A Little Retreat....just because

I took myself away for a short little retreat down in Hull. No husband, daughter or dog. Just me and my creative stuff! 

On my way to the beach I attended my first Boston Modern Quilt guild meeting. What a fabulous bunch of women! We met in an auto-body shop! Cool contrast with quilts and vintage cars all in the same industrial space! The Boston Modern Quilt guild is collecting quilt blocks to make quilts for those affected by the Boston Marathon bombings. The blocks are all blue, yellow, white and grey. The guild put the call out to the quilting community and they have collected over 700 blocks! I brought these two quilt tops home to machine quilt. Thanks to Superior Threads who donated quilting thread!

Another project that the Modern Quilt Guilds are involved with is peace flags. Again the quilting community heard the call! Hundreds of peace flags have been created to as a memorial and healing message to those affected by the Boston Marathon bombings. The flags will be tied together and displayed in the courtyard at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston from May 23 - June 16. 

 I delivered flags created by the Northampton Modern Quilt Guild to the Boston guild. Prior to their trip to Boston they were displayed at Beehive Sewing in Northampton.

And no guild meeting would be complete without show n' tell - here are some of the fabulous creations made by members.

A young member made this quilt for her teacher!

Then to the beach. I was so tired, I didn't really do much on Saturday night except settle in and look at my art supplies and stuff. On Sunday I started the day by working on this Zentangle mandala. I colored it with Sakura Gelly Roll pens - I was able to gradate the color with with a little water on a small paintbrush. 

They I moved onto my Draw Happy class. This is an online drawing and mixed media class. Here's how the piece developed. I was focused on the process and followed the teacher example very closely.

At low tide I took a break for a walk on the beach. My house is just a few houses from either the ocean to the east or the bay to the west. I went to the ocean first but there was a strong wind coming off the water so it was waaaaay windy and cold. See those cold waves? 

I went over to the bay where the wind was calmer. It's rocky on the bayside and I found some cool yellow glass nestled in the rocks.  Some kids were collecting crabs - more fun than a video game! I walked down the pier hoping to snap a picture of the Boston skyline but it was in the fog.

Then back to the project. I'm kind of pleased with the result - especially since it involved paint and I had an art teacher long long ago tell me to throw away my paint! HA - see I CAN paint!

On Monday I worked on this mandala - again using the Gelly Roll pens and water. I'm not thrilled with this one but there it is. 

Then a long long walk on the ocean beach. I forgot my camera so close you eyes and imagine 3 miles of sand and a gentle surf. The sun is shining and it's not too hot or too cold. You are one of maybe a dozen people and a few dogs enjoying the beach. ahhhh just what I needed.

Now home again home again jigidy jig.

Sunrise Series

Lately I have been enjoying working in series. My latest series is inspired by the sunrises over Nantasket Beach in Hull Massachusetts. The pieces are 5" square (8" with matting).  They are composed of fabric which I lay down improvisationally and secure with fusible products. I then layer with batting and muslin and quilt on a domestic (sit down) sewing machine. The quilting designs are inspired by Zentangle® patterns and I use several thread colors.  

They are available for  purchase click here.

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Zendala

The newest thing from the folks at Zentangle (r) is round tiles. They come as a set of 18 in a cute tin. Some are prestrung - divided into areas for you to create tangle patterns in - and some are plain. I 've been pondering making one of these tiles for about six weeks!

This is what the tile looked like before - you can see that it's divided into interesting spaces.

I combined my efforts by trying the round tile and doing the Diva challenge.  The Diva challenge was to use only two tangle patterns "Hybred" and "Strircles". Here is the result.

For this tile I used black and blue Pigma pen and shaded with Derwent Graphinte pencil. I found the Zendala process to be a little tedious. The spaces are small and it was hard not to start making tiny little designs that I would then need to repeat in the four quadrants. I do like the result though.  I think I will try to make more Zendala but really try to keep the patterns bigger - and not worry about keeping the quadrants the same.


If you want to try Zendala tiles they are available for purchase on my website: www.elainehuffman.com - with free shipping!