Creative Life Sampler

Our Christmas tree skirt is layered. The top layer is an early marriage quilt project that fit our first artificial tree so many years ago. We thought it was the greatest investment we could make for our home at the time and I was so pleased to create something festive to finish off the look.   As artificial trees go, it was very modest and after 20 years or so it showed a lot of loving wear. It owed us nothing when we replaced it for a tree with a larger circumference. But the family wouldn't hear of replacing the tree skirt, - it was "tradition,"- even though it looked so meager under the new tree. The solution was to layer it. I got a round table cloth that complemented the quilted skirt and reached the edges of the tree's branches, instead of making something from scratch.                                              This is a really simple project. You don't actually need to sew anything! Begin by folding the circle in half and press. Then fold it a second t

Loving the colors and textures of the harvest season!!! May your heart be filled with the warmth of gratitude  this fine Thanksgiving Day.    And may the observance of this day be just the  beginning of more blessings to come.                                                          © Lauren Klementz-Harte

Just finished this project: the seventh in my "Q is for Quilt" series, the third where I've enlarged the shapes. These wall hangings have been  completely done by hand in appliqu é  or reverse appliqu é  and then hand quilted. The color choice is lapis blue and key lime green, a playful color combination. The large areas of blue are quilted in lime and the lime areas are quilted with blue, this flattens the space and the unquilted areas pull forward a bit. It's interesting to see how this design element has evolved. I keep thinking of new ways to treat these fragments of the letter "Q," and I think each one is a little different. But they're all definitely part of a series. I have a few more ideas on this, so I guess I'll keep going with it until I feel it's run its course.  

                                                                                                               © Lauren Klementz-Harte   Greetings from Southern California! I was going to post something else today, but we went for a beach walk this morning and I caught this moment in time on my cell phone. There happened to be a surf meet going on and the participants lined their boards up on the wall- quintessential Southern California.  What I like about this shot is the strong feeling of direction within the composition. Notice the obvious, and more subtle, lines that keep the eye moving toward the horizon line and pull the viewer to the action in the distance. Even the clouds cooperated in a very cool way. Horizon line= dotted blue line It makes for an interesting composition, doesn't it?