The Book of Ruth

double click for detail view

Journal No. 2 will be about DH's grandmother ~

bits and pieces from her button box and her life.

This is her signature.

This is one of her old school books.

Problem is that the signature is on the inside cover of the book

and I need it to use elsewhere in the journal.

So ~ I scanned it and cropped the resulting .jpg

All is good, right?

Not yet.

I need a reversed (flipped) image to create a transfer using TAP 

(transfer artist paper).

Simple?

Not in iPhoto on a Mac.

Until you Google the problem. 

Drag a copy of the image to the desktop

(outside the iPhoto program).

Double click to open the image using Preview.

Go to Tools and choose Flip Horizontal.

VOILA!  A reversed image appears.

Do a Save As and name the new flipped image.

Drag it back into iPhoto and file as needed.

Repeat as needed . . .

I really do like my Mac . . .

especially when I figure out how to do something new.

And I'm very excited about this journal!

Quiltdivajulie

More Glimmers of Progress

It may be hard to tell, but the frames are matte purple.

. . . and the temples featured these blue/purple stripes.

These will be everyday (not computer, not sun) glasses.

(My eyewear has always been metal rimmed and 'sensible'

so this is going to be an adventure for me.)

This may not look like much, 

but there are sixteen 18" x 24" sheets of paper painted (both sides)

for what will become journal #3 featuring my wedding dress.

(our ceremony colors were soft blue and mossy green)

Here's another angle for the pages above.

What doesn't show well in photos

is the soft pearlescent glimmer in the paints.

So subtle yet fully present.

There were also another sixteen pages painted over the weekend

( . . .  paint one side, let dry, flip and paint second side, let dry . . . )

The second group has various shades of rose, rose-gold, and rosy pink

and are for journal #2 whiich will feature

buttons, button cards, and delicately painted/stenciled fabrics

of my husband's grandmother (an artist before her time),

along with a few photos and stories of her life.

* * * 

We learned yesterday that the office where I work

had a "break in"  over the weekend.  

Late in the day, we discovered that company checks

had been taken.  

Lots of activity (well into the evening)

as we worked with the bank, 

the property manager, and the police

to get reports taken and other plans in place

to deal with the problems.

We already have new office locks and keys 

and there will be more changes in the days ahead.

* * * 

Tonight I hope to piece the scrappy back for yesterday's four-patch flimsy.

IF life cooperates!

Quiltdivajulie

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"Life is a zoo in a jungle."  (Peter DeVries)

More Progress to Share

The signatures and cover

of my online class journal

are now assembled!

I think I got a bit carried away

as the book needs a ribbon to keep it closed . . .

(double click photos to see greater detail)

This is the way the book falls open when left on its own.

Here is the inside front cover, and

this is the inside back cover.

I'll add a quotation or two

on each of the pieces tucked into

the embellished paper pocket.

Once all the remaining details are completed,

I'll show photos of the outside of the book.

Very happy with what I've learned

AND how this particular book has turned out.

I'll continue gathering the bits and pieces

I want to incorporate into the next two journals/books

(but I am NOT setting a time-frame or deadline for myself).

Quiltdivajulie

Journal Progress Photos

The pages for my class journal have taken a huge leap forward.

I played with TAP (Transfer Artist Paper) 

for the very first time over the weekend.

Photo on the left is my mother and 

the photo on the right is her sister 

(taken in the early 1950s).

The final two-page spread includes a 1955 photo of me

with my feet in the Pacific Ocean.

(I'm still drawn to water ~

lakes, rivers, streams, ponds, fountains . . .)

The tatting and crocheted laces were made by my grandmother,

the same woman who made the flimsy that became

my mother's quilt (all the way through

assisted living and skilled care ~

until the constant laundering wore it to shreds).

The book I started with was my aunt's.

I know because her name was in it.

DH scanned the inside cover of the book

to capture the library rules 

(double click to read ~ worth your time).

The faded so-soft piece of silk came from Spirit Cloth Jude.

My grandmother as a dashing young woman

(surrounded by fragments of her handwork).

* * *

I am very much enjoying this class 

and have at least two more journals gestating

(one involving the bodice of my wedding dress

and the other DH's grandmother's buttons).

All in good time . . . 

Quiltdivajulie

Studio Notes

I spent most of Saturday working on my journal class project.

The pages have been sized and grouped into signatures.

Those silky threads are the edges of a piece of silk

shared long ago by Spirit Cloth's Jude.

With the work-in-process project turned onto its side, 

you can also see a bit of my mother's tattered quilt 

(pieced by my maternal grandmother).

For those who may not remember,

this is the same quilt that formed the foundation

for my 2007 monthly Journal Quilt project.

I also spent time cleaning up

and putting things where they belong.

I trimmed some of the extra batting into 16" squares,

folded a few larger segments,

and put them on the shelf

(instead of tossed in a corner all willy-nilly).

I pulled pieces from the orphan bin

for three AAQI Priority Quilts.

The cutting table is actually clear and ready for use!

And I can't tell you the last time

this much counter was visible!

Here's to the week ahead. . .

Quiltdivajulie

Monday Musings

This wonderful squishie arrived in the mail over the weekend.

A while back, Andrea and I agreed to a swap.

I sent her the pattern that I used for Dave & Friends

(the black and white and red kitty quilt now hanging at my co-worker's desk)

and she sent me this bountiful squishie full of scraps!

We're both happy.

On Saturday, I finally got the pages prepped for my online journal class.

I've made fabric journals ~ but this class is off in a whole new direction for me.

(link in sidebar for class announcement)

I spent most of the weekend dealing with details ~

and thinking about a LOT of things.

Once again, after slowing down and allowing myself to rest,

I've come back around to the center of who I am as a quilter.

I'm happiest doing scrappy, liberated work.

The four-patch project(s) have been lurking since the first of the year.

The one above now has a definite purpose (gift quilt) and timetable.

As this week begins, I feel more content.

Quiltdivajulie

2011 ... And Now It Begins



Click to enlarge ... please!

This is the cover graphic for my new 2011 Quilt Journal.

Last year's journal was titled "The Adventure Continues."

This year's journal has been titled "...Keeping It Real..."

 A few days ago I started on a simple scrappy quilt

to get myself back into the groove . . .

but then . . . yesterday's mail arrived!

Now look at this mish-mash of glorious-ness on my design wall!

Weeks ago I offered to make a quilt for Lynne

using her leftover letters and orphan bits . . .

I've been sketching ideas all day

and cannot wait to start playing in the studio.

Stay tuned ~

I'll be sharing progress photos

as this project evolves!

 Quiltdivajulie

------------------------------

"Design in art, is a recognition of the relation between various things, various elements in the creative flux. You can't invent a design. You recognize it, in the fourth dimension. That is, with your blood and your bones, as well as with your eyes."  (D.H. Lawrence)