignore the issue of perspective so much that the composition looks like a mistake and because a distraction. So I'm definetely considering Kristin's further comments. She says "but what stands out to me is that the houses and the trees are about the same size. It would probably help the "perspective" if the tress were a little smaller and the houses were bigger. Maybe much bigger, so they could cover/interact with more of the purple hill." A most excellent suggestion. I will begin fusing larger pieces of fabric so I can make some bigger houses. (After all I live in Texas, land of big houses.)

I think I was guilty of making a huge foundation then reverting back to the habit cutting accent shapes in about the same size I use for post cards. Duh.

Pam suggests fields of crops. I sketched some crops in my initial drawings for this project. I also was pleased with the crops I did in this landscape.

This is called "Garrowby's Hearth." I did it for the Quiltart Straight and Narrow Challenge a few years ago. It was inspired by David Hockney's Garrowby's Hill.

I will definetely be exploring crops. Heather suggested looking at Grant Woods' landscapes. Wow. Perfect. I printed out some small thumbnails and will add them to my sketch book. Check this out.

Grant Woods' "Young Corn." I love it and think it's an excellent example of really good perspective and scale... while still keeping an air of whimsy and graphic punch. (That's a technical term "graphic punch.")

Gerrie and Teri both like the fence. Me too. I'm definetely keeping the fence, though it may be repositioned.

So. I need to do some more sketching. More perusing other artists' interpretation of the landscape genre. But not too much. Because there is a fine line between being inspired by someone and losing your own artisitic voice. Thank you all for your voices!

In Progress

The gigantic landscape is coming along. (I know it's not really gigantic, but it feels huge to me.)

When I last posted about this project, it looked like this. (Pinned to a big sheet of insulation.)

I was debating about whether to fuse the pieces to the batting -- or not.

First, I did lines and lines of "journaling" in the sky. No close up, sorry. Then I decided to fuse. Yes! I made a decision.

Then I started auditioning detail pieces. Here you see one tree. And a little village. And an awful off white piece that I was considering for a large foreground plant.

You can see I've also moved the quilt to my studio table -- which wasn't working so well. Hard to get a long view of the whole piece. Plus... all my scraps and tools are sitting on top of it distracting me. Another reason to work small.

Here I've removed that one really dark purple house. Too dark. I also added some rubber stamping to the off white fabric and cut it into "fence posts." I also cut a template for the trees. Apparently, I was also making phone calls. (And that red pile in the background? Fabric that needs to be folded, sorted and stored. Ahem.)

More trees. Smaller fence posts and a house. A most excellent organza house on the left. I love the layered look. I cut some tiny leaf shapes that I'll consider for a patch of flowers on the hillside. You can barely see them sitting next to that folded green fabric. They are too small.
More of the village. Great potential for some hand embroidery here.

Then I got organized and bought some black and white felt. I made a giant pillow case with the black on one side and the white on the other to cover the insulation board. Now I have a real design wall that I can stick stuff too. Yeah! So here is the piece now -- just staring at me. I walked past it this morning and thought, "Hmmmm it really does look like one of my post cards, just bigger." I think that's what I was going for, but I need to take it further.

There are lots of dead spots here. And it probably lacks a central focus. I like the village. The trees need attention. I could probably cut off about six inches from the bottom for a better composition. Comments welcome.

Encrusted Pathway

Here's a smallish quilt I finished a couple of weeks ago. It's called Encrusted Pathway. It's 8ish by 20ish. (I guess I still had some "long skinny" ideas floating around.)

Recently, the Frayed Edges received a request from a publisher at Lark books to submit project proposals for a new "quilting with beads" book. (Lots of other fiber artists were invited to submit too -- it's not like we've got a book deal all on our own. Yet.) I really wanted to submit an idea using washers. I love washers. So many colors, sizes, shapes, etc. etc. And cheaper than beads. I played around with some ideas that sucked and finally put this together. It's very reminiscent of my later Anthony Ave pieces and somewhat similar to Encrusted Cairn. In fact, I used some of the same hand painted fabrics that I did in a workshop with Maxine Farkus.

