Mid week Post

Life is good but is rushing by at a rate of knots as they say. At the moment, it's all work and no play. My studio feels deserted and I am going through withdrawal symptoms from not being able to quilt. I am really hoping that I will be able to get a moment in my studio this weekend otherwise completing a needlepoint canvas of 2 kittens will have to "scratch the creative itch" :LOL

Christmas postards in January

Wow, I can't believe it's been more than a month since I last posted. Time flies......It flies so fast that I have only finished making all my Christmas family postcards today. These are simple postcards but came out rather well, even if I have to say so myself......

Long time, no Post

It's been a long time since I have posted. The creative muse has dried up. Hopefully it is due to the normal end of year chaos.Schools have finally closed and we can settle down to a month's family holiday. I can't believe it is only a "couple" of days until Christmas. Straight after Christmas is New Year and then full steam ahead for 2010. In the meantime, here's to hoping the creative muse returns..... Have a blessed Christmas and a wonderful new year to all who follow this blog.

Spring Fabric Postcard

I have been making fabric postcards again :LOL. It is fast becoming my favourite occupation. This one is for a South African group I belong to. The theme was "Spring". I cut out the flowers from a piece of  Kaffe Fasset fabric I have and "stuck" them on a green background. The free motion quilting is my hearts pattern - "Mom's loving hearts" as my son David calls them. It is the closest I get to quilting leaves at the moment :LOL

Beach Landscape

I had so much fun creating my fabric postcard called "Construction on Durban Beachfront" that I decided to make a similar miniature landscape.........

This landscape is for sale.

Inspirations and UFO's

Inspirations and UFO's is a strange title for a blog post. Well, they are the 2 most important things on my mind at the moment.

It's a warm Sunday morning where I stay. We have had sun for 2 days in a row now - absolutely awesome as we stay in the Mist Belt and sun is rare in Spring/Summer. A perfect day to finish another UFO. It's amazing how quickly they accumulate and how they clutter up one's creative life. The trick is not to allow UFO's to happen, I think... Anyone have any ideas on how to prevent UFO's from occuring?

As I walk the creative journey and learn more about design etc, it is amazing how I am starting to find inspiration in the smallest things. For example, T-Shirts with stripes are amazing - the different colours of the stripes, the distance they are from each other, the colour of the background etc. Another example is the shape of trees, I am passionately in love with trees and their shapes. Driving the 200kms to my son's school in the Drakensberg mountains is another inspirational trip. By now, those who follow my blog regularly, are aware that I am in love with the Drakensberg mountains. Every time I make the trip, I see new shapes along the way. Depending on the time of day, the cloud cover, the haze etc,the mountains appear to have different shapes. It is almost impossible to document it all.

Oh well.... time to tackle the UFO

Construction work on Durban beachfront

My previous post was all about my first painted sky fabric, well, I have sliced it up and have used it to make a fabric postcard. I think it came out rather well if I might say so myself.....

There is a lot of construction work happening on the Durban beachfront at the moment. I suspect this is all for the 2010 World Cup.

Fabric Painted Skies

My first attempt at painting "sky fabric" for my landscape quilts. It was scary to start something new that I have never done before but exhilarating once they it was done. I can't wait to slice it up and make a landscape....watch this space for more photos

Cot Quilts and Roses

Strange title you may say..... I think I have said this before :LOL.

I have finished the top of the cot quilt that is for a gift for a friend. Her baby is about 3 months old now so I'd better get a move on. The three layers of the quilt are pinned and I am busy machine quilting the quilt. I went on a quilting course last monday so have some fantastic tips to help me quilt easier.

The first photo is supposed to show the dark blue striped background while the 2nd photo shows a close up of the detail. When I have finished the machine quilting, I will post more photos

Now for the Roses.... One of our rose bushes in our garden is flowering and the flowers are stunning, the colour the way the flowers have opened, their arrangement on the bush etc... I just could not resist taking LOTS of photos....... I have posted 2 of them below.

Fabric Postcards

One of my favourite things is to make and receive fabric postcards from all over the world. Here is a selection of photos of my latest postcards. Needless to say, I owe everyone postcards, and am late again.....sigh. About better planning of my day.....

This postcard is from a friend who lives in Namibia. The theme was Spring as it's spring in the South Hemisphere.

This postcard is from a friend in Ireland. The theme was "The Sea"













This next photo is from a friend in South Africa. She organises the postcard swop I belong to in South Africa.

Sometimes the postage stamps are just as beautiful as the postcards.

















The last postcard in this evening's selection is from another friend in South Africa, You guessed it... the theme is "Spring"

My first commission

I have been commissioned to put together a couple of memory quilts for a family that lost their 8 year old son to cancer last year. Yippee to the commission but not the family's loss. It is so sad. They have taken family photos, memorabilia from the highlights of his short life and pinned them to a backing. It is my job to take the pinned stuff and make a quilt out of it. I suppose it's a case of.....watch this space for photos of the works in progress.

