Deborah O'Hare

A Catch Up!

2015-11-12T13:31:00.001+00:00

This, my bluehare blog, is where my online life started. When I began blogging at the end of 2008 I needed a name and as my surname is O'Hare and I live by the sea I called my blog 'the blue hare'.

I wanted to call it the sea hare, but have you seen what a sea hare looks like?

By the end of 2009 I began my second blog Quilt Routes and I bounced around between the two of them until 2020. Edited: Now you can find my blog on my website.

Fast forward to 2015/16 and I have been trying to rationalise my online presence. I don't have the time to maintain two blogs anymore but for months I have been failing to get my head around either merging the two of them or deleting this one but find that I don't want to do either.

I have decided that blogging as a means of sharing details of my workshops, tutorials, hand painted fabric and patterns for sale along with my on going projects and experimentation, will continue to take place on my Quilt Routes blog, and if you don't already follow along with me there I hope you feel compelled to join me.

Here, my aim is to maintain this blog as an online gallery of the quilts and textile art pieces that I make. I find that although my time is increasingly taken up with teaching and other related commitments ( a fact that I am both grateful and humbled by) I cannot get away from that need to keep producing and creating for my own satisfaction in a never ending drive to produce and get better. Finding the time and energy needed is sometimes a struggle as I am sure many of you out there can relate to.

So a huge thank you to all who have taken the time to look and engage with this my blog.
Future posts will not be regular or many (although I do have a backlog of a few projects to post) but I hope you stick around and let me know what you think.

A quick review if JQ's 2015 here.

BTW don't go looking for those early 2008 posts as I deleted them! They were bad!

Don't forget Now you can find my blog on my website.

April, May and June Journal Quilts.

2015-04-21T10:03:00.000+01:00

Last week I showed you my Jan, Feb and March Journal Quilt

Here are April, May and June and it feels good to be ahead of the games

Some might say that this approach is cheating.

I call it time management ;)

Journal quilts 2015

2015-04-13T15:00:00.000+01:00

Here is my contribution for my January 2015 Journal Quilt.

This is February. The constraints this year are 6 x 12 inches either portrait or landscape orientation, to be adhered to once chosen.

This is March.

Can you see where I am going with these?

Ten Pence Moon

2015-02-07T11:38:00.000+00:00

I wish I had called this Ten Penny (tenpenny?) Moon now.

It has more of a ring to it, don't you think?

This hare seems a bit more friendly than the others and as I write this I realize that I have never really considered whether my hare is a He or a She before.

Something to consider.

All three recent hares can be compared here:D

Cotton Reel Moon

2015-01-27T12:29:00.000+00:00

If you read my last post you will know why this one is called Cotton Reel Moon.

This one is a variation of this one below.

I do find it quite interesting to find other ways of portraying the ubiquitous Moon Gazing Hare.

There are a lot of them out there!

I don't think I have reached my limit yet though.

It is in the name after all!

Coffee Cup Moon Gazing Hare

2015-01-20T11:44:00.002+00:00

I have bags full of small pieces of wadding and small bits of unpainted white fabric. Last year I decided to use them up and put together a few more Moon Gazing Hare pieces.

This particular hare is based on a design I saw on a Turkish plate. I can't remember if I saw it on the internet or at a museum, but I made a sketch from it I would share if I could find it :/

I have used this hare before in a not dissimilar piece.

Why Coffee Cup Moon?....

....that would be what I drew around to get the moon size.

Moonlit Stag

2015-01-19T13:33:00.000+00:00

Implement

2015-01-10T07:00:00.000+00:00

I am not really sure, dare I say convinced by the word for the year thing. I did have a stab at it a few years ago, but couldn't really comment on it's success or otherwise.
However, this year I am faced with a number of self imposed goals and I really want to try and reach them, so as a reminder of those goals I have chosen the word Implement.

Implement better work routines.
Implement more output.
Implement better organisation, which will undoubtedly help the above.
Implement a healthier lifestyle etc, you know, those New Year things.
Just get things done in other words.

If you type the word into Google there are lots of flow charts and whatnot and I like this one from the Australian Govt. I think it could be applied to quilt making!

I also have got a little phrase that I am going to implement.
Use Stuff Up!

This is related to the pics I have attached to this post and which I will go into greater detail about soon.

Happy New Year!

2014-12-31T14:39:00.003+00:00

That is what I am going to be doing!
Mentally of course. I have no plans to jump off a cliff!
What about You?

2014-12-24T15:59:00.001+00:00

Thank you to all for your support this year.
A Merry Christmas and Happy and Creative New Year xx

Journal Quilts Round Up

2014-12-15T13:37:00.002+00:00

My mind has been taken up with other matters of late, but I am applying myself this morning and here are my thoughts on this Journal Quilt Challenge.

Jan, May, Sept

I have enjoyed this far more than I expected. It is almost as if I was given permission to play, which is ridiculous when you think about it but I suppose we do put restrictions on ourselves even if we don't realize that we are doing it.

Feb, Jun, Oct

When the colour combinations are separated I like them all.
When they are put together I have my favourites.
Any which way is up!

