I sewed the last two blocks. They look great, I think. I did have some challenges picking the fabrics for the last two blocks.
I had picked out a certain crop of fabrics for these blocks. I didn’t want to add in any new ones that I didn’t have to add, because they wouldn’t be in the rest of the quilt.
If you zoom in you might see that I pieced some of the fabrics to make sure I had enough. That odd piecing doesn’t really show even in person, so I am happy.
Block #16 was a bit of a challenge, because I couldn’t decide if I wanted to use more of the blue Sophia fabric that kind of started me on this journey.I finally decided that I liked it enough to use it. I also decided that it wouldn’t scream out of the quilt that I had used too much of it. The blues are relatively strong in this piece, but I don’t think they overwhelm it. I think the blues keep it from being too sickly sweet with pink.
Now I am done with these blocks. I have decided that 16 is enough.
The last post was about the other Swoon block I made recently.
Since it is the first week of the year, I feel like I should use ‘New’ as the prompt, but I already used it. You can see ‘new,’ which may inspire your response to ‘old’ in a previous post dated 12/3/2010. It is prompt #96.
Old Man River
vintage
antique
the good old days
2 year old, 3 year old 4 year old, etc
Definition: Adjective, 1. Having lived for a long time; no longer young; 2. Made or built long ago: “the old quarter of the town”. (from Google definitions)
Definition/ Etymology #2: From Old English ald, eald, from Proto-Germanic *aldaz (“grown-up”), originally a participle form from Proto-Indo-European *altós, corresponding to Latin altus. Cognate with Dutch oud, Low German old, German alt, West Frisian âld, Scots auld. (Click on the link at this beginning of this part; lots of great ways to think about ‘old’.)
Post the direct URL (link) where your drawing, doodle, artwork is posted (e.g. your blog, Flickr) in the comments area of this post. I would really like to keep all the artwork together and provide a way for others to see your work and/or your blog.
The Creative Prompt Project, also, has a Flickr group, which you can join to post your responses. I created this spot so those of you without blogs and websites would have a place to post your responses.
I am on a roll. I want to try more color combinations. I think I get more wild each time. I also have a certain number of fabrics I designated for use and don’t want to expand very much before I finish.
Yes, I am thinking about finishing, but how can I finish when a project isn’t really a project?
I really couldn’t get my mind off of bread rolls, bread in a basket, sourdough rolls, etc. This is not helpful when a person eats a gluten free diet, so I tried to think of something else that would work and came up with “roll of the dice.”
The track on the game board looks a bit snake-y, but I think you can get the idea.
This is a post that I have written a little differently from most of the posts I write. I am going to write and then post it right away. Normally, I write a few days ahead and schedule my posts so I am not in a rush to get something posted at the last second.
We had a nice New Year’s Eve and also a nice New Year’s Day. We went and saw Skyfall last night after going to dinner. Today we watched the Rose Parade, did some stuff around the house and then went to our BIL and SIL’s house for a potluck-football watching-socializing kind of day.
I planned on being at the machine a good portion of the day, but didn’t want to seem anti-social, so I worked on the Corner Store while watching the Rose Parade and on the Garden while over at SIL’s.
Why is this all relevant? Because I finished the Corner Store this morning! I wasn’t looking for such a big finish, but I do like to finish something on New Year’s Day as a way of setting the tone for the New Year. I suppose it is my version of a resolution since I don’t make the normal kind of resolutions.
I had a little bit of binding left and two repairs (don’t ask). Just stitching away for half an hour got the job done.
This quilt will go to my brother-in-law, who is ill. I hope he wraps up in it and feels people hugging him all the time.
Take a look at the last post about quilting this piece. It might be a long time until you read about me quilting again! 😉
I still have a few UFOs waiting for my attention, but due to the 26 Projects List, I made a lot of progress clearing out old projects.
Still WIPs
Aqua-Red Sampler – Frances and I finished our fusible machine applique’ blocks and I am supposed to be preparing the next class on curves.
Corner Store: Finished quilting the entire quilt and am stitching down the binding.
The Tarts Come to Tea: I haven’t quilted on this since April 2011. I really do need to work on the quilting. I was making good progress and then got sidetracked. Quilting the Whole Cloth quilt sort of got me back in the swing of quilting, so perhaps there is hope for this piece?
