More Lilies ---- Off the Wall Friday

You know, some weeks are more bloggable than others around here!  Although I was nice and productive with the Lilies and Birdhouses Take 2 nearly completed - its not very interesting!!  It felt great though to get back to my sewing machine spending hours adding the thread painting to the piece.

 Still as I pricked my finger on the many, many pins that hold down the pieces of rough edge applique, I can see why people fuse!!  But looking at the finished product, I could see texture that non-fusing applique has.  There is a little pucker here and there - a puff of fabric now and again that you don't get with fusing.  Plus I'll never get all the rough edges nice and smooth.  The roughness seems to add just that much texture to the piece.

Just a bit more and the piece will be off to the jury.  Hopefully it will get in!!

So What have you been up to creatively?

Birdhouses & Lilies, Take 2 - Off the Wall Friday

Well obviously, they were right when they said that admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery!  After posting last week about the lack of motivation, it was like a weight had been lifted and I had no problem being productive this week.  Everyday I spent sometime in my studio, even if it was for only 45 minutes.  Finally!  It felt good!

I worked this week on my annual lily art show entry.  With the lack of creativity and motivation this year, I decided to rehash an old piece, Birdhouse & Lilies.  My husband said, "Didn't you already do that one?"  Well. . . yes. . . .and no.  I originally made the piece six years ago for the art show, then decided that the focus  was the birdhouses and not the lilies.  So I decided not to enter it.  Not to mention, I had fallen in love with it and didn't want to put it up for sale.  Remaking it would be a pleasure, but I still felt guilty of not coming up with a new idea! 

Now working in series is normal for an artist.  But this takes it one step further.   You're basically doing several versions of the exact same subject matter.  For instance, here is Van Gogh's four different versions of the same windmill, Le Moulin de la Galette (1886) each listed in their respective museum home.

You can see how he played with different perspectives and scale of the windmill.

So on that note, I decided not to feel guilty of rehashing an old idea.  Obviously if it was a good enough for Van Gogh, it was good enough for me!  Besides there was always a part of me that wanted to make the lilies the star of the piece rather than the birdhouses.  Also, I wanted to make the lilies look a bit more life like.  I always felt that they look too cartoonish in the first piece.

So in the new version, I cropped the piece to highlight the lilies, did a new updated version of the lilies and made the piece over all smaller.  I changed the size of the piece because this one is made especially to be sold.  Not only will it take a shorter time to make it (keeping the price down) but not everyone has as much wall space to fill as me!!  For that matter, with the cropping the piece, it changed the orientation of it from landscape to portrait.

Ohhh and in case you're wondering how I got the shape of the lilies this time, I already had a file of photos of lilies that had been printed out in various sizes.  From there I made line drawings and then made  tracing paper patterns.  Because they were tracing paper, they were easily put onto just the right spot of hand dyed fabric to be fussy cut.



So what have been up to creatively?

Just a Little Imagination - Off the Wall Friday

With Spring, comes allergies and boy did I get hard with an attack this year.  Of course, it would hit when at work we're in the middle of spring rush and I'm working 6 days.  So all I did was sleep and work and work and sleep.  Not a lot of time to create but there was a lot of time think.


Its amazing what a little imagination can do. All week,  I've tried several ideas concerning my next lily piece out in my head.  Too bad they haven't invented a way to digitize a mental idea - well at least not yet.  The Imagination is a marvelous thing.  With a little bit of focus and practice you can create without lifting a finger.  What I took to doing this week was coming up with a clear composition in my mind and then just making a very rough sketch just to remind me of the idea.  Little by little I whittled out the dogs and had a second look at the keepers.  Finally today I settled on one.

My blog heading is a picture of one my favorite art quilts, Ecclesiastes 11:7 (aka the birdhouses) .   That was suppose to be a lily quilt but the birdhouses took over.  What if - yeah I know it was truly a What if moment - What if I did another version of the quilt where the lilies got a chance to shine?  While my work day was a blur of fashion flurry, I started working out a nice simple composition  that wouldn't drive me nuts.  Its funny how my mouth and fingers were doing one thing but my imagination was creating something totally different.

My first day off is Sunday - finally - so I'll start painting up the organza silk then and work out a proper sketch.  I can't wait!

So What have been up to creatively?

