Family portrait fun

    Moving oil paint around on a canvas is fun. I decided a family portrait would be next. I put Joe driving his sport car facilitating our lives. The grandchildren are on the trunk watching a roadrunner. A southwestern landscape is on my mind because of a reunion I want to attend. I am painting with Farley beside me, wind blowing his ears. David is hanging on to Emmit, his Pug. What to do about the parents and uncles? I decided to pilfer angels from art history, to create guardian angels...not specific persons, but symbols. The license plate notes initials and ages. The flowers have meanings and refer to largesse bestowed. I started out with a toned canvas and added color. Click the photos to enlarge.

    

      Every time the Boston Marathon rolls around, Hannah is another year older. There was her soft quilted birthday card to make and the hard copy for clarity. I always think of Hannah as our prolific reader, so this year I grabbed a literary Paddington (we saw the movie) and added some of my favorite quotations about reading. I hope to stitch better next year. The batting dragged under the needle and I was running out of time.  

       In the spring,  Katie rounds up friends to make blocks for Project Hope, so I whipped up nine. I didn't have enough printed squares, so I took images from the novelty fabrics I did have and painted the blank areas with a Sharpie Rub a Dub laundry marker that doesn't bleed and Jacquard acrylic fabric paints that leave the fabric soft.  The four bottom left blocks were embellished this way.

       While I paint, Joe insists on building frames. All in the family portrait think he is a special guy to have around!

Spring Break in April

   THE SUN IS OUT! In April I wanted to get to NYC to see the Degenerates Show at the Neue Galerie. The lines were long, but I found it helpful to get there ten minutes before the museum opened. I once made an oil painting of Hitler's Degenerate Artists. Hitler put up one show of art he had preferred, but more people attended the other show of artists' work he ridiculed. Here is my painting, containing names of some of the 125 artists censored by the Nazis and others from the Renaissance up to the present who have been subjected to public censorship. Click on photos to enlarge.

    I returned to NYC the next week to meet elementary school friends who were in the area to see Ann's grandchild in a musical. I took those bracelets and NYC quilt birthday card I showed last month.  One bracelet was way too big...but it feels good to make something to gift when you gather with old pals. I enjoyed playing with photos and videos afterwards...at one point making a video with my iPhone of the slideshow and music on my computer. I used Comic Life software to collage photos.

    Easter was next when Joe and David tied the eggs on the tree. After setting our casual table, Joe and I made string eggs we saw at Ben Franklin. We blew up balloons and wound string around. We anchored string by painting all over with a watery white glue called Stiffy. After we hung these to dry overnight, we hid dyed eggs, burst the balloons and draped the string shapes on the lights. It was fun to be kids, but may not do that craft again :*))

     I made up 8 blocks for Katie's Project Hope Quilt and painted (sample) and stitched in the plain areas. I used Jaquard fabric paints and small brushes.  I also created a challenge quilt with strips, cutting casually, called "Where oh Where oh Where is Spring." Here is an earlier photo. I have since free-motion stitched the title in the top row and am still working on this. This quilt will be interactive.

     The Journal Quilt Connection is getting excited about the QC quilt show May 30 to June 1. Hope to have photos soon. This is too much for one post so I am off to bed! Thanks for looking and come to the show!

Elana's Winter

Click video link QC quilt show above

Grounded Grandparents Sew and Saw

      Creating banishes sadness or stress. Last week, with personal deadlines, I sewed eight quilt blocks for a Project Hope quilt (a bug theme).

      Joe and I had to find Hannah a birthday present. We knew she wanted Mattel's Monster High bed for her dolls, but we wanted to make one. Joe used my favorite tool to saw (then paint) the bed, coffin shape with spider headboard that Hannah can embellish. I made the quilt and pillow by scanning logos on a printable fabric. Below is  my favorite tool for cutting shapes in wood, but you could also cut up shoeboxes.

      Our real present is a Schilling Little Red  toy accordion that is fun for adults to play (Tabs 4Toy accordion).  I found harmonicas (harptabs.com) are similar in the playing, so we got those for the other kids. I learned so much about playing a toy accordian and harmonica that I wondered why I had not ever done that before. There is plenty of music at those sites. According to the the Schilling insert, these instruments belong to the reed family and go back 5000 years to when the legendary Chinese "Yellow Emperor" Huang Ti wanted to reproduce bird songs such as that of the Phoenix. We'll see.

