Author Archives: Colleen Kole

A Nice Surprise

     I wasn’t able to go to the Vermont Quilt Festival this year as we arrived here about a week later. But I did submit one of my quilts, Rooflines 4. I re-titled it Rooflines #4: The Barns. I found out via a friend on facebook that it received one of the three Judges Choice awards and a red ribbon.

  It had a few “technical” issues-a few spots of bad thread tension and a little ripple that I am sure came back after folding it and packing it in a box. But someone liked it as much as I do! Just reminds me of the barns here in Vermont.

   You can find the complete list here: Vermont Quilt Festival Contest.  The picture of my quilt is upside down. I had to laugh as I put two sleeves on it because it was so long it needed another rod on the bottom. I wonder if they hung it this way in the show.  Haha!

   You have seen it many times but here it is again.

Rooflines #4:The Barns , 36×70 © 2012 Colleen Kole

We are hoping to go to fireworks tonight although the rain might postpone it. Happy 4th!

Settling In

     Just arrived in Vermont on Sunday for the week. I kept working on my Artprize piece the past few weeks and have driven my family mad with it.  I think I am now on version #2578 of the same piece and left it half assembled on my design wall. I promised them that I wouldn’t talk about it all week long. 🙂

Rooflines # 6 in process , 2012  Colleen Kole

 Nope not it.

Rooflines #6 in process, 2012 Colleen Kole

Nope, not done yet…

So where have I been?

1. I finished some over dyeing of last week’s fabrics before I left.

 2. Attended a wedding of my daughter’s best friend. My daughter was a bridesmaid and it really shocked me that I have a daughter with a married friend.  They just seem  so young.

my pretty girl 

3. Went to two SAQA exhibits at the Gerald Ford Museum.

4. I was interviewed by the Grand Rapids Magazine in regards to an article they are doing titled (?)The Quilt as Art. A photographer was sent to my studio to take pictures of me working. ( I really cleaned it up before they came and that took a few days! ) They are doing the article in preparation of the AQS show which will be in Grand Rapids August 22-25th.

I really don’t like have my picture taken-ok I hate it… but I hope I am not too much of a dweeb in this article. More importantly, I hope I have spoken somewhat intelligently.  It should come out at the end of July. At which point I could snatch all available copies off all shelves in all stores if it is horrid.

5. I was also interviewed by the experiencegr blog for the same reason. I was more relaxed and had an easier time answering questions for that interview.

6. Packed and rode 14 hours here.

Settling in to summer between Vermont and Grand Rapids. I hate lists in the summer. But I think I might need one this summer in order to get done what I need to do for the fall.

Anything fun planned for the 4th?

Behind the Scenes

     I have made great use of the super hot weather this past week.  The fabric really loves to be dyed in hot, hot weather !

I took inventory and put all the fabric I had away on my shelves before I started into it with full force. It’s amazing how easily I can get sidetracked when I dye with the “what if I add this color? ” questions. But, by having a list of what I needed, I managed to stay on track. I tried to dye a batch of more subtle earthy colors as well.

Also, I sorted every bucket and basket of scraps I had and I will be taking a big bag of scraps to Vermont  to do some playing. Because, my Artprize piece is coming along and some play is necessary to breakup the big piece!

What are you working on in the lazy days of summer?

A Different Kind of Summer

     By this time every year for the past seven years, I have been anxiously anticipating our departure for Vermont. This year we have a wedding to attend at the end of June  so we won’t be spending as much time there this summer. And my husband quit his job at the end of May.( It is a good thing and it was time for something different).  So life feels a bit disrupted right now. With the kids home and my husband home, my schedule is all mixed up. And I am just not fighting it but going with it. It’s summer and I am going to enjoy it.

    Marc and I took 48hours to go up north in MI to Traverse City. It really felt like the beginning of summer. The nights last forever this time of year and it was close to 9:45 when I started taking these pictures. Enjoy. I often try to capture the beautiful colors of the sunset. This time I was patient. I think the word for this summer is patience.

 

One Done

     I am very excited that this is done. I think I may have said that before. I don’t know why I fight with some more than others to finish them.

Rooflines  36×70 ©2012 Colleen Kole


 

Rooflines 36×70 ©2012 Colleen Kole

I think I need to barter services with a friend who is a photographer and learn how to take better quality photos. It seems like a good summertime goal. There are always so many things to learn.

A Time to Celebrate

     I have lots of reasons to celebrate this weekend.

