Sue's Quilted Gardens

More QSDS Fun and Creativity

7 days ago
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Day four has come and gone, and day five is beginning..... As promised, I have a few photos to show today.

Here is an updated shot of my design walls. Yesterday began as another hot, sunny day so I decided to do up another deep blue piece of fabric with sunprints. It was later in the day than I usually get good results, but as you can see, it worked! I think I will be playing with more single color sunprinting instead of my usual ones like the pieces in the pastel colors to the left, where I combine many colors. With the single colors, the sunprints tend to be more of the focus without the distraction of the color patterns.

Trellis fabric

When painting our fabrics, we have been encouraged to just paint with no thoughts, just make fabric.... Well, I have a bit of trouble sometimeswith that, and tried this piece with the trellis cut out of contact paper and placed on the canvas before adding the colors. This may be sitting waiting for a while tofigure out just what it will become.

Blue Group

This is just the blue grouping I put together yesterday. I had painted the lighter blue piece upper left after I realized I had created the perfect shade to coordinate with some of my flower photos. I then had to paint a darker piece, which is folded and pinned in the middle, then the sunprinted piece in the same deep blue, but with the prints for some different texture. After these photos were taken, I printed a few more flower photos on cotton, and played with a piece Lutradur
I have had for a long time. I printed flower photos onto a few pieces and the effect is great.

The Felt Eyes

There is more to QSDS than nose to the grindstone work.... There is also lots of fun to be had along with meeting others who love to design, paint and quilt. These felt eyes were a lot of fun....

Time for breakfast..... I hope to have at least one piece at least layed out and hopefully mostly constructed. I will be playing with my blues and see what happens.

Day 3 of QSDS and More Art Thoughts...

Jun 25, 2009
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I have finished my first 3 days of my class at QSDS here in Ohio. I have been trying to pace myself so I have enough energy at the end of the week to keep creating. This has been a great escape for me from the worries of home, etc. I have painted a few more pieces of canvas and muslin as well as auditioning ideas on my wall, and contemplating the photos of what I have done that are hung there, too. Of course, one piece that began to form needed another color of fabric that I don't have with me.... Since the fabrics I wanted to coordinate with are painted pieces, I needed to paint another to intentionally go with what I have. My camera is in the classroom right now, so no photos today... next post...

Front Yard Garden after Mowing

As for more thoughts on art, I receive an email update from a blog called Inspire! by Linda M. The newest post asks if we are letting our passion lead us, or if we are allowing other things to do the leading. She directes us to this post about following our passion at the LifeDev blog (there are also other great posts on this blog, too). I found it very interesting and need to think about it much more in relation to my artwork. I believe I have been allowing other things than my passions to lead my art and as a result have not felt I have been doing my best (when I have done anything at all). My passion for gardening, flowers and nature are what inspire my work, but life seems to interfere much more than I would like.

Lots to ponder while at class today....

QSDS Day One

Jun 23, 2009
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Well, here I am in Columbus, Ohio attending the Quilt Surface Design Symposium (QSDS). I am taking a master class with Elizabeth Busch, and am loving it! I will have another 6 days of class, starting pretty soon, so here is a really quick post....

MountainLaurel on the Rocks 1

The class I am taking is a master class, where we bring our own pieces to work on as well as learn new techniques and get input on our work from the teacher and classmates. Last year, I was able to come because of a scholarship that I received. One way of funding these scholarships is auctioning off small quilts that have been donated by students and faculty. Yesterday, I finally finished my little quilt for donation.... "Mountain Laurel on the Rocks" uses "rocky bits" from a chunk I constructed last year in my class with Rosalie Dace. I added Painted canvas that I did during my Elizabeth Busch class at QBL last year, and photos of the Mountain Laurel growing along Water road. Last year just before coming to Columbus, I discovered them blooming and took my first photos of this PA native. That may have had something to do with the rocks surfacing in my work, so I thought combining all these elements would be very appropriate for me to donate, because without my scholarship I would never have found myself working with new colors and more textures.