Abstracted Lilies - Off the Wall Friday

Here on Lake Erie, April means Spring.  I think.  We still have piles of snow scattered here and there and only a few brave crocuses have shown their heads, but yes its Spring.  With that, I start thinking lilies. A local gallery holds an annual  Lily Art Festival which features a great mixed media juried show.  I love entering since one of the few shows my husband and I enter together.  Plus its great to see how different artists interpret my favorite flower!

So I started my annual lily inspiration hunt. I have folders of flower photos (say that three times fast!) so I thought I'd share a few.  Feel free to steal.  grin.  Normally, I would choose one and let it inspire me into making a  representational piece.

But this year, I'm in an abstract mood  and want to play with silk so  I thought I would take it into a different direction.  But where to start??

The Original Photo

The Impressionistic effect

The easiest place is my Photoshop Elements program.  The program contains "Filters" that you can easily apply to your photos to create different desired effects.  And let me tell you, you can literally spend hours playing with the different effects. With the click of a mouse you can distort your photo into literally something that is barely recognizable. You are only limited by your patience on how much you want to play with it. 

Watered Window Effect

These are only a few of my favorites.  I doubt if I'd do a literal interpretation of any of these but they definitely give me some ideas on how to abstract out a lily.

Alien Glow

Don't even ask me how all of this is going to figure in with the composition, but a girl has to start somewhere right?!?


So What have you been up to creatively?

The Lilies Finished Up! Off the Wall Friday

With a big Thank God -  I finished up the latest in the lilies series.  With my new habit of getting up and sewing every morning, it wasn't too hard.  I also had to stop worrying so much over my free motion quilting and just do it.  Once I started using the needle like a pen  it went much better.  I keep forgetting that I doodle in most of my free time and all those shapes and curves translate nicely to free motion work.  I also decided that invisible thread is too much a hassle and switch to  poly and rayon threads again.  Much better - plus the bit of color worked nicely.

So here are the stats:

• 36" by 25.5" uneven
• hand dyed cotton, organza, angelina fibers 
• free standing applique, rough edge applique
• free motion quilted
• inspired by the work of Ellen Anne Eddy

 Things I learned:

1. I never  - ever want to do another figurative piece without having a clear vision of the composition before I lay one finger on fabric
2. I really like creating free standing applique using felt and stabilizer as a base
3. Organza really unravels easily - it needs more thread work or more misty fuse
4. I learned how to do a corded binding for a uneven edged quilt

Speaking of that - the corded binding technique that Ellen teaches is quite easy.  You first trim out your quilt to the finished size.  Then you take #3 Crochet thread (white or black) and crouch it around the edge of the quilt using a zig-zag stitch.    With that done, you just satin stitch over the cord.  The only problem I had was that she used her button hole foot for the satin stitching.  I was all jazzed that I finally was going to be able to use one of my fancy foots that came with my machine.  Could I??? 

No!  That's because my machine has an automatic button hole stitch where all you you do is press a button and it makes it for you with this fancy button hole contraption!!  Who knew?!?!  I think they told me that when I bought my machine but Gosh - who really uses their  machine for clothing sewing?  (grin)

Anyways - it came okay.  I had to switch different feet and experiement with thread lengths, but it ended up decent enough.  Still I like a  smooth faced edge better.  With this quilt though and all the angelina thread embellishment - the rough edge is appropriate enough.  While I was working on it, I thought that the corded edge would work nicely on book markers that I like to do as presents.

So happily  with it blocked and labeled,  I will be officially done with this quilt.  Oh - anddddd - a whole week before my deadline.  Are you impressed?!  I'm just super happy to be moving onto the next project.  I mean over the moon peeing my pants happy really ecstatic to be putting this quilt to bed.

So what have you been up to creatively?

Habits - Design Wall Monday

One thing that I've learned in the last 40 years, is that nothing good ever comes without hard work, focus and persistence.  And we all want good things right?  So why isn't it easier to get yourself to work hard and stay focus?

These thoughts all came to mind recently when I was reading an  article in Forbes about how to change bad habits.  It referenced a recent study where changing the way we think of a bad habit can affect how successful we are at breaking it.  It basically comes down to taking charge of a situation rather than letting it rule you.  Now that might appeal to the control freak segment of us (#me) - so I thought I would try to give it a chance.

The strategy  is not to think of a bad habit as "I can't" do this or that.  Rather think of it as "I don't" do this or that.  The study proved that just changing the one word from "Can't" to "Don't" empowers and motivates  us to change the habit.

