Author Archives: ruthlane

More Quilts, TIF October and Update on Tree Series

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The October TIF challenge is to consider your workspace, how you feel about it and what role it plays in your life. My space is one of our guest bedrooms. So it has to have a bed. I would love for it to have a large work table instead of a bed but I make do. This photo shows my sewing machine corner. The bed is always a mess but I try to keep my other areas fairly neat.

This is my needle felting machine corner with roving, wool, yarn, and silk stored above. The cabinet is also full of scrap material.

This shows more of the messy bed and the storage of my paper type supplies, paint and whatever else I can shove on to the shelves. You can tell me space isn’t very big as the ironing board is on all the photos. I use the ironing board as a work surface most of the time while in my room. But I do all my dyeing, painting, messy work etc. in the kitchen. I didn’t take photos of my dye supplies there. Plus we hardly ever eat at the table as it always has my stuff laying all over it. I have started a piece that conveys my feelings about my work space and it should be completed tomorrow with any luck.

This is part of Tree Stories II. I completed Tree Stories I today. I just need to put a label on it and it’s complete. I have to write an artist statement and explanation of the use of the salvaged fabrics before I send in a photo. I’m entering both of these into a quilt and gallery showing which will be held in 2009. Wish me luck with my first ever entry.

Here are more quilts from the LaConner Quilt Museum show of SiX Stories. This show was the reason I wanted to go to the museum. I enjoyed the rest of the museum but this was my favorite part. This quilt is by Edwina Mackinnon and is called Secret Garden. It has a transparent section and is hung in front of a window so the light shines through.

Books 1, 3 & 4 by Bobby Britnell

Hunter in Disguise by Catherine Nicholls
Shaman by Marie Roper

The Trickster’s Prize Laura Kemshall

Golden Tulips by Linda Kemshall
I took a lot more photos but won’t subject you to any more. I have the book “The Painted Quilt” by the Kemshalls and it was really great to be able to see the quilts in person and work out what techniques were used. If you’re ever in LaConner, WA you should stop by the museum and see what show they have going. SiX Stories is showing until Dec. 28th.

I’m Back!

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I’m back from vacation and had this lovely autumn postcard waiting for me from Laura K of Stitchin’ Fingers Postcard group. Thanks Laura!

We had a great time on vacation, traveling from Montana out to the Washington coast and back. This is behind the hotel where we stayed in Everett and they’ve put various artwork on the freeway walls/edges. They were all different but this was the only one I could get a photo of. The rest we were rushing by on the freeway and I didn’t have the camera ready. I thought these would make nice stencils though.

We visited the Quilt and Textile Museum in La Conner, WA. It was wonderful. I took lots of photos and will post more photos over the next several weeks. This is “Pine” by Joan Colvin.

This is “Spirit of La Conner” by Kathy McNeil. There were two shows, SiX Stories with 5 UK and 1 BC quilt artists and Traditional Piecing with Ethnic and Hand-designed Fabrics by Reynola Pakysich. So more on those later.

This was the phone booth in the Hoh Rain forest. It rained the whole time we were there. So many shades of green and everything was growing, growing, growing… I felt like I would be covered with moss if I stood still for more than five minutes. I did quite a bit of hand embroidery on my “Tree Story” piece while in the car. I tried to take some close up photos to show you but it was too dark by the time I got around to taking photos. I also started “Tree Story 2” today and got quite a bit done. So more photos next time.

Fall Break

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I will be out of town for the first part of October. We’re heading out to the coast of Washington for a vacation. This is a postcard I just finished for a Stitchin’ Fingers postcard group swap. It’s made with commercial batik fabrics, oil paint stick and organza. It was a little hard to get a photo as the light is bad and the organza is a bit shiny.

Here’s a closeup of the leaf. The theme for the swap is autumn as if you couldn’t tell. Usually I don’t like to do themed swaps but since this is one of my favorite seasons, I managed.

One part of the trip that I’m very excited about it going to the Quilt Museum in La Conner Washington. Their current show is SiX Stories which includes the following: Bobby Britnell, Laura Kemshall, Linda Kemshall, Edwina MacKinnon, Catherine Nicholls and Marie Roper. I can’t wait to see these quilts in person. More when I return…

Ah… Pear

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Here’s further exploration into pears. Thanks for the positive comments on the last set. This is done with oil pastels, watercolors and gel pen. The black background was inspired from the book The Painted Quilt by the Kemshalls. What do you think?