MountainLaurel on the Rocks 2

Here is a closeup shot showing some of the beading I did in the rocky sections and the tiny ruby beads added to the flowers.

I look forward to more play with fabric, paint and more as the week progresses. The best part of all of this is that the mni van got me here safely without dying on the way!! More progress photos may show up here during the week, depending on how much sleep I can do without :) Time to get off to class again!

20 Hour Challenge

Jun 12, 2009
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A few weeks ago, I ended up at the blog of Lori Woodward Simons after following a few links through Twitter. She has challenged herself to spend more productive time in her studio, with a goal of at least 20 hours per week. She has also invited others to join her in this challenge.

Since I have not been very productive at all for a long time, I thought it would be a great challenge for me.

Echinacea on the Rocks

I used to spend a great number of my available hours creating in my studio, but life got in the way and I guess I let it get the best of me. It is definitely time for me to change things.... Lori began her challenge to herself in May, but I have been away from home and couldn't formally start right away. While we were in GA, and traveling, I did take along a few small hand work projects to work on and I did get a few good hours in, some progress.

I have been taking lots and lots of photos as you have seen in previous posts. These photography sessions could be considered studio time- outdoor studio that is.... I use my photos as inspirations and use some in my art quilts. (Like in the quilt shown here) While I did not come too close to 20 hours this week, I did spend much more time with my art than I have in a long time. Fridays are the days to "brag" about how we did with the challenge.

Visit Lori's Blog for lots of great posts with her progress and lots of ideas and information about how other artists manage their time for art making. If you have time, follow a few of the links for even more information. There is even information about joining in on the challenge and following progress on twitter.

Today is the first day I have spent much quality time in my studio. I have been printing some of my photos onto cotton fabric to be used in new projects. It will be a challenge for me to spend more time in my studio until my gardens chores get caught up. I guess I could consider my garden work some studio time.... The flowers and plants I am tending will be giving me the leaves and flowers that I will use in my sunprinting, whenever the weather decided to cooperate.

Mountain Laurel 7

OK, I just had to add another flower photo here..... I took this on the way to my quilt guild meeting last evening. More buds keep opening every day, and rain in the forecast may ruin some of the florets already open. You can see a few holes already in some. I now try to carry my camera with me at all times.... You never know when a photo opportunity will present itself....

Well, time to get back to work..... Babysitting grandkids in a few hours... If the rain would stop, we could have a campfire with marshmallows.... doesn't look good for that right now...

Another Walk, More Treasures...

Jun 11, 2009
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My camera and I went walking on Water Road again yesterday to see the progress of the opening Mountain Laurel flowers.

Mountain Laurel 3

A few more florets have opened, and I caught a baby fern in this shot. The buds are pretty pink and the flowers open to the faded pink with those neat markings.

Roadside

Here is one section of the road I have been walking on. This is the view one would see driving along.... Not super impressive until you get out and up close.

Baby Maple

A baby Maple tree with it's reddish new leaves that turn greener as they mature. I wish the weather would cooperate so I could start sunprinting with some of the Maple and other leaves- too humid, rainy and windy...

Struggle

Ever felt like this poor flower cluster??? I think this shows just how I feel when my fibro decides to flare- Smashed down by a tree (or branch in this case). The flowers are still opening dispite being nearly buried.

Fuzzy Babies

Something more to keep my eye on.... Not sure what these little plants are. They are growing on a clump of moss on a pile of rocks. Looks like it might be a vine-like grower.

Feathery Ferns

Ferns are unfurling everywhere, now. This group looked so soft and feathery.

Baby Fern

A baby fern hiding among the other plants and dead branches and leaves.

Fern in Rock

How's this for overcoming obstacles!! This little guy is growing in a crack in the rock, and some days I think it is hard living where I do....

Another Fern

Final fern photo of today.... Not sure of the variety, different from the lacy wood ferns. Check out the upper left of this photo- a leaf from the Anemonella I found blooming earlier.

Pink Wild Rose 1

The tiny flowered wild roses can become very invasive, but this plant has pretty pink flowers instead of the usual white. I like the pink much better.. OK, I love the color pink..

