Author Archives: Colleen Kole

Rooflines #10

     Before I left home, I finished Rooflines # 10.  This piece was inspired by the houses in the distance tucked into the Green Mountains that you can see at dusk.

©Colleen Kole , 2013, “Rooflines # 10, 70 x 82 

I did use free motion quilting on this piece changing colors with the each little section.
And dense quilting.

Detail shot of © Rooflines #10
In process and ready for binding

I am pleased with this piece and love the way the lines are enhanced with the quilting. I am so happy it’s done. And even more happy:

This piece has been accepted into Artprize 2013 at the Cathedral Square venue. More on that to come.

What To Do?

     I have totally avoided blogging because of my last month’s schedule. Or is that the reason?

     I get so confused by what I read.

Blogs : Blogs are dead.  No- you need a blog to link to your website and to FB.  If you do write a blog, be authentic. Be professional and not personal. How are you supposed to be authentic if you aren’t personal in some way?  If you use images, use a watermark. Don’t use a watermark as it’s too distracting.

Facebook: Use it and have a separate page for your art/business. Oh great-now there are 2 pages to manage and  remember -don’t say anything personal on the business FB page. Which would mean 2 sets of photos for each page to manage somewhere. Where is that somewhere as now Flickr is all cluttered up. Is that a private photo managing site for what users -FB users or blog visitors? Link your blog to FB. The blog that is not supposed to be too personal but authentic. And do you mark your images not pinnable? Or do you let them spin out into the universe unprotected? or do you even care?

Instagram- Do this too as it’s instant sharing of what you do in the instant. ( How is that not personal?) Pretty pictures though but those that use it always seem to have their smart phones in their hands at work-hello will you talk to me and not be obsessed about your photos? every instant?

Tweet: I really have no idea nor desire to find out about it.

Website: I know. I need one but absolutely procrastinate about this. How do I link my blog to it after I make one? Will it look cheesy if I do it myself or do I need to have help? How about my photos of my artwork? Should I reshoot my work? Have someone else do it?

Wow, I guess I didn’t realize I was that conflicted or confused. I do know that I miss blogging and feel more connected with the few I have met over the years blogging. And that is my simple reason for continuing. I will update my blog this summer. That’s the only answer I have for now.  How is that for small steps?

I have arrived in Vermont and art moves onward.

Muskegon Museum of Art Regional Show

     I was tickled pink to have two pieces accepted into the 85th Regional Exhibition: All State Edition at the Muskegon Museum of Art.  The opening was this past Thursday night at the museum and was very well attended.

     I had been so busy that I had no time to think or get excited about this event. But after catching a glimpse of someone stopping to look at one of the pieces, I am thrilled and honored.  There were three textile pieces amongst the 180 pieces and two were mine!

Rooflines # 8 on exhibit

     Rooflines #2 and Rooflines #8 have found their place out in the museum exhibit from May 23rd- August 22nd. I am sorry I didn’t take more pictures but just wanted to enjoy the event.

      I went home and was quickly humbled by two hours of ripping out bad machine quilting on one of my next pieces.

A Wordless May?

Not much to say ….

     ….other than I love my kids and I am enjoying the season. One graduation done and two more to occur in the next two weeks.

      I have definitely kept up with my art but telling you about what I have been doing there- will  have to wait!

Class Review: Lisa Call’s "Setting Goals"

     When I looked at the title, I have to admit that I really didn’t want to take another class about “time management” and “how to” make the best of my goals with skills I had. I thought about it and really struggled with whether to take this class. I had been in a management position for many years and had taken probably three classes in the past paid for by my employers on time management and goal setting.   I am highly motivated to move forward. Why would I need this?

    But with my art,  I knew I needed to push forward soon- as in NOW.

     And I knew that Lisa Call accomplishes lots of art in one year. And in order to move ahead, I needed a little info on what I was doing wrong.  So in I jumped.

      Four weeks later in an online class with Lisa and a handful of other students, I had a 10 year plan in place. I had a new direction for focusing on what was important on a daily and weekly basis. I know how to plan for the expected and unexpected. I am accountable to myself and a friend on a weekly basis. And I have stuck with weekly goals since February. I have changed and modified these goals. I am learning to not cave in and call myself a failure when I don’t meet my goals. I re-adjust to meet the goal.  I know what I need to do today in order to meet my art goals for the year. I  am a daily studio junkie and crave more time there. If it doesn’t happen, I get right back in there.

     You devote one month of homework to dreaming big and being honest with yourself about what you want for your art career.  You are involved with the larger group for questions and the 3 times weekly emails full of info in a private blog format. The assignments are private and assignment posting is only done between you and Lisa . (Whew -yes goals are fragile and very private.) She gives lots of feedback with weekly assignments and gives you constructive criticism as to your plan. And she calls you on foolish things that you are doing. Time wasters. But all of this is done in an effective manner as Lisa is a great coach and teacher.

    If you have the opportunity, jump to work with Lisa. I didn’t say run. I said jump. Leap. It will be worth it. I couldn’t have imagined having a 10 year plan in place before this class. Now I am just smiling and doing the work because I have a plan to make it happen.

    Lisa Call is also at the Barn in the fall 2013 for two classes.

   

10 Things I Learned About Machine Quilting

         It feels so good to be finished with this piece. I really struggled with it but only because I had never used free motion quilting to finish a piece this large. So, as I was documenting and taking pictures, I wrote a long list of what I learned:

1. Always test your thread tension before you start stitching on your finished top. It took me awhile to remember this but after picking out endless yucky stitches, I did it consistently.

