The Odd One, Art Piece 17 (AKA The Chosen Nine)

The Odd One, AP 17
A Handfull
A Handfull

Busy, Busy, Busy:

This year has been very busy with  my renovation project, my solo art exhibit, finishing oodles of 8”x10” small art pieces and starting my own online store. Sandwiched in-between were numerous trips to my little cabin in the woods as well as fun activities with my peeps; all while practicing social distancing. The online store has taken up most of the time I would normally have spent on my blog. With the majority of those tasks accomplished, I can once again share my triumphs with Operation Renovation.

A Return To Operation Renovation:

Operation Renovation is a project I started back in January. During the early days of this pandemic I searched for something to focus my attention on. At the time, I had a number of art pieces that were finished but not quite to my liking. With my pandemic anxiety level reaching an all-time high I decided to redirect my attention to those less-than-appealing projects. A number of successful outcomes have already been shared but I still have quite a few to go; time to get back to sharing my progress.

Today’s journal entry will focus on the art piece I once called The Chosen Nine, Art Piece # 17. So, sit back and enjoy my next reveal.

The Chose O, AP 17

In The Beginning:

This art quilt began during  the summer of 2017 (see photo above). In its original form it was a grouping of nine improvisational building blocks. Each of the blocks was surrounded by four white borders. The nine, with their stark white edges, were stitched together and surrounded by a white binding. They were quilted with a simple, but attractive straight-line quilting motif. The finished quilt remained in that state until recently; that’s when I decided the composition was just too blah. To remedy my dilemma I grabbed a seam ripper and removed the binding, then gave it a good pressing

Simultaneous Renovation:

At the same time I decided to tackle the renovation of Art Piece # 17 I had also decided to work on two other items. Those compositions contained four blocks each. They are Four Friends # 1 and  Four Friends # 2. All three quilts could very easily have been left intact and mounted on a stretched canvas frame. Since I was making changes I decided to go wild and cut them all apart; I ended up with seventeen 5 1/2”x5 1/2″ units. To change things even further I reallocated them into eight separate art compositions: a six piece, a four piece, a two piece and five individual specimens.

Six Piece:

The six piece composition was the first one to be finished. To give this item a punch of color I chose to add a two-tone blue border around each block. All six blocks were then stitched together to form a new quilt top. The newly created fiber art piece was sandwiched together with a layer of batting and a new fabric backing. To secure the layers together I traveled around each block stitching straight-lines with a variegated blue thread.

A New Name:

Once the quilting was finished I decided to give this renovated item a new name. As I allowed my eyes to travel over its surface I made a discovery; one of the units incorporated into the project was quilted differently than the others. This revelation gave me the inspiration to title this fiber art piece The Odd One. See if you can locate it!

The Odd One, AP 17
The Odd One, Art Piece # 17

The Finish:

In its finished form The Odd One measures 16″x20″. Protecting the back from dust and bugs is a paper backing. For ease of display two d-rings and wire were added to facilitate hanging on a wall. Silicone bumpers were also added to help minimize sideways movement stability and to promote air circulation.

Thank You:

I hope that you have enjoyed seeing the once blah specimen turn into something much more spectacular. Sharing these stories with you is one of the best parts of the entire process. Thank you for being here!

Cindy Anderson

Fiber Art By Cindy Anderson

A QAL Project For Me, Day 10

 

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Anticipation!

I looked forward to returning to my studio today.  My mood was extra perky because the clouds were gone and the sun was brightly shining. I just love it when the light filters through my studio window. The glow of the bright rays and their warmth always makes me smile.

Day 10

My goal for today was to create new building blocks to fill in some of the holes in my design. I also had plans to manipulate the arrangement of my blocks. The process of moving them around obviously won’t stop until I start to stitch them together. The farther I get into my project the harder it is to see big changes.

Parts Department

I have a large volume of scraps stockpiled in baskets and tubs just waiting to be added to an art piece. Sometimes I think I pay more attention to them than I do my neatly stacked and folded fabrics.

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Storage Area

Perhaps it’s because the contents in my cubby holes serve two purposes,

inventory and

decoration.

I love to surround myself with bright colors. My home glows with pizazz from my many art pieces and the carefully chosen collectibles. In my studio, my neatly pressed fabrics help to add the punch of color I crave.

A decrease in my inventory would mean a reduction in the colors on display. Of course I could always remedy that with additional trips to the fabric store. But, on the other hand, that would mean I have to spend more money and spending more money is something I hope to curtail. The scraps of fabric, while quite colorful all on their own, don’t provide as much of an artistic impact. Besides cutting into a scrap is much less traumatic that a whole piece of cloth.

