11 posts tagged “spring”

Well, only for a few days, but it was great!!  I spent the end of last week and the weekend at my quilt guild's quilt retreat. It was so great to escape from life, and I actually found a bit more creativity creeping back!

Sunprint Flowers Quilt 1

Sunprint Flowers Quilt 3

This is what it looks like now.... I originally was going to use a white cotton with silver sparkles between the blocks, but I didn't have enough. I decided that some of my fused crazy patch would work, so I pulled out all the white fabric chunks I had with me along with some pale painted pastel fabrics and fused them together for what I needed. I quilted the crazy patch areas with a soft pastel colored variegated thread.

Small Spring Flowers

This is the little "guinea pig" that I made up to use to trial quilting designs and thread choices. This one is nearly 8"x10" in size, with photos of pink Dogwood and blue Snow Glories.

12x12 Flowers

Here is another over year old piece that got some attention. It is 12"x12" in sixe and had an assortment of different flower photos with black yarn couched over the edges and fuzed crazy patch between the photos. This piece is the one that "told" me that I needed clear thread to quilt in the flower photos. You can probably see the flower in the lower right where I tried a smoke colored invisible thread and I didn't like the way it looked, so I had to wait until I got home to do any more. I forgot to take my cleaar thread with me.




Here are a few more photos from my gardens that may find themselves in a quilt in the future. I took most of these photos after I got back home from my escape.

Yellow Daff 4

This yellow daff is growing all by itself, not too far from a crowd of white ones with the same flower form- probably a seedling that reverted back to the parents of the white ones.

Snow Glory Pink 1

My favorite spring flower is the blue Snow Glory- here is a photo of a pink one that I got in a mixture of pink and white ones. Some came out deeper, and there are also some white ones, too. This year, the white ones didn't have too many flowers, but next year I should have lotsmore of all the colors.

Pulsatilla Purple 2

Pulsatilla is one of my favorite plants for sunprints. The leaves are very lacy and sunprint beautifully. The flowers bloom very early, before the foliage fully appears. Right now they are really fuzzy looking. The seed pods that will form later are also fuzzy puffs.

Rhubarb

This is one of my Rhubarb plants. Last summer, I finally planted a few that had been in pots on the front lawn for years, as well as dividing the one that had been in this area for yearsand needed dividing. I now have 10 gorgeous clumps like this one- Rhubarb pies!! I should have lots for the freezer, too.

Now I'm off to finishing those quilts shown at the beginning of this post.... It feels good to finally get back to my machine!

Finally I seem to be finding myself being pulled into the studio! Fabric bowls have been calling out to be made, and I am beginning to see a bit of productivity here. It doesn't hurt that I will be giving my "Off The Deep End" lecture at a guild this week. In that lecture, I show and talk about how fabric bowls changed the way I look at fabric and scraps, and I show the progression from bowls to my pins to a ribbon winning quilt.

Spring Fabric Bowl Group 2

This is an old photo, but there are similar ones in the works now. It will take a bit longer to finish a bunch of these as I am working on writing up the pattern and instructions for them as I make them. Taking photos of the steps and drawing the actual patterns are a bit time consuming.

Bowl Squares

Here are some of the squares of fabric fused to batting ready for final cutting.

And for your enjoyment- my first blooms of Spring!! Finally some color with the dead grass and mud.

Snow Glory 2

Lavender Striped Crocus 2

Purple Crocus 1

My home is now again quiet, now that all who were here visiting have gone. Time to get back to playing with fabric. Maybe I'll get better at shorter and more often posts here... that is my plan.

After spending 10 days with my grandmother in Western NY, I have returned home to PA. It was nice to be able to spend time with my grandma and parents that I would not normally have a chance to do. Gram is doing amazingly well considering what she went through. She came home with much swelling in her legs, and by the time I left for home, they had improved a lot. She will not be driving again soon, or ever, which is hard for her to deal with, but she is back home. She is also wearing her Lifeline button at all times. She would not wear it when she went to town for her exercise class and dinner days- didn't think she needed it.....

