Workshop Fun

As I said earlier this week, I taught for the Maye River Quilters Guild in Bluffton, SC.  They are an enthused new guild that has leapt from 29 to 88 members in 18 months!  I was their first visiting teacher and lead 26 members through two Value and Spontaneity Workshops.

 

I've shared some about this valuable exercise last summer HERE and how I set it up.  Once everyone arrives the trading and stirring begins.  This gal was so beautifully organized it was a shame to make her mess them up!

The trading is done in sets of 10 triangles with 5 other participants.  That means that 25% of the triangles used are from someone else's fabrics -- so participants get a few colors they would not have included or large prints or stripes, etc.  Shakes things up a bit!!

And then everything is thrown into a bag and stirred up good!!  I loved Cindy's idea to hang her bag from her nametag so both hands were free.

So did Nancy!  They had fun moving through the exercise side-by-side!

Sometimes it took two to keep everything on the temporary design walls.  Just minutes after I took this picture, the piece on the left slide down in a crumple on the floor -- ahhhhhhh!

She reacted very calmly!

Once everyone had their version laid out, I directed everyone to decide what they like about theirs before we began to survey the room and refine the layouts.  This to me is the most valuable part of the workshop!

The fabric arrangement is random -- two triangles are pulled out of a bag, decide which is light and which is dark and put them into the correct position working across one row at a time.  At the end, after some reflection, small changes are made to refine the piece before the stitching begins.

 

To retain the spontaneity of the piece, it's important not to over correct.  Some imbalance here and there improves the visual interest of a piece and holds a viewer's attention longer.  Everyone was surprised by the ability of medium value prints to switch from light to dark depending on the value of the second triangle in the pair.

 During the Saturday workshop, one of the gals reminded us that we had a great value finder tool in our pockets -- our phones!  Soon phones and tablets were out and everyone was exploring how to set it up for black & white pictures.  It certainly makes it easy to evaluate areas that need some tweaking! You can quickly switch a couple mediums and darks to break up an awkward area to give it more definition and clearer lines of contrast.

This is one I made several years ago -- the pieces always reflect the taste of the maker -- I have lots of florals, so there are lots of medium value prints in this piece.  In general, the more colors, the busier the print, the more likely that it functions as a medium value fabric.  It's an easy donation quilt to make plus I learn more about value manipulation each time I make one.  I cut scraps into the right size triangles and drop them in a box until it is full enough to make another one.

The arrangement above is the class project but there are lots of other layouts for this exercise.  Each time, I enjoy auditioning for the border since there always are several possibilities that would work and which one I use depends larger on my mindset that day.

For those of us focused on traditional quiltmaking, value is the element of fabric selection that makes a design work or fail so this exercise goes a long way at building understanding and confidence.

 

The spontaneity element of the exercise is designed to learn how to make fabric decisions with less effort and have more fun doing it!!

 

I never tire of teaching this exercise and love all the variation and excitement of it.  Of course everyone loves everyone else's and is disappointed with their own, but doing it in a group helps everyone recognize the gaps in their fabric stash and that's valuable. 

The challenge is to go beyond deciding you "like it" or you "don't like it".  One also needs to get specific about the "whys" so you can learn to control your choices in the future.

 

So get together a group of friends and try this out for yourself!!

 

And I can't finish today without a nature picture -- rose-breasted grosbeak (male) in my backyard!!

 

Mary Huey

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Finishing Only??

This past weekend, I was teaching for the Maye River Quilt Guild in Bluffton, South Carolina.  Fran, who booked my visit for the guild told the members several times that she "admired" the way I set goals at the beginning of the year for my quilt making. 

 

It got me to thinking about my goals -- setting them is one thing, achieving them is another as you well know.  And I've been negligent in the "achieving" department this quarter.  Last night I decided since the studio is still torn up (very bogged down, blaming the gardens), I'll spend the rest of May and June TOTALLY focused on finishing. 

NO NEW STARTS, Mary!!!

 

Between participating in the 2016 Finish-A-Long and the APQ UFO Challenge 2016 and my own goals, there is plenty to do!!  This is my APQ list -- if you look closely you'll notice I've left some blanks at the end of the list and there are a couple of duplicate entries.  I left four spaces blank when I made the list so if I didn't "finish" something, I could add it back into the list for a future month . . . . . . . clever or cheating?

