Finally...

In some things, progress; in others -- finishes!

I have some hand work to do on the facing and label (stitch down on the back), but this collage from Pamela's "About Contrast" class -- Week 2, a two-colour study -- is essentially finished:

Big Sky Country: Autumn at the Slough Redux
(C) 2014

I'd planned to free-motion it but it turns out the fusible I used (the last bit of Steam-a-Seam I could get in a new shop in Red Deer) was too thick/gooey/gummy -- because it wasn't SAS 2 *Lite* -- and even with a metallica #90 needle the stitches skipped and refused to "play nicely".

How did I know it was the fusible causing the problem?

1. Changing the position of the thread from horizontal to vertical didn't help;
2. Changing the needle to a very sharp thin one didn't help;
3. The thread and the bobbin thread were compatible weights;
4. Free-motion worked only on a sandwich sample that didn't have the fusible in it.

So...I put on my walking foot with the metallica needle and straight-stitched the thing.  Trimmed it to finish at 15" W x 14" L with facing.  Not a party piece but I rather like it.  Might even be able to sell it.  :-)  As a reminder, the inspirational photo is this one:

Then I painted the "larger" version of "Gems on the Beach", and wrapped it around its 8" square stretched canvas:

Beach at Noyac (C) 2014
Photo credit: Jane Cochran

And then I put the "sample" of the same piece into it's black mat...all dressed up and ready to go!

Members of Fifteen by Fifteen

In addition to the "finishes", I'm nearly there on the "Sheep Virtues" piece for my friend, B...and have a knitted cowl and hat to tidy up (they've been washed) and photograph...And labels have been made and applied to the two 15 x 15 pieces I am preparing to ship to France for Quilt Expo Beaujolais (deadline: they need to have received them by March 28). (See photo at left. Aren't we a great looking group?!)

I still have to figure out what I'm doing for our current theme, "Contrast", due March 31...I can't go with the collage (above) because it's too small, but perhaps there's hope for the piece with trees...or something new altogether!

We're under a Wind Chill Warning here (down to close to -40 over night, which is pretty much the same think in Fahrenheit or Celsius) so I may be hibernating for a couple of days and will get these -- and the sheep! -- finished.

Meanwhile, because I still can, I'm linking up to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday...and then I'm curling up with a hot cuppa and a good book.  'G'night!  :-)

Layouts, Samples and a "Reveal"!

It was a Full Friday in the sewdio yesterday.  I began by laying out a piece for Week 3 of "About Contrast", the class I'm taking with Pamela Allen.  This week's assignment is to work with contrast in shape and/or size -- whether low or high contrast.  Definitely harder for me than with colour, because I like things to be in proportion.

That said, here's an example of past work where the piece is dominated by one large item:

House I - mounted on linen-covered stretched canvas

Loving abandoned buildings, I went back to them for the assignment.  Here's the inspirational photo:

And here are the two layouts I've tried thus far -- nothing is stitched down, just placed on the background.

Rough layout #1

Rough layout #2

I'm thinking that the building is too big -- there's not enough contrast in size.  I want the building to look lonely and forlorn and small.    The upholstery fabric for the roof and walls has a great texture, and I've put a couple of slits in the roof, showing how its falling apart:

Of course, there's no stitching on the piece yet, no over-grown grasses...

While letting that 'percolate' on my work table, I went into my 'wet room' (i.e. my back room where I do messy things) and played with paint.  I wanted to add colour to the pebbles in the sample of the beach piece about which I recently posted (scroll down).  You'll note in the inspirational photo that there are coloured pebbles in the water...

So I stitched a scrap of the pebble fabric, using monopoly (clear) thread, and daubed on some colours from my newly-acquired collection of Pebeo Setacolor paints:

I liked the results, so I went ahead and painted some of the pebbles on the miniature sample.  The trick was to paint just the right number of stones (it's so much fun, I wanted to keep going!)...and to space them out "artfully"...in the right proportions.  The pearly white paint was a wonderful accent to add the glisten of the water, as well as to soften the brightness of the colours.

Gems on the Beach

I like it so much that I've given it a title, and am going to attach the black mat and put it in my inventory of miniatures for sale.  :-)  Doncha love it when a sample works out?

Now to go forward with the larger piece, which I want to mount on stretched canvas and put in the Lacombe Art Show in April.

Speaking of shows, yesterday was also "Reveal Day" for the Fifteen by Fifteen Group's latest theme, "Rhythm".  You can see all of the pieces on the Group's blog...I think they're our best yet!  But here's my piece...

Rural Rhythms  (C) 2014

A face only a mother could love, eh?!  ;-)  My artist's statement (on the Fifteen by Fifteen blog) explains...

I'm linking late to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday...why not stop by there too?