Hemerocallis Pandora's Box

Back home..... Here is a Daylily we bought in Georgia- I had not seen this variety up here in PA. It is very different from any others I already have and they are super hardy and easy to grow.

Baby Cobweb Chicks

Baby cobweb chicks I got on our way home... I had been looking for these for quite a while- mine all died in a weed infested rock garden.

Double Balloon Flower

This pretty flower is another on a plant we picked up at one of the garden centers we stopped at. I hadn't seen the lavender available here- just the blue. This plant is now in it's new home in my biggest flower bed.

So far not much going on in the studio still.... today is a bit rainy and dreary, so a good time to hibernate in there while I can't "play" in the gardens. I am getting a lot of great photos to play with for when my creativity returns....

My Walk on Water Road and Back in the Gardens

Jun 10, 2009
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As promised, here are photos from a walk along Water Road to see the Mountain Laurel. I was sure to have freshly charged batteries in the camera, parked the min van and started discovering lots of treasures.

Mountain Laurel 2

Here is one of the blooming Mountain Laurel plants along the road. I was surprised to find that these plants must have been here for many years, even before the road was widened to two lanes. When I found the bases of the plants, there were shoots coming from knurly, cut off stubs. The plants had been cut off during the road work and re-grew to bloom again. It is amazing how tenacious some plants can be.

Mossy Rocks

Some wintergreen berries on tiny plants growing on moss covered rocks. Something I wouldn't have seen without really looking.

Another Mystery Plant

Now I have another mystery to solve.... This is a plant with tiny white flowers that I am not familiar with. There are a number of these plants along the road on the high side.

Lower Side of Water Road

This is the other side of the road- there is a steep drop-off. The plants growing close to the road were covered with dust from traffic on the gravel. A bit of a spooky road during winter when icy.

View Down Water Road

Here is a view looking down the road, with steep banks going up on one side and going down on the other. It is a beautiful road to travel, almost covered over by tree branches in some spots and distant view across the valley in others. When the trees are bare in winter, you can even catch a glimpse or two of the Susquehanna river. A beautiful area to live for sure.

Plumbago 1

Back home, I kept snapping photos. Here is a plant I had to bring all the way back from GA. I love the color and shape of the flowers of Plumbago. When we owned the greenhouses, we raised these from seed. They are a late summer blooming annual in PA, but hardy in many areas of the South. I love the florets for sunprinting. This was the last one available at the garden center I found it at, now at the center of a planter for easy plucking.

Pink Verbena

A couple plants that got planted before we left for our trip. Pink Verbena and airy Euphorbia.

Hawaii Coral Peony 1

My coral Peony flowers opened up! I love the color! They are quite bright and much different from any other I have seen. They only have a double row of petals, so hold up nicely in rain.

Single Pink Peony

This Peony plant was supposed to be a yellow tree Peony that turned out to be a bright pink fairly single regular one. It has been beautiful for years, but got moved today. You can see the evergreen branches in the background of a Balsam Fir that was a little Christmas tree planted many years ago. It has now almost covered the whole plant, so I cut the flowers, dug it up and planted five chunks in various locations. It is probably the worst time to move a Peony, but it was in a really hostile location.

Spirea Goldflame

This Goldflame Spirea is so beautiful when the leaves are unfurling in the Spring. They start out hot pink and change to bright gold, then deeper green as the summer progresses. It will also bloom with pale pink flowers.

Geranium lancastriense on a Rock

This little hardy Geranium is a very hardy little plant. I love the lacy foliage and delicate flowers for my sunprinting. I hope the weather will begin to cooperate so I can get my outdoor studio tent set up soon.

Iris siberica Deep Blue

My blue Siberian Iris have been seeding themselves all over. This is one of the babies that is a very deep color. The original plant was a lighter shade of blue purple. I love these Iris and wish the flowers lasted longer.

Front Yard Garden after Mowing

This is tha garden shown in the previous post after I got the grass mowed. It looks much neater, but still needs weeds removed. Three clumps of the blue Iris are in this bed.

