Fabric Choices

Choices, choices, choices! Pattern, solid, batik, plain, bright.....fabric choices!  I consider all until I find what "speaks" to me.  Even then, I will have something all pieced together, only to rip it apart because it doesn't quite strike me.  

I am considering these for the sky.  I am leaning towards the the top two on the left.  No sure, until the hat palette is selected.

I used The Art Quilter's Value Scale by Leni Wiener to help with choosing my fabric in the different palettes presented below.   

I like the shades of red and patterns in this set.

I am tending to lean toward  this set.  I like the bright red colors and the patterns.

I think this collection is more aligned with the colors in the original picture.  But and the big but, I am not excited about this set.

The border for the hat- the picture has the shades a little off.

Under the Red Hat

  Tonight, we will have our granddaughter for New Year's Eve.  It will be a very happy one indeed for us.  Nothing makes our lives more complete than spending time with our little one.

Speaking of little ones, my newest project is of a little one (not mine), wearing a big red hat, sitting in a small pool on a hot day.

I was busy last night making the pattern in Photoshop.

I think I have captured the major details.

It is printed and ready for tracing.

Traced and pattern is made.

 

It is difficult to see, but it has been traced onto the muslin. 

Ready to begin selecting fabric.

 

Back Again

Back again, from a long hiatus from blogging, but not from sewing and quilting.  During my time away from sharing my adventure I took an online portrait class from Marilyn Belford through the Academy of Quilting.  The price of the classes  are very reasonable and you receive constructive feedback on your work.  I did not finish my portrait due to personal conflicts in my schedule here at home and work.  I plan to sign up for the class again in March.  This is not one of those classes you buy and have access to it forever.  It is an actual interactive classroom format with weekly lectures and assignments.

Here is my finished project that I was blogging about before I disappeared from the blogging scene.

Finding the Time

I found time this week even with my husband in the hospital to work on my wallhanging.  I have to admit though, I made the time Monday before he had his surgery on Tuesday.

I like to stitch each leaf and blossom individually because I like the 3D look it presents.  I think it helps to give the piece character as opposed to painting on canvas.

I Just Wanna Quilt

This week I was side tracked with other projects that took away from my quilting time.  Next week, I will also get called away from my quilting.  However, I will find some time to do some sewing.

 I did find time to sandwich my quilt and do some quilting.

 

 

The bride and groom are almost finished.

 

Sewing the individual leaves and flowers will test my patience.  Hopefully, I will get a handle on that situation along with everything else I have to cope with this week.

My Inktense Pencils were Yelling

My Inktense pencils were yelling, "Use Me !"  Usually, I use material to for the highlights and shading.  I decided to listen to my Inktense pencils and experiment. 

I used the Intense pencils on the trellis to provide the shadows and details.

On the jacket,  I used material for the shading and highlights.  It bothered me all week.  It just didn't sit right with me.  So I peeled them off and replaced them with shading using the Intense pencils.  I think I need to add more highlights to the top of the shadows.  I will have to use the white pencil because unfortunately I bought the small set of Intense pencils, now I wish I had bought the largest set with more colors.

The details on the hand are done with the pencils, much easier than fabric.

 I like the look of the skins tones on the back and arms.  It is less time consuming to color the material as opposed to hunting for the just right shade.  I'm glad I listened to my intense pencils and experimented with them this week.  

Next week, I hope to finish piecing the picture.

Painting on Canvas

Happy 4th of July! 

 This year we are having a very quiet, maybe inside, picnic due to the weather.

 

 

 

This week I had a very difficult time imagining the background and piecing it together with the white area around it.  I cut it off, something I usually do not do before I have finished quilting the piece, but it was something I had to do.  I still have enough room to crop it down after I have quilted to straighten it out.  I have to admit I did enjoy working on the piece with the muslin  cut off.  I was reminded of painting on canvas.  Now onto the figures!