Animals of the Fen

As promised, here come the animals to populate the fen quilt.  

My friend, as I said earlier, specified particular species of each animal.  It wasn't hard to find photos of each via google.  I also found info on each animal's size, so I could reproduce them somewhat in scale.  

I put each photo into Illustrator (I imagine any program would work somewhat the same, but I'm nowheres near a computer expert).  I drew a box the size I wanted the animal to be, and scaled the photo accordingly.  Then I printed them out, traced each onto paper, pinned them on the quilt, and checked it out with my friend.  I posted a photo of the quilt with paper animals in place in a previous post.

When the sizing was all set, I used the tracings as patterns to cut the fabrics for the basis of each animal.  Again, the fabrics were all stabilized with iron-on interfacing before I cut.  I stitched the animals in place, using a zig-zag with invisible thread.

Quilting in the Fen

My current art quilt project is a major one.  I've been working on this quilt for longer than I'd like to admit.  So this rather lengthy, photo-filled post will serve to bring you up to date with an overview of the steps I've taken so far.  This is a very condensed version of the process.  There were many detailed decision points and adjustments along the way, of course.

A friend of mine from college days, who is a zoologist, asked me to create a quilt depicting the fen in upstate New York where she does her fieldwork.  She sent me many photos that she has taken there.  Here's the overview shot that became the basis for the quilt.  In it, you will see three bog buckmoths, one of the creatures she studies there.

In The Theater

Our lovely show, Four Acts / One Night, has opened and closed.  Here are a few backstage highlights.

Here are our dressing rooms, at a pretty well organized moment.

Blue Shoes

The Blue Shoes.  We found these shoes for one of our actresses.  They are to go with a sort of royal blue dress, and we figured we could take them somewhere to be dyed to match.  Well, after much research, it seems that the only shoe dying folks will do these days is either black or –– or black.

So we did a bunch of brainstorming, and decided to decorate the shoes somehow with some of the same blue and maybe some pearls, because the hat that she'll be wearing with the dress is blue with some pearl trim, and silver lamé.  The character is a diva sort, the era is the 1940s.  In other words, she needs to be very well "put together".  

Log Cabin Blocks

I am part of the Thin Ice Theater costume crew.  Thin Ice is the theater program of our homeschool group.  There are 4 other moms plus myself.  Between us, we have a wide variety of sewing, costuming, and fashion experience, which adds up to having a plain old good time learning from each other and creating together.

Our next production is Four Acts / One Night, a set of four one-act plays.  We are in the homestretch - performances will be June 9 and 10.  Those of you who live nearby - show times and directions to the theater are at:  http://thinicetheater.com

One of the plays is "Trifles" by Susan Glaspell.  It requires some log cabin blocks, an important part of the plot actually.  Well, of course, I am the person who volunteered to make them.  

Hello, out there!

All sorts of people have been telling me I should have a blog.  So, here I am, a step further into the 21st century.  Having a website has been very fun, so maybe having a blog will be fun, too.  Hmmm.  It's a nothing-ventured-nothing-gained moment.

The basic plan, such as it is, is to share my sewing adventures - antique quilt and vintage clothing repair, fiber art, and costuming - with additional bits and pieces about other aspects of my Life.

Current projects in progress:

– fiber art: Creating a landscape quilt for a zoologist, portraying the bog where she does her research, and the critters who live there.

– costuming: Altering and embellishing costumes for a student production of four one-act plays, to be produced June 9 and 10. http://www.thinicetheater.com

– vintage clothing: I have a handful of interesting items right now, at least one needing some extra special TLC. My most intense repair job to date was recently posted at:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/BasyaBerkman

– homeschooling: My daughter, launched, just completed her sophomore year of college. My son, at home finishing his junior year of high school.

– life after homeschooling: Exploring ways to solidify and expand my various sewing interests.

As time goes by, I will post photos and tell stories and tall tales about these projects as they progress.

Here is an amazing thing.  My aloe plant is blooming!  For the first time ever in umpteen years of having houseplants!  I had no idea they could bloom indoors.