Sew Tessa on Off the Wall Friday

Snowflakes turned into Queen Lace

 Yes, the saga of the Stitched Mosaic continued this week.  I spent most of my sewing time, ripping out sections, redoing applique patterns, and getting them sewed back together.  I'm so glad I did.  In the quiet of my studio, it was much easier to get the curves just right...not to mention most of the seams to meet.  I'm not trying to be overly fussy about it though.  I think the imperfections in the mosaic make it much more interesting!  (Here is the original photo inspiration in case you've forgotten)

obviously still needs tweaking but it's getting there!!

So this is as far as I got....yeah I know...She doesn't have a face!  There was a part of me that said GIVE TESSA A FACE!  Then there was another part of me said ....You have no idea how to give Tessa a face!  NO IDEA!!  That was very true!  For the rest of the piece, I just followed the pattern of the photo, but faces are different.  There are some lines, sure.  But the vast majority of the face is brought to life using values of beige.  But what parts??  and what values??

So I did a little research and played with my favorite online photo editor...Fotor.  I went back to the original photo and cropped out here face.

Then I blurred the pixels and turned up the contrast so I could see the major sections of the value that make up her face.

That still wasn't quite enough so I decided to play with their many art filters.  Here is one version..

Here is another...

With all this inspiration, I could now go back to the original pattern and sketch in the spaces of values ...this weekend!  It was a perfect place to stop.  I mean I love my daughter, but honestly that was enough of her face for one day (grin)!

Sub Rosa, Venice II, Judi Warren Blaydon, 2010

Now on a sad note....I just found out a former teacher of mine, Judi Warren Blaydon died in January. A quilt teacher and lecturer since 1981, she also was the author of a fabulous book...Collage + Cloth = Quilt.  I was first introduced to her work when I was a young quilter at Quilting by the Lake.  I would go by her classroom and see the fabulous work the students were creating in only a few short days.  I thought, OMG how did they do THAT??  Why didn't I take THAT class.  So a number of years later, I did take her class...the Artful Quilt.  It was a fabulous week and you can read about it here and here.  I loved the class; I loved the process; I loved the piece.   

Judi's website says there will be a respective of her work at Gallery 22 North, in Ypsilanti Michigan in August.  She will be missed.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Getting Serious with the Pinwheels on Off the Wall Friday

Okay, enough is enough!  This week I had a come to Jesus talk with my self.  I said, "Self, you have playing around with the pinwheels for too long. At this rate this quilt is NEVER going to get done.  It is too darn pretty for you to do a pinwheel here and a pinwheel there.  Get over your laziness and just work on it regular!"











So that's what I did this week.  I took it out in my studio and started working on the pinwheels like it was a regular project, not just a project I do to keep my fingers busy.  Now you've seen it here and there on this blog but this time I'm serious!  Fabric on my work table, blocks on the wall, Work an hour or two a day serious!

I'm still not quite sure what form they are going to tessellate into but I did realize that I needed some very "Medium" blocks.  I have a lot of darks, a lot of lights but really no mediums and transitional blocks.  So that's what I was making this week.  I also discovered the world of 5" charm packs.  I had no idea that the smart fabric marketers have started selling 5" charm packs of commercial fabric lines.  AND these little charm packs are relatively inexpensive and full of a lot of variety.  Thanks to Amazon Prime, I was able to get some Stonehenge Gradation Chips from Northcott in a jiffy.  I still think that I'll have to do some Red Solo cup dyeing soon in the palette of the quilt to get some good transitional fabrics but we'll see.

Anyways, listening to Laurie R King's A Grave Talent, I happily am plodding along on the quilt.

Now for the sad news ....

This week, the quilt world lost one of the greats to cancer....Gwen Marston.  Over the last 30 years, Gwen has been teaching and lecturing her ideas of "Liberating Quilting".  Although she, like many of us, started with traditional quilting, she took the leap into creating in a more innate abstract  way.  With this new liberation for the structures of  the traditional , she found her passion.  She felt that  “…quilts like these hold my attention longer than their predictable, well-organized, color-coordinated, pattern-based, uptown sisters.”  Now a days, we can all appreciate that sentiment.  But 30 years ago, it was more groundbreaking.

In her quilting life she taught internationally, wrote several books and founded a popular quilting retreat near her home in Beaver Island, Michigan home.    She was a prolific quilter and with a quick google search you can find many examples of her videos, podcasts, and quilts.

She will be missed.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

5 Facts You Didn't know about Sewing With Nancy for Off the Wall Friday

Nancy Zieman, 1937-2017

This week we lost the host of Sewing with Nancy, Nancy Zieman to cancer.  Nancy was fundamental to my fascination with all things sewing since I started watching her show in high school and continued on to this day.  Even though at first I didn't sew, I loved watching Nancy with her easy going, peaceful approach to the craft.   Sew in honor to her, here are some interesting facts you might not have know about her.

Facts You Didn't Know About Sewing With Nancy Zieman

1.  Sewing with Nancy first broadcasted in 1982 and was the longest running sewing television program of its kind (Over 800 episodes ).  The early episodes were filmed in her own home living room and broadcast on local cable tv.Nancy was much more than the Saturday morning sewing guru. 

2. She authored over 40 books (including an autobiography), designed notions for Clover Needlecraft Inc, designed a line of fabric and sewing patterns, authored an interactive blog, and founded Nancy's Notion catalog (which was always my go-to place to find the hard to find notions I wanted).

3.  In 2001, she was the first elected member to the Sewing Hall of Fame (didn't know there was a Sewing Hall of Fame??  Me, either!!  

 

4.  Nancy's face was partially paralyzed by Bell's Palsy which she developed due to an ear infection as a toddler.   She was always open about the condition and talked about it on her show. 

5. Charity Projects were a heart felt passion with Nancy.  Not only did her and her husband Richard give quietly through the years, she also inspired others to give with her blog's page - Sew To Give where you can find several organizations to sew for.  Nancy often said, "The Gift is in the Giving".