Lighten the Load

Like many of you...I'm guessing....I've been struggling with the blatant and undeniable corruption on full display in our government right now. It's unconscionable what the President is able to get away with and it's hard to understand and accept the abuse of power. The news is horrific and heavy.....so it's even more important to set it aside and find some joy each day. I still dare to hope that the arc of the moral universe will eventually bend toward justice.

I just finished this fantastic puzzle with all of its colorful and tiny details. 
I loved every minute of it....and it helped lighten the heavy load.

 I'm going the opposite of tiny on the next one...large blocks of bold beautiful color. 
Having some peaceful puzzle time every day brings me joy.

Here's another wonky fabric flower experiment....I mostly like it...but there's room for improvement. I will always enjoy stitching on paper....but too much stitching causes the paper to rip so this time I used fabric for the background. I am at peace when I am playing with bold colors at my sewing machine.

Stitching!

I've said it before....and I'll say it again: stitching changes everything! 

This version with the stitched  bloom is so much more appealing! 

Bloom!

I hate when people accuse me of lollygagging when I'm quite clearly dilly-dallying. 

The screens are in the windows....I moved a few perennials around....and the rain lilies are repotted. It was a good morning for fresh air chores. I guess that's actually the opposite of dilly-dallying.

And....the crabapples are starting to bloom in the neighborhood!

These pretty pink blooms are such a delight this time of year!

I'm also still celebrating tulips...this time using fused fabric. 

I'm going to try it again...and stitch the word Bloom!

Works Like a Dream

Jane and I are both fans of Jo Diggs and her landscape quilts....and we each have a little collection of our own. Mine hangs as part of a collage wall in my entryway which I walk by many many times a day. I have five of her pieces.

I was actually all signed up to take an in person course with Jo when COVID hit so unfortunately it was cancelled. Just a few years later she passed away. She was such a talent!

More than a year ago Jane took one of her smaller pieces apart because there was fading...or some other issue. She added a new linen layer for the snow and handed it off to me to frame using my fused binding technique. 

I got as far as replacing and repositioning the moon....but then it got put on the back burner and lost in the whole mix of all things life. Until just recently. 

Jane is coming over later this week to shop my fabric stash....and I wanted to hand it off to her. So it's finally done!

I used a wooden canvas for the base.....which I padded with a thin layer of batting.

I cut the binding out of hand dyed fabric and attached strips of fusible webbing along one edge. I sewed it on the quilt mitering the corners. 

I stretched it onto the canvas and fused the binding to the back. I added some extra fused strips to tidy it up and make it more attractive.

 

It's a framing/binding techniques that I have used over and over again...

it works like a dream!

I wrote about hanging my gallery wall here in this post. 

Jane's piece would fit right in! 

Pineapples and Poppies

The pineapple is often seen as a symbol of hospitality....warmth and welcome.

So when Paul came home with odd this odd little pineapple...I knew the others at my puzzle table would welcome it with open arms. 

I thought I would share a few projects from the past while I'm focusing on other things. Art has been a huge part of my joyful puttering life...and it will most certainly be again at some point soon. And revisiting some of these projects may help propel me forward.

Back in 2016 I took a class called Sticky Fingers with Ellen Lindner. We created a fabric project using a glue solution to both to adhere the fabrics and topcoat the piece. It was an interesting and sticky process.

I wrote about this finished poppy project here: 

https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2016/10/finished-poppies.html

And some process photos can be found here:

https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2016/10/poppy-progress.html

The project is wrapped around an art canvas which gives it a nice finished look. I think the technique is interesting...but once it's adhered to the canvas there is no way to stitch. And I do love stitching.

It hung in my kitchen in Lexington all those years in this cobalt corner...but has yet to find a home in the condo. 

I'm auditioning it in a few places....but in the end I may give it away.

Give It Away!

We had a family breakfast out this morning to finally celebrate Sam's birthday....it's always wonderful to be together. All is well with the Shupes!

The meaning of life is to find your gift, the purpose of life is to give it away. Pablo Picasso

I love learning new things and using my skills/gifts to make things that bring me joy. It brings meaning to life. And more and more...I love giving things away.

So I've decided to give my recent swirl piece away and I'm hoping there might be one blog reader that's interested. If more than one person is interested....I'll draw a name. 

The piece is 7 x 7 and is mounted on a piece of foam core. (See this post for more views.) It could be put in a frame...or mounted on a larger canvas or hung on the wall just as is. A stand so could also easily be added to it could sit on a shelf. It's an odd little piece that I had a fun making for the Swirls 2.0 class with Izzy Moore. It has some issues...but beauty is in the eye of the beholder....and this piece is full of joy.

Send me an email with your name if you have interest.  

 joyfulputtering@gmail.com

I will keep the offer open through the end of Tuesday, July 22nd to give people time to respond. But then it's going somewhere. I hope.

There is joy...in giving things away.

Touch of Whimsy

I finished my swirl project...and I think the striped border was just the right touch of whimsy to frame the piece and pull in all the colors.

I will admit that I'm not in love with it...but like it well enough. I do like the color scheme...and I loved that I was able to incorporate the thrifted linen blouse. Those pieces seems to give it little resting places.

I didn't realize until I was well on my way that it's pretty much the same design as the swirl from the last time I took the course. Now I can take the best elements and lessons from both as I move forward with other pieces.

Next time I'm thinking just soft curves...I think I'm done with swirls.

I started it off thinking it was going to be 8 x 8 to be mounted on a wooden canvas I had on hand with my wrapped binding technique. 

