One Moon, Two Moon, White Moon, Blue Moon

The cloud cover has me looking to the design wall for tonight's Blue Moon siting. I've got a whole new batch of printed fabrics coming out, and they are glorious.

Time for Shibori

These yards were painted with dye and water over a year ago (maybe two!) and left to dry unfixed. I finally got them out of the pile, twisted them on a pvc pipe, and put them in a dark purple dye bath. Now I've some to use, some to sell. For certain, I'll be at QBL vending this July. Check my web site for more.

Wet Behind the Ears

Just finished (or just begun, depending on your viewpoint) this Take Two piece. It's 40" square, and ready for a formal portrait. But I need a name for it. Marbles in a Jar?

Life is Full

This May I'll be teaching at Pro Chem (and thank you for those who have made my class FULL, with a waiting list!) and thought I'd try some tactics I've not used as much. Those rubber washers? They're fun, and I'll bring them along to Fall River with me.

Under the Needle

Since this is 40" square, it is small enough to quilt with the regular machine. Easy for me to switch thread colors and easy to slap back on the design wall for ideas. I can quilt in any spot, and travel to another in a non-lineal path. Different from the long-arm, certainly.

Let the Fun Begin

After cutting a few thin strips to set use as lines, I've got a good start with some large pieces. Next I'll shift it around till I see what composition evolves. Remember, I've only got two hunks of fabric here. Ok, they're great pieces, but still, just two.

It Starts With a Kiss

Two pieces selected become the start for the next piece. Sometimes I've an idea for composition -- landscape, portrait, overall, symmetrical -- but this time, I'll combine randomly and see where that leads. Sometimes randomness is where a kiss leads, anyway.

Current Line-Up

It's a start, just a start. But I'll take two, and go from there. You know the rest of the story.

Waiting For Me

My flight got in past midnight, the early hours of Thursday, and in the morning light I was greeted with this lovely, strange, waxy bloom. The house waited patiently for me to return, and I've unpacked, ordered more fabric, and will start working.

What Was That

The Tampa airport is a wild, new, dislocated experience. From lot to train, elevator to shuttle, there is a mile of walking and hard surface. This vision appeared, but I had a plane to catch, so no long looks. It's a sculpture by Nick Cave and Bob Faust.

Commercial Design Lover

While many visit museums and galleries (and I do that, too) I get charged seeing what graphics are in the commercial designer's tool box. This large scale, red and tan piece, which could easily be part of an 1850s applique, caught my eye. And yes, it's gone home with me.

As Art Centers Go

The Sidney and Berne Davis Art Center was on our river walk today in Fort Meyers. An old post office that was renovated, it is on the turn of offering great space for events and art exhibitions. I'll return to see more of what they offer

Glorious Prints

I've checked on the Pro Chemical and Dye  class list, and happy to know that there is only one spot left in the May 7-11 class on Glorious Prints. An almost full house if just fine! These hanging yards I'll show off for how to print, dye, stamp, and more. Hope you'll be along for the blog ride, at least.

Busman's Holiday

After teaching for two days, it was time for sightseeing. A trip to the Koreshan State Park and the sight of the Koreshan Unity Commune (active from the late 1800s to 1940) had a surprise quilt show for me to take in. Just to remind me that quilts are my life.

With Me Till the End

Karol and Kathy finish the last assignment for the two day Florida workshop, where we designed, discussed, and discovered more than a dozen ways to start abstract works. Great group to work with.

Small is Wonderful

20 hard-working and dedicated art quilters went through all I could fit in a day of working on design exercises. The sketches, at times made quickly and with little advance plans, went under scrutiny, as evidenced above. Day two unfolds tomorrow.

Spread Your Wings

I've flown to Florida for a workshop with the SAQA group here. We'll start tomorrow, and top of the list is to tackle how to design abstractly, and how good design makes for good art quilts. Time to stretch, I'd say.

Life is Not Nothing

Stephen Hawking, the man who would explain a vast part of the universe for us, left us this world to continue with. It is a circle. With luck, exploration will be passed to another brilliant person, and on.

Pile of Treasures

I got to visit Ellen's studio today to see prints she made in a recent workshop. We tried to figure out each method for the effect we saw, and for the most part, figured correctly. Ah, the joys of processes. Lovely fabrics for her works to come.

Tampa's Surface Designers

I was lucky to get a ride to the Tampa Bay Surface Design Guild's meeting tonight, and met a graduate of Jane Dunnewold's class, Diane, who had this multilayered piece to show us. It doesn't show how spectacular the work is in this photo, but look for it in Houston later this year.

Note Worthy

Next weekend a group of fiber artists asked me to put them through their paces in my "A Dozen Ways: Design for Art Quilts" in Tampa, Florida. So, it's homework for me before I go. Then get packin'.

Stop and Smell the Non-Roses

I strolled through the garden paths at the GardenScape show this week. A handful of competent landscapers set out scenes, giving us the textures and scents of fresh, growing plants. A nice break from the mounds of snow I navigate on my daily walk.

Ah, Fun from the Past

This buoyant old favorite showed up at our quilt club yesterday, and let in sunshiney life. A friend, who knows more than I, pointed out what I had missed, that was the quilting line went right through the applique shapes. I was just intrigued with the signature, and hadn't noticed its finer points. Thanks, friend.

Seeing Stars

It was lecture day at Genesee Valley Quilt Club with Lynn Harris speaking about her work. I often hear about quilters who started quilting during the bicentennial. Yes, Lynne started then, and kept going.

God is in the Details

John Kastner has a piece at Shop One at RIT that includes not only his wise and witty and splendid painting, but bit of flotsam collected around his neighborhood. Here is a detail of his wild comic style. He's titled this "Filthy Animal's Plasticrap" and here's a post on it from City Newspaper:  https://www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/rochester/revel-in-the-details-john-kastners-consumer-hell/Content?oid=3260465

When It Snows...

...you make snow shapes. These on my walk today are courtesy of a neighbor who keeps both motorists and walkers  happy to see his latest creation. All of this ends when it melts, but news has it we're getting more. Goody.

Compass Points

QSDS has a challenge that asks for 4 small 12x12 works based on the theme "Points of the Compass" (at least that's how I remember it) and these will get popped in the mail to be part of this summer's gallery. I'll be at QSDS in 2019, so these will be my standin till then.

Bit of Quilting

I'm not sold on fusing, but see that pieces applied with the adhesive quilts just fine. Couldn't get a needle through the fabrics well enough for hand quilting, but fine with machine quilting -- it looks like any "normal" pieced work.

Block or Not-a-Block

A few more exercises for working with Steam-a-seam 2. as a friendly adhesive.  I've yet to sandwich and quilt this; for now they are just a composition study. Quilting will be tomorrow.

Tryouts

For a non-sew class, I'm trying out Steam-a-seam 2 Lite to adhere fabrics to both fabric and cardstock. I don't use adhesives, so this is a learning curve. And boy, there's lots to learn.

Underneath It All

The full moon is out there, buried under a thick snow mass, just watching until the all clear is sounded. Which will be about 12" from now. To know there is a full moon, even without seeing it, is enough sometimes.