My Window View

My "It" piece is finished and you can view it and read about all the details of my construction here:

Interpret This

Be sure to view all the other interpretations from our group as it is well worth it.

It was a lot of fun working on this one.  I just had fun with it.

Now....it is back to my Gouldians once again.

In a Blue Mood

Winston is still not his self.  I have until tomorrow and then I will call the vet again and see if there is something else that will snap him  out of this.  So in keeping with my blue mood I decided to paint my kitchen from gold to blue!

 The I took down the quilt and replaced it with "Cobs".  Looks great against the blue.

Today was the reveal for me for "Intrepret This!"

This was the picture we had to interpret.

Here is my interpretation:

"Don't Fence Me In"

I thought about this photo and listened to some of my fellow members of "IT!" comment on the lack of color in it.  So I began to think of the birds that are native to Indonesia who would come and open the gate releasing the color that is beyond it.  I chose the Bluebird of Paradise to do that.  Then I added 

yarn to his tail which is a puff ball of feather.  In addition to making my birds "sewing birds and quilters" I embellished each of them with a sewing item. 

The Maleo Bird

The dwarf heron

The blue bird of paradise

The dwarf kingfisher

and the Cassowary

 The color is exploding out of the open gate flooding the black and white foreground.
Shadows were added with Shiva paint sticks.
It is machine quilted.

One failure of this piece is I should have brought more black and white into the piece from the sides.

I know that it is not noticable enough and perhaps if I also made the binding on each side panel black would have helped. 

I chose to make this a triptych because of the obvious three sections in the photo.
I hope you see the fun and humor in this piece...it was fun to work on.

The Bridge My Interpretation

"The Bridge" 

30" X 23"

Designed, Raw edged fused applique, Shiva paint sticks

& machine quilted .

Here is the original photo 

I really enjoyed working on this interpretation for the group "Interpret This".  I had been wanting to try my hand at an architectural piece and this gave me that opportunity.

I began by sketching out the scene.  I decided to crop out the light pole on the right side.

Then I chose my fabrics for the buildings and water.  I was so lucky because this May my sister and fellow quilter, Bonnie, had given me about a dozen fat quarters of this stone like textural fabric.  It was perfect to use in this quilt.

I began with the background and began layering the buildings.

I continued across and then added the foreground and the details.

I quilted some of the lines in the shutters and did the same thing for the stone in the buildings as well as some roofing details.

I took the liberty to add umbrellas in front of the cafe because it just seemed so "French" to me.

I did the shadows on the water with shiva paint sticks which I thought were very effective and blended into the fabric I selected.  

I enjoyed this interpretation  so much and am happy with the results.

More Than Meets The Eye

"More Than Meets the Eye"

17" X 29"

Here is my interpretation of June's photograph for the Interpret This group.

I wanted to dive into all the green leaves and find all the life that lives below.

I made my butterfly appear to be the only thing there, at first glance.

Then  I added moths, ladybugs, spiders, caterpillars, inch worms  & ants.

The swaying pieced background is the breezy day in the garden.  Read more by clicking on the side bar button for Interpret This....and see other interpretations!  It is well worth the visit.

The Swing - May Interpretation

The Swing 

 20" x 20"

Raw-edged fused applique

Commercial  fabric

Machine quilted

Fused binding/border 

The May "Interpret This" photo challenge.

I enjoyed working on this interpretation for the month of May because it was so fitting for spring.

It reminded me of the park I went to as a child where the equipment was older and included a swing hanging from a tree.  So I took the artistic license we all can tap into and added a swing to my interpretation.

It is all fused applique and I added a fused border/binding.  I call it this because it is both.  It acts as a binding wrapping around the quilt but the bottom of it is part of the landscape.  It is machine quilted.

I added lots of layers and "snippets" of fabric for all areas adding lots of texture.

Details in the blossoms were done with a permanent fabric marker.

You can read more and see other members interpretations by clicking on the "Interpret This" button in the side bar.  It will be well worth the look!

Will The Real Quilt Please Stand Up!

"Erosion"

Over the weekend I scheduled a posting of my Interpret This Quilt.  Being in a hurry because we were having overnight family staying and we were putting up a storage shed, I was not careful with my pictures and posted the unbinded photo instead of the one completely finished.  So ....I am now showing you the finished version of "Erosion".