I took some things with me to work on,  and did a little hand and machine stitching. I gave Gram's sewing machine a good cleaning and then used it to stitch together these blocks I pieced before leaving home. 

Scrappy Strip Top

Blue Spring ACEO

Another walk through my yard with my camera, here are a few photos from this walk.

Back Yard Greening

Here is my backyard. The Walnut trees are begining to leaf out, and I have worked in my stone wall garden- on the right side of photo- barely seen. The garden in the center is still waiting for help. I have been working to remove the quack grass, but the old dead stuff is still there.  I worked to remove ugly dead grasses from the front door garden, yesterday. I really hurt today!

Violet Lawn

In this photo, I was trying to show the violets in the grass. This is the area behind where I was taking the first picture. If you look at the larger version of this, You may be able to see more of the violets, they are blooming all the way to the hayfield. It is really great, I felt bad mowing there, because I was chopping off some flowers.

Maple Again

The right photo above, is another shot of the variegated maple leaves opening up, with the blue sky behind. The edges of the leaves will get lighter as they mature.

Honeysuckle 2

Deep Lilac Opening

Above, are a couple more of my flower photos, using the sky as a background. The honeysucle flowers are in the process of opening. I ended up cutting a branch, to take the photo, because the bush is in real need of grooming. It is full of deadwood, and is in real need of some pruning.  The lilac is one I have been catching as it opens. Most of the lilacs are in full bloom now. One of the late bloomers is still in tight bud. The Honeysucle on the left, may find itself in my blue quilt. I am trying to decide if it will have just white and blue, or have some sparks of pink thrown in.

Flowering Almond

White Tulips

I have not felt that sentiment for many, many years.  Days like today make me feel so Blessed! I took a walk with my camera again, and clicked pics of some amazing things that I had been missing out on. Owning a greenhouse business was good in some ways that I miss, but I had not been able to enjoy what I was experiencing. While being a greenhouse owner, I had too many things to worry about. Timing of crops, employees, customers (I did meet many wonderful people, but a few trying ones), cash flow, weather, and more. Having the business fail, made me feel like a complete failure- I had given it everything I had, and it wasn't enough. Life went by in a blur, working at the greenhouse every day from sunrise to sunset, or even later- (unfortunately, lights strung in the greenhouses let the work day go until I could not stand up any more).

Now I have severe financial worries, etc., but being able to slow down and really look at what is surrounding me is wonderful. I am finding more and more to inspire my work with my quilts in my own backyard. I do miss the  greenhouses full of blooming flowers of all kinds, and miss being able to play with new, varieties, but there is a lot in my own bedraggled gardens. This is the first year in recent memory, that we have the lawn mowed in May! In past years, we were lucky to have it done the first time by mid June (we got around 100 bales off the lawn last year).

Baby Tomaoes

Bleeding Buds

Lilac Buds 2

The lilac bushes are budding, now. They seem to be opening before my eyes, with the warm, sunny days like today.

Lilac Garden

Here is the Lilac Garden. My son, Zack (AKA Computer Geek) started collecting lilacs when he helped me at the Lilac Festival in Rochester, NY back when I did the art show, there. These bushes started as tiny 3-6" tall babies, Zack grew too- he's 6' 4"+ now. The garden area around the bushes needs much weeding, and cleaning up, but look, the lawn is mowed around it! We were making the garden expand to contain all the lilacs along with other plants- that makes it easier than to mow around each bush.

Maple Buds 1

Maple Buds 2

Next, on my walk was my Maple Garden. It was pictured earlier during the snowstorm. The maples are starting to open their buds. I love the way they look, using the bright blue sky as the backdrop. I played with a few closeups of the opening buds- here is one on the right, and part of a tree on the left.

Hydrangea Skeleton 1

Goldflame Spirea

The Maple Garden is a huge bed, that has many treasures in it. The Hydrangea shrub is leafing out, while the flowers from last year are still hanging on. In the left picture, I held this one up, to get it with the blue sky as the background, I took a few more pics like this- I think they may end up in my blue quilt.

