Pin It Weekly #279

Happy Weekly! I'm running a bit late this week. I've been busy writing and mailing these invitations to vendors for our guild show. Don't you love computers at times like this?

I haven't  been pinning so much as looking at things. I decided to play with the Silhouette a little and needed some inspiration. Here are a few things that I found which I like.

I really like the ones like this that look like a dictionary entry. Of course, I have handled a few dictionaries, so it should be no surprise.

And I especially love the Bible quotes. I am thinking that I'll practice with a few and then make some for the girls each with their favorite Bible quote. It's to be sneaky and get that info without their knowing that may be the problem.

I say I haven't been pinning much, but I still pinned a few quilts. I guess I can't help myself. I ran across several bookcase quilts. 

Happy pinning, everyone!

Another Cotton on Green ~~ Finished

On Friday I told you about the most recent cotton painting I created. What I didn't tell you is that I had loaded two canvases and worked on them side-by-side. Sister paintings, if you will. 

They have many similarities, but one is not their sizes. This one is 15 X 18. Another difference is this little blossom on the upper left side of the canvas. It just found its way there with no argument from me. I just sew without thinking when I work on these. Sometimes some interesting things happen. 

Cotton bloom - Google images

I decided that this serendipitous occurrence was something to take advantage of. So the blossom became a cotton blossom out of season. I quilted around it in the same way that I quilted around the cotton bolls, and let it take care of business. It may not be a cotton blossom, but it's not far off. 


There are the right number of petals and it is white. Which, by the way, means it has not been self-pollinated because, once they are, they turn pink becoming a deeper pink as time goes by. 

In the next stage the flower dies and falls off leaving the green boll where the cotton grows. It is enclosed in green bracts which dry up and split open as the boll gets larger. Once the boll is fully mature, it will eventually fall off the stem. The seeds are in the fluffy cotton boll and are supposed to find their way to the ground, but most end up at the gin. But that's another post.

This cotton painting, then, has all the stages of the life-cycle of a cotton plant. Now that's serendipitous! 

Cotton on Green ~~ Finished?

I've worked on this piece and another one for several days. I had built the canvases quite some time ago and set them aside. At the time I had another, more pressing project. Oddly, I can't think of what that was. 

Nevertheless, I discovered the stack of canvas pieces and decided to load them on the long-arm before something else jumped in front of me. I have a few more canvases in the stack, but I want to see what the green background looks like. 

I've been working on this series of cotton paintings and have eight or ten pieces. I haven't really named any of them, but I think I'll just number them. Luckily, I've written about them and can look up the order. 

With this piece I was going for a cleaner, less is more, feeling. I'm not sure it's working. I keep thinking there's something missing. If you realize it, please let me know. I will definitely rework it. Otherwise, my plan is to show it to my artist friend and ask her opinion. She will be absolutely honest with me! And I believe strongly in the power of constructive criticism and learning from others.

Oh, I have to give credit to my sweet husband for building the frames! We've created a pretty good system: I sew the canvas in no particular size--just whatever works for me for the moment--then choose one when I'm ready to paint. Once the painting is complete and dry, I decide on the dimensions and ask for a frame. This one is 16" square. He builds it, I mount the painting, and voila! we have a painted quilt. Isn't he the best?!

Here's another picture so you can help me with a comment. I really want to figure out what I'm missing. Plus, some of the other painted quilts in this series.

You can find the posts for these paintings here: upper left blue, upper right neutral, lower left neutral, lower right blue.

Pin It Weekly #278

Last week's Pin It was so popular that I thought I'd continue it. We met a few followers, so that's what we'll do again this week. 
Melinda Wingard Knox has many boards but her "home projects" board really caught my eye. Here are a few ideas that I had to follow.

Ginger Denise Salinas has a board just for squishes! And here are some pins from her "slime" board. 

Ellie Halliley has a Disney board. If you're a Disney fan, this is the board for you!

Of course, we need one board about quilting. Here's one from Debby Lytton

Do you have a board you'd like to share here? Just let me know in the comments or pm me. I'd love to feature your boards.

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: Columns

  


Back when I taught Fine Arts Survey at Bunkie High, I studied enough architecture to be able to know the columns of ancient Rome and Greece. When I was pinning earlier in the week, I discovered these drawings. Of course, I had to add them to my "architecture buildings construction edifice structure" board.

Here's the thing: now I love them for a different reason. Oh sure, the architecture is stunning, but the lines, feathers, and scrolls are all motifs that I love to include in my quilting. Studying these drawings may be helpful in preparing for my next quilt.


Strangely, I didn't see the connection back then, but now it's quite obvious. 

The quilts I'm showing aren't about the curvy quilting, they are more about the straight lines and columns. When you search for column quilts on Pinterest, the responses tend to be more about the piecing, so that's what we've got.