I haven't had much to say but I've been working hard. The Christmas postcards are completed and will go in the mail tomorrow. They're pieced and padded with a little felt to make them slightly puffy. The members of the group like to have them just mailed so they are postmarked. But I have these great cellophane envelopes I'm going to use. The Christmas mail is so crazy I'm worried about them getting damaged. So I'll have each card hand canceled and them mail them in the envelope. I've made 30 cards so my best friends will be receiving them also. A few of them already have a complete collection of my cards since I always make a few extra to share with them.

I've also started some preliminary work on my next "Ruth McDowell" project.

When I was taking the workshop, the first day was spent with a ruler and pencil tracing the photo and then drawing lines on tracing paper over the tracing to make it pieceable. It occurred to me that I could use the EQ6 tracing capability to do the same thing much faster by skipping the first tracing step and drawing the lines directly over the photo. So, I'm trying it with this project and I can't believe how much easier it is. This is what the working grid looks like in EQ6 with the imported photo in the background:


Here's what the drawing will look like which I will eventually print and enlarge to actual project size:


This is just a rough first attempt and will definitely need finessing but I did this in about 45 minutes versus the hours it took me using paper and pencil. After the holidays, I'll get back to the spice quilt and finish the sweater I'm knitting from my handspun llama - the back and fronts are finished.

I usually don't post non-art related topics. But I'm so happy with the construction on my house. A previous post shows the demo process and the unfinished porch. Well, the porch is finished and I can only say I wish I had done this years ago. I love it. Not only does it change the exterior of the house but the interior as well. I didn't realize how much the 2-story enclosed porch cut off light. The entry hall and the second floor hall are so much brighter - especially the second floor where a window replaced the door onto the porch and it is open to the sun. In the spring I'll refresh the mulch and maybe even plant boxes for the railing.

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Holiday cards are in the Works

My friends know that I am unbelievably inconsistent when it comes to sending Christmas cards. I'll go for five years without sending a card and then, all of a sudden, I'll send them out. Last year was our first year my online group exchanged fabric Christmas cards (see my 1/4/08 post). I made a few extra and sent them to my closest friends. Totally contrary to my usual way of doing things, I started working on this year's cards right after I returned from Japan.

I decided to make 30 cards. The exchange group is small this year and the rest will go to my friends. WHO KNEW 30 CARDS WERE GOING TO BE THIS MUCH WORK!! I decided to make pieced cards this time and I'm paper piecing an angel pattern from Quilt University. The pattern has 12 units and I have little pieces all over the workroom though I'm trying to stay organized with envelopes. Just imagine all these pieces in a 4"x6" card.

On top of everything else, I'm having major construction on my house. I live in a 100+ year old house. It had a 2 story enclosed porch that was on the verge of collapsing. I decided to replace it with a single story open porch.

Early demolition

New porch

I'm thrilled with the way it's turning out. It's much more in keeping with the house and I'm getting favorable comments from the neighbors and even the mailman.

I love doing cards and sharing them with friends but I think I'm ready to get back to larger work. Can't wait to finish these and get back to my spice quilt. I need to see it finished.

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Blacks in the Military - another fabric postcard

This is our first year doing a postcard for Veteran’s Day focusing on blacks in the military. The pictures on my card come from the government's 1992 Veteran’s Day poster.

I really struggled with this one - coming up with some elaborate plans that just weren’t doable. I finally had to simplify the plan and ended up cutting the pilot's helmet out of some suede I had on hand and appliqueing it to the image fused to the card. Then I decided not to zigzag the edge and wrapped the fabric. I was then faced with the problem of how to attach the postcard back. After struggling with 2 fabric backs, I finally decided to print on paper instead to provide a cleaner look to the back and speed up the process.

My list sisters are working on another card. This one is a “do-your-own-thing” - no mandated theme. I chose not participate in this one. I think I’m postcard burned out - at least until the signup for the holiday card begins. Like last year, I think I will also make these my personal Christmas card. So, as soon as I get these in the mail tomorrow, I will begin the Christmas card design process.

