Sketchbook Page, 2

The other day Diana Trout did a video for the sketchbook challenge blog about a doodle game. The link will take you to the blog entry with the video. The basic idea is that you draw a continuous line over the page and then go back and fill in the areas created by the continuous line. I had some time to kill on Friday afternoon while one of my students took an exam so I brought my sketchbook with me and did the exercise.

I only filled in some of the areas, the ones that spoke to me at the time. It was actually a pretty fun little exercise! Next time I will try to create a few more areas that "will speak to me" than I did the first time. Another thing I have been doing as a warm up exercise I learned from a class I took at Quilt University taught by Lily Kerns. The class was titled Playing with Lines and Shapes. She had us draw in little boxes.

I have found this to be a very helpful exercise for working out a design. You can draw the image over and over, keeping what you like from previous versions and trying out new ideas. The boxes are small. There are 25 on a standard 8.5" by 11" sheet of paper. If you draw something you like, you can scan it and enlarge it then print it out if you don't want to try redrawing it larger.

Most of the images on this page I drew while watching the Secret of the Kells. It was recommended to me by Netflix. It is animated movie targeted at kids my sons age. I did not really like the movie at all, but for me, the art work was inspiring. So I watched the whole thing and paused the movie at various points to draw things of interest to me in one of the little boxes.

Color Homework

I'm a little behind in my Quilt University course, Artist's Toolbox. First I went to Retreat then my parents came for a week. The fourth and final lesson will open tomorrow, but I am still working on the second lesson. On Tuesday I thought about just skipping lesson two, but the class stays open 2 weeks after the last lesson is posted so I will still have time to get all my assignments done.

This week (well, the second week) we study color. I'm not going into detail about the lesson. I think you should take the class if you want details. It is a really good class, by the way! The gist of the assignment was to look through magazines and catalogs at the color schemes that were used. I tried to look at the advertisements and think about how they were using color to sell their product. I also looked for color combinations that appealed to me.

These are just a few of the pages I tore out and glued into my sketchbook.

In looking through my stack of torn out pages it was clear to me that I am drawn to blue, green and brown color combinations and any variation thereof. I can't say that this surprises me much. The other thing I noticed was how gray is used effectively. Look at the warm color scheme picture above. That was pulled from a home decor catalog. The wall is painted gray in that room. I tried to think about what other color they could have used. Everything I thought of would either compete with products for sale or blend too much with the products. Light blue would work, but I believe I like the gray better. Gray is also used in the last picture - the rim of the paint cans and the metal basket of lettuce.

Quilt University Homework Assignment

This is the first little quilt I have completed as part of my Quilt University class, Playing with Lines and Shapes by Lily Kerns. The first assignment was to make a bunch of little sketches. There was a lot more to it than just drawing a bunch of sketches, but I think you should take the class if you want all the details. Part of the second assignment is to translate one of your sketches into fabric. Below is my original sketch. I enlarged it to standard paper size, printed it out and used it to make a pattern for the above quilt.

Thread Catchers

My guild is have a Quilt Demo Day at our next meeting, March 20th, which happens to also be National Quilting Day. If you are in the area and want to attend here are the details:

Monte Vista United Methodist Church, 215 Washington St. in Monte Vista, CO from 10 am until 2 pm. Members will be demonstrating various quilting and quilt related techniques. There will be quilts on display and a boutique selling member-made items.

I am thinking about making up a few more of these thread catchers to sell in the boutique. I made the one on the left months ago, maybe a year ago, but didn't finish it because I didn't have any sand for the pin cushion part. Recently I got some play sand and decided this morning to sew up the other one I had already cut out to see if this is something I could make up quickly. The jury is still out.

As I reported yesterday, Spring Break has begun here. In a surprise move, this morning my husband took Parker skiing. They will be skiing today, spending the night in a hotel near the ski area and skiing again tomorrow before returning home. So I have some unplanned time to myself! Woot! Woot! I don't know if I want to spend my free time making up these thread catchers or if I'd rather work on my Quilt University homework or if I should paint the laundry room or do something else. To add to the indecision, I was rearranging some more in my sewing room this morning and strained my back while setting a heavy basket of magazines in a hard-to-reach corner. Painting may not be a wise choice now, at least for today, but I really want this project done. I'm going to have a cup of tea and listen to a podcast before making a decision.

Cross-Stitch Ornaments

A photo of my first cross stitch snowflake stocking pattern. I've designed another one that I am currently working on. I had my fasting blood draw this morning and just played in my sewing room while listening to podcasts the rest of the day. I mainly continued straightening up and cleaning in the sewing room but did do a little piecing on the remaining borders for my king size mystery quilt. I did make a short trip to the Gray Goose (my LQS) for some retail therapy after this mornings "trama." I bought a nice fat quarter bundle and have them ordering a hinged mirror thing that I need for my Quilt University class. I'm installing my EQ software and plan to play with it some this evening.

Do you EQ?

I've already posted once today but just had to share my exciting news.

I bought EQ5 all most 2 years ago. It took me a little while to get started with it but once I did I was enjoying it. I hadn't really designed anything yet, mainly just done some of the exercises and played around. Then I started have computer problems, unrelated to EQ. My husband decided we should wipe my hard drive and reinstall everything so I copied all my important files onto an external hard drive and then turned over my computer to my husband so he could do his thing. I didn't copy my EQ because I had the disc, so I could just reinstall it after everything was cleaned up. BUT ... then I couldn't find the disc! Grrrr! I've been looking for this disc for over a year. I found the Design Cookbook and Getting Started book, but no disc. Until this morning! I was doing a bit of cleaning of my bookcase in the sewing room. In the process of straightening up the books, the disc just fell into my lap! I have looked for it before on the bookcase, but I guess it had gotten shoved to the back so wasn't easily visible. Anyway, now I can EQ again! Might even have to upgrade to EQ6. (By the way, the hard drive wipe worked for a short time but the computer was 6 years old and I ended up getting a new one this past November)

Doctor appointment followup: I had a good check up but do have to go get a fasting blood draw in the morning. As my reward for doing this thing I really hate doing, I've signed myself up for a class at Quilt University. I'm taking Playing with Lines and Shapes. If you are so inclined, join me. I've done the free sampler class on borders and am looking forward to trying out a "real" class.