BACKGROUND

For those of you who are new to my blog, I like to quilt my entire background before beginning the details of the piece.  I relate it to the canvas of a painter and prepare it first before I begin.  Even though much of it will be covered it still saves a lot of time in the end because there is no stopping and starting, or any quilting around the details of the piece which can be difficult and very time consuming.  I choose to do it this way, you do not have to.  We all must find what works for us.  I believe in that in all aspects of my art.

THE ROOSTER

I apologize for the difficulty in seeing my sketches but it is of a rooster crowing.  I am doing another rooster because I like doing chickens and roosters.  This one if larger....36 " X 28".
I am planning on adding a border this time ...unless after he is finished I change my mind. 
It excites me to do another bird....have not done one for a while.  I have always enjoyed doing them so much. 

My background is totally quilted as usual.  Liked this fabric  and the design looked like eggs so I thought it appropriate.  This rooster is very colorful so I think it will stand out nicely on this piece.

Hope you can join me on another journey.

COFFEE ANYONE?

 Last weekend I went to the Farmers Market in nearby Elkhart Lake.  There is a great coffee shop there called "Off The Rail" because it is situated right by the Railroad Tracks.  So after getting some coffee, I took this photo and liked it so much I decided to use it as the inspiration for my next art quilt.

 Today I loosely sketched out the crowd and the building....I want this to be sort of casually done...not straight lines on the bldg or perfection here or.....

 in the people here.

I have the basic background finished and quilted it measures 30X19 inches.   So now I am ready to add what is furthest away.....which will be some trees and an attached building.   I will most likely eliminate some of the sign clutter around the scene towards the left.....and maybe add some things...but that is the joy of making it your own.  Hope you enjoy this new journey with me.

NEW BEGINNING

The past week has seen two other unsuccessful skies.....until this....the third sky....More how I wanted it to look.  The rest of the background has also been fused and quilted on.   Now my "canvas" is ready for this piece to come together.

I do not worry wasting time on unsuccessful tries because I always save them and I know one day those other two failures will be exactly what I need for a new piece and how nice that will be when it is all finished and just needs to be fused on when that day comes.

BACKGROUND

 Finished my background and quilted it.  It took the majority of the day but it is a good day to stay inside anyway.

The wind is incredible as you can see from our flag which I view from my studio window!   Actually almost blew me over this morning.  It is from the north and brought with it winter temperatures and a few snow flakes.  Definitely a mitten day and a fire in the fireplace!

SKETCH & BACKGROUND

 Remember this sketch from two months ago when we first began our move to our new house?  Well I am ready to start working again and today was my first full day in my new studio.

I finished the basic background today and will now begin to fill in all of the objects starting with the ones furthest in the background.  I am excited to see this come together.  It will be complicated but I have high hopes for it.

Feels so very good to be back working on what I love to do.  Thank you all for all your support during this move and for sticking with me.   Barbara

RED TWIG DOGWOOD

 I took this photograph a few weeks ago and liked it so much that I decided to use it for my next small bird quilt. 

 I chose my background fabric and border and fused them together and quilted them.
then I free cut  the branches from several red fabrics which had the fusible on them.

Once fused on I quilted the ones that were the furthest back first before laying others on top of them.  Here is where I am now in the process.

Hope all of you had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend.  The entire week was busy for me as I had all of my flower beds to cleanup and vegetable garden to plant.  Then went out to my mother's to do more for her out there. 

Did go to the parade and memorial service here in town.....we are so thankful to all who have risked there lives for our country or paid the ultimate sacrifice so we can live in peace.

Muscovy Ducks

I have begun a new quilt inspired by this photograph by my friend Natalie Rowe.  She gave me permission to use it quite a while ago and now is the time.  I have had it in my ideas folder way too long.

So here is the background which I pieced this time.  There will be lots of changes coming as soon as I finish quilting it.  This piece is smaller...and measures approximately 32" X 21".

Mourning Dove

 I took this photo a few weeks ago out of my studio window.  It was early in the morning and this dove was huddled in the sunshine.  I love the bark on the maple tree and the dove....so I knew it would be my next piece.

I chose this fabric which I recently purchased at our local quilt shop, The Sewing Basket.
Then I added the border randomly fusing those pieces down.  Today I quilted it with  organic lines from one side to the other about a 1/4 inch apart.
 

 I had sketched out the dove yesterday on tissue paper....He is big so taped several sheets together.  Then I placed him on the quilt background to envision it.  He will be made up in mauve colors so the contrast with the grey will be very nice.

Here is a closeup of how I sketch marking areas of shadows and feathers.   Before working on him I will do the branches he is perched on.  I want to place them so they are going over and under the border giving depth.  It is why the border needed to go on first.
So tomorrow I will begin working on that.  I love making trees and bark so it will be enjoyable to work on.

Swing

Building the shoreline now.  The swing is in and will be hidden on the bottom by a bush and then grasses so trust me ....it will look so much better as this progresses.  Made another small pine in front of swing.

