Oliver is done!

Wow, this moment has been a long time coming. I have finally finished my owl project from the week long Design and Construction Retreat I participated in last September taught by Sharon Schamber. I beat my deadline by just a few days! And I must admit, I'm not completely done. I still have to square it, block it, and then bind it! But I am close enough to say woohoo it is done!

I would have already started blocking it but, I want to take it to guild tomorrow night for show and tell! I hardly ever have show and tell -- perhaps because it takes me forever to finish things! But I must share Oliver -- I think he turned out awesome!

The last post about Oliver was back in April, you can find it here. Once you're at that post you can also view 9 other posts if you want to follow Oliver's history.

Oh, I almost forgot... for those that follow on Facebook you have already seen oodles and oodles of in process photos. But for those that only follow here if you want to see more of the in process photos, you can click on the Creative Longarm Quilting Facebook fan page logo to the right and that will take you there. Then under Photos, click on Owl Project (aka Oliver) and you will see all of the photos.

Either way -- thanks for following along and watching Oliver's growth from just a photo to a beautiful art quilt. Here is the original photo next to the finished quilt...

Again, thanks for following along!

Oliver....

Wow! I am finally getting closer to finishing Oliver! This was my project from the week-long Art Quilt Design & Construction retreat with Sharon Schamber. Okay it was back in September of 2009 and I worked on it periodically from then thru December. But I recently picked it back up determined to get it done!

I spent the other day shading the remainder of the background and tacking down all the pieces. Then I began the invisible applique around all those pieces. It's really getting exciting now. I'm almost done with the "construction" part. Now I can sit down with some micron pens for the fine-tiny details of the feathers. That is so my cup of tea... quiet time for detail doodling puts me into the zone! THEN... the quilting... my other favorite cup of tea - LOL! I CAN'T WAIT!!! I'm already thinking about what background fills I'm going to use and then the birch bark.. utoh, here comes the drool (and that's only thinking about it). Then the feathers, creating the depth and dimension of each feather... again, I can't wait! I am so very excited to be coming to the end of the construction part of this project. The quilting part is going to be another amazing time and I truly can't wait -- I know, I have said this numerous times already -- but Oliver will truly come to life once I start quilting him! Until then, you can check out these older posts which led to the point we are now -- Oliver has been a long time in the making!

http://creativelongarmquilting.blogspot.com/2009/10/oliver-has-wings.html

http://creativelongarmquilting.blogspot.com/2009/10/updates-latte-and-owl.html

http://creativelongarmquilting.blogspot.com/2009/09/sharon-schamber-retreat-day-5.html

http://creativelongarmquilting.blogspot.com/2009/09/sharon-schamber-retreat-day-4.html

http://creativelongarmquilting.blogspot.com/2009/09/sharon-schamber-retreat-day-3.html

http://creativelongarmquilting.blogspot.com/2009/09/sharon-schamber-retreat-day-2.html

http://creativelongarmquilting.blogspot.com/2009/09/sharon-schamber-retreat-day-1.html

http://creativelongarmquilting.blogspot.com/2009/09/if-i-wasnt-weird-enough-already.html

http://creativelongarmquilting.blogspot.com/2009/09/on-monday-i-begin-my-week-long-design.html

"Park Ling" is DONE...

Here he is...

"Park Ling" panda turned out awesome!

"Park Ling" Panda takes shape....

Here is a peek into the "rebirth" of Park Ling Panda! I say rebirth because he was originally born when Pat P. created him during the week-long Sharon Schamber Design and Construction retreat back in September. WOW... he was amazing, but now he is unbelievably amazing... Pat created this great wall hanging and is allowing me to "draw" on it with some thread... or thread-paint, whichever you choose... anyway, here is the beginning...





This the original photo... Pat's inspiration









Here is a close up of the face before any thread work...







Step one of the thread work -- the first layers...








"Park Ling" so far.... there is still much work to be done. And lots of threads need to land. So far there are already 5 different colors in his face.

Wow, it has been a busy past three days... The PSL Crazy Quilters Show has wrapped up and today is a calm day of relaxing... hah... work on the website slide show of all the quilts, realize I'm missing some... call the other photo buds I know... then a quick trip to the airport to return Mom & Sis to the stormy-snowy north... then another quick trip to drive my son to his friends super bowl party... then another quick trip home so hubby could fit in some fishing before the super bowl! So when exactly is the relaxation going to happen? Apparently it is now, during my blog posting... LOL cause if not I'd be crying!

Anyway, I must send a shout out to my friend Natalie who took Best of Show at the show... woohoo (hopefully she's not tired of hearing that)... double woohoo!!! Okay, I walked away with eight ribbons myself -- not so bad if I say so myself!

I also won First Place for the Member Challenge with this -- "Beauty of the Sea" -- my own design utilizing a bunch of stuff I learned during the week long Sharon Schamber Design and Construction retreat that I attended back in September.

She is absolutely amazing and I had so much fun making her. The finished piece is only 20" square. I am planning to make a larger piece exactly the same, well close, nothing is ever exactly the same!

Back to the PSL Crazy Quilters Show... for a list of winners click here, the slideshow is still "in progess" so once it is posted to their site I'll let everyone know! This way you can see ALL the beautiful quilts.

Okay people... thanks for following and I truly need at least an hour of peace and quiet before the super bowl starts!!! Have fun, enjoy, stay safe and sane!!!

Oliver has wings...

and they've been a long time coming. My oh my have I been busy! I spent most of last night and all of today working for myself. It is such a wonderful place to be -- one that I don't visit often enough!

So here he is... he still needs some shading here and there and the bottom of the background needs to be finished; but, for the most part he is just about finished. That is the painting part is just about finished... now on to the invisible applique, and then on to the thread play, and then the quilting...

Soon... soon... if I say it enough maybe it'll be soon!

Updates... Latte and Owl

Here's the update on Mary Lou's Latte Quilt...

I didn't get as much accomplished today as I had wanted to... there just aren't enough hours in the day. But, as today was the last daily visit to the vet for post-op care, I'm sure tomorrow will be much more productive. A girl can always hope can't she!

Between last night and tonight I've been a bit productive on the owl project! Here's the latest picture -- it seems I only have a few more pieces and then some final background shading and then Oliver will be ready for quilting.... again, a girl can always hope...

On Monday I begin my week-long Design and Construction Retreat with Sharon Schamber. Wow, I'm finally getting excited (again). I was super excited at first, and then daily life snuck-up on me... I had to prepare for the week, I needed a picture to work from, supplies, work space, etc. So the hubby helped me with all the running around and pulled together all the stuff I was going to need, along with Sharon-specific pressing stations. And I had to continue working on everyone else's beautiful quilts. So during all this running about I started losing my excitement. This morning we took all the items over to Amy's and set-up. So now I actually feel a bit of relief; the preparation part is over and now the creative juices are beginning to flow again!

I chose this photo of an owl in a winter scene. The owl is beautiful yes, but part of me misses snow and winter, and the changing of seasons, which is why I'm stuck on this photo. Originally I had wanted to work from a photo of a fawn with snow on it's face, but I was continually drawn back to this owl... it also helps that both the family and Sharon like it too!

Hopefully my creative genius will show its beautiful face on Monday and this owl will slowly come to life. Keep checking back for posts, I'll keep you in on everything I'm doing!