As this post goes live, I will be finishing up teaching for the Arizona Quilt Guild.  It’s pretty neat:  I fly in to Phoenix on Tuesday and teach at a shop in the greater Phoenix area on Wednesday.  On Thursday, my host/program chair drives me to San Manuel (north of Phoenix, south of Flagstaff) for teaching, then on to Flagstaff that night.  I discovered that our hotel there is literally right on the old Route 66!  I’ll be teaching there on Friday, and giving a lecture on Saturday.

As a traveling quilt teacher, you need several things…above all compact, lightweight clothes because most of one’s suitcase is filled with teaching stuff!   And it helps if the clothing is bright so folks can see you if you are lecturing in a large hall or teaching in a crowded classroom:

I hadn’t made a new vest in years, and needed something.  Because I am on my feet going around the classroom all day, I need something not-hot.  I picked this pattern, Cosmopolitan 337, from Lois Ericson of Design and Sew.  The pattern  also has instructions for making a vest:

I found the pattern online here…I’ve never shopped there, but at least they have it!  I bought mine at Quilt Festival last year….it says Lois has retired, so I guess I’d better stock up on her patterns that I love and don’t have yet!  Here’s a full shot of the front (please ignore the chin that is succumbing to age and gravity):

The vest, it turns out, was a bit large—which makes sense since jackets are supposed to be roomy.  So I did quite a bit of down-sizing (yeah!), and reduced the drop shoulder by nearly two inches.  I added the coral inserted stripes (love the effect), but next time  rather than try to reduce the panels on both sides of the princess seam, I would take the stripe out of the center pieces, which are a bit wide to my eye–definitely OK and wearable (and don’t you LOVE that print … wish I had even more of it…sounds like a trip to Alewives Fabrics is in order).  I opted for in-seam pockets (yeah!  Pockets!), but there are also some really cool patch pockets… next one!  Here’s the back, with my hair only slightly frowzy:

I used a nice batik for the lining and was careful, sorry I didn’t take a picture, and can use it reversed, too!  I also like that it covers the tuckus (aka posterior).  I still haven’t done a closing…not enough time before getting on the plane.  That can happen later!

So last post on this topic, I said I’d share how I began the quilt itself:  the hardest part first.  That, of course, would be Joshua!  The face, head, hands, then body.  When I first thought about this quilt, I had thought I would do something like I did with the quilt of our pug, Pigwidgeon, and it would be in totally NOT realistic colors.  If I wanted to stick to light values for the skin tones, that meant I had the following not-realistic options:  pale pink (nope), pale yellow (nope, sallow), pale green (the Green Giant?), pale blue (nope, sickly), pale purple (BLEAH! NO!).  So I revised my plans and decided to use real skin tones and tweak all the other colors.

I found a batik that was pale beige and golden scrolls, and decided that would be my base for his face and neck, selecting a darker part of the fabric for his neck.  I underlined it (fused it to) a solid white to prevent the dark walls (which would go behind his head) from shadowing through on the “seam” allowance.  By the way… I should add that this entire quilt top is fused applique, using my favorite fusible,  MistyFuse.  Even when you have multiple build up layers, like his hair, it stays supple and fabric-like…unlike some brands the feel and sound more like cardboard once you get two layers or more!

For his arms, I used five values of cream to dark tan for the shadowy side of his arms.  The rest of the shading was done with thread.  Note the bottom of his foot, down low on the wall.  For the clothing, I used three values:  I picked the main fabric for the t-shirt, then found a lighter blue and a darker one for the highlights and shadows of the folds.

Next, the hair!

But spring is truly here.  Proof?   Go on a dog-walkies midday and spot the FIRST FIDDLEHEAD of the season!

A short while ago, I was able to share the finished results of my most recent “big” (36 x 48 inches) quilt, a portrait of my son Joshua.  I love seeing quilts come to life, and watch the creation process when other folks make things, so I thought I’d share how this one came together.

First, several months before I finally got to cut fabric, I took photos of Joshua playing guitar (after asking nicely for a few weeks, I finally pinned him down one evening).  Sitting on the floor to get a not-the-usual angle, I took about 60 or 70 snapshots, many of which I was able to rule out immediately (mostly due to closed eyes, mouth hanging open, blurry fingers).  I narrowed it down to three:  one for the position of his head (mouth closed, eyes open–on the right, below), another for the position of his hands and body (on the left), and a third for some extra details on the room.

Then, I fiddled around in Photoshop to come up with a line drawing.

I sized this so that it would fit four times on a piece of paper and did what is called a value study.  I learned about this from an online educational resource (pay to play–thanks Deirdre for sharing this one with me!), www.artworkshops.tv , an online tv/classroom site.  I watched the video by Polly Hammett on Design with the Figure.  One of the things she showed was doing quick thumbnails (quickie outlines) of her intended composition, then using ONLY black and white, blocking out what would be light and what would be dark.  By using only black and white, you get immediate, stark visuals on the shapes and negative spaces (the shapes between), which gives you an idea how the composition will work.

This exercise was INVALUABLE!   Since I never went to art school (last class was my one and only year in art in high school), I’d never heard of this, though it is probably a basic! Here is a snapshot of the value sketches I did, except I “cheated” took a shortcut by using the Photoshop Elements outline.  The two on the far right are the “blanks.”  The one I ended up using is the bottom row, third over:  Joshua’s face and arms are light, the background is deep dark, the guitar medium in value (again, I fudged a bit on the black-white only and expanded it to include a gray).  PS–this one photo is clickable for a larger view:

This helped me decide on my colors.  I knew that I wanted Joshua to be the focal point, with his guitar as the secondary focal point.  That meant if Joshua’s skin was to be light, the wall needed to be dark, not the celery green it really is.  If you look again at the value studies, you can see how much more his face pops when it is against something super dark, not just “gray” or medium value.  I also darkened up the dresser, bedding, and eliminated details (posters, books on dresser, clutter!) to make my life easier and to make the composition more focused.

Next, I used my laptop, hooked up to my digital projector, to project the main photo onto the design wall, where I had taped up paper (medical exam table paper, long, cheap, taped together–bought a roll from my doctor for $5 and it is 3+ years old and still plenty left) and traced out the outlines.  Here’s a photo of the drawing on the design wall with preliminary fabric ideas pinned to it:

Next, I’ll show how and where I chose to begin…the hardest part first!

PS:  Norma asked what process I used in Photoshop Elements.  I’ve tried to duplicate it and I THINK this is what I did:

I think I converted it to grayscale first; Go to Image, then Mode, then click on Grayscale.

Then,  under Filters/Sketch/Stamp, click on stamp and adjust the light/dark slider to about 2… I think.

I just tried to re-do this, and that is as close as I can get.  Shoulda taken notes!

Who says Washington, DC and the rest of the National Capitol Area don’t have a sense of whimsy?

Yes, it is that time of year again, the Peeps contest at the Washington Post!  This is as fun as the “alternative definitions” contest that comes in the doldrums of summer.   If you want to fritter a bit of time away enjoying creativity with peeps (those sticky marshmallowy Easter candies shaped like peeps (baby chicks), bunnies and whatnot), visit here:

Washington Post slide show of 2010 Peeps Show

and for the related article, click here.

Now…back to prepping for next week’s teaching trip…more quilty stuff soon…I hope!