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April 8, 2024
Four Windmills, 55 Years from Gefilte Quilt

Ever since moving to Southern California 30 years ago, I have marveled at the region's windmills, especially the miles of them between my Los Angeles home, and the "Road to California" quilt show in Ontario, CA, that I visit annually. They look like this:

Sometimes they spin in unison, sometimes out of sync, but they always make me happy, a majestic miracle of alternative energy. 
In February, when I was playing with a raw-edge fabric-covered-with-tulle technique to make Valentines, I thought of those windmills and decided to make some. I pulled all the pieces from my batik scrap bag ...

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December 1, 2023
November 2023 OMG Finish from Quilt Paint Create

My November OMG was to finish the challenge quilt, which I named Love Inspired. This was my inspiration for the quilt, just a small portion of the quilt passed to me.

And here is my finished quilt.

I had a lot of fun tucking fabric motifs in the letter collage.

I think the santa is my favorite.

To see all the other OMG projects, visit Stories From the Sewing Room.

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August 16, 2023
more collage, new design sheet. from Karen Ann Ruane

surface design, design for embroidery,

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August 14, 2023
with added cloth from Karen Ann Ruane

surface design, embroidery, design sheet,

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August 10, 2023
hand made books, two in progress from Karen Ann Ruane

embroidered books, two in progress

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August 8, 2023
collage pages from Karen Ann Ruane

hand stitched pages

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August 4, 2023
pages from Karen Ann Ruane

hand stitched pages

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A Drawer of Postcards from The Snarky Quilter

Despite many moves over the years I have held onto a three inch pile of postcards from art museums around the world. Some I bought and some were sent to me by an early art mentor. Finally, after rediscovering the collection for the umpteenth time, I decided to use them.

Given that the subjects ranged from Byzantine icons to modern art, I decided to detach figures from their settings and recombine them with other papers to create unexpected narratives. I pasted them all in a children’s board book, where I look at them more often now.

Front and back ...

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August 1, 2023
Floating Around from Celtic Thistle Stitches

 This quarter's theme for the Endeavourers Challege was Collage and, I must admit that I really struggled to come up with something to fit the theme for most of the quarter :( 


 I finally finished "Floating Around", above, on the day of the deadline! 

At a Textile Printing Summer School last year, I had put together these pieces of printed fabric but not progressed further with them so they lay in a cupboard for a year. The theme for the summer school had been leaves and grasses and, at the time, I felt that, although I really liked the colours ...

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July 24, 2023
embellished, design sheet from Karen Ann Ruane

embellished, design sheet

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July 22, 2023
yesterday from Karen Ann Ruane

collage, cloth, surface design.

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July 20, 2023
pages, soft papers and collage from Karen Ann Ruane

pages, soft papers and collage

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July 18, 2023
collage on soft papers from Karen Ann Ruane

collage on soft papers

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July 13, 2023
hand stitch, cloth, paper and collage from Karen Ann Ruane

hand stitch, cloth, paper and collage

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July 9, 2023
progress from Karen Ann Ruane

collage and hand stitch.....surface design

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July 3, 2023
with added embroidered cloth from Karen Ann Ruane

design sheet, with added embroidered cloth

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July 2, 2023
Sunday from Karen Ann Ruane

creative options, Sunday

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June 16, 2023
Wallflowers from The Snarky Quilter

wall·​flow·​er ˈwȯl-ˌflau̇(-ə)r 

1a: any of several Old World perennial herbs (genus Cheiranthus) of the mustard family

especially: a hardy erect herb (C. cheiri) widely cultivated for its showy fragrant flowers

b: any of a related genus (Erysimum) of herbs with showy flowers

2a: a person who from shyness or unpopularity remains on the sidelines of a social activity (such as a dance)

b: a shy or reserved person (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wallflower)

Am I the only one who sees a contradiction in the above definitions? Showy yet on the sidelines? But that contradiction applies ...

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June 9, 2023
Evaluating My 100 Day Project from The Snarky Quilter

I finished my last 100 day project collage on June 2 and am now pondering exactly what to do with a plastic bag full of 4 by 4 inch collages. Almost all are abstract compositions, though some could be considered impressionistic landscapes and a few have recognizable images.

My original parameters were to glue painted, printed and magazine photo scraps onto squares of card stock, and add a stamped image to them. I had a plastic tub full of scraps left from previous projects that I augmented with magazine photo strips about halfway through. I tried to use the scraps ...

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May 21, 2023
surface design continued from Karen Ann Ruane

extending design sampling for embroidery

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  • collage
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