Lost wagon found plus lovely surprise!!!

In 1984 I acquired this old wagon on the left and planted that small beauty bush next to it.. I fully intended it to be the focal point  and the beauty bush was to be a backdrop...  Well on the right you can see by 1998 the beauty bush was consuming the wagon (see arrow).  As years went by I had all but forgotten the wagon was even there...

But Thursday when we were cutting out plum trees which had self-seeded throughout that area I came upon the wagon and it immediately has gone to the top of my "to-do" list for rescue...

But as I came closer I made a remarkable discovery..  leaning against the wagon was an old leveling bar and a piece of decorative metal gate.  I must have put them there years ago with every intention of using them in a project but obviously had forgotten them all together.

Here it is leaning against the garage where I will mount it to support a newly planted clematis.  It is a handcrafted piece.  All the ends are either hammered and tapered or carefully folded.  Many sections are wrapped... Of course after this period of abandonment it is wonderfully crusted and rusted.  I have absolutely NO idea when and where I acquired it...but what a delight to find it.

And speaking of metal work be sure and stop by Block Talk and see how the black lace used by Rengin is reminiscent of wrought iron work of Victorian times...

Symbiotic relationship between shape and needlework

Sharon Boggon spent a good deal of time the first day explaining the differences (historically and now) between Australian and American crazy quilting. I am so sorry I didn't take better notes..but it was very evident that it affects her approach to crazy quilting..

She had 3 large pieces there (along with numerous smaller pieces) but I was immediately enamoured with the all-over floral areas which were different in that they defined a shape of an entire patch and in turn, the patch defined the shape of the floral area.. I know this sounds obtuse but there were so many examples that it took me a while to put my finger on why I noticed them... They were definitely not motifs or floral work as we use here. In this first one please note all the contrasts in color and materials.. I especially love the little pinwheel flowers.. they are so unexpected and delightful.

This is another example combining SRE and beads...lots of beads... Notice that it's the little burgundy roses that carry your eye across....

So much of our SRE and floral work here in the states (myself included) is roses, roses , and more roses. Seeing her pieces made me excited about expanding the types of flowers I include and how I use them.. Again this needlework is clearly defined by the shape of the patch and the shape of the patch is enhanced by the texture of the needlework.. This was on her tumbling-block quilt where shapes of the blocks was critical to the overall piece.

This is another example that was on her long sampler and the photo was taken by Susan Elliott.. the same symbiotic relationship between shape and needlework.. There was a lot of cast-on work and bullion stitches in this patch..

I was absolutely AMAZED when I saw Sharon do her bullion rose...her finger moved so fast it was whizzing thread around that needle like an electric mixer. I was in total awe. Notice how it is the little purple centers that carry the eye across.

She brought her unbelievable 75-foot sampler band with her ... Susan Elliott did a whole post on it so I won't repeat it. Sharon is doing sections of it on her site (which is in my side bar) but to see it all laid out in one piece was amazing

This is favorite photo of Sharon as I unintentionally got her bare feet into the picture.. Her shoes went off first thing in the morning... In a few days I'll do a summary post on this workshop and how I think it will affect my work...

Sharon definitely not a snob about trims...

Throughout the workshop we were continually using this quilt as a primer and no matter how often I looked at it I found something new and wonderful.

Sharon uses every single kind of ribbon, binding, braid, cording, trim, and lace that is out there and she not only uses it, she embellishes it.. But what delighted me most is the rickrack. She started using it because she was told it couldn't (or shouldn't) be used.... too tacky!!

Obviously she is up to any challenge because rickrack was EVERYWHERE on her work and spectacular in every case...

Follow on down the page for a few examples..

Not only is she not a snob about rickrack, she has embraced the inexpensive nylon and cotton laces that true lace snobs would abhor... AND when she is finished embellishing them ... WOW

Notice the two laces on this block... one handled simply and the other has beads, SRE. buttons, and embroidery. Sharon continually features these blocks on her blog so follow along and be especially aware of the trims and what she does to them...

Just as an added note I have always been in love with all kinds of trims... I have always been fascinated with embellished folk dress including European, Middle Eastern, Far East and especially the Gypsies...In the mid 90s I was occasionally doing some CQ and on a trip to NZ wandered into a shop specializing in trims and silk for saris.. I could have bought out the store (and tried)... I am still using some of them....

