Finished Landscape

I have finally finished the landscape I started in Sue Benner's class. I really like the way it turned out. I had fun making it. What makes this piece extra special is that the inspiration for it came from the landscape around Bennington College while I was there taking the workshop.




This circle piece is a piece I was just playing around with to practice free motion quilting. Still need a lot more Practice!!!! I also used a satin stitch around the edge to finish it. I'm still not happy with the way the edges came out when I use this method. This piece was all fused. I used a lot of silks and polyester clothing in it. That is one thing I like about Sue's work, how she combines recycled clothing with her own hand dyed fabrics. For the sashing, I used a small blue ribbon that I had.

Better get to bed now. I have to get up at 3:45 to get to work at 5 tomorrow morning! I hate these early mornings! Oh, well, someone has to get up to make the donuts and other breakfasty stuff.

Table is Done

Don't have any new quilts or progress to show. Gary did finish my sewing table so my sewing machine is now level with the table and has no gaps around it. YAAAA!!!!

I did get a lot of cleaning done down in my sewing area especially since I had to vacuum up saw dust.

Tuesday, the Fiber Divas met here at my house we had a great time. Unfortunately Susan and Anita were not able to make it. There is a nasty stomach bug making the rounds up here. Marilyn and I talked about the workshop in VT we went to and showed off the quilts we made.

For our challenge this year, we each brought a yard of fabric which we divided into sixths so everyone received a piece. Here is what we have so far. Susan still needs to bring hers.

The challenge is to make a quilt using a part of each of the fabrics. We can make it any size, use any technique, dye, paint, etc.

That's about it here for now.

Still Waiting

I'm still waiting to be able to use my sewing machine. I would really like to start quilting the quilts from Sue Benners class. Instead, I've been fooling around with this piece that I started before I went to VT. I've been wondering what would happen if I did some surface design and fusing to the background piece before I put the cheesecloth over it. Lots of possibilities. I can't really get my paints out right now so, I fused down the black circles and the lighter leaves. I still don't know what I'm going to do to the top. The leaves on top now were just thrown on. The 3 bigger leaves I fused out of different fabric scraps from the class.



This background, I fused from scraps from the class also. Just need to figure out what to do with it.
One of the things I really liked about Sue's work was her use of recycled clothes. Now when I see someone in a really great blouse, I keep thinking, that would look great in a quilt! Will have to keep my eyes open for some at the second hand store in town.

Mess of a Work Space

I was doing really well after getting back from my workshop with Sue Benner. Then it all came to a crashing halt! This is what my work space looks like right now.




For my birthday, Gary bought an insert to go around my sewing machine so I will have a nice level work top. Because the table was custom made for Gary's sister by her husband, we couldn't just order an insert to fit a ready made table. The insert goes nicely around my machine and Gary is now modifying the table and insert so they fit together. Hopefully it won't be too much longer.
I am using this time to try and clean up and reorganize the basement. The basement started out nice and organized but over the last year, it started spreading and getting messier and messier. I have to find space to put a recumbant exercise bike. I want it in my work area so I can watch the tv while I'm riding it. I know myself. I will be more likely to use it if I can watch tv.

Funny thing about my birthday... It was the Friday while I was at the workshop and I was so caught up in everything that was going on that I completely forgot it was my birthday. Then I couldn't keep track of the days and dates during the workshop and kept thinking my birthday was on Saturday instead of Friday. When I finally remembered and figured out the correct day everyone got a kick out the fact that I'd forgotten it. I did buy myself a nice birthday present. Sue had some of her hand dyed scarves. I bought a beautiful silk one. I'll have to get a picture of it and post it soon.

Views from Bennington College

Here are some views from around the college.

This one is from the dining hall looking towards the building that the bookstore is in.

This is one of the views from the arts building where we had classes.


Our last morning there we saw a beautiful sunrise.

Then just a couple of views from around the campus.

I'd really like to see the campus in the fall when all the leaves are in color.

Sue Benner

I'm back from North Country Studio Workshops and my class with Sue Benner. What fun!! We worked our fingers to the bone but learned so much. Sue is such a great teacher. I would love to be able to take one of her other classes sometime.

This was the first time I've taken a class that was longer than 1 day. What a difference that makes!! You can cover so much more and really work on your projects. I still didn't finish any since we made 3 different quilts. This was her Composition Trilogy: Three Techniques for Fused Quilts. This was also different for me in that there weren't just quilters there and the other classes were other art forms (pottery, book making, encaustics, photography, etc)

Onto what we did in Sue's class:

This is the first quilt we worked on. We cut rectangles of different fabrics, kept some of them whole and cut the others into "frames" and then moved the pieces around. I decided to cut my frames with wavy edges. Since mine are so busy, I decided to add sashing between the blocks so it would be a little less confusing. I started trying out just one type of fabric (the one here is blue). I tried a couple different colors but nothing seemed right. I had it sitting up in the design wall and kept looking at it but nothing hit me as being right until the third day when I picked out the red fabric with the square spirals. I cut the squares out in a strip. I liked that and looked through my fabric and found the black fabric with white circles. There is a blue fabric with brown squares but it doesn't really show up. I will use the circles between the square and the squares around the outside of the quilt.


On the second day we worked with curvilinear shapes. We started out with an inspiration photo. That day my photo just wasn't really inspiring me so after staring at it for quite a while, I just tossed it aside. Found the black and white fabric in the pile of shared fabrics and decided to make a vase out of it and just have fun playing with a nonrealistic flower arrangement. I freehand cut and placed things and had fun.

The third day we worked on landscapes. I didn't find an inspiration photo to bring with me. Instead, I took a picture from the parking lot where we parked at the art building. I drew a rough little sketch that night, taking out the building and adding in the mountains that were all around us. I'll put up some more of those photos tomorrow.

This was a fun landscape to make. We used some of the scraps of the edges we cut off and then fused more fabrics to cut into strips to use. During the critique, Sue suggested adding little slivers of lighter brown to the edges of the trees to highlight them and make them stand out a little more. I also decided not to add all the trees from the photo.

Now to finish these up. Need to quilt the flowers and landscape and put the sashing in for the squares and then quilt that.

I took today off of work to give myself a chance to come back to reality and work on the quilts while I was still energized from the workshop. Tomorrow it is back to work and reality.

Off to Bennington

Marilyn and I are off to North Country Studio Workshops in Bennington, VT tomorrow. I'm really excited. Can't wait to start the class with Sue Benner. I had a hard time paring down my fabric to take. I wanted to make sure I had enough selection to work with for the 5 day workshop. This is the first time I've taken a class that is longer than 1 day.

This is a piece I started working on. It is a lot darker than it really is and a lot more red. The actual color is sort of a dusty pink and brown. I want to try adding something to the pieced background before quilting it with the cheesecloth over it. Here, I've cut out some leaf shapes and put them under the cheesecloth. What I actually do will have to wait until I get back from Bennington.

I do have a new finished piece but I can't show it since it is a present for my sister. Hint, Hint, Debbie!!!