Birds On a Wire--Sarah Ann Wells

A very generous friend gave me many hand-dyed fat 1/8yds and with the addition of some hand-dyed wool Birds On a Wire was born.  This piece is 12"x12" and the scribble quilting technique was perfect for attaching the ground wool.  The "live" colors are much more vibrant and intense than in the photo, any photography hints would be appreciated!  This piece just makes me happy!

Barbara McT's scribbling attempts

This is the first challenge I have ever participated in as a Fiber Artist!  This piece is simply an attempt at scribbling and I think the machine got the better of me!  I prefer to use a couching foot with the feet dogs up and just go for it.  I did lower the feed dogs and I did have a challenge to keep the stitching looking decent.  I used colored markers and raw edge fabric and black cotton thread on muslin.  The binding is a piece of ombre.  I will be submitting my works of art in a 6" square.  I recently saw an exhibit of art of 5" square boxes and that size intrigued me and resonated with me. 
Barbara McTarnaghan, Jacksonville, Florida

Getting the picture posted on the blog is almost as intimidating as doing the first project, almost as time consuming as well. I Have done some testing and come up with a few suggestions.

From our I-Pad:

-- In i-pad mail create a new message 

-- Address my home email address & subject whatever

-- In message area "tap & hol" to get a pop-up

----- Select "insert photo" / may need to click the tiny right arrow to see this as screen is so tiny

-- Choose the photo you took with the I-Pad

-- Send the Email

Then Go To Computer

-- Goto mail & select the email you sent yourself

--Click on attachment and save the pix.

------- Suggest you create a dedicated folder such as "50's Challenge" and name the file by the date such as 2-1-14.jpg

Launch the Internet

--Goto Blog a& sign-in per Heathers instructions

--Select "View Web Version" at bottom of screen

--Select "New Post" in upper right corner

--In pop-up box select "insert image" / "tiny pix in frame"

-- in center of next pop-up box "Select a File" select "choose files".

------Don't select from upload menu on right because picture is already on your computer!

--Navagate to the Folder & saved file & select

--Click on pix after it shows up in pop-up box to activate "add selected" button

--Click it

--Complete the post by typing your info 

--Select Publish

Whew! You are done!

From I-Phone 

--Process is pretty much the same. Create an email, attach photo take with your phone, send it, save it, use it to post a blog.

I am sure we will get the hang of this quickly so that we can concentrate on our 50's!

This is my first 50. I did scribble stitch by hand randomly in the background.

  

Jo Noble's Bonsai Tree

I am terrified of doing trees in quilts. I look at the beautiful work of others and don't know how they get those gorgeous branches to look so good. My expertise stopped at learning the Christmas tree with one line in the middle and small-to-large zig-zags from top to bottom. So I'm a gonna work on trees! This is an image from google images that I played with in Illustrator. I ghosted the tree for a different effect. The one on the top is the front and the bottom, the back.

Scribble quilting was great! It made me really comfortable with my machine and going like crazy!
I also like this challenge because it's the doing, not the outcome that is important for me. Time to explore!

My piece is 8 x 11. I like the narrower format which allows me greater flexibility for creating. in thirds or halves.

Welcome to you all. I look forward to chatting and getting to know you!

Thanks Heather!
FYI, ipad is rather useless to post!

Jean Spring's Shell

I really enjoyed the scribbling technique and felt it was a good "loosening up" for quilting. During winter, I often find myself thinking of my summer beach days and thus the shell theme.

"Getting My Feet Wet" by Denise

I'm new to art quilting so this piece is called "Getting My Feet Wet". I did not use the suggested technique but will attempt for future pieces. I hand dyed the background fabric and blue fabric for this piece. The bead embellishment is one purchased from Heather. I tried to create "movement" with the different sized teardrop shapes. I'm also turning 50 this year so what better way to challenge myself than to create 50 works of art! I'm stepping outside my traditional quilting box to hopefully create art quilts. Denise Pitonyak

Remember Me by Yvaine

This quilt is 11 x 14 in. on white muslin, quilted and color-penciled over.
I took pictures of a small wooden statue I got from Guatemala (artist unknown), selected one of the profiles and increased the size on my computer. Used the printout to vaguely trace contours of the face. Quilted the head with black thread and then had a blast coloring some of the components with my new set of inktense pencils that I just received yesterday (Friday) and trying different techniques of wetting the fabric and the colorings. Then quilted some more (wood post and background) and made binding with same muslin fabric. Everything was fine until I painted the binding. I wanted to try the technique of moistening the fabric first and then pencil over it, but the intensity on the left became too intense. I hoped that it would dry lighter, but it did not. After an initial disappointment, I now like it, because it still keeps the focus on the head, which is what I wanted.
Got the inspiration of using color pencils from a class I took with Robin a week ago as well as from a Russian quilter I met at a show, two or three years ago, who colors her whole cloth quilts after quilting. Thank you, Robin. I really like coloring this way.