Still Making Masks--Mask Pattern for Men with Big Beards

 I never gave it a thought that men with large heads and huge beards might have trouble finding masks that fit them. Well, that problem DOES exist. My niece recently contacted me to ask if I could make a mask for her husband. She said that when he wears a "regular" mask he looks like he has a duck bill and his friends are giving him a hard time about it.

I began the search for a pattern I might be able to use for him. There are a few out there, but I found this one to be the one I liked the best. If you need to make a mask like this, this is the pattern link--PATTERN; PATTERN INSTRUCTIONS. (You get a message when you click this--something about redirecting to a page. Click on the link, and it will take you to the PDF pattern.) This is the instruction video--VIDEO. (Watching this video made it A LOT easier.)

Here is the pic of Adam with the new mask. (He said he didn't want to mess up his beautiful beard, so he didn't put it inside the "beard pocket.) LOL!

Problem solved!

(I am not making masks for the general public. Do not contact me about making masks. I'm all masked out!)

Exciting News for Me

I got some really exciting news recently--I will have a quilt in Quilt National '21! The email said, "Congratulations! Your quilt, Journey of the Painted Ladies, has been selected by our jury to participate in Quilt National '21. Acceptance into this show is a great honor, as the jurors have been very selective to ensure a compelling and diverse exhibition that highlights excellence in contemporary quilts." I have been driving to St. Charles, MO, (The Foundry) to see the traveling QN exhibit any time it was there. Every time I have seen it, I have been in awe of the talent I see in the work exhibited. When my husband would ask why QN is SO special, I always told him that QN is the "Super Bowl of Art Quilting." He was a "sports guy," so he understood that analogy. Needless to say, I am excited and humbled that my quilt will be in an exhibit with artists I admire SO much.

This is the quilt that was selected. (I hope, if you get a chance, you will come to see it in person.)

This is a closeup.

I have worked on this quilt for several years. I originally was shooting for QN '19. (The exhibit is an every-other-year affair.) That meant that the quilt would have had to be finished before the fall of 2018. As you know, 2018 was NOT a good year for me. (My Dad and step-Mom both died, and Nate was diagnosed with cancer.) Needless to say, the quilt did not get finished in time. 2019 was no better--Nate was still ill and died in June. I went into a creative funk, and the quilt did not get finished in 2019 either. Because of the issues occurring in 2020, I found myself at home, alone, with a lot of time on my hands. I decided to begin work on this quilt once again. FINALLY, it was finished in August or September (I can't remember which.), and I took it to have it photographed. 

I filled out the paperwork, sent off my QN entry, and forgot about it until October 1. I remembered (and had it written in my Quilter's Planner) that confirmation of acceptance or of rejection would be sent by October 9. I was at my son's house (in AR) when I got the confirmation email. Everyone there was happy for me, but I REALLY missed being able to share the moment with Nate. He knew how much I had wanted to have a piece in QN.

Today, I had a custom box made in which to ship the quilt. This is the biggest quilt I've sent off to an exhibit (approximately 62" X 62"), so I didn't have a box I could reuse. The box is really long, so it isn't easy to fit it in my car. I'll be glad when I get it shipped off.

Before that can happen, I have to do some cleanup on the quilt. Since the background is black, every bit of lint and thread shows up on the background. I will be going over it, with a lint brush (and maybe packing tape), to remove all the lint and threads. Then, I have to attach a label to the back. Thankfully, I had already sewn hanging sleeves to the top and bottom of the quilt, so I don't have to do that. I'm hoping to get it mailed off yet this week. Saying goodbye to a piece that has been with me SO long is hard, but I'm sure hoping I get to see it hanging at the Dairy Barn Arts Center--in person and not virtually!