Garden: I started this piece in a class with Pamela Allen in 2006. I also used this piece for my beading demo for the 2012 EBHQ Voices in Cloth show (March 17). I made the facing and started to stitch it down. After stitching down the facing, I need to make a sleeve and finish about 2? of blanket stitching that I noticed wasn’t complete. I am close to finishing and getting this off the list.
Pointillist Palette #4: Fourth is a series of 6 quilts; needs tiny square patches sewn together. Mrs. K. gave me more PP fabric and I won some from a giveaway. I think it is a sign that I need to work on this.
See: needs satin stitching. Small, also a possibility for finishing.
Spiderweb: Top is together, binding is made. I am working at ripping out the foundation paper (what a pain and what a mess!). I need to make a back and then take it to the quilter.
Under the Sea: class project; like the design, but not the colors much.
Flower Sugar Hexagon: sewed more hexagons together. Sewing Y seams is a bit of a chore, so I get tired of doing it after awhile.
Young Man’s t-shirt quilt: have cut up the t-shirts and am still in the process of applying fusible. He cleaned out his drawers and found some more t-shirts to add to the quilt. Oh Yay! <– just a bit of sarcasm. He asked me again for another quilt, so I think this one is next in line. I plugged in his heating mattress pad, though, which should keep him quiet for a bit longer.
I still have a few more WIPs than I do finished projects. I am pleased with the progress I have made.
Ready for Quilting, at the Quilter
Original Bullseye: Top and back are finished. Needs binding and quilting. I think loopy feathers quilted in the border will set off the blocks fine.
Negative space is part of Design, but neither an element or principle. It could be included in the lesson on Form or Space, but Sandy and I have chosen to talk about it separately. Be sure to listen to the Episode 114 of Sandy’s podcast, Quilting… for the Rest of Us. where we discuss this topic.
Definitions:
In many basic drawing classes, students learn that there are three basic elements of a composition: the frame, the positive and the negative space. The positive space is easiest to understand. Generally, it is the space occupied by your subject. Conversely, negative space is the space that is not your subject. (Artinspired wiki, Positive & Negative Space page)
Positive Space is created by objects that are seen as a main element appearing to be in front of the background.
Negative Space “is the space between an object, around an object, but is not part of the actual object itself. It is the opposite of an identifiable object which can at the same time be used to help define the boundaries of positive space.” (http://www.tutorial9.net/articles/design/enhancing-your-art-with-negative-space/)
The concept of positive and negative space are also called “figure” and “ground”. (Pentak & Lauer, pg.150)
“Negative space, in art, is the space around and between the subject(s) of an image. Negative space may be most evident when the space around a subject, and not the subject itself, forms an interesting or artistically relevant shape, and such space is occasionally used to artistic effect as the “real” subject of an image. ” (http://favbulous.com/post/627/the-art-of-negative-space-illustration)
think about the design that appears when you put blocks together and get a secondary design.
If you have 4 identical white rectangles and 4 identical black squares and place the white rectangles horizontally in front of you and put the black squares on the white rectangles in different places on top, you will: (Pentak & Lauer, pg.150)
notice very different visual effects “caused solely by its placement within the format” (Pentak & Lauer, pg.150)
notice that the location of the black shape immediately organizes the empty (white) space into various shapes (Pentak & Lauer, pg.150)
Notan
“Notan is a Japanese word meaning dark-light. The word, however, means more than that. The principle of Notan as used here must further defined as the interaction between positive (light) and negative (dark) space. The idea of this interaction in Notan is embodied in the ancient Eastern symbol of the Yang and the Yin, which consists of mirror images, one white and one black, revolving around a point of equilibrium. Here the positive and negative areas together make a whole reality. In the Yang and the Yin symbol…opposites complement, they do not conflict. Neither seeks to negate or dominate the other, only to relate in harmony. It is the interaction of the light and the dark, therefore, that is most essential.” (Notan, pg.6)
We, as Westerners, have issues understanding the harmonious relationship of the light and the dark, because of our cultural heritage. “The Western culture thinks in terms of opposed dualities and attaches the moral values of good to the positive, of bad to the negative. Or we seize upon the positive as the only reality and dismiss the negative as invisible and non-existent.” (Notan, pg.6)
Remember, again, the secondary design that can pop up unexpectedly when 4 blocks are put together. You don’t want something ugly where your blocks meet. This is kind of the premise of Notan. Thinking of the whole design is the key rather than just the positive space.
