Last 2 Compositions

This is my second black and white study. I hated sewing this thing together. It was very frustrating. I only started sewing in 2000 and I do not have a great deal of technical skill in sewing things together that are not straight. I put the black on the wall first then had to cut white pieces to go around the black then figure out a way to sew it all together. I managed to get stuck in a box a few times. At this time in my quilting career I will not be doing things like this. There was no pleasure derived at all. I am glad Nancy pushed me to do it but it sucked. It also did not turn out like the before picture I took before I started to sew. I whacked off a few black pieces to get it together.
The color piece was my last composition. The strips we pieced were wavy and when I cut them I had all of these curvy strips. Well I just cut them until they were straight. I was going for a long vertical piece but it just kept shrinking. It is only about 24 inches long. All of the colors are pretty but it is not much of a compelling composition. I told Nancy I was going to quilt it and send it to her. She thought it was funny that I had cut the strips until they were straight. Oh well.
I really love going to the barn. The ladies are great and everyone really sticks together and encourages each other along. We actually had a gentleman in our class this time. That was great.
Song of the day: "Disturbia" by Rihanna

Workshop Pieces

These are 4 of the pieces that I did at Nancys. We always start with a black and white composition and work off of that. She gives us certain directions to do these. Working from a black and white has its advantages. You can change things you don't like about the piece and do more of the parts that work. It is very time consuming but I can see how it would help make your work evolve.
The large neutral piece is from my black and white. It is the upper left hand corner. I folded it to get a smaller composition. The neutral is about 4x4 feet. I was supposed to do a color piece off of the neutral but I did not get to that. I will have to work on that at home. It is amazing to me how many ladies do not like neutrals. I love them. Those are my favorite non colors. I have come to find out that I like bright colored pieces at first but then I get tired of looking at them.
The 2 brown and black pieces were seperate. The small one was supposed to be busy and the large piece was supposed to be sewn wonky. I really have a hard time sewing wonky. I am a perfectionist and that is hard for me. I want to straighten everything up. That was the joke of the workshop, me and my straight sewing. I really learn alot in each workshop that I take. It may not show in my workshop pieces but I try to incorporate it into my pieces at home when I have a little more time to concentrate.
My pics do not want to load in the order I want them to. So they start from the bottom and go up.
I am enjoying all of my shows this fall. I seem to gravitate toward the weird and unusual. I love Dexter, Little Britian, and Trueblood. They are on HBO and Showtime. My song of the day comes from the theme song of Trueblood. Come to find out he is a country singer right here in Nashville and was born in the town next to where I grew up. It is a small world. He has a nice deep voice like Josh Turner.
Song of the day: "Bad Things" by Jace Everett

Back In Town

I had a great time in Columbus. I stayed with a friend of mine, Tiffany, over the weekend then I went out to Nancy's for the week.
My friend Barb told me about this topiary garden in downtown Columbus. A Sunday Afternoon on the ILE DE LA GRANDE JATTE by Georges Seurat. It is located where the Old Deaf School used to be. So Tiffany and I went down on sunday to check it out. It was really cool. I love the painting so to see it put into a topiary garden was very creative. It looks like they even planted the trees to fit the painting. I think they had lost some of the shrubbery and had replanted it. The gift shop had pictures of the garden during the winter. It looks like people just sitting in the snow. I don't know if I will ever get there in the winter but I would like to see it then.
I got back on saturday night, celebrated my daughters 19th birthday on sunday, and have been trying to get caught up around the house since. It is amazing what being gone for a week does.
My week was a stimulating, frustrating, and tiring. I always learn a great deal from Nancy. I hope to return in the spring. I will post my work when I retake the photos of it. They did not turn out very well.
Song of the day: "Hot N Cold" by Katy Perry

Ready To Leave

I did not realize I had not posted in so long. It has been a really busy couple of weeks. I have to make sure things run smoothly before I go out of town or everyone around here is grumpy when I get back. I did a few things for me too.
I spent 2 days with friends shopping for fabric. One was here locally and the other was a day trip to Paducah. We hit Hancocks first, then went to my favorite mexican restuarant, and finally the museum. There were 3 exhibits there I wanted to see and one was 3 days from leaving. We also were on a photo shoot for my daughter. She had to shoot 2 rolls of film for school so she got some great shots of Paducah.
My husband and I have been to 2 concerts at The Ryman. Last thursday we saw The Raconteurs 2 rows from the stage. I was dissappointed that I did not bring my camera. They were letting people take pictures and they have not done that in a long time. I could have gotten some great shots being that close. So last night at The Black Keys I had my camera. We were front row and I was right in front of the drummer. He was great and now I am deaf! I am glad my husband likes music like he does because he always makes sure our seats are good. I think we have gone to a Predators game also. Time flies.
I leave for Nancy's in the morning. It is not a bad drive, 6 hours. I will stay with some friends over the weekend and head out to her place on sunday. I am not as excited about going this time. I am hoping once I get sewing I will get motivated. It has been a draining year and I have not had things affect me like this before. I will have to keep track of what I do on a daily basis and post it when I get back. I will not have time or a laptop to do it while I am gone.
I would like to thank Missy, she nominated me for I Love Your Blog award. I will pass that on when I return from Ohio. Thanks again!
Song of the day: "Your Touch" by The Black Keys