An Exhibit by the Art Cloth Network--The Space Between

On Monday, I went to Krempp Gallery in Jasper, IN, to pick up a piece for a friend of mine from an exhibit that had just closed. While I was there, I got to see the new exhibit of pieces from the Art Cloth Network. The Art Cloth Network is "a diverse group of professional artists from the US and Canada who have come together with a common goal--to promote the medium of cloth as an art form and share it with others. Each of our members brings a personal vision and sensibility to his or her cloth. The group was formed to provide a support forum as well as exhibition opportunities for its members and to promote an appreciation of art cloth in the broader community." The exhibit is called "The Space Between" and will be on display through October 30, 2020.

I took pictures of my favorites and those that I found interesting. There seemed to be a lot of pieces with transparent layers.

This piece reminded me of walking through a stand of birch trees. It was a layered piece--very light and airy. I've included a closeup of the piece along with a full pic.

This was also a layered piece. It was one of the few "political" pieces in the exhibit.

This is the last layered piece I'll show you. The small picture on the right shows how the piece was hung to emphasize the distinct layers of the piece.

I love this piece. I like the sky and the lights in the buildings. It gives me a calming feeling. (I can REALLY use that these days.) It reminds me of the method Kathy Loomis uses to make her "postage stamp" quilts. It is made up of very small squares of fabric sewn in vertical and horizontal rows. If you look at the closeup, you can see how it is sewn together.

There is a lot I like about this piece too. I am really drawn to the colors, and I love a good 3-D piece. The artist has stacked different shapes and put them together into rows. Nice.

I was touched by this piece--probably because it is about dementia. Having lost two special people to Alzheimers, I found the piece quite interesting. 

The exhibit will be up during the month of October. There are lots of nice pieces I haven't shown you, so there is still plenty to see. If you get a chance to attend the show in person, do it. COVID safety protocols are in place. Check out days and times and more about the exhibit here.

Fractured Finished (2)

In my last post, I wrote about working on a quilt I called Fractured. Well, IT IS FINISHED! As I'm writing this, it is in the washing machine. I finished hand stitching the binding last night. First, let me show you all the "help" I had while stitching that binding. 

What is it about quilts that cats like SO much? Every time I took a break from working on it, I had to shoo a cat off of it!

I took the quilt (minus the binding) outside to take a photo, so here is the "finished" quilt.

I fretted about the quilting (even though I knew it wouldn't show too much), and decided upon script--making it a diary entry of sorts. It tells a short story of the quilt and these times. I explain in the quilting that the three Xs in the quilt represent loss for me--Nate (my husband), my Dad, and my stepmother. I lost Dad in 2018, Helen (my stepmother) about two months later, Nate was diagnosed with cancer in the fall of 2018, he died in June of 2019. I remember thinking (at the end of each year) that the next year would HAVE to be better. Then, a global pandemic hit! I felt broken, but kept in mind that a fracture can mend--it takes time, but it WILL mend. 

Here are a couple of closeups of the quilting. You can read it if you look closely. 

When I wrote about the pandemic, I thought it would be pertinent for me to include some statistics about the virus. The quilting contains COVID statistics--globally, United States, Indiana, and Dubois County--on the day the quilt was quilted. 

It scares me a little bit to put this out there, but SURELY 2021 will be better! 

Working on "Fractured" (1)

I've been busy working on my "Fractured" quilt--making block after block. As Kathy suggested when she commented on this blog post, "Make lots and lots and then make some more." Well, I have done that. In the last week or so, I have made approximately 75 blocks. I haven't yet decided what size I'm going to make the piece, but I wanted to have a variety of blocks from which to choose. I MAY end up using all of them (and maybe more) in this quilt--or not. I'm sure I'll find a use for any leftover blocks I might have. I'm leaning towards tall and skinny (but not TOO skinny). Right now, I'm playing with the pieces on my design wall. This particular wall isn't wide enough for me to put up all the horizontal or vertical blocks, but this gives me a good idea of what it will look like. The blank spots in this picture are blocks I'm currently working on.

