Day Three

My daily project continues.

Dawn
14x9

Lots of stitching. Very meditative.
Many of my very familiar elements: the house, the colors, the circles, the Y stitch, the beads, the raw edges. I barely finished in time to take this photo in the daylight.

Quilt Collection

What an amazing collection of quilts these fourth graders created. I was honored to work with them. Here is the entire 2009 series. I'm already looking forward to doing it again in 2010.

Good Morning, Neighborhood!
33x29

Surprising Super Sports
35x28

Radical Rainforest
33x27

Expedition Ocean
33x29

The Fantastic Adventures of the Sea-OstriHorse
35x28

I am also thrilled to tell you that when I was beginning to prepare for this project, I sent a quick email to Pellon asking if they would donate some Wonder Under. The replied immediately and said they would love to! Four bolts of Wonder Under arrived at our school just a few days later. Isn't it fantastic to know that Pellon supports arts in education?

Follow

Here is today's daily fiber art/study/meditation.

Follow
21 x 8"

It was much more challenging than yesterday and not just because it's bigger. It just didn't come together smoothly. It felt ambitious and I seemed to be in over my head and yet to far along to quit. Yet, I'm pleased with the results, so clearly there is some lesson to be learned there.
I like the color combo, though I think whenever you use red and green together it seems to say Christmas. I am really enjoying digging into my stash and using pieces that have been long ignored.

Do You Have a Favorite?

Here are two more kids quilts. I'll post the last one tomorrow. Aren't they so fun?!

I think this one is titled Surprising Sports.

I've edited out the names of the kids on this one. That's why there are some blurry areas.The sports quilt was the first one we added names to and then we decided the names were a bit of a distraction from the design of the quilt. For all of the others, we had the kids each write their name on the label in addition to the quilt title, their teacher's name, the name of the school, our city and the date.

This one is called Expedition Ocean. I love that title.

This is the quilt from Claire's class. She created the blue whale munching on seaweed in this detail.
I love the rainbow! And the narwhal peeking up at the bottom of this detail.I think I'll also repost all the full shots in one post so we can see them all at once with their titles and dimensions. Come back next week to see that.

Today

I am beginning a daily art, study and meditation project.

Here is today's work.

Always Before Me, 9x6.5"

I really enjoyed the process.
These are somewhat unusual colors for me, don't you think? As I'm looking at the picture on the screen, I am wondering if it might be better horizontal?

It seems more like a sunset or moonrise in this orientation, which was not my intention, but that's ok. This also emphasizes my awful photo taking skills. It's not that wonky shape in real life. And of course, gravity would do something different with those threads if it were actually hanging this way.

It's in my Etsy shop if you're interested.

Another Kid Quilt!

Yowza! This is even more fun than I thought it would be!

Check out this amazing quilt created by fourth graders at my kids' school. This class chose a beach theme.

That's a big toothy, grinning sun! (And an alien jelly fish. Yikes!)I've got two more completed. I'll post those in the next few days. And I'm quilting the last one. It has to be done by Monday.

As I've been quilting, I'm been ruminating on how much more this project turned out to be for me -- and for the kids too, I think. That will take more time to put into to words, but it's good. Very good.

Etsy Find!

I love to browse Etsy for creative inspiration. What an amazing bunch of artists in so many different styles and medium! I do a bit of shopping too. This little bird found its way to my studio.
The shop filled with lots of impressive wire art. Not much info about the artist, but he is from Poland.

The bird is hanging in the door to my studio. I just love all those curls and that wonderful green glass eye.
My Etsy shop is stocked with a few quilts and self-published books. More coming soon.

Thoughts

I've been thinking random thoughts as I've been quilting the fourth grade quilts.

Best thing about my sewing machine extension table? All the clutter I can hide under it.
(It's true. I like Coates and Clark.)

I like quilting leaf shapes.
I also like quilting swirl shapes. They are perfect for jungle vines, ponds, clouds and even windy sky backgrounds. Oh, and butterfly antennae, of course.

I really must do a sample collection of various batts combined with various fusible webs. The quilts are puckery and I'm not happy about it. So it goes.

I love Pandora radio. I usually love podcasts, but I can't listen to them while quilting because the machine is too loud. Music is better for general background interest.

Several of you asked about size. Most of the quilts are 20x30ish, I think. I haven't measured, but I will before I send them off. I'll post pictures of all five at once and include sizes. Soon, hopefully!

I am eager to finish the quilts and move on to working on the mushroom swap I signed up for.

Grumble

I was hoping to get a bunch of quilting done today. It's not going as smoothly as I hoped.

I feel like a penguin trying to swim just fast enough to escape a shark.
I didn't plan very well and began quilting a motif on one of the fourth grade quilts and now it will have to be "unsewn." (Not the one above. Remember there are five!) I'll save that task to do while watching tv later this weekend.

I also broke one of my free-motion feet. Luckily I have two. That sent me on a internet surfing spree looking for a replacement foot and wondering if I need an entirely new machine.

