Decisions to make

The beast is finished and on the bed!  (I hope no one judges the fact that the pillowcases don't match.  Hubby hogs the matching ones, so I get to pick out fun fabrics and make my own!)

 

The name on the label of this quilt is "Anna's Stars (AKA that F***ing quilt)"  Anna picked out the pattern, but the battle to finish it gave it a new name.  It's warm and not falling apart and it's finished.  That's all I care about.  

Now that that's finished, I hope to get some of the small projects I've started this year finished.  Of course there are always "Have-to-dos" on the list. The annual challenge is due in just over a month- and I haven't started! I am not stressing.  If I don't get one finished, life will go on.

But I did get a couple of them out recently to make some decisions.  The butterfly from the LInda M Poole class needs a background.  These are the finalists...

All are fabrics I painted years ago.  I'm leaning toward the last one.

Then there's my stitchery piece, which I've decided to mount on a slightly larger quilted background.  I'll finish the edge with the green ribbon yarn shown here.

It's kind of a toss up on these.  I like how the second one looks a lot like the background of the stitchery, but I also like the pops of color in the first one.

If anyone is reading, let me know what you think.  (Three people will answer- all with different opinions.  :-)
I wish wither of these would fit the challenge theme.  I don't have much in progress that I can finish quickly for that.

In other news, my kitties are starting to get along better.  George must be mellowing in her old (7 years) age, because she never allowed Marigold to sleep this close to her.  (I just noticed this picture looks like I'm scratching my boob)

Hopefully I'll have more to share soon.  I'm not doing much sewing these days.  Stupid Christmas is sucking up all my time.

I am grateful for:
Silliness
Not having to cook some days.
Caring co-workers
Christmas cookies
the technology that allows me to share an experience with Guy!

Quilts=Art=Quilts 2019

The week before Thanksgiving, Mary and I made out annual trek to The Schweinfurth art gallery in Auburn to see this art show.  I've been attending for many years, and the exhibit has changed a LOT in that time.  Some years I am inspired.  Others I leave wondering what the jurors and judges were looking for when they chose these quilt.  This was one of the latter, unfortunately.

The exhibit in the upstairs gallery was worth the drive, though!  It was called Narrative Quilts, by Ellen M Blalock of Syracuse, NY.  Most were based on a story from a member of her family.  Some were sweet, some were very sad.  Her work is exemplary, though, and I was glad I got to experience it in person.

The Angel Quilt (artist statement below)

The Dandelion Quilt

The seed puff on this one was super cool- it looked like netting that had been stitched on with silver thread, with threads hanging off of it making it textured and fluffy, like a real one!

 The Quilts=Art= Quilts exhibit was not worth the drive.  The award winners all made me say, "Really?"  And there were a couple that I asked, how is this even a quilt?  (I suppose I should have taken a picture of those just so I could see if my faithful readers agree.  Sorry)  One was layers of silk burned into different shapes, held together with very loosely knotted threads.  Is that a quilt?  One was something painted onwhat looked like a felt backing- again the layers were knotted together.  And- as always- several artists had two very similar pieces in the show.  I don't get that.  If they would limit them to one accepted per artist, they could have more pieces in the show.  Why choose two so similar I had to look twice when going through my pictures, thinking I had taken two pictures of the same piece.  So that's my review of the show.  I'm hopeful next year will be better.  It seems to go that way.
You can see a short video of the exhibit here. 

I didn't take many pictures, since there were very few I really liked. Each piece has the name of the artist on the artist statement beneath it. 

I liked the palette and the hand stitching on this one. 

I'm always happy to see Maria Shell's work in person!

Pictures do not do this one any justice!  

So this one has little milano cookies sticking up to create the texture and design.  It looked like the original quilt was larger, and cut up to make the cookies, which were then painted. 

The piecing!!!

Will I go next year?  Probably.  It's a nice day trip for friends to share.  If you go, there's a great diner right off the thruway on your way there or back- try the mac and cheese!

I am grateful for:
Having family to share Thanksgiving with- both those close to us and those not so close.
Taking time to do something just for the joy I get by doing it.
The beast is finally quilted!!! (pictures soon)
Cuddling and sharing "secrets" with Jon.
The first snow was absolutely gorgeous this year. 

Learning to Draw

Some of you know I have a lot of coloring books. The first one I bought was by Secret Garden, Johanna Basford.  I think it's the book that started the coloring craze.  I have most of her books, not that I have colored them all.  When I heard she was publishing a new book, I was excited until I saw it was a how to draw book titled How to Draw Inky Wonderlands.  My first thought was that I have a ton of books to color- why should I draw my own pictures?  Then I saw on her Instagram page she was going to do a free 10 day course as a companion to the book.  That sounded amazing, so I bought the book and signed up for the course.  (The course is closed now, but if you get her newsletter, she offers free tutorials from time to time)
I have no affiiation with her;  I just love her work.

So I've been spending a lot of time with pencils, paper and ink lately.  I know I posted a couple of these last time, but here's the whole story. 

 On Day 1 we learned to draw some basic flowers and a simple wreath.

 On Day 2 we added blooms and a bee to a page in the book.

 On Day 3 we drew a lovely grid of different flowers to use in our own inky garden.

 On Day 4 we moved on to the ocean part of the book, and made some cute fishies. 

 On Day 5 we learned abut creating symmetrical designs.

 On Day 6 we added fishies and seaweed to a page in the book. 

 On Day 7- the day before Halloween, we used our symmetry skills to create sugar skulls.  I copied mine onto another page and colored him in to use as a holiday decoration in my office!

 On day 8 we moved on to the forest section and drew some sweet little birds.

 Day 9 was another symmetry lesson, where we created a leafy bug.

On the last day we learned to create a lovely circular design that could be adapted for use in greeting cards, invitations, thank you notes....  I goofed up the lines in the center on this one, but the beauty of her technique is that you copy the original design using thin paper so you can change the details if you want!


So, since the course ended, I have kept up with the drawing, and have been following along in the book to gain skills she didn't have time for in the 10 days we had. 

I loved this little drawing I did during some down time at work so much...

...I colored it right away!












A lot of days are just practicing different basic components, or trying new designs. 

combinations of flowers and leaves

simple borders

Posies

Bugs

 More borders

This is a page in the book where she had drawn the simple leafy wreaths, and the reader is invited to add details.  I had fun with it, and colored them right away.  

 I tried a full page drawing the other day.  When I traced it, I realized I had left a sort of path through the middle.  (OOPs- sideways.  My photo editor and I are having disagreements lately.  Sorry)

 So I went back to the pencil drawing and tried again. 

Still not perfect, but I learned something and have a nice picture to color!

Think you could never draw pictures like these?  I did too.

A week or so after the course ended, she announced she was going to attempt to do the world's largest drawing as a way to inspire everyone to pick up a pencil and draw something .  She asked Instagram followers to draw on post-its as a way to show support for her.  These are the ones I did.

 

 She succeeded!  On November 18, in 12 hours, she drew a picture over 5,000 square feet.

I should be knitting socks, or Christmas gifts.  But for now, I'm enjoying my daily doodling time. Like the coloring, it is meditative and relaxing.


I am grateful for:
A new pastime that is giving me great joy.
My family.
The beast is almost finished!!  (Stay tuned)
A day with my BFF.
Any day I wake up without a headache.