Campanula persicifolia Alba

Right outside my front door are these flowers that are beginning to bloom. The white Campanula flowers are great to use as cut flowers.

Hungry Babies

The poor baby plants that got water but no fertilizer while we were away. After getting a drink of some liwuid fertilizer, they are starting toshow a bit more green color. The tomatoes and squash should recover. The plants in the pots look much better, after having their dose of long time release fertilizer- What a difference!

Garden Mess

This is my next major project..... The front of my huge Maple tree garden has been neglected for too long. Under the berry brambles is a water garden that has overgrown with water plants so the water barely shows. I used this area for veggie plants year before last, nothing last year. I did start to remove some old brambles, but didn't take the time to get a long sleeved shirt. Not a good idea- lots of scratches.... Always wear long sleeves when battling brambles. I am going to leave some of the black raspberry plants that are loaded with fat little green berries, until after I can pick them.

I plan to try doing a little each day in the gardens. It is hard not to over-do for me. I get started and keep going until I can't stand the pain or nearly pass out.... not recommended.... Hopefully by the time my veggie plants regain health, this area will be ready for them.

My sewing studio is also calling.... My flower photos are still asking to be part of my quilts. It is hard to figure out how to get done all that needs to be done.

More Inspirations on the Way Back Home

Jun 9, 2009
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Our visit to GA came to an end and we headed home. Here are some more photos from the trip home, our stop at Kenilworth Gardens in DC, and what we were greeted with at home.

Planters for Nick

The horticulturist in me won't go away.... Here are a few planters I potted up for Nick and the guys to have around the pool. We visited a few garden centers while in Valdosta, GA.

Lolipop Trees

A photo of "Lollipop Trees" as Nick calls them. Trees in the South grow differently than those we have here in PA. He grew up with evergreens more in the shape of Christmas trees, not shaped like Lollipops.

Kenilworth Sign

We stopped at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens on our last day of travel. We had visited these gardens 25 years ago, a month before we got married. Things have changed a bit, but the many ponds are still there. That first visit was in mid July, we were a bit early for many blooms this time.

Early Morning Lilies

The morning we arrived was a bit cloudy, so the Lilies were not fully open. There had been very heavy rains the day before, so the water in the ponds was very muddy.

Lotus with Raindrop

The Water Lotus are a month or more away from blooming, but the leaves were interesting with the puddles of rain from the day before.

Pickerel Rush

The Pickerel Rush were in full bloom, but the muddy water made for a different background. We also had to watch where we walked due to a few over flowing ponds.

A Beautiful Boardwalk

We don't remember the boardwalks from our previous visit. I love the design of them, with the angles and interesting railings. There are two that take you out into the marsh.

The Sad Part

this was the saddest part of the visit- seeing the trash that was being caught in the plants and fallen logs. One of the important things the marsh does is to help filter out stuff that makes the waterways very unhealthy. It makes you really think about how our actions can affect more than our own little parts of the world.

Great Texture on Tree

From the ugly to very interesting.... This tree has great texture from the many vines that have climbed it. the vines had been cut off at the base, but the remaining vines that had rooted in were still intact.

Peachy Lily Bloom

We did find a little area that wasn't muddied by the rains.... There are a few display gardens with the plants in planter boxes. There were more flowers in bloom here. This one is a beautiful shade of peachy pink and huge.

Lilies in display pond 1

A few more flowers in the display pond. I had to go to the van to steal batteries from my laptop mouse to get these. I was sure to download the photos to have space on my card for photos,but forgot to recharge the batteries for the camera....

Blooms and weeds

Home Sweet Home! We were greeted by a lot of flowers blooming that were not even hinting buds when we left. There are many weeds to contend with too.

White Peony with Iris

My white Peony is full of big fat flowers. In this photo, the blue Siberian Iris are in the background. The smell is so great near this plant!

Blackberry Blooms

Along the edge of the yard, the blackberry brambles are in full bloom- I love the details that aren't always seen just walking by them.

Whit Iris

Here is the final photo of this post.... One of the white Siberian Iris. I have a huge clump of these in full bloom.
Until I put these photos together here, I didn't realize that most of the flowers blloming right now are white.