I'm still working on the quilting of April's project.  I was so excited to actually be able to start this because how to quilt it has been a major stumbling block.  I've lost track of where I got the inspiration for this all-over quilting (if it was you, please let me know) but I'm very pleased with the results.

And it should have been finished by now but, but, but . . . . . I'm doing it in two sections and froze when I realized that might not have been a good strategy with a quilting design which flows across the surface and at this point seems impossible to blend across the join needed at the middle of the quilt.  So I'm back to thinking.   There is an idea percolating but it's need a bit of simulation before I go ahead with it.

The May project is to finish a scrappy tumbling blocks piece that I've been using for demonstrations in my Set-In Piecing Simplified workshops.  It was all pinned onto a sheet for easy transport to classes.

This morning, I transferred everything to the work wall (I can get to it) so as time occurs to piece, I can work at setting the units together (the sewing machine is accessible) and filling in the gaps (I wonder where the bag of scrap diamonds is stashed?).

One of my 2016 Finish-A-Long goals (you can see all of them HERE) is to hand quilt the round robin quilt top from early last year. 

Once again, I have to get over the hesitations about "how to quilt it" so Sunday evening I just started in the middle -- no idea where this is going yet but will keep forging ahead and waiting for something to click in my head.

Spring of course will continue to distract me.  The blue jays are busy in my backyard harvesting fibers from last year's swamp milkweed stalks to use in their new nest and I have to watch that!?!  And yesterday on a birding morning at one of our favorite places, we found this little patch of wild blue phlox.  This flower is increasingly rare and must be enjoyed at any opportunity!!  In this flood plain, it was abundant and thriving!

I hope you are finding balance in your life during this changing of the seasons -- it's a challenge for sure!!

 

Mary Huey

 

 

 

 

Lost and FOUND!!

I found my camera!!!! 

There it was in a bag with printer ink when I got one out to install in the printer?  

Apparently, the three of us came into the house together 10 days ago and I didn't do a good job of putting everything where it belongs.

 

My joy and relief at finding it exploded in a frenzy of picture taking around the garden so instead of pondering stitching with you today, I'm taking you on a tour!

 

This is a native wildflower, wild geranium that lights up a back corner under a tree.

There are several clumps of this delicate looking primrose in the long hosta bed.  It began with a single plant from a fellow primrose fancier 20 years ago when I began gardening in this yard. 

Isn't the flower lovely? 

In spite of the fact that our American toad nursery is brimming with tadpoles, the adults are still singing -- these little fellows are currently about 3/8" long and almost double the size they were 10 days ago. 

The edge of my peculiar pond is home to a clump of marsh marigolds -- they have been a wonderful solution to a muddy spot along the edge.

I have two clumps of Giant White Trillium, one of our most treasured local wildflowers.  They have suffered tremendously from deer browsing in the woodlands but my clumps are expanding slowly and this year, each clump will have 4 blossoms. 

I only have one clump of bluebells blooming -- some day I hope that it will spread across a wild area along the north side of the house. 

That's where the bird box is and today I peaked to see how things are progressing.  It's a black-capped chickadee nest built out of moss and lined with soft fibers.  Can you see the egg right in the middle?  There are six eggs!!  Can't wait for the noisy stage of this process!! 

This wildflower is Jack-in-the-Pulpit -- last year there was one flower and this year there will be three!  They are a unique plant that morphs from a male-only flower to a female flower as the plant ages -- mine aren't there yet, it will take a couple more years.  The violet is a little cultivar that is part of my violet collection which I let run amuck and grow wherever they like!

This is the flower of wild ginger -- I have to pull the leaf mulch aside to see them -- love the color! 

Another one of my primrose collection -- tough reliable specimen that glows right at the edge of my patio. 

Wild crested iris -- they just opened in the morning and are about 5" tall. 

They seem very happy nestled into the rockery alongside sedum. 

The pansies have to live in the window box these days so the deer don't eat them.  We added a hummingbird feeder a couple days ago and hope to be able to enjoy watching them from the dining room. 

This ajuga is bit aggressive so once it finishes blooming, I pull it back to a smaller clump -- it would pave the driveway if I let it. 

I've only planted one pot so far -- still a bit early for our area to put out many annuals.  This chive plant has lived in this pot for several years and survives some very cold winter weather. 

The violas are all volunteers that popped up around the flower beds and I transplanted them to brighten up the front steps.  I left this one in the center of the patio -- such a cheerful face!

