Bethany Studios

Just Checking In

2008-04-28T16:59:00.001-07:00

Piggy Back Ride

Well, I know I haven't posted here in like 4 months. I'm thinking I have too many blogs (only 2, but I don't have that much to say...)so I will probably combine them after the move. Somehow.

Looks like the move will take place on May 6, so at some point after that, things will get plugged back in at the new place and I'll return to your regularly scheduled program...

Until then, I'll be thinking of you.

A Bird in the Hand:Contentment

2008-01-30T00:35:00.002-08:00

Completed January 30, 2008
18" x 20"

For purchasing information, please email me.

If you are a regular visitor of my Gratitude blog, then you have seen the beginning of this quilt already. This drawing is taken from a thumbnail sketch I made at my sister's house in December, but it is drawn to size, in order to make a pattern from it.

Here is the hand, cut out. Don't forget to make the pattern in the reverse!

Here's another WIP photo.

The one thing I learned (the hard way) with this quilt is that when it comes to making quilts that deal with images, after you have drafted the pattern to your satisfaction, you must then come up with a background that makes sense. I guess this happened with the turtle quilt (Nearing the Finish Line), also.
I knew I wanted to do something for the background that made sense with the humanness of the hand, hence the house. And of course, it's important to contrast your colors well.

Then I decided the birdy I had drawn was too detailed for this quilt, and I redrew it to look like a leaf.

Well, I couldn't put it off anymore. I had to do something about the background. So, I started auditioning fabric.

These are just two of the many rejects.

So many decisions, no? But I'm really happy with the end result.

Rearrangement

2008-01-26T03:06:00.001-08:00

Here is my studio, looking perfectly fine and not in need of any rearranging. Except for....

...well, this cabinet is a little messy. But still. Close the door and it goes away. So why bother?

This innocent looking little iron-on-a-stick is what caused all the upheaval. Now that I own one of my own (thank you, Melody) I find that I must plug it in.

And it has to be plugged in to the power converter, which also runs the sewing machine, so presto, chango, poof!

Now that's much better.

Nearing the Finish Line:Perseverance

2008-01-19T04:50:00.000-08:00

19.75" x 26.25"

Completed January 18, 2008

Sold!

I am pleased with this quilt. It is a good start on my current series of quilts dealing with various imagery. I particularly like the color scheme. The yellow/orange background is so yummy, especially with the light aqua inserts. And the dark green turtle shell makes a great contrast.

details

2008-01-19T04:28:00.000-08:00

Does This Happen To You?

I made some bread the other day - using my sister's no-knead bread recipe (look in her sidebar for the link), and when I had cut through many slices, I suddenly came upon a slice with an orange piece of thread in it.
Now I know that the small bits of fabric I find all over the house - and have even found downstairs on the driveway or in the elevator, are there because one of us has walked through my studio and out again with a passenger on the bottom of our shoe. But this thread was uncommonly clever to find its way into a loaf of unbaked bread.
Proof of something, I suppose...

Nearing the Finish Line

2008-01-10T10:48:00.000-08:00

This quilt marks a departure for me. I feel I've done about as much as I can, at this time, making non-representational quilts. I wanted to make some quilts that focus on imagery. The challenge in my mind was like this: I know I can draw, but translating drawings into fabric is tricky. I've already had some disappointments in this area, so I asked my sister for her help. Of course, I was put on the spot because I hadn't drawn anything. Duh. So I made some sketches, just off the top of my head, and we decided to work on this one.

This is a thumbnail sketch, and working with it that small allowed me to add all the details I thought I would want. This one was not my first choice, but I trusted my sister's preference for it, so we worked on it first.

I did not get many pictures of the steps that followed, but if you go to Melody's blog, you can find some of the pictures I missed.
Basically, I had to draw the picture again, freehand, in the size I wanted. This was a funny step because I thought I wanted to work in 12 inch square, but when I thought about all those concentric ovals, I decided to go larger.
I made the pattern on the wonderunder release paper that we all have laying around.
Next, I traced the individual patterns for the head, tail, and legs. And then the shell, and the inner space in the shell (it's a different shade of green). I then traced all the ovals for the "decorations." I did this in layers, from the outside to the inside. These patterns were all applied to fused fabric, and cut out.

Here he is, in a mid-point in the process.

And here he is after all the decorations have been applied.
Then I was at one of those design-decision places. What background? Of course, I was interested in contrast, but I wasn't sure I wanted a huge contrast because I wanted the turtle to be the most important thing.

I laid him on light blue and that didn't do it for me. We went through many pastel fabrics, and they all were just too wimpy. I really didn't want to do water colors (blue, green) because the turtle would get lost as his outside colors are the same.