Now the real work begins again.... I have weeds to pull, annual flowers to plant and the veggie garden to plant. I will need some more rainy days to keep me indoors to get back to quilting.

Stay tuned for the newest treasures from my gardens and travels. As a tease..... I found that the Mountain Laurel are beginning to bloom on Water Road..... A walk there with my camera is in order.

Inspirations From The Road

Jun 2, 2009
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Today is the first day since last Thursday that Ken and I have not spent many hours in a car. We drove from PA to Georgia, then to Florida, then back to Georgia. We came down South to bring our youngest son Nick's dog home to him. Roxie has been a member of our family since Christmas, and now in a new home shared with buddies he works with, there should be no shortage of guys to watch her when he leaves for training missions and deployments. When we head back home, it will seem like we will be leaving a child behind.

While down here we have been doing some visiting and sightseeing. We began with the weekend in FL visiting our daughter-in-law and her furry roomies.

Trouper

Mo Jo

Here are Bonnie's dogs, a little tricky getting photos- dogs don't always cooperate with cameras. Both are sweethearts. She also has 3 cats, but you know cats, they cooperate worse than dogs.

Gecko

This photo may challenge your eyes. These little gecko's were everywhere, and pretty hard to catch staying still for photos. This little guy sat for quite a while.

Bougainvillea

These flowers were on a huge, beautiful Bougainvillea at the corner of the house. I really wish these were hardy in PA, but they aren't. The only way to have one would be to keep it in a pot.

Murreya paniculata Orange Jessamine

These little white flowers were super fragrant on a hedge of great glossy deep green leaves. I had to do a bit of research to find out what they were. Found they are Orange Jessamine- the fragrance is very similar to orange blossoms.

Yellow Plumeria

Bonnie also had a pot of these beautiful Plumerias. Another fragrant flower. Everything smelled so great around her house.

Tree Question Flower

This is a flower that I saw at a truck stop while driving down. It looked a lot like a Magnolia to me, but up North, the ones we have only bloom very early Spring. I did more research, and found that these are a different variety of a Magnolia. Huge, fragrant and beautiful. some of the trees I saw along the roads were really huge.

Okefenokee Swamp 2

While so close, we decided to check out the Okefenokee Swamp. It was a beautiful, sunny day yesterday when we went there. There were very few people there, being the summer now. It was so great! We took a pontoon boat tour and I got many great photos. Since there has been a lot of rain recently, the water level was quite high. There was only one family on the tour with us and no other boats on the water. It was so peaceful and beautiful. Definitely worth the drive made a bit longer by a couple wrong turns getting there.

Sign

This sign greeted us.... Nick thought we were nuts, wanting to go to a swamp filled with gators. The first gators he saw were when we visited the Orlando area when he was 4, and we had a few swim near us while taking a canoe ride on a river.

Okefenokee Swamp 1

I think this is my favorite photo. A narrower passage with the trees and water lilies on both sides. The water is very black and it was quite still, with great reflections.

Ferns in Water

This was an interesting photo. The water was so still in this area that it is really hard to see where the reflection begins.

Gator 1

This is one of the gator photos I took just for Nick. None of the ones we saw were really huge. This was probably the biggest. They are hard to see in the black water.

Bug on Sign

After we returned from the boat tour, we wandered the nature trail. We found this big bug crawling on the sign with information about insect eating plants. I tried another photo with more of the sign showing, but he wandered under it too soon.

Snake-Like Root

This root on the path of the nature trail looked so much like a snake that I had to take this photo just to show my best friend who really hates snakes. Is that cruel of me???

We are spending a day just lazing around the house and pool here today. At least one day to rest up before heading back home before the end of the weekend. It is great that our oldest son lives so close to our home and has been taking care of things for us like watering plants, feeding cats, etc. Thank You Aaron!!

By the time we get back home, I will have so many ideas for new art quilts.... I have even been scribbling down ideas and some very rough sketches. It will be interesting to see what turns up!

