Morning Glory Studio

the 100 day project - 2017...

 

 

 

We are halfway there! Today marks Day #50 of the project and to celebrate, as well as catch(myself) up, I created a photo collage with the COLLECT app for the first 50 days: 4 April - 23 May, 2017. I started the project with a vague idea of what I would do: something that involved stitching, mandalas, an occasional drawing, Haiku... and that's about as concrete my vision was. Plus, I would do a daily Instagram post. Ha! That - the Instagram post -  quickly fell to the wayside - blame it on the quilt show. In the meantime, I was taking photos daily of the evidences of spring, the season; some days I easily added 20-30 pictures, dare I say hundreds? (Probably stretching that number a bit). As I selected photos for the collages, I looked for: 

• color, as evidenced in the sky - both sunrise and sunset;  
• flowers;
• line as depicted in photos # 12, 14, 21;
• shape/s; and 
• things I saw on walks, etc

In addition to the photos, I have also journaled and  kept notes throughout...

Of course, in the background, my mind has been  chewing on the project...just what will I do, wind up with? Something - probably a quilt, a wall hanging, no bigger than 30" x 30" square, consisting of a varied background. Color, line, stitch  and shape/s , brought together to create a pleasing and intuitive piece, perhaps in some sort of grid - tho' all pieces  may not be equal in size. I have pulled yarns, embroidery threads; perused a variety of books in my stash, including some new  that I ordered/received over the past few weeks. 

My goal is to finish near the July 12 end date...my intention is to continue to do something every day that moves me closer to a tangible end product. I am looking forward to whatever materializes.

Watch this space...

Cheers~

Click on photos to enlarge and let me know if you want more info about any photo...

30 days hath september...

Honoré here: Today! First day of Fall - according to meteorologists, Aug 31 is the last day of summer. Adios! Hasta la vista! Vamoose! Outta here! and all other sayings and expressions that connote g-o-n-e!

I am eager for Fall to appear - you think?!  September couldn't have gotten here fast enough for me...I, along with countless others, am longing and hoping for cool fall days and nights. We've had a taste these past couple days, cool enough at night, despite 90-plus degree days, to turn off the A/C early in the morning and leave it off til late afternoon. I've even been able to enjoy my MSQT sitting out on the deck...

I am also excited that September is here for another reason: I am participating in several online e-courses and two start today. The first is Shimelle's Learn Something New Everyday 2010 .

I signed up last year; didn't really stick with it. Not to be this year's story...though I've been journaling a long time, I've pretty much restricted myself to paper and pen. I've been toying and playing with art journaling and really want to do more of that in the mornings...so, for LSN, I've decided to expand my morning journaling habit, broaden my repertoire, and try my hand at art/mixed media journaling using LSN as my springboard.

This month I'm also taking a decor8 eblogging course; a quilt weaving class; and participating in 30 Days of Learning .

I think combining all these learning activities will be great fun. You can join me on my learning journeys right here on this blog and share what's on your learning agenda for this month,too.

Cheers~

learning journey trip wrap-up...

Honoré here: I just got around to changing the calendars for June this morning. Can't believe how fast time flies. This month, I plan to make some changes to the blog, including a new posting schedule...but more on that later. Time now for the wrap-up and update to my learning journey trip end of April/first of May to Oregon and Washington states.

The day before I left to return home, my friends and I went to the Tamastslikt Cultural Institute in Pendleton, OR, homeland of the Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla people. Adjacent to the Institute is the Wild Horse Resort and Casino, which is owned and operated by the confederated  tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. We had lunch at the casino's restaurant, located on the fourth floor - which enables one to see this magnificent view...

...do you see my camera reflection?

At the restaurant, we were greeted by this fire...

Since taking the Intuitive Color & Design workshop, I find my self looking at everything and asking the question: how might I express this in an art quilt? 

Our return trip to Walla Walla presented more fantastic views of the Pacific Northwest landscape...isn't this just spectacular?

Again, as I look at the picture, I am envisioning all sorts of possibilities, from an "accidental landscape" to an abstract  wall quilt. Oh what fun there is on the horizon!

As a new designer, it's important that I see my design in progress.So, when I returned home, I moved my sewing machine from one room to another - primarily because I needed design wall space. And I also set up an ironing spot that I could access from my sewing machine while still seated. I put my new techniques and design wall to work last week and here's a sneak preview of a wall art project in progress, on my new design wall...

