Sometimes you have a photo and want to paint it

    Sometimes you have a photo and want to paint it, regardless. Painting is never easy, no matter what. The most fun was taking grandchild's photo of Harry on a rug and making a quick sketch of it to see if an oil could be interesting. I was surprised a black dog showed up better on more color! I had the painting 3/4 finished when it was time for bed, so I scribbled on the last 1/4 of the canvas to use up the paint, and the brushing made the little canvas one I love. I intended to return to the painting, perfect the rug, and give Harry more dimension; but I like it as it is, messy and lovable, intractable like him.

    Next, Joe wanted me to paint the photo of Hannah running in a track meet. The frame helps. Then, I thought I would make a quick portrait of Joe and dog in the reading chair. Straight from a photo (almost), it needs something more interesting...a bigger rendition, wilder colors, Gauguin type composition? But sometimes this is all one is ready to do. I've been looking at paintings at the Clark, Fogg and MFA, am inspired to paint more, and this is a toe back in the water..

     With my new pochade box and the urban sketch group inspiration, I must work more from life, but this was fine for lazy summer's play which for me was really getting back to work. The three aren't framed yet, but Joe will do!

Music making: a crafty interlude

    Bono said that music can change the world because it can change people; whereas George Bernard Shaw warned that hell is full of musical amateurs. But music lifts the spirit, I love to play duets however pitifully, so I try to develop partners.

       Joe played a few recorder duets, but he found 5 minutes exhausting :*). Fun began when Hannah took up her new ukulele and recorder over the holidays. It was a joy to watch her studying the books and getting excited by what she was learning....especially when she said, "LinLin, let's play a duet!" She gave Joe some tips. So many crafts, so little time.

       Both Joe and I were unaware of the use of recorders in orchestras and the existence of ukulele orchestras.

      Scour YouTube if you are interested to hear some fabulous performances or take some free lessons. We are so fortunate to have the Internet.
     
      I showed both Joe and Hannah many chords, various strums and tabulature reading for the ukulele. The recorder books for soprano and treble recorders surprised me. I was shocked that "treble" books are for the alto recorder. As a self-taught person, this was at first confusing.....notes were created by different fingerings! It is helpful that one can practice quietly by making a simple mute from a narrow short strip of postcard bent to fit over the edge of the window of the recorder. But one must practice constantly I find. How to do it all!
   
   

Dance recital gems: a journal quilt

     Springing forth in May are recitals and commencements. We drive 4 hours to watch the grandchildren perform.  Two recitals in the same day elicit funny reactions. I made a small journal quilt to remember two comments, because journal quilts help one remember not only significant events but amusing moments you don't want to forget:

     Erika performed in the first recital. The family was seated around a big table for lunch in a local restaurant. As we ate, different ones heaped praise on this second child in the family. Finally, it was too much for the first born who exasperated, blurted out, "I don't get it! What is all this carrying on about Erika!" We pointed out that after her three dances in the afternoon, she surely would receive similar accolades. I free-motion quilted this and another gem on the small quilt.

       Later, on the way to Hannah's recital, after some frustrations of lost crayons, Hannah was disagreeing with her mother and told to "put on a happy face" to get ready for the performance. Hannah, noted for her pretty smile, responded, "I am really not a smiley sort of person." That struck me as so endearingly straight forward and self-assured. I didn't want to forget that moment or that small journal quilts (8" x 8") are more fun to make than 12" x 12"s).   (Click photos to enlarge)

Weaving Thanksgiving: a journal quilt

     For November, our 12" x 12" journal quilt group entertained the theme "Thanksgiving." To the last meeting we each brought small pieces of fabric to be distributed to everyone. These fabric pieces were to be incorporated into our block.
     Nothing came to me except the notion of baskets of blessings for which I am grateful. Celeste at our last meeting showed how she had taken strips of fabric and woven them into a quilt and I thought that was the only thing to do.

      I cut the strips using my new shape cutter that I picked up at the Quilters' Gathering in Nashua NH where I took Hannah who was evacuated from her home in NJ because of the latest storm. She LOVED the quilt show. Note the weaving behind Hannah!

      I wove the strips as one would make a lattice on a pie. I did this directly on the batting, took it to the machine to sew with no pins or spray glue and, surprisingly, it held together.Maybe not on the edges, so I cut them off neatly and took the border fabric and placed it on the back, big enough in size to wrap to the front to overlap strips of batting to be zigzagged to the the woven area. While weaving I thought of all the different personalities, some rough edges of grateful Thanksgiving gatherings with multiple personalities and the mixing of families. It is a cheerful journal quilt that I thought would never happen
      Click to enlarge the photos.

click on that turkey

I just added, a week later, the silhouette, in beads, of a turkey roasted.

Heart and Flower Die Cuts with Grands

click to enlarge

     My flower and heart dies arrived for my new Accuquilt machine. I wanted to cut out some hearts and flowers for the children to make something.
     First, I WonderUnder-fused the backs of fabrics from my birthday quilt and rolled those through the die cutting machine. I cut the bigger hearts in half and took the flower stems, petals, flowers and circles in a plastic bag to the children's house when we went to Friday supper. Hannah and Erika placed the cut-outs on a 1/4 yard of quilted yellow fabric which I had halved, one section to each girl. The children made their placements, pinned them and I returned home to iron and stitch the hearts and flowers on.
     Erika just wanted to hug hers as it was, but I stitched a bias tape around the edges. Hannah wanted to turn hers into a purse for craft projects. I slipped some new scissors in since she was frustrated that hers were not sharp enough to cut the fleece she was using to make a quilt at home.  I bound Hannah's with grosgrain ribbon I had fused. My sewing is NOT professional, but sometimes you want to find results fast. I must slow down! (two blogs in 24 hours is not slowing down). Oh, I also bought a Fiskars scissor sharpener. Did not know about those.