Three varieties of violets have swarmed this part of the front garden -- on the left is "Freckles", "Confederate" is in the center, and the large white aromatic violet is on the right. 

I'm so excited that the rhubarb is looking stronger this spring -- I have great expectations!! 

The view of the new porch railing (yet to be painted) from the rhubarb!  The rod between the center posts will host the morning glories later this summer!

I have the largest most prolific red currant bush in the world!!  No kidding!  It's blooming and I hope there are enough pollinators on the prowl to guarantee a bumper crop this year. 

My strawberry bed is not very productive -- the common blue violets seem to enjoy it more than the berry plants -- not enough sun so I'm in the process of moving that this summer. 

This is my third year doing a straw bale garden plot.  I've already set out Lacinto kale, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, shallots, and planted peas in last year's straw.  The new bales should be ready to go by mid-May -- thankfully we've lots of rain and so prepping them has been easy this spring. 

This batch of kale is hanging out on the back porch until the new bales are ready. 

I walk the yard every day to see what's new.  I have too many beds and projects to manage sometimes -- much like my quilting.  Are you a gardening quilt maker, too?

 

Enjoy the weekend!

 

Mary Huey

Sometimes I Just Need a FINISH!!

Do you have days when you just need to finish something?

I did yesterday!!

My studio is still torn up because spring has arrived and with it comes the season of bird migration.  

 I want to be outside enjoying all the "firsts of the year" -- crabapple blossoms ready to burst open.

 Or the meadows of a local park dotted with mist-bejeweled webs of orb spiders!

I want to sit and watch the pine siskins draining the finch feeder at the rate of about 1/2 pound of seed a day!?!  What began a week ago as 1 bird off and on during the day has become a flock of 12 to 15 birds for most of the day.

This feeder has not been vacant for over a week.  There is cracked corn and a wealth of fresh dandelion seeds in the surrounding lawn, but they only have beaks for the finch feeder.  Northeast Ohio is their wintering range according to Sibley's Guide to Birds but I rarely see them until late April/early May and then typically just for a day or so as they are return to Canada to breed.

A local birding acquaintance, Jon Cefus, shared this lovely close-up with me.   

Siskins are related to goldfinches, same size, but don't have the striking colors and can be easily mistaken for a sparrow.  For such a social bird, they are a bit cranky at the feeder with lots of bickering about who gets to sit on which perch.  The amount of yellow (see the wing bar) varies and they have a thinner, pointed beak unlike the other small finches.

 

Fair weather and southerly winds brings birds into our area over night during the spring so every morning brings the possibility of something new but with only northerly winds for the past 12 days, we aren't seeing much action and are getting a bit restless.  So yesterday, my birding daughter and I headed over to Northwest Ohio and Magee Marsh for 3 hours of up-close birding on a boardwalk through a lakefront marsh forest remnant that is one of the top 10 birding spots in the USA.

We had a modest 50 species and only 8 warblers but there are always interesting "firsts" to enjoy.  A whip-poor-will might have been a first for both of us -- we've heard them on trips in the southern US but I can't recall actually seeing this night insect hunting bird.

And then there was this tidy pile of feathers -- looked like a thrush was someone's breakfast. 

I wonder if anyone saw the event?

However, my lack of stitching progress is also frustrating so yesterday I decided a FINISH would be just the thing to settle my restless spirit.  So when we returned home, I set to attaching the lining to the dilly bag I've been piecing for the past month.  It's Brigitte Giblin's Nundle Dilly Bag pattern which she says should take about a week -- perhaps the decision making about the fabric slowed me down?

It turned out larger than I expected so I've decided to give it to my knitting daughter for her birthday.  I added two pockets -- a long one with several divisions for needles and a smaller one for miscellaneous bits.

It was an easy process to make the lining, add the pockets, create casings and ties.  The lining is interfaced to give the bag more body.

The only problem is that I can't seem to get a good picture of the bag which is large enough to hold enough yarn to knit a sweater.  Perhaps my iron gives you some perspective.

I think I'll make another one by machine and see how the Set-In Piecing Simplified technique works for a shaped piece like this.

 

So it was a very good day -- the best of both my worlds -- a day of birding and a stitching finish!  The frosting on the cake was looking up from my computer just now to see the first of the year ruby-throated hummingbird sucking nectar from the feeder. 

 

Maybe today, I'll paint . . . . .

 

Mary Huey