We had one busy weekend.  Both of our sons came along with our daughter in law and grandson.  The idea was to paint all the sections of the storage shed and then put it up.  Well as luck would have it, it rained all weekend.  So we got the painting done but nothing else.

Yesterday, Bob and I did the assembly ourselves.  He is 70 now and of course most of you know I am soon to be 62!   We used to do these projects together all the time, but it was a bit more work then either of us expected.   We kept at it all day yesterday and this is the result...........

The Garden Shed

Erosion - April Challenge

"Erosion"

28 inches X 16 inches 

Torn commercial fabric

Permanent fabric marker shading

Couched twine

French knot embroidery

Couched yarn binding

This is my interpretation of this month's Interpret This photograph.  I enjoyed this challenge because it was a landscape with lots of texture.  

I tore all the  fabric in this  quilt with the exception of the rocks.  I wanted the texture of the torn edge to  be part of the quilt.   In the quilting  I used a lot of zig zag stitches to also add texture and in some cases shading.

I also layered  small torn pieces on top  to add  to the texture and depth, machine quilting over the top and adding french knots.

 The rocks at the waters edge were roughly cut and shaded with permanent fabric marker and then machine quilted, shading the bottom where they were under the waters edge.

Lastly the twine was added and couched into place .

To add to the texture, a yarn binding was added to the irregular border.

Self Portrait

The Seasons Of My Life - A Self Portrait

37 inches X 27 inches

This is my catchup piece for the "Interpret This" Blog.  I was busy doing a commission and missed the first month (Jan.) so was allowed to catchup with the others this month and post today.

I have a detailed description of my thoughts on the Interpret This blog so please go there

to read all the details if you are interested in my thought process.

Interpret This!

I enjoyed making this piece and had fun with it.

Here is the photo that was my inspiration.  I live  right by the Kettle Moraine State forest and

love to hike  there  when time allows.

I pieced the background first, sandwiched it and quilted it using different designs in each strip.

I added the top elements and quilted them.

I chose to portray myself as I feel I still am but added details to "give me away".
The bifocal glass in the pocket, the grey hairs defeating the "Nice and Easy" and the scarf wrapped around my neck, covering the beginnings of turkey neck!

Then I wanted to portray myself as having traveled through the season of my life, birth, spring, summer bringing me to Fall.  The figures of my past are done in tulle.  

The leaves & trees came last symbolizing both blocks in the road of life (trees) and good things that I have accomplished and left behind.  A two colored fused binding was last.

Black Eyed Susans

"Black Eyed Susans"

24 1/2 in. X 17" 

Raw Edged Fused Applique

Embroidery Perse

Beaded

Oil Pastels 

Couched Yarn Binding

When I saw the photo I received for interpretation this month I immediate focused on the black glamorous eyes.

I selected a group of three dolls rather than work with the entire photo.

I sketched them with basic lines.

After making this layout I chose fabrics.  My background fabric looked to me like flowing hair.

I sandwiched and quilted these layers first using lines following the lines in the fabric.

Then I began constructing and fusing on the faces.

I used pigma pen for the lashes and brows.

I used Oil Pastels for the cheeks.

I added some embroidery perse flowers & leaves to the background and hand made stems.

Then I quilted it.

Once this was finished I added my beading and finished with couched (hair-like) yarn for the

binding.

I enjoyed this challenge!  I would love any critiques you may have.

Hong Kong Garden

 

"Hong Kong Garden"

37 in. X 14"

Raw-edged fused appliqued

Machine quilted 

Inspiration photo

for the blog "Interpret This!"

I titled this quilt "Hong Kong Garden" because living in a small town we do not have any good Chinese restaurants in the area.  Instead we have the typical strip mall style chinese buffets.

Since this was where Bob and my daughter and I went on occassion, I chose to use three plates in my interpretation.

I had some leftover oriental fabric from a previous project and used that when doing the food and background.

I enjoyed this challenge immensely and for a more detailed description of my process click on the button for "Interpret This" on my sidebar .  You will be amazed at how different yet how similar we all 

translated the same photograph.

Feel free to critique my work in the comments, I always enjoy that.