The pieces with the colored pins are waiting to be quilted and the all-flower piece is slated to be the back side of an 8 x 8 x3 deep stretched canvas box. I may change my mind about the back: use a solid and perhaps applique a flower to it...

At the beginning of this post, I alluded to a change in my posting schedule and this is it: effective today, I aim to post Wednesdays and Sundays, minimum, per week. I may post more frequently but hopefully, no less than the stated schedule. We'll see.

This weekend, I am attending a quilt show with one of the women - a new friend who also attended the Intuitive Color & Design Workshop. Looking forward to our get-together. Til Sunday,

Cheers~

workshop - days #4 and #5

Honoré here: The last two days of the workshop were a whirl wind: we spent time working on our individual and very unique designs in between making fun, fun pin cushions plus learning how to make fabric shadow boxes, using 8 x 8 x 3" deep stretched canvas boxes. (Instructions for the pin cushion are included in the current issue of Quilt Sampler and the shadow boxes, in Jean's book, Intuitive Color & Design, if you're interested.)

I have long coveted the shadow boxes and have started making fabric for one; this picture of me holding a box is one of Jean's creations, just so you can get a visual of what I'm talking about.

...and this is the beginning of the fabric I'm creating for my shadow box...

Since I have no idea how it's going to turn out, I'm eager to finish it...and that's the nice thing about designing intuitively - the element of surprise. This is the pin cushion...it's great way to use up scraps and practice technique..

Thursday evening, a group of us went to dinner at a new restaurant in Sisters...very nice. Friday, our last day - boo hoo - was spent 1) wishing time would stop and 2) working away on the week's projects. Too soon, the clock read 3 PM and we, reluctantly, started packing up to go home. I stayed over til Sat morning and then made that drive, over the river, through the woods and up and down the mountain pass. I arrived at the  Portland International Airport and then, taxied to Portland's Union Station, where I boarded the train for my trip northeast to Walla Walla WA...another adventure, to be shared in my next post.

Hope all's well with you...and oh, by the way, did I mention that I'm on call for jury duty, again? Went today and was dismissed for the day; hopefully, that'll be all the time I'm required.

Cheers~

workshop - day #3

Honoré here: On our third workshop day, Wednesday, we were challenged to become "designers" in every sense of the word. Each of us had chosen a picture or photo we wanted to translate into an abstract design. I selected this picture I took of an access ramp on one of my walks last month...

                 

I really liked the line and flow of the ramp. Our first step was to blow up our picture and reproduce it in black and white. Next, we used a small square to isolate a portion of the blown-up picture and traced that onto tracing paper. From that isolated portion...

               

we drew/drafted our design and then plotted it out, using fabrics, on our design walls. We had also brought fabrics to use and of course, there was the Stitchin' Post's entire inventory - 7500 bolts of fabric - at our fingertips, should we just not have the right piece.  I don't have my fabrics - they're en route from Sisters, but I used this picture - another I took on one of my walks - for ideas for my color palette...

And then, we began to "make fabric," sewing strips of fabrics together horizontally and vertically and using the skills of making gentle curves and narrow inserts to create our abstract designs. The entire process was/is fun and reminded me a lot of Project Runway, without the competitiveness among the designers.

Being a "designer" is fun and it was especially interesting and inspiring to see everyone's creations evolve. Our machines were justa hummin.'

We capped off the day with hors d'ouvres at Jean's lovely home, where we got to see her studio and many of her quilts, which her home so wonderfully showcases, framed by these wonderful Sisters...

Next: Coming to an end...sigh

Cheers~

day two - challenge # 1...

Honoré here: Our first day was spent getting to know one another and Jean Wells. We had brief intros and an introduction to Jean's journey in intuitive color & design techniques and then, right before lunch, we began our our first challenge! 

Each of us selected five pre-cut strips of fabric - color was our choice - and then proceeded to make fabric; My colors  -  left to right strips: navy, light beige, red, teal and brown. And on the rectangle, a green. If you count, you'll find more than five colors - like where did those yellow and green strips come from?... well, I borrowed them from Linda, one of my table mates.