“Sometimes positive and negative shapes are integrated to such an extent that there is truly no visual distinction.”In Franz Kline’s White Forms, “we automatically see some black shapes on a background. But when we read the artist’s titles, White Forms, suddenly the view changes, and we begin to focus on the white shapes, with the black areas now perceived as negative space. The artist has purposely made the positive/negative relationship ambiguous. (Pentak & Lauer, pg.154).
“In most paintings of the past, the separation of object and background was easily seen, even if the selected areas merged visually. But several twentieth-century styles literally do away with the distinction. We can see that the subject matter of the painting,” Pablo Picasso’s Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, “is a figure. Despite the cubist abstractions of natural forms into geometric planes, we can discern the theme. But it is difficult to determine just which areas are part of the figure and which are background. The artist, Picasso, also broke up the space in the same cubist manner. There is no clear delineation of the positive from the negative.” (Pentak & Lauer, pg.154-155). In Georges Seurat’s Silhouette of a Woman, the Black Bow and The Artist’s Mother (Woman Sewing), (late 1800s, not 20th century, not a Cubist) the positive and negative spaces meld so much as to confuse the mind as to which is which.
Some artists play with the reversal of positive and negative space to create complex illusions. The prints of M. C. Escher … often feature interlocking images that play with our perception of what is foreground and what is background. Other artists take these illusions of positive and negative images to even greater lengths, hiding images within images. Perception of form and shape are conditioned by our ingrained “instinct” to impute meaning and order to visual data. When we look at an image and initially form an impression, there is a tendency to latch on to that conclusion about its meaning, and then ignore other possible solutions. This may make it hard to see the other images. Training the eye to keep on looking beyond first impressions is a crucial step in developing true visual literacy.” (Art Design & Visual Thinking http://char.txa.cornell.edu/language/element/form/form.htm)
Above star is a great use of negative space. Flipping the negative space to positive. See below for homework on this block.
Notes:
In a picture, the shapes that the artist has deliberately placed are considered the positive shapes. The spaces around the shapes are the negative spaces. It is just as important to consider the negative space in a picture as the positive shapes. Sometimes artists create pieces that have no distinction between positive and negative spaces. M. C. Escher was a master at creating drawings where there was no distinction between positive and negative space. (Skaalid, http://www.usask.ca/education/coursework/skaalid/theory/cgdt/shape.htm)
A good artist realizes that the space surrounding an object (positive space / shape / mass / etc) is just as important as that object itself. Negative space helps define a subject, and brings balance to a composition.
The placement of one shape – a positive figure or foreground – creates another, a negative figure or background. The placement of a shape organizes the empty space around it into more shapes. (The Quilter’s Book of Design, 2d, pg.62)
“Negative space, or whitespace, is a powerful design element which impacts both the aesthetics and usability …; too little and the design feels cramped, too much and related page elements can become disconnected.” (Wayne Moir website: http://www.waynemoir.com/notebook/asides/negative-space-in-design/)
“It is important to remember that both elements have been thoughtfully designed and planned by the artist. The subject is the focal point, but the negative areas created are equally important in the final pictorial effect.” (Pentak & Lauer, pg.150)
With three dimensional art [forms], such as a sculpture, one can see how the object occupies space by walking around it, looking from above, below or from the side. Three dimensional objects have height, width and depth. With two dimensional art [like a quilt], the arrangement of objects on the design field can be crowded with lots of objects or nearly empty with very few objects. These design elements have height and width, but no depth. (A Fiber Artist’s Guide to Color and Design, pg.130)
“Negative shapes are also an aspect of letter design and typography.” (Pentak & Lauer, pg.150) People design fonts so they look good on the page – the right amount of space between letters and lines, etc.
The artist usually wants some back-and-forth visual movement between the positive shapes and the negative” space. “An unrelieved silhouette of every shape is usually not the most interesting spatial solution.” Generally, depending on the message you, as the artist, wants to convey, breaking the “background” into “areas of value that lend interest as well as better positive/negative integration” will make for a better design. (Pentak & Lauer, pg.152)
I have highlighted the part of my design that is the unintended secondary design. It is less prominent, because of the variety of backgrounds, but still marked enough to pay attention and make some definite decisions about.