Anemonella and Quiltsy

May 17, 2009
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With a little help from Kathy W. in my post with the "Water Road Flower", I now know it's proper name. In Kathy's comment she thought it to be a Wood Anemone, but when looking at all the photos of that flower, the leaves were not the same as this plant has. On to Google to do more searching..... My first thought was that it might be a Hepatica, but again, similar flowers, but the leaves are not the same. A lot of other plants have very similar flowers! I finally found a few photos with the same leaves these plants have.... It is Anemonella thalictroides, or Rue Anemone. The foliage did remind me of the Thalictrum I have growing in my front garden, but they grow very tall. The leaves are what gave this little guy it's name because of the resemblance. Here is a little more about this little beauty. The flowers are supposed to also be in shades of pink to lavender.... I think I will have to take a walk down Water Road to see if they are still blooming (supposed to be a long bloomer) and see if there are any other colors there.

Anemonella thalictroides

This is a native plant that likes to grow in light shade, and will tolerate more dry conditions than Anemones that have similar flowers. I love discovering new things in the wild. That is one great thing about living where I do.... there are still areas that have all types of treasures to be found right along the roadsides.

To the second thing mentioned in the title- Quiltsy.... The Quiltsy Team at Etsy's May Daze Promotion has come to an end. We were able to gain a bit more exposure to our shops and customers got to play a fun game and win some great prizes. Here is a blog post from Kim's Crafty Apple, who is a member of the Quiltsy Team and played the game just for fun. Her post shows all the item pages where the letters were hidden. You can get an idea of the diversity of the members of our group. Why not check it out and see if you can unscramble the quilt related words just for fun... Also, why not also check out Kim's Etsy Shop.

Fibro and Quiltsy May Daze

May 13, 2009
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This week started out with a bang, but it didn't last.... Monday, I got cookies baked and a box packed to send to Zack in Iraq. I got to Curves just in time to finish before morning closing, then dropped package at the PO, shopped for some garden supplies, then got a few groceries..... and was home before noon! I even was able to catch up with email and other things. That has been a very rare occurrence, with my fibro telling me what it will let me do or not do. Well, Yesterday was Fibromyalgia Awareness Day, and my fibro decided to make me aware it is still here. Sometimes it gets to be such a real bummer...... I just get feeling human for a day or two, then Wham! Thankfully today was slightly better... with two naps, I was able to keep up with email and even get the lawn mowed. If we didn't have a riding mower, I would not be doing any of that. Rain is expected tomorrow, so it's a good thing I got that chore done. Some areas of the lawn are really pretty right now with gobs of violets and wild strawberries in full bloom mixed in. Thankfully they are pretty tiny, low growing plants and most of the blooms are still around to see after mowing. I even cut the first of the Rhubarb. I can't believe how great the clumps that I divided and planted last summer have grown. I love rhubarb with strawberries.

Rhubarb

With the wet weather we had during the past few weeks, the Rhubarb plants were more than 3 times larger than this earlier photo showed. They look a bit bedraggled now after cutting the stems.

Etsy Shop Hop Gift 2

The Etsy Quiltsy Team May Daze Promotion is in progress. You have 3 more days to play our Shop Hop type game to find letters we have hidden among the photos of items in our shops to form words. In 35 shops are participating with six words to be unscrambled. There is a group of prizes to be given away for each word. Winners will be chosen from the correctly submitted words. Prizes will consist of one item for each letter of the word you find. Above is the prize that is being given away from my AndrusGardensQuilts shop. A set of 4 note cards and a bookmark made from a piece of sunprinted fabric.

Etsy Shop Hop Gift 1

In the same prize package as the above items is this reproduction print of my "Rose Door" Art Quilt. The original quilt is available for purchase here. This is the prize from my AndrusGardensArt shop.

There are lots of great items in the prize packages being given away as you can see in the photo in the previous post. There are lots of really great shops to check out with lots of quilted and related items of all types. Stop by here to get all the details and see the full list of participating shops. Each shop also has a link in the shop introduction with a link to the next shop on the list, so you can easily wander from shop to shop. Grab a cup of something and give it a try!