HA! I actually made ATCs early, e.g. I wasn’t working on them the night before or the morning before the meeting.
I didn’t use the backing I prepared, but I had a different idea, as you can see, using the leftover tablecloth plastic I used to make one version of the Eco Market Tote. They came out a little bit curly, but I like that I am able to see through them. I did put a label in between the layers before I sewed the pieces together.
This is the first time I have used the roller foot with the new machine. It worked ok. Not great. Not terrible.
The exchange went pretty well. We had 6 people exchanging which meant I didn’t get one of each. I missed one of Nancy’s and one of my own. Usually I don’t choose one of my own, because I can make one for myself if I want one. I would have really liked one of Nancy’s. Oh well. There is always next time.
February 2015 ATCs – all choices
Julie’s (left hand photo, lower) uses some of the supplies we bought at Dharma last Friday. She rushed right out and used the silk thread/yarn I talked about. It looks cool and I really have to try it.
My chosen ATCs – Feb 2015
I am happy with the ATCs I picked. Rhonda’s (lower left) really looks different than the others, though isn’t too far off the one in the upper right hand corner by Bron.
The gold one is by Diane and I didn’t hear how she made it, but I think she must have melted something to give it texture.
Yes, shockingly I finished something. It seems like it took forever! I know it didn’t take forever, because we made the top on January 4.
I made the back, as I mentioned, then I sent it off to Gerre with a Frankenbatting and she quilted it. I got it back and put the binding on. It really went very quickly once I sat down and sewed the binding. <It went much better than the quilt in front of it with a batik back AND binding. What was I thinking?>
The back came out pretty well and wasn’t a misery to put together. I am still uncomfortable not putting a label on these donation quilts, but I hope that documenting the quilt here will help historians some day. If the quilt is just loved to death then that will be enough.
Pink T Quilt back
I was able to use up some pinks and make a fun quilt. I am already thinking about what color to cut next. I am not a big fan of green, but I have a lot of green. If I cut orange to go with it, it would be really different and might appeal to someone who walks to the beat of a different drummer.
Wash fabric AKA The Great Unwashed (I am still pressing and cutting the loads of fabric I did in December. I did do a couple of loads in February since I wanted to use the fabric)
Make stiff bucket or box for TP in main bath
Make stiff bucket or box for TP in second bath – I am thinking of making this triangular in shape
Anna Maria Horner Multi-tasker tote (gift-due Holiday 2013- sigh. Missed 2015 deadline as well) – found the pattern, which is a good start.
Make 3 notepad covers (gifts)
Day in the Park backpack variation
Sew Bon Appetit apron
ATCs for CQFA January Meeting – meeting was cancelled and I have until February 28? I have found some fabric for the backs and marked it
All small items, prior to those completed in December 2014, have been completed since November 4, 2013. This is a new list for 2015. You can find the list for 2014 and previous on the last post.
I finally made it back to a CQFA meeting! September was the last meeting I attended and it feels like an eternity.
We changed locations and the months in which we will meet. The crowd was quite large – about 25 people. Dues were collected. Retreat monies were collected (if you are not a member and would like to attend, the cost is $107 and there are a few spaces left. Leave a comment and I will hook you up). Lots of announcements were made.
I am in charge of the workshop next time. The title is “Same Design, Make it Mine”. I have to post a photo of the image to our private group before the meeting, then everyone will bring their supplies and ideas and work on their pieces during the meeting. We probably won’t finish, but it will be a good way to work together on our own thing. I had an image all picked out and then I got an different idea during the meeting. We’ll see what I choose.
Workshop
Our Critique Pieces
The first activity we did was to view the SAQA Trunk Show through the lens of a formal critique in order to learn about critiquing art. Maureen secured the SAQA Trunk show and Dolores made up a handout, then presented it, on how to critique a piece of art.
I have never done critiquing and I learned a lot, mostly because there are fact based tasks to perform in a critique before you get to the part where you say whether you like the piece or not.
The moniker we used to remember the steps in critiquing is:
DESCRIBE
E
M
ANALYZE
P
P
L
E
S
INTERPRET
S
JUDGE
U
I
C
Y
The first 3 aspects are essentially fact based: what do you see, what principles and elements of design do you see, what is the work about? The last one starts to get into opinion, but then the last aspect, Judge, is when you get to say whether you like the work and why.
I liked this way of critiquing, because it forces the viewer to stick to facts until nearly the end. By doing that, I found that my emotions about the piece were less important, because I was spending energy is really looking at the piece. There some things that I noticed:
Make an artwork that is appropriate to the size. Some of the pieces had too much going on for the format size (around 8.5″x11″). That is a small piece and you need to focus on using that space well instead of trying to get a complicated message across. We found that the ones that were most successful were the ones that fit the format. There was was one that was interesting, but got lost because of the size. It would have been great in a much larger format.
Knowing the basics of design was really helpful. The most successful pieces adhered to some of those principles and elements. Making a piece – the actual technique – is really fun, but in order for a viewer to get something out of a piece, having some structure is helpful.
Dolores did such a great job on the handout. She really should think about teaching art.
Challenges
Rhonda introduced a new challenge, which was inspired by the book Brave New Quilts by Kathreen Ricketson. We are to make a piece of art inspired by a particular art movement or artist. We will be having a challenge review at our December meeting so we are encouraged to bring past challenges as well as this one to that meeting. I am not really inspired, but I have a book called the Daily Book of Art which I will look at before I completely bail.
Some of the challenges we have had in the past are:
2 shapes
placemats
under the sea
fusible flowers
monochromatic
I have ideas and/or fabric for some of these. I really have a great idea for the placemat challenge and really want to do it. I just need to start designing the shapes, then cutting.
Show and Tell
Show and Tell is, of course, my favorite. I only brought the Pink T Quilt. I’ll post about the finished piece in a day or two. I brought it with the binding half on to the BAMQG Meeting, but Gerre wasn’t there so she got to see it at CQFA, which was great. It isn’t very arty, but people seemed to like it. They asked about the organizations to which BAMQG donates quilts. I didn’t have a great answer, but Rhonda helped out.
I also talked a little bit about the Tsukineko Inks class I took and showed the class samples. I really want to get back to that and do something. I just don’t know what.
Julie’s Christmas Quilt
Julie brought her Christmas quilt, the one we picked up the other day from Colleen (post about that soon as well!). Her Christmas quilt uses a lot of different Christmas fabrics. I have to admire her for having the courage to put them all together. If I look at the fabrics separately, I wouldn’t think they would work, but somehow they do. Of course, the Four Patches are wonderful as well.
Diane’s Silk Piece
I love Diane’s silk pieces and she is always prolific, so she brings, what seems like, dozens. It is amazing how much work she does. I often think she has to have an assistant. My favorites are Diane’s aerial city images. She doesn’t call them that, but that is what I think they look like.
I love this one, because of the swirly quilting. There is also a kind of submarine shape, though I know it is not a submarine 😉 and for the little flecks of gold.
Of course, I also like the blues and greens.
Ann Brook’s workshop piece
Ann Brook brought a finished piece that she started in a Sherri Lynn Wood class.
There were was lots of great work and people were talking about interesting things. So much more that my head is spinning. You should come sometime.
I missed one of Nancy’s and one of my own. Usually I don’t choose one of my own, because I can make one for myself if I want one. I would have really liked one of Nancy’s. Oh well. There is always next time.
