Paint and Cloth

Something new for me the last few years has been painting my own cloth. I have taken classes Bethany Garner, Mickey Lawler, Betty Ives and just recently Rayna Gilman. Below is my fabric painting experimentation completed in Rayna's class. I love to learn the techniques and then put my own spin on them.

A closeup.
Now I have been asked by a few people to set up a painting day for them, so that they can play as well. So here it is.

Paint and Cloth

A one day workshop in Cathy's back yard. You can choose Friday June 25th or Saturday June 26th. In case it rains, Sunday June 27th will be the backup day.

For more information contact me at catelaw@ripnet.com and I will send it to you.

Pat's Retreat

I spent a wonderful time the weekend before last with a fun group of ladies at Pat's Annual Retreat. I was the "newbie" this time and they all made me very welcome. We come from all different places and our interests varied but we sure had a lot of fun. Each person brought their own projects and we shared information along the way.

This is a detail of a sheep commission. I had decided to bring four pieces to finish and I was ready to sew until my fingers bled or I fell asleep at the machine. Friday night I hit a huge snag. Somewhere along the way I had sewn with bad thread. After finishing the free motion on my animals, I sewed them into the piece , layered the top with batting and backing and proceeded to quilt. First I noticed one small pop as the thread used in piecing the background broke. But not liking to reverse sew I soldiered on. More pops and then I just had to come to terms with the fact that I had to take the whole thing apart. Elaine's fabric is too fabulous to throw in the can. I took it all out that night and then put it away to finish at home. Below is the result of this week's work. It took me a day to iron, pull out the thread and re-quilt it. Now I am happy with the result and it can be delivered this week.

The next day went much better. It must have been the company. I finished my sample for ourLoose Threads Retreat at the Opinicon in Chaffey's Locks the end of next October.We will be learning bobbin work, silk screening on cotton, and lots of embellishing techniques with Wendo ,Pat and I. More to come later.

Below, lots of pics of our fun weekend. I should have made a slide show. Oh well I will tackle that idea another time. More to learn.
My roomie and swimming partner Sally busy at work.

A terrible trouble maker.

Consultations.
Hand and machine at work.


More trouble makers in the corner.
Our resident artist Bonnie Lemaire.

Much fun was had by all. Thanks everyone, I'm in for next year.

Taking classes and finishing things

To my dismay the first time I finished this quilt and hung it on the wall the sides were like the ocean waves going up and down . It was definitely not flat against the wall and I thought that I had conquered this problem a long time ago. One must not take things for granted after all.

I had come home from a class with Anna Hergert in Kingston and was so excited to start a new project that I finished this one in a hurry.You know the little voice in your head that tells you to finish a few things before starting down the next path. I learned my lesson. It took me one whole day to take out the sides, add more free motion stitching to bring it flat ( I cut out a whole inch from the facing fabric, no wonder it was wonky) and below is the finished result hanging in my living room.

I am now loving living with this piece.

Now for Anna's class. I had forgotten my camera but I can show you the end result of my time spent with her.

It has been quite awhile since a workshop took me to so many new places .I often have pieces in my head which I can't make because my technical ability has not yet caught up with the creative process. I just don't know how to make it happen,YET.

Anna is an amazing teacher, warm, supportive,giving of her expertise in a way that you know that you can do it. Below is a detail of my first little sample.

Hand stitching, I never thought that I would be embracing embroidery again! It is fab, especially when you use those lovely hand dyed yarn. Then using a craft heat tool to cut the sheer after you have stitched it on. Brilliant!. I don't know how much fabric I have wasted in the past trying to cut it just so. Oh , of course and using Shiva sticks to get those sheer shapes.

This works so well.

I roomed with my friend Pat and started second small piece in our spare time. I am not a late night sewer but we were up until 1 a.m. to work on this project.
The biggest compliment to Anna is that I went home and finished them both. I must also tell you that her work is sublime. You can check it out on her website.www.annahergert.com

She is also an amazing teacher. To take a class would be a treat .

