Posted in quilting

Finished Object Friday

Posted on by Laura Kate

It was with great satisfaction that I sewed my last stitch into “Under the Sea” quilt. Today is the big reveal. Since many of you have already seen the completed blocks, instead I will share the inspirations for my quilt’s design.

It all started with sea turtles. I painted the first one last April, on Earth Day. Ultimately, the sea turtle became the centerpiece of this project.

  • Green Sea Turtle, Costa Rica

One thing I learned about these amazing animals is that they roam broadly over the ocean. Yet they always return to the place of their birth to start the next generation. It’s a hazardous journey across that beach. Many newly hatched turtles fall prey to other creatures. Even once they are afloat, life is precariously

As I spent time drawing various sea creatures, I realized that I would probably never see a healthy coral reef. Humans have done a poor job of conserving the world’s oceans. According to the National Geographic Society, a mere 7 percent of the sea has any official protection – and these are mostly weak rules, with multiple exceptions. Only 2.5 percent of the ocean is highly protected from human exploitation.

Most disturbing to me is the effect of global warming on the ocean. As more and more carbon dioxide is absorbed by the water, the ocean get more and more acidic. Following that process to its natural conclusion implies a great die-off of species. The acid water will dissolve the calcium in the reefs until they can no longer sustain life.

So my process of making “Under the Sea” turned into a love story about all the creatures living under the threat of extinction.

…….. and a plea to those who have the power to act on their behalf. If we do nothing, what we have left of the ocean may not be enough to sustain our own species.

Because there is always hope, I will leave you with this: The Pristine Seas project launched by National Geographic Society in 2008 has helped create 22 marine reserves across the world’s oceans. New research indicates that as a result of rigorous protection, fisheries adjacent to these no-take zones experienced a rebuilding of stock – almost doubling the catch.

Fish blocks pieced by flip and stitch. Turtles stencil painted, free motion quilted.

It is possible to keep our coral reefs and continue to feed ourselves and our children.

Posted in painting

Crayola Fun

Posted on by Laura Kate

For the past week, my head has been buried in this project:

Under the Sea Quilt – applying binding

Well, today I finally finished it. The big reveal will happen on Friday. You will have to check my post then if you want to see final pictures. As a little break from all the sewing, I took inspiration from Jennell Willey, of “In the Artroom” Check out her blog about using crayons with water color paint as a form of resist.

https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/104869669/posts/2887562195

Because I have been watching hummingbirds whiz back and forth in my backyard, I decided to feature one in this little warm-up exercise. She is approaching a group of tumbling down trumpet vine blossoms.

Next comes a wash of color. I chose turquoise, orange, yellow and blue, to pick up on the crayons I used in the drawing.

A little splatter won’t hurt this painting.

After it was mostly dry, I added a bit of darker green to outline the vines.

And here is the finished painting, dried and with tape removed.

It took all of twenty minutes to make and was very relaxing. If I wanted to explore this technique further, I would sharpen my crayons a bit to get a more precise line. This would be a great technique to use in making greeting cards.

Posted in painting

Structure in the Garden

Posted on by Laura Kate

This blog is about my first watercolor on-line tutorial from Shari Blaukopf. She is a Montreal-based artist who specializes in urban sketching. First let me say, I enjoyed it. The reference photo is of a barn wood clad schoolhouse relocated to an urban garden somewhere in the Pacific Northwest.

My first challenge was to draw and ink the essential lines of the image. I took my time over this step, since it is critical in setting up the rest of the painting.

By the way, I’m working on Arches cold-press watercolor paper for the first time. This premier paper is much beloved by watercolorists.

Next I completed the preliminary washes for the sky, building and flowers.

After letting these dry thoroughly, I went to work on the shrubbery and trees. Shari gave instructions on how to mix eight different greens using various blue and yellow paint. This part was really hard for me, partly because I didn’t have all of the paints that she used in her mixes. I had to substitute.

To me, the various green areas look like they don’t belong together.

I let the paper dry for almost a week before I got around to adding the final details. First the lawn went in, then dark green for underpainting the brighter greens. The barn wood got more shading before all final details were added using a small round brush. After drying, I dabbed some white opaque paint onto the flowers to give a little sparkle to the scene. Here is my finished painting.

This is the first time I successfully painted a mass of foliage. I also learned how to paint a lawn and the order to use in painting flowering plants. I’m betting that I will use these techniques in many future paintings.

Shari Blaukopf’s blog is found here:

About Shari Blaukopf
Posted in knitting

Sock Saga

Posted on by Laura Kate

This story may sound like whining, but it’s not my intent. It’s more like a true confession. You see a beautiful sock in this picture. The dirty truth is that it took me three tries to get this one sock knitted.

The yarn is a cashmere blend by KnitPicks which I acquired to make my husband a pair of luxury socks. Incredibly soft and delightful to work. I started knitting with great enthusiasm and high hopes.

Instead of using the tried and true Woodman’s sock pattern by EZ, I wanted to get “a little fancy”. So I chose an interesting – and free – pattern off the internet. It featured a sort of herringbone stitch on the cuff and instep which rolled beautifully around the foot.

Almost immediately I ran into trouble. The pattern was described as suitable for both women and men and was offered in four sizes. I started knitting the medium size but quickly discovered it was going to be too small. So I frogged it back. After measuring around the widest part of hubby’s foot, I cast on the largest size and tried again. It took me forever to knit to the end of the gusset.

The resulting sock was enormous. When tried on hubby’s foot, it draped itself loosely around his instep. Clearly I needed to start over – again. It was painful to frog it, especially as I had already spent a few weeks on the project. But I did. Afterward I trashed the fancy pattern.

Okay. Let’s start right. I went up a needle size and got gauge for a generic medium size men’s sock. Then I modified the Woodman’s sock pattern to suit a fingering weight yarn. Within a few days I was ready to try this on hubby again.

Perfect fit.

Elizabeth Zimmerman Woodman’s sock is written for worsted weight yarn. It was originally published in 1963 as a newsletter. Now you can find it in The Opinionated Knitter, published by Schoolhouse Press.

https://www.schoolhousepress.com/books.html