Photocopy or print famous paintings in black and white. Look at the negative and positive spaces and notice their shapes. The following are specifically mentioned in Pentak & Lauer: Georges Seurat’s Silhouette of a Woman, the Black Bow and The Artist’s Mother (Woman Sewing), but you can use any. Try to find one or two with simple lines.
Cut 4 2.5×2.5″ black squares, cut out 4 2.5″x4.5″ white rectangles. Arrange the black squares on the white rectangles in different ways and notice the way the negative space is organized. (See above)
See how the negative space is affected with different iterations of this block. Make the block above with:
one solid fabric where the scrappy fabrics are located
different solid fabrics in the same color range, e.g. all blues. Tone-on-tones would work, too.
change where the colors are with where the background is
the same type of fabric layout, then quilt the center with a complex pattern that has its own design, such as a feathered wreath, in white thread to see whether the center Sawtooth Star is still negative space
the same type of fabric layout, then quilt the center with a complex pattern that has its own design, such as a feathered wreath, in colored thread to see whether the center Sawtooth Star is still negative space
As you may have seen in another post, I have been on a bit of a pillowcase making binge. It is hard not to binge as they are similar to potato chips. In the process of making donation pillowcases, I also made a couple of gifts.
The gift pillowcase for my 14 year old nephew was languishing. It started it a long time ago and never finished it. I don’t know why it was sitting around, but it was. I had seen it a week or so ago, so in the midst of the pillowcase making frenzy, I pulled it out to assess what needed to be done.
What needed to be done was pretty easy to fix. I hadn’t caught part of the seam in the stitch line, so I trimmed the bottom even and stitched it again, then made the French seam on the inside and it was done. Too bad I didn’t finish it for Christmas.
I also found more of the chocolate fabric I liked so much when I made the Chocolate/Sweet dreams pillowcase #2 earlier this year. I believe I bought the fabric in Pennsylvania or Maryland last year. I have to say, I could make pillowcases with this chocolate fabric until the cows come home and never get tired of it. This will go to my niece when she is back at college so she has sweet dreams.
As mentioned in a recent post, there is a project to collect pillowcases for the kids at Sandy Hook Elementary in CT. Making pillowcases was on my radar, but I had to get through Christmas first, with lots of baking and cooking, family and friends. I wasn’t putting those in need behind my real life. I really wanted time to work with the pattern and make sure the pillowcases were well made and of good quality. The way Twiddletails shows the cutting doesn’t mesh with my thought processes, so I have to really think about it and focus if I don’t want to waste fabric.
I like that pattern, though, because once you get past the first stitch line, you have only two more stitching lines to complete the pillowcase. I also like it because there are no raw edges due to the French seams.
The Mexican food fabric (with beige and green backgrounds) had been languishing for quite awhile and it was time to use them. As you might remember, my intent was to make teenage boy/older boy friendly pillowcases. I know the kids at Sandy Hook are on the younger side, but perhaps there are 5th or 6th graders who are past cheerful trucks and dancing animals who will like them. I find it so easy to find fabric suitable for toddlers, but not so much suitable for teenaged boys.
You might have noticed that some of the pillowcases have a green in them that is slightly off. I found this fabric in my green bin when I was looking for something to go with the Mexican food fabric. It yelled out “I am dream fabric and perfect for pillowcases” to me when I saw it. Sadly, I used most of it for something and barely had enough for half a pillowcase much less a whole. I decided to use it for the trim. Yes, the color is a bit off, but I want these pillowcases to induce sweet dreams and be infused with good energy, so I put a little bit in. The viewer can’t see the clouds in the finished pieces, but I know they are there. I really wish I had enough for whole pillowcases.
I pulled out a bin I had noticed when I was rearranging and cleaning up after a fabri-lanche recently. It had multi-color fabrics in it. I didn’t remember buying most of the fabrics and they are not fabrics I would buy now, but were very cheerful and GREAT for kids.
I was especially pleased to find this circus print, and enough of it to make a pillowcase and a cuff, as it demands to be left in large pieces rather than cut up. Notice that the cuff is a companion print. At one time I also had the star companion print, but couldn’t find it. I must have used it.
