I've Moved!

The blog has MOVED!  But why you might wonder?

I changed the name of the blog to better align with my artistic passions that include not only quilts but wool felting, spinning, knitting, painting and mixed media.

Please redirect your browser to http://www.MaryLachmanDesign.blogspot.com

"Steeped in Stiches" Exhibit in Suffield this Weekend - September 12-13

My art group (The Connecticut Fiber Arts Collective) and I have been busy preparing for our latest exhibit at the Phelps-Hatheway House in Suffield, Connecticut this weekend.  

The Connecticut Fiber Arts Collective
Left to Right: Linda Martin, Wanda Seldon, Antonia Torres, Diane Cadrain, Christina Blais, Karen Loprete, Carol Vinick, Mary Lachman, Carol R. Eaton (behind), Rosalind Spann (behind)

I think it is odd that I grew up in Suffield, Ohio and have lived in Connecticut for 25+ years and yet only recently met folks from the Connecticut namesake. That's right, back in the 1800's there was a man named Royal Pease who left this state to head to Connecticut-owned-land in the midwest, the so-called "Connecticut Western Reserve". He settled about 60 miles south of Cleveland in Portage County and named his settlement Peasetown.  Later this town would be renamed Suffield. 

The Northeast section of Ohio was once known as the Connecticut Reserve or Western Reserve. 

Suffield, Ohio is just south of Brimfield, Ohio and yes, you guessed it---folks from Brimfield, Massachusetts settled that region. And, of course, as you might guess, that region of northeast Ohio has many other towns with names of the New England counterparts like Amherst and Hudson.

Phelps-Hatheway House and Garden
55 South Main Street
Suffield, CT
"Steeped in Stitches" 
Saturday September 12th 10 am - 5 pm
Sunday, September 13th 10 am - 4 pm

Schedule includes:

• Quilt Raffle
• Lectures
• Book signing Saturday @ 2:00 p.m.
• Gift Baskets
• Unique items for sale in the gift shop

PLEASE NOTE: I am moving to a new blog address very shortly. Follow me at
http://www.MaryLachmanDesign.blogspot.com

Preparations Underway for Suffield Days Exhibit

A new exhibit of the Connectictut Fiber Arts Collective is coming!

Phelps-Hatheway House and Barn 
55 South Main Street
Suffield, Connecticut
September 12-13, 2015
10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. both days

Come see our textile and fiber artworks. Bring your questions and comments.
We love feedback.

We plan to fill this gorgeous barn with more than 60 quilts!

The historic house will be open for tours!

The perennial gardens will still be blooming!

 Come out and meet the amazing group of women artists that inspire and encourage me. The exhibit will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, September 12 and 13.

In addition you can enter to win a handmade quilt (created by me) that will be raffled off that weekend!

And here is the link to a GREAT recipe for a kale salad that Christina made for us today!
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/printerfriendly/kale-salad-with-dates-parmesan-and-almonds-51137020

Kaleidoscopes and Hexagons

I really cannot get enough of hexagons and kaleidoscopes. 

This is the piece I am currently working on. 

It uses my hand-dyed indigo cotton with additional aqua to dark blue tones of hand-dyed fabric from Carol R. Eaton Designs. 

Do you have an idea for its title? If so leave me a comment. 

Quilt Donation to Benefit the Phelps-Hatheway House

"September Harvest" is a 72"x72" quilt that I am donating to the Phelps-Hatheway House in Suffield, Connecticut for a raffle during Suffield Days on September 12-13, 2015!

More details later on how to buy your ticket.

Sacred Threads Tale

Last night I learned that my piece "Mermaid's Tale" had been accepted into the national juried art show Sacred Threads.

Mermaid's Tale, 19"x19"
Fabric collage using hand-dyed fabrics, batiks and commercial cottons
Free-motion machine quilted
Copyright 2015 - Mary Lachman

Sacred Threads is a show celebrating spiritual journeys from grief to elation, heartache to friendship, and tragedy to passion. My artwork and that of many others from right here in Connecticut will be on display at eht Floris United Medthodist Church in Herndon, VA from July 10 - July 26, 2015. 

A 9-Patch Variation Quilt

I simply love piecing fabric together on my machine! But what I enjoy even more is pressing the finished squares with the iron. The first is so meditative for me. I can really go to my place of calm. The second is somewhat calming but oh so satisfying to see those little stitches transform a pressed fabric.

