Thursday, October 28, 2010

Kathy's Photo Op

Here is Kathy's Photo Op quiltlet. It looks exactly like a picture! She's such an amazing artist :-)

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Photo Op Part 2

The second week we all swapped quiltlets. Temporarily. Using the quilt we received we simplified the design and created a new quiltlet. Colors remained the same, but many small details were omitted. Photos to come...

Monday, October 25, 2010

Art Quilt Challenge Returns

Photo Op: Take a photograph and reproduce it using fabric. You may trace the photo or copy it by eye. Use this to make a small quiltlet, the usual 12" x 12" maximum size. Be prepared for more...

Sunday, October 24, 2010

PIQF Pictures

Karen posted some pictures from PIQF on her blog. There are several of me and quite a few of my jackets as well. Check it out! October 19, 20, 22.

http://delightfuldiva.blogspot.com

Lisa

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Happiness

Have you ever noticed that when you are happy everything you do comes out better? This seems to be especially apparent in creative endeavors. Not only does it seem better to you, hey everything feels better when you are happy, but it actually is better, as evidenced by people who don't even know you or your state of mind.

I'm at an age when hormones fluctuate wildly which has a definite effect on my mood. I do not want to take anything chemical if I can avoid it, but just push through the bad days and enjoy the heck out of the good days. Consequently I have days when I'm ultra creative and everything is terrific, but I also have days when I can't do anything creative. I have stockpiled some "grunt sewing" to do on those days so I can still progress. (You know what grunt sewing is: the tedious over and over work that needs to be done, but isn't a whole lot of fun.)

So here's to another happy day and lots of progress on my latest project.

Lisa

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

PIQF and Mattress Rant

I had a terrific time at PIQF last week! I saw lots of inspirational quilts, picked up a few new ideas at vendor demos and I did my part for the economy :-) My favorite purchase was some deColourant, a new product that discharges and adds new color at the same time. Very cool! But it's always good to be home again.

Of course one of the best things about being home is getting to sleep in your own bed. That hasn't been very pleasant lately. We purchased a Sleep Number mattress and it is HORRIBLE! My back, which hasn't given me trouble in years, has been very sore no matter what number the mattress was set at.

We both tried harder and softer for multiple nights, but nothing worked. So we called within the 30 days to return it and THEY WOULDN'T TAKE IT BACK! At least not until we'd tried it the full 30 days. Argh! More torture! Now we finally have a new mattress (we couldn't wait to get rid of the Sleep Number mattress) but we're still waiting for them to come get it. So it sits in the way of everything. And we have to pay to have them pick it up! I can't believe what a rip off this has been.

Oh well, enough of my rant. My back is feeling better already and as soon as I get these workmen out of my studio (we're getting the UV film put on the windows) I can get back to sewing!

Lisa

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Basket Case

Here's a picture of my sweet little Kestrel, asleep in a basket. She doesn't look very comfortable, but she stayed there quite some time. This week she had to take an emergency trip to the vets. Her eye was sore and she wouldn't keep it open. I assumed it was an eye infection, but it turns out she had acquired a foxtail when Ninja and she had dismantled a dried arrangement for me. Poor baby. She was a very good girl at the vest though and let them remove it without anesthesia.

Lisa

Friday, October 08, 2010

Forest Echoes Tote

Up to this point I've made jackets and I've made tote bags using the same techniques as my jackets, but this time I made it out of the same fabrics! Wow! What a concept! LOL Hope you like it!

Lisa

Wednesday, October 06, 2010

Forest Echoes

Some friends have been giving me grief about me not posting on my blog so here I am again. I have to admit to having been bogged down by UFOs. I really wanted to finish a jacket I started approximately 12 years ago. I thought it still had potential so I'd kept it in my "I'll get to it some day" pile. That's actually a fairly small pile in my case because I do like to finish things :-)

After spending the last month doing anything I could think of to avoid working on it (yes, I made a small amount of progress, but I wasn't happy with the results) I finally admitted to myself that it wasn't working. I stepped back, analyzed it and kept the parts, but to be used in different projects and have started something new with the background. On the positive side, my house is much cleaner due to all the procrastinating I've done.

I have a number of fashion shows and workshops coming up and discovered that I needed multiple jackets and tote bags to be able to send out for workshop samples. Here's my latest rendition of Echoes of the East. I'm calling this one Forest Echoes.

front view
back view
side view
I particularly like the way the design morphs as it climbs the sleeve. A happy accident!
I'm going to count this jacket as a success after the compliments I received when I went shopping for a shirt to wear under it. I had on a boring cream colored turtleneck as I perused the racks at nearby upscale shops. Nevertheless at least 5 different sales ladies (those who have never deigned to notice me before, especially when I needed help) complimented me on my jacket. I'm sure not one of them realized I had made it myself.
Lisa