Monday, September 26, 2016

Granddaughter sewing lessons

I've reached a new plateau.  My second granddaughter turned 10 and she wants to learn how to sew!  I asked her if she wanted to make a quilt, and the answer was no, but I'm OK with that (for now).

We're using the same book that I used with my oldest granddaughter.  It's "The Best of Sewing Machine for Kids".   Our first few lessons were learning the sewing machine terminology and sewing on paper.  Then we moved to sewing crafty things.  3 lessons down.  I wonder how many more we'll have together now that school is back in session?

Sewing lesson

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Green Exhibit opening Mt Hood Community College

My first exhibit with the group High Fiber Diet is scheduled for its premier at Mt. Hood Community College Gallery from September  20 through October 27, 2016.  Opening reception is planned for the afternoon of October 6th from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm.  I will miss this opening - darn - but plan to make it to other openings as the show travels.  I can't wait to see the whole grouping.

I made a piece entitled "The North Side" for this traveling exhibit with the theme "It's Not Easy Being Green".  It is a collection of 31 fiber art quilts that will travel to art galleries and museums in the Pacific Northwest.  All of the pieces were made in 2016 and juried into the show from a larger collection of pieces submitted.  I was thrilled to get into the show since this was the first entry I made for the High Fiber Diet call for entries challenge.

I wrote a couple of previous blogs about this quilt and how it was made.    Here it is again, in case you missed it.   



Monday, September 19, 2016

Sewing on the Vacation

We took a long trip in our travel trailer this summer.  Some of my friends told me to take my sewing machine and a project, so I did!

Normally when I'm out on vacation, I don't want to be cooped up in inside a trailer.  Well, anywhere inside actually.  But I learned that the weather doesn't always cooperate, your husband needs a break to go fishing, and/or you're not able to go anywhere because you're exhausted.  I'm never too exhausted to sew a little bit, though.

Joanne Roth trailer sewing


I tried one of those modern techniques where you sew a scrap of fabric to the corners of squares.  My stash is loaded with teal green and light turquoise, plus black and white prints.  So that is what I selected.  I did a little bit of cutting out before we left to make it easier to pull out the project for quick sewing here and there.  And my inspiration was from "Diamonds in the Rough" pattern by Jenny Rekeweg in Quilters World magazine from the Winter of 2013.

After we got back, I sewed together the blocks into a 57.5" x 67" top.  Although the pattern didn't call for a border, and modern quilts often do not have a border, I decided to add one in black and white prints to give it more stability on the edges.  Final size is 63.5" x 73".  It's not quilted yet, but I like the top.

Modern Diamonds by Joanne Adams Roth


I hope you like it too!


Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Nest Art Quilt Show in Camas

My nest art quilt show in running this September at the Second Story Gallery in Camas, WA.  It is a joint show with Wilson Cady and his paintings of the Columbia Gorge and areas nearby.

The staff of the gallery is so wonderful and they did an amazing job of hanging this show to blend all of my 19 art quilts and Wilson's paintings.

The opening night was on September 2nd, which turned out to be a rainy night -- one of the few during the last couple of months!  We had a great turnout anyway, and the musician was perfect.  Nice food, nice company.  It was a great night.

I even got a little picture in the local newspaper.    I hope you get a chance to see the show!


Monday, September 12, 2016

Into the Woods at Night, Part Two

This is a continuation of the Part One post on the quilt, "Into the Woods at Night".

I added a couple more layers of the woods, and added Shisha mirrors as eyes in the foreground.  I really feel like I captured the sense of going into the woods at night and not knowing what is out there looking at you.  The main reason I am scared of the dark!


Last two layers and the hiker 

Gray tulle covers the bottom half, as well as the flashy black tulle as the final top layer.  I added the shadow of the hiker, who happens to be my husband.


All layers pinned and ready to quilt
Have I told you yet that I love my new quilting machine from Innova?  It is so easy to do larger quilt pieces on this machine, and I can change threads anytime that I want.  I used 5 different threads to quilt this piece - ranging from white through gray and to black.

Here is the finished quilt.  It measures 31" high x 47" wide.

"A Walk in the Woods" by Joanne Adams Roth


I hope you like it!




Monday, September 5, 2016

Into the Woods at Night, part One

This art quilt was made for the Clark County Quilters 2017 Show theme, which is "Walk on the Wild Side".  I had so many ideas to fit this theme and am showing you my sketchbook of some of those ideas... hippy with wild clothes and hair, walking into the woods at night with wild eyes looking back, and just plain old nighttime wood scenes.  I liked the idea of the woods the best, so I used this idea to do my sketch.



design sketch


Did I tell you that I am afraid of the dark?  Yes, the only thing I'm afraid of.  I love to hike, camp, and go into the wild, but I am terrified of the dark even when I am with another person and it is my own front yard!  So eyes of wild animals that are reflecting the light had to be the "hidden" feature of this quilt.

I enlarged my design and used a technique that I learned from Patty Hawkins, which is to add fusible to the front of the batting, and then collage pieces of fabric onto the batting.  I did this in 5 layers on the background.  Also using techniques that I learned from previous art pieces, I used organza in two different colors and tulle to dull the backgrounds.  Here are some progress pictures showing how I achieved this effect.

Two background layers done

Trees added to the two furthest backgrounds

Thread and organza layer



3rd background layer, tulle and organza 


More thread and another layer of organza.  Some quilting added.

Front two layers added, plus "eyes"


When I was at Jo-Ann's getting material for my quilt carrying bags, I spied a really cool black netting with just a hint of sparkle.  I could really envision this material as an overlay for the woods.  I bought 2 yards and planned to have this as the very top layer.

Stay tuned.  I hope you like it so far.