Stitches In Wool

As promised, I have some in-progress quilt peeks to share! I'm really enjoying putting this one together. It's busy, random (yet balanced), with crooked lines and casual curves. The color scheme is red, pale green, gray, black, and a dash of white. Lots of wools and suiting material thrown in with the delicately patterned cotton prints--this is definitely my style. I may end up tie-quilting this one with a deep teal colored yarn (yummy), but it's still to early to know for sure.I only have a fraction of this neat black crane fabric and I've been holding onto it for the past couple of years waiting for the right project to come along. I'm so glad to finally get to incorporate it into this quilt.
I think this tiny little bit is my favorite part of the patchwork so far. It looks like the woolen fabrics ripped apart and the minty floral is tearing through...

Overall, the portion I have completed thus far is about 36x76". I'm not sure yet how big it will be, but probably about 90x76". Looking back on my other quilt, it's amazing how different these two are! Despite their differences however, the binding I made for the previous one was the jumping off point for this current quilt. Everything is connected...

I have quite the amount of sketching to do, so I must call it a night. Hope you have a great evening/morning, whatever your time zone may be!

A Robin's Requiem

Hello, gang! I finally listed the painting I was hinting at before...

"A Robin's Requiem"

acrylic on cradled hardboard

6x6"

I'm really happy with the outcome! This piece originally started out as something entirely different (in fact, it was going to be a painting/commentary on the disappearance of bees...go figure), but I soon realized that I was trying to fit way too much detail into such a small painting. Fast-forward over a year later when I rediscovered the half-finished piece and tack on some extra days and voila! This painting is born.

Two separate, and rather unfortunate bird patients at the shelter inspired this one. The first being a sick juvenile robin that was with us for a week before choking to death in my hands. It was sad, and there was nothing I could do to help. The second patient was a baby junco who had the misfortune of being born without eyes. Not even eye sockets. He came to the shelter because he was apparently abandoned by his parents in the wild (likely due to his birth defect). Needles to say, a bird without eyes is a lost cause in Nature. We ended up having to put him down.

While sad, I also couldn't help but feel a little relief for these two birds who were suffering while alive and are thankfully now in a better place.Moving on, I have some pages to show you from a new art journal I've been keeping! I picked up this square spiral bound sketchbook last month and recovered it because I hate spiral bound sketchbooks. Which begs the question: why did I get one to begin with? Well, the paper was perfect for paint washes and I was too impatient to order a book bound one. So far it seems to be working out quite nicely though...I used to be an avid journal-er, but over the years that gave way. I wanted to pick it back up--but instead of meticulously writing about my day, I wanted it to be a sort of look into what I'm currently thinking about. A mishmash of watercolor paintings and words...Also, as if I weren't already busy enough, I started another quilt. I have about 1/4 of the quilt top stitched together and I'm really happy with the outcome thus far. Unlike my last one, I'm doing the new quilt in a helter-skelter improv fashion. There's no pattern and a lot of warped edges which gives it a carefree look and feel like the early American work quilts of yonder days. You can see some of the fabrics in the below journal pages:I'm also hand-stitching and hand-quilting the entire thing again. I must be crazy...

Quiltus Completus

Gosh. So I pretty much fell off the face of the earth and I do apologize. I blame it all on the weather.

We had some amazing weather here in the NW as of late and I had to take advantage of it. Lots of hiking, going to the beach, lounging on the deck with a cup of coffee and a sketchbook... Heavenly. I also got a good jump on my container garden and will post pics of it here shortly. But first, while I was absent from the blog, my hands were certainly kept busy...

After starting my first quilt at the end of last summer, I finally *finally* finished it this week. Hoowah.I made the entire thing completely by hand (alas, I have no sewing machine). It was a learning experience and indeed, I learned a lot along the way. The most important? Just digging in and doing it. Also, I think it's important not to over-think/over-plan it. I had to remind myself that quite a few times.But I'm quite thrilled with the result and am already scheming on plans for the next one (whenever that may be).
Cat + quilt = happiness......

Anyway, I'm also knee-deep in rough/quick sketches and plans on a new series of paintings. The over-all theme confronts the need to remain positive and strong even in dark and negative situations. Very relevant to what's going on in this crazy world of ours (and it is crazy, isn't it?) as well as what many of us (including myself) should be doing.

I think the paintings (when I finally get to that stage) will be a smidgen darker and more serious than my work typically is, with plenty of symbolism and allegory.

Well kids, the sun is out and I really should go and have a bite to eat. Take care, everyone!