When I came home my idea that I couldn't make work is now possible. I pulled out these fabrics to look at while I pulled it all together. The wheels are turning and I will keep you posted.
Fabrics by Elaine Quehl and me.

Another week

Another week of playing , making work and entering pieces into the jury process. Once I get the hang of getting my pics ready for certain specifications I might as do a whole bunch. After a few months pass I usually have to learn this process all over again. My pics are much better since David taught me how to shoot them, the colour is more true to the piece. Below is a closeup of the "Water Brings Life" piece to show you how the bobbin work looks. I love the instant shot of colour you get with these Wonderfil threads. I do love them.

Then last summer some quilting friends dropped by from Manitoba and Saskatchewan and left me some fab fibre jewelry.Playing with this idea led me in this direction. Judy Morningstar made the fab turquoise piece and that was our jumping off point.
A closeup of the circle piece. I used a wash away stabilizer to make the machine lace on the inside of the circle. Much fun.

Working on a Series

Working in a series is a really fun process. I took a size, 12 in.x 12 in. and designed four pieces, the four seasons. Choosing fabrics and embellishments was the fun part, choices were made to represent the time of year and the temperature. When finished all were framed on the wooden frames and I took the pics. Now they are ready to go places.

Winter

Spring

Summer

Fall

Try it , you will like it.

More sheep stuff

I continue to work on the sheep piece. Now you see all of the pieces ironed together onto a heavy weight pellon ready for thread play. Threads , here I come. The stitching is my favourite part.This is the colour palette for the back ground, aren't they luscious? All fabrics that were hand dyed by Elaine Quehl.

Work on a Sunday

I have made some new goals for myself and one has been to get more work out there so I have entered an online challenge organized by Three Creative Studios. Once every two months we have a theme to develop. The theme for the end of February is "PUZZLE". It gives me a chance to move in another directions and play with some new ideas.

This is how far I have gotten. Can't show you the whole thing until the end of Feb. Stay tuned.

Now for the second piece. Quite some time ago I interpreted this picture taken by Peggy Dewitt a photographer for her Tampered With Show. Other artists were invited to interpret her work, which I did. Much to my surprise this piece sold so it didn't live in my house for long. It was the first time that I made an animal from a photo. Now a friend, Janie Hickman of Janey's Knits has asked me to make one for her seeing that she has a massive sheep collection.
I painted the fabric yesterday, so now I am putting her together. I am also planning to paint on some more detail for the curly hair.
The starting point and more to come. Wish me luck.

Options revisited

In the last while I have been playing with the whole idea of options again. This started a few years ago in a class by Marilyn Stewart-Stothers at a C.Q.A. Conference out west. She mounted her work on wooden frames and made several pieces that worked together as a unit. Taking it a step farther, I wanted to be able to change the pieces around ,thus the name "Options". I am such a fickle girl and do get tired of the" same old same old".

Here are the four pieces arranged in one way. I have called it OPTIONS:SKY

Another way.
Another way.

I love this one.

The original design.
Some details.

Now to make this work you have to repeat some of the elements in the pieces. You need one fabric or colour that has a presence in each piece. For me this time it was the cloud fabric.

Then other shapes or colours had to be repeated in at least two other pieces . The black really grounds it and you can play off that. If you have any questions, please ask. I am happy to share what I learn.

This is a new project that I will be developing this month and it should be ready for the next round of classes in my studio.You will be able to make the cat in any colour and use any pieced top pattern to make the background.

BARGOON!!!

new fee schedule

Because of the economic times and the fact that my students have to drive here ,there is a new fee schedule in place for a one day class.

1.one person-$50

2. two people-$45 each

3.three people-$40

4.four people-$35

5.five people-$30

6.six people-$25

This applies to booking and payment in advance and patterns and worksheets are included.

You are welcome to book a private appointment for you and your friends to see what I have to offer. I will give you a tour of my studio and I do make pretty great tea. No goodies right now as it is too soon after Christmas.

