TyQuilts Designs

Well, I took the plunge and have completed the cover of my journal. I used watercolors for the background,  including an iridescent gold that gives it a subtle shimmer in person. Then I dragged out my foam stamps and acrylic paint from my scrapbooking days and stamped the word autumn, roughly outlining it with pitt pen. The leaves were done with walnut ink and a stamp.  I just have to find a bit of ribbon to cover that left edge where the paint bled under the tape and it is done.

Below you will find my first assignment from Laure Ferlita’s Imaginary Visit to Autumn class that I am taking. I had to laugh at myself a bit as I was totally disconcerted by the idea of painting a white pumpkin. I had never even seen a white pumpkin before.  I got the light areas a little too dark so it reads more as a grayish green pumpkin than white, but here it is.

We have been having a Marvelous March– Sunshine, warm days and not a single bit of snow which is unheard of for us.  My Tulips are just starting to poke through the ground and the journaling prompt “Sunshine” inspired this page in my journal

In

The watercolor pencil workshop with Kate Johnson has begun. This first week we are just getting acquainted with our materials, mixing colors– Making color charts– deciding which brands of paper, pencils etc we prefer. It has been a lot of fun, but very hard not to feel intimidated as most of the other members seem to have so much experience and knowledge and skill already. I have never painted, and am just learning to draw. But I am bravely going to go forth and work the exercises and post my homework. I hope to see lots of progress from beginning of class to the end.

This is the color chart for the 15 colors of caran d’ache watercolor pencils, I plan to keep in my portable kit. I did the chart on the first two pages of the moleskine sketchbook that I will keep with the pencils. This way, I have easy reference to all of the colors I can mix from my 15 pencils.

One of our assignments was to paint something simple like a flower. The tulip on the left is the first time I have used these pencils without an ink outline. I did draw it lightly in pencil first and I am very pleased with how it turned out, especially the shading.
For the tulip on the left, I wanted to play with a mottled background and so needed the brush pen outline so the tulip would stand out. Loving color as I do, I am having a wonderful time in this class.

This year I am continuing my quest to expand my creativity, taking art and photography classes to help me gain skills and perspective that will improve my quilt design and enrich my life. As a result, there will be less quilting featured in this blog for the next few months as I am taking a watercolor pencils workshop with Kate Johnson and will be posting my homework and results here. I am working on a couple of quilted gifts that I will post after the recipients have received them.

I went out for supplies today and created this journal page as the first page of the moleskine folio watercolor sketchbook that I will be using for my class work. I love the new bigger size.

Let the fun begin!

Meet Annie… She is an adorable 4 year old beagle we adopted yesterday from the humane Society. She has a very sweet nature and unusual markings for a Beagle.

Most of what I have been doing creatively, I can’t post yet, so I am sharing this page from my art journal.

I am participating in Leah’s Creative Every Day Challenge for 2009. My goal is to post weekly.

I have always wanted to draw and have never been able to. At the end of last year I took a drawing class that hopefully has started me on an interesting journey. I am going to continue to work on my drawing skills this year as one of my goals for the year.

One of my favorite blogs is Melody Johnson’s Fibermania. I love the vibrant colors and exhuberance of her quilts.

It’s a new year, with new creative goals and challenges. Let the fun begin!

I have completed my first hat for Operation Warm and Toasty. I knitted it in less than a week using a chunky wool blend yarn and this easy pattern that I found on Groovy Mom’s Blog. It is a very thick hat and should be nice and warm.

I am participating in an ugly fabrics challenge and I have procrastinated doing anything with these fabrics for