Hamsas: a blessing for Nina

   Many things happen at once. Son has taken a job in NYC. His wife's mother had a major bike accident. They just sold their house and will be off to choose a new one. Mother's Day is nigh.

Hannah 7

   Daughter-in-law is wildly busy winding up the house situation, packing, mothering, but off to see her mother on Mother's Day. I thought the children could paint hamsas scented with lavender and I would quilt them for this other grandmother. I first heard about hamsas on my visit to The Jewish Museum last week on vacation to see the Maira Kalman exhibit. The shop was closed but I asked for ideas to send to Nina who is still in hospital. I saw jewelry of hamsa design and I looked up the term on return home. I Googled "Images" of Hamsas and was partial to a stained glass pattern, but there are so many others.

Erika 5

   I made copies of hamsa patterns for the children to trace or to have a jumping off point for their own designs. I meant to TRACE their hands for signatures and flat forgot, darnit! I had ironed white fabric. Hannah, 7 and Erika, 5 chose different patterns and David, 2 worked on paper with watercolors. They left after supper; and I partially quilted the pieces, including the paper two-sided one of David's, spraying the interiors with lavender. The girls worked with Lumiere's halo and jewel color textile paints, having first placed their white fabric over the outlined designs. One could see through the white fabric. Hannah chose a teal blue  batik fabric to back hers, and Erika chose a multi-colored one. I used the two papered watercolors for front and back for David. All scented, are in separate envelopes, ready for a trip to their grandmother Nina (Nana).

David 2

click to enlarge each

Where in the World: Wonderland's Tea Party

   Founded in 1977, the Quilters' Connection is a dynamic group of more than 400 quilters and quilt enthusiasts in the greater Boston area and as far away as Japan. Although barely a quilter, I put my name on the membership list and have found no other group so exciting to me with regard to programs and mind- stretching art work. Although I am too shy to enter a big quilt yet, I was attracted to the idea of the Quilt Challenge at the annual show.

    The 34th Annual Quilt Show will be held Friday-Sunday, June 3-5, 2011, at the Arsenal Center for the Arts in Watertown MA. Besides the completed quilts and quilted garments, each member may submit two "Where in the World" Challenge Quilts. These are not to be bigger than 20" either direction.

click to enlarge

     I made two Challenge Quilts. One is shown below at the April 5 posting. The other is this teacup. Where in the world is Wonderland, inspired by granddaughter Hannah. I first sketched a teacup at Linda Blumsack's house during beading. Then I enlarged it (via grids) on tissue. Next, I sketched the same onto posterboard and cut out the main pieces. I traced these pieces with freezer wrap, and ironed those freezer wrap templates onto fabric. I cut out the fabric, leaving 1/2 inch margin for seams. I also cut out batting and a backing fabric (the blue) the size of the teacup with seam allowance of 1/2 inch. Before cutting out the pictures of Alice and other characters, I fused them with Wonder Under to make fine cutting easier. I ironed them in place. I was ready to put the good sides together w batting, sew pillow case style and turn inside out. I stitched the opening closed. Then with invisible or colored thread I began to quilt the three layers.With embroidery needle, I further defined things.

     Both quilts are to have sleeves for hanging on the back as well as a label. I may further embellish the two.

Hannah's 7th: a quilted card

    Hannah turned seven and celebrated with friends at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.  After creating a birthday banner, the group broke into two groups and the princesses sashayed off to look at four entirely different areas of the MFA which touched on royalty, returning after the tour, questions and answers to make copper pendants, have story time and dessert. Guests left with big 3D plaster royal cupcakes and paint palette in a bag. Some parents chaperoned and enjoyed the museum afterwards.The interns were fabulous and the project age appropriate. I was staggered by the new museum.

Hannah is seven and a sewer (click to enlarge)

    If I remember, I try to make the girls a journal quilt for their birthday. This was a close call. I am making challenge quilts involving Alice and Wonderland, and Hannah has that long blond hair. I fused "her," cut out the figure, and took her to my stash. The two background fabrics fell into my lap. I lightly quilted all, placing a bright erratic pink polka dot on the back after the batting. I free motion wrote, "Hannah is seven and a sewer."

     Hannah is proud of the sewing she has learned this year, embroidery and Sashiko. She wants to make a quilt. Alas, she is moving.Whereas I was going to make "her" with wings, carrying my heart, I sewed the heart onto the pocket here and we drove it by to her tonight with CDs of her birthday party to enjoy and send to her other grandmother.  I also included a CD of her making the origami bird available at YouTube. For her birthday I gave her A Book of Artageous Projects by Klutz in collaboration with the Metropolitan Museum of Art that I bought locally.

    

A Flower for LinLin: My First Flip

       For my birthday, I received the 2nd Generation Flip Mino HD 2-hour video camera, about which I had heard good things. It took some nerve to turn it on, but I knew I wanted to make a flower come to life as I had seen in an old stop-action movie. Hannah was a natural to perform for me. We made the movie in under 5 minutes since the family was on the way out the door. You can hear the normally patient David in the background.

     I love to watch this over and over. I hope Hannah will do some demonstrations for me as well...to make some how-to's clear. Flip inserted right into my computer and everything needed opened up on my desktop. Later I figured how to put the footage into iMovie for more sophisticated editing, but I love this as it is. (I may not leave it up if it breaks up trying to load.)