Monday, July 4, 2011

July 4th and some Cool Piecing Up


Picnic in the Park in Batavia at Centennial Park. I love the small town-ness of this celebration. Melissa, Cory, Michael, and Cory's parents, Karen and Bob all walked the grounds, followed by a cookout at Karen and Bob's new house. Hot dogs wrapped with bacon, burgers, pasta salad, deviled eggs and pineapple upside down cake. Still full!

In between deviling eggs and cake making, I grabbed the pile of leftover hand dyed fabric from the Iron Quilter day. A woman from guild, Cheryl Doodie, showed me how to do this cool technique that gets you a 1/4" or even 1/8" strip of fabric in your piecing. I had my sample from a few years ago to remind me how to go about it. I started piecing strips and bits and a couple hours later had this...
Very improvisational. Very satisfying. I love it.
And because I just can't waste a shred of this fabric (I still have some left, and I will use it!) I did this....
A mini weaving inspired by my online "class" with Jude Hill on Spirit Cloth. The weave is done on a backing fabric and tacked in place. I have an idea for some stitching. Also very satisfying. It's all about the process for me!

If I were to choose a work of art at the Art Gallery in Rochester to interpret, I would choose this painting. A few years ago, RAFA, did a challenge just like that. I went to the exhibit and it was excellent. Pictures were allowed....sooo when 
I took last Friday off so Melissa and I could go there to  check out the Fiberworks exhibit, I was disheartened to find out no pictures allowed of this very interesting show. How else so you look back for inspiration? To me the exhibit is like a traveling magazine. Out of respect for the rules, I won't post the one pic I did take...but it was really inventive. This woman had taken discarded lottery tickets, but them in star shapes and with dental floss, sewed them to a man's suit. What you didn't see readily with my eye, my camera showed she had incorporated color/value and made an American flag image. 
Lunch at the Gate House Cafe in Village Gate. Nice day indeed.

I mentioned the Summertime CQ Challenge Nicki on HGTV message board is hosting. We got the bag of bits and have to use some of each fabric and lace in a block. I spent hours yesterday piecing it! Blue is not my favorite color. The blue fabric we got is a dense , 3-D, tricky bit. Using a third of this is THE challenge here! I managed. I actually counted how many swirls were in the piece, divided it by 3 and determined I had to use 15-17 of them in my block! Since this is a competition, I can't show pic of it til voting is over in September sometime. I have alot of stitching to do, but this is the fun, dress up stage. Many idea's brewing!

I have learned:
  1. My Trailblazer sounds like a race car. Muffler? Catalytic Converter? I won't find out til Wednesday. Meanwhile.....music....loud.
  2. Tomorrow is my 32nd anniversary of my start date at National Fuel. I was 18, two weeks out of high school when I took the bus to downtown Buffalo, in a borrowed flannel dress. to work summer help on the 8th floor in Materials Management. (yes, a flannel dress, in July. No one told me not to!) I am once again in Materials Management, but in the Operations end....different union, like a new job 15 years ago. 
  3. The Voice. Javier was my least favorite all along. 
  4. The Bernina Bernette 82e that I won at Iron Quilter is in the shop. After Melanie had a look-see and verified I wasn't inept, I called The Bobbin Case and dropped it off for a timing belt repair. Linda, the owner is a lovely woman in her 70's that opened the Bernina Machine shop almost 20 years ago! Since I am giving this machine to Melissa, in hopes that she learns to sew and stops asking me to do everything for her, she will pick it up and receive free lessons! What a great prize.
  5. Why have I never seen these fabrics before? Thanks to an article in a magazine, I found her website. Marcia Derse. Her third line of fabrics with Troy Fabrics. Wow. I want every one from all three lines! 





2 comments:

JodyC said...

Great fabrics in your piece. OMG, love the "Third in line" fabrics! Maybe I could find a freelance job to fund the purchase of these fabrics. Of course if I had them I wouldn't want to cut/use them.

Martha Lorshbaugh said...

Now that you mastered Cheryl's technique, you can show us!