Finally we put him on this beautiful orange and yellow fabric. I was almost ready to leave him like that, but Melody wouldn't let me. Too boring. So, she reminded me of this technique of cutting the background into strips and reversing every other piece. I thought I would try that, but with a wavy line suggesting water. Well, the effect was too subtle. So I went with a light blue fabric in between the cuts. At first, I tried a thin line, but decided the blue should have its own wave. Once I got started, I kept going with this idea. The high contrast worked out really well, and didn't overwhelm the turtle at all, I was relieved to see.

Add some water drops and lily pads (with their own water drops - very important detail!) and the finished product appears below. When dealing with imagery, it is important to me that I don't make "cute." Cute is too easy a goal to achieve, for me. I want to go past cute. I think this quilt succeeded. Because of all the details, and the use of the contrasting colors, this quilt has shown me that I can do imagery without doing cartoons. Of course, the original drawing wasn't cartoony either.

Nearing the Finish Line
January 2008
20 x 27"

Seeing Spots

2007-12-17T03:31:00.001-08:00

Are you seeing spots?

Feeling alright? A little giddy, perhaps?

Maybe the holidays are getting to you?

Or maybe this is the cure.

Sorry. I'd really like to show you what I've been working on, or to tell you why I've collected these yummy, spotty fabrics in one place, but I can't.

Maybe if you're extra specially good, Santa will have some interesting posts after Christmas. So you'd better watch out...

Some Random Photos

2007-12-12T17:04:00.000-08:00

Just to play catch-up:

Here is Glory before the Christmas play last Friday. She sang her solo perfectly, by the way.

Here is a hamster sweater I crocheted, maybe Saturday. Ok, it's not a sweater. It's a little home. The hamster loves it, and it currently shredding it. That's what they do.

I don't know why the peas looked so emotive after I microwaved them last night.

Here is the current W.I.P.

Yes, I am actually making a quilt! Can you believe it?

Anyway, that's what's been going on around here. Ever since the craft fair and the Christmas play ended, I've been free as a bird.
But now I must go wash dishes and do the laundry. Sigh. I won't be taking any pictures of these activities...

A Gift For A Friend

2007-12-06T05:37:00.001-08:00

So much of my time this week has been taken up with making gifts for Christmas, and I can't post those pictures because, well, you know...

But today is my friend Sunny's birthday, and I made this crocheted necklace for her. I should see her tomorrow night at Glory's school's Christmas play. Hopefully she won't surf my blog before I see her, and no one will tip her off, or my surprise will be ruined!

This is the coral necklace from the Berroca website. I used a completely different yarn than the pattern, added some dark blue pearl beads, and then, last minute, decided to create this little tie thingy.

It's soft and cuddly and not too warm, altho I find many people appreciate having something on their necks here in Singapore, as it protects them from unfriendly air conditioning.

Some Christmas Content

2007-12-03T04:47:00.001-08:00

Somehow, gingerbread has become our newest family tradition. And darn if the little things aren't totally photogenic!

Ooops, this one has lost a button.

You can't catch me - I'm....caught. Drat!

Where's Waldo?

Steppin' out.

Got dressed in the dark.

I can relate.

Someone was playing ball in the house...

The very photogenic head chef.

Long Weekend

2007-11-25T05:51:00.001-08:00

Not much going on, either. Spent most of the weekend, other than Thursday, making Christmas gifts. Unfortunately, I can't post them. Yet.

We did, however, manage to get the Christmas tree up and decorated. All 18 inches of pink magnificence.

I put the lights on the tree - which I had purchased at Ikea. I seem to have sparkly diamond-shaped things on the brain lately.

And Glory put the ornaments on. These are also from Ikea.

Actually, the disco balls that are my favorite, are from Borders. Yes, I do mean the book store. Both these ornaments and the tree came from Borders. Crazy place to buy a Christmas tree, but there you have it.

It's been a few years since I've gotten the decorations up right after Thanksgiving, and since Glory and I are going to the states on the 26th, I wanted to make sure we started the season early so we could enjoy more of it with Terry, who is not coming.

The nativity scene is next. But this next week is going to be very busy for me: Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are all booked up with getting ready for the big craft sale Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I'll try and take lots of pictures. And I'll try to not get sick. Good luck!

Thanksgiving

2007-11-23T02:40:00.000-08:00

Well, the thing I'm most thankful for is that I didn't have to slave in the kitchen for hours so my tiny family could eat everything in ten minutes.
That's rather cynical, isn't it? I'm just kidding. I mean, I didn't have to cook, but I'm much more thankful for my family (who eats every meal I make in about ten minutes, no matter how long it takes me to cook it) and my friends and for health and happiness.