Mar, Jul, Nov

I became happier and more relaxed with the concept of abstract as I went along.
I love my Gelli Arts printing plate even more and want to continue experimenting with it.
I have explored the buzz term "mark making" and find that I like it :D

Apr, Aug, Dec

Sometimes you can over do it and knowing when to stop is important.
I really like the combination of black, white and brown!

The lot of 'em

Okay, before I go can I just get a bit serious?
You might have paid no attention to the link I added to the first sentence, but the changes that are about to take place on Jan 1st will affect us all. If you live in the EU you will probably find that you can no longer buy from your favourite US etc sites because they will restrict selling to you, not really because of the extra costs but because of the compliance laws that are too complex to adhere to.
If you are in the US and you sell to the EU and you don't comply you will be breaking the law.
I could go on with lots more details but there are others out there who have put it far more eloquently than I can. If you do nothing else then please sign this petition.
Get the facts here and do what you can to spread the word via social media.
At the moment this is just about digital purchases but there are plans to increase it to physical sales as well. Hope you can help.

December Journal Quilt

2014-12-04T13:55:00.001+00:00

Well I am giving myself a pat on the back because I have done it! I have completed all of the Journal Quilts for the year.

Not that great an achievement you might be saying. What's all the fuss about?

The truth is that when I began this I wasn't completely sure that I would get the the other end. That I wouldn't be bogged down in the other things that I have to do.

Also....the group coordinators are quite strict. You can't go more than three months without having posted your efforts and you have to let them know if you are not going to complete. No slinking off into the corner and letting things slide.

I think I would have done it anyway because I have got such a lot out of the experience, but I will save all of that for an overview post soon.

For those beady eyed among you who have noticed the red seepage I have to inform you that it was deliberate. I was actually hoping for a bit more and I hope to experiment with this a bit further in the future.

November Journal Quilt

2014-11-29T12:16:00.000+00:00

This one has got a bit too busy for my liking. Too much going on with the printing and the stitching.

Out of the four colour schemes I chose for these this one has turned out to be my least favourite too!

I am still enjoying doing these little 8 x 8 in pieces though :D
One more left. It is already finished but you will have to wait for December...

Walnut Shore , the final!

2014-11-23T11:00:00.000+00:00

This piece is looking across the estuary.

Lots going on this side of the water, even some hand stitching.

So there we are.
you can see more of my stitched seascapes and landscapes here and some are available for sale here.

Walnut Shore revisited

2014-11-16T08:07:00.000+00:00

The fourth of my Walnut Shore pieces.

No pebbles on this one!
Just more open space...

...and birds. There are always birds.

Walnut Shore continued

2014-11-09T16:13:00.000+00:00

This is the third in the Walnut Shore series.

I was going to slice this into two pieces but decided to stay with the whole piece.
I hope it captures the wide open space of the beach.

Not forgetting some pebbles of course!

Walnut Shore

2014-11-03T14:15:00.001+00:00

I first showed the beginning of these small pieces in October 2012! Oh dear :(

I did get around to complete one piece in 2012 and now nearly two years later I have got around to finishing the rest.

I have named them Walnut Shore and this is number 2.

There are others, and they have been completed :)

October Journal Quilt

2014-10-19T08:12:00.000+01:00

This whole process is definitely helping me to think more about when and where to place my stitching.

I am not saying that I am getting it right, but I am thinking about it more, not just ploughing into it and then wishing I had given it more thought.

I do like the painterly quality that I get from using the Gelli Plate to create the backgrounds.
Not so sure about the feel of the fabric. I could have added textile medium and I did try at the beginning of this process, but stopped because it added another step to something that is after all just experimentation and because it made the paint a bit too loose.

That is why I am enjoying doing these pieces because I am learning as I go.
All caught up now! Only two more to go.

And so...

2014-10-01T10:47:00.000+01:00

...has it taken me so long to getting around to this because I am putting off showing it to you?
Maybe, though that would be silly as hundreds and hundreds of people saw it at Festival of Quilts.
It actually has more to do with the fact that after the show a whole lot of stuff was deposited away up in the attic and I have been too busy (couldn't be bothered ) to get up there to fetch it and take some decent pics. I did take one of it while it was in the booth, but was not going to cut it so hence the wait.

Dreaming of Borneo

So why have I shared all of this with you?
Firstly because I started to blog about it and felt compelled to finish this.
I had also made a commitment to my both buddy to create a Borneo piece.
Mainly though I hope it will force me into a better practice in the future.

I know that my better work is produced when I fill the sketchbook and fully explore where to go. I know that some quilts are serendipitous but when given a "theme" it pays to work out all the options.

The usual chestnut of allowing enough time and not leaving things to the last minute also applies...obviously.
There are parts of this that I like but I have enough self knowledge to know that the whole design of the piece is not good.
I could do what one person suggested (you know who you are if you are reading this :D) and cut it up into smaller sections but then that would mean losing the tree and I don't want to do that.
I do have one thought up my sleeve that I might attempt.We shall see.

For all that I have said this is a deeply personal piece, even if it looks a bit as if I have been dreaming whilst under the influence of something. It represents what was a very important and pivotal time in my life, not least because Borneo is where I met and married my husband.