My upstairs studio is jam packed with bright scrappy strips of fabric. I'm really drawn to the chaotic combination of colors. Maybe because I feel the chaos in my own life with this pandemic and all. 

I have also finished a couple of little wool projects--a little scissors keeper and a needle case.

This is the outside of the folded case.

This is the inside of the case with it open.

I think I'll make good use of both of these. I have a wool pin cushion yet to make. Hopefully, it won't take me too long to get to that.

I had a nice porch visit with a friend of mine from Louisville. Part of the time, when Nate was in the hospital, I stayed with her and her husband. Since her visit was close to my birthday, she  brought me a journal she made. Isn't it beautiful? I think I'll use it to keep notes and ideas from my Textile Artists Stitch Club workshops.

I will update you, again, when "Fractured" is further along. Now, back to work!

Some Much Needed Sister Time

My birthday was last week, and my sister made the trip to my house from Tennessee. We have both been very careful with COVID protocols and both are in agreement that being with family is essential for our mental health. She made my favorite foods--her chicken salad and a big German Chocolate cake. We ate on those all week. They were both DELICIOUS!

We took a little drive to our hometown (Orleans, IN) to visit some of the places we knew as children. It is funny; the town sure seemed much bigger back then. We placed flowers at the cemetery and drove by the home in which we grew up. We made a few trips up and down the familiar streets to see how things had changed since we lived there. We really enjoyed reminiscing about the "good ole days."

After we had covered Orleans, we drove to Spring Mill State Park in Mitchell, IN. We didn't want to stop to eat anywhere in public, so we brought a picnic lunch. We had such a good time.

It was a BEAUTIFUL day--hard to believe the temperature was so mild for mid-August. 

Later in the week, we made some new masks. I just LOVE them (well, as much as you can "love" a mask). My friend, Debby Cresanto, sent the fabric to me. She said when she saw it, she had to send it to me (because she knows I love bright colors and all things flamingo). I tweeked a pattern to provide a bit more room around the nose, so I don't feel quite so restricted. I used some flat nose "wires" I had ordered along with some "soft elastic" which feels really good on my ears. (Debby sent the soft elastic too.) I made a pineapple and flamingo mask for each of us.

We had a really nice week. I have found a little "family time" can certainly give me a nice pick-me-up. I need that every now and then. 

In the Meadow--Wool Table Runner

Last week I finished up some things I had started LONG ago. I found three wool projects--all in different stages of completion. I still liked all of them and decided it would be worth my time to finish them.

This is the first one I finished. I think it is really cute and will be gifted to someone special this Christmas.

This is a Backyard Friends pattern called #292-In the Meadow. I really enjoyed the hand stitching, and the added plus is that I could work on it with two cats in my lap! LOL!

Dryer-Sheet Quilt

I have been working on my "dryer-sheet" quilt this week. Used dryer sheets are the foundation for the blocks. The dryer sheets are thin enough that they won't have to be removed once the blocks are finished.

I have completed several blocks and am ready to put the blocks together. I have put the blocks up on my design wall and have to decide how to put them together. Here are a few of the arrangements I'm considering.

This one is VERY busy and would take A LOT of blocks. There is something about it I like, though. I think it is the diamond shapes and the secondary design of the X.

This one is also VERY busy and would take A LOT of blocks, too; but I like it. It could be really interesting if the same color family was used to make the middle zig-zag portion of the block. It would make the zig-zag more prominent and more organized.

This version would use sashing strips and small stripped squares. It gives your eye a place to rest. It would take A LOT of blocks across the rows (horizontally) since the block is SO narrow. I'm not sure I would like lots of blocks across the row and fewer blocks vertically. I'll just have to see.

For this setting, it would take three blocks across for the size I want to make. (I just didn't have room to put that many up on my portable design wall.) I think this one looks a bit more "modern" than the other settings. It also uses the sashing with the added small stripped squares.