I used 2ish inch squares and just started fusing them together in a grid. I was careful to keep a fairly tight color palette. Then I added some sheer pieces -- cheese cloth, organza and some weird green stuff that was wrapped around a bouquet of flowers. It melted a bit... which added some interesting texture. But I had to be careful with the iron.

Then I quilted some cobblestone shapes through just the top and the batting. The washers seemed too shiney and reflective, so I sponged a bit of paint on some of them before sewing them on. Again with the grid format.

I wanted to try something new for "finishing" so I used a piece of dark green felt as the backing. I had trimed the batting just smaller than the top, so the felt lays just beyond the edge. I trimmed it with my deckle rotary cutter. I don't know that it's an ideal method... the felt sheds a bit. But, I like the overall results.

Here is the quilt hanging in our foyer next to the dining room. I didn't plan to coordinate the color palatte with the green wall in the dining room or the brown of the furniture -- but doesn't it look great?!

I did submit the proposal to Lark. I think it might be a bit more edgy than they want. Haven't heard back from them yet.

A few more quilt show pictures

I didn't really take many pictures, but I'll show you just a couple and direct you to a few more.

You can see most of the winners here. The Best of Show was Rachel Wetzler's 24/7, which I believe hung in Houston and I think I even saw it at the World Quilt Expo in Manchester. It's a masterpiece, to be sure.

I was delighted to run into Kathy York in the parking lot after dropping off my quilts. She drove all the way from Austin --with her kids! -- to enter three quilts. We met in Houston in November. We had a brief chat and introduced all our charming children to each other. Her drive paid off since she won first place in large pieced with her brilliant quilt, Little Cities, which you certainly remember from Houston if you were there. She also won a Judge's Choice and a Honorable Mention for the delightful Synchronized Swimming. (Surely we'll see this in Houston this year.) Here's a glimpse, though the pictures on her blog are much better.

She also won a ribbon in the Group Division -- I can't remember the title. Here is some more big news about Kathy York (and others). Congratulations, Kathy!

This quilt by Sara Moe reminds me of the very innovative work that Sonji does -- the holes, the curves, the movement, the 3D elements! Exciting.
I was impressed by Modern Warrior (follow the link and scroll down to the second place ribbon) by Rebecca Roach. It's a Hawaiian style applique inspired by images of Afganistan: poppies, grenades, guns. It's made mostly of vinyl -- yes! Plastic! You can't really tell from the picture, but you can see it's quite reflective. The batting looked to be regular batting and I think it was hand quilted. Can you image? Through vinyl?! I am not usually drawn to political or statement quilts, but I thought it was quite notable that the quilt was awarded a second place ribbon in what is mostly a very traditional show.

And for one more bit of inspiration totally unrelated to the quilt show: check this out. Obviously, I need more shelves and more books.

Long Skinny

Here are all the Long Skinnies together! Aren't they great? They got a lot of buzz at the show and I think we were all pleased. (There were two more that didn't fit the same catagory, even though they were long and skinny, so they were not hung along with these.)

The Dallas Quilt Show specifically says not to publish pictures without the artists' written permission, and I haven't asked each of the Twisted Stitchers... but

On the left is Tonya Littman's Raining Cats and Dogs inspired by last year's quilt show. Then we have Sandy's Statue of Liberty. She's got a whole Statue of Liberty thing going on in the bathoom of her wonderful quilt shop, so I'll get to see the quilt whenever I'm shopping and need a potty break! Delightful! Then my "lillies." It's the longest of them all! I can't believe I made something bigger than everyone else! Then Carol Morrisey's carrot, which I adore. The fields of farmland in the background are wonderful. Then Judy Krien's Day of the Deadlines. Very very clever and easily one of the most whimsical quilts in the whole show. (Judy, you must enter the "whimsical" catagory in Houston.) And then there is Sharon's cactus which has individually tied spikes made of twine. Very effective!

Today is the first day of Spring Break. We had planned a wonderful three day trip to San Antonio to do all the San Antonio stuff including Sea World, until we realized Sea World is closed this week. Grumble. We're doing all kinds of Dallas stuff instead. Today we are going to the zoo and maybe the Amon Carter museum. And definetely ice cream.

