WIP Friday

Today, I thought I would share some works-in-progress.  The first item is a beaded triangle that will eventually become part of a larger pendant and necklace.  I used 2 stitches- peyote and brick stitch- to create each side of the triangle before connecting them together.

 

This next image allows you to understand the steps for how I created each triangle side.  First you use peyote stitch to bead a flat peyote 9 beads tall by 6 beads wide.  Then, I used brick stitch to bead points on the top and the bottom.  You then sew this shape into a tube to make the finished triangle.

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The next project is a wholecloth quilt featuring my own designs in it.  Here are two pictures- the first shows you how I digitized some designs, then quilted them onto the black fabric.  Next, I sketch in some freehand quilting ideas in order to quilt it.  As soon as I post this, I plan to go quilt the rest of the center.

 

Hmmm… the picture is upside down, but it gives you an idea for how I work.  The marking is done using Crayola white chalk, which is a very affordable marking tool.  I quilt the design freehand, then use a paintbrush to brush off the chalk marks.  Easy as can be!

I do hope you have enjoyed seeing my two works in progress today.    Enjoy your weekend!  Carla

 

Works In Progress

Thanks for the emails asking me why I have been quiet.  I am working on getting ready for the Phoenix Guild trip, and for the Fall Class schedule.

In Phoenix, I am giving a lecture on Quilt Whispering, followed by a workshop on Doodle Art Fills.  Here is my class logo:

I have expanded this class to a full day workshop, so I have added lots of fun Creative Exercises, including this class sample project:

Last weekend, Joe and I went to Fort Bragg, CA, and of course I went sea glass hunting!  The ocean is so refreshing, I envy the readers who live near the ocean!

Back to work now!  Hugs, Carla

Quilty WIP

Confession time!  Remember that fall I took when I was racing to the homespun yarn booth at the Troy, NY Farmer’s Market?   Oops! I re-injured my elbow and lower back.  This has put a bit of a damper on how many hours I can be creative and work in a given day.  Bummer!

Thus said, here is what I am working on, quilting wise.  First up is a new slash therapy quilt in a different color scheme.  Here is a part of my quilt-in-progress:

I also have made some progress on Nancy’s quilt.  Here is the first border:

In case you are curious, the lovely floral part of the border design is a stencil by Hari Walner.  I have added some freehand “a la Carla” to complete the space and give it some visual punch!

Tomorrow, I get to babysit Jack, I can’t wait to spend some quality time with him!  Here he was last weekend, tolerating his stroller:

Keep watching to see my progress!  It is ice to be quilting and piecing again!

Hugs, Carla

Still Life with Oscar

Oscar, who happens to be my favorite kitty, is perched above on his chair in my his house.  He also loves to lay across my chest while I am trying to write on my computer, too.

The world globe was a Christmas present to my husband to place in his office/library.  However, I  stole borrowed it because it looks perfect in the great room.

The “Cabbage Rose” pattern quilt is hanging behind Oscar.  This was actually the very first quilt I quilted when I purchased my longarm many years ago.  It allows me to see how far I have become in both my quilting style and technique.

Do any of you hang a first quilted quilt in your home, too?

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Mini Artist Profile: By the way, I forgot to mention that the quilt that Doug pieced  recently that I quilted was a pattern by my friend, Jerry Fujimoto.  You all might remember this quilt by Jerry that I quilted a few months ago:

I received a phone call from Jerry, saying how much he loved the quilting on Doug’s quilt, plus saying he was planning to send the quilt above to several shows this year.  I believe he said it will be first shown at the Denver Quilt Fest in April.

I have been encouraging Jerry to get his website up so you can see his patterns.  I have one of them I can’t wait to piece, too.   I have a feeling Jerry and I will collaborate on some more stuff in the future!

Jerry has also purchased an A1 longarm, so I expect great quilting from him in the future!

Egyptian Quilt-Pictures Added

Yes!  It is finally completed!  This one took alot of time.  Here are some sneak peek pictures of the stunning Egyptian themed quilt pieced by Barbara Kiehn and quilted by me.

Sorry,  I cannot show you a full picture  of the quilt, only the back and a close up or two.  My collaborator plans to make a quilt pattern in the future from her original design:

There are lots of Egyptian motifs in this one,  scattered around the quilt.  Then I just quilted a ton of texture, varying the size and adding geometric for interest.

Hope you have enjoyed the photos!!  This quilt will be on display next month at the Folsom, CA guild show.  Regards, Carla

Barb Sneak Peek

I’ve been bad!  I’m not supposed to quilt due to an injured right elbow, but I just can’t leave town with Barb’s quilt unfinished.  I’m about 80% finished, so here is a sneak peek:

You can’t see them, but I also have some egyptian motifs scattered throughout this quilt.  So far, so good!!

