I have completed this maple tree commission this month.

Here is a shot of the full tree and a close up of the leaves quilting.

What is next

I have completed my city and guilds course. Here is a picture of my final piece On a Rock.

I have started my new job as a contract counselor two days a week. I am spending upwards of 30 hours a week in the studio, which is delightful.

I am having a new website designed and spending hours collecting pictures and writing text to be used. It is all worthwhile time spent and while I felt really good creating my own website two years ago this one will look much more professional.

Back in late April and with the help of Leslie Morgan from Committed to Cloth http://committedtocloth.com/ I created a one year plan for a self directed course of study. I am making good progress and up to this point am essentially using one image for the whole year. Different sizes of the image of course, but I am finding it very interesting how far this one image is taking me. I have one piece on the quilt frame (Field Flowers) and three more started (Water, Sudanese Hope and Forest).

I am going to end this post with a picture of the finished Zinnias wall haning in situ for your

viewing pleasure

Almost completed Zinnias

This piece is 8 feet long by 30 inched high. I am just about done and wanted you to see some close up shots and the full length view.

Once it is hung in the customers home I'll post a shot of it in situ.

All the fabric is hand dyed. It has cotton batting and is completely machine stitched- a first for me.

I have two days left on my job. Then four days in Arkansas visting family. Then i am no longer working only training my replacement, counseling, grading papers and MORE ART TIME.

Talk to you soon

Karen

Next Work

This is the initial drawing of the next wallhanging.

This rock with moss and lichen will be placed on a background rectangle (for hanging ease)
of a forest: trees, other rocks, or water are all possiblities. I am thinking some rays of sun shinning through might be nice if i can do it. This all has to be completed by may 1 as it is the last assessment item i need to do for my City and Guilds Certificate in Patchwork and Quilting.

Here is my source picture

Here are some of the fabrics I have dyed in anticipation of creating the moss lichen strips

I am thinking of making a patchwork of 2"cut squares and triangles that i would then add texture to by embellishing with yarn, thread, etc to get the "fuzzy" look of the moss.

The cloth is ready to screen print the rock fabric all I lack is time!

Thoughts

I made good progress on my machine stitched work these past weeks. I had a lot of fears that I had to overcome. I got the flower centers completed and my assessor signed off on them. The finished size of the piece is 8 feet by 30 inches. The design is good but my technical skill in machine stitching is not as good as I would like it to be!
There are many reasons I won’t invest in the equipment to do more machine quilting- the noise of the machine makes my startle reflex heightened, it is harder on my shoulders and arms than hand work, and I don’t want to spend the money to investment in the equipment that would be necessary. Bottom line I just don’t enjoy it.
I am really committed to the hand work and while I value the skill necessary for machine quilting, hand work is an important part of my process like layering paint with a brush that has its own set of skills. I need a slower process speed. Some people have a hard time understanding this and while I agree that more “product” is always good, I don't want it to be at the expense of my process of creativity. This is me as a person that is growing. I need time to take things in think, on them and then move forward.

Thanks for listening to my thinking out loud! It helps