I’m really excited! In September I will be attending a five-day workshop in Massachusetts with Ruth Mc Dowell . I really love her work (see photos at left and below) particularly her botanicals. The workshop will teach how to take a photograph and convert it to a quilt. Her quilts are usually not photorealistic (although the stone wall is pretty close)but that is their appeal. I had tried to register for it at the beginning of the year only to discover it was full. I put my name on the waiting list and a spot opened up for me about 2 months ago. I’m really looking forward to it.

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Has It Been That Long . . .

. . . since I last posted? Time to come back and talk about my projects in progress. Thought I'd start out by refreshing the appearance of the blog. How's the new look?

I visited the blog of someone on my Yahoo list and she had the tarot card posted so I took the test and you can see the result in the sidebar. I think it sounds like me - Empress? I think I'm going to have to upgrade my surroundings :-)

Well, even though I haven't posted, I have been doing some things. My online group has been feeding its postcard addiction and we traded cards for Black Music Month in June. I've also been spinning yarn for a sweater and I'm currently taking an online doll class.

Spinning
A while ago I found this wonderful site with free knitting patterns and I fell in love with this sweater. So, I decided to spin some of my stockpile of roving and fleece for it. The yarn I came up with is a heathery, taupe Blue-faced Leicester plyed with white Shetland and 2-ply BFL for the edging. I am happy with the yarn.


Now I'm beginning to have second thoughts. I'm carding some recently washed llama and I began to think I might like to knit it from the gray llama and white merino - decisions, decisions.
Black Music Month Postcard
After our card exchange in February, we've just completed another in June. In 2002, President Bush proclaimed the month of June Black Music Month. Below is an excerpt from the 2008 Presidential Proclamation.

Throughout the course of American history, black musicians have used their great talents to share the richness of the African-American experience and to develop a uniquely American style of music enjoyed throughout the world. This month, we honor the pioneers of African-American music and today's contemporary artists who have enriched the lives of people everywhere.

My choice for this year's card was Otis Redding. The impact of his music is such that most people don't realize that he only recorded for 4 years and that one of his biggest hits, "Dock of the Bay", was released a year after his death.




Well, the postcard challenges never end. I'm currently finishing up a card with a Blacks in the military theme for Veteran's Day. It's a little late but I should have it finished next week.

Doll-making class online - a new challenge for me



One of the people on my quilt list is a doll maker and she mentioned a class that was being offered online. When I saw the doll, I had to take the class. Although she's a little glitzy for me, I could visualize an earthier version - with a touch of glitz. So, I immediately signed up and I'm now in the process of putting her together. More to come when she's finished.     END OF POST

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Black History Month - 2008

It's hard to believe that a year has gone by since my first artist postcard. The online quilt group decided to make them for black history month in 2007. Most of us, including me, had never made one before but we quickly found out that they are habit-forming. Next was the card commemorating african-american music. Then we made cards for Christmas. And now we're back to Black History Month. The picture to the left is of a young Marian Anderson. She was a mezzo-soprano who blazed the way for performers like Leontyne Price and Kathleen Battle with a quiet, non-confrontational dignity. With a mother who was an opera singer, hers is a name and a voice I grew up with.

My card was made with a coppery silk background to which an image of sheet music was fused. Two pictures of Marian Anderson were added and outlined with copper metalic satin stitch. The quote from Toscaniniwas from the time she spent touring Europe in the 1930's where racism had less of an impact on her career than it did in the United States.

The back of the card gives a brief history of her life and career.

Although Marian Anderson always claimed to have been born in 1902, it seems her birth certificate is reported to give her year of birth as 1897.

The cards from my fellow quilters have been coming in all month with more still to come. I found these great little display stands that work great for my postcard collection.

I'm off to Virginia on Friday and I'm taking two of my UFOs that are finished tops and ready for quilting. I can't wait to sit on the porch and quilt.

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Christmas Cards

My online quilt group has been at it again. We just completed a Christmas postcard swap. These cards are really addictive. From the beginning the problem has been finding a way to display them. This time I found this great card display at Pottery Barn that can go up on the wall to show my, hopefully, increasing collection of Christmas cards.