What do you think? Which one do you like? What should I name this quilt--High and Dry, Scrappy Diamonds, String Diamonds? I'm sure you all can think up a name much more clever than my ideas. You'll have to check back to see which one I decided to make. I'll put up a picture when the top is finished.

2020 Stitched Art

I have found that hand stitching brings me a kind of peace I can't find doing anything else. It is like meditation for me. I am currently taking on-line classes through the Textile Artist website. I belong to what they call a "Stitch Club." I pay a monthly fee and get three classes a month led by VERY prestigious fiber artists. This week's class was led by Cas Holmes, whose work I have loved for a LONG time. She showed us how she uses momigami (kneaded paper) in her work. The "assignment" for the week was to do a small landscape using momigami, fabric, and stitch.

I'm not really a "landscape" kind of girl, so I went my own direction. (I know that will surprise those of you who know me. LOL!)  I had been wanting to do a piece to represent how 2020 has affected me and had been thinking about it for a long time. I decided to make my piece using momigami. I started by printing off this pic I had manipulated on my computer.

I used this paper (printed out from my printer) as my paper for momigami. I distressed and worked it with olive oil and used it as the foundation of the piece. I pinned it to a background of recycled linen from a pair of pants I had purchased long ago and, then, pinned the fabric mask to the piece along with some other pieces of fabric.

From there, I added more fabric and stitch to embellish and finish the piece. The glasses, eyes, and ears along with the middle background colors are the exposed paper.

Here are a couple of detail pictures.

I can't say how much I enjoyed working on this piece. 

Something to Do While You Work/A Trip

Since the last post, I have listened to two more audiobooks and have made a trip to Arkansas and Tennessee. First, I'll fill you in on the books. My favorite book was This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger. 

I have heard from people who read his mystery series. (I haven't read any of those but plan to.) These books are definitely not mystery books. This book is about four orphans trying to make it on their own during the Depression. I got so involved with the characters that I didn't want the book to end. Goodreads describes it this way.

"Over the course of one unforgettable summer, these four orphans will journey into the unknown and cross paths with others who are adrift, from struggling farmers and traveling faith healers to displaced families and lost souls of all kinds. With the feel of a modern classic, This Tender Land is an en­thralling, big-hearted epic that shows how the magnificent American landscape connects us all, haunts our dreams, and makes us whole." I can't recommend it enough.

The other book is The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd. 

It is a fictional book about the life of Jesus (which I didn't know when I started the book). It took a little bit for me to "get into" the book, but I REALLY liked it. It really made me think about what might have been. Goodreads describes is like this.

"Grounded in meticulous historical research and written with a reverential approach to Jesus’s life that focuses on his humanity, The Book of Longings is an inspiring account of one woman’s bold struggle to realize the passion and potential inside her, while living in a time, place, and culture devised to silence her."

Last week, I visited my son's family in Arkansas. My granddaughter (June Beth--named for me) turned 7, and I wanted to be with them to celebrate. Little did I know that my daughter-in-law would have a cake for me too. (My birthday is August 19.) I SO enjoyed my visit. I cannot go without seeing my family--it is a quality of life issue for me. I guess we all have to decide what is important to us during this pandemic.

I also stopped in to visit my sister in Tennessee on my way home. I hadn't seen her (in person) for WAY too long. We had a nice (but short) visit.

Anyway, I didn't get any sewing or quilting done. I DID get my two latest art quilts professionally photographed while I was gone. (I picked them up on my way home.) Now I have to apply to an exhibit in which I'm interested. That is another thing I don't really like to do. 😒

Audiobooks and Sewing

While I'm doing some of the things I HAVE to do but don't really LIKE to do (like making and attaching a sleeve to my quilts, squaring up my quilts, and facing my quilts), I listen to audiobooks and podcasts. I have been using my local library apps (Libby and RBDigital) to listen to a book while I work on my fiber art (and while I do some of my chores around the house). I have some wireless AirPods, so I'm not tethered to my phone or iPad while I listen. Today, I want to tell you about three books I REALLY enjoyed. I know I'm always looking for good books to read; I hope you are too.