Simple enough right?  So I thought I would give it a try and change a bad habit.  The last several years, I've tended to get up early, grab breakfast and sit down at my laptop.  I catch up on facebook, clear out emails, read my favorite blogs and play games.  Its a quiet way to start the morning - harmless right?  Wrong - its a huge time suck and hours can pass before I know it!  I'm such an early bird, why would I waste my most productive part of the day????

So starting today, I'm changing this habit.  I don't (and won't - grin) get up in the morning and hop on my lap top.  Rather I will exercise, do chores or gasp - go into my studio to sew.

Wellllll actually  I'll start tomorrow.... today I had to write this blog post to show my progress on lily quilt.  I did get in a few hours this weekend of practicing free motion quilting and then finally working on the piece itself.  I'm doing it in invisible thread and its going well accept for one thing - every once in a while it will skip about 5 stitches where it won't pick up the bobbin thread.   I have no idea why its doing it and after spending a goodly amount of time trying to fix it - I just decided to fix those areas that it skipped.  It doesn't do it on the practice piece - just my lily quilt itself.  Frustrating!  I'm thinking it has to do with the spray basting - but both pieces were sprayed so not sure!

Anyways almost done with this and since I don't get up and waste hours on the computer in the mornings now - I should be onto my next piece soon!

So what habit would  you like to change?

See more traditional design walls at Judy's Patchwork Times!

The Quilting Line - Design Wall Friday

Well School is finally out and house guests are safely home so it seems there is no reason I can't finish up the lilies project.  It took a few more hours but now everything is safely sewn down.

One thing that is nice about doing the embroidery first, is that there is no additional thread work to do once you applique them on.  I didn't use any glue to baste the appliques down - I just used big pins and it seemed to do the trick.  I did find that I needed to add an additional stabilizer  (I just used freezer paper) when I added the stems to the cattails because I was getting a bit of puckering.

Now, onto the quilt line.  I decided for once I would take my time and think about adding some fancy quilt.  I've been saving some examples that have caught my eye on my pinterest board.  So with that as inspiration but still taking the piece into consideration, I started auditioning different lines and ideas.  I used taped together overhead sheets and makers for the job since I didn't have a piece of vinyl on hand.  Still adding its a bit daunting.  I hate putting in the wrong line - - only to have to take it all out again.

So I'm thinking that I might do some practice quilting this weekend and get a feel of the echo curves I want to make.  One thing I've learned about free motion work  - practice is key!

With the week of grey and rain and the  realization that Tessa is one year closer to leaving  - I've been a bit quiet and reflective.

So what have you been up to creatively??

Design Wall Monday

Not much new in my studio today.  You wouldn't know that I spent 5 hrs in there getting the lilies layered and sewn down.  I'm always amazed at how much time the little things take when you're trying to get a piece done.

But still - I did start sewing down the lily appliques.  I found out that rayon - although pretty and shiny has its limitations.  Its just not strong enough to go through the thread layers of the appliques and not break in my machine.  I switch to polysheen and it was fine.  I really like how that last layer of thread color just adds a new detail to the water lilies.  Its subtle but effective.

I decided that I'm going to put a lot of thread work into the piece to flatten it a bit.  That way the lilies will pop and the whole piece won't look too 2-d.

With end of school year activities and company coming  - we'll see how much I get done!~

See other great design walls at Judy's Patchwork Times

Finally. . Off the Wall Friday

Enough is Enough!  After weeks of sitting on my design wall, I decided on the composition.  Cattail leaves added, water implied - I think its done.    I mean   - Gosh - its gotten to a point where it reminds me of a saying from my childhood.  I won't repeat it  here but it involves a Pot and getting Off of it.  Besides, are you as sick of  this thing as I am??

So after carefully pinning it all, I literally took it Off the Wall.  Then I spent 3 hours fusing down the leaves.  It took a while to get them just right.  First, I tried putting the sheer leaves up just one layer.  They were too flimsy to stand-up to their thread-heavy counterparts.  So, using Ultra-violet Misty Fuse (Thanks Lisa!)  I fused them into two layers.  That did the trick.  They still have a translucent effect but still have some substance.

Do you like my water?  My familiar jury is still out on it, but who asked them anyhow??  I like it.  I used Ellen's thread gobbing method with a twist.  I took the Angelina fiber and interspersed it with the left over thread scraps I had been hoarding.  Add a little heat, and wa-la. . . water.  Or what's suppose to be a water - at least the impression of water.  Oh - what the heck - its fused down with misty fuse so its staying now!

