To Market, to Market

to buy a fat hog,

Home again, home again,

Jiggity jog

"Pinky"

31" X 28"

As I said here, this was created in response to a Creative Cue.

First I drew the pig on cotton sateen (I used sateen because I wanted a sheen to the finished piece.)  Then I sewed on the borders, planning to extend the quilting out into them.

I layered it with cotton batting and did all the stitching with cotton thread.  I outlined the pig first, then did the fence.  I followed with the mud and sky background.  I used threads that were slightly lighter in color than the colors I wanted to finish with.

When all the stitching was done, I colored the pig lightly with my watercolor crayons and went over it with Golden GAC 900 Fabric Painting Medium.  Why use this one?  Because it was the largest bottle I had (very scientific, I know).  I have been working on a test piece using all the textile mediums I have available to me, but I'm not done with it.  I'll put together a post with all my findings at some point.

Then, I decided that I wasn't happy with the quilting in the sky and decided to just go in between the lines I had already quilted.  I wanted the whole background to be very flat so that the pig would stand out.  That was the reason I chose a wool batt and quilted the background elements very densely.

Then I colored the trough and the mud.  I found that I had to allow enough time to finish "painting" each section, or there was a line where it dried. I also had to be careful not to use too much medium because if it got too wet, it bled.


After I finished the sky,  I let it dry overnight, heat set it, then added some little tufts of grass along the fence.

Of course, all this begs the question:  Why use the crayons at all?  Why not just use paint? Well, the short answer is: Because it's fun! These crayons rock!  And who doesn't like to color?

Actually, I like the look of the water color crayons after the liquid has been applied.  Also, it's fun to blend the colors.  I didn't like the mud when it was done (too golden), so I added some textile paint over it all to give it that "muddy" feel.  I may go over the fence with some white paint to give it a "whitewashed" effect.  I haven't quite decided.  But these crayons are just another tool in the color tool kit.  And a really fun one, I might add.

To Market

to market,
to buy a fat pig,
Home again, home again,
Jiggity Jig.



Creative Cue # 22 was "market."  Here is a sneak peek of my interpretation.

TCB -- Takin' Care of Biz

Yesterday, in my rant about the tree, I forgot to mention a couple of things.  First, my darling daughter, age 10, gave me a wonderful mayday basket when I got up.

She has been rather secretive of late -- working on some project she didn't want me to know about.  Since Mother's Day is next week and my birthday shortly after, I decided I should not worry.

This basket is amazing.  There is a removable butterfly, a pencil, and a shiny stone in it.  On each side is a note made from stickies -- one says "hello" inside and the other, "happy belated may day."

Inside there are drawings of a sun shining and an apple, which is a continuation of the apple tree she drew on the bottom of the box.

When I took Rosie-the-dog on her aprés-dinner walk, I encountered a neighbor who told me that my daughter had given her a mayday basket with some drawings and a sprig of lilac in it.  She teared up when she told me how much that meant to her and how special she thinks my daughter is.  How sweet, I thought.

Also yesterday, Robbie, who blogs at Robbie's Paw Prints, posted about using glue and alcohol inks.  She gave me credit for inspiring her and also gave me some new ideas.  How cool.

The Creative Cue last week was "pocket."  I thought of a car I had way back when I was young, single, and gorgeous.  It was a Honda CRX and a car magazine at the time labeled it a "Pocket Rocket."  Of course, I had the economical 4 cylinder model, but it was still fun to drive.  And I looked cool in it.  Then I thought of the old Little Feat song, "Rocket in My Pocket."  Actually, I'm not sure that they were talking about the kind that NASA shoots into outer space.  But that's where my mind went.  This is my very first doodle.  How fun.

Finally, I have a bunch of new followers -- to them, I want to say, "Welcome."  And the same to all the old ones because I may not have had such good manners then.  Welcome.  And thanks for following.  How great!

Warning! Danger! Warning, Will Robinson!

Kids!  Don't try this at home!

WARNING: IF THE INFORMATION IN THESE INSTRUCTIONS IS NOT FOLLOWED EXACTLY, A FIRE OR EXPLOSION MAY RESULT CAUSING PROPERTY DAMAGE, PERSONAL INJURY, OR LOSS OF LIFE.

Warning: Don't drive or operate heavy machinery while using this product.

Warning: Professional driver on a closed track.

WARNING: IMPROPER INSTALLATION, ADJUSTMENT, ALTERATION, SERVICE, OR MAINTENANCE CAN CAUSE INJURY OR PROPERTY DAMAGE. REFER TO THIS MANUAL. FOR ASSISTANCE OR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONSULT A QUALIFIED INSTALLER, OR SERVICE AGENCY.


And with the requisite waving of arms and tentacles, I tried it.  I did it at home.  On heavy machinery.  Well, actually, it's not my heaviest machine.  That would be my mom's old Kenmore that needs a visit to the repair shop and some new parts and which lives under the table.  I used my Viking Husquvarna.  And I survived.

I did a thread sketch á la Karen M over at RabbitsEatQuilts.  Karen has consistently done amazing work with her machine illustrating each week's Creative Cue.  So I decided to try it.  I am a pretty good free motion quilter, so how hard could it be?  Ha!  Deceptively difficult.  I have appreciated each and every one of Karen's sketches, but now I have an appreciation so deep as to defy description.  These are hard.

