Next Project ( well one of...)

This one is a tad overdue, and inspired by the purchase of the wool shop in Perth by my Niece.
Big AWWWWW factor here.

These guys are all over the place. Me?...... I refuse to pay $ for a kit that gives you a few grams of material....So I bought a whole fleece,...... for the same price.

A very specific fleece, no less.

A prize winner I heard.
There are a lot of steps between the fleece and the "toy."
Today I washed PART of the fleece.
As a knitter I like the feel of lanolin from wool but a WHOLE fleece plus  the dander and the dirt results in a pretty overwhelming, house permeating odour.
In addition to the amount of dirt that went into the water with each new immersion, it became weightless by comparison.
Hand washed but spun dry in the machine.

3rd rinse water

 Light and FLUFFY....Good name for a sheep?

A sheep named PIG? (This first guy took an hour)

Spring Thaw - Final

I did audition the sap pails but my resident critic nixed them. Too jarring. ( pun?? )
So the addition of the faded leaves on the sapling was all I did this morning.

According to our local news they are starting the sugaring this week. It's the earliest the manufacturers can remember.
ME? I"m happy to see the sun.
(Go for a walk in the woods!)

Spring Thaw - Day 12

About 5 hrs finished this. Total was probably around 40. Slow precise work.
I'm still thinking about the sap pails and some late winter leaves on the small tree.
That's tomorrow.

Spring Thaw - Day 11

I had a really focused session. I was able to work almost twice as long as normal. This is SUCH diddly work. Yikes!

Shall I jinx it and say one more day?

( Probably 2 )

Spring Thaw - Day 10

I went on a little excursion yesterday and found some materials for my NEXT project. Some of you know me well. I won't begin the next until this one is off my radar. More about that, later.

So today?.....

Though it's a departure from my usual rule of working from the back forward, I'm concentrating on the shadows. Their position needs to be exact to be realistic, so that's the focus right now. When the darker line is locked in place then the rest of the fill can be placed around it.

Spring Thaw - Day 9

Spring thaw for real it seems.
We had 36 hrs of WARM and Rain. All the snow is gone.
The down side was the resultant flooding in the low areas.

There was a tragedy in Grand Valley, a loss of life to the flood. I had been there for the workshop on Saturday. Some of the members may have been touched personally. My thoughts go to those ladies.

Shadow work.

Spring Melt - Spring Thaw - Day 8

Finally remembered the word I wanted THAW, not melt.

I went ahead and placed all the trees. They are fused at the top into the sky. The lower area is loose so I can move it while placing the ground cover. The trees certainly change the feel of the whole view.

I wasn't sure about the leaning bole on the right but now that it's in place I see it does balance the distorted one on the left.
I may get back to this today.

Spring Melt - Day 7

I hardly spent a day on this but I did complete a section.

After I put away the teaching materials from the workshop, the UNUSUALLY tidy work space seduced me into a few hours of collage work. I progressed to the point where I need to address the addition of more trees and the placement of some shadow. My brain just wasn't willing this afternoon.

Tomorrow.

Post Workshop

There was a time I could stand on my feet all day.......and go dancing.
HA! Those days are over. Yesterday was a rest day. I put my feet up.

11 participants from the Dufferin Piecemakers Guild met in the lovely town of Grand Valley. I think there were also a couple of.........OBSERVERS.

A number were very proficient. We looked at their work and tried to decide why they were unhappy, or why they were stuck. It always helps to get a pair of fresh eyes.
A number had to deal with the fact their "retreat" machines were only capable of"normal sewing". It was great when we could find a workaround. One woman went home and brought back her "real" machine.
As well as looking at creative ways to put life into their work with unusual fabric treatments, we played with hoop work using netting and stabilizers as a way to get some detailed work onto their pieces without the risk of Free Motion distortion.

And 2? of these fun ladies finished their pieces.

It was great to watch the dynamics of this group who were obviously good friends and very close.

They promised me I'd get photos of their completed art. I can hardly wait.

                                                                          😊

Spring Melt - Day 6

A few hours seems to yield so little.........

The colour mix from my Bear is a little darker than I wanted. I can always add a few lighter samples as a move forward.

This will be the last post for a few days.
With my rescheduled workshop looming this weekend, I need to ensure all my materials are good to go.
Ta!

Spring Melt - Day 5

Today our temperature outside is supposed to climb into the positive range. What a wonderful thing to see the bright sunshine. Working on this piece makes me think about Maple syrup.