2. Keep your machine clean of lint lint and well oiled.

3. Use a new needle often!

4. Do not start stitching unless the needle is down and your hands are on the quilt. Those gloves are helpful too.

5. If the machine sounds funny, chances are the back of your quilt looks awful. Ignorance is not bliss in free motion quilting. So stop and figure out the noise.

6. Make sure you are set up correctly and use as much support for the quilt on all sides so you aren’t losing it off the table. Lessen anything you are fighting with and change it so you are comfortable.

7. Be fearless. I started out with all kinds of books and patterns to look at. Heck, the ones I like the most are the ones I just felt free enough to improvise with and make my own.

8. Doodling before I started on my day’s stitching really helped and my stitching was much freer.

9. The stitch should be intentional to the piece. The stitch on this piece is more of a sampler smorgasbord.  I knew that when I started out. But for the next piece, I want the stitch to compliment the work.

10. After the first few pieces, I never looked at the back and let all the mistakes stay there-large stitches, bad tension and little knots when I didn’t keep going. I’ll check more often next. Or maybe not. It will get better!

FINISHED is a very good place to be.

©Colleen Kole, 2013, “Set Free”, 68×71

©Colleen Kole, 2013, close up of “Set Free”

Thanks for your kind comments and encouragement. Review of Lisa Call’s class tomorrow.

The Never Ending One

     I thought I would be showing you a finished piece at the end of this week.  It always takes longer than I think it will. When I went to put the binding on tonight, I realized that I had a huge spot of machine oil on my piece.

     I took a really deep breath . I didn’t hyperventilate but went back and read the directions on the wool batting I used. ( For the first time)  No hot water and no agitation.

     Ok then. Mmm…. I shoved it in the washing machine with cold water setting and some synthrapol. I was worried that the fuschia would run like crazy.  It didn’t.

Colleen Kole, 2013,  “Set Free” blocking 

     Blocked, fans on and waiting for it’s binding.

     These are the days that I think I may be a bit crazy for estimating could finish 20 total by December .
 But, I always love challenge.

A Shout Out and a Catch Up

      Just wanted to shout out about the wonderful Elizabeth Brandt who had a piece at .Fiber Art International 2013.  Congrats Elizabeth for making it in to this prestigious event.  I can’t wait to hear about the opening.

     This will also be a catch up post as I keep meaning to tell you about these things:

1. I am about 75 percent done on my large piece that I am free motion quilting. It is getting easier     although I still bribe myself to work on it. I guess that’s why they call it work.

2. I took an online class at the beginning of the year called “Setting Goals” given by Lisa Call. It was a great class and I haven’t taken the time to blog about it. One of my goals was to blog more consistently and I am finding , that if I don’t meet the mark on a goal , I just feel more and more guilty so I do nothing about it. Oops-time to correct that. Upcoming post on that class this week.

3. Because of that class, I have had my head down working on a piece for the upcoming Artprize exhibition in September. It is where it needs to be to apply , but not yet quilted. Again, I’ll share once I get my artist profile up.

4. The house in Vermont has not sold so at this point, we will go there this summer with the kids. I will wait and do the majority of the fabric dyeing there.

5. Historic flooding here in Grand Rapids. I am going to try to take pictures tomorrow when it peaks.

6.  3 kids graduating in May: 8th grade, high school and college.

I hate the phrase “I am so busy”.  Everybody is busy. So, I am saying instead that I am using my time wisely and keeping my head down.. 🙂

The Slow Road

     I just keep thinking-oh silly me. Normal people start small and then when they feel comfortable in a skill, they move on to a larger project. Nope. Not me. I just plunge right in and hope for the best.  I am way too impatient to wait until my skills improve. ( Can you see where this is going?) So, it is sink or swim.

     I think I have used free motion quilting to finish a piece to or three times.  Prior to this, I have practiced for a big total of maybe 20 hours and that is a generous estimate. So I am not sure how I came up with the grand idea of ” Let’s go ahead and do a large piece to REALLY get some hours in.

      As I was basting this beast, I was starting to worry about my decision. Did I stop to reconsider? Nope.  Sat down without a clue of how to decide on a design and decided that each section would be a different marking. (Yes, getting crazier by the minute). With the help of  a book by Leah Day , I just took random patterns and started sketching away changing as my abilities allowed. The first few sections were painstakenly slow and my shoulders were killing me after a few hours. I was not liking my choice at all. It was big and hard to move under the machine with any accuracy. I was making a  nasty mess of my beautiful quilt- skipped stitches, lousy tension and areas I needed to rip out. I just wanted to quit.

     The next day, I decided that the basement needed purging. Now, it has been on the long to-do list for about 6 months. I purged the basement and made two trips to Goodwill. I woke up and realized I was finding basement cleaning more exciting than free motion machine quilting. I gave myself a “F” for perseverance and an “F” for attitude.

    I started again. I tucked away my perfectionistic tendencies and moved forward.  Many hours later, I can finally say that I am making slow and steady progress.

Stay tuned and I’ll let you know when I make it to the 50% done mark. 

A Little Sunshine

     I finally woke up from the last few weeks of March. The sun shone here for the past two days and I could feel March lift off from me like a bad dream or the fog. I put my machine in the sun today and just let it wash the winter away. Maybe I was depressed and didn’t even know it. Or maybe I am just ready for spring. Or maybe I just had nothing exciting to share.

     But either way, the grey and cold days made me buckle down and work on a big piece. I never looked up the past three weeks.  The piece is huge -78×83 and involved lots of piecing.  I am not ready to share yet but I will. It is too close to feel comfortable…

     I woke up and it might be spring.