Using our newly made fabric plus the remaining strips, our assignment was to make nine log cabin blocks: 3- dark frame/light center; 3 - light frame/dark center; and 3 - med or light center/med or dark frame. Each square had a  2.5" center and the sides (logs), approximately 1.75" to 2" strips.

As we made blocks, we became adventuresome: using our newly created fabrics, the rotary cutter, our sewing machines and imagination, we began to get creative with our blocks. What fun! Especially watching everyone's squares develop as we pinned them on our design walls. Seeing one another's progress fueled our creative expressions.

These are my and my table mates' blocks:

Mine...

Linda's... love that palette and those creative designs; tempted to "borrow" it...

Nancy's...so bright and vivid and the designs are in keeping with her palette, don't you think?

Ostensibly, we were experimenting with value but in fact, we were liberating our imaginations and creativity, buoyed by our skill and techniques as sewers/quilters. Learning to use the rotary cutter to cut gentle curves was a stretch and sewing those curves together or making/inserting narrow strips was an even greater stretch for many of us---but we did it!

On Tuesday, we continued with our challenge - joining our squares together to form a design. After lunch, our assignment was to select 1-2 bolts of fabric to use to border our nine-patch square. Jean went around to each of our design walls and auditioned (held up) our choices for everyone to see and then we "voted" as to which fabric/s we liked best. This part of the challenge was our introduction to colors and how they interplay. Lesson of the day" "leave the door open."

Auditioning my fabric choices...

This?... (Jean's in the lace sweater)

...or this?...

...and the winner is...

My new piece is proudly displayed on my design wall at home - and that's a whole 'nother story to share. I have to select the backing and quilt it and then it will  be done. I bought some fabric - naturally - at the Stitchin' Post and am waiting for it to arrive.

Next, day three of my learning adventure.

Cheers~

P.S. This post is for you, Pat.

day one - getting there...

Honoré here:  My flight left Baltimore Washington's Thurgood Marshall Airport at 9:50 am, Sunday April 25. My friend Margaret provided shuttle service from my house to the airport and I arrived with plenty of time to spare. After I got all checked in and through security, my first stop, once I arrived at my boarding gate was at the ladies' room; imagine my surprise to find these - fresh cut flowers...

 Next, I grabbed a muffin and hot water for tea from the Au Bon Pain food court and promptly managed to spill hot water all over my self and the cashier...

Be that as it may, my flight to Chicago's Midway - where I changed planes to fly to Portland OR - was very pleasant, made so not only by a smooth flight but also, my seat mate who just also happened to be a relatively new quilter, returning home to Minneapolis after spending a weekend in the Washington DC area with old college friends. I had about an hour's wait in Chicago and then, I was on my way and arrived in Portland about 2:30 pm, PST.  I picked up my car and began the last leg of my trip...and was I ever in for a surprise.

Exiting from the airport to get to I-5 (that would take me into Albany OR, where I'd pick up OR-20) was a breeze. I drive through several small towns, scenic in and of themselves, and soon I'm welcomed by this sign...

    

The landscape is indeed scenic: the Detroit lake, Santiam River, an occasional waterfall - Oregon's full of waterfalls - greet me along the way... Soon, I see signs that say " pull over area to put on chains... and then I begin to realize that I must be on a road that is taking me through the mountains, heh heh! I wasn't at all prepared for that and so I went up, down, around and thru the mountains, on the Santiam Pass, through the Deschutes and Willamette National Forests, twisting, turning, climbing up a mountain and down a mountain...

Not knowing really where I was and being tired, I was anxious to get to my destination ...and out of those mountains!

I went through an area that had been devastated several years before by fire. Erie and beautiful at the same time and there were signs of new growth all around. That was the last mountain top before I started the voyage down - a 6% grade; got my attention! Finally, after approximately 70 miles, I was nearly in Sisters and at Best Western Ponderosa Lodge. Arrival!

I checked in and went to my room, grateful that travel was over, I was safe and sound, and looking forward to sinking into bed...

...eager for the morning and first day of the workshop. Hurry sundown, see what the morrow may bring.

Tomorrow: the workshop!

Cheers~

i'm back!

Honoré here: I'm back and ooh! Just looked at the calendar and saw that it has been two weeks plus one day since I've posted. Even I find that incredulous! Where have I been? What have I been doing?