I soon discovered doing RRs that stitchers were reluctant to add trims and it's impossible to add them after the stitching is done... so I add all my trims BEFORE the block leaves home. So follow along with Sharon as she showcases this quilt and look closely at all the trims.. If you are not using them ... experiment and you MUST use rickrack....

p.s. I was overly optimistic in thinking I could do a synopsis in three posts from Sharon's workshop so more will follow of her workshop and of the other classes (Betty and Allie). It all was so inspiring...

The eyes have it!!

The good news is that the eye activity in the type of creative needlework we do improves both our cognitive skills and our memory... Sharon referred often to eye tracking studies and someone wanted to know how it is done...

So here it is... The eyetracker is worn on a helmet with an eye camera recording the pupil position, and a scene camera recording the view in front of the subject. The head position monitor allowed calculation of the gaze position of the eye even during head movement.



There are many studies on artists creating and also on people observing art....This study was done on a portrait artist wearing the helmet and a similar monitor was attached to the artist's pencil. It's pretty technical but the illustrations show how often and where the artist looks at the model and how he puts what he sees on his canvas...


So the information Sharon shared was based on such studies. Her main point was that if the block is too busy or congested the eye doesn't know where to land... Likewise it needs quiet areas to pause and take in even more detail.... And that is really all we need to remember... So this is probably way more information that anyone wants or needs but I find the fact that they can do this kind of research is interesting.

Contrast in seams

Those of you who follow will remember I outed myself in February and made my big confession on how I make all my blocks.... (http://olderrose.blogspot.com/2011/02/i-confess.html) The only drawback to this method is that due to the assembly of sections I always end up with this extremely long diagonal seam.. (see white line).. This is always something that has to be address with strategically place motifs and buttons and sometimes I extend another seam visually to break it up...

Of course Sharon saw this immediately and wondered how I was going to handle the problem... I loved the first day but the second day was even better because it was all about seams...all eight hours..

Not only did we talk about building seams (stacking, combining stitches etc.) and seam variations. She spent a great deal of time discussing "expanding seams" and "condensing seams." She urged stitchers to create contrast in and with their seams a on every piece.

Seam treatments 1.2 and 3 are the pesky long seam. On 1 and 3 I did an expanded treatment which draws the eye outward and away from the seam...which keeps your eye from following down the seam... On seam 2 I did a very condensed treatment which hold it in place. She was also emphatic on letting seam treatment leave the seam line and wander across seam lines into other patches... again moving the eye and creating interest...

Seams 4, 5 and 6 are treatments to use to embellish quiet areas... Seam 4 is a valour rick rack (discovered in the barn) finished with ribbon and beads... Seam 5 is my favorite on the whole block... It is stacked herringbones laced with variegated silk ribbon and finished with bead.. quiet but elegant... Since it is such a bright and busy block I chose to keep the lower corner quiet... but not empty... I used gold thread to stitch the pattern under the lace motif and a tiny gold braid embellished with single row of beads for the seam.... If I have to choose one thing that will influence my stitching the most from now on, it is attention to creating interesting quiet areas on blocks...

The last day was spent on motifs, flower sprays and trims etc.... I will get to that also using some of her blocks... Although I will do a bit more on this block I am very tired of it.. Rushing through is not my style... I like to plod and think and rethink and rethink.. so a rest from this block is due.

Block for Sharon's class - motif issue

This is the block I stitched to embellish in Sharon Boggon's 3-day workshop.. I did this much in 3 long days and am kinda tired of it right now so it is a good time to evaluate it before I go any further with it. As usual when I gather things for a block there are items that HAVE to be on it for one reason or another. Most often because I am emotionally attached to them as gifts from a friend. Here it was the purple rose made by Theresa Rapstine, pink motifs and trim from Janet Popish and the lace in the lower right from a friend at my senior center...