Last week's Creative Cue was "side"  -- as in: side of beef.  At least that's what I thought.  And this week was "full"  -- as in: full of steaks.  So, because I am a couple of weeks behind, I am killing two birds with one stone (I really like birds and wouldn't kill them with stones or anything else so don't send me an email about this).  I do like steak and occasionally grill one out back, but they come wrapped in see-through plastic and in no way resemble these critters  (it's just easier that way).  I drive past a field where sometimes these lovely long-horned creatures hang out and I love to stop and snap their pictures.  Unfortunately, they all get up and leave when I approach.  So I have to shoot fast.  I want to make a quilt featuring their wonderful bovine faces.  This was the first step.

Creative Cue: Tip

It snowed this morning and I took these pictures of tulips coming up through the snow.  I didn't plant these; they came with the house.

Stem

"Blade"

4" x 6"

Snow-dyed and hand-dyed cottons, pieced, fused, cotton threads

The Creative Cue for this week is "stem."  I thought of "stem the tide," "stem the flood," and slang for a lovely leg, but since it's going to be in the 40s this weekend, a blade of grass peeking up from the ground seemed most appropriate.  

This is a postcard quilt.  Leave a comment on this post before March 10th and I will drop it in the mail addressed to the commenter whose name my DH draws out of a hat on that day.

I Have a Cookie for You...

Last week's Creative Cue was "cookie."  It immediately brought to mind a story about my younger son.  When he was about 6 or 7, we were at the kiddie pool watching his little sister splash around.  There was a little girl who was maybe 4 or 5 who kept cajoling my son to come and play with her.  She showed him all the toys she had lined up on the edge of the pool, but he wasn't interested.
Finally, she summoned up her best gamine smile and with her most playfully mischievous voice said, "I have a cookie for you."
I nearly fell off the chair laughing.  My son was not tempted.  But now, whenever one of us is trying to induce another to do something, we say, "I have a cookie for you."

Morning Is Broken

I am not a morning person.  I would prefer to stay huddled in my blanket cocoon every day until at least noon.  But, alas, kids, job, real life, etc. conspire to drag me from my unconscious state way too early -- each and every day.    I am the kind of person who stays up until the wee hours reading "just one more chapter." And then the next day stumbles out of bed, one eye partially open, reaching for coffee and trying to find the shower before slamming into a wall.

My brother, who lives in a place where the climate is perpetually hot -- even in winter, defends his choice by saying, "we're early people.  We get up early," he says, "before it's hot, and do our stuff."  Humph.  Well, we're not "early people."  Not for nothing.  Even now, when I am heartily sick of snow and seeing the filthy, frozen mounds surrounding the sidewalk and roads makes me want to hurl, the prospect of having to get up early to "do stuff" does not appeal.  I just can't do it.

I drive east in the morning to get to work.  My route skirts a lake and some marshland where I see waterfowl and fishermen, working on those early worms.  Sometimes, I am blessed with a view of trees, stark and black, outlined against morning fog rising from the wetlands just beyond. I often see things on the morning drive that I would never see any other time.  I try to keep these images in my head because  I never seem to have a camera then and there's really no good place to stop and take a photo.  Suffering for art is one thing, dying for it is unacceptable.

The Creative Cue for this week is "morning."  Only one letter more and you have "mourning." Hmmmm.....

Catching Up

Last week's Creative Cue was "odd."  I kept thinking of eggs.  Because they're not round?  And that makes them odd?  So I have this photo that I manipulated in Photoshop.  Here is an odd number of eggs.

This week's Creative Cue is "tie."  All I could think of was "tie one on."  So I drew this picture of an embellished gutter.

That's not me in the gutter -- just my mind.  I've had a rough week -- but not that rough.

And because this post needs some color -- a photo of my blooming hibiscus -- there were two flowers that greeted me this morning.  This is the prettiest.  Yes, that is snow outside the window.  I keep them in my front room all winter and let them go back outside after it warms up.  Usually by June at the latest...

Rolling

This week's Creative Cue is "rolling." I made a whole list of things in my journal, including: red carpet, blackouts, ball point pens, tortillas, logs, and Rock Beer. But the one that stayed with me all week was eyes - can you tell my life includes teens?

So I have these pictures this week.

From the teenager who refused:

To the younger one who would.

Track!

"CrossTown Traffic"

17" X 22"

"Tire tracks all across your back -- I can see you had your fun. But darlin' can't you see my signals turn from green to red. And with you I can see a traffic jam straight up ahead..." -Jimi Hendrix

Another rock and roll inspired quilt. I finished this today.

Cotton whole cloth, painted with thickened dyes, cotton threads.

This week's Creative Cue is "track." On track, off track, leaving a track, one-track.....

A train and an angry bunny. Why an angry bunny? Because they leave tracks in the snow in my garden all winter and they eat my flowers and bean plants all summer.

Heel!

Last week's Creative Cue (you can read about it here) is heel. Which immediately made me think of my dog, because she doesn't. She does lots of cool stuff, but not that. Then I thought of bread, shoe, and cad. Still like the dog best.

So I took a picture of the aforementioned pooch and drew this portrait on cotton with my Derwent Inktense pencils.
Then, using a smallish brush, I hit it with water. These pencils have very intense color that comes out when you use water, but unlike regular water color pencils, on paper they become permanent after they dry. I've been wanting to try them on fabric and I was going to use fabric medium to wet them, but this time I just used water.
I like the way the color became more intense. I'm not crazy about the way it bled out and left lines on the edges. Next time, less water? Maybe don't brush it out all the way, knowing it will bleed some? Maybe add some more pencil and then some more water? Hmmm...