Archive for May, 2006

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I am here, really
5/30/2006

Sorry I’ve been missing in action. Sorry especially to all of you blockswappers looking for ideas. Well, quilt top number one is done. (Has been for a week.)

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It will be a full size quilt, 80″x87″ (Denyse Schmidt standard size). It has 25 blocks on it spaced out by 7 1/2 inch sashing. It is so hard to photograph quilts! I’ll definitely have to figure out something MUCH better when it’s time to auction these off, but I hope you kind of get the picture. Gina of Quilter’s Buzz has graciously offered to machine quilt these babies. (It’ll be there soon Gina, I swear. My mom is coming into town this Thursday and is insisting that I wait to send it until she gets to see it.)

Our weekend was blissful, though busy.

We did a lot of yard work.

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The nice thing about buying a house with 20 years worth of existing landscaping is that you can rearrange it like furniture! We tore out some bushes, moved some daylillies, divided fountain grass, and Voila! Brand new yard! This iris was a transplant from back yard to front yard last year. They were GOGEOUS this year. No purchase necessary :)

And we had a friend’s dog for a few days.

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They were in dog heaven. The mud, the big yard, the wrestling matches…they were worn out without so much as a growl. I’m glad it’s over, though. My house is too small for two big dogs and 3 kids.

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So, now I am working out an arrangement for the last charity quilt. I want it to be totally different. I think I’ll use curry for the background and figure out some way to have all the blocks close together. As fun as this is, I’m ready to be done! I have a whole sketch book full of Gocco ideas, but I’m not letting myself do them until these quilts are off to Gina’s to be quilted!

Brenna’s Birthday Bear
5/23/2006

Meet Buttercup.

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On Brenna’s birthday we spent the day making this little bear. She’s made from a fluffy throw I found at Marshal’s. It is almost too soft to describe. Brenna thought this bear needed to be seen by the internet, so she took her little Buttercup on a photo shoot.

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Now Brenna is not the only one in this house that loves to sit in the living room and read ALL DAY LONG :)

Making progress!
5/20/2006

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Spent most of the day yesterday piecing the first charity quilt. I’m on the home stretch and should finish it before today is over!

Are you making things with your blocks yet? I promised I’d post some layout ideas.

Here’s the first: Make three more blocks so that you have 12 and you can make a little quilt this size:

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This is a top I pieced while I was making my 10 blocks. I just couldn’t stop! I was liking the messy log cabin thing with warm/dark colors on one side and cool/lights on the other, so I just kept going. This is just 12 10 inch blocks with a 3 inch pieced border. It’ll just hang out in the living room for Brenna to read under.

I’ve been thinking up bed sized ideas too. You could make a simple block stripe, put some solid on either side of it, and you’d have a really modern, simple quilt without making any more blocks.

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I’ve got more ideas than I have time right now, but I will post some more next week. In the meantime, post your layout ideas and leave the link in the comments so that we all can see ‘em.

Blockswap stuff
5/19/2006

I will be devoting my day to blockswap today.

First order of business: I was interviewed on Quilter’s Buzz and said everything I possibly could about our awesome project, so check it out!

I’ve got fabric washed and ready for sashing on charity quilt #1. It has been horribly overcast and rainy here, so I’ll try to take the best pictures I can.

Also, I’ll post some sketches of design layout ideas for your 9 blocks–by the end of the day, I promise.

And, on a completely unrelated note, we have a mouse in our house. We also have 3 kids and a dog. I’ve been trying to catch it with those traps that they crawl into and can’t get out of, you know, the humane ones, but no luck. Any suggestions?

Happy Mother’s Day (a little late)!
5/15/2006

Mom, I love you so much. You are my best friend and I’m glad I’m growing up to be like you :)

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And…I’m also so thankful to be a mom…

Print shop
5/13/2006

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Oh yeah, I’m a printmaker! I spent my last 2 years of college in the printmaking lab. Sometimes nearly 24 hours a day. I love printing things. I love making one thing to make something else a whole bunch of times. I like to have an extra to give to my mom. I like to plan and retrace and perfect my drawings before they become something. I like to print things. I am a printmaker!