Dallas Quilt Show

I'm going to the Dallas Quilt Show today -- just like I did last St. Patrick's Day! Actually I went to the "preview" on Thursday night and it was delightful. I am eager to go back so I can really soak up all the quilts (and do some shopping) and see some more friends!

I'll tease you with pictures of my four quilts and show you some of the superfantasticness from other artists later in the week.

This is Patina of Radiance. It's about 9 x 12 and is in the "miniature" catagory. That means it is hanging with those insanely tiny quilts with pineapple stars and less than a quarter inch finished pieces. Variety is good.

Here is my long skinny! It's called Four Layered Lily. I was stunned to find that I like it more than I thought I did. It looks really great all hung up. Whuddathunk?! There are six long skinnies haning all together and they really make an impact. Very cool. I'll post more pictures soon.

This is Encrusted Cairn. (This is the one that was published in Quilting Arts.) That blue ribbon means nothing. Just something on which to pin the info sheet.

And this is Anthony Avenue. I made this when we lived in Maine. It's a bird's eye view of our Maine neighborhood.

It used to be embellished with lots of obnoxious fabric beads and rocks. I did some quilt surgery and removed them after we moved. So much cleaner now and I still love the design.

I didn't win any ribbons and didn't expect to. (The winners are mavelous. I'll report on them later.) But, when I was there on Thursday, I was struck by how much I like my quilts. They are just me and exactly what they should be for when and why I made them. I love many of the winners too and several of those that did not "win." Of course, I'm not to first person to discover that it's good to "do what you love."

Remember my friend Hannah?

Several of you sent squares of fabric for Hannah to make a 100 Wishes quilt for their daughter from China. Hannah and Bart are in China now and have just met Nina! You can read about their adventure (and see the cutest smiling baby face) here. You may want to have a tissue in hand. I was a bit weepy with joy! Since Hannah's trip ended up coming much sooner than anticipated, the Frayed Edges have gathered up all the fabric and begun work on the quilt. I wish I could join them!

Pooch

Here is sweet little Lincoln back in September.

And here is now. King of the Stairway.

He loves to lie in the sun and watch the goings-on outside of the front door. He jumps up whenever our friendly mail carrier, Susie, drops off the mail. She always gives him a little wave through the window.
Spring has arrived in Texas, which mean Lincoln is enjoying lots of walks! He has also perfected his digging skills. Grumble.

DAFA Goodies

I hit the jackpot at the Dallas Area Fiber Artists meeting last week. (Or was it the week before?)

Delicious, springy, bright bundle of fat quarters designed by DAFA member Sara Moe. You can see her fabulous designs here. And several home dec sample pieces. I chose some wonderful pieces with leafy graphics and that orangey stripe on the right. The woman who brought the home dec samples has made connections with several businesses who give her stuff. They benefit when she takes away the stuff they don't want and she (and us!) benefit with interesting and inspiring supplies. Genius! Who needs to shop at Joann's?!

Not that I'm actually doing anything with this fabric at the moment. (Though I'm simmering ideas.)

I'm swamped with my desktop publishing job -- while trying to entertain Benjamin since it's his spring break.

I did manage to FINISH my first New York Times crossword puzzle since I watched the wonderful documentary, Wordplay. Of course, it's a Monday puzzle, the easiest of the week. But I did it!

I'm also distracted by the wonderful weather. We're taking long walks later in the day since it's still light. We even ate dinner on the patio tonight. So good.

Party Party Party!

Benjamin's birthday was last week. He's getting so big! And funny, delightful, smart, silly and FIVE! We've been collecting the Spiderman comic books that have been stuffed in the Sunday papers for the past few months. So Benjamin is all about Spidey!

We even found Spiderman t-shirts for both of us!Party central! We had a house full of boys, games, cake and fun!

Jeff came up with the superfantasic idea of creating a giant web that the boys could unravel.

They started in Benjamin's room...

Then headed downstairs...

