Walk on the Beach

 Another piece for the Mile of Art.  None of the pieces are ART but hopefully they are interesting.   I like  pieces that have at least three visual layers. Three layers give you something to look at from far, mid-range, and close.  "Walk on the Beach"  has the quilting with various shades of brown embroidery floss, the discharging after the quilting, and the feathers I picked up at Lake Erie Beach. From far you see the feathers for which the piece is named. Then you come closer and see the variation of the discharge colors.  Lastly  it draws you in with the quilting that is less visible in person than in the picture.  Having the repeat of the natural feathers in the driftwood hanger I think also emphasizes the feel of the walk on a beach.  Does it make you feel sand in your toes and smell the water?

Key to my Heart

A small piece destined for sale at the Augusta Mile of Art Show.

Brown Bag Challenge

Remember the brown bag challenge my quilt guild had way back last Spring?  I finally got my brown bag back.  She took a couple of extra months because she was unsure what to do with my fabric.  We were supposed to put in the brown bag 3 fat quarters and some information about the type of quilt we liked and didn't like.  I put in my bag a piece of fabric I had Shibori dyed along with some coordinating fabric and beads. I asked for a whole cloth quilt.  The fabric and the request were a real challenge for the guild member.

The quilt I got back had elements I loved and some I did not care about as much.  Overall, I think the guild member had a great vision for the piece.  I love the shibori dyed fabric and I think she used it to good advantage here.  It goes wonderfully with the cone flowers that the guild woman made.  The flowers are a new technique to me and one I have already tried in other projects now.  The petals of the cone flowers are made of fabric fused to be two sided and then only attached at the flower center leaving them free to float in the breeze.  They are really great!  The flowers I did not like were yo-yos.  I think it was the color of the fabric and the size that bothered me more than the shape. 

I debated what to do and decided to redo the section I did not care for since I really liked parts of the quilt. I remembered the runching tool I had bought years ago and never used.  I had bought it and never opened it.  See the card with the instructions?  They made no sense to me so everytime I thought about using the tool, I chickened out.  Now I had the perfect motivation!  It took me 3 or 4 attempts before I got it but now I am turning out little runched flowers that I am using to finish the wallhanging. 

I need to add a few more runched flowers and some stems and leaves for them but here it is so far.   I took off the yo-yo's, am adding the runched flowers and a few more stems and leaves (also two-sided fabric attached only minimally to the background), and maybe a small butterfly in the upper left corner, and calling it done.

I hope my guild sister does not mind my slight re-working of her piece.  I think I merely finished a wonderful beginning.  And we all know that the beginning is the hardest part. 

Trees in Ohio

While in Columbus OH visiting grandkids we visited a field of cement corn statues.  I won't argue the art-worthiness of the pieces but they do  represent the history of corn in that location.  Beside the "corn" field, there was a stand of Osage Orange trees planted to illustrate their history.  Ahhh....now there was beauty!

 I have become enraptured with trees. I love the different textures of the bark.  I love the different shapes the trunks take and the different ways the branches and leaves grow.  These trees have a very textured bark, and their trunks and branches remind me of snakes in their shape.   I plan to turn these pictures into quilts of hand dyed fabric with dark lino prints of the trees laid over.  I hope I can get the essence of the trees in the quilts.

One finished and several more to go

Do you love it?  I have shown it to you before unfinished.  This is the cloth that Beth discharged and then I added painted fusible  squares.  While on vacation I hand quilted it and put a buttonhole stitch around the edge.  When I got home I added hanging beads.  It is a little wonky, which I wanted.  I think I am in love!

While on vacation I did some hand quilting on a variety of things intended as small wall hangings or postcards to sell. Now I need to finish them and give them all the right embellishments. I will show you my other small pieces as I get them finished.

This is really my first attempt to sell my work.  I have a friend who, for 15% commission, will sell them for me at the Mile of Art in Augusta ME on August 7.  I am thrilled not to have to sit in the sun and talk to people all day.  She likes people and will enjoy the experience.  Anyway, wish me luck at selling something!