      I made a quilted birthday card for Hannah that says "Sew Fine Hannah is Nine." Her mother saves these quilted greetings. The accordion fit into my shiny MFA bag so it can be treated with care.

      How is that for a scattershot blog. Oh, and we added some books. Grandparents are crazy. Click on photos to enlarge.

       Oh! I forgot to mention the kolaches that West, Texas is known for. Visit the Homesick Texan to learn more. I made a batch this weekend and did not eat just one.

Project Hope blocks completed!

   Every year Katie makes a couple of quilts for Project Hope. She gathers a number of friends to make blocks on a theme. She pulls out her stash and adds to it. This year, the theme is farm animals.

Click to enlarge.

    Each person (not all are quilters) volunteers to make a 12 1/2"square block...and others make more. Some exercise great imagination in building the blocks, making them interactive. Others crochet their own drawings. Katie gathers the blocks during the summer, joins them with strips (sashing) and adds borders. batting, and backing to prepare the creations to be quilted. In the Fall, after the quilts are put together, it is exhilerating to see how different and exciting people's work can be.

     I usually volunteer to make about 8 or 9 blocks.  It is my nature to do something quickly. So my pieces may not be the most interesting, but they blend in to add to the quantity needed.  This year I found a print at Quilting by the Yard in Vernon CT on the way to NYC. With it, I broke my former time records.  If you type "Project Hope" into the Search area above (top left by the orange B icon), you can see earlier posts for Project Hope.
    

Birthday fun: Cutting up!

   At my advanced age I behave mischievously. I went on-line to order a birthday present for myself. The Accuquilt arrived quickly yesterday (from the JoAnne's sale), during the meeting of my beading group. This morning before breakfast I had to try it out; and before my cereal and coffee, I had created two more blocks for the Project Hope quilt. I was so into speed, it will be obvious, both design-wise and stitching. But what fun.

Click to enlarge

    I was so inspired by how fast the activity went, I ordered two more dies (Round Flower and Hearts 2", 3" and 4"), one which would cut hearts and another for flowers, stems and leaves. I chose a couple of small (5" x 10" no. 55110) cutting mats to fit them as well. That should keep me busy making kits for the granddaughters and surprises for my friends. I never got over the clever idea of the assembly line when we studied Henry Ford in elementary school.
      By the way, I set up my flannel board to put the little pieces on so I would know the order in which to sew. No more hopping up and down except to iron. Another step in becoming a quilter.
       P.S.  In response to Sherron's question, I added the following: "You put a die on the bed of the roller. Add about six pieces of fabric over each die shape. Put a cutting board atop the fabric and roll the the three through. Your pieces will be cut for you. FAST. You would have loved it when you made the heart quilts for your granddaughters. There are videos of the process at the Accuquilt site and elsewhere."

More blocks for Project Hope

click to enlarge

     My calendar is crowded and time was running out on due date for blocks; so I got busy fast, yesterday afternoon. This has been a wild week with two birthdays, another quilt show, car menu needing a fix, rain galore, NYC recovery, two 12 x 12s, pruning, kids, and the dentist. I have written before:
     In the Fall, Katie rounds up friends to make blocks for quilts for Project Hope . She brings in fabrics on a theme. People gather to take home remnants to create. There is no pressure at all. I usually make about eight different blocks; others make fewer and some, more.
      In the Spring we meet to see how things are going, to get ideas from each other and to know what is realistic to expect by the deadline in late July which is when Katie likes to start assembling the blocks. After that, we tie the quilt. It is fun to gather with those who have worked on it before and pull in others we see passing in the hall to engage them. We are always surprised by the individuality of different participants. I assure you, all are more complex and interesting than mine.
      This year, the theme is creatures of the Northeast. It will be fun working with animals. This goes much faster than the art quilts I am working on. Katie has the tough task, but she listens to books and sews away! She has come up with a cozy way to make people aware of Project Hope.  (See April 10, 20ll for two more)