Then as I was quilting the under water scene in the above quilt, I pushed the quilt back and it knocked a box of sequins off the table. Um, yes, mess.

So, I'm taking a break to blog and regroup. Sigh.

Fun

I've been working with the fourth graders at Claire's school to create art quilts! It's been so fun. Here is the first quilt we've completed so far.
It doesn't have a title yet. I'm hoping the kids come up with something clever next week.

We used fusible applique to create this collaborative quilt. Each student made a house or a car and then we placed them on the background which I prepared for them. Then the kids filled in with all kinds of other things they thought you'd find in a neighborhood... like a lady with a giant puffy white hat. Can you see her?

I did the quilting. It was super fun to follow all their wacky, wonky shapes.
There are five fourth grade classes at our school. So I'm working on completing the other four quilts. They will be auctioned by silent bidding at the March PTA meeting. Funds will go to the art department. (Our art teacher's current budget for supplies for the entire school for the entire year is $300. Ahem.)

I hope the quilts raise a lot of money, but more satisfying for me personally was the opportunity to spend a lot of time with these creative, energetic kids and introduce them to fiber art! It was also wonderful for them to see what they can create in a collaborative way rather than working exclusively on their own projects. I hope I helped them realize a bit of their own creative potential. They helped me realize some of my creative potential.

Yum!

I haven't posted in a week. No good reason. I guess I'm just not finding blog fodder. And I don't have any good, current, interesting pictures. And you know what I think about a post without pictures. (Bleck.)

While I was ironing fabric tonight, I jotted several blog post ideas on my dry erase board and I promise to take some pix in the daylight tomorrow, so maybe the next week or so will be more interesting.

I had the luxury of running some errands last night. I hardly ever go out by myself in the evening. That's family time in addition to homework coaching, dinner fixing etc. But after a weekend jam packed with sporting events and a miserable Monday home sick with Claire, I really needed to get out!

(Spending time with Claire isn't miserable, of course. We watched Price is Right and an old episode of Password on the Game Show Network. Isn't that what you're supposed to do when you're home sick? That's what I remember from the late '70s.)

Anyway, I spent some time flipping through magazines at Barnes and Noble. I found an unwrapped copy of the much-discussed Quilters' Home and was disappointed that the pictures of the controversial quilts were not bigger. I digress...

I also found a recipe for Lasagna Soup. I didn't want to buy the magazine, so I took a picture of the page with my iPhone. Plus, after reading through the recipe, it looked easy enough to make without following strict directions.

It was so fantastic. I just loved it!
Photo via Family Fun. I told you I didn't have any of my own pictures.

Here are my abbreviated directions.

Lasagna Soup
Brown a tube of sausage.
Add chopped onion.
Add garlic, basil and oregano.
Add a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste.
Add a big can of chopped tomatoes.
Add 6 cups of chicken broth.
Simmer.
Add 8 oz of pasta and cook until done.
Mix half a container of ricotta with a handful of Parmesan.
Put a mound of the cheese in each bowl.
Ladle the soup over the cheese.

I just love the idea of pouring soup over something that is already in the bowl. It makes me think of table side service at a fancy restaurant.

Emily, you could probably make this yourself! (Emily's mom informs me that Emily has had to resort to reading my archives since I've been such a delinquent blogger.)

Goodness

I've got some wonderful new additions to my studio... mostly birthday gifts. How did I get so lucky with such generous and talented friends and family? I'm very thankful for each of them!

Kathy sent me a super cute stuffed bird with a beaded crown. I didn't get a picture, but you can see more of the flock here. Kathy also sent a box of hand-stamped tags and other paper goodies. Perfect to add to my box of stationery and such.My friend Connie gave me a wonderful little album to fill with ATCs from all my arty friends. Connie made the machine felted ATC with the red orange heart that I slipped into the first page.

You can see I was listening to the Jay and Jack Lost podcast on my iPhone. I love podcasts. I love my iPhone. I love Lost. (Spoiler alert.... I was so happy to see Jin last night!)

Kate sent these fantastic embellished clothes pins. I'm going to hang a rope in the laundry room and use them to clip up the kids' artwork. (She got the idea from Betz White's blog!)

Jeff was in Savannah last week and brought me this beautiful sunflower painting.

Look at all the texture and dimension. The artist said it takes 6 to 8 weeks to dry! Can you imagine? That's a lot of paint.The artist is Vicci Waits. Jeff told me that he had a hard time picking between three paintings. The sunflowers, another of a red door and an entry way and another of little houses on a hill. He knows I love all these images. He chose well. We have wonderful memories of fun times in the Sunflower State.

Oh and there was a fantastic cake!
Michelle was inspired by Ace of Cakes and actually made her own fondant to decorate this cake inspired by my Garden Letters quilt that appeared in Somerset Studio. You can see the image of the quilt in the background or here. How cool is that?! Delicious, too.