As you can see, even if I don't care for oranges or reds, they will crop up in the gardens occasionally. The right picture is a Goldflame Spirea, who's leaves will turn golden yellow, with pink fluffy flowers.

Thalia 2

Hear are some nodding blooms of my Narcissus, Thalia. It is what's called a triandrus type (yea, I still remember scientific plant speak)- usually 3 flowers on each stem. I love the way they hold their heads. They are one of the later blooming varieties, so now that the yellow daffs are gone, these are just coming out. Next will be the double Narcissus- I can't wait!

Silk Blues

Well, Here is what's happening in the studio with some of my pictures. I have been printing some of the Snow Glory and sky photos on silk. I played with a photo in the computer to see what effects I could get- Fun. The strips in the center, were trimmings from the first batch of photos I took, and dyed, using Colorhue dyes. The Electric Blue is perfect with the photos. I am not exactly sure what is going to happen, but a blue and white quilt is in the works. I can see that I need to print the hydrangea shown, and a couple more to go with it.

Silk Play 1

Silk Play 2

I finally got myself back on track, after having a near meltdown. My printer ran out of 2 colors of ink, and I had to wait a couple days until I could get the ink. Just as I was settling down for a day of printing, and working on some small pieces, you guessed it....  The printer refused to print the 2 new colors!  I tried all I could, and then gave up, and called the dreaded tech support (not my geek son). I was given a number for a repair, and found that it was going to be cheaper for a new printer, than the charge to fix it!!  I needed to print some things for a show I was going to, so I went back to Staples. They did say that it could possibly be bad ink, so they replaced the ink I puchased the day before. I did also buy a new printer- hoping that I would get home, replace the ink, then be able to return the new printer- NOT. Upon replacing the 2 cartridges again, none of the colors were working!! Out came the new printer- Epson C-88+, the newer version of what I had. I got it going, and set things up so it printed notecards even after I went to bed.

The show came and went, and I was a bit worn out from the hassle of the printer as well as setting up and tearing down for the show (most everything is still in the van). Yesterday, I began to think about the printer. It has a newer version of the Dura-Bright inks. I remember doing a test print on fabric many years ago, when I got my first printer with those inks, and found the prints were much better with the use of "Bubble Jet Set", which I hated dealing with. This is a "new and improved" ink, what would happen if I printed on fabric?

The test began. The first piece of fabric jammed, (loosened from the freezer paper). re-ironed, tried again, and success- I scrubbed it in hot water with dish soap- probably more that any quilt would get- No ink loss!!  The wheels began turning again in my head- I had just taken some real great photos of some of my flowers in bloom. I also remembered that I had some silk that has been longing to be used. I fused some of the silk- fairly heavy with a great sheen- to Wonder under, and cut it for the printer. SUCCESS!!  The resulting prints are beautiful!! 

Scilla cropped closeup

Glorious Snow Glories

Here are the two photos I used first. I love the shades of blue, and got some really close shots of these small flowers. I had to watch the silk to be sure it didn't jam, because it is thinner than paper.

Silk Scilla Stripe 5x7 Art Quilt

Blue Silk and Scilla 8x10 Art Quilt

These two quilts were made from one 5x7 print of the Scilla. I cut it up, and used it in 2 quilts- one 5x7" and the other 8x10. The photos are surrounded by the scrappy crazy patch that I have been using. The strip of deep blue silk in the 8x10" piece is left from some of the Delphiniums I made in the door quilts. The small one is quilted with a blue variegated thread, and the rest are done with an iridescent thread I had, to add a bit of shimmer , I thought the blue quilting distracted from the print.

Blue Silk and Snow Glory 8x10 Art Quilt

This is the piece I made using the Snow Glory photo- I cropped it, and printed it out at 5x7 also. I had bordered it on 2 sides only, and it needed something, so I added a strip of the dark blue silk to this one, also. In all of the pieces, the photos are fused to the batting, and a black and gold yarn is couched around the edges of the prints, and used as the binding. I am still debating if I will add more yellow with dye pens to the centers of the flowers.