I must say I am tired today so will quit now and go watch the movie "Gravity".  Rented it along with a pizza this morning.  Then will work again tomorrow.  I am excited to do this shoreline now and get to the water for all that goes on it.  Hope you are enjoying this journey with me as I am in sharing it.

Lac Du Flambeau

 Each summer we rent a house on Bolton Lake located in "The North Woods" on the Native American Ojibwa  Reservation in Lac Du Flaumbeau (Torch Lake) Wisconsin.
I took this photo last year of a lake house owned by an elderly couple.  You do not see much of them but early in the morning or late in the evening they go out in their sailboat and peacefully and quietly tour around the lake after which they dock their boat and return to their home.   Even though the photo was over exposed I saved it to use one day.  Today is that day.  

So I have prepared the background and will start working on the foreground next.  I am excited about working on this piece as it will take me back there early....to the peacefulness of the setting where you can hear the loon calls at night.

Background & Fog

The background is quilted and the furthest away parts are finished.  The fog is in.   Looks dreary and lonely right now but it is going to perk up a bit now.   The fog drove me crazy with the invisible thread not cooperating.  I was not very patient with it and got frustrated working with it but persevered.  It does a nice job of disappearing so it is worth the effort but still not my favorite to work with.

Fog Added

This new piece will be a little more subtle and softer.   I have added a layer of fog…not too dense this time.  I like the feel of it….lots more to come.

Cleaned my studio today.  Took most of the morning and into the afternoon but it needed it.  Washed the cat's beds and then the ceiling fan blades and shelves etc.  It is amazing how fast the studio can get dusty and fuzzy.  Looks great now.  Purged some books and magazines as well.  Will take them down to the St. Vincent De Paul tomorrow.  Over all a very productive day so far.

The Evolution of "Buck & Jack"

This is an example of what makes a quilter far superior to an oil painter!  Those harnesses….would have taken 1/20th the time to put on these horses then cutting them out of fabric and fusing them on along with rings and buckles etc.  However, that being said, the results are oh so worth it!  This was 3 full days of work.

I need to work the background a bit before fusing these bad boys onto it…so they will stay on my teflon sheet until it is ready.

Leaves

I am beginning a new piece.  I purchased this beautiful piece of fabric when in Madison at the Quilt Expo.  I did not want to cut it up so I am making it my new background.   I have it all quilted and ready to go.   You will have to stay tuned to see what is placed on top.

Winter Is Approaching

 Well like it or not....winter is approaching so I thought I would stray away from my waterlily scenes and do a winter scene.  This will be much more simplistic so stay tuned as it will be a pretty fast composition.  Well, that is if I do not get distracted part way through it.

Above is the background....I immediately did not like the slope of the hill in the foreground.

 So I fused some more white onto the drop off point and extended it out to the edge.   Much better.
Then I quilted it using organic lines....I prefer the quilting to take second place to the composition...the art.   So I do not do a lot of fancy machine quilting which I prefer to see on treaditional quilts as opposed to art quilts.

Here is a close up to the quilted surface.   Now it is ready for the fun.  I always quilt the entire background first.  It prevents all the stopping and starting you have to do once all the objects are added and becomes the background canvass for the magic to happen on. 

Beginning Anew

 I have several of these hand dyed fabrics I purposely bought for doing water scenes.
So now i decided to do a series of water scenes.  This will be my second in the series.
It lends itself to imagine lots of things floating or growing on it surface.

Our store is closer to closing.  We have moved some stuff to Bob's new workshop where he will continue with clock repair.  Then...we have scheduled an auction out the back door for all that is left after our sale.  After that it is all over.

I am saying goodbye to good customers which is hard to do.  I have known many of them for over 20 years now, but I have no regrets.  We are definitely ready for this now and anticipating less stressful days ahead. 

Pickerel Weeds & Reeds

I continue to add to my water's edge scene with reeds floating amongst the Pickerel Weeds as well as a few lily pads.  Once I am happy with this....I will add the foreground.   I am really happy with how this is progressing now.

Baby Steps

I have taken some baby steps in the beginnings of my new piece.  The background is 3/4 quilted
horizontally and then the top part where you see the grasses is quilted on the grasses.  There is a lot ahead yet but I think you will start getting the idea of how I am using this beautiful hand dyed piece of fabric.

The store closing is progressing.  Having a sale and also contacting people to auction off some of the clocks.  It is overwhelming unless you take it a day at a time so that is what I am doing.
Working in the studio for just a bit  helps a lot.

Background Quilting

 I hope everyone had a great New Years and that 2013 proves to be a year full of peace love and good health for all.  

I have been working on my background for my Barred Owl Quilt.  I added some background branches and needles of a long needle Pine. 

Closeup you can see it better.  This takes a lot of time but it is worth it.  Still have more to do but the entire center will have the owl in it on another branch so this will fill in nicely.