The last three good books I listened to were Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain, and Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger. I absolutely LOVED these books. I listened to them nonstop until I finished them--the equivalent to "I couldn't put the book down." If you get a chance to read (or listen to) any of these books, do it. Let me know what you think.

Below, I've included a description of each book as written by GoodReads. (I was going to write my own version, but GoodReads just said it SO much better.)

Where the Crawdads Sing--"For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life–until the unthinkable happens.

    Perfect for fans of Barbara Kingsolver and Karen Russell, Where the Crawdads Sing is at once an exquisite ode to the natural world, a heartbreaking coming-of-age story, and a surprising tale of possible murder. Owens reminds us that we are forever shaped by the children we once were, and that we are all subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps." 

Big Lies in a Small Town--"North Carolina, 2018: Morgan Christopher's life has been derailed. Taking the fall for a crime she did not commit, she finds herself serving a three-year stint in the North Carolina Women's Correctional Center. Her dream of a career in art is put on hold—until a mysterious visitor makes her an offer that will see her released immediately. Her assignment: restore an old post office mural in a sleepy southern town. Morgan knows nothing about art restoration, but desperate to leave prison, she accepts. What she finds under the layers of grime is a painting that tells the story of madness, violence, and a conspiracy of small town secrets.

    North Carolina, 1940: Anna Dale, an artist from New Jersey, wins a national contest to paint a mural for the post office in Edenton, North Carolina. Alone in the world and desperate for work, she accepts. But what she doesn't expect is to find herself immersed in a town where prejudices run deep, where people are hiding secrets behind closed doors, and where the price of being different might just end in murder. 

    What happened to Anna Dale? Are the clues hidden in the decrepit mural? Can Morgan overcome her own demons to discover what exists beneath the layers of lies?"

Ordinary Grace" is a brilliantly moving account of a boy standing at the door of his young manhood, trying to understand a world that seems to be falling apart around him. It is an unforgettable novel about discovering the terrible price of wisdom and the enduring grace of God."

It Isn't My Favorite Thing To Do

Lately, I have been trying to do some finishing work on two quilts that have a deadline. Finishing work is definitely NOT my favorite thing to do. I like the designing, drawing, playing, figuring things out, putting things together, and bringing the ideas I have in my mind to life. 

First, there is trimming and squaring up the quilt. I looked for a good video tutorial on squaring up an art quilt and couldn't find one. All the videos I DID find were either terrible or they used straight seams in the body of the quilt to line up the ruler for squaring up. For my art quilts, those videos don't help me, because my art quilts do not have blocks with straight seams. I did find that Kathy Loomis has a good blog post (with pictures) on the topic of trimming and squaring up a quilt. You can check that out at Art With A Needle.

The next thing is to either put a binding or a facing on the quilt. My facing strip looks a little weird in this picture--I had to piece it. I only had a little of the purple hand-dyed fabric left. I needed to use that, so the facing would be less visible. I didn't have enough of the purple fabric to make the facing, so I had to piece it. This pieced facing is an experiment. We'll see how it works.

It is easy to find videos on binding, but facings seem to be less common. A friend of mine (Debby Cresanto) often uses facings to finish her quilts. She always seems so comfortable doing it--she makes it look easy. By the time I am ready to put a facing on my own quilt, I'm a little rattled. I have put SO much time into the quilt that I don't want to mess it up at this point. One time, I noticed I was literally shaking (and my stomach hurt) before I started putting on the facing. I told Debby she should make a video to show people how to easily put a facing on a quilt (and so I would have a video to review and reassure me). She had never done a YouTube video, but she decided to do one for me (because that is just the kind of friend she is). If YOU need a brush up on how to face a quilt, check out Debby's video. You can do that here. I refer to it each time I need to put a facing on one of my quilts. (While I was doing research for this post, I found a facing video made by Joe Cunningham. It is a down and dirty, quick and effective method. If you would like to check out his video, you can do that  here.)