I took a break to write up this post, but since I'm on a roll, I'll layer it up tonight and make sure its all ready to start sewing down.  Ellen tells me that the whole thing needs to be layered - even the pieces that are running off the edge.  Then onto sewing these appliques down.

Wanna finish up this baby, 'cause I have it in my mind to do another lily piece before the deadline in a month.  30 days - that seems like long enough, huh?!

So what have you been up to creatively??

Angelina Fibers & Off the Wall Friday

the blue tape is the center - to remind me that NOT to put anything there!!!

Okay.  I'll admit it.  I procrastinate.  I'm sure this is isn't a big surprise to anybody who knows & loves me.  But gosh - when you're staring at a composition on your design wall for weeks that is  lame, lame, lame (and that's lame - not lamay) - wouldn't you procrastinate??

I don't know.  Maybe I was waiting for the nighttime fairies to swoop in one evening and fix what obviously I couldn't.  Orrrrrrrr maybe I was just waiting  for an earthquake to just shake it all into the right place.  Still I had no idea that my salvation would come in the form of  a little pack of   Angelina Fibers - which is the best dang thing since BACON!


OMG - is this stuff cool or what??  Is that Sun/Moon neatolina?!?!  Yes  - I have no clue if that is a sun or a moon - but who cares when it sooooo darn cool (almost as cool as Bacon - but not quite - although a lot less fat and calories).

Its so easy to use!  All I did was take it out of the package  - sandwich it in my teflon applique sheet in a thin layer - press it for 5 sec on the silk setting.  And wal- la - very cool Moon/Sun - it was easy enough to cut into the shape I wanted.  I did press it a bit longer to give it that more crispy color!

I also decided the piece needed a dragonfly since none of my other lily pieces had dragonflies.  I got the idea for its wings from Sandy (who came for a visit today).  She loved this one piece of  special occasion fabric I had.  After she left, I thought - hey that would make great wings and it would balance off the Angelina shimmer nicely.  So I layered it on a piece of light sheer fabric - used Ultraviolet Misty fuse and made a set  of quicky wings.

So for only 2 hrs in my studio, I finally had a break through!  I think the rest of this piece should go easily - well until the quilting line has to be decided on.  Its always somethin' isn't it??

So what have you done creatively???

Back in the Studio - Off the Wall Friday

Am I the only one that gets jazzed to be back into the studio after a little break from creating?  When I left the lilies two weeks ago I was  totally tired of the piece.  It was dull, boring and just a bit annoying.  Now after my short hiatus, I saw all sorts of possibilities in it.

You really do need to excuse the photo.  Not only is this piece normally impossible to photograph, but this week the afternoon sun was shining in on my design board.  Great for sewing - not so great for getting the colors right in a photo.  But the sunshine did feel good!

As you can see its coming along quite nicely - welllll - almost nicely.  Looking at it now - I really have  to do something with that third lily.  I mean, there is no way I can leave it smack dab in the center of this quilt.  Sighhhhhh.  I do have some ideas though, but it just got too late to try them.  That's the nice thing about making these free standing appliques - you can move them around and try new compositions as much as you want.

Oh and you know what?

 I got to try out a new gadget this week.   With Mother's Day, approaching I finally took the plunge and bought a SewSlip.  Now for a long while I've been thinking about getting a Queen Supreme Slider but its royal price tag put me off.   I mean could it really be worth $50+??  With a little research I found the SewSlip and I thought for the $30 investment I would give it a try.  It arrived within a week and was easy to install.  It fits perfectly on my sewing table and I didn't have to trim it.

At first I didn't think it made that much difference.  That is until I took it off and try to threadpaint again.  OMG - you could notice the difference big time.  So it was definitely worth the 30 bucks.  I got the one with a bigger hole just in case I want to do some fancy stitches with it on.  The only thing I didn't like about it, is that you have to take it off to change the bobbin since my machine has a drop in bobbin case.  I can't wait to try it out with some bigger free-motion quilting.

So, What have you been up to creatively??

Limiting Color - Design Wall Monday

 

I remember that day where Elizabeth Barton told me that I should be limiting my color choices when doing a project.  My first reaction was WHAT???  Why in the World would I want to chose 4 colors for a piece when there are thousands of them out there?  I thought maybe she was just being mean.