1. The never ending quilt is quilted and the binding on. I really fought with myself to finish it. I have to make time to learn to free motion quilt. The walking foot is cramping my style and slowing me up! Done and pictures coming tomorrow.
2. Today is my birthday. I am 51 years old and I am ok with it. Last year, I had the huge crisis of turning 50 -for the whole year I really dreaded turning 50. I am 51 and I am excited to see what comes next and not waste any time worrying about how old I am this year. Mayeb just exercise some more so I feel younger :).
3. I have been married for 28 years as of Friday June 1st to a wonderful , sweet guy.  I hope and pray for many more years together. 
4. I have dyed all the fabric I need for my Artprize piece and hope to start on it next week. 
5. As of Wednesday, school is out for the summer. Thank goodness. I hope not to kill anyone I have kept my mouth shut about all school year -in the next 3 days. Geez, people really drive me crazy at the end of the school year. Time to be done and have my kids back with me. 
Oops-# 3 should be first in order of importance, but I was just kind of going backwards through the weekend as to what I have to be grateful for!

Let Fabric Dyeing Begin For Summer 2012

     What a great weekend to dye fabrics-hot, humid and in the 90’s. I had worked pretty steadily all week to finish up the yard work and made a nice long list for my kids on Monday. I promised them if they got caught up on some of their chores, we could slide into summer after the school year finishes up.

     I was so excited to get going on fabric dyeing, I just wasn’t paying attention to the details. And I was so overwhelmed by different teachers, books and how they each vary the process a little and just enough to make it confusing for me. So, the first batch of dyes I mixed incorrectly. Blah results.

    And the next bunch of fabrics, I was trying to make a particular color and got everything but that color. That will be over dyed in the future. Then, I went to every source I had and laid it out on my kitchen table comparing everything in a chart format. Still confused.

    Then, I called a friend up and she came over and walked me through a few steps I had all jumbled up in my blonde brain. Oh boy. Finally, some better results though.

      I need to remember to slow down, think about what I am doing and weigh the dyes. CONSISTENTLY for CONSISTENT results if you want a particular color. Thank you very much friend.

One more batch to be rinsed out in the morning. The temperature will change tomorrow so the rest will have to wait. I was definitely inspired by the colors of my garden, wasn’t I?

Crazy Times

     I am so looking forward to summer and a change in schedules. The end of the school year is always busy! Combine that with going away for a week in May and I was really far behind.

     Earlier this week, I helped out with the West Michigan Quilt Guild welcoming Bonnie Browning, the president of AQS, to Grand Rapids for a class and lecture. She shared with us some of the excitement of having a national quilting convention in our city: imagine 930 quilts and 350 vendors all under one roof.  I had no idea it was going to be so large! It is really exciting for our guild to volunteer there and our city. They are bringing many special quilt exhibits and one that looked intriguing was the Tentmakers of Cairo.

    The rest of the week I have been machine quilting on the never-ending piece. Every night I am stitching away and I wake up in the morning and feel as if I have made two inches of progress. This is a piece I should have really tracked how long it took me to machine quilt it. Because when someone asks the inevitable question of how long did that take me to do, I could answer: 7000 years. 🙂

     I hope to start dyeing this weekend as I have used up my deep red fabrics.

    If anyone wants to come and visit, the American Quilt Society Show will be here August 22-25th. Read about it here.

   

Not a Good Secret Keeper: Artprize

    I am the worst secret keeper. My husband keeps the Christmas presents at his office because I find them, unwrap them and then wrap them back up and look semi-surprised. But I  have sat on top of this one for a week.

      I really went into this with no expectations. I entered a proposal for Artprize 2012 this fall. And last week while I was at the Barn for my class I was notified that I had obtained a spot for one of my pieces at Cathedral Square-a really nice venue for this event. I was so EXCITED that I did the little happy dance around the hotel room. Thank goodness Betsy didn’t record it on a video camera. And I didn’t sleep a wink that night. But I didn’t want to tell you until I signed the little contract and actually spoke with the venue curator.

     It’s a go. It’s real.  I am in and so excited. And a little nervous because I have yet to make it and it’s going to be 6×6. Goal: Composition done by July 15th so the machine quilting can be done is a stress free manner. Haha. I will share my progress along the way this summer.

The first year I went to Artprize I said to myself, “Someday, I want to be there. ” :):):):):)

Clamping with Resists

     Last week’s class with Elin Noble was definitely a techniques and knowledge class. So, my goal for the week was to try everything at least once so I would have a good understanding of how to do it when I went home and tried to reproduce it. I was rotten at taking notes with my gloves on but I made a boatload of “samples”.

My Fabric Samples Wall-mid week

 That’s a better picture for you. I even did a shirt!

Linen  (clamped) discharged with Thiox and over dyed 

Linen (clamped) discharged with Thiox and over dyed

Cotton Bamboo blend clamped 

Cotton clamped and overdyed
Betsy having fun with her formulas

We looked like mad scientists mixing and fussing with all this color and fabric. I didn’t take enough friends pictures and the ones I did have others work in them so I can’t post them. Class rules. The procedures were time-consuming but it was great fun unwrapping what we worked on.

All the samples I have shown above are done with Procion Mx dyes. More results tomorrow. Elin is a great teacher. If you have the opportunity to take a class from her, do not hesitate for one minute!