Look into your closets

As the season changes many of us are putting our winter wear away and bringing out our lighter spring and summer clothes.  We in New England are slow to get to this chore as winter is leaving at a plodding pace.

Perhaps, that's what gave me pause while I considered my challenge to the group.  I noticed that most of my clothes' colors do not change much from season to season.  The depth of color, perhaps.  Dark oranges, rusts and reds of my sweaters may change to pink and salmon...but the basic color is consistent.

I wonder if you looked into your closet, if you would find split complementary, complementary, triad or, perhaps, tetrad.   Are you mono-chromatic?  Analogous? Acromatic?  Are you cool or warm in color temperature?  My guess is that we all have very definite 'comfort' colors that we rely on.  So go to your closet.  Study your color choices...decide what your personal harmonies are and create a piece using 'your' personal palette.

Digressing for a moment:  I have completed a series of six pieces from our last challenges.  I don't know whether there will be more in the future or not.

As some have asked to see them together, I will include a photograph here.

Crawfish Season

This is Deb Levy's entry, called It's Season...Crawfish Season.  Deb is unavailable to post at the moment and I don't know any of the back story.  She'll fill us in when she returns.

Awakening

Still quite wonky!

The background hasn't been quilted yet ... and I have a couple of dead flowers and a bottom border of crumpled leaves to add when my hands allow me to stitch again.

For this challenge I chose the colors of spices to stitch my garden as the first sign of green emerges in Spring. 

Cinnamon, Paprika, Cloves, Pepper, Garlic ... with a touch of fresh Rosemary, Basil and Turmeric.

I rusted my fabric with a piece of garden fence.  Other pieces were discharged or burned.  The silk crocus was natural dyed with Turmeric.  Trapunto gives the fence added dimension.  When finished, the quilt will be stretched on a canvas panel.

I set this up to be posted yesterday on reveal day, knowing that I wouldn't have access to a computer.  I don't know why it wasn't!  Google glitch?

Thai Cuisine

On the menu at Rose Cottage, Thai Cuisine ~ eggplant, basil and pepper.  Quilt is 18 inches square, all hand dyed and printed fabrics (cotton, rayon and vintage linen).

This is a woven quilt ~ 12 strips horizontally and 12 strips vertically woven together.  The woven strips were fused to muslin foundation cloth, that was placed over batting and backing, and then machine quilted.  I had wanted to hand quilt this one, but I knew before I even began that my hands/wrists would not hold out.  So machine quilted it was.

More info on my blog.

To Not See the Forest for the Trees

I loved this challenge, it was a quilt I'd been wanting to make, I'm glad it's done. 

To Not See the Forest for the Trees 27x19

My palette - I've got to cook that turnip.....

I had some really good fabric choices to create that line between tree and sky.

You can see more photos and read more details on my blog

I'm looking forward to the next challenge.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Peppers

My food choice for the challenge of using 3 colors from foods you prepare is bell peppers-green, red, yellow. The detail shot is on my blog http://focus-on-fiber.blogspot.com The background is a batik, the leather is gold kid. It's machine quilted.

Color Challenge 9: Use at least three colors of food in your kitchen

Our challenge this time was proposed by Kathy Sperino.

I wrote a list of foods I love and dragged out the scrap bag looking for celery, avocado, pimento, red pepper, and lemon.
Then I came across a 'failed' monoprint done on a piece of hand-dyed cotton back in February or March.  The pale overlay of zinc white acrylic reminded me of skim milk.  The image seemed to hold possibilities I hadn't seen when I first pulled the print.

'Foggy' - Susan Christensen; 16.75"x11"

There are detailed views over at my blog.  Hope you will stop over for a look!

Secret to Longevity?

Fruits and Vegetables!  Not exactly a well-kept secret...even if it is an under-appreciated secret.  I'm still working in my series of secrets.  This was particularly fun as I was able to use so many different greens...pun intended ;^)

Choosing three or more colors of food in my kitchen was cake...;^) In our three generation household, half are vegetarians.  Every meal focuses on fruits and vegetables so they are always very colorful.  This challenge was fun...mouth-watering, almost.