Immediately there is a problem in that the flowers are almost the same size... I could have placed them together to quickly solve the problem... Since I didn't.... no matter where I placed them the eye would just jump from one to the other no matter how strong your path.. This often a design problem I see on blocks... There will be 2 strong focal points competing with each other... The solution is an easy one... make them unequal by building one up and reducing the effect of the other. Adding additional embellishing to the purple rose and giving it a prime position nearer the center makes it the dominant focal point...With the magic of photoshop you could see that I could even build it up even more. By removing some embellishment (not shown) and placing the other focal point at the lowest right (almost off the block) it is diminished in importance. Doing these two things increased the contrast between the two focal points.



Next is this block really needed stronger elements to draw the eye away the the diagonally path between the two focal points so I ruched the ribbon seam mid center bottom to draw the eye to the left and then back up to the other focal point...likewise the trim and dragonfly on the upper right... The path really need some tweaking yet... but I'd like to point out some points of interest on the seams from the second day of the workshop.... tomorrow...

Maureen B and Cathy K. are both posting great pictures of the adventure... Most of mine were quilt shots and most of the people shots were out of focus..

Sharon Boggon's quilts

Sharon not only brought this quilt but two other large ones, many smaller pieces, and her famous 75' long stitch sampler which stretched around the room.. They were all laid out on tables and she encouraged us to handle them, take photos and study them up close... This is her famous "I dropped the button box" quilt and what amazed me is how small the squares are...about 5-6 inches and each one is a lesson...all 100 of them..

Now that I've inundated you with information on contrast, take a few minutes and go to the site of this quilt..... Click on individual squares and look for the paths she creates for the eye to follow and start identifying all the various examples of contrasts in her blocks...especially the busy and quiet areas... My class block and more soon....

I finally am getting settled in... unpacked, taxes finished (nothing like the last minute), and house in order... Today is a "mother needs" day, getting groceries, and baking... as DH has only 4 sour cream rolls left..

THEN I can attend to getting buttons uploaded on Etsy and start painting again.... I had many special requests in CT including one from Marilyn for a painting of her grandson on a button... Is he cute or what? I've done watercolor portraits over the years but this will be my first attempt at a miniature on a 1 1/2" button..

More on the CT workshops so don't go away now and I hope you're enjoying my memories of this event..

And Why Is Contrast So Important????

And why is contrast so important?.....it affects how your eye sees the block and especially how your eye moves around the block!!! Since this is a favorite subject of mine I'll be able to use all Sharon's information on contrast..

First this is my "Hearts to Sendai" block which I took with me and finished on planes and off hours... There is some color contrast but it is primarily a red-on-red block. There is contrast in texture, scale and shape in the fabric as well as the embellishments but Sharon has some other areas of contrast that you can look for and include in your work.

1. Sheen vs. matte (in both fabric and embellishments

2 Structured elements ( buttons all round) vs. free form elements (daises that that are irregular

3. Single focus elements ( fan) vs. repetitive elements (hearts)

And my very favorite.....busy areas vs.quiet area. Quiet does not mean empty. An area can be heavily embellished and still be quiet....( the lower right corner which is covered in a rich red Venetian lace...) In all the examples of her fabulous work she pointed out the paths she created for the eye to follow but emphasized the necessity of quiet areas for the eye to rest. Over and over she stated that if a block is too busy the eye just flits about and doesn't really see the beauty of it.... Which is exactly how there can be two blocks heavily encrusted and one is beautiful and the other is just junky.... It will be hard not to get ahead of myself but I'll keep referencing these points as I go along...

Now I will get just a bit ahead because I will be sending this block off... The second day we immersed ourselves totally in seam work, which I loved being newly converted seam obsessive... But Sharon didn't always do every seam and some seams were quite simply done and some were rich and textured.. So there was even contrast in her seam treatments. She used all three techniques as part of the design of a block... As you can see I immediately embraced the very embellished seam... (more later) I can't even count the layers on the first seam but it was for an exercise in expanding seams (more later).

I'm including this second example because it is a rick rack seam... but the rick rack is glitzy red stuff underneath... What looks like blue rick rack on top is actually a needle weaving of a zigzag chain stitch. We did a LOT of needle weaving which was something I did very little of before so watch for it now in my work.... great fun and interesting!

Next post I will show the block I actually did during the workshop.. Sorry for some reason blogger is messing with my paragraph divisions...

Home Again!!!

The new lamb is fat and frisky and a little camera shy... She is getting a supplemental bottle for a while and I really believe DH enjoyed feeding the little darling and Morris is totally in love with her.

