Tuesday, May 31, 2016

My Favorite May Photos


This photo was taken the day I went to see Material Pulses and went through Bicentennial Park.  This is a memorial I passed along the way.


See the brick in the background? This is a historic area, and the streets are made out of brick.



The two photos above were taken the day June came to see me.  She was in Ohio and drove up to have lunch with me in German Village. It was a lot of fun to meet a fellow quilter.





I didn't think you would be able to recognize my blog without some gratuitous sky pictures. I took a short working trip to Chicago. I brought even more work for me to do now that I am back.

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Halfway Point of Circles 365


I won a bundle of scrap fabric from Brooke at Silly Mama Quilts.  Such beautiful pieces that I had to start right away and make some circles.  Thank you Brooke!

Block 152



Some of the pieces were already sewn together, so I sewed them up some more, cut them and sewed them back together.  This is a large circle that is bigger than a block, so I will have to find a place where it can overlap without encroaching too much on surrounding squares.

 Block 153




I decided to let these pretty fabrics do the heavy lifting and made a simple circle.

 Block 154




I really like this linen fabric and the circle that was in it, even if I did have to cut into the middle of the fabric to get to it.  It is on a chenille background.  Both of these pieces were in the scrap bundle.

 Block 155



This one is one of a few that didn't use Brooke's scraps.  The heart is a leftover from the 1857 quilt.  There are dots in the butterflies so if you don't see the outside of the heart as a circle, you don't need to call the quilt police.

 Block 156





This fun whimsical fabric is going in as a whole piece.  Lots of circles to see, and anything I do will cover up the fun fabric.

 Block 157



This is another leftover of the 1857 quilt.  I cut lots of circles, and squeezed the scrap onto the block.

 Block 158



Another leftover from the 1857 quilt.  Why throw away the tiny pieces when you can make a circle out of them?

 Block 159



These are all from the scrap bundle.  I really like this one.  It sets a scene of going on a bike ride someplace floral and pretty and having a picnic. So romantic.

 Block 160




This is a scrap from the 1857 quilt.

 Block 161



These are also from the scrap bundle. I like that the background and the foreground are strong forces that work together.

Yesterday was my halfway point of making the circles. I should have 183 made, but have 161.  I don't mind running behind during my busy time at work, and think it will take too long to catch up.

1857 Quilt


As a reward to hanging with me until the last circle, I will show you my progress on the 1857 Quilt. More blocks have been prepped. I still need to sew down a lot of these pieces. There are lots of circles in this quilt too.

Monday, May 16, 2016

Material Pulses: 8 Viewponts

Downtown Columbus, Ohio in the Riffe building, there is a gallery that features a variety of different works by different artists. The Riffe Gallery is sponsored by the Ohio Arts Council. There are often quilts that are exhibited there. This one is called Material Pulses: 8 Viewpoints. Excellence in Machine-Quilting & Surface Design.


On Friday, they featured a Curator's tour.  Nancy Crow and the artists showed us around the works and gave us background on the quilts, and a chance to ask questions. There were a lot of people who came for the tour.  The quilt above is pieced, not appliqued.  Inset seams!


They were all fairly large quilts, some with stamping, most of them started out with white fabric that was dyed. There were a lot of pieces with black in them, and not a lot of white. 


The quilts will be on display until July 16.   There will be other workshops, a dyeing workshop, a family workshop, and a writing workshop during this display. These three quilts were away from the wall because the backs were as beautiful and interesting as the fronts.


The gallery is free and open to the public.


I parked far away and walked to the gallery, and was reminded of my daily walks when I worked downtown.  The walk was very refreshing, and as you can see the day was very pretty.  This photo is from Bicentennial Park. The photo above was unretouched. It really is that pretty, and I realized how much I missed my walks downtown.  It was nice to see all the wonderful changes that have been made there.

Friday, May 6, 2016

An Index Card a Day

It seems like the later I go to sleep, the earlier Zeus likes to wake me up.   I found myself having an extra hour to fill.  I prepared a block for the 1857 quilt, and tried to catch up on some blog reading.  I read a post by Bari J about Why you should do a 100 project now.  I've been planning on doing an Index Card a Day project.  I worried that I wouldn't be able to keep up that commitment, so I thought I would wait until it wasn't so busy at work.   Which would be in July, kinda late to start on a New Year's Resolution.

In my sleep deprived state, I decided to start now.  As we have learned from the 365 circle a day project, the world doesn't stop revolving if you don't manage to make one every single day.  You can catch up.  And even if you don't catch up, it is still all right. You can just enjoy the ones you have made.


This project will help me use up the school, office, and art supplies I have been hoarding, which is also one of my resolutions.  These cards are so old, I don't remember anything about the store that is on the price tag.  At first, I was mad that there are only 50 index cards in this set, and at 4 x 6, they are bigger than I expected.  But I realized I only need one today, and I can always buy more. And bigger gives me more chance to draw. 

Sunday, May 1, 2016

Best Photos of April 2016

Here are the best pictures I took in April. I even wandered and went to Franklin Park to get some of these images. The conservatory is part of the park, and last year they planted a whole bunch of bulbs which are blooming beautifully now. They also plant herbs and vegetables and have a dining space where the caterers use the food that is planted there for special events.

The park has gardening spaces you can rent, and some of them are raised to make them accessible. You can donate the harvest or take it home yourself.

Some of the photos are obviously from the park, but others are from my usual hangouts. I'll let you figure out which ones are which.