Tall Timbers Calling...

 

The title for this quilt came from a camp song we sang at Girl Scout Camp many years ago. I kept humming it as I pieced the blocks for "Tall Timbers Calling".  The pattern is Tree Time from Blue Nickel Studios. My version is a pretty wild thing, partly because of the improv piecing and partly because I was determined to use only fabrics from my stash. It was fun pairing them up for each block. The result is a pretty busy quilt. It's hard to get a good photo of a larger quilt, so when it was hanging in the recent Quilts by the River show, a quilting friend took this shot and shared it. I like the look of the quilt against that old brick wall.

While the quilt was in process, I took the blocks to a local sewing group and we had some fun trying to arrange them into an assembly order. It's helpful to have more sets of eyes on a layout to keep a balance of color and avoid having matching fabrics right next to each other. After arranging and rearranging tree blocks several times, we finalized a plan. Then I took a phone photo so I'd remember the stitching order. However, once I started sewing the rows, I realized the quilt would be wind up being nearly square. That's not my preferred look, so it required piecing blocks for a fourth row. I'm happy with the  way it turned out.

Coincidentally, one of the group members had this cute market bag with her that day. It had the same bright and whimsical tree feel as the quilt, so I wanted to show it in this post.

All Dressed Up...

 

Here's my latest fashion statement made with some paper, paint, machine and hand stitching, and embellishments. There is actually a series of these little dresses all displayed in an accordion book.

The project is one of the monthly mixed media offerings in a year-long online class called Fodder School. Artist Roxanne Padgett was the instructor who led students through making the book during July. 

Each month a different teacher demonstrates a number of methods for making "collage fodder"- handmade papers and fabrics that can be used in a variety of mixed media art.

The first half of the month includes several videos showing how to create components for the art project, and the second half of the month includes instruction for using the components to complete the project. It's a great way to learn a lot of art methods at your own pace and in your own workspace. And there is a good deal of bonus content on each month's topic supplied by other instructors, so we got a lot of instruction for the money.

We made assorted backgrounds as well as the papers for the dresses and then put them together with stitching and trims. It took a bit of time but was certainly a fun project.

One idea we also learned was to use scenic magazine images for the dresses. 

I like that look, too, and found a few landscapes to use.

We kept making and making, so I have a few extra backgrounds and dresses. I may use them in notecards.

Here's how the accordion book looks- it's not easy to get a clear photo of it, but hopefully you get the idea! Fodder School 2 is now underway, and I've signed up for that as well so will hope to have more mixed media projects to share in the coming months.