Colors of Nature - Winter

For this challenge, I was inspired by the toned-down pallet of the winter island around me and the process I am learning, monoprinting on gelatin plates. 

'Prayer Circle' - Susan Christensen

8"x6", textile paint and acrylic monoprinted on hand dyed cotton, hand and machine stitching

'Paper Moon' - Susan Christensen

 12"x9", Akuacolor monoprinted on hand dyed cotton with fused paper collage and beading, hand and machine stitching

'My Blue Heaven' - Susan Christensen

6"x4", textile paint and acrylic monoprinted on hand dyed cotton with prismacolor pencil, machine stitched

You can have a look at my winter beach colors and a glimpse of my monoprinting process on my blog.

Table runner

 This photo of a beautiful Montana sunset was the inspiration for this nature color challenge. All of my sewing stuff is still packed in boxes and nearly impossible to get to, but I did find my tote with wool so this table runner is made of wool scraps and beads.  I normally wouldn't quilt on wool, but it made the black background areas a little more interesting.

 I love working with wool and I have always admired the "pennies" so I decided to add some at the last minute. I think this will be a gift for my friend Kim. :)

BTW-heating was installed in my sewing room today and the framers come Monday.  Maybe the next challenge will be completed in my new sewing room??!!

Forever young

The work I'm showing is from 2004. With many other deadlines recently I was unable to complete my current challenge so I'm posting this.

The boys are drawn on muslin with pigma pens and colored with pencils, chalk and paints. I remember I wasn't able to get their feet right so I covered them with couched fibers, painted Tyvek and real sea shells.

On a Winter's Night

 

Each winter I try to take a class just for the pure fun of it.  This year I chose Jude Hill's Beast class.  These are a few of the beasties that come by the cabin on a winter's night.  The colors this time of the year are the greens of rhododendron, mountain laurel, pine, galax, lichen and winter creeper ... the browns, grays, tans and blacks of the bare trees and fallen leaves ... and the blue of the sky.

 

24" x 24" - hand dyed indigo and vintage fabrics of cotton and linen.  Hand pieced and hand quilted.

 

This was definitely a Slow Cloth project.  I have developed an enormous admiration for our foremothers who pieced all those complicated blocks for bed quilts before sewing machines were invented!

 

(The fox's name is Fancy!  From the Reba McIntire song of the same name.  Had to give her a little lace ... the others are jealous!))     

Mother Nature: Secret Mathematician

This challenge seemed so, well, natural to me.  It really spoke to me with respect to my personal color favorites, although I will admit that I didn't journey throughly through what I consider 'nature's colors'.  I neglected most of the real earth colors that I am so fond of.

As usual, when I work a narrative develops.  Never fails.  This time as I worked on the pattern, starting with a piece of discharged and over-dyed cotton, my mind began to wander.  Isn't it interesting that so many things in nature are predicted and described mathematically?   Like the Fibonacci series.  How about fractals?  How about the genome double helix?  Okay, it's not just math.  It's several sciences.  Which is even more exciting!

Mother Nature: Secret Mathematician

Mother Nature detail/ hiding the numbers within

Mother Nature:  Mathematician, Microbiologist, Geologist, Chemist, Physicist...I could go on and on.

My Sky

This is Eel River Sunset, pretty much what I see several times a year just steps from my front door.  The quilt is 18-1/2 x 25 inches, constructed entirely of hand dyed/surface designed fabrics (with the exception of the black linen).  More info and photos on my blog.

March Challenge

This challenge was to use Nature's colors. One of the first ones I think of is blue.  The focal piece was hanging in the studio just waiting for the right time to become part of a hanging.

The details of my piece are on my blog http://focus-on-fiber.blogspot.com