Todays Specimens

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On Day 1  I experimented with the construction of angled strips using Cindy Grisdela’s book Artful Improv: Explore Color Recipes, Building Blocks & Free-Motion Quilting. From several of the blocks I cut a thin strip and set them aside for future pieces.

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Mystery QAL Day 10 Block Harvest

I used those strips to create the center section for the block in the top left corner. I’m  amazed at how interesting it turned out. The other five blocks were also made with scraps from my baskets.

Color Value

Pictured above are my color and mono tone photos from yesterday. The photos show areas of concentrated dark values. To make my piece more appealing I needed to insert blocks with lighter tones to break up those areas.

Some of the blocks I create are random sizes while others were made with a definite size in mind. All of the units I made today were meant to fill specific areas so their sizes were predetermined. Their color values were pre-planned as well.

These new blocks were made to help breakup yesterdays problem areas. I inserted them into my art piece then took another set of photos.

Here’s how my piece looked after they were incorporated. The addition of the lighter colors helped to break up the overly dark areas.

A Different Plain

Without my saying so, I’m sure you have noticed that my photos were displayed horizontally rather than vertically. I did this because I like to be able to see them on a different plane. This gives me the opportunity to visualize things differently and perhaps notice other problem areas.

My design wall is way too big to turn the other way. It is much easier to rotate a photo than it is to move my board. Besides, if I did try to turn the board I have a hunch many of my units would fall off; creating yet another problem. Then I definitely would see things in a whole new way.

Aside from color value, I also like to analyze the direction of my blocks. Ideally I would have a good mix of both horizontal as well as portrait. My eyes don’t always catch this with a portrait photo. Many times I’m so focused on color and their values that I forget to look at block orientation. The horizontal photo makes me look at things differently and helps me to focus on portrait vs. landscape.

Judging by the photos above I think I have a pretty good mix. There are perhaps a few more that register as landscape but I think I can live with that for now. Especially since I’m not quite finished with my design. This gives me something to keep in the back of my mind, however.

Now What?

So far today I have made six new blocks, reorganized the block arrangement and analyzed my landscape vs. portrait orientation. Left to consider is my color values. Next I will compare yesterday’s photo with today’s.

 

Looking at the two photos I can see that many of the blocks have been moved to new locations. Moving them around and adding in the six new units has drastically improved the appearance. The ratio of lights, mediums and darks has started to even out as well. With a more even blend my eyes move about more freely and that’s exactly what I want to achieve. Woohoo! I think I am on to something. FINALLY! 🙂

Awesome!

This is an awesome place to call it a day! Before I do that let me share two more photos.

This side-by-side comparison provides a look at the end-of-day photos from yesterday and today. I definitely like today’s much better! It looks so much more organized and restful.

Thank You!

You have been such a trooper for allowing me to bend your ear. Thank You! I look forward to our next get-together. I am so excited because we are getting so close to the end.

Talk with you soon!

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Surprise!

My hubby and I recently celebrated a significant anniversary. On that special day we were at our little cabin in the woods. Since we were unavailable to celebrate with others no parties were planned.

This past Friday night we were invited to attend a birthday party for a family member. The only instructions we were given was to arrive at 5:45 pm. All offers to contribute food for the gathering were turned down. After accepting the answers I never gave it any more thought.

We left for the party early, stopping along the way to pick up a few items at a local store. When we arrived at the party the driveway was already filled with cars. All of them were familiar. Being the last ones to arrive seemed a bit odd.

The two of us entered the home together. After removing our shoes we rounded the corner to the kitchen. From the kitchen we could see a room filled with decorations, flowers and guests. The color theme of the party was obviously red because almost all of the attendees were wearing red. The decorations and flowers were primarily red as well. We didn’t put two and two together until an explanation was provided for the color theme. As the realization set in we were overjoyed! How awesome to be surprised and acknowledged for our amazing milestone.

There was a time when we never thought we would make it this far. My hubby has had cancer two times. With the first occurrence we were told not to expect him to live more than ten years. He has now surpassed that milestone by five. Thankfully we have lived to experience this anniversary and will hopefully celebrate many, many more.

To our family and friends that follow my blog we extend a huge THANK YOU! We feel blessed to be honored with such an amazing show of love!

Here for your enjoyment is photos of the beautiful flowers we received.

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