Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Self Portrait Collage

Last night at the monthly meeting of ArtCGirlz, we worked on self-portraits that we made from pages from magazines. The meeting is only 2 hours long and the first hour was spent catching up with each other, some of our projects, and tearing out pages from the magazines we brought. I don't save magazines, so I ended up bringing travel brochures from places we have been. Gettysburg, North Carolina, and so forth. I borrowed images from another person in the group for my eyes and lips. Thanks Mary Ellen C.!

The hour we all spent putting our collages on paper went fast. I tried to get mine done so I would not take an unfinished project home. I have enough of those around my studio!

You can view the portraits on the ArtCGirlz blogsite at:

http://artcgirlz.blogspot.com/


Mine came out like this:


I can't wait to do this with my grand daughters. I think they will really like making self portraits this way.

A short post today. It is an absolutely gorgeous fall morning. I will be going out to show some lake property in about an hour. It will be beautiful there and I hope to get some fall foliage shots along the way. If I get some good pix, I will post them sometime soon.






Friday, October 4, 2013

Rows for the Row by Row Round Robin

I waited to post photos of the rows I made for the Row by Row Round Robin (RRRR) that I participated in with my quilt guild, The Museum Quilt Guild, because I didn't want to spoil the surprise for any of the participants by showing them here before they received them. Everyone has their rows now, so I can show you the rows I made and also the photos of the rows next to each other. I described in an earlier post how the RRRR was arranged. (See February 27, 2013).


The first row that I worked on was Carol M's.

 
I paper pieced the 8-inch star blocks while I was on a mini vacation on Chincoteague Island. I thought I had brought enough fabric from my stash for the colors I needed, but as it turned out, I needed to shop for just a little bit more fabric, so we made a trip to a little quilt shop in Pokomoke City, Maryland.
  
This photo shows the row of 12-inch Maple Leaf blocks I received from Carol beneath the row I made.


 
This second row I worked on was Kathy B's
 

I made a row of traditional Court House Steps 8-inch blocks.
I bought beautiful batiks to make these blocks.
 
 This photo shows Kathy's 12-inch Snail Trail block at the bottom.
 



The row above it is a pinwheel block made by Carol M.
My row of Court House Steps is at the top.

  
The third row I worked on was Jeri M's.
 

I  made a row of 8-inch paper-pieced blocks that are supposed to be tulips. 
Because Jeri's theme was Desert Southwest/Native American, I renamed the blocks to Thunderbirds, to keep with the theme.
 
This photo shows Jeri's row of 12-inch blocks at the bottom, with Carol and Kathy's rows above. 

 
 I forgot to take a photo with my row in the picture!
 
  
The final row I made was for Mary L.
 

I made a row of paper-pieced fans. I went shopping again for more batiks!
 
This photo shows Mary's row of 12-inch blocks at the bottom with Kathy's, Carol's and my rows above.
 

 
 One more row was given to Mary at the guild meeting. I didn't get a photo of it.
It is a very cool row of paper pieced blocks that resemble Japanese lanterns.

 
This is a photo of my row that I passed on to Mary L.
 



I made four 12-inch Star Blocks.
When they are next to each other, the star kind of recedes and the central squares on point seem to emerge.
 
The rows I got  back are pictured below, with my row at the bottom.
  
 
 
I love all the rows that everyone made for me! The bottom row is mine, the next is Mary's, on top of that is Jeri's, Kathy's, and the top row is Carol's. Now I need to decide on how I will assemble the quilt top!
 
 
I had never made anything in a Desert Southwest/Native American or an Oriental motif. I was very challenged at first. But, some of the reasons I joined in on the RRRR in the first place were to learn new things, challenge my creative self a bit, and get to know a few other quilters in the guild better by working on their rows, and having them work on mine. It was a lot of fun and I can't wait to do it again! A big Thank You to Kathi Everett, who arranged it.
 
 
I have been working in my studio on a couple new mini albums and boxes. I will get them finished soon and post them here and on YouTube. I wish there were more  hours in the day, because I have sooooo many things I want to make and could be crafting 24 hours! I joined an on-line craft group today and I am excited to start chatting with the other members of the group and join in on challenges and swaps of all kinds. I will be posting a greater variety of handmade things here on my blog in the future. Stay tuned!
 
 

What I have learned:
I really really REALLY like using batik quilting fabrics!

 What I want to learn:
 I can work outside of my quilting comfort zone and enjoy myself and the results!

What I appreciate:
The chance to get to know others through our shared love of quilting.

What I want:
World Peace. Amen.