This is the card I made for the swap. Cutting out this tree turned out to be more work than I thought. I spent a lot of time with a pair of scissors in my hand but I made some extras and used them as my Christmas cards this year. Thankfully I don't send out that many.

These are the cards I received from the other members of my group - a talented group of ladies.This card mania started a year ago. I can't believe we're back where we started - signing up for the next round of cards for Black History Month.

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African-American Music Postcards Are Arriving

I've started to recieve the postcards from the members of my swap groups. I couldn't be more pleased with the creativity of my quilting sisters. I sent out a card honoring the spiritual.

Every time I look at the card I sent out I can hear my mother singing. Spirituals were a huge part of my life as a child along with Verdi, Puccini, and Handel. The cards I'm receiving highlight the diversity in African-American music.

The cards pay homage to Billy Holiday and recognize New Orleans, the birhtplace of jazz. And we can't forget the more recent musical influences on our lives like the music of the late Luther Vandross.

Thank you, my sisters, for sharing your work and talent.

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UFO Completus Interruptus

I'm just back from a business conference in Louisville, KY. When I made my UFO list I gave a copy to the cytotechnologists down the hall from my office. Diane is my conscience and she expects tangible evidence of completion to cross an item off my list. Today she left me a post-it informing me that the "2007 UFOs Team" was concerned that they haven't received a recent progress report. I was forced to justify my lack of progress.

I explained that I have been interrupted. My online quilt group enjoyed the Black History postcard exchange so much that they have now started another one. The theme this time is African-American music and I have chosen "negro spirituals" for my card. There was a time when African-American concert artists like Marian Anderson, Leontyne Price, and my mother, ended each classical concert with a set of spirituals. I remember my mother singing these songs and always loved this part of her concerts when I was a child.

I have vivid memories of one song called "Ain't Got Time To Die". I found a copy of the sheet music for this song and printed it on marble fabric.

I love the aged look and this will be the background for my card. One day I'll have to listen to the many tapes I have of my mother and see if she is singing this song on any of them. I've also written the text for the post card .side.

"Spirituals are songs created and first sung by enslaved Africans. Unlike today's Gospel music which are based on the Bible, they were an individual affirmation of faith. They provided comfort and eased the tedium of daily tasks. But, above all, they were an expression of spiritual devotion and a yearning for freedom from bondage. Songs like Follow The Drinking Gourd took on added meaning for slaves traveling the Underground Railroad. Spirituals evolved in the early 20th century as composers like Harry Burleigh and Hall Johnson composed and arranged spirituals for choral performance by the Fisk Jubilee Singers and solo performers like Marian Anderson, Roland Hayes, and William Warfield."

So, my card is designed, my text is written and I just have to put the whole thing together. My UFO team seemed to accept the explanation for my apparent lack of progress. The magnolia will have to wait.

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UFO #2 - Moving right along

I've completed another project. My African-American Quilters group online decided to do an artist card swap. If you haven't heard about artist trading cards they're all the rage on the internet. They are postcard sized works of art that can be traded or mailed. Our cards are in honor of Black History Month. I decided to downsize a quilt idea I've been nursing based on the lyrics of a song called "We Are" written by Isaye Barnwell and recorded by Sweet Honey in the Rock.


The layout for the front of the card was first designed in paper with practice stitching to get some idea of what I would do to make sure this piece made it through the mail. It included to words of the song that are most meaningful for me.
"We are our grandmothers' prayers
We are our grandfathers' dreamings
We are the breath of the ancestors
We are the spirit of God"

Each item was then printed on fabric, cut out individually, and fused to a background fabric. They were topstitched with invisible thread to help them weather the adversities of the US Postal Service.

Every postcard needs a back with a greeting and the address of the recipient. The back was printed on muslin.

The two sides were fused to double sided Peltex for body and then edge stitched. The gold Adinkra symbol, Gye Nyame, was foiled to the fabric when the card was complete. My cards have been mailed to my group members and it was such fun, I'm thinking about what to do for Christmas cards.

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