I embrace many styles of quilting from free-form piecing to appliqué, but I continue to enjoy the now traditional process of rotary cutting (with some precision) and piecing with matched seams (fairly matched...don't look too closely).

Patterns don't scare me. In fact I have never met a pattern I didn't like and want to incorporate!  Here is an example of a scrappy 9-patch variation top I completed this week. I will show you the basic block transformation later this week.

Be Creative. Be Happy. Make Art.

Some of my friends have asked me when do I have time to make quilts? 

They know I have a full-time job, spouse, two sons, and a dog. The boys are out of our house, but of course not out of our lives or our minds, but it does free you up once your children are no longer in grade-middle-high school.  My spouse is a wonderful cook and retired and that helps immensely. The dog only wants to be loved...don't we all?

I make time for art each day. I may not be working on a quilt, but I might be knitting, spinning, painting, or dyeing fabric. If you put your mind to it you can make it happen.  Sometimes all I do is knit a few rows on my latest project after dinner while watching television (currently I am working on a bronze wrap/shawl...ripped out only once so far).

On the floor tonight. It really looks better if your squint!

Make time for what is important to you. Try it. 
Even 5 minutes will help you feel good about your art. It is sort of like investing in your savings account---$5 once a week for 52 weeks is $260.00.  And that is $250 that you didn't have before you started your new routine!

With that idea in mind...
why not make one block each day;
or,  cut the fabric for one block one day and then sew it together the following day!

As a creative person you must create art. You have no choice if you want to be happy. 

Be creative. Be happy. Make art. 

~Mary

And so it goes...project update

I am making slow progress on the quilts I was working on at the Shoreline retreat 2 weeks ago. Here are a few pictures.  

·       Scrappy Disappearing 9-Patch - On the floor

      ·       Cut Outs - in progress

         

       Rose Spiral - Finished!

· 

Art Quilts at the Hartford Public Library

As some of you know the Connecticut Fiber Arts Collective, of which I am a member,  has a show honoring Romare Bearden at the Hartford Public Library that will be on view through mid-March 2015.

Here is a link to the YouTube video  http://youtu.be/_re-VYGtmS4

A little known secret... I am the narrator~!
Enjoy!

Retreat in the CT Woods

I was on retreat this past weekend with a group from Shoreline Quilters. Can you imagine being snow bound in the Connecticut woods with your stash and a bunch of friends? 

That is obviously a bit of an exaggeration, but we did have an evening of snow and mixed precipitation that made for treacherous walking the following morning. However, the folks at the Incarnation Center were very attentive to the situation by shoveling and putting salt down. They even cleared the snow off our cars!

Each year I take more fabric than I need and wonder why I cannot be more selective in the packing, but I just don’t seem to be able. Maybe I am so excited about the possibilities that I cannot prioritize. 

Here are a few photos of what I was working on. 

Scrappy Disappearing 9-Patch

Broderie Perse (Persian Embroidery)

Experimental Piece

Around the World Blog Hop

I was invited to participate in the Around the World Blog Hop by fabric artisan Carol  of Carol R. Eaton Designs.  

BUT here is the catch...I am blogging more frequently at the following addresses. Please go to http://www.MaryLachmanDesign.blogspot.com (Mary Lachman Design) and 
Moth at the Window.

Spring Garden - inspired by my backyard (honestly!)

CheckerBlue Scrap Quilt Free Pattern

CheckerBlue is an easy to make scrap quilt. The checkerboard 9-patch blocks are all made from 2 1/2" strips. Four 9-patch blocks create one large 'checkerboard' block. The alternating large squares combine colors from the smaller 9-patch blocks and a contrast colors. A knowledge of basic block and quilt construction is assumed. If you have any questions please leave a comment for me.

Materials:
Assorted dark, light and medium 2 1/2" x wide-of-fabric strips (I used predominately blue and white).
Two yards of dark contrast print fabric (C)
One yard of blue and white check fabric (D)

How to make one 9-patch block:

1. Cut 2 1/2" strips into 2 1/2" squares.
2. Sew dark and light squares together in groups of 3 (dark-light-dark) = A
3. Sew light and dark squares together in groups of 3 (light-dark-light) = B
4. Sew the group of 3 'A' to a group of 3 'B', press seams to dark
5. Add another row of 3 'A' or 3 'B' to complete the pattern
6. Completed block will be 6 1/2" square.
7. Four of these 9-patch blocks are sewn together to make one large 'checkerboard' block that should measure 12 1/2" finished.