Nothing was blooming when I left but what a difference 11 days make.

The violets are blooming by the big greenhouse.

The daffs are blooming EVERYWHERE.

The hybrid hellebore are glorious,... I have them in all shades of blues, purples and pinks besides the usual green... The hybrids are outrageously expensive so I only add one a year but they are such early color AND THE DEER (or gophers or rabbits) DON'T EAT THEM...

The rhubarb is up and DH is thinking pies

And we walked in the forest after chores... We were only going to do a mile but ended up doing three... It felt soooooooo good... All the hours of sitting just destroyed my back... first on the planes and then hour after hour stitching. I grabbed every opportunity to stretch out on the bed to relieve the pain..

Finally reality... Two blizzards, a strong wind storm and Randy Andy's last rampage destroyed the double sheep shelter... Since it is time to get the ewes and lambs out into the pastures this needs to be at the top of the critical list and will call Wil today...

The conference was fabulous and I have so much to share... Rather than just a lot of random pictures (although I will tuck some in) I want to use blocks to share some of the stuff we covered and I think you will find it helpful.. I figure it will take some time....and will start tomorrow... so much!! I still have to unpack and tackle the house. I left it in a terrible state as I painted buttons nonstop the last weeks... I did sell a lot of buttons and got lots of commissions and now I need to paint more

Two Nifties for You in One Day!

Remember the nifty little retractable scissor holder I have on my chatelaine??? Well I have another like it I just clip to my shirt while I am at the sewing machine.. It is so handy not to have to look for scissors to clip bobbin threads. AND it would look equally nice attached to a needle book so I made some to sell at the Adventure boutique and I will put them on my Etsy when I get home...









Aren't they all just gorgeous on the tray..
Just $3.50 ladies... These are the very best secret sister gift....

And speaking of the boutique...it's a whole another thing trying to think about display when you're flying and REALLY limited on space... Wicker baskets would have been perfect but try to get 2 or three in an already full suitcase...

So I have come up with a nifty alternative.. When I was delivering my mom to her bridge group yesterday I swung by the thrift store and picked up 4 rustic-looking place mats. They can fit flat in the bottom of my suitcase...

Once I get there I can tie up the corners and it makes a super, attractive, basket-like container. Actually some large diaper-type pins would work just as well ... Pretty darn nifty even if I say so myself. And I'm upcycling as well....

Hearts & Hands to Sendai Block

I pieced my "Hearts & Hands to Sendai" block last night and gathered a lot of trims etc... My block will have LOTS of hearts when done plus a large elaborate fan which is still in the planning stage.. But it is a small enough piece I can work on it in the plane and layovers in airports...

It's still dark but as soon as it's light I'll go out to check on "pseudo mother"... Ruby still hadn't birthed Her absconded lamb is fat and happy and she hovers over it all the time. Ruby is lactacing which I found hard to believe but the lamb nursing was enough stimulation... All the while I was holding it to check it, Ruby had her head on my lap also.. She was hardly moving and pawing at the straw so it will be soon... Pitiful Pearl looks like a tank...

I made umpteen trips back and forth to the old greenhouse where I keep the ewes for lambing. Even though I have seen many, it's still always a thrill for me to see a birth. I manage it at least once or twice every season. So since this will be my last season I am constantly checking... When I had a lot of sheep it was hard NOT to see a birth.. but with only three left ... not so easy.

But the yesterday was productive on the packing front and I gathered tons of stuff for these two blocks.. Probably way more than I needed. So I am prepared for the 3-day workshop with Sharon Boggon and will start gathering stuff for Allie's and Betty's workshop... The bad news was the repair man said it would cost more than it's worth to fix the refrigerator... It's only 6 years old and I've just loved it.. So I am going to look for a cheap used one as at this point as I can't be sure how much longer we can stay on the farm...

Serious packing and chatelaine...

I am seriously into packing today. In fact a one point I was actually thinking for a moment about how much space and weight I would save if I cut all the labels out of my clothes...ROFLOL

I even gave my chatelaine a sponge bath...It is so worn and looking rather shabby. I'll have to think about making a new one... It has lots of history and has been on so many planes, to so many countries, and in constant use at home and in the car... I did make a couple changes...