But when I trimmed it down a few weeks ago to 7 x 7 I didn't realize how much harder that made it for framing with that odd size. So I bound the piece with some striped fabric and mounted it on a piece of foam core with wrapped edges. I can attach a hanger, or use velcro Command Strip hangers.

I may not be in love with the piece...but I do love pieces and parts. 

I learned a lot as Izzy is such a great teacher. There are tips and tricks that I can use over and over. 

I didn't leave enough room for too much cable stitching...but the couple of red squiggly lines are a few of my favorites...and add to the whimsy.

Decision

I made a decision this morning to get of of my own way and seize the day....and it ended up was a good combination of chores, errands, and projects. Sometimes having good day is just a decision.

I am mostly trying not to take too many classes...I have a lifetime of projects to do. They have to really draw me in like with the recent Visual Sentence....and it's almost always worth it. I so enjoy learning from artists I admire.

One of my favorite classes was Izzy Moore's Swirls of Color back in 2020.  I have often wished I could refer back to the lessons over the years...but it disappeared. 

This was my class project...and this post gives you a little window into making the piece: https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2020/07/yarns-strings-and-bling.html

But lo and behold Izzy is offering Swirls 2.0 , and gave a nice discount to those of us who paid for it before. I made a quick decision....and I was in.

It's just like riding a bike...much of it is familiar so far. I'm a little wobbly...but it feels good to be sitting at the sewing machine again playing with fabric and fibers and I will appreciate the structure of the class. 

We're starting with several little practice projects before we make our bigger swirl beginning with straight stripes. I decided to make it my own by turning it into a weaving of sorts. 

I can't share much about the process because it's a paid class...but I can share progress photos. 

My background is a page from a calendar...treated and backed in a way to make it very sturdy for stitching. 

It's nice to have peaks of the paper coming through...but I should have had more contrast with my fabrics. Oh well. I had a good time getting reacquainted with the decorative stitches on my machine. 

It's kind of wild! 

I think it could become a journal cover or something like that...but that's a decision for another day.

(I kind of like when I can circle back to my title at the end of a post)

Apply the Skills

As I go along with this Fabulous Free Motion class....I'm always thinking how I can apply the skills to my own projects.

Roseanne gifted me this birch tree fabric a while back....and I knew I would use it at some point. Using the reverse applique techniques I practiced in the class...I layered up three fabrics...and started stitching. 

Here it is in progress. I had to spread the cutting out over a few days as it's hard on my hands.

I layered a textured green batik and a dark blue under the birch fabric all on a stabilizer....

then outlined the trees in a double layer of stitching.

When I held it up...I realized there was no clear place to start and stop the reveal of the two different fabrics underneath. So I added more branches that connected the trees giving me clear spaces to cut away.

Then I started snipping out the gray fabric to reveal either the blue or the green.

I finished cutting out the gray this afternoon....I will clean it up just a bit more once I rest my hands. The loose threads do add a bit of texture. Nature is not neat and tidy.

And...I'm trying to decide whether to add a little fall color stitching here and there to simulate leaves...and add another texture. Maybe some hand stitching like french knots.  

Thanks for the fabric Roseanne! This was a fun way to apply the skills from the class. 

Anchor Images

Some of you may watch the CBS News Sunday Morning show and are familiar with the variety of suns that are displayed between segments. 

Did you know they all come from viewers...and there have been over 9000 displayed?  That concept was one of the inspirations for the next art exchange. with Becky, Tracie and Brenda.  

This photo is of a fabric sun I made for an exchange I did with my sister Marilyn years and years ago....also inspired by the Sunday Morning show suns.

My Madison group isn't doing suns, but each of us has picked an image that we're calling our anchor image.  It could be a photograph, a work of art, or an image from a magazine or Pinterest.  Over the course of 4 weeks we each will do a rendering of each other's anchor image. We can use any media and interpret it however we want...as long as we honor the image. 

We'll do them one at a time and hold them until the end when we will mail them at the same time to to the owners of that anchor image. So at the end of November....we will all end up with 4 versions of our own anchor image. Phew! Does this even make sense? 

Thank goodness Becky made us a chart so we can keep it all straight. I digitally sent my anchor image to Becky this morning....and Tracie sent hers to me...and I'd have to check the chart so see where the others went. We're off and running and it's going to be an interesting challenge. 

I should have had my own image rendering done by now...but I changed my mind at the last minute so I'm starting over.  But I'll get two done this week.

If all goes well....you'll be hearing more about it at the end of November or the beginning of December.  There will be lots to share.

These were the photos Alyson (Paul's sister) shared with me last evening....
they got 7 inches of snow in Denver.

Family and Friends

There were 13 or 14 deer in the woods as you come into our condo complex this morning including a familiar one with just 3 legs. She always seems to have friends and family watching out for her....and it's quite heartwarming.  

Speaking of family.....

Margie joined us for a birthday breakfast for our oldest son Nate. He turned 37 on Groundhog's Day!  Good conversation...waffles....and family....a great way to start the day!

And speaking of friends....look what I got in the mail today from Amy!

A beautiful 500 piece wooden puzzle!

It looks both crazy challenging....and crazy fun! 

Both Margie and I are going enjoy it! Thanks Amy!

Amy has been a huge supporter of my art.  

Just before I moved from Lexington she and Lisle hired me to make this custom stained glass inspired fused fabric piece for their new family room.  It was a fun project....and you can get a glimpse into the process in this post: http://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2020/12/delivered.html

I framed it on a deep canvas with black fabric using my 

wrapped fusing binding technique.

To help it flow with the other pieces...once it was complete....they ordered a custom floating frame.  It elevated it from a quilt....to an art piece.