How to make larger contrast block:

1. Cut 2 fabric strips 4 1/2" x 12 1/2" (C-1)
2. Cut 2 squares from the same fabric, 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" (C-2)
3. Cut 1 contrast fabric square, 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" (D)
4. Sew one C-2 square onto the side of D square. 
5. Sew the second C-2 square onto the opposite side of the D square.
6. Sew the C-1 strips along each edge of the C-2:D:C-2 piece.
7. The completed contrast block should measure 12 1/2".

To see my current work in progress go to http://www.MaryLachmanDesign.blogspot.com

Connecting Threads - Quilting as a part of Jewish Life

My art quilt group, Connecticut Fiber Arts Collective, traveled to the West Hartford Jewish Community Center for a meeting in August and had a chance to see some amazing artwork in the front gallery. Here are some of the photos.

Indigo Dyeing

I think I am in love again.  And this time it is with INDIGO.  

Thank you Carol R. Eaton for introducing us.  My fingers are blue, my shirt is spattered, but this is FUN.

A Little Bit of Shiva Paintstik

I was at the courthouse today for jury duty but mid-way through the morning we were released. Hurrah!

Bonus day in the studio. I set to work on the piece shown above.  These are just strips of commercial cotton of various widths that I sewed side-to-side and then cut at odd angles, sashed randomly in white and set them all against a black background. 

Here it is now. Colors muted and blended. Hmmm. I like it but think it needs something more. Still not quilted. What do you think it needs? I would love to learn your thoughts.

Shiva Paintstiks - Easier than You Think!

Several years ago I received ziplock bag of Shiva Paint sticks that a friend no longer wanted. And like so many things the bag sat around in my studio for a year or so before I got around to trying them.

On Sunday afternoon I pulled out some hand dyed fabric, a couple of plastic templates, and the paint sticks. After a few missteps I figured it out...and of course by then I read the directions!

To see what I did please follow this link later tonight to my new blog http://marlachmandesign.bogspot.com

Consolidation

I have decided to consolidate my blogs into one (for all obvious reasons). Please follow me from this point forward at:

http://marylachmandesign.com

Thanks! See you there.

12 Characteristics of Creative People

This is a list of 12 tendencies shared by creative individuals posted online by Kim Phillips in March 2012. I  have reprinted the list here with her permission. Please follow this link to her original post    http://getlucid.net/?s=creative+people

Creative people are different because they operate a little differently. They....

1. Are easily bored
2. Are willing to take risks
3. Don't like rules
4. Ask "what if"
5. Make lots of mistakes
6. Collaborate
7. Are generous
8. Are independent
9. Experiment
10. Motivate themselves
11. Work hard
12. Aren't alone

Do you see yourself in this list? I can relate to every one, but the big ones are #1, 3, and 8.  Send me a comment and let me know which ones resonate most strongly for you.

Weekend Stitching and the Duncaster Show Continues

I want to finish putting the binding onto "Blue Check" a contemporary quilt of my own design inspired by Kaffe Fassett. Check back for a report on my progress.
And yes, that is my Green Machine, a vintage Sears Kenmore from the 1950's. It is my 'go to' machine. Those of you who know me from quilt retreats know it is with me when the Featherweight is not.

The exihibit of my art quilt group, The Connecticut Fiber Arts Collective (CTFAC) http://ctfac.blogspot.com  "Spring Thaw"continues at the Duncaster Retirement Center in Bloomfield http://duncaster.org through this March 28, 2014.  We were overwhelmed with the interest the group showed in us and our work. The reception included music and gallery talks by members of CTFAC.  The Duncaster Center is located at 40 Loeffler Road, Bloomfield, CT 06002.

Here Antonia Torres (right) and I walking to the exhibit area to talk with attendees about our creative process. 

Artwork by Rosalind Spann

Artwork by Karen Loprete

Irises by Carol R. Eaton 

Artwork by Christina Blais

Here I am discussing our Grey Matter Challenge