Quilting Project, i

For the past month, every Sunday, I have been taking a beginning quilting class from 1 to 4 pm. It’s like boot camp! The teacher is detail oriented, explains the whys and wherefores, and is perfect. At this point, we beginners are “piecers” and not quilters. No quilting in this session – to be continued in 2019.

I have been sewing forever, since about 10 or 11, and now that I am closing in on retirement, you can guess that I have been doing it for awhile.  However, quilting is different in some ways.  No backstitching.  Precision seaming.  Scant 1/4 inch seams.  How do my points look?  (Those are where the points of square or triangle meet another piece – are they pointed, blunted, exposed?)  Every time you make a seam, you iron – press the piece flat, open the seam.  Then move on.

In the picture above, you can see that I have set up a small pressing station next to me. This keeps me from getting up and down with each seam. Many people do this. The little iron is really nice – and really inexpensive, too! It’s a “Hot to Trot” mini iron by Sunbeam, with a mini price of $12.99 at Target or on Amazon. It heats up quickly, has steam, has steam bursts, and is comfortable in the hand. The ironing pad is also a cutting board on the other side, but I find it easier to walk over to the drafting table if I need to cut anything (first picture).

The pattern itself is filled with lessons. To read a quilt pattern requires a bit of work, and a poorly written pattern will kill your enthusiasm very quickly. This one was written by the teacher, Becky, and she’s done a really good job. Her being the teacher, she knows this pattern. Last week, I had sewn a couple of pieces wrong – in just a glance, she said, “You need to fix that!” I think I am so – sew? – lucky to have an exacting and knowledgeable instructor. This is really important as I have been to a few other quilting classes and they have all left me very disappointed. While I don’t see myself becoming an obsessive quilter like some people, I know that I am going to walk away with an appreciation of quilting and a new sewing skillset.

Finally, as a birthday present, I was given a lightweight, take-to-class sewing machine by the best guy in the world, mi esposo Josh. I’ve had a bit of a love-hate relationship with the machine, partly because of problems with a foot being made of a flexing, flimsy plastic (which the dealer replaced with a metal foot – much nicer – love goes up, hate goes down), but also because I am learning a new skill with a new machine. This is a Pfaff Passport 3.0, weighing in at less than 15 lbs. Considering one of my machines is a 50 pounder, a portable, class machine is necessary. This machine was made for portability, and in that arena I really like it. In the big picture, I think this machine is a keeper. If I need to have more harp space – the area between the needle and the right hand part of the machine – I can always use a bigger machine. For the quilting, I may bring in my Janome 6500 as it is more powerful, has a quilting table, and more harp space.

Finally, the quilt itself. In class I completed the center square, and then one of the 3 different squares which will surround the center. I need to complete all 12 squares – 3 different patterns – by next Sunday. That is when we start working on the borders, which consist of strips and squares. I think we will also begin on “squaring the quilt” – when you make your quilt an even shape. Or, that may be the final class. The center square is fairly large, and the other squares will surround it. The center square is below. It is a graphical representation of a flower basket.

The surrounding squares are all variants of flower baskets. Below is “square 1” of the three. Each square requires 4 renditions of the same square; yesterday I completed all of this square – all 4 of them. It took a bit of time.

Over the next few days, today included, I will complete the remaining 8 squares. The dog ears will be trimmed. Fortunately, I have cut out all the pieces for the entire quilt – except the border – and placed each one in a baggy, each piece labeled in size and for which square. These are the details Becky has been so good with! It would be all to easy to get lost in colors, shapes, sizes, and so on.

Okay, time for breakfast, and then on to sewing! To be continued . . .

Aspen Grove

I painted this using multiple layers of frisket on the paper.  On the first round, I blocked off the right side of the aspens.  Once I was fairly content with the overall image, I added frisket over various areas, such as the greens and browns of the foliage.  I made lines to represent trees, and dots to suggest a glint of sunshine on a leaf.  I did this three or four times on dried paint.  In the end, I removed the frisket, left some areas white, and painted over other white areas with transparent glazes, hoping to pull together different areas of the painting.  Finally, I made small dots of colored paint in the foliage, to suggest leaves.

This study was to utilize what I have been learning from the experience of following Rick Surowicz’s YouTube videos, as well as what I learned just painting.  This is the first time I conscientiously laid out a plan or method on how to approach the painting.  First, drawing.  Then frisket.  Next, washes of green, gold, brown, and oranges broad across the paper and blurred using a spray bottle and blotting.  From there, details, contrast, and so on.  Overall, I think my painting has taken a turn for the better.

