A Story of Three Quilts

Quilting takes a looooong time, at least for me.  Here is the story of these three new quilts:

Top #1:  Florida Spoonbill, 85 1/2" long x 80" wide.  I started this quilt a year ago and only finished it last month.  Then it was too big for me to photograph, so I took it to the exceptional Jay Daniel at Black Cat Studio (link here), which took a bit more time.   The quilt was put together in 9 pieces to accommodate my small Bernina sewing machine, and is intended to represent the elusive spoonbill in a Florida swamp, with the blue sky above.  I stopped planning as much as I had with my earlier quilting efforts and cut and sewed most of this quilt without doing too much measuring.  I also learned to cut and sew curves.  I went to Florida in 2014, to Singer Island, looking for a Spoonbill, but never found one in the flesh so had to create my own.  The brown & blue batik fabric in the quilt was brought back from India, where I had the good fortune to buy it directly from the Mundra artist, Shakil Khatri, who designed it.  This was the 3rd quilt I made with his beautiful fabrics. Unfortunately, I sold the 1st one before getting it photographed.

Middle #2:  Amber's Marathon Quilt, 85 1/2" long x 72 1/2" wide.  This quilt contains only about 1/3 of all the winning T shirts won by my marathon running daughter.  Sewing stretchy jersey was a pain, as was the dot minky fabric backing.  To personalize the piece, I took photos on various trip to Seattle of Amber's awards and sewed those fabric photos into the quilt, along with various drawings I did of running shoes.  It came out a bit lopsided, so you can tell it is hand made!

Bottom #3:  Albion Bird in Window, 30 1/2 x 30 1/2.  Now that I'm taking a lot of photographs, my desire is to do something practical with them, such as printing them on fabric and sewing them into quilts.  This is one such example, having taking various photos of the windows in a shed in Albion.  I combined the photos then added an applique and embroidered bird before quilting the entire piece.  This is a new wall hanging format, rather than my traditional 'lounge on the couch' size.

Going to Kehoe Beach Digitally

Since I'm not at the beach today, I'll have to go there with this memory of Kehoe Beach last September.

Santa Fe In-Camera Double Exposure

What fun, creating photo art compositions out of Santa Fe's sculptures, botanicals, rocks, walls, metal plates and wrought iron bars.  Doing double exposure in camera, you never know what you're going to get!

In Love With Double Exposure - Around the Neighborhood

High Noon Flowers

Yesterday I drove around and shot pictures in the late afternoon, seeking that special glow of the Golden Hour.  I didn't love anything I took.  So, today, at most photographers least favorite time of day, I took off again on foot taking shots in the neighborhood at high noon.  And, I captured a lot of pictures I like.  I guess I just prefer the glaring colors that are boldest and brightest when the California sun is high up in the sky.

Sometimes I just Love Weeds

Rattlesnake grass, dandelions and other wild weeds glowing in the late afternoon sun.

Mothers Day Family Art Project

Mother's day was celebrated a day early in Walnut Creek with some group art
Top:  Redo of 4 square drawing, done by three sisters and one (nearly) 97 year old mother
Middle:  Original 4 square drawing; done with each of 3 sisters having a square and the mother filling in wherever (blue person, pink accents, etc.)
Bottom:  Diptych (ie art done in two pieces, no hinge) joined together here, of a green-headed bird, perhaps in flames?  The result of 4 sisters working together in harmony.