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Welcome to my birthday party. We went to the art store this morning. I got some screens, bulbs, and ink, came home, drew and planned, and once Logan was down for a nap I got to work! It was so cool how fast the screen was made. Flash–just like that. I went the low tech route to make my master by just drawing with the Riso pen (that came with the press) and filled in an area with Sharpie. Over all I was pleased as punch, though the part I had planned on being a flat color didn’t burn completely and had some texture. I actually like that in the finished print though. Want to see it? Well, here it is:

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I drew the tulip tree pod hanging on my mobile.

It is the same screen printed twice with two different colors of ink. The paper is Rives BFK becuase I have tons of scraps. It has some texture, but not too much. The ink sits beautifully on it. I learned that when I mix an ink color I need to make more than I think I need so that I get adequate coverage. I didn’t make quite enough of the bluish color and the line drawing pod is splotchy in the middle. I used Simple Green (thanks to all the awesome info over at the Gocco flickr group) to clean my screen in between colors and it worked like a charm without any toxic chemicals. On the brown run I used the ink blocking foam to guard the solid seedpod from getting printed and that worked just perfectly. So, all in all I call my first printing a success :)

Here it is on Rives Lightweight in a creamy color. Oh, and without the blue ink…

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Now, how could a birthday get any better? I have the BEST husband this world has ever seen.

(Well, I did get a light blue fleece jacket from my inlaws, which I really needed. It’s cute and feminine and warm. THANKS!!)

Go-go Gocco!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!! I just checked my e-mail and had an inbox full of birthday wishes!! Wowee, that’s fun, but how did you know?!?

Earlier this week a package arrived from Japan, addressed to Barry, but the contents had to be fully disclosed on the customs label, so I knew exactly what it was. It was this:

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It’s a Print Gocco PG-5. And thank goodness for the internet because all the books are in Japanese and, well, it just looks like Japanese to me. It is missing bulbs and screens, and only has one color of ink, so my birthday party is a trip to the art supply store to get things so I can get cookin’. WOO-HOO!!

(We have had a busy week. It was Brenna’s birthday this week too, so stay tuned to get the low-down on that.)

Spirograph Dreams, and Needing Travel Advice
5/11/2006

I remember sitting on my grandparents couch, feet on the coffee table with the stone top, pinning gears to a piece of cardboard and spinning my pen away. I love to make anything that takes a process and makes something like magic. I’ve been daydreaming about spirographs lately and found this site. It’s not quite as fun as the real thing, but close :)

Also, I’m planning a trip to San Francisco the beginning of June. Things I really want to do are, go to the San Francisco Center for the Book, comb a beach and come back with a collection of cool rocks, see some art, and shop. I’ll be there for 3 or 4 days with Barry while my mom watches the kids. Barry will be at conference meetings during the day–so I can do some exploring and art looking by myself, then we’ll be together in the evenings. What I’m asking of you, dear Internet, is for suggestions of places to shop, art to see, a beach, food, and–do I need a car? Will public transportation be fine? Then money otherwise budgeted for a rental car could go toward shopping. We’re staying somewhere downtown I’m pretty sure…

Anyway–help anyone?

The goods are on their way!
5/6/2006

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I spent ALL DAY stuffing envelopes. I had quilt blocks strewn all over the floor of my art room so that I could see them all, then tip-toed through and stuck them to my flannel wall. Time flew! When I was ready for a lunch/potty break it was already 4:00 PM and I started about noon!

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Every set is different and just awesome! The combinations were endless and tons of fun to sort through.

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So, all you swappers, I’m taking my laundry basket to the post office on Monday. That means your blocks will be in your very own mail box late next week!

arrived!
5/4/2006

The blocks from Canada arrived, so all packages will be sorted and sent in the next few days!

Gwen was so sweet and made up for the late arrival by sending these awesome fabric squares. I’m way excited to add them to my scrap buckets!

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(And, yes, this picture is taken on my bathroom counter ’cause I opened the package while giving my kids a bath. There is good light in there:))

Oh, and I posted a picture of each of the blocks I kept for the charity quilts in my flickr Blockswap set. I’ll do more photo documentation as I finish sorting, I promise.

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