But of course, she wasn't.  Limiting a palette for a piece makes your life easier and your piece stronger.  That's a lesson that has come back into play with this lily piece.  Its still odd for me doing this piece - planning as I go.  Normally the palette would have been chosen wayyyyy earlier - the fabrics laid out - threads pulled.  I like the structure of working that way  - plus with those decisions made it just makes the process go faster.  This week - it was pointed out to me why.  I mean every time I went to make a color choice - I would start looking at all  the colors in my crayon fabric box.  And as you suspect - that was not helpful.  Too many colors, too many values, too many saturations - too much frustration.


Finally  - the light bulb went off and Elizabeth's words came back to mind.  I pinched one of Tessa's notecards  to write myself a note:

Do you think that is plain enough for me?? I pinned it up to my board to remind myself to stop reaching for colors that are NOT on that card.  They are a lot like french fries right now.  Even though I love them, crave them, reach for them - they are not good for me. Sighhhhhhhh

So I continued to follow my rule as I chose the colors for the cattails and the rocks.  The threadpainting is going well.  I found I don't need a hoop when making the appliques.  The felt, tear-away stabilizer is plenty stable enough - there is very little puckering.  Its much easier to sew anyways without the hoop.  Its amazing how fast the time goes though when you're doing this kind of work.  Spent 4 hrs in my studio yesterday and the only reason I stopped was because my stomach was getting louder than my machine!

See more great traditional design walls at Judy's Patchworks.

The Lilies Continue - Off the Wall Friday

Its been a good week - if not very productive.  But I got some good news - twice!  First of all - you probably know that my piece was accepted into Sacred Threads - so I'm all happy.  Secondly,  I was accepted as a scholarship candidate for my week long class at Arrowmont School of Arts and Craft.  So I feel blessed all around.

Ohhh and the really good news - is that I finally - yes you read that right finally settled on a composition for my lily piece.  This morning while answering comments from my blog it occurred to me that the reason I was having so much trouble was I was afraid to cut into my fabric.  So I switched to tracing paper.  That way I could brainstorm cheaply and easily.  I tried a few compositions but went back to a familiar one.  I call it my smiley  face composition - but really its really tracks your eye around in a stretched oval. Its amazing how much easier it was to work with tissue paper!

With that done - I did manage to get another lily done (that's a lot easier now too!)

Oh and my laundry folded.

And organized my sheer pieces.

And help make dinner.

and now my Off the Wall posted.

So guess it was a pretty productive day!

One more thing - did you know that Quilt Daily offers Free E books on a bunch of really Quilty topics?  Check out the latest one - The Art of Thread Sketching

So what have you been up to creatively??

Threadpainting a Lily - Off the Wall Friday

2011's Entry

Now once a year, I do a lily quilt.  A local art gallery holds a Lily Festival which includes a juried mixed media show and I use it as my excuse to indulge myself to make yet another flower piece.  Still its fun.  Working in series isn't a bad idea either and doing one a year is indeed working in series - even if they are pretty, pretty flowers.  Hmmmmmm and I have 4 done so far and this will be the 5th - so that makes it my biggest series yet  - grin.

So not only do I do a lily quilt every year but  - as is my habit - try to learn something in the process (now there's an idea huh?!)  This year I want to work on my threadpainting  - the Ellen Anne Eddy way.  So after picking a back ground - Can you guess which one I picked? - Making several trips to the third floor for supplies (my aerobics workout for the day)  - I was was ready.

Wait - that brings up another thing I noticed - For a woman who is safely intrenched in the non-fusing camp of quilters - I sure own a lot of fusing supplies.  But honestly, I don't have anything against fusers - some of my best friends are fusers  - I just don't like to glue my quilt down.  Still there is just sometimes where fusing is so much easier for the task at hand!

With that thought, I went though Ellen's process of making a waterlily. Her directions were clear and  it was fun playing with all the dazzling fabrics.  Running my fingers through them aroused all the dreams of becoming a pretty princess.  It was fun being at the machine again - just me - the stabilized background and thread.

But when I was done - that's where the fun stopped.  I looked at the waterlily and it was a hot mess.  Instead of this fanciful graceful floating flower - I had this  - well - you can see.  Needless to say, this was my "trial" flower.

yeah, I know - this would have Tim Gunn shaking his head

and Nina Garcia saying, "OMG, what where you thinking!"

But to quote Ellen's blog. . . .

