House Sketching

Finally finished the sketch of a house beside the small university where I teach. I worked on it mostly while proctoring exams--a good use of time.

One Sunday, we traipsed off to the police station to file a complaint against the evil neighbor (who is building 2 huge refrigerated buildings) who hurled insults at us from his side of the property line. Sketching helps make the best of a bad situation...

Pomegranate Tree Quilt: FMQ, 3

Every evening, I work through a few lines of quilting on the roots. 

I'm finishing this section because I can see what needs to be done. The rule on such a big project: a small bite at a time.

Looking at the photo, I'm reminded of how much I like to machine quilt, how much I like the effect. The lines are so interesting.

Of course, there is a problem looming ahead that I will deal with when I get there: the quilting around the roots is close, which will probably shrink the bottom a bit if I don't get just as much quilting done on the tree. I could have quilted the roots separately and then sewn them to the tree in a quilt-as-you-go technique (the intelligent solution), but I like working on the whole thing at once. The buckling is a familiar problem.

...ah, but it will all quilt out...

The Problem With Sketching

Yeah, the problem with sketching is that it takes time. I drew my wooden toy motorcycle for Sketch Club two weeks ago...and still haven't finished.











I drew the house next door to the classroom where I was proctoring exams...and still haven't finished.

And I'd rather be stitching-- but the sketching is awfully fun...

Pomegranate Tree Quilt: FMQ, 2

Sitting on my sewing machine table, the Pomegranate Tree Quilt awaits me each evening. The outline quilting around the roots is very slow and rather complex.

My method is a non-method. I safety pin the sandwich and then pin furiously where I'm going to machine quilt (at least every half inch, if not closer). Tedious, but it works for me. It will eventually all be filled in with FMQ.

See here for an overview of the whole tree.

















Linked to Nina-Marie's "Off the Wall Friday".

Pomegranate Tree Quilt, Quilting

I felt the urge to do at least a bit of hand-stitching into the Pomegranate Tree. The running stitch also serves to quilt between the machine quilting--vague leaf shapes. More French knots. I'm using two strands of machine sewing thread because I have such a large collection from my mom.

On My Sewing Table: FMQ

The machine quilting is going fairly smoothly, if slowly. Mostly outline quilting to hold the sandwich together and create a sculptural effect.

Unexpected Work

It turns out that Tunisian teachers work until the end of June, proctoring and correcting exams and re-sit exams (final-shot-exams for failing students). I've never given so many bad grades in my life...something's wrong somewhere. Things have skidded downhill since the Revolution. It looks like I'm developing a series of drawings of students taking exams.

I suppose I'll be preparing all summer for the coming school year.

Cumquats and Colored Pencils

It's a good year for cumquats. Our tree must be at least thirty years old, an old friend. The Campers and I have been picking our sketching subjects right off the tree. Yesterday, the lesson was about colored pencils. In my sketchbook, I like to line up the colors used at the bottom for reference.

GD1 (first granddaughter, now 12 years old) picked up the technique easily.









GD2 (now 7) decided on a flower in the garden. She is learning to look at her subject and see what is there. Watching her try so hard, I realized that sometimes we forget how difficult that lesson is.

The Sandwich

Now the back, batting, and top are all taped and pinned on the floor. 

Tough to get a good shot.

And here I thought I had squared it up nicely! Hmmmph! Well, I won't do anymore trimming until I finish quilting and hand stitching. I'm just itching to do the hand stitching, however, I need to machine quilt some of the main lines to stabilize it...Fortunately, the waves will all quilt out...I think.

Tomato Paste Can

Finally, the tomato-themed journal page inspired by Koosje Koene's klass at Sketchbook Skool is finished. Yes, I started during her klass about 6 weeks ago; yes, I learned a bunch; yes, I loved the technique despite the tediousness; no, I won't be doing this often. 

I started with a light pencil sketch and used all 24 colors of my Stabilo colored pencils...lost track of the number of layers and the hours invested. 

And today I'm teaching this technique at Grandma's Boot Camp. We'll have fun!

Further Knottings, 4

Whew! The French knots seem to be finished for the moment.

I'm thinking I can put the sandwich together now, but, I'll have to do it in a big space as this will easily measure 6' by 6' and it has a tendency to grow.

Linked to Nina Marie's "Off the Wall Friday."

A Fairy Passed By

Yes, elves and fairies came back into my life with the arrival of the Little People. My sketching friend created a dream of a cake. Note the pointy ears and lovely wings.

And it was soooo tasty. I had a sugar rush for two days...

Further Knottings, 3

With Grandma's Boot Camp going full steam ahead, I'm just managing to squeeze in some late-night stitching, lining up French knots. 

This is the right side of the Pomegranate Tree Quilt.

For the last couple of days, I have been teaching cartwheels to GD2 (second granddaughter). Today she wants to work on head stands and hand stands. I can't decide if this is keeping me young or aging me rapidly.

Liberate the Lines!

Mo, of It's Crow Time, commented in the last post that "your natural sense of line is so loose & wild & free, just go with it!" Thank you, Mo. And being influenced is the problem of taking classes, however, I did want to improve my sketching skill level and then meeting the community at Sketchbook Skool is just plain fun.

The last homework assignment was to draw your kitchen and pay attention to all the interesting details. So for Sketch Club, we drew my buddy's kitchen. This started out as a scratch page when we got into a passionate (!) discussion about sinks and angles. The first sink's outline is vaguely visible in the cupboards. I added some cross-hatching, and remembered the teacher's advice to just keep going. The mess straightened itself out, sort of. My apologies to Barb--her wall tiles really are square.




However, my hand seems to have a mind of it's own. It went wild with a medium tip pen in a 2 minute sketch and in a blind sketch. Watercolors added later.









Needless to say, I prefer the blind sketch. I'm being driven to abstraction:

Liberate the Lines!!!


Mo's right.

The Copper & Brass Collection

The final homework assignment in Sketchbook Skool was all about slowing down, drawing details and using your kitchen as a subject. I chose my copper and brass collection instead--plenty of detail there. 

I could only stand to work on this a little bit at a time and I really needed a finer tipped pen as this is only 5 1/2" x 8", very small. Now I'll add some watercolors--but with a very fine brush. 

Seeing the posted homework of other students made me realize that a sketchbook/journal serves the need for constructing and defining Memory. Frequently, strong emotions are attached to the work. My collection contains nine teapots and kettles that belonged to my grandmother, consequently, her memory stays fresh in my mind.

However! as I like wild lines, I will only do this type of detailed drawing once or twice a year at most. It's very time-consuming, and stitching trumps drawing in my artistic world. I remain the Reluctant Sketcher...