The end of year rush

Last ditch sewing projects before the holidays arrive! Madly trying to get a challenge out of the way…I  have promised myself a few weeks of relaxing and drawing…. camping, canoeing, and minding the dogs…. Bailey my little shadow

and Charli my patient orthopaedic hardware buddy…. she is coming along well, now managing a couple of 600m walks daily, with a few short bursts around the yard in between…. hates being cooped up, loves sitting outside except when the sun is blazing and there is no shade, or if there is thunder about….. we are 5 weeks down, 7 to go…  then she should be able to tackle the stairs and rejoin the family upstairs…

in the meantime, there is this stitching to do….. currently tackling a small square piece for an exhibition in 2020….. I have a few months to get it finished, but it’s been in the pipeline for a little while, so it’s good to get it done and move on to other things. Red mangroves….

Background applied to a layer of medium to stiff iron on vilene, then painted framework for red mangrove root system

Trunks and branches with stitching

Roots stitched

Beginnings of water added, then I felt it needed more background roots; the beginnings of adding aerial roots

Further aerial roots…. these will be stitched, and then further roots to be laid down, then more stitching.

I also have finished my Reddy Arts 2018 challenge, which is destined for another 2020 exhibition… just making the decision about how to finish it…. as an art quilt, or mounted on a canvas….. I am inclined to lean toward the latter….  here it is still in the raw state…. but I think the stitching is finished…. unless I decide I need to add a little more to the rock…

Initial drawing and colour added

Background commenced

Nearly completed…. watching the Brisbane to Gladstone race getting underway… although the crested terns are not too interested!

If I manage to do all of these things, I might have some time to consider the 2QAQ exhibition…. or the AQC…. but those deadlines are coming up fast!  Something really magical will have to happen to get something into the AQC…. on the other hand, my weed patch needs some attention, but if we continue to get heatwaves….. that might have to wait until the winter!

December 5, 2018 by Sue Duffy Designs Categories: Art, Art Quilts, birds, Nature, Quilting, Textile art, The Dogs, thread sketchingTags: applique, Art, crested terns, machine free motion stitching, Mangroves, Moreton Bay, sailing boats, textile art, Work in progress, yachts Leave a comment

Life Amongst the Lilies – textile workshop with Sue Duffy

What a great 3 days. What a great bunch of women! Fantastic workers, having fun creating with their sewing machines. We had a fabulous time, and it was full on. No time to tarry!

The morning teas were exceptional, wow! If you ever have the good fortune to have Brenda Wood as your convenor, you are in for an absolute treat! With her at the organisational helm, this workshop was a breeze and needs met. I believe everyone learned something new, including the tutor!

There was the first day, learning how to lay down a background and getting in some free motion practise, which was needful for some of the beginners in the group who did a fantastic job. Day two was focused on learning how to paint the wee birds and waterlily flowers with inktense or watercolour pencils, and then some thread sketching using stabiliser and embroidery hoops to build and enhance. A bit of applique thrown in, more thread sketching and then this was followed on day three with trapunto by machine, how to make little snowflake flowers and stitch the lilypads, and finally sorting out the layout and composition of the piece.

It was an absolute pleasure to teach such friendly and generous women, who readily shared bits of fabrics and threads when needed, who paid attention and then took what they saw in the demos back to their machines and got on with their stitching. A great group indeed.

Here are a few photos from the three days, with the almost completed work…. lots of happy faces!  it will be great to see some finished projects down the track.

Working diligently

Still working diligently

Deb

Cathy

Chris

Margaret

Denise

Pat

Gail

October 28, 2018 by Sue Duffy Designs Categories: Art, Art Quilts, birds, Nature, Textile art, thread sketching, WorkshopsTags: applique, Art, artists, chicks, Comb crested jacanas, design, flowers, inktense pencils, Jacanas, learning, machine stitching, people, snowflake lilies, textile art, textile art workshop, trupunto, watercolour pencils, waterlilies, Work in progress Leave a comment

Latest work

My one excuse for not blogging lately, is that I have been SUPER busy… I recently completed a commission, and the idea was that would free my time up somewhat. Here is the completed work, made for the reception area of Kedwell and Co, Accountants in Sandgate, Queensland.

Heartwood, cottons and polyester on canvas, 48″ x 36″ Private Collection

Heartwood, detail

Heartwood, detail

I have been working on some workshop samples for my “Creative Landscapes” Workshop “Life Amongst the Lilies” to be held in October in Redcliffe. Today is the day those were finished, all bar the labels and hanging sleeves. In this 3 day class you will learn to lay down basic backgrounds,  and how to pull together a pleasing composition using a variety of techniques to achieve this. Two designs offered with interchangeable elements. To participate, please contact Brenda at 2Sew Textiles.

