Color Matters

I am making progress on building the Piecmakers website. I wasn't confident with the colors I had chosen to work with. So I decided to create several mockups with differing color schemes. I will then poll the Piecemaker members, and let them choose our website colors.

In my search for palette inspiration, I came across COLOURlovers which is a great website for anyone who loves working with color.

I really like their COPASO tool, which allows me to upload a photo, and then pull colors from it to create a new palette.

I have several palettes on COLORlovers now. Next week I will pick a few of the palettes and begin working on the website mockups. Which are your favorites which you think would be good colors for the website?

This week I need to finish getting my work ready for the show at San Leandro History Museum & Art Gallery. And I need to sew a pioneer dress & bonnet for my daughter to wear in the Rowell Ranch Rodeo parade this weekend on the school float.

April Happenings

I've been taking a bit of a break from creating new textile pieces.

My current focus has been on updating my programming and web design skills to make myself more marketable in the job market.

I have been learning Java programming, and have been updating my HTML and CSS skills. My current project is redesigning and building from scratch the website for the Piecemakers Quilt Guild. This work in progress can be viewed here: http://www.piecemakersguild.org/new. I still have a lot to do loading content, and fine tuning the layout.

To make my post quilting related, I have two pieces juried into the "Images of California" art show at the San Leandro History Museum and Art Gallery:

320 W. Estudillo Avenue, San Leandro, California
May 14 to Saturday, June 27
Artist Reception: Saturday, May 16 from 1:00 am - 3:00 pm
Thursday through Sunday, 11:00 am to 3:00 pm

March Happenings

Last Friday I went to the opening reception of the “41st Annual Textile Exhibition” at the Olive Hyde Art Gallery in Fremont. I have my three painted succulent pieces in the show. Several other artists working in quilts were represented along with artists working in other fiber mediums. The show will continue through April 18. Details are on the Olive Hyde website: http://www.ci.fremont.ca.us/Art/OliveHydeArtGallery/default.htm

On Saturday, I went to the CQFA meeting in Santa Clara. One of our members invited Margaret Nivin, a painting instructor, to come talk with us about critiquing. We had our normal show and tell in a variety of techniques and styles, and Margaret guided us in critiquing the pieces. It was good to talk about each piece beyond the customary “oohs & ahhs” and the “how did you do that?” types of questions.

I’ve been trying to put together an interview outfit, and finding that the suit I have from 15 years ago (and the other one from 20 years ago) no longer fit. I found a jacket I liked, and made a plaid skirt to coordinate with it. Then Saturday night, I went to a clothing exchange at a Zocalo’s coffeehouse to find a good home for the old suits. I think there were no takers for my suits, so they will go to a local community service organization. I found a nice pair of slacks, a jacket, and a nice blouse for eveningwear.

I’ve started a twelve inch block for the SAQA auction, but I let my colors run together and become muddy. Now it reminds me more of an artichoke than a succulent plant, so I plan to start over.

Echeveria Forest

I have finally finished this small succulent quilt that I have been working on. It is about 8" x 10". I don’t want to name it Succulent V, because it doesn’t seem to be part of the same series as the other succulents. I have given it a working title of “Echeveria Forest”, but don’t know if the name fits. Any better suggestions for names? I have satin finished the edges instead of using a facing or a binding. If I hang it, I think I will mount it behind a mat.

This Month’s Fast Friday Getting Slowly Done

I’m getting a late start on this month’s Fast Friday quilt. I almost decided I would skip the challenge for a month. But then decided to spend just a couple of hours and make a quick fabric sketch with freehand cut fabrics, which led to hand stitching with embroidery floss. Half way through the stitching, I decided to make some changes in my fabric choices. So now, several hours into the project, I’m not halfway done. It will be getting done, but not on the schedule I had originally planned.

For this month’s challenge, we are to put some Rhythm/Movement or Tension/Energy into our piece and use an analogous color scheme. The plan is to finish hand stitching around each fabric piece, and then do free-motion machine quilting in the background. The piece is loosely based on a succulent photo I took in my garden last month. I believe these are echeveria.

Meet SAQA’s Artists: SAQA’s 20th Anniversary Trunk Show

“Succulent IV” is a cropped version of the first succulent in my series. It will travel for a year as part of SAQA’s 20th Anniversary Trunk Show.


After the end of the show, selected quilts will be donated to the International Quilt Study Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Experimenting With Paint

I had fun yesterday continuing my coloring experiment in actual paint. I am undecided whether I like the painted version better or not. I think I was hoping that the addition of color would breathe a bit of life into the composition, and give it more character. But it’s just the colored version of the old quilt.