Had a great visit with my sister, Yvette and her husband, Dave, aka  Captain Dave.  One day, we went over to visit Jack and kids, then out to eat at a Brew Pub, there was a great photo op I couldn’t resist:

Jack’s father and grandfather were both college frat boys, so who knows what is in store for him??  Speaking of Jack, guess who is starting to walk??  His first birthday is later this month, so it is exciting to see no delays, development wise!!

I’m getting ready to drive to Manhattan Beach to visit Lori of Art & Play blog fame.  We’ve been friends just shy of 20 years!!  I will have LOTS to show while I am there, as it will be a solid week of creative art!!

Dad update: He was finally discharged from the hospital and is on the mend.  Thanks you for your good thoughts and prayers!!

Happy New Year!!  Hugs, Carla

Egyptian Border

I’ve almost finished the first border on this quilt.  Check out my motif and the stylized straight feathers:

I still need a bit more quilting in my cornerstone design.  The gold areas have hieroglyphic quilting in them, quilted after this picture was taken.  You can see my chalk markings, I sketch my ideas right on the quilt top.

I’ll keep plugging away on this quilt.  It’s slow going because I quilt part time nowadays.  Plus I have a lot of straight line and stitch-in-the-ditch quilting to do.  This is called “ruler work,” and I like to take my time and do it right.

The motif in the pictures above was hand drawn by me, then  made into a stencil so I can replicate it on this quilt.  I have developed a new and easy technique for making your own stencils for quilting or other projects.   Hmmm…  guess I had better add that one to my book, right?   LOL!

Hugs, Carla

Quilt Batting

I have good news to report.  Joe and I were able to recover my missing batting order.  ( FYI for non-quilters, batting is the middle layer of the quilting process, the part that makes a quilt fluffy.)

The company I ordered it from sent it to the wrong address, which I recounted in a post yesterday.  After class got out,  Joe and I went over to see if the tenant was home and knew what happened to my order.  It went smoother than I thought it would, no pit bull to rip our throats out,  no sign of obvious meth activity.

The tenant did talk about opening the box and oops, he lost my invoice.  I have to doublecheck whether I am missing one package of black batt, he mumbled something about opening it and keeping him warm at night.  My large roll, which stands about 5 feet high and weighs 40 lbs., was a bit worse for wear with the plastic torn off at the top.  All in all, I am happy to recover as much as I did.  I will call the batting company and if my order is short, they will have to send me free replacement package.

Life is good.  I have my batting.

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Next month, I am gearing up to teach some more classes at my local quilt store, High Sierra Quilters.  I will be teaching my “Quilt Whisperer” class, which is a class on how to “read” a quilt and what design to quilt.  It is open to all quilters, even for people who send their quilts out to be quilted.

I also will be teaching my fabric crochet purse class.  I have a free tutorial for this project in my Free Tutorial section, but it is fun to teach this class in person.  Here are 2  samples:

Another class will be on the technique I used on my Tropical Poppy quilt.  This will be a therapeutic quilt class, we will take a large print fabric and slash away, then re-attach.  Easy quilt project, but very rewarding!  This quilt won “Viewer’s Choice” in the Gold Bug Quilter’s Show about 2 months ago:

That’s all from frosty California!  Yes, it is cold here and we even received snow in the Foothills.   Hugs, Carla

Kimono Quilt Finished!

This quilt went home today.  I really enjoyed myself on this kimono shaped quilt that belongs to Jerry.

Sit back and enjoy the show.  I used both new and older elements with the quilting:

another closeup:

here is my new koi with quilting around it:

And the cool lighting shot with the sun streaming in through the window.  Notice my favorite asian flower motif, too:

I hope you have enjoyed this quilt.    Jerry did a fabulous job on the quilt construction.  A simple, yet effective use of the focus panel and fabric.

Regards, Carla

Postscript:  This free pattern is no longer available, so I drew this up to assist quilters wanting to make one.  Use the pictures to fine tune my sketched pattern.  Hope this help!

WIP report

Time to share some of my work in progress.

Yesterday, Faith came over to work on our homework.  Of course, we got sidetracked, so we went shopping instead!  One of our stops was to my favorite bead store- the one with the infamous bead box that you can dig through for hours.  I bought silver wire in various gauges, I hope to make a new project after I finish my final class homework, that it.

Faith had a birthday the other day and so I am making a freeform crochet scarf in these colors for her:

Then I have another friend’s birthday coming up, so I’m making her this one, too.  I would say these are my favorite colors at the moment:

Since this is a WIP post, I will show you my last 2 metal art projects to turn in next week- both are from silver:

And here is an asian motif from the kimono quilt I’m currently working on:

The next two pictures are not WIP, but thought I would show them nonetheless.  Check out this delightful mini quilt, it was in the bag from Barb.  I’m hoping that was intentional and I get to keep it- LOL!:

Last up, I bought these outside the store from a charity to support Project Linus, which is a worthy cause:

What are you working on???   Hugs, Carla