For a more complete telling of my day, please see
Glory's blog

Yes I did really get new diamond earrings. Wow!

Here's something you wont see as Christmas decorations at any of the department stores in the States. This is Tang's Department Store, Orchard Road, Singapore.

And now, some Christmas wish list items:

Isn't this dopey? I was at Borders and I wanted to make a list of books I'm interested in (half.com anyone?), but couldnt' find any paper to write things down on. So I took pictures. So there you go. Crochet for Beaders and Generation T are both very inspiring books that I'm coveting at the moment...

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend and eat lots of pumpkin pie for me!

Saw That Comin'

2007-11-21T00:23:00.001-08:00

I had an idea...
and then I had several requests
for crocheted maryjane slippers.
This is just the prototype and now I am in trouble if I don't happen to have more of this green yarn...took me three tries, using two different patterns, and I can't really wear them too much as they don't have arch support and I really must have arch support all the time. But they are satisfactory, nonetheless.

Birthday Serenade

2007-11-20T04:28:00.000-08:00

As an experiment, I have tried to post this one minute video I took of Akiko and Sunny playing at my birthday. Akiko is playing an erhu, and Sunny is playing the flute.
Not sure this is going to work.

Let the Festivities Begin

2007-11-20T03:44:00.001-08:00

My birthday, hosted at Chez Janis.

The delicious menu was Mediterranean. Here we have chicken satay, pita bread, and hummus yummus.

Salad Nicoise Exquisitoise.

Tabbouleh Todiefor.

And for dessert, real vanilla ice cream, Don't-Skip-The-Light-FLANtastic, and Spoil-Me-Rotten-Raspberry Cheesecake.

Just in case you aren't drooling yet. Oink.

The group, from the back row:
Amy, Lori, Janet
Akiko, Brooke, Norma
Janis and Sunny

What a wonderful time! Wish you all could have been there!

Un, Deux, Trois

2007-11-19T03:56:00.001-08:00

Un

Deux

Trois..fin?
Well, these are definitely addicting. They take so little time and afford such wonderful inspiration. But, honestly, how many crocheted shoes can a baby girl wear? And shouldn't I be doing something else?

What about the quilt I'm supposed to be quilting? Or the Christmas gifts I've started and abandoned?

And isn't there some house work that I should be attending to? What about all the multiple projects I'm participating in at the school?

Sorry, the little voice in my head took over the blog for a second there. Feel free to ignore it. I do.
obviously....

Cutiestness

2007-11-17T17:03:00.001-08:00

No, I'm not pregnant. But I have been invited to a baby shower. One of the teachers at Glory's school adopted a daughter from, of all places, Indiana. So we are showering the new family, and I just had to make these. I think I will probably make more.

The pattern, BTW, I found at knottygeneration.com and one shoe only took me about 20 minutes to crochet. That is, it only took 20 minutes when I wasn't watching Sense and Sensibility with Alan Rickman! I love Alan Rickman. There. I've said it.

Crafting Without Martha

2007-11-16T03:46:00.001-08:00

Our Friday group is usually a little smaller than our Tuesday group, and today was no exception to that rule. Nonetheless, we had a good turn out today.

Here are some of the ladies preparing to collect their materials to get started.

Here are some of said materials.

And here they are, with projects well underway.

Some of us need a little extra help. Ocular help. My darling friend, Janis, who sees very clearly that I love her to pieces.

And here are some loverly results of our hard work!

Just ran out of time; will post more bauble pix tomorrow!

Last Minute Crafting

2007-11-14T05:42:00.000-08:00

What is it? Wednesday? And I have to teach a craft on...Friday? Better hurry up and make something, quick!

So, somehow we wound up with a whole bag of these large glass crystals. Seemed a shame to just tie a string on them, although they are pretty enough by themselves. So, after dinner tonight, I sat down with a box of beads and began to string. Is it an ornament? A key chain? A cell phone dangle? Who knows?

As long as I had the box of beads out, I decided to make some earrings. These will also be sold at the craft fair at the end of the month.

A satisfying bit of work for an evening.

Hand Made Purse Made More Useful

2007-11-13T03:03:00.000-08:00

This is a purse I made, probably in August, I think. I was pretty hooked on crochet at that point, and this yarn was on sale. It's alpaca, very soft.

Because it is so soft, I decided it would be best to line it, so I picked this fabric which has been mouldering away in my stash.

So, now I have a lovely new purse but I didn't use it because, well, I really like having all my stuff organised and easy to find, and this purse didn't allow that.

Until last weekend.
While working at the craft fair at the American Club last Friday, I found a kiosk selling these lovely things, in all colors, and in two sizes. I bought one in the smaller size and it fits perfectly. And now, voila, a hand made purse made more useful!