Life Amongst the Lilies 1

Life Amongst the Lilies 2

Life Amongst the Lilies 3

In the midst of all this, I made a small quilt (below) to enter into “One Red Thread 2018 – “WeatheRed”, at Berry Quilting Retreat which was fun to make and features our local red cliffs and a solitary tree clinging to life as the cliff is weathered away….

Summer Storm – A Ghost Gum clings precariously to the vibrant weathered cliffs on the coast of the Redcliffe Peninsula. Entered in One Red Thread – WeatheRed competition 2018.

My next effort will be a couple of small unicorns, but first I need to make a wedding dress for my younger daughter – that will be fun! If a little daunting, it is some time since I did any dressmaking……

In the meantime, my 100 days project fell by the wayside around Day 60, but I did  #62 last night…. I need to try and do some portraits now…. this one done in Procreate on my iPad 9.7 with Apple pencil. I love being able to use the pencil brush and change the colour, size etc. Great practice, although erasing is too easy…..

Watching the Footy

That’s it for now, have a great month!

August 18, 2018 by Sue Duffy Designs Categories: Art, Art Quilts, birds, drawing, My Quilts, Nature, Quilting, quilts, Textile art, thread sketchingTags: Art, design, drawing, Jacanas, Lilypads, sketches, snowflake lilies, textile art workshop, waterlilies Leave a comment

Parrots

These feathered folk will soon be out of the studio and on their way to new environs… with just one more to complete, the set of 12 will shortly be hanging on my client’s wall! I have had such fun making these 8” square textile works…  next up, some bigger works and barely a bird in sight! I say that because while I intend not to include any birds, you just never know when one might sneak in…..

April 7, 2018April 7, 2018 by Sue Duffy Designs Categories: Art, Art Quilts, ARTyfacts, birds, drawing, Home decor, machine embroidery, Nature, Quilting, Seascapes, Textile art, thread sketchingTags: Australian parrots, parrots, sketches, textile art, textiles, Work in progress Leave a comment

Benefit Auctions

Being a member of Studio Art Quilt Associates, I decided this year I would submit a couple of small pieces for auction, to help in a small way to raise funds for the SAQA exhibition programmes, and I guess it is another platform where people will see my humble work….. These are the two pieces  – the first,   postcard sized, is an Eastern Yellow Robin  for the Spotlight Auction, and the second, Silver Gulls, is for the Benefit Auction. I had fun making them. The postcard is already on it’s way to America, if it hasn’t already arrived, and the other will be soon winging it’s way to Lisa Walton , vice president of SAQA who has kindly offered to take the Oceania Membership Group’s donated quilts to the USA.

Eastern Yellow Robin for SAQA Spotlight Auction

Silver Gulls 12″ x 12″ made for SAQA Benefit Auction 2018 Cotton Raw edge applique, couched velour yarn, machine stitching

The past 10 days have also seen me quilt and bind a charity quilt top  – one of the Linus quilts – made by another Queensland Quilters member, so I will be handing that back this coming Tuesday at the QQ Inc March gathering. Just a teeny contribution…. and it keeps my hand in just a bit with the machine quilting…

Then there were a couple of tiny miniature pieces I did for fun, that were not birds for once!!! I have had these tiny frames in my stash for years so with a bit of the old crackle medium and acrylic paint I dressed them up a little and made these wee gifts…. 2″ x 2″ and 2″ x 2.5″ respectively!

Sunflower for Kim (What else?) Inktense on cotton duck, thread sketched

Fish for Brenda (of course!) painted vliesofix on hand dyed fabric, thread sketched with metallic polyester thread.

I have a mind to have a go at the Coastal Threads Art Prize, “Coastal Fringe” if I can get my act together… I have yet to finalise my subject, but with a March 30 deadline I will be on to it this week! Next on the list following that is a commission! Exciting times.

 

 

March 11, 2018 by Sue Duffy Designs Categories: applique, Art, Art Quilts, ARTyfacts, birds, machine embroidery, Patchwork, Piecing, Quilting, quilts, Textile art, thread sketchingTags: Art, Art Quilts, australian birds, birds, design, fish, flowers, framed artwork, quilting, Quilts, sunflowers, textile art, trapunto Leave a comment