Old News

Yesterday, a couple of my very good friends, Reet and Mari-Ann, took the drive up from Chicago to visit with Juta and me. We sat and chatted, Reet took us out for lunch, we ate a lot and had a great time. It was nice to see them again; it had been a few months.

Reet reminded me of a little project I started last winter--one in which she was kind of involved! My husband and I were at her house for a party back in January. I love her home, as it is filled with wonderful artwork done by several artists friends. When I read about Lynda Thompson's postcard challenge a few weeks later, I thought of one of Reet's paintings. The challenge was to make fiber postcards featuring a raven, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Edgar Alan Poe's birth. The painting I thought of is one of blue/black birds soaring in an orange background. To me they looked like ravens, but they are swallows. Even so, I asked Reet for a few pics of it, so I could print them on fabric and play with the images for the challenge.

As it turns out, I didn't use the images. But I did create a postcard with words printed on fabric, dark chiffon on which I painted trees, some thread painting and, finally, appliqued ravens. It's called "Raven Go Now". I realized yesterday, when Reet reminded me of it, that I never posted a pic here, though I did post it on the challenge Yahoo group. Awwwww my first fiber postcard...I'm so proud...*sniff*

So, there it is, then. I still have those swallow images; eventually, something will come of them.

Quilting, but not "art"

Lately, I have had a hard time actually creating any "art". My creative spirit has been squashed a little. I need to fill that vessel again, but I'll talk about that later. Sometime.
Anyway, when I feel like this, I fall back on just spending time in my sewing room. I've been soritng scraps, pulling out stuff for a future yard sale, organizing other stuff.

Before I thought about doing art quilts, I made quilts for other people. Making quilts for friends, family, special occasions, has always been a big motivation for me. As I make the quilt, I always think about the person for whom it is, an that helps me get out of "myself".

So I made a quilt for a good friend of mine. I asked him a while ago, as a joke, if I should make a quilt for him. He emphatically said "NO!", probably because he thinks all quilts are flowery and Grandma-like. So I made one with fabric featuring tires, spark plugs, gears and tools. I can't post a picture yet, as I need to quilt and bind it, and then give it to him! I don't want to spoil the surprise! But I made the top in one weekend, and it feels good to start and finish something.

Something I can post is the Spring Mini-Quilt I made for a swap sponsored by the Quilting Bloggers group (see the logo to the right). I'm a little late, as the quilt should have been mailed out by the 21st of June, the day of the Summer Solstice. I used a pattern I bought years ago, and put a little bit of my own spin on it. The pattern showed three panels like this, all of them rectangular. I made just one panel, and curved the top to make it look like a niche in a wall. I thought it was a good idea, until I tried to put that border on it! But--I figured it out, and it turned out well. I did a little bit of thread painting on it, and added a few crystals on it to mimic dew.

I also have a detail shot:

I'll pop this in the mail in the next few days, and it'll be on its way to my swap partner in the UK. I hope she likes it!
Since this is a swap, I received a cute little quilt from Chris Wheeler of We Love Quilting (http://www.welovequilting.com/)

She made an adorable Grandma's Fan doll-size quilt for the swap, and I was the lucky recipient.

I'll be hanging it in my sewing room (if I ever get it painted). Thank you, Chis! It's darling.

Even though I am not working on art this very moment, doing these quilt projects has restored my soul a little.

As does seeing a great sunset. A few months ago I posted a pic of a gorgeous winter sunrise taken from my backyard.

http://underthediningroomtable.blogspot.com/2009/04/rainy-saturday.html

Yesterday there was a breath-taking sunset, of which I took a pic from my front yard! I think I'll be manipulating this picture, as I did the other one, and it'll turn out to be a good companion piece to the sunrise.

The gears in my head continue to turn...