Halfway there!

Well, Serenity is a long haul anyway you look at it.........pre-naming a piece as such probably ordained that it would be long in coming and less than serene as it grew. This was the week when I decided that all possible quilting would be done. The top half of the piece had been fused but there were sections that I just didn't seem to be finding the time to quilt. Remember, I am exploring an approach of fusing directly onto batting and back fabric and quilting as I go. Finally, yesterday, the last stitches were made on the non-pond half of the quilt.

Here is a photo of mostly the top half:

Everything above the actual bridge and along the shoreline and above is now quilted. I have a large rock with reflection and bridge reflection pinned on the base pond fabric to remind me of where they will go. Reflections of the other rocks still remain to be cut and then the challenging part - shading of the pond and reflection of the forest. I have some ideas to cut sheer organza for pond shadowing. In addition to the light green I have pinned up there now, I have some brown that will add some good shading that is needed on the left.

Next week is granddaughter week so this will now sit a bit - which is good. I need some perspective. I won't mention how many times while working on this piece, I was less than serene. :) I have decided that letting something sit while I contemplate next steps is an excellent method. I envy those that can plan an entire piece before turning on their machine!

Since this is Friday, I will be linking this to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday site. Be sure to check out what other artists have been doing!

While Enjoying the Pause

It has been great fun to let my dear Irish Cottage sit while I catch up on a myriad of other projects.

It has been quite a bit since I straightened up my stash. I had installed some storage shelves about 18 months ago with an eye to organizing my fabrics. Needless to say, buying new material and pulling the old in and out took its toll on the organization factor. So, over the past week, I have gone through many of the cubbies and re-sorted things.

One of the rewards for my perseverance was the discovery of a small piece of gray silk that was exactly what I wanted for part of the roof of my cottage.

Another project that I tackled was a donation for the upcoming SAQA auction. I really didn't think that I would have the time to create a piece for it, but then this break magically appeared. The auction is a main fund-raiser for an organization that has supported me wonderfully as I have evolved as an art quilter. All pieces in the auction are 12"x12" and it is a great opportunity to collect art by some amazingly talented artists. The online portion of the auction will be begins on Monday, September 9th at 2:00 PM Eastern Time and concludes on Sunday, September 29 at 2:00 PM Eastern. (There will be a separate auction at the IQF in Houston.)

 This piece is a machine quilted digital image, adapted from a photo that I took this winter in Aspen. Here is a detail view of some of the quilting.

Sure hope that someone bids on it during the auction!

It is Off the Wall Friday, so please check out other posts by artists at Nina-Marie Sayer's blog.

By the way, Elaine Quehl has a great article on copyrights on her blog.

Enjoy!