Mounds of Fabrics

What happens when you sit 15 quilters in room -- mix in lots, and lots, and lots of fabrics, a bit of new, fun things to learn & of course a multitude of electrical plugs??? Well, almost immediately the mounds of fabrics spread out, grow and generally start to reach for the ceiling...

Well, I'm dieing to find out, too. So, I promise to share photos of the incredible (they just have to be!) quilts being stitched together in just one of the classrooms in the hill country of Texas this week. Stand By!

Tuesday's Teaser -Sketchbook Stretching

On the Road
The Tuesday Teaser subject this week is:

exit discretely

  Join in fun, and share with others your own Tuesday Teaser
drawing & collage, or words & short tale.

It’s easy, so grab your sketchbook or some paper.
1. make a timed drawing (5 minutes) of something/ anything that comes to mind when you think about the teaser
2. create a collage (15 minutes) using the drawing ideas to guide your way

Or if you love is of words…
1. make a list of all the words this week’s teaser makes you think up (5 minutes)
2. create a short tale (15 minutes) using your word list

I'll be posting the design group's sketchbook results on Monday-next.
I'd love to share yours, too so email your drawings or word wanderings to me... Tuesday Teaser and I'll include as many as possible!


This week's word comes to you from Texas- the words just popped into my head as I was waking up... I may just have to share this little exercise with my class today. In the meantime I wish you all a great, creatively, productive week.

Sketbook Posting - Screw

This week there were lots of fun designs that appeared.
It was interesting to see the different perspectives
we each took on this very small little 'thing'.
We also have someone who used this week's word to stretch themselves into a little story.
Click over to see Claudia's 'word-work'.

Yosemite Quilt Saga Update

I do love it when a plan comes together. So it is probably no wonder that I love quilting. I really don't care how spontaneous one works there is always an element of what steps to take, and in what order to every piece created. Some steps are highly creative and others are just things that must be done in order to use your materials. The steps documented here today are a mixture of both. They're gonna  walk you through what happens after that design is completed.

I use an overhead projector to enlarge my designs -
this is what it looks like behind the scenes.

Here the design is enlarged using pencil--
for there is always time to tweek the design or make changes

the marker comes out and the patterning process continues-
one to be the guide and one to cut up

ahhh ---- picking out fabrics/ one of the best parts!

here the fabrics have all been picked
and we're ready to prep everything for sewing

One Word Adventure -

Claudia took a shine to this week's word -- SCREW.

She set her clock and first came up with her list, and then put her little story together. Note, that the listed words are bolded.  THANKS Claudia for sharing!

Using Screw

I was watching a screwball comedy featuring Lucille Ball when my husband, the carpenter, walked in. He was working on repairs while I was nursing a screwdriver.

"Have you seen the phillips head screwdriver?" he asked. "There's a broken screw in my wood project and I can't budge it. I had it screwed down as tight as a screw can be and it snapped off. Or the threads on the screw stripped, or the sharp screw point broke, or I need a flat head screwdriver to pry that rusty screw loose."

Not wanting to leave my cocktail, I asked him "Did you check by the screw jar collection? Or maybe it's with the wiring project you were working on. Or try by the metal cabinet, the doors are open and you might find that shiny tool in there."

Sure enough he came back and said he'd screwed up when he screwed in the silver screw, but he found a new project with a screw loose.

"Don't get sidetracked, you screwy guy! We need to take the dogs to the zoo!"

Designing Yosemite

As promised, you will get to share the Yosemite Chapel quilt in the making. Since I last wrote I have been happily busy finishing up a large quilt for an upcoming juried exhibit, and keeping up with the day-to-day tasks required to keep my quilt art business humming along.

In between the stitching, paperwork, meetings and other stuff I started pulling images together in order to have a starting point to creating my design. This meant pulling out the wedding pictures - always a heartfilled enterprise. Seeing everyone that was there, remembering all the 'little' things that make the whole experience. To that end I also found a favorite photo of Dave & I - taken just after entering Yosemite Valley-- long ago.

I also found pictures taken of the chapel on the day of the wedding. So with a few photos and much more memories I set about sketching.

First off, I knew that the reality of how the chapel sits in the field below Half Dome was not how I wanted it to be in my quilt. So if you are a believer in real is real, then you may not want to read on. I on the other hand believe that my quilts tell my story -- express my feelings about a point in time and the landscape.

What I remember is the walk through the snow to the chapel and Half Dome above -- in order to get it this way in my quilt the chapel must be turned slightly --- I don't want to show folks the side - I want to share the walk to the front.

Here's what I have so far... still sketching in the various elements. I am please so far, and hope to get it completed soon so I can pull fabric!

Tuesday's Teaser - We're Backkk!

The Tuesday Teaser subject this week is:
screw

  Join in fun, and share with others your own Tuesday Teaser
drawing & collage, or words & short tale.

It’s easy, so grab your sketchbook or some paper.
1. make a timed drawing (5 minutes) of something/ anything that comes to mind when you think about the teaser
2. create a collage (15 minutes) using the drawing ideas to guide your way

Or if you love is of words…
1. make a list of all the words this week’s teaser makes you think up (5 minutes)
2. create a short tale (15 minutes) using your word list

I'll be posting the design group's sketchbook results on Monday-next.
I'd love to share yours, too so email your drawings or word wanderings to me... Tuesday Teaser and I'll include as many as possible!


This is a word of many, many meanings... we had a bit of a chuckle over a few of them today. Have fun!