Our local producers will be starting to assemble their gear. Most have gone to the pneumatic tubing method as its become a big business. I remember in my early years working for the Conservation Authority, and selecting trees, hammering the spiles and hanging the pails.

I gave this next part a lot of thought as I intended to go against my normal method.
Instead of continuing to work forward I decided to finish all the snow.
The sharp edges will be muddied (pun definitely intended) by the duff materials and the tree placement would not be affected at all.

I used freezer paper and applied it to the white materiel that was already faced with the fusible web.

Finishing this is going to be more diddly work. I need to get my head in the right place before I begin that.
(Hmmmmmmmmmmm......maple syrup.........pails..........?..)

Spring Melt - Day 4

I almost didn't do this part.
I didn't want to cover the sky but I couldn't immediately see another use for it. Adapting it to another picture? Too much brain effort right now.

So I went ahead and did the background trees. The fabric was a piece of my walnut fabric from last summer. I used a very light fusing for these tiny slivers.
In spite of my hesitation... it looks good.

Spring Melt - Day 3

I had a lovely, undisturbed morning so I was able to finish the sky.
(I will admit that I started cutting the pieces a little bigger.)
I have no idea how many there are, BUT I am VERY pleased with the effect. It certainly was worth the time and effort.

Last Guild Quilt for the Month

Very simple large blocks, HST with a simple geometric finish. Still very striking.

Spring Melt - Day 2

I found a few hours today, somewhere between the laundry and cooking brunch for  my wonderful snow shoveling son. (He's making noise about moving out West, so I better enjoy him while I can.)

Still working on the sky.
It's surprising how much colour was actually in this painted fabric. The placement is very objective, according to colour.

Quilt Work Today

I still have a few comfort quilts to have ready for this Tuesday coming, when our guild meets. I will hand them off to other volunteers to add a label and finish the binding.

This was a very pretty smaller quilt so I wanted to give the lovely batiks something a little more elegant.

The batik zigzag was filled with a vine of leaves and tendrils. After echoing the vine, the middle brown accent was filled with a traveling bars.

Started Something New.- Spring Melt

I hadn't meant to. I do have my Bear and my Landscape to finish.
So it's not my fault 😇.

My Fibre Art's group meet once a month, outside the guild meetings, and we try to challenge each other with new ideas. Some of them are really great. My bear is a result of the collective nudge.

This time, MOSAIC tiling was the theme, and as I got to prowling the internet for a new idea it slowly dawned on me, the commonality of mosaics, stain glass, tiling, applique, snippets, confetti, and collage. They are all essentially the same thing. So this was not too far from what I have been doing this year.

I did have a picture/painting set aside for future interpretation so I decided to use it for this.

And I just happened to have a lot of prepared little brown pieces for the newly melted areas.

To make this piece mine I decided to change a few things, starting with the sky. From my stash of painted cloth I selected a blue/ pink FQ. The morning with my group, (though I do have to admit there was a lot of chattering and laughing, complete with Second Breakfast), resulted in a good start.
A few hours home this afternoon and I have about one quarter of the sky done.

I thought a Dawn sky would be nice. Tight tiling.
So this is started. It isn't high on my GOTTA DO list, and I will work on this off an on. I MAY get it done this week........?

Bear With Background

This is most likely my final choice, and yes I lengthened his legs.
Enjoy!

Bear - Final

I swapped out the 'black eyes'.\
I could have just fused the new ones over top but I removed the second lighter brown. It wasn't too difficult and though it left some glue behind it didn't matter.
I also replaced the pupil with jet black instead of the darkest brown.
There are a couple of eye 'spots' in place but not fused yet. I'm trying out different colours there.

All that remains is to cut it out and place it on a background. That is, as yet, undecided. I'm leaning towards forest, but I'll have to try a few.

In the mean time, this finished out at 23"x18".

All I can say is what an intriguing process. I'm glad I went to the workshop and really glad I tried it a second time......without flowers
                                                   😉

Bear - Day 5

Bear is finished. Sort of.
I was not happy with the eyes, too dark, so I have changed them, a shade lighter.
Still not happy.
 Hmmmm.

The head doesn't have as much definition as I'd like. That too can be changed.

That's it for now.
Having company in a few hours.
Clean?
Cook?
Whats that!

Bear - Day 5

I was a little slow off the mark this morning. A trip to Costco requires I go along as the 'voice of reason'. 😁

A few hours has brought me to the head. I could to finish tomorrow, but I'm not sure, yet, about the face. So maybe not.