Putting a sleeve on the quilt is the next step (if the quilt is to be hung up on a wall). (In the picture, I'm getting ready to hand stitch the sleeve down on my butterfly quilt.) I don't know why I dislike this SO much but I do. A good while back (2012 to be exact), I wrote up a tutorial for how to make a sleeve and how to attach it to your quilt. I wrote it, because I always seem to have to review how to do it before getting started. This is my go-to tutorial for putting a sleeve on my quilts. If you would like to check that out, you can do that here.

I'll be working on hand sewing the facing down on my hurricane quilt this week. (I don't mind the hand stitching!) Then, I'll have to make a sleeve for it and hand stitch it down. Once that is done, I can get the quilts photographed and the exhibit paperwork done. (I don't like doing the paperwork either!)

I didn't want to forget to mention that the last step is to put a label on the quilt. This is a really important step. Again, it isn't a step I love, but it IS a step that is necessary.

Catching Up

Last week, I was reading my SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) Journal and was pleasantly surprised to see my quilt, Scorched Earth, in the magazine.

As I looked at it, I realized the quilt is printed upside down. Oh well, I was excited to see it in the magazine, and I like how it looks both the way I oriented it and the way it was printed in the magazine.

I also finished a quilt top that has been in the works for awhile. This quilt is called "Go With the Flow."

I'm a BIG scrap quilt fan and love the way the blocks in this quilt are made. They are each made of columns of scraps cut at different widths. It was a fun and easy quilt to make. I used Grunge fabric for the background. I just LOVE Grunge. 

In my last post I mentioned that I was in the process of sewing some blocks for a postage stamp quilt. I couldn't find the picture I had taken of the blocks I had already put together. Well, I found it.

My Zoom meeting with a group of quilting friends is this afternoon. I alway look forward to that. It gives us all a chance to get caught up and is the next best thing to physically getting together for now. I'm thankful we can do that.

I guess celebrations for the 4th of July will be really different this year. I know WE will not be having any big get-together. There will be four of us (my daughter and her family) here for a cookout. I'm really glad we can be together. (I have decided the risk to be with my family is worth it to me). I have some cooking and cleaning to do before that can happen. Cleaning is something I haven't done much of since this pandemic hit. It is probably a good thing I'm having a little company since it "forces" me to clean (at least a little bit). Anyway, have a great holiday weekend. Let me know what you all will be doing.

It Has Been a Long Time

It has been such a long time since I posted to this blog. After Nate (my husband) died, I had a hard time concentrating--getting started on anything. Now, with this COVID situation, I find myself in much the same mindset. I have more time, but I am having trouble concentrating on anything. Are you having trouble too?

I have been sewing--"mindless" sewing. I have been collecting used dryer sheets for some time. I wanted to make a scrap quilt using those saved dryer sheets. (I've used all I have and could use more.) I used them as a foundation to make these "blocks." I am playing with them on my design wall right now. This is one of the options I'm looking at.

I have also been working on a postage stamp quilt. I've always wanted to make one of those. I have my sewing machine set up in my living room, so I can sew a little bit on these blocks whenever I have a minute or two.

Some of my quilting friends and I have been having virtual quilt meetings every Friday via Zoom. I suggested we do a quilt together, and some of them decided to do it with me. Well, I got carried away and finished my top early. 

It was an easy and fun quilt to do and seemed really appropriate for these times. (I've said my home feels like my sanctuary. My neighbors have made this "isolation" bearable.) It is free pattern offered by Moda and Miss Rosie's Quilt Co. called Village. If you click on the link, it should take you to a copy of the free pattern for you to download if you are interested.

I'll show you some more of what I've been up to in subsequent posts. What have you all been doing?