Ruth Elizabeth at 89

         It is done finally.   I'm not the world's best photographer and I'm definitely not a fan of the new Photos appplication.   With IPhoto I had a tilt option to fix  things like the above, not so with Photos.   I think Photos is a step backwards instead of forwards---don't know why apple changed.  The editing tools were better on IPhoto too in my opinion.
      The portrait quilt sits on another quilt which frames it.(not crookedly either), a technique I learned from Jean Wells ( Winter 2010-2011 International lQuilt Festival: Quilt Scene).  I've submitted it for an upcoming show.  Should hear something soon.

A pic of final piece and frame, but though I edited out surrounding stuff, it still shows here.

WHERE HAVE I BEEN? NOWHERE. WHAT HAVE I DONE? NOTHING

Well that's not technically true, but it feels true, emotionally.  

Creative Quilters Annual Retreat

Piecemakers 1st Annual Retreat

 I attended some retreats with fellow quilters from my community.

    

Paducah--saw Eleanor Burns                         

Attended SAQA--and met new AA quilters  

TWO NATIONAL QUILT CONFERENCES (see above    

Trip to Nassau

Where I was inspired to make notecards of days and nights in Nassau

And I made these blocks which are stackked neatly in my studio waiting for me to get back to them.

and finished this Biblical Sampler

And with four other quilters made this donation quilt for local  theater group

And started this portrait of my friend ( 90 years young)

But I haven't finished much of anything.

Yeaaaaaa! My 1st Ribbon.

I received "Honorable Mention" at the  West Virginia Quilt Guild annual festival.  The quilt portrait of my nephew titled the "Entertainer" was an entry in the individual small quilt category.  There were so many extraordinary quilts there.   I feel so honored.

The Piecemaker Portraits Group

I'd promised earlier to share the results of several of the other ladies' projects in the workshop I conducted on making fabric portraits.  And here they are:  

Here's Joyce working on her daughter's picture.

Helen decided to surprise her son with a portrait of his dog.

Rebecca's project called for two portraits .  Ambitious one!

Fait Accompli!

Proud quilter at annual quilt show

Rebecca surprised her nephews at the show too.

Not pictured here was Robbi  who framed her portrait of her son.

We had a great time and I learned as much as I taught.  

[to see more of the SPC Piecemakers' annual show got to [ http://spc-piecemakers.blogspot.com/  ]

Blogger's Online Quilt Festival

Here's the final fabric portrait of Brittany.

     For this year I am entering a fabric portrait of my granddaughter, Brittany, in Amy's Creative Side-Blogger's Quilt Festival.  I had promised Brittany that I would attempt a fabric portrait of her as soon as I found the right picture of her for me to interpret.  Now you must know that Brittany is a young woman who posts lots of pictures of herself on her Facebook page as she goes through her day to day life.  She loves taking pics of herself, her nephews and friends too.  Finding the right picture to capture her from the hundreds she's posted as she tries new hairdos, new make-up, and outfits was a dilemma for me.  Her most times sunny mood is offset by her sometimes gloomy outlook.  In the portrait I chose, she seems to me to be sort of "mellow", in-between those two extremes of her personality.

        I am very proud of Brittany who recently completed a course of study at WV Junior College with a very high average.  I'm wishing her success and a real job soon.

Here's picture I used and portrait in process.

I love making fabric portraits and find them to be a study of personality and character. The whole process-- from finding the right photo and fabric, to creating and capturing the features of the face or body--I find a rewarding challenge.  In working with Brittany's portrait,  I had the hardest time settling on a background.  I tried out many different ones in the process, but when I saw the star fabric, something in me clicked and I knew that was it.  It speaks to, along with the expression, the sort of star quality she exudes in all she does.  See below some of the different backgrounds and fabrics I auditioned in working on this portrait.

 






I am looking forward to participating in the festival this year and viewing all the beautiful quilts submitted by others.

I love comments and will respond with joy.

The Entertainer and the Star

Here is MaShawn in full costume, ready to dance.

And this is Brittany, a star if ever there was one.

Completed both of these on February 24th 2012.  These resulted in workshop class I taught within Piecemaker's group on how to make a fabric portrait.    More pictures later of some completed by students.

Mountain Mama's Garden

In the song "Country Roads",  John Denver refers to WV's Mountains as Mountain Mama.   I've been working on a series of post cards, wall hangings, and now a bed size quilt with that theme.  I used crazy quilt patches to do design, which is my own.   My process included drawing picture on grid paper, then making blocks 13 x13, on a foundation of very light weight gridded foundation fabric (from JoAnn's).   I had been collecting flowered fabrics for a long time because I simply loved them.   Using very small flower prints and graduating to very large ones.  I was attempting to show a garden that started back up in the mountain and came forward to viewer.  The mountains too were constructed to show distance with darker ones closer to viewer.   I plan to do some quilting on this once I add the batting and backing.   For the backing I'm thinking of using a pillow back, no borders, not binding.  The actual size of this top is currently around 87 by 87.

And here is a sketch of the portrait for my friend's son with his new bride.  It's been blown up to 24 x 36.  She wanted a larger one and I've finished fabric selection.   My next step is to trace this onto freezer paper and then cut out the individual pieces and iron them to the fabric chosen.   I plan to add more pictures of the process I follow in this construction as I go along.  I am not happy with the mouth of the male, and will be reworking when I get to that part.   I think making the teeth so specific, I made a mistake.   When I redo it for the pattern piece, I will just outline the sections of the mouth and not individualize the teeth until they're more right than wrong. In other words, I'm going to simplify that part of the drawing until I feel it better portrays the young man's smile.

Apple Butter Festival

     I've completed top for "Mountain Mama's Flower Garden" (changed name to allude to WV mountains) and will post picture as soon as I download pics from camera ( tomorrow).    I've stopped progress on portrait project to prepare some items for the Apple Butter Festival which is coming up around the end of this month.   I already have pillow cases, shopping bags, and a couple of purses, so I plan to add a few more items--wall hangings, throws, and another purse if I can get to it.   There will be another Winter Festival in November, and  I plan to make several other smaller projects for that.   I found two different fabrics with the Walt Disney Princess on it in lavender and purple.   I have idea to make pillow cases and a matching towel set with that fabric and the lovely lavender towels I found the other day.
       The portrait is still on my mind and I've been collecting fabric for a month now.  I think I have what I need but I won't be sure until I sit down and begin to put the faces together.   Because it is two faces and one is slightly pink and the other has more peachy coloring, I'm worried about making them distinct enough.  Deidre Scherer and Ruth McDowell both use patterned fabric in their faces and I love how well it works for them.   As a result, I've been trying to find the perfect pattern for this portrait's faces, and that is one of the reasons fabric selection has been taking me so long this time ( it is always a little trying for me).   Using monochromatic color  choices was easier, but still took some time to find values that worked effortlessly with one another.  Once fabric selection is done, the actual 'piecing of the face' goes easily, reminds me a lot of paper piecing which is basis of this process actually for me.   Will get pics downloaded first thing in the morning.