Author Archives: Colleen Kole

Wrapping Things Up

     I finished machine quilting my Artprize piece last weekend and wanted to sink in to a really long nap. I procrastinated on the last twenty inches of the machine quilting and it just made it more painful. I will leave tomorrow for Michigan and can’t wait to see it all spread out. I don’t have anywhere here to hang it or block it in the way I like to. It is back in it’s ziplock bag for a 15 hour ride home and I feel at this point it could write it’s own little book about it’s journey this summer. 🙂

     As my reward, I got out the dyes and, as a friend said, dyed a little more rainbow in my backyard here in VT. And even got them ironed and ready to use this fall.

     I tried flat dyeing again as I wanted some really deep colors and wondered if I could get it by flat dyeing rather than over dyeing. It was really messy to clean up but I think it might have worked.

   

     And a few strands of floss for winter stitching.

     Even though dyeing is labor intensive, I always feel as if all this color is a reward to me.

A Blue Day

     I didn’t realize I had a “blue” day.

Went to pick blueberries with the girls today. The second batch in less than a week and we haven’t frozen any of them!

And then I tried a natural indigo vat again but  the samples turned out way too light for me. I will add them to my growing indigo pile at home.

I think they are still pretty though.

And then I found a really small nest that fell out of a tree last night during the rain. Beautiful and intricate.

Just Write

    I gave those instructions to myself today. Just write a blog post.

     I had expectations that I would have a finished piece today to have something exciting to show you. But the last three days have been brutally hot and I really don’t want to sweat while I sew. ( Not good to sweat on your art that many people will see.) I really hate complaining about the weather but it has been steamy in my little house in the farmland.  To have a ginormo quilt on my lap is way too sweaty. No air-conditioning here, folks. So during the day we seek water and cool spaces wherever we can find it .

    And I have been dyeing some fabric. Remember when I said I wasn’t going to do that here? Well the truth is that at the last day when I was packing to come here, I dumped a bunch of dyes in a box and shipped it here. I just couldn’t let hot steamy days go without dyeing. Call me irresponsible or call me responsible, this is just the perfect wet studio and I couldn’t let the opportunity pass!

      To me, this is THE space I love to dye fabrics in. Why waste a few days of heat?  I had the dyes, the space and the heat. I needed only the fabric. So, this gave me the perfect opportunity to try some the Kaufman pimatex which Lisa Call sells.  Lisa promptly sent it to me and I am a new convert to to Kaufman pfd pimatex.  I have found a new addiction as it dyes beautifully.

     What would summer in Vermont be without a few yards of fabric on the line?

Inch By Inch

     We have been enjoying great weather and a visitor this week.  It made me appreciate the views and just slow down a bit.

When I can squeeze it in, I am machine quilting. Last night I measured how far I had stitched on my Artprize piece and it was 18 inches out of about 83….just moving along inch by inch.

But things like this just keep pushing me along: a nice blog article in the Experiencegr regarding my work! They are doing a series in regards to the AQS show in Grand Rapids in August.

Hodge Podge

     Just a sampling of what I did before the trip here last Thursday.

Tried to finish up some fabric dyeing of deep browns, blues and a funny mustard color.

I hand basted my Artprize piece-twice. The first time I didn’t follow the You Tube directions correctly using Sharon Schambers method. I really resisted hand basting but was going to hand carry this throughout the airport. The idea of hundreds of safety pins going off through security convinced me to do it.  A few wobbly lines which I am calling organic have been sewn in. Yes, I am doing this one from top to bottom with the walking foot.

And I squeezed in a little ice dyeing. I had a few pieces of fabric left and it was so hot I thought it a great time to try it.

A little ice on top of soda soaked fabric.

A little dye sprinkled on top of the ice and then a few more layers of fabric.

Twenty four hours later, I rinsed as usual and washed and I have some interesting pieces.

Nice markings on the fabrics and it was super easy.

I was stuck in the airport for about 36 hours and my husband came to get me in a CT airport.  I retrieved my lost luggage on Sunday which had the thread it in it for machine quilting. It was really an adventure from the netherlands which I have no idea why it always happens to me.  But this time it exhausted me .

In Vermont now for a few weeks and I hope I catch my breath enough to get the stitching down on Miss Artprize.

Under The Machine

     I finished piecing AND basting of my Artprize piece yesterday. It was a really long weekend….with several adjustments on one of the edges. I had to join what I had designed on two design boards  and when I actually sewed it together it was a mess.  I ran over to a friend’s house with all my various pieces in a plastic bag and she gave me some advice when I was not at all rational. ( Thank you Betsy!) Calm but not thinking straight.  I returned home and out came the fabric for a few new pieces and more adjustments. It was frustrating to say the least but what a relief to have it this far.

Rooflines # 6 in process,  © Colleen Kole 2012

It will be about six by seven feet -large. I am anxious to  get the machine sticking started. I thread basted it to reduce the weight of moving it under the machine. I will take it to Vermont with me on Thursday when I return there. It’s only 6 weeks away before I need to turn it in to the venue. I am about 3- 4 days behind on the schedule I set for myself.

At 4 pm yesterday, I was way too cranky and tired to start machine stitching so I fiddled around with washing out some more hand dyes. This is a picture of earlier in the weekend. My tree in back  of the fabric is so stressed with the drought, it is losing leaves and looks like fall.

Aww…shucks

     I thought  I would have my piecing done today for my Artprize piece but decided to re-make a few of the blocks. Took longer than I thought. I am almost there and could have left them. But then I would always be frustrated that it was just off a little bit.  I dyed about 40 yards of fabric today on a hot 90 degree day, too.

     You know what I will be doing tomorrow! I will be washing out fabric and basting with a lot of pins. I think it will be 7×8 when I am done. That is kind of scaring me as I have never quilted anything that large with a machine.I don’t know where to photograph it as it is bigger than my design wall. Any suggestions?

Trying out a Mercedes

     I have journeyed back to Michigan (yup, a mixed up summer)  late Sunday night and hit the ground running with all things art in my world.  More tomorrow for you on that.

      But today I had a long awaited playmate with my very talented friend Terri Watson. She is a long arm quilter with a successful quilting business called Threadtales and a great teacher. I have wanted to try long arm quilting to see if it may be on my long term goal list. So today was the day. 
     Terri had loaded a piece of muslim on her machine and after some quick instructions, I did a test run. I was initially afraid of this big machine but she drove so smoothly I felt like I was driving a supreme driving machine. I LOVED it. It was sooo much fun. And I need to tell you that it is very addicting. Then, she loaded one of my unfinished tops on the machine and away I went.
     
     I didn’t expect perfection. I just had fun and considering that I have done very, very little free motion quilting on my machine, my expectations were low. I felt as if I had been set free. The whole time I was quilting I thought-this is it. I want one. A jar full of pennies has been started-haha!  I really can’t tell you how much fun I had. 
     In two hours, I had the machine quilting done. Yup, two hours. Terri’s Gamill was truly a Mercedes.  
    Thanks Terri- It was great catching up with you and I so appreciate this! You are the best! 
    
     

My Friendly Neighbors

         Just having my cup of coffee and enjoying my friendly neighbors. I love the Brown Swiss breed and this one’s name is Charm. We will go to the beach in the afternoon at a local state park but this morning I will do some machine quilting.