Photoshop

 I'm taking an online Adobe Photoshop class with Marie Otero. After a slow start I think I'm getting the hang of this. Here are just a couple of photos that I worked on.

Acqua di San Giovanni

 Every morning I get a Newsletter from Italian Notebook.com It is short, so its quick and easy to read. Today this little story arrived and I thought I would share it.  This is why I just love this country. It speaks to my soul.

Acqua di San Giovanni

Pre-School Graduation day

This Grandma just has to show off her grandson. Here's Joseph and his cousin Michaela....

Top finished - well almost....

I have attached the borders and added dark navy blue batik in the corners. I really had no choice about the corners. I ran out of the blue and so couldn't continue the block design. So instead I hope to applique rosettes in the four corners.  This is the last time I will show the quilt on blog until I'm finished with the quilting.I also want to thank everyone who stop by and sent along advice and suggestions. It was very much appreciated.

I had some fellow quilters over last Thursday and we discussed what I should do next. I wasn't pleased with the border I had done with the black squares in  the center. Too distracting. We tried all kinds of things like turning the border around placing the blue on the inside. I definitely didn't like that. Then we tried adding a different color over the black.  Until we decided that I would alternate the colors like I did in the circle of tiles. 

I fused 1 1/2" squares over the black and then satin stitch around the edges. I think I did a pretty good job on the satin stitches, if I don't say so myself.....

Quilt -

I'm still working on this quilt.   Don't know if I over work it. I think it has be too much stuff around my couple.    I just might  take everything off except the first ring. Place it on a dark background and be done with it. Here are 2 photos  one with the 3 of the new 4 borders and one where I pinned all the border rings to the back and placed it on a background just to see how it looks.  As usual I'm obsessing over this. 

Gallery Show 2010

This is the 2nd year for the Fiberart Northeast groups' show at the Mahopac Library. The following is just a few photos that I took. There are more photos posted on the fiberart blog.
View from the balcony at the library.

So here I am again, and this is what has been done since I last posted.  I removed the black ring and did it over. I know, I'm a gluten for punishment...

As I'm working on this piece I'm thinking "How the heck am I going to quilt the couple". I've studied a lot of portrait quilts and to tell the truth there are very few that I like once the have stitched the face. If I follow the contours of a face I'm afraid it would look like wrinkles. I'm no Hollis Chatelain. I did see a quilt at the New Jersey Show not to long ago of a little girl. The quilter did a small meandering and it was very neat.  I liked it a lot. But I'm still afraid of messing it up.  My friend Jane gave me a very good suggestion. That is to scan the couple in the PC and print up some fabric sheet.  How cool is that. So I did. Now I'm thinking gee these are pretty neat. Wouldn't it look great in a mini quilt. So I guess there will be more to come....

As you can see I have added the next ring, and pinned it to a midnight blue batik. After I did this, I didn't like the black ring around the couple any longer. So I did a mark up with the same batik as the outer ring, leaving a 1/4" of black showing.    I can either take out the black ring all together, or I will do a reverse applique.


Now for the 4 corners. I had made some mosaic squares but to be honest it looked a bit to much. I did have a suggestion from 2 friends, and it sounded like it might work. That is to quilt the mosaic designs into the 4 corners using variegated  thread. Or I can applique something into each corner.


I have been asked by a few friends if I was making this for anything in particular. I will like to enter it in a show sometime but I haven't any  in mind at the moment. I just want to do my best work without any pressure of a show deadline or size.