A Quilt Finish - 2018-2026

In 2018,  I started a quilt.   I made the top in good time (all in the month of March, I think.)  Parts of it were likely crumb blocks or crumb pieces that I had started earlier, but they were just "playtime" pieces. 

A friend designed the layout for a crumb quilt and I decided to play along, knowing that I wasn't copying it really - just using a basic framework for my unique crumb blocks. 

Then the top was finished and somehow ended up in a pile.  I don't know when I decided to layer and baste it, but I did.  I used Elmer's school glue to baste it. It worked, it held well, but honestly the glue bled through the top and it looked awful.  I knew that the glue would wash out, but I didn't show any of the quilting process because of it. 

I quilted on it for a while and it landed in a pile one more time.  Somehow the tension got off and I had to rip out a section of it. Finally, a few days ago I started quilting on it once more. Once the quilting was finished, I let it sit overnight and trimmed it the next morning.  Then I cut the binding and finished it today. 

With the wildness of the piecing,  I decided to use a flamboyant print fabric for the binding. 

I wasn't sure how it would look but I just ran with the idea.  

I think the binding choice is perfect. 

Here are some close up photos of the quilting. 

It isn't perfect, but it is fun and most importantly

    IT IS FINISHED..

I have a couple of other quilt tops in a pile. 

But I also have some of my handwoven chosen to work with. 

hmmmm...what next? only time will tell. 

I have a painting in an altered book that I will be showing Friday.

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Sunday, creating digitally

For Sunday in the Art Room I wanted to share a video with you showing stages of a digital painting. 

I had to upload it to YouTube since blogger isn’t cooperating with me today. 

I was going to embed the video, but that isn’t working today either. So I am sharing it as a link.

Link

If you watch, you’ll see that I started by importing one of my sketches. Then I traced over parts of it and even changed parts.  Procreate is an app for the iPad. It allows me to work in layers. For example, in this video and image the lips are one layer. That is right, just the lips. What this means is that I can hide the li layer and create a new layer to have different lips if desired. 

 I suppose I need a picture or two, so here is the lady.

Yes this is a different version. You can duplicate your work and create different images without repeating all of the work.

Here is the finished one from the video

Linking to Sunday in the Art Room

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Finding my way back

This may be sad or triggering for some of you. If you find it to be too much, I don't mind if you scroll down to the dashed line and start there.

For over six years I was one of two caregivers for my mother who had dementia. Her particular dementia was Vascular Dementia.  That means that the blood vessels in the brain were damaged in some way leading to a lack of oxygen and nutrients in the brain. This eventually causes brain tissues to deteriorate and eventually fail to function.  
Toward the end of September, my mother passed away peacefully on a Sunday morning. She had been under hospice care for about a month. I will say that our experience with hospice was excellent. 

I am 'stuck' with the role of executor for the will at this point and it is stressing me out. My feelings about loss and everything else have me in a state of confusion and mixed feelings.  I thought that once mom passed I would be able to resume my "normal" life.  However, at this point I feel like a little boat adrift on the high tides in the middle of the ocean.  I am trying to get back into my creative activities, but they seem pointless right now.  

---------------------------------------------

I did join a brand new writer's group that is meeting at the Public Library here. Our first "assignment" was to describe ourselves in three words and expand on those words. The words I chose were words that I think portray my best side. Perhaps I should repeat the exercise and use three of my worst traits. 
Anyway,  I chose to use "songwriter" "creative" and "friend"'

Here is that piece. 

songwriter, poetry with melody

I try to live in harmony 

I share my words with you

the feelings here in heart and mind

always trying to be kind

I share my dreams with you

creative soul, creating art

quilting and painting are a part

of what I share with you

creative things come from within

happy things that make me grin

I share a smile with you

Friend, a companion I judge not

I try to do just what I ought

 caring for a special few 

I will share my life, my hopes, my dreams

but I won't push it to extremes 

you can trust me to be true

I hope you enjoyed that bit of poetry.  

Now let me share some gel prints

This was a gradient printed over the purple abstract tree shape. 

These are two gradients that will probably be used in collage. 

This is a nice almost neutral that should also work well in collage. 

And, for the Friday Face Off,  here is a very old photo from the family archives. 

I am not sure just who these folks are. 

My mystery ancestors.

I suspect that they are on my maternal lineage but I have had no luck in identifying them. 

Linking to the Friday Face Off

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Monsters? SITAR

After more than a month away,  I am back for Sunday in the Art Room.  Today I am sharing art that is not my work.  My niece's husband has written at least two children's books.  My offering for today is a bit of art from his second book. "There Are No Monster's Under My Bed"  

The illustrations that Kevin has created are delightfully whimsical.   I love the "monsters" in the book best of all, so I am sharing a couple of photos.  These are only cropped portions of the illustrations, but you will easily get the feel for his illustration style. 

 First is two monsters running. 

I love the cape flying along behind the frog. And those lips on the purple monster are so much fun. 

The second photo I am sharing is that purple monster from a front view. 

I think I would have been frightened of this one as a child also. 

The story explains how the child realizes that the monsters are just 

ordinary things that we see differently in dark rooms. 

If you would like to get this book for someone you love, you can find it on Amazon

There Are No Monsters Under My Bed

Linking to Sunday in the Art Room

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.