Quilts and Plays

One of my quilts is being used in a play. It is being carried on and off at the appropriate moment. It is awesome. I am rather excited.The play is called "Gem of the Ocean" by August Wilson. It is being put on by the Durban University of Technology and the University of Kwazulu-Natal.

The Artist's Way

I am starting to work through the book "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron. I have started it a couple of times before but have never got past the first couple of chapters. Life just runs away.....I really like the idea of an Artist's Date once a week where you get to visit an Art Gallery or any other inspiring place. Am looking forward to the challenge.

Frustrations and Mulberry Bushes

I have just been though a period where I get very despondant and frustrated with where I am going artwise and with life in general. It seems as though my brain decides that the world is going to end tomorrow and I have to be a world famous quilter before then. Sigh....Fortunately it is just a phase and, with the helpof some wonderful friends throughout the world, I come out of the other end fairly unscathed with a new sense of purpose and understanding of myself. Thanks to all my wonderful friends.

I suppose the question that begs to be asked is: "Why does one have to go through emotional turmoil to grow as a person/artist? Can't this insight happen while one is sleeping?" :LOL. I suppose not. BTW, the reference to the mulberry bush in the title of this post is a reference to the fact that one keeps having to go round the same circles of life to learn the lessons of life.

Purple Trip Round the World Quilt

The "Trip Round The World" pattern must be one of my all time favorite quilting patterns. I have just completed the top of a purple double bed quilt. Actually, almost finished if I decide to put borders on the top. I am really not sure whether I should or not. Any comments would be appreciated. Then I just have to add the batting and the backing and machine quilt the 3 layers. Time, Time where are you? I am sure it is a common lament of many quilters.

The next photo is a close up of the centre of the quilt:

Crab Apples

In my travels round KZN recently, I saw a Crab Apple tree in blossom trained onto a wire frame against a wall. It was sooooo beautiful. The blossoms were a delicate pink and white. These photographs are my first attempts at putting together an abstract landscape - my impressions of what I saw. Needless to say, the first attempt was not very successful. The background (first photo) is ok but the wheels fell off the bus when I tried to cut curves in brown fabric to represent the tree (2nd photo). All I can say (embarrassed grin) is "watch this space" for the next version. Hopefully it will improve....

Amazing book

I have just finished reading the book called "A Summer All Her Own" by Roseanne Keller. What a stunning story about a woman who recently lost her husband and the resultant struggle to find herself and her voice as an artist. Well worth the read.

On another note, I am busy re-arranging things at home, trying to find a small corner where I can have a studio - a quiet space without being in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the home.

Nancy Crow Quilting Course

Back from the quilting course in the Northern Drakensberg, South Africa. What a wonderful experience and a huge learning curve. We learnt about lines, shapes and their proportion to the background - how lines form shapes etc. Much like positive and negative space. It is a design course - certainly the most advanced I have ever done.

We arrived at the conference centre on Sunday afternoon, unpacked and started work bright and early monday morning. Nancy did not say much before sending us off to discover the exciting world of "lines, lines and more lines". Our brief was to produce 18 pieces using different types of lines by 9am the next morning (Tuesday). What a journey of discovery, a bit nerve wracking as well. The following is a photograph of one of my pieces from this task:


 

The following morning we were tasked with doing a piece 4 feet x 6 feet (1.2m x 1.8) using our chosen colour palette and "lines, lines and more "lines". We had to have the piece completed by 9am Wednesday morning for a critique. (Help). The start of my piece.

This is as far as I got.... still a large amount of work to do.

On Wednesday morning we were tasked with making a sampler with at least 7 different shapes from a "C" curve to a "S" shape to a circle. I have not started this as I took Nancy down to see the Drakensberg Boys Choir perform. What an amazing experience. It was totally worth going to see the boys sing especially as one of my boys is in the school. :LOL

On Thursday morning we woke up to the start of the major work - an 8 foot by 8 foot piece. This is what it looked like when I started work. We had about an hour to put the following frame work together and then start working on the detail.
















 


This photograph shows the final detail of the top right hand quadrant - It's all I managed to do in 2 days. My sewing skills need to be radically improved......

The first thing I need to do tomorrow morning is organise myself a design wall and then I can finish these 2 projects. I can't wait..

For photos of the area that I stayed in see the following blog : http://slicesofafrica.blogspot.com

Quilting Adventure

I am off on a quilting adventure - a quilting course in the Drakensberg mountains with Nancy Crow. Not sure if I am excited or just plain scared or both. Should be fun and the scenery is beautiful. I hope to come back with stacks of photos.

Yet more Postcards

Fabric Postcards are wonderful. This is a monochromatic landscape - well supposed to be :LOL of a winter sunset in rural South Africa. Because of all the burning fires, there is a lot of smoke and the sunsets get very red.