Well, for starters, I went to Sisters, Oregon, home of the famous Stitchin' Post quilt shop and annual outdoor quilt show, held on the second Saturday in July for the past 34 years. This year Stitchin' Post and the Sisters' Outdoor Quilt Show are celebrating their 35th anniversary. Last year, my friend Pat and I went for our first time to Sisters for the week long Quilters' Affair workshops and the Show. We had a remarkable experience. One that's so hard to translate into words...totally feelings... I fell in love with Sisters, not only the town, the event but also these - the mountains: 

But I digress. On Sunday, April 25, I returned to Sisters for a five-day workshop with Jean Wells: Sisters' resident; owner and founder of the Stitchin' Post and the annual Outdoor Quilt Show; and author of Intuitive Color and Design: Adventures in Quilting [published in 2009].

There were 20 women in the workshop; two of us were from the east coast and the others, California, Washington, Idaho, Arizona, and of course, Oregon.

Our week was filled with "stepping out of our boxes and exploring color, line, shape, harmony and design in new ways." We clarified for ourselves, color and value; discovered that we could cut fabric without rulers and patterns and also create new pieces of  fabric; and used photographs - our own or others that we really liked -  to create our own quilt design.

Part of our tuition included lunch: we walked a couple blocks to a restaurant (owned and managed by Jean's husband) and had delicious salads, like this cobb ...

and the opportunity to bond with one another even more so beyond our spots in in the classroom - just off the sales floor of the shop. Of course, we ran a tab and could run out whenever to pick up an item or a some fabric... those five days flew by really fast; too fast for me.

On Saturday, May 1, I left Sisters and headed north, by car and then train, to spend a few days in Walla Walla, Washington with my friends Floyd and Nancy - we've known each other since our college freshman year  (shh- I'll never tell the date; suffice it to say, circa 1961). I returned home a week ago today and I think it's taken me this long to re-settle in this time zone; I've been sort of straddling both EST and PST...plus my week in Sisters has inspired me to reconfigure my sewing studios so I've been toying around with relocating my machine...you know, playing interior designer and moving company, is time consuming. Still undecided... 

Tho' I'd rather be in Sisters (I toy with the idea of moving there) it's good to be home. Tomorrow, I will share my ten days away in photos; I promise -  and then maybe play catch-up with myself. To be continued...

Cheers~

learning journey...

Honoré here: Greetings! Just a quick note to say I'm on a wonderful quilting learning journey this week. I haven't had a minute to sit down and share any highlights; hope to do so tonight..and now I must get dressed so I can continue this fanastic adventure. Stay tuned...

Cheers~

just not rocket science

Honoré here: You may recall that I began my Great American Afghan knitting project in January 2009. The class/knitting group meets monthly. The afghan consists of  25 blocks.

                   

Two weeks ago, I blogged: "My class meets Feb 27. Now that I'm organized, I will have made progress on several of the blocks; hopefully"... To date, I have completed one, uno, un, a single, only, sole block!  Do the math: you say I'm currently thirteen blocks behind?!

Last evening, after mulling over this situation, I concluded, that any  progress on my Great American Afghan knitting project was only going to happen when I actually spent time knitting!  No kidding! 

In order to complete another block, let alone thirteen, I had one and only one recourse: sit -n- stitch! This is just not rocket science. No magic wands or abracadabras or frogs or organizing efforts were going to accomplish what only I could if and when I picked up the needles. 

And so, I did just that. Last night I knitted! The block I worked on has sixty-five rows; I knit eleven plus I had completed eight rows when I began. That leaves me forty-seven rows or approximately 2.5 evenings to finish the block. This week!

                    
                        (block before I knit additional rows last night)

My plan: devote evenings to knitting while watching TV news and other programs (beats dozing in front of the television). Each month I plan to work on the current month's block for both 2009 and 2010. With this plan, I anticipate I'll finish my afghan by January 2011, if not before...

The lesson learned:

                    

Another lesson learned: I discovered I'd made a mistake on the block and decided I'd leave it in. My mother shared this story with me about making mistakes: when she was in school, students did not erase mispelled words or math errors; instead, they drew a line or an X through the mistake and did the problem or spelled the word again until they got it correct. This way, the students could see where they'd made the error. The message: it's OK to make mistakes; one learns from them.

I made the mistake because I didn't take the time to review the directions thoroughly. Leaving in the mistake serves as my visual reminder. Besides, it's only an afghan!

Cheers~