Rick & Me

About a year ago I found the YouTube channel of Rick Surowicz, and artist of considerable talent, and a formidably talented teacher.  In the space of just over a year, he has garnered 25K followers, and I am one of them.  Check him out if you don’t know who he is!

Anyway, I did two of his videos, both of which make use of frisket.  In general, I like to “travel light” – meaning, I like the idea of spontaneity for success, not thoughtful pre-planning.  The result for me is usually disaster and disappointment.  Rick’s videos are clear.  He explains what he does and why.  The results speak for themselves.  I decided to get off my don’t-panic-I’m-organic high horse and follow along.  These next two paintings are from his lessons, which I followed.  I can honestly say I enjoyed doing them, even in the moments of terror – that frisket!  those colors!  

Each one of these paintings required the usage of liquid frisket. I applied it, let it dry, and got to work. The beauty of the liquid frisket is that it allows the application of broad washes across the paper without the loss of white paper, or having to do in painting or negative painting. This actually gives a bit more ability to be spontaneous and splashy than not using it! (Surprise lesson here.) I did each of these paintings over a two or three hour period, watching the steps in each video a number of times.

At some point, we all have to try our wings. I took a photo of a weed patch behind La Purisima Mission in Lompoc, California, last summer during a visit. There were white flowers – perfect for frisket – and yellowish grasses – also good for painted-over frisket after it was removed. This painting held a lot of terror, let me tell you! However, I am fairly pleased with the end result – simplification coupled with detail.

This morning, I did this painting, derived from a public-domain photo of an aspen grove. In the photo, light was shining from the right, and in looking at the picture carefully, the trunks of the aspens, which are a brilliant white, much as birch trunks are, were actually darker than the brilliant yellow-green foliage in the distance. I used frisket for the white areas on the right of the trees, and then, as I laid down layers of color, added more frisket here and there to protect areas of color. I did this for three or four layers until I finally removed it all, and then painted in areas needing more detail or contrast.

By following Rick Surowicz’s tutorials, I finally learned something. Frisket is not scary and can be an aid to a spontaneous or splashy wash as it helps preserve white paper. In the process of copying Rick’s process, I learned a bit about color, reworking areas, contrast, and whatever. I was also able to paint a representative of a bush or leaves rather than hankering to paint the details and losing the overall effect. I am thinking about redoing the last two paintings without frisket, just to work at white space without an aid. That will be more of a challenge I think than not using frisket!

Study: Rick Surowicz’s “Snow Creek’s Edge”

Today was another practice session using a study by Rick Surowicz on his YouTube channel.  This one is titled “Snowy Creek’s Edge.”  As with the one I did the other day, there is a lot of use of frisket, and this particular study with filled with it!  Keeping areas white is important, and many watercolorists eschew using it – I know I sure did – but judiciously applied, it really does make painting easier.  What I really liked is that it is an excellent way to express narrow bands of snow lying along slender branches and twigs.  It also allows for creating negative space without painting tediously around things – a good skill to have, but at times not necessary.

Coming away from this, I am getting less caught up in copying Rick’s painting and using it as a point of study in watercolor technique, blending colors, and usage of tools and brushes.  Tomorrow (unless the family Thanksgiving becomes a bit much during the morning) I plan to find a snowy scene, either from a photo I have taken or from a public domain image, and work more with snow in the landscape.

Weeds Behind La Purisima Mission

Last summer we ran away from home, up the coast, to La Purisima Mission in the area of Lompoc, California.  It’s a small town with a wonderful secularized California Mission, La Purisima, restored by the state during the Depression.  It has gardens, outbuildings, a wonderful historical center, and is a lovely place to walk around on a sunny day.  I took my camera with me, and today’s painting is based upon the photograph below.

This little patch of weeds is located on the backside of the mission, and I found it so charming.  The weeds are typical California plants – hardy, drought resistant, resinous.  Grasses and flowers.  Furry leaves.  All these help keep the plants from drying out in the relentless sun and low humidity.

I am not really sure if I caught what I wanted to do with this photograph, but I am pleased enough to put my name on the scan  I used a lot of the techniques I learned from Rick Surowicz’s Fall Lake video.

Putting on the frisket was scary.  I was so unsure about it, but knowing the only way to learn was to do, I did!  Blobs, lines, sprinkles and splatters of frisket.  Paint.  Paint some more.  Finally I arrived at a point where I just didn’t think I could go any further, and it is at this point I stopped.  And then removed the frisket.  More paint added here and there, lines, whatever.  The final result is below.