Project Hope: block collection time

     In the Fall, Katie rounds up friends to make blocks for quilts for Project Hope . She brings in fabrics on a theme. People gather to take home remnants to create. There is no pressure at all. I usually make about eight different blocks; others make fewer and some, more.
      In the Spring we meet to see how things are going, to get ideas from each other and to know what is realistic to expect by the deadline in late July which is when Katie likes to start assembling the blocks. After that, we tie the quilt. It is fun to gather with those who have worked on it before and pull in others we see passing in the hall to engage them. We are always surprised by the individuality of different participants. I assure you, all are more complex and interesting than mine.
      This year, the theme is creatures of the Northeast. It will be fun working with animals. This goes much faster than the art quilts I am working on. Katie has the tough task, but she listens to books and sews away! She has come up with a cozy way to make people aware of Project Hope.

I am now off to embellish my Alice in Wonderland quilt, make decisions about buttons, and try to create and finish the teacup before the guild meeting tomorrow night.

Also, I hope you viewed Hannah folding an origami bird which I filmed this week!
YouTube - Origami Bird

If you want to see earlier postings on Project Hope, click on Project Hope in Labels below and it will bring up earlier blogs of April 12, June 14, and June 2l of 2010.

Father's Day Laborers

Father's Day, Joe pruned the bushes and made frames for the girls' Jackson Pollock-like drip paintings, created in school on canvas. He said it was fun to be making frames again. (Hint hint) He wanted to go to Summer Shack for a family dinner and that was his reward. He braced the backs of the canvas and then put strips of lattice work on the sides.

I helped with the gardening and then threw together the three 12 1/2" blocks I had signed up to do for Katie's Project Hope nautical theme quilt, due in July. I hope to do more. Most people improve as they go along. I think I am getting messier and weirder in my handiwork. Maybe I need to retrieve my old A Type personality. Unfortunately I didn't "measure twice and cut once" and had to come up with a solution. The flags spell both "Play" and "Vote", and were the only words I could come up with from the flag scraps. I need to get back to work!

Diving Into the Ocean of Craft

Crafts are like the ocean...an unfathomable source of creative expression and pleasure. MANY people do not understand one's not sticking to just one area of crafting. On rare occasions one meets another with a similar drive. A month or so ago Susan walked through a room where Katie had many quilters starting to put together another quilt for Project Hope, this time an ocean theme. Susan, a sewer and crocheter, among other talents, had not quilted, but the next time we met, she had figured out how to do her first nine-patch block. Today at a mixed craft group she showed us the boat block and her plans for a fish block. Click the photo above to see. Next week she'll do needlepoint.

I continue to listen to and learn from podcasts downloaded from craftypod.com. Easy to download, they enrich crafting time and dog walking with business, skill and creative ideas, some as wild as a Church of Craft. The Internet is exploding with easy instruction. Susan probably didn't take a class but perhaps found a book at the library, or Internet sites such as Marcia Hohn's Quilter's Cache or quilting.about.com and added her own touches. Hats off to people who dive in, daring explorers of the ocean of craft.

The Lost Weekend: Perpetual Motion

Kathy, dear friend of 40 years, wrote to ask why she cannot find my recent blog postings. Only while madly sewing some blocks for Katie's Project Hope quilt did my brain catch up to this query to realize that a few days have elapsed since I have posted. Apologies. I don't want to lose my followers. :*)

Granted, there was the birthday party uno for Hannah at our house on Friday, the grandchildren sleepover, the Cambridge Art Association book group discussion on Francis Bacon at 10 the next morning, Hannah's class birthday party dos on Sunday at a gym with 25 lovely children, getting my new website loaded (not yet posted), locating a fast-to-make block pattern for the quilt, then real life. What is missing is a trip to RISD to see the Pat Steir show!

To post something quickly before I head to the wonderful Quilters' Connection tonight, I am uploading my five nautical blocks. Katie's Project Hope theme is the ocean this year. Several of us will contribute blocks made from fabrics provided and Katie will do the difficult work of turning it into a quilt. The fast and easy pattern is called Perpetual Motion. Like the ocean it is and fitting for me.