Wednesday, February 26, 2014

I've Moved!

Future blog posts by myself will be at a new address:

http://judywarner.com/blog/

I hope you will join me there and I thank you for your support these past four years.

Judy

Friday, February 14, 2014

Handwork, Snow, and Sheer Joy




This is a small case that I made for carrying some of my needles, small scissors, etc. for my hand-stitching projects when I travel. It was very helpful on my trip to Colorado last week. I suspect I will look on it fondly as my web and buttonhole stitches improve with practice!

There was 36 inches of snow in Aspen in 24 hours. While it created havoc with my flights, once I did get there, the snow was just beautiful. I got out to take some photos on my 'morning off' from child care.





The most precious part of my trip was sharing a week with my granddaughter. It is impossible to spend time with a two-year-old and not be reminded of how great it is to be able to be 'in the moment' and experience sheer joy in just being.


Check out Off the Wall Friday to see what others have been up to.

Saturday, February 1, 2014

The Dilemma of Skies

While I totally enjoy creating representational landscape quilts, often the hardest part for me is the sky. I have collected many, many blue fabrics that help capture the texture and tones of a cloud filled sky. Once the fabric is selected, the choice of free motion quilting is often even more problematic. I have tried various approaches. In the three examples below, I actually cut out the entire sky in the second and replaced it!

Very Subtle

Interpreting from the fabric design
Trying a pattern
My latest project is adapted from a beautiful photo of the Boundary Range in Alaska by Mark Adamus. The photo captures an arctic flow through the mountain range with the sun reflecting beautifully off the peaks. I have been having a great time creating the mountain tops. But, of course, there was the issue of the sky. Often I leave it till last, but I decided to tackle the issue early on in my design.

A blue sky simply wasn't going to cut it this time. As I searched through my stash, a piece of hand dyed cotton I acquired from Lisa Walton years ago jumped out at me. I compared the highlights in my photo with the hand-dye - I could see a relationship! I started cutting and playing with arrangement.


Not bad! I am pleased. I knew there was a reason why I was saving that piece all these years! Of course, the dilemmas of quilting still remain, but I'd rather not think about that now! :)