Yellow Water Iris 8x10 Art Quilt

Finally, the snow is GONE!!  Here are some pictures of the meltdown.

Thursday snow with Sink and Paint Board

Thursday Snow in Garden & Field

After a  couple days, we still had a lot of snow left on Thursday.  The storm was Monday, with snow falling all day on Tuesday, also. Even with temps above freezing each day, the melting was slow. If you look close, the right picture has my paint board in it on the right side (plywood covered with vinyl, on sawhorses). In the summer it is where I paint my fabric. Also, near the middle of the picture is a white sink that my youngest son came home with one day. I think it will work great for a studio sink, when I get a real studio space, someday.

Sunday snow

By Sunday morning, here is how much snow was still left. Some of the drifts were really deep. By the time I got home that evening, The snow was gone! Finally!!

Today, I went out with my camera and got some pictures of what is blooming, and found some great surprises!

2 Front Beds

Here is a shot of 2 of my flower beds, in the front yard. I have my work cut out for me, and really am looking foreward to getting them back into shape this year, after many years of neglect. They are huge, as can be seen by the sizes of the trees in the upper bed.

Daffodils and Snow Glories

Glorious Snow Glories

Snow Glories are one of my favorite flowers, they are a brilliant blue with white centers- about 1" across. I was surprised to see how much they had spread in the past years. I usually only have seen the ones in my front yard, and didn't get to see the other gardens, while working so much.

Woods Garden

Rock Garden

Left picture is of my shade garden, looking from the woods. The Snow Glories and Scilla are seeding themselves even in the grass, I love what they are doing! I have alway dreamed of flowers covering the ground between the trees in this area. I love what is happening here!  Right picture is of the neglected rock garden that had the crocuses blooming in it weeks ago. I love the blue!!  I have loved rediscovering my own gardens.

Scilla cropped closeup

Pulmonaria Mrs. Moon

Pulmonaria on the left, is a great early blooming perennial in a garden under black walnut trees in our back yard. The flowers start blue, then fade to pink. The right picture is a closeup of another great blue flower- Scilla. Their flowers are held on the plants in a drooping fashion, with less white white in the centers than the Snow Glories.

Gully through the garden

01Mini Daffs

We finally had a couple days of warm weather, and the mud dried enough for a walk 2 days ago. I have been "suffering" from ideas floating in my head of stone walls, windows & doors, and moss. I had been Googling pictures to study, (I have never studied for quilting before). Well, I finally realized that I had all the inspiration I needed right outside my door! Duhhh...  There are many old stone walls on our land. There was an old road, that at one time went right through the middle of our property, lined on both sides with stone walls made from stone removed from the fields. Thankfully, the road has been closed for many, many years. The walls were removed from the middle area, where our yard is now, the rest of the walls are in various states of disrepair, and the roadway is quite grown in with trees & brush.

02Juniper Rocks

I took my camera to get pictures of various walls and stones.  This ended up being an ideal time to get pictures, because most of the walls and stones are covered with weeds, and brush in the summer.  I also found the first mini daffodils blooming- a sure sign of spring.  I got a surprise, too, when I looked at the Juniper Rocks picture in the computer, I was so intent upon getting a pic. of the rocks, that I didn't see the crocus blooming in the lower right corner, hard to see, but they are there.  This used to be a neat rock garden, but has become overgrown from neglect. (That's what happens when you own a greenhouse, no time for your own flower beds) The following day, I found even more treasures when I began removing dead stuff. Dwarf tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, and more!  The first garden work I have done in April in 10 yrs!

05Curly Willow

As you can see from this picture, It was a glorious, sunny day! This is a picture of our curly willow tree, showing off the branches against the sky and clouds. There may be a quilt sometime later from this, trees aren't "floating" yet.