It's probably not safe to run a bunch of yarn up and down the stairs. Oh well, fun though!

After the web was unraveled, each boy got web shooter (silly string)...

And they attacked all the bad guys (posters made my me and Claire).

It was a serious battle. I was stunned that the boys shot the web only at the posters and not at each other. (Maybe that's for seven year old birthday parties.)

I love decorating birthday cakes! Check out this masterpiece.

Oh the anticipation!
What does a five year old wish for?

Jeff got me the Betty Crocker Bake and Fill Cake Pan set. I saw it on tv and thought it was a most excellent invention! I haven't perfected the combination of ingredients. This is chocolate cake filled with some kind of crazy ice cream.

Summer time definetely calls for a new bike!

The first week of March is birthday central in our family! Grma and Grpa visited for the celebrations. (Yes, those are Spiderman pajamas.)

The "Bake and Fill" recipe we used for Grpa's birthday was a big flop. I didn't take any pictures, but I promise I'll blog details sometime soon. Maybe I'll save you from the same tragic fate.

Tomorrow is Jeff's birthday. I have a tried and true recipe for that celebration.

In the studio...

Card catalog creator can be found here. I found it on Kleas blog. Which reminds me... it seems like Blogrolling is working again, so I just might be motivated to update my list of blogtastic blogs.

On my nightstand...

I ordered some books from Amazon recently (along with those awesome half boots). Check out my new reading material!

On the top is Suz's new book Kaleidoscope. I haven't actually read much of it -- but the graphics, art and images are amazing. And what I have read is delightfully inspiring. Suz has a casual, creative way of writing and I am sure I will be referring to it regularly. One of the things I like about this book is that it is filled with the work and words of many wonderful artists -- who haven't been published in every book and magazine. You know who I mean. I love them all too -- but how wonderful to see some fresh names. Sonji is there as is Susan Tuttle who I just barely missed meeting when I lived in Maine. Suz also publishes Artitude. I've got an article in the upcoming issue.

Then there is the Creative Quilting book which chronicles the journal quilt project over the past several years. It's about 7 inches thick -- ok, that's an exageration, but it is FULL of amazing stuff. Many bloggers are represented there too! I can only stand to flip through a couple of pages before I have so many new ideas I have to put the book down and rush to the studio.

And then there is Design: A Lively Guide to Design for Artists and Craftspeople. Sarah has been blogging about this book lately. I've only skimmed, but it's really excellent. It's clean, simple, fresh, and consice, and yet FULL of information.

How is it that I have only skimmed these new treasures? I've been catching up on magazines too. I must say, I really enjoy Cloth Paper Scissors. I think I've used the adjective "fresh" about three times in this post so far... but it's fresh too! Also full of great new voices balanced with some wonderfully respected artists. I am thrilled that CPS and QA are going to 6 issues per year. Except then I'll never get to the stack of books!

Wandering

What's next? Isn't that always the question? Kristin wrote an eloquent post about lack of focus, and deciding how to be an artist -- or whether to be an artist at all. And wandering around -- literally and figuratively. All I can say is, "Me too!"

Mostly I'm wandering around trying to decide what to do with this:

I'm making it to enter in Quilt Festival in Houston. I don't enter many shows. It just hasn't been where I've felt motivated. But, since I went to Houston last year and plan to go again this year, it seems a good fit for an entry. It would be so exciting to see my work there.

Of all the things I've done recently, I've really enjoyed my contemporary, arty landscapes. Of course, those were all postcard size. My plan is to translate that idea in this larger format and I think I like the foundation here.

I have lots of ideas for details, but I need to decide whether to fuse it to batting now or later. Yes, that's it. That's my delima. Batting now? Batting later? It seems silly now that I write it. I'm not worried about shape, color, line, design, format, composition ... just batting. Ho hum.

It's all pre-fused so I have to protect it from getting accidently fused to something. And I don't have a nice big teflon sheet. Again... this is why I prefer to work small.

I also am planning to add some handwriting for texture in the sky, but I didn't have the right pen. Excuses.

Tomorrow: pen shopping and fuse the batting. Stop wandering.