Monday, August 11, 2014

D Days – Deadlines * Drawing * Done

It has been a busy time  here at EPQ central. 

There has been family stuff going on and lots of frantic work being done due to deadlines.  Thank goodness for those DEADLINES – it seems to motivate me to get things DONE.

The first thing done and finished was the art quilt for our exhibition in September.  The theme was ‘Botanica’.

From the seed

Here is the reveal of my piece “From the Seed”.  Lately I have been fascinated with seeds and seed pods and the first thing that came to mind for botanica was this very subject. 

Readers may recall when Shirley and I experimented with dyeing fabrics from botanicals.  It was loads of fun with some success and some we won’t talk about.  Some of the fabrics I have used in this piece are from those experiments.

As you may know, I have been doing lots of collage both in fabric and paper this year, and after seeing Jane La Fazio’s work, I was inspired to lay down the foundation of the piece with fabric collage and use lots of hand stitching and other techniques to bind the components all together.  Make sure you visit Jane’s site HERE and go to her gallery to see her beautiful fabric collage pieces and other creative works.

Ferris Wheel Quilt Top

The top of my commissioned quilt is DONE.  It is the Ferris Wheel pattern from Karen Griska and it was loads of fun to put together – albeit time consuming.

Now just for the quilting which I hope to achieve over this weekend.

I can DRAW! 

When Lilian and I were playing with painting over the school holidays, I refurbished some of my background pieces in my little repurposed diary art journal.

  Swirl rope stampPear

This background was too busy and there seemed to be nowhere to go with it, so I made up my mind that I could draw something really simple and I did.  The pear was drawn with a charcoal pencil and then I filled the background in with gesso.

White urn

Another busy background was painted over with this white urn which I splattered with dark grey paint.  If you say you can draw  - YOU CAN (so they say).  My next aim is to draw a face in one of my journals.

Sewing spread

I am quite fond of this collage I did some time back incorporating some really cute selvedges given to me by a friend. The dressmaker model clip is from Karen at the Graphics Fairy. 

In the past two weeks we have celebrated a life and a marriage.

Flowers for Tony

Our dear brother in law, Tony,  passed away suddenly and he will be sadly missed by all of his family and friends.  He was just 59 years and 11 months.  Tony was dealt quite a bit of rubbish in his life and he always faced things head on and got on with it and never complained.  A valuable lesson we have learned from him. RIP Tony

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My DH’s nephew got married and we celebrated with them this past weekend. We thought we were going to their engagement party and they surprised us and got married.  It was a beautiful day.  Congratulations to Daniel and Elisha – a very handsome couple.

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Lilian enjoyed herself at the wedding on the jumping castle. You can see around her mouth where she really enjoyed some orange slushies too  LOL.

Until next time – happy creating – Dianne.

7 comments:

CJ STITCHING AND BLOOMS said...

Good Day DI, nice to see your posting. Your botanica is fantastic. I like the seed pod theme. Your stitching bring out your theme in a very lovely way. Your art drawing are great, I could Never draw like this in a million years. I always love seeing your Beautiful Aussie Flowers. How neat about the party turned into a wedding. Such a very gorgeous wedding dress. Lilian looks like she was having a very fun time. Cute outfit. Hugs Judy

Annet said...

Love your quilt From the seed, it's a lovely combo of collage and embroidery!

shirley said...

Gee di your botanica is a real work of art..tremendous..you are really in with the top league with your creative pieces. That pear could be framed and sold in a gallery. You are going ahead in leaps and bounds.
Lovely pic of lily enjoying the jumping castle.
A sad time for you too. The flowers are beautiful
Congratulations on the lovely quilt top finish

Julie said...

I'm so sorry for your loss. The surprise wedding was cool. Lilian is a beauty with that lovely red hair !!!!! Your bonanica quilted piece is sheer perfection! And, yes you CAN draw!!! Excellent stuff. Hope you will show your completed Botanica!!!!!

Julie said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Julie said...

I meant to say completed Ferris Wheel!!! It is gorgeous!!!!!

Marilyn said...

Hello Di, you have been busy, your Botanica is so lovely and the drawings are great. Well done. That was a nice way to celebrate a wedding, I would also like to pass on my condolences to you and the family. It is a sad time to lose someone so young. The Ferris wheel quilt is fantastic - beautiful colours.