Table and Tree

If I am going to have any chance of completing these five projects, I must keep my studio clean. So this needed to be addressed.

Ah, much better. Hi Lincoln!

Once I decided on the old tree as an example of radiocarbon dating, I finally could move on to the design phase of the radiation quilt. I used this photo to create a enlargement since there was excellent contrast between the tree and the background and I could make a pattern for a silhouette.

I use Rasterbater to create this full size print that I could print on regular sheets of paper and tape together. Then created a line drawing on freezer paper and "worked forward" using Misty Fuse fusible webbing to get the cutting line on the back of the green fabric.

You can see I've also planned the background of the quilt: blue sky, rocky gold strip at the horizon and brown in the foreground.

Lots of tedious cutting.

At this point I thought I was ready to begin stitching. I was in a hurry to move toward completion, but I decided to remain true to my personal style and add some surface design. I cut freezer paper stencils of clouds and sponged some white paint into my blue sky. I also stamped some red flowers in the brown section.

Here I've added a carbon 14 molecule in the upper right...

 ... and this sheer rectangle in the lower left will be a chart representing the predictable decay of the carbon 14 molecule.

Next I'll be hand stitching the path of the atoms spinning around the carbon nucleus and the line showing the rate of decay by percentage and year.

Tactile Architecture

• just more stitching, almost done. Should be able to finish tonight while watching Survivor.

Tall Tree

• cleaned off the table
• taped together two large pieces of paper on which sketch my full size "pattern"

Coming Up Roses

• nothing
• other than to admit to myself that if any of these projects must be eliminated, this is the first to go

Festival of Quilt Art

• nothing

I started this whole project with the idea that it would be good to work on more than one project at a time, right? I'll share some thoughts about how that is going tomorrow.