I am now taking bookings from April to November, 2010, and I will be teaching one day per week. Hope you can come.

Playing with sheers and a present for you.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL

This time of year always starts for me not with resolutions but plans to try something new. I vow to set up a mailing list and keep everyone in the loop.

1.There will be some new projects and classes will start again here in my studio starting in April. 2.Also there will be a sliding scale for classes. The larger the group,the cheaper the price for the individual. More to come.

3.The little bear pattern below will be sent to anyone who wants to be on my mailing list. Send me a quick email and it will be done. No charge.

catelaw@ripnet.com

Little Bear Pattern

Above is a new quilt which is now hanging in my bedroom. I used some of Elaine Quehl's hand dyed silks as appliques and then had lots of fun playing with different techniques. There have been some requests to run this as a class and if there is enough interest we could certainly set that up.

Resolution( I wasn't going to do this) to post more often.

Off to Johnstown for the Seaway Autumn Studio Tour

This weekend I'm off to Pat Lemare's Purplepatch Studio where I will be participating in the Seaway Autumn Studio Tour. It promises to be an exciting event. besides showing my latest work we are also participating in a fun challenge.

Mike Laking a photographer has challenged us to interpret his gerber daisy photo below.

This is my version with silk and lots of free motion.

And a detail.

All of the entries will be diplayed at Cup After Cup coffee spot on King Street in Prescott.

Just start at any location where maps will be available. Also if you collect all of the stickers you will be eligible for a great prize.

SEE YOU THERE!!!

I must be crazy

Piecing has never been something that I have done well so what was I thinking when deciding to piece 1 1/2 inch squares and 1 in x 1 1/2 in rectangles? It was a call to entry that made me do this.

Art to the Rescue Animal Fund Raiser at Galarie Ouest

When we first moved to Perth a little white stray appeared at our doorstep. He was beautiful with great big lime green eyes, he played in my studio and slept on my husband's belly after supper. I was very sad to let him go to a new home but my allergies wouldn't let me keep him.I did however get some great pics. He was a perfect candidate for this show.

First to find a background in my stash. I wanted to represent a garden and the Kaffe Fassett fabrics in my stash were the perfect medium to use.The garden had to be constructed from small colourfull bits, hence the piecing. I made each row but vowed that I would not match all the corners ,I let chance make the decisions here. A dark green print grounded the whole thing.
After the drawing was made, and the pattern was established , I checked it out to see if it would work, it was fine.
Pic and the first stage of the cat on pellon made from hand painted fabrics and pencil crayoned eyes.
Lots of stitching, about 50 hours in time and here he is in all his mischievous glory.

Mischievous Cat

Summer Shows

It's July 1st today, where have six months gone. I am pretty excited about being in three shows this summer.

First I have five fun pieces in the Tay River Gallery in Perth for the Summer Sizzle Show that runs from July 2cnd to August 30th. If you are in the area, come and check it out.

This St. Maarten Piece is one of them. Every December we go off to St. Maartin in the Carribean for a holiday. Sitting on a deck chair in the heat I was always amazed at all the blues that you can see so I tried to capture it in a fun and happy way. Those are my toes on the deck chair.

The second exhibit I am in is the Intrigue into the 1000 Islands Show, at the Marianne Von Schiffler Gallery at St. Lawrence College in Brockville. I was pretty pleased to get into this juried show. The opening reception is on Saturday July 11th from 2 - 4 p.m. You are all welcome.

Mom and Me # 133

Water

In August the Lanark County Quilter's Guild is having their Quilts on the Tay Show at St. John's High School in Perth , Audust 7,8 and 9th. I will be hanging some new stuff in this show which I am busily working on. The featured quilters are Bev Cooper and Carol Darou. There is a special exhibit called from Kamloops to Halifax which features work from the teachers that we have had here at the guild. And there will be workshops set up with Karen Goetzinger. There will be a merchants mall of course and a boutique with fab items made by our members. See you there!