I sent the pillowcases off yesterday and the postage was $12.00+ for parcel post! I forgot how heavy fabric is. That is done and today I am on to something else. Stay tuned!
You might als0 be interested in the following posts:
Definition #1: to provide with what is useful or necessary in achieving an end.
financial aid
assist
Association for Individual Development
KitchenAid mixer
Rite Aid
California Student Aid Commission
World Teacher Aid
aid worker
Aid for Trade
Truth AID
World Bank Aid Effectiveness: Aid effectiveness is the impact that aid has in reducing poverty and inequality, increasing growth, building capacity, and accelerating achievement of the Millennium Development Goals set by the international community. Indicators here cover aid received as well as progress in reducing poverty and improving education, health, and other measures of human welfare.
Take 5 minutes to do any kind of artistic response: poem, doodle, quilt, pastel, pencil. ANYTHING counts. No rules; just do it!
Post the direct URL (link) where your drawing, doodle, artwork is posted (e.g. your blog, Flickr) in the comments area of this post. I would really like to keep all the artwork together and provide a way for others to see your work and/or your blog.
The Creative Prompt Project, also, has a Flickr group, which you can join to post your responses. I created this spot so those of you without blogs and websites would have a place to post your responses.
Definition #2: In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, or foreign aid) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another, given at least partly with the objective of benefiting the recipient country.[1]
It may have other functions as well: it may be given as a signal of diplomatic approval, or to strengthen a militaryally, to reward a government for behaviour desired by the donor, to extend the donor’s cultural influence, to provide infrastructure needed by the donor for resource extraction from the recipient country, or to gain other kinds of commercial access.[2]Humanitarianism and altruism are, nevertheless, significant motivations for the giving of aid.[3]
Aid may be given by gangs, private organizations, or governments. Standards delimiting exactly the kinds of transfers that count as aid vary. For example, aid figures may or may not include transfers for military use: to cite one instance, the United States included military assistance in its aid figure until 1957 but no longer does.<Fund (DLF) to provide concessional credits to developing countries world-wide (i.e. not, as in the past, just those in areas of potential conflict with Moscow) to promote their long-term growth.</ref> ref>Lancaster, p 67: “In 1957 the administration (with congressional support) separated economic from military assistance and created a Development Loan
I spent several hours last week quilting the Corner Store.
Yes, she who does not normally quilt large pieces quilted a large quilt.
I went easy on myself, because my shoulder is acting up again and I didn’t want to be crippled when I had so much to do for the holiday. My pile of quilts to be quilted is getting ridiculous (7 that I can remember), though, and I wanted something to give to my BIL to provide some comfort while he goes through radiation treatment.
I used to be a good quilter (not like Colleen, but I could hold my own). I stopped quilting large pieces when I hurt my neck and am way out of practice. I wanted to go easy on myself and I didn’t want to try anything too ambitious, so I stuck with straight lines and gentle curves. I have to admit that my original idea for the first border (white) was to fill it with a line of large circles. I couldn’t fix the tension enough to make it look good, so I went with the straight lines. It kind of looks like a frame, if you squint.
In the last photo (left), you can see some of the quilting in the center. I used a Valdani variegated thread that I bought in Chicago several years ago. I don’t really like variegated thread, but it works in certain circumstances.
You can also see how I used the walking foot to measure the space between the quilting lines. I kind of like doing that as it seems to be a consistent measurement.
The quilt won’t win any prizes, but if it provides some comfort, I will be happy.
I wrote about my second Jelly Roll Race quilt a few days ago. I don’t remember if I hadn’t made the back yet, or, for some other reason, I just didn’t post about it. Probably the former, but that seems like an eternity ago, so I really can’t say.
I had a number of pieces of Paris related fabric that I bought specifically for the back of this quilt. Lil Sissy loves Paris, so it seemed appropriate.
I am actually kind of eager to quilt this. I need a basting fairy.
While I am making progress on preparing to sew the FOTY 2012, I still have a pile of fabric to press, not to mention the other pile I have to wash AND press. There is no way for me to get it all done, but I will get as much done as possible before I start sewing at the CQFA Retreat in January.
I do enjoy this process, however. I like seeing these photos and thinking about what I made from the fabrics.
I have FOTY 201o hanging in my hallway and I keep walking by thinking “I need to find that fabric; it would be perfect with X project.” That is really fun.