Sego Lily

I made a fiberart piece that I could not show until now.  It is for the Stretching Art and Traditions Challenge. Here are my in progress photographs.

Working on the petals 

 The piece needed to finish 18" x 36". The theme, Under Scrutiny, needed to be a very close-up of something. I used a photograph of a Sego Lily. Of course, I have not been able to find the original photograph so that I could post it.  I used a quilt as you go method that I just kind of made up. First onto the backing is a piece of batting. Next up is some petals.

Background

 It then tucked in some dark green pieces to form the background. I made sure to trim it close in shape so that it would not shadow through the white petals. I stitched down the edges, going through all layers.

Floral details

 I then fused stamens and the red of the petals. I also stitched those down through all layers.

Petals quilted

 I quilted the petals using my trusty walking foot. Just some simple echo quilting.

Detail stitching

I quilted the background with horizontal straight lines. It does not show up very well in the photographs. I also quilting some red lines to add detail to the red of the petals.

Sego Lily

Trimmed and bound, it went off to the coordinator in time to go to the first show!

BFL roving

 This was some quickly acquired roving bought so that I could try out the new spinning wheel.

Yarn!

On the right, the beginner's first day's worth of spinning. On the left is the beginner's second day (in a row) spinning! I am really enjoying the art of spinning!  Not sure that I will ever get to the point where I can spin lace weight yarn. But I think I have the hang of spinning fun, chunky, playful yarn!

We had three reasons to make the trip to Tennessee. One, visit family. Two, pick up the spinning wheel. And Three, attend our sister-in-law's graduation from the University of Alabama Huntsville! (yeah, that is 2 states. Their farm is in Tennessee and Huntsville is about an hour and a half drive away) I am so proud of Christine! She graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BA in English! As I told you last week, her short story won Best in Fiction in the English department. If you did not get a chance to read it, here is the link again. Very timely story, thanks for all the positive feedback. I have been reading your comments to her. Now that she is done with classes, she will be working on more of the stories in the series.

I am linking to:

Beth
Judy
Emily
Nina-Marie
Amanda Jean
Sarah
Myra
Summer

Road trip!

I have been offline for a while. We took a road trip to visit my brother-in-law and sister-in-law in Lynnville, Tennessee. It was a 7 day drive with the truck and 5th wheel camping trailer. Right before we left home I quilted another UFO for the guild challenge I knew that I could work on the binding during the trip to Tennessee and get a photograph submitted before the 1st of May. And I did get it done in time. We did not have any internet until we got to the farm.

Starting the spiral

I have quilting spirals on smaller pieces, but wanted to try it on a large-ish quilt. I think that I started the center a bit too large. I did try to go back and walking foot it into the center, but it was not a success, so I backed it out to where I started and left it a large center. I may try to go back and try to FMQ the center.

Still spiraling

I don't have the best space to machine a large quilt, but I just make it work. I run into the window and have to adjust constantly. I may have to adjust my space to add another table. I will figure it out when we get back home. I really want to make a dent in my pile of quilt tops.

Glamor shot

And my glamor shot on the front porch of the farm in Tennessee!

White Sands National Monument

On our way to Tennessee we stopped in New Mexico and visited the White Sands National Monument. It was so beautiful! I cherish our National Parks. I hope that they will survive.

Texas Bluebonnets

We went through Texas and camped for the night at Lake Arrowhead. Along the side of the road I was able to see Texas Bluebonnets in person. Lovely!

Lake Texoma

We spent a night camped on the shores of Lake Texoma. It is on the border of Texas and Oklahoma. We were on the Texas side. We had the most beautiful sunset that evening!

Dogwood blooming

Our last night on the road we camped in DeQueen Lake State Park in West Tennessee. The Dogwood trees were blooming! Just lovely!

We will be attending my sister-in-law's graduation on Sunday. She is a writer and last week won an award in the English Department for Best in Fiction for her short story! I am so proud of her! Here is a link to her short story. It is the first in a series of stories. I would love to hear what you think of it, it is a very timely story.

Linking to:

Nicole

Beth

Emily

Judy

Kelly

Nina-Marie

Anja

Sarah


Myra

Amanda Jean

Lorna

Ginny