Thursday, January 9, 2014

Through the Stargate

Stepping through the Stargate we scream across the galaxy to the icy surface of Europa, Jupiter's sixth moon.
                                            
The first time I saw Jupiter and her moons was in 1986. My brother and I were chasing Halley's Comet and went to the St. Augustine Campus of the University of the West Indies, Trinidad, to see the comet through the telescopes mounted on the roof top of one of the campus' buildings.
  
I was a little disappointed with the comet. It looked like a dirty cotton-ball racing across the night sky.  I knew there would less disappointing entities in the vault of heaven, so I swung the telescope around and encountered Jupiter and her moons.  If I were in love with the night sky prior to that moment, that love just intensified.  I now have my own telescope and find myself up at all hours of the night, often in very cold temperatures staring up at the stars.

I'm fascinated with the heavens...and crop circles.  On December 30, 2013, my baby cat was injured and the days following his injury were spent sitting with him while he healed. I used that time to think and research what I would like to work on in 2014. While browsing a book on crop circles, the germ of an idea took root. The first designs were expressed on needle felted ATCs - Stargates (see earlier postings).

I used the ATC's to play with ideas and now I'm working on a 4" by 6" fabric card, hoping to work my way up to an 8" by 10". I have taken great artistic license with portraying the warming of Europa's surface, (see above) and to see photos of the actual warming, click here, Europa's Icy Surface. 

I hope to finish this card soon, so watch this space...

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Day 4 of Make Art Every Day Challenge

This is my ATC for Day 4 of Make Art Every Day Challenge.  




Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Day 3 of Make Art Every Day-Stargate on the Nile

Day 3 of Make Art Every Day...still experimenting with the Daisy foot, the double needle and today Superior Threads Rainbows.

Stay tuned...

Monday, January 6, 2014

Day 2 of Make Art Every Day

My day 2 of Make Art Every Day Challenge...more circles and triangles on a needle felted ATC.  See Vickie blog: On The Curing Rack for even more art.

Sunday, January 5, 2014

I've Accepted The Challenge

...that is the Make Art Every Day Challenge issued by Vickie at On The Curing Rack.
The beginning of the year got off to a rocky start with Ming-Ming's accident, which meant lots of trips to the vet and sleepless nights.  He, I'm happy to say is on the mend and here is my art for January 4, 2014.
It's an ATC, Artist Trading Card which measures 2.5" by 3.5".  It is needle felted.  The base was created  using silk rovings, cheesecloth and my Janome Embellisher FM725. The circles were made with the Decorative Daisy Stitch Foot, a double needle and rayon thread and the tiny golden triangles were hand embroidered.  At the moment it's untitled but my thoughts keep drifting towards circles and triangles...

Stay tuned...


Saturday, December 14, 2013

Ta-Dah!

My first crazy quilt is done!
It is bound, tied and ready to be hung on the wall.  Just have to decide which wall.  I tied the quilt between the buttons on the front and small beads on the back which successfully hides the thread. The CQJP2013 was a wonderful experience.  The result is this amazing quilt which can be seen here in a video titled...A Year In Crazy Quilting!

Yes...I will be participating in the Crazy Quilt Journal Project 2014.  It was so nice, I'm doing it twice!
I'm looking forward to working on my first 2014 block which is diamond shaped, will be 6" finished, and would be arranged in a tumbling block pattern once all the blocks are completed.
My Sharon B's CQ stencils arrived last Monday and I cannot wait to start experimenting.
Also, I think I will use my stitching frame to stitch my blocks as it frees my left hand to use my laying tool.  I struggled last year as I held my block in my left hand while stitching with my right.  The frame will hold the block taut, which I hope, will result in a less distorted block that will lay flat.

My theme for the CQJP2014 is my mother's garden.  Sheila, who died six years ago, was an avid gardener and embroiderer.  She taught me my first embroidery stitches. I'm still working out the details of the blocks and keeping track of my thoughts in my design journal.
Stay tuned...

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Almost There Continues...

It took some time to stitch all the seams open but I believe in doing things by hand. Stitching is a quiet, careful, thoughtful process. I understand that not everyone will choose to do this but in a world that is noisy, and moving so fast, it's nice to slow down a bit. I used a herringbone stitch and it works quite well. The seams are all flat. The blocks are made of different types of fabric, dupioni silk, cotton, Radiance, which is a combination of both silk and cotton, brocades and are heavily embroidered. The combination of embroidery and the different weight of the fabrics have distorted the blocks.  I think that to avoid this problem in the future, I will make the blocks larger. If I need a 6" finished block then I'm thinking starting off with an 8" block. I hope that will give me enough of an excess to trim the block to size without compromising the stitches or the embellishments.  
Next, I added the border, batting and backed it with Pellon interfacing. My thought is the interfacing will stabilize and support the weight of the quilt. The border is black drapery fabric which will also support the quilt physically and visually, as it frames the quilt and gives a place for the eye to rest.
Thank you for visiting, stay tuned...