The three motifs represent some of my best loved memories.

The Dragon Boat which is based on wood carvings represents the yacht that we bought and lived on for a while and which was called Dragon Lady.

The wonder of nature in that part of the world can not be underestimated. The turtles are a reminder of a trip to nature reserve situated on an island. I got to watch baby turtles hatch and make their way to the sea. It was magical.

The orangutangs, or the hairy man of Borneo will forever have a place in my heart. If I had to make a top ten list of best moments, the one where I got to watch a whole group of them swinging their way through the trees towards a feeding station (a step towards their complete rehabilitation into the wild) would probably be at the top.

An unusually wordy blog post for me. If you have made it this far, thank you for reading.
Onwards and upwards!
Be back to share some new bits and pieces soon.

September Journal Quilt...wordless

2014-09-19T08:12:00.000+01:00

Stage 4. Progressing

2014-09-13T10:00:00.000+01:00

In my last post you would have seen a glimpse of the motifs that I added to the quilt using freezer paper stencils and paint.

I chose three different motifs, orang utangs, baby sea turtle and a dragon boat, based on the designs from some of the tribes living in Borneo. Each was chosen because of the significant memories that each represent to me personally,the details of which I will go into in my next post.

All seemed fine but as the stitching progressed I became more and more aware that there was not enough contrast to make these elements stand out, especially with the orang utang.

At first I cut out the designs form painted Lutrador but wasn't happy with the results and so as is my want in situations like this I just hit the machine peddle and stitched!

I then created two more using soluble film to be added once all the background stitching had been completed.

The baby sea turtles are the one element that I am happy with.

The dragon boat sculpture is okay...ish.

If you are still with me, stay tuned for a full reveal next time.

Step 3. Making the best of it.

2014-08-31T09:00:00.000+01:00

After the mishap of my previous post, there was nothing to do but get stitching and add the missing white as and when. Those elements being redefined with the help of my original sketch.

Then it was a case of filling in with stitching!

Of course because I was in a hurry I decided to hand stitch the tree!!!!

Step 2. Working out the design

2014-08-23T10:22:00.000+01:00

(bit of Apologies if you have been waiting with bated breathe for my next installment on how not to make an Art Quilt. I had a great but exhausting time at the Festival of Quilts, plus a holiday, so have been a bit lax with the blogging)
So now this is where I sketched and sketched and refined the design until I was totally happy with it... ..or maybe NOT!!!
I painted the background fabric and without doing any sampling (big mistake) I went straight into getting my tree design onto the background.
I decided to paint some interfacing and cut out the tree from that. In my head I was hoping to stitch it down with some simple hand stitches that would be representational of the stitches I had seen on lots of baskets and other crafts like this.

I fused the interfacing onto the background fabric and began stitching.

Thankfully before I got too far I knew this wasn't going to work.
One, because the stitching was tearing through the interfacing and two, because I knew that I needed to reverse the light and dark. The white tree just wasn't working for me.

So....the interfacing became a mask and I painted out the background with a layer of white.

All seems well but there was some residual glue from the interfacing left on the background fabric.

I decided to wash it out, and this would have been fine if I had done a proper job of heat fixing the white paint!

I was in too much of a rush again.

Needless to say when the fabric came out of the machine a whole section of the white had gone and the interfacing that I had removed was too much of a tangled mess to re-use.

This is what it looked like before I washed it. I was too upset to take photo afterwards.

Oh dear!!

Step 1. Inspiration

2014-08-05T10:36:00.000+01:00

Before I begin to go through my process regards the quilt I talked about in my last post I want to clarify that this is not my normal practice here on this blog. I post tutorials and techniques over on my Quilt Routes blog. Here I like to 'show' without having to worry about taking process shots etc., to just go with the flow....apart from on this occasion :D

I had a lot of resources to fall back on for this piece without having to use the Internet.
My home is packed with artifacts and I have some great books, plus mountains of photos in boxes.
I had a look through the books and I made a half hearted attempt at some sketchbook pages.

My City and Guilds training should have made me spend a lot longer on this stage, a lot longer...but I was anxious to get started, and if I am truthful, finished. This is one I wanted to get done quickly but I know that the finished piece has suffered from my not spending more on this stage.

Straight off I wanted to do something based on the Orang Ulu Tree of Life design and somewhere in those boxes I know that there is a photo of my then two and a half year old daughter in front of the Tree of Life mural in the Sarawak Cultural Museum. I am still looking for that photo but this will show you what I mean. At this point I did a Google search and I have made a Pinterest board of some of the images that influenced me.
So, one idea down and I move head long into it....

In the meantime, if you are attending, please come and say Hi!

August Journal Quilt

2014-08-01T17:37:00.000+01:00

I am catching up slowly with these. This one is my offering for August.

So far I am quite taken with these subdued greys and browns.
The previous one can be seen here.

I am also happier when I stick to liner marks.

I am also trying to repeat some of the printed marks so that there is some sort of cohesive quality to these little pieces. The large circle was previously seen here, here and here.

Stay tuned for September's offering.