I added the button I painted recently of my dear sweet Morris whom I will miss... There will be no one to mess up my sewing supplies...
This will be the first time I've been separated from him since I got him...




The other addition is an enamel button that was a gift from Susan Elliott... I wanted to wear it and my first thought was to make it into a composite jewelry piece because it is so beautiful.. but I realized I would be wearing so much more often if it was on my chatelaine so on it went....


I changed my mind often on what to do for the motif swap and this is what I finally did... 10 of them.. I painted the buttons, beaded around them and attached them to a crocheted medallion..

The refrigerator repair man was just here and said it would cost more to repair ours than buying a new one... not what I wanted to hear... I have to do it before I leave... one more unexpected thing on the list.

I confess................

The tie was found and Morris had been falsely accused. I had actually cleverly hidden it from myself... But I found it the day before Cathy came so I was able to piece my second block for the Sharon Boggon workshop with my lovely tie as the inspiration colors.. As a beginning for my embellishment bag I have Theresa Rapstine's ribbon flower, Janet's trim, a great chenille rickrack I found in the barn, some yummy new ribbons purchased on Estsy... and a few other goodies....



I realize that with time I will get faster with Allie's "chunk, dump and clump" method but it took me the better part of an afternoon.

So for my second block I reverted to my usual paper piecing... also covered in Allie's book.


But since piecing is my least favorite part of the whole process and paper piecing is fast and easy (and mindless), I have used it exclusively since I started CQ.. Not only THAT I have to confess using the exact same pattern for every single block for all these years. I don't think anyone has ever noticed or if they have they have been too polite to mention it...



And besides that, I "stack and whack" and do several blocks at a time so I always have a basket of extra blocks ahead... Not too creative I admit but I make up for it in the embellishment.... Right?

So now I'm ready for Sharon's workshop... Next on my list is the label for the AAQ piece and getting it in the mail Monday along with the last block in the "seams only" RR.

Allie's "Chunk" Method

While Cathy was here I pieced the two blocks I'm taking to Sharon Boggon's 3-day workshop in April... One I wanted the inspiration focus to be this photo taken by my granddaughter in Morocco. I shared a couple days ago the steps I took to edit it a bit...

Then the search began for fabrics for fabrics... The printed piece was a scarf I found Tuesday in a thrift store... Cathy K. and Maureen F. donated some of the oranges... the greens I had. I will add blue accents with stitching and beads..

Last year when I pieced my AAQ entry I used a method on Allie's blog and she called it the "the chunk method" and it's in her new book which is rapidly selling out.... I loved it because I ended up with lots of irregular patches and endless seams.. The first step is cutting lots of "chunks" as seen in this photo... I arranged them on the block about where I wanted them and of course not one ended up where I planned. Then you start seaming them in pairs and then pairs of pairs, etc... My patches ended up all about the same size so the next time I try this method I will strive for more variety in the size of the patches..

But after it was done and basted to muslin foundation I was happy with it... The random irregular look is so different from what I've always done... So now I have it set out and will begin collecting embellishments to use on it.... I intend it to be a wall hanging with a lush fringe of beads and brass bells. All the seam treatments will be geometric..

Although Allie calls it the "chunk" method I refer to it as Allie's "chunk, dump and clump" method. The second block I did my usual method and I will share that tomorrow.

Madison's Photo

Everyone is sleeping this morning including Miss Molly who has moved into Cathy's bed to sleep. I will take a few minutes to show the steps in creating the focal point for my block for the Sharon Boggon workshop.

I loved this photo my talented granddaughter took in Morocco in December and wanted to use it on that CQ piece and I'm preparing the block today...

I needed to simplify the photo a bit with a little photo editing. I wanted to crop out the door on the right and I wanted the cement blocks gone... So I made a couple copies of the photos..

On the first copy I edited out the bike all together. But as you can see the little bit of blue of the bike is vital to the composition of the photo .. Also the bike adds the human element of the photo... So I definitely wanted the bike back in the photo but without the cement blocks.




On the second copy I isolated the bike and began erasing the cement blocks... Since the wall and street are so rustic it does not have to be too precise.

Then I dropped the bike back into the photo and still need to do a little fine tuning.

The final step will be to set the photo on a bigger block of orange to create a seam allowance.