CULLING THE HERD

We've spent years haunting flea markets, garage sales, and antique stores and shows collecting cow creamers.  At one point our collection grew to over 250.  Our move from Wisconsin to North Carolina forced us to find homes for some but still we were left with 183 that had been individually wrapped and stored in plastic bins for the 13 years we've lived here.

It was a chore that took many days to unpack, sort, clean, photograph, and put up for sale.  Happily.......they now all live in someone else's pasture.  We were a tad teary eyed as truly we really enjoyed the hunt....but one needs to get practical and we are patting ourselves on the back for this accomplished....OH WAIT.....MARY is patting herself on the back.  "The husand' only grunted.....didn't participate.....don't say as I blame him.

Next I'm working on the 250+ Excellence Porsche Magazines......We own ALL of them from day one...even though now are now impossible to get.  Anyone collect Porsche memorabilia?!?

DRIVE/HIKE/DRIVE/DINE

Our local PCA group, Appalachian Region of the Porsche Club of America is very active.  Some PCA chapters are all about competition events.....ours thankfully is about enjoying our vehicles, the awesome driving experiences available here in the Asheville, NC area, and time with other members.  This past holiday weekend we gathered to enjoy a Drive/Hike/Dine outing.  

Personally I was a bit concerned that the roads and locations stops would be too crowded to allow groups of 10 cars places to park but we got an early start to the day and everything worked perfectly.

My photo account is lacking.....blame it on being caught up in the enjoyment of the day.  Here's a short overview.

Our route

 Parking lot meet up.  Heading out after our 'safety' instruction briefing.

It was such a pleasant day to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway with its slower speedway......allowing more time for rubber necking.  Did you know the Parkway restricts more than 10 cars traveling in a group?  That's why we had to break up into several sections, staggering the start times.

 Graveyard Fields -  Upper Falls

 View from Devils Courthouse

 Long distance view of the fabulous cars...so many I couldn't even get them all in the photo.

We were assigned a sunny spot so out came the flag we use as a dashboard protector.

SILVER DOLLAR PLANT

Yikes, I've hardly entered my studio for 2 weeks....we are knee deep in home projects.  You know....those annoying small tasks that are so easy to put off till one day you can't any longer.

But to prevent too much whining on my part, I did sneak in some time to begin a small wall art quilt.

I've started with a piece of white silk noil that had been accordion folded, tied, and soaked in iron water to add color and pattern.  I love the texture of silk noil and am always smitten by the warm color that iron water adds to fabric.

After stabilizing with a lightweight non-fusible, a few sparse branches were fused in place and secured with machine stitching.

 Two off-white sheer fabric layers have been sandwiched with fabric "seeds' and now placement auditioning begins.

More rearranging......when ultimately satisfied they will be secured using a blanket stitch and additional hand embroidery....and of course some background stitching.  Stay tuned...I'm headed to do some rug shampooing.....yuck!

THE PASSING OF A LEGEND

THE BEST OF THE BEST

MEMORIAL DAY 2019

"This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave." Elmer Davis - Director of the U.S. Office of War Information during World War II.

Whether your tribute is big or small.....take time to remember the fallen.

CAROLINA HURRICANE QUILT PROJECT

I'd like to share photos of my finished string quilt made for the Carolina Hurricane Quilt Project.  The generosity of the quilt community never fails to amaze me!

My piece was quilted by Boni Lochner who resides in South Dakota. Imagine that......someone who has no connection to our region donated her time and considerable talent to this project!  I just love how the quilt turned out....the quilt motif is exactly right.  With deep appreciation and respect.....I salute Boni.  

She offers custom long arm quilting, if you are in need of this service please contact me and I will put you in touch with her. 

RED-CROWNED CRANES

Just finished "Red-Crowned Cranes", though this is not a decent photo. I need to reshoot when we finally get sunshine again.  Plus, find a location that better suits the piece than my too small design wall...BUT...you get the idea.

RED-CROWNED CRANES -  58" x 47"

Available Here

Machines stitched cottons, quilted with metallic thread.

Linking to:  Nina-Marie's Off The Wall Friday, Sarah's Whoop Whoop Friday.

MOUNTAIN ART QUILTERS - MAY MEETING

The Mountain Art Quilters group was created several years ago as an offshoot of SAQA (Studio Art Quilters Association), though one doesn't need to be a member of SAQA to join.

I LOVE this group......talented, enthusiastic, generous, friendly members, all with a positive attitude.  Here's some show and tell from our recent meeting. This group has a very active membership, most belong to other smaller and larger groups.....therefore show and tell is always very inspiring.

 Diana has been enjoying creating small improv pieces....this measures appx. 12"...and says a lot!

 Several members belong to another smaller group where they have been experimenting with quick fire round robin improv designs.  Each brings a small block, plus an ample amount of her own 'statement' fabric.  Each block is passed to another member who adds their own 'focal/statement' fabric to the piece.  They have 30 mins. to complete the task before it's moved to the next member.  By the end of the day, most have a small  improv wall piece.  You can see some of the results below.  