06South View

This picture was taken from near the willow, showing the view we have from our property.  From this angle, you just see across the hilltops, Towanda, is in the valley, just about in the middle. I used this view as inspiration for my "Blue Skies" piece in March. 

The pictures above, are some of the wall pics I took. As you can see, as soon as things start growing, they will go into hiding again.  The far right pic. is of the stone steps that lead to my back yard. There is a stone wall most of the length of our mobile home, that I have planted gardens around. There was a farm here when the road was still in use, the barn and house are gone, but the stone foundations are still here- mostly piles of stone.

04Water Iris

I really apreciated being able to walk around, and take these pictures. This is the first time many years, that I have been home during daylight hours this time of year. In the past I had to work during all the daylight hours, 7 days, and many after dark at night under lights.  That is what I don't miss at all about the greenhouse. I do miss seeing all the flowers blooming before they can be planted outdoors. I will be able to see my water Iris bloom before the ones outdoors even come up- this pic is of them in my indoor pond in our home greenhouse AKA my wet studio, and excersize gym.

I have come to believe that God has allowed me to be "blessed" with fibromyalgia, and possibly also alowed the greenhouse failure. It can be really frustrating many days, but I had not been able to see the wonders in my own backyard until now. I missed out on so many things around me, due to working around the clock. As soon as the greenhouse hours slowed down, I would switch gears, and quilt like crazy to make things to sell at my shows, and do farmer's market, to bring in more income. I never got to have any "down time", and it was really getting to me.  Things are tough now, with my husband not working regularly, and my quilt business in the slow season, but I have to believe better things are coming. 

Because I don't know when I will have a bad day, I have not looked for a "real" job. I have found many things that set off flare-ups, sometimes little "stupid" things. In the past I had just "toughed it out", taking pain pills, and working so hard, that I could put the pain out of my mind (between the pain and little sleep, I had mush for brains). Many days I had to force myself to keep going, and the doctor was worrying about all the meds I was taking. I now take less than half the medication, and am living with much less pain. My quilting is now my full time job. It gives me something that I can get lost in, to forget the pain the pills don't get rid of, as well as a way to bring in income.  New opportunities have been showing themselves, that makes me believe this is what I am supposed to be doing. I have always "seen" quilts everywhere- in individual flowers, gardens, skies, etc. Now I have time to experiment with ideas, and get them into quilts, and come up with better pieces than I ever had the time to do before. 

Door beginning

Wall in Progress

And, speaking of opportunities, in the newest issue of Quilting Arts, there is a door challenge. When I went to the site to see the doors we are to use for inspiration, guess what was there.... Door #3- an arch top door with stone around it! I even had been working with an idea similar to it in one of my sketch books. I have always loved arch topped doors and windows.  The picture on the left is the beginning of my Door #3. I drew the shape of the door on batting, and fused an ivory piece of fabric over it. I could see my line, and keep the edges of the "stones" placed properly. The right picture is a larger piece with what will be a stone wall with a flower bed- I think.

Walls

To the right, is the door piece farther along. Quilting done, moss between the stones of the walk, and Delphiniums framing the door.  The right piece is another wall, I think it will have rock garden plants and flowers flowing over the top of the wall. There are always flowers floating in my head!

Door Quilted

This shows the door closer. I will be adding iridescent seed beads for the "bees" in the delphinium florets. There are of some of the silk scraps I played with for my wisteria, dyed as dark as I could, for the flowers- I LOVE dark blue delphiniums. I will also be adding some small white flowers with beads, in the foliage along the walk. I made this wall using pale pinks and lavender-blues, that would be seen in a sun facing wall. I even added some fallen petals on the steps, for realism. Delphiniums always like to drop petals.

I am feeling really lucky right now, in that I am able to work in my gardens outside, as well as the ones in fabric. Even if I may only be able to do the outdoor gardens for only an hour or 2 each day, well, after the weather warms again- it looks like a cold week ahead. After beading, I will post the "finished product".