WOVEN QUILTING

My father signed us both up for a quilting class as one of my Christmas presents.  Yes, for those of you who don't know my father, he's a quilter - and a very good one.  We've been taking quilting classes together since 2011 and I love it.

I had never heard of woven quilting, so when we went to get our fabric and I saw the samples, I got excited - it is really cool.

It was an all day class at The Purple Frog in Jefferson.  Although we were there all day, it seemed like only a few hours.  We were sewing like crazy and it was really fun seeing it all come together.

My dad is making a table runner.  He chose really fun fabric with hot air balloons, colorful circles and orange batik.

I made a pillow.  I wanted manly colors and for it to look tribal without using tribal fabric.  My inspiration was our Fiji trip many moons ago.

I'm thrilled with the results.  I told my man clan this is a 'no touch' pillow and they looked at me like I was crazy.  It took me 10 hours to make it and it's beautiful.  It is for my hands only.  They can look with their eyes, not their hands.  Ha!  We'll see how long that lasts!

MOTHER, DAUGHTER, SISTER DATE

We went to Mor Art to make fused glass coasters today.

It was a Mother's Day gift that was being redeemed and it was so much fun being creative and giggly with these gals.  We had the best afternoon.

HAM RADIO

Larry and I have been in a class all weekend so we can get our ham radio license. Our test is in a week - we have a lot of studying to do!

BEACH BREAK

This screen print is for my semester final on Wednesday. It is a 9 color separation.My inspiration was this photo from our trip to San Clemente, California.
I'm really pleased with this project and am hoping for an "A".

GUMMY TREES

My current screen print project.

THE THREE AMIGOS

This is my lastest project that was seven color separations.

I chose to keep it simple, sweet and embrace a project without a lot of fine detail. That being said, I did have more detail on Lily but it didn't wash out in the screen and I didn't have time to redo that section. Not my favorite project but I learned a lot.This photo was my inspiration.

MY FIRST SCREEN PRINT PROJECT THIS TERM

I was so excited about this project. I took my favorite photo I've taken of Larry to use as inspiration. I wanted to do something different and really cool for him. I kept it a surprise and wanted to wow him with something amazing.

I decided to do shades of grey and have it be a little abstract. Seven colors and two and a half weeks of work, I completed it. It's not as I had envisioned. I'm SO disappointed.

He looks like a smiling zombie!

PAPER PIECING

My dad and I took a quilting class today at The Purple Frog - paper piecing. It's really fun, but man, is it time consuming. It took us seven hours to do one square but it only felt like one hour.My dad made this seam ripper for me. I love it! Best one I've ever had.
Tada, here's our seven hour Ohio star square.

GHOST HUNTING

Larry and I are taking a ghost hunting class and it starts tonight! I'm so excited. Other students in the class will be my sister, aunt and uncle, which will make it even more fun. Our class is an introduction to paranormal research, which includes field trips! Have I said how excited I am?!

I wonder if our team of instructors are going to be like Dr. Venkman and Dr. Stantz?

If we have have any discoveries, I'll update you. So stay tuned...

THE LADY OF THE LAIR

Lily was my five color project.This snapshot was my inspiration.
I'm an extra credit type of gal, so I did two backgrounds. This has definitely been my favorite screen print of the term.

UNDERWATER ZEN

My second project is done. It was my first time using registration pins and four colors. It was stressful, but I like how it turned out.My inspiration was this photo of my brother, Derek, scuba diving in Fiji.

My next assignment is transparency colors. It will be a fun assignment, now to find some inspiration....

ENTERING BOND

I'm taking a screen printing class and just got finished with my first assignment, which was to use one color. My classmates thought it had a James Bond feel, so I named it Entering Bond.This photo of Lach getting ready to go through a tube slide was my inspiration.I did a few copies in blue also; I thought blue made it looked more playful.

My next assignment is really hard, but I'm looking forward to it. I hope I can transport what I see in my mind's eye to the screen and paper.

THE LADIES LOVE HIM

I had a quilting day with my father this weekend, at Purple Frog Quilt Shop, where we took a class to learn how to make a star log cabin quilt.He is a very good quilter and the quilting ladies love him. Who knew there would be a day that I would learn to quilt with my daddy. I'm so glad I am; it's really fun.

PS - The ladies may have invited him to go on a weekend quilting retreat.

LILACS, SWEET PEAS, ANEMONES, OH MY!

This morning I took a flower class, taught by Frolic!'s Chelsea Fuss, to learn how to make a french hand-tied bouquet. I learned about basic flower design, fun flower tidbits and now I want to plant a cutting garden so I can make loads of bouquets!

ART CLASSES - WEEK 4

I had a really hard time with this week in painting class. We were supposed to bring a photo that means something to us. I brought one of my favorite photos I took when we were in Fiji.I'm not happy with it at all and will be definitely be painting over this canvas. I'm not pleased with how I have him standing and I feel with me trying to add "texture" to the background, I made it look like it was somewhere cold. It was a really hard photograph to paint. This one is actually my third try. Maybe fourth time will be the charm.

In drawing class we learned about drawing perspective and used a lot of examples by Raphael.

My art classes are over and I'm sad. I have really enjoyed tapping into that part of my brain. I will be definitely signing up for more classes.

HERE AND THERE (DAY 27 OF 30)

{Classes}

Here: While Steph has been gone, I have taken a beginner's painting class, beginning drawing class and quilting 101.

There: Stephanie has taken a jewelry class and hat making class. I've seen some of her work when we Skype and they are amazing!!

ART CLASSES - WEEK 3

This week, the art classes were on landscapes and the technique of layering.
The first painting we did, our teacher had us use a plastic spoon, knife and fork, a sponge and 2 brushes to paint with.
The second one was a sea scape again, but she had us layer differently than we did the first time.
And an animal - yes, I know Lily is a little cartoony. I was going to start over and use a some different techniques, but my teacher recommended that I keep this one for the wee ones. I have a feeling there might be quite a few Lily paintings before I get it right. She's going to be a tough one to paint with me being a newbie.

In drawing class we had to sketch a landscape super quick. This one we had to use pen and a water color pencil to enhance.
This one, we had to be uber quick. She was teaching us the sketching technique of getting the idea down fast so we could draw or paint it later. I need to work on being looser with my pencil.
And, here is my first animal.

ART CLASSES - WEEK 2

This week was still life.

I'm really pleased with how my painting turned out, especially since it's the second one I have ever painted. I'm going to frame it and hang it in my kitchen.

Next week, we are doing landscapes.