 Kathie's

 A fascinating concept which they've repeated at another gathering using solids. Here's Diana's.

 Kathie's

 Julie's

 Julie enjoys creating small pieces, utilizing handwork and often adding a few embellishments.

 Kathie made this stunning scenic piece featuring 'belted' cows...when we first saw them here....we called them Oreo cows.

 Another finished piece of Kathie's.....featuring her trademark improv pieced background.

Jenny's nearly finished working on a Tsukineko ink pictorial.....my photo doesn't do this justice, hopefully she'll bring it again when the edges are completed.

 Lisa's other group has an annual challenge....requiring the maker to conform to theme, size, and often the addition of one specific color.  Here are two exceptionally wonderful small pieces that pay homage to our Western North Carolina surroundings.

 I didn't get a chance to photograph all the terrific pieces Lisa brought but here are two more improv pieces, some using her own printed/dyed fabrics.

I can hardly wait for our next meeting in July!!

NEW WOOLFELT COLORS

I've been singing the praises of National Nonwoven's Woolfelt for years.  They keep generating new yummy colors and happily the availability of this product has just increased as Hobby Lobby will now be carrying it.

For those who might not be familiar with it, know it's a far cry from the thin, poly craft felt so often seen in craft and big box fabric stores.  WoolFelt Style -TOY022 is 35% wool (for stability & loft) and 65% rayon which helps to provide such great color, over 100 of them!  It's easy to cut and handle and best of all the edges do not ravel.  A big thumbs up!

RAIN OUTSIDE, FRAGRANT AND BEAUTIFUL INSIDE

We've had sheets of rain falling now for 24+ hours, so I'm hibernating inside with this stunningly fragrant and beautiful Mother's Day floral arrangement.  Thank you CWS, Kelly, and 'the boys'.....you've warmed my heart.

 I just love, love, love white flowers...and set off with splashes of color....breathtaking!

FROM NEARLY DONE TO BACK AT IT!!

For many reasons this quilt has been especially slow going......

 ......then finally the machine quilting was done...OR was it?!  After putting the piece back on my design wall, the cornerstones kept bugging me.....I felt they became too prominent.....drawing attention away from the focus fabric.

So after some musing, I've decided to applique black circles in those areas to tame the impact.  There's truly no rush to finish....I'd rather be totally pleased with the outcome than regret pushing ahead just to say it's finished.

Linking to:  Nina-Marie's Off The Wall Friday, Sarah's Whoop Whoop Friday.

FIBER JUNKIES MAY MEETING

This month we concentrated on fugitive printing.....using water soluble crayons. Most of us got poor results and found the process tedious.  I won't go into detail about all the steps except to say designs are drawn on a silk screen...the crayon material is then dissolved by pushing it through the screen with a gel medium onto fabric or paper then heat set.

Rather here's some photos of our printed pieces...

 This was my first attempt.....the fabric most likely will be deep sixed.

 Several designs line drying....

 The highlight of the day......Susan realized she forgot to put fabric beneath her screen.....therefore the design on her screen (see below) got printed onto her kitchen towel that she used to protect the table and for padding.  Oh...do I spy an empty wine glass?!?  Hummmm......Honestly we laughed for a good long time over this 'oops.'

 Rather than drawing my own design I used one of Gen's many rubbing plates....

 .....and attempted to print it onto wool/felt......not very successfully I'd say.

 Judy is using a stencil for her design.

 Again, it was difficult to obtain consistent results.

This beautiful flower design is Gen's.....she printed it on paper.

Happily, I believe we are working with Indigo next month which is a favorite of mine.

LEAST FAVORITE

Still plugging away on my newest Asian inspired wall art quilt......it was a busy week so it's slow going.  I'll admit I'm stalling too.....as I've reached my least favorite part of quilt making......machine quilting.

So far today I've managed to delay getting back at it by making bread, doing laundry, and cleaning the bathroom....one is really in avoidance mode if bathroom cleaning gets on the to-do list!  

Can't do our forced march either because it's pouring....I'll walk in snow but not heavy rain.  And now I'm writing a blog post.....just to put off turning on the machine.....maybe our power will go out (which would be the 4th time in 2 weeks).....NOOOOO I don't wish for that.....so I'll say goodbye for now and slink over to the sewing machine.

MAKING HEADWAY & SHARING A TIP

The top is now finished......next it will be sandwiched with batting and a backing and basted in preparation for machine quilting.

You may or may not have noticed that the outside sashing is wider than the interior strips.  This is a trick I like to use on most of my wall art.

In this case the outside sashing measures 1/2" wider than the other sashing strips. 1/4" extra is provided to trim/square the quilt prior to binding.  And the extra 1/4" will be covered with the black binding.  This will allow the cornerstones to be visually the same size as in the body of the quilt.