"Everything worth doing is worth doing badly. If you ever want to do anything well, you need to be willing to do it over and over again. Badly at first. You need to be willing to weather that through."

I think that is great advice right?!

I did start a new one today - picking sheers that would show a bit better - editing my thread choices and neatened up my stitching.  I just want to say that although Ellen's book is super easy to follow - you better know what you are doing with your machine and free motion quilting or this will be a big leap for you.  Luckily - once I got the first one done - I knew exactly what was wrong and the second is coming much nicer.

Ohh and BTW - the waterlily will be a free standing applique - so I will eventually cut it away from the background.  Hopefully I'll have more to show you next week!

So what have you been up to creatively??

The Lily Art Show and a Return to Blogging

Hand Dyed Lilies  - 18" by 27 "

I had a few goals set for myself this summer.  One was to create a piece for the annual Lily Art Show at Campbell's Pottery and the other was to get back into the habit of blogging.  You see both are essential to my creative growth because. . . . without shows and deadlines I would never get anything done. . . and. . . . without blogging I wouldn't have a record of what I've been actually doing.  Sooooo anyways, I've managed to meet both goals.

This year's Lily Show was a success with me creating a piece completed, entered and accepted.  Still, I'm not totally in love with this it.   It was the first time I've used a reverse applique technique where the pattern is drawn on the underside of pellon and the bobbin thread holds the pieces on the front.  VERY odd. . . . the way I normally create, I like to visually try out pieces of hand dyed fabric making sure that each piece's value and color look good with everything else.  With this method, I really had to make up my mind where everything was going before I started sewing.  Also, the thread painting on this piece made it pucker.  Now it had a full layer of stabilizer on the back so you'd think that wouldn't happen but nooooooooo - it did.  Still once I got used to it, I realized that it added  a lot of texture to the piece and was visually interesting.  The traditional quilter in me was appalled though.  Needless to say, I'm very happy to see this piece done and hung.

Paul Sayre's Walnut and Mahogany Lily Boxes

After seeing the show today, I couldn't believe how much fiber has made a big splash into the art scene here in Erie County, PA.  There were several fiber pieces in the show including traditional raw edge applique with borders and binding, fabric pictures that were just fuzed together and painted over, 3-D sculptures, and hand quilted pieces framed and put under glass.  About 120 pieces were juried --- 60 were accepted -- about 20 were fiber.

Michael Kashey's Green Goddess

Also accepted was the amazing work of my husband, Paul.  He decided this year to make inlaid boxes - one of mahogney and the other walnut.  Both sold in the first hour of the show.  Yes, he was pleased.  But who can resist art that is functional and  pretty?

So I already have ideas for next year's lily quilts.  I want to enter two pieces.  Still, I don't see myself going the way most fiber artists did this year  - framing my work and putting it under glass. I realize that to the rest of the world this proclaims a piece to be "Serious Art".   To me, though, fiber means texture and texture is meant to be touched. 

Jinny Beyer Challenge Rocks On! Design Board Monday

Spent the week working on the Jinny Beyer challenge.  Its been fun to experiment with some things I haven't used before.  Saturday was dedicated to sewing down my final design.  I hadn't done this yet with my Janome Horizon so there were some things I had to try out.  First, I found out that it sews great with invisible thread in the top and bobbin.  I also discovered remembered that it has a "Last stitch sewn" function and custom stitch setting memory.  That means I can set up all the stitches that I use to the exact size and settings I want them without  having to do it every time.  That's such a blessing since before I used to write down the setting numbers on tape and put them on the Elna - where they would end up looking all old and yucky!

Anywayssssss. once the machine was set up to use just the right zig-zag stitch, I spent 7  - count 'em - 7 hours sewing around all the little stones with invisible thread.  Luckily, I had a good book to listen too.  Still by 10 at night , the piece was ready to layer up with batting - no back - and to start putting in the extensive thread work I have planned.   This will be the first time I free motion with my horizon so I'm sure there will be a learning curve too!

Oh and what else did I do on Saturday????  I went to the Artist's Reception at Campbell's Pottery where my piece, Lilies, is being shown this month.  Very fun!  Not only was the food good (grin) but also its fun to meet all the other artists.  I love meeting people who have never had work shown before - they're so excited - they're just beaming!


I promise to do a review blog about the show later this week.  We leave this week for my annual trip to Quilting by the Lake - so I have some blogs that are scheduled to post while I'm gone!


See more great design boards at Judy's Patchworks.