I was tempted to purchase several of these organisers, one for me, one for Glory, one for my sister, but I decided that if I bought one, I could probably figure out how to make one....
I'll get back to you on that.

Incidentally, my friend Akiko mentioned to me that all the girls at the Singapore American School are carrying purses just like this one. She was surprised that I had made mine. I was surprised that I had joined a fad!

Where Have You Seen This Before?

2007-11-12T00:21:00.000-08:00

Apparently, bread making is infectious. Or it runs in families, or something. If you are a regular visitor to my sister's blog (fibermania.blogspot.com), then you have recently witnessed something very similar there.

No, these are not my hairy, freckled arms. They are the DH's. He and my sister have more than me in common! And it's not a one-off thing, either! He is making bread from a yeast sponge living in my refrigerator (ick, a little).

Whole wheat cinnamon rolls extraordinaire. Eaten before pictures of the final product could be snapped.

A Request for More Frequent Blog Postings

2007-11-10T18:59:00.000-08:00

Well, I've been getting these requests lately, many of them, so I decided to give it a try. Now that I've gotten a quilt in a show and all that (I didn't win anything, but I got some nice comments back from some of the judges). It just makes sense that if I'm trying to become a famous quilt artist (definition, please?), then it would be wise to put some content out here, too, in case anybody is reading.
So, What Have I Been Doing?

Many of you already know that my daughter's school, the International Community School of Singapore, has a crafting ministry that I am a teacher for. We gather together twice a week to make projects that will be sold at a Christmas craft fair at our school, and also at the Singapore American Club. The American Club sale was just last weekend. Apparently, we sold around $700 worth of stuff, but I think we sold more last year....

Here is a project that was started at the school, but which we did not finish in time, so I had to bring it home to do homework.

These are Casserole Kimonos - or casserole carriers that look like kimonos.

I spent all day Saturday making 8 sets of ties, and then assembling 6 casseroles. Today I finished the last two.

I believe the pattern came from Keepsake Quilting, which ships things nicely to Singapore. But we altered the pattern a bit: they were supposed to be quilted (we used quilted fabric for the lining), they had them bound with binding tape, we just pillowcased them, and they had a wooden spoon as a handle. Seems like using chopsticks was more of a no-brainer, and easier to find here.

We also used up much of our stash of Christmas fabrics because we had so much, and asian fabrics are fairly expensive out here.

I still have a few more homework items for the craft fair - not casserole carriers, tho. I will post that later. If I'm gonna post more frequently, I need to spread it out, no?

FYI: we will be selling the casserole carriers at 35 singapore dollars, and the craft sale is on the weekend of November 30th-December 1st at the International Community School. Please email me for details if you will be here.

The Spectrum Series, So Far

2007-09-30T15:50:00.001-07:00

Rooted and Grounded
37.5" X 27.25"

Confluence
60" X 55"

Cell Group
32" X 35"

I just wanted to see these three together and analyze how they relate, how they evolve. Hmm...

OK, this is the plan. For the rest of 2007 and for a portion of 2008, I want to make a total of 12 quilt show sized quilts. And get them into shows, obviously. After that, I think I will work on small, sellable pieces that I can carry back to the states with me and sell. Looks like sometime after 2008 is the approximate time I will be returning to live in the states. We'll see...

Cell Group

2007-09-26T22:20:00.000-07:00

32inches high by 35 inches wide
Completed September, 2007

In keeping with this Spectrum Series, I created this quilt and tweaked the design by including dots. My quilts seem to be getting more and more organic as I go along. Maybe more biological is a better word...

By the way, I am happy to announce my first ever invitation to send a quilt to a show!
Confluence (see previous post) has been accepted at Pacific Internation Quilt Festival in Santa Clara, California. You can see it from October 11th until October 15th.
Does this mean I can finally tell people I'm an artist? Hmm.....

Ooops! I forgot to show the detail pix. Here they are:

New crochet

2007-07-29T03:17:00.000-07:00

I was taking a nap the other day, and awoke with the idea that I'd like to make a crocheted pine cone. It could make a pretty Christmas ornament. So, I went online to see if there was a pattern or even a picture of one that I could maybe try to copy.

Bupkis.

So, I decided to try and make a pattern on my own. Who do I think I am, anyway? Some sicko, that's who. After several failed attempts, this is what I came up with:

I'm not totally happy with it as there are holes under the "leaves" - but is there a better pattern out there? Not that I can find. I'd be interested in finding a pattern, tho.

I'm not the only crochet sicko in this family. Glory is thrilled that she taught herself how to crochet in a circle.