Studio located in Cleveland, NC. 704-528-4648 Judy@goneawaystudiodesigns.com Hours are by appointment only.

Category: thread

It’s a NEW CAMERA!

Judy5 Comments on It’s a NEW CAMERA!

DH gifted me with a NEW CAMERA this year!!!!!   YEAH!!!!!!  I was so pleased to receive this particular gift, I’ve missed taking photo’s and having them come out accurate.  Or taking photo’s and actually getting DETAIL!  And I really disliked having to attempt to manipulate the color spectrum in photo’s with editing software.
And because of that, there have been limited pictures taken for months, which translates into minimal blog posts for you, my readers.  And thanks to DH, that can all change now, so I warn you, this particular post may be a bit picture heavy!

Let’s start with the very first picture taken on the new camera:

Of COURSE it had to be of a thread rack!  Taken from the sewing table in my design room, these are Valdani cotton threads and just look at those colors!!!  The REDS are RED!!!!!!  And there’s PINK and PURPLE too!!!!   At this point I was giggly happy!  But I had to test it further, how was it going to do for detail?

I’d say that was pretty good, having been taken from about 3′ away from the thread rack, on AUTOMATIC, simply by zooming in!!!!  So at this point, I let the camera charge for a bit and decided I’d play later in the evening.

Of course there has to be a downfall somewhere if I’m taking the pictures!   LOL   That evening, in our dimly lit living room, while DH watched TV, I thought I’d play again.  My first attempt was a disasterous picture (of course I have yet to read the instruction book).  My subject matter was a little hyperactive and I didn’t have it set for the lighting in the room.

Yes, that’s a dog, would you like to take guesses as to which one it is?  LOL   After playing with the settings, and finding a more calm subject, I hit upon the setting needed for the living room at night (I think it was party mode, but I really need to take notes or read the instruction manual!) and came up with a picture of Baci that is just PERFECT!

Enough for yesterday, this morning I decided to play some more (and have NOT YET read the instruction book).  I started with some pictures of my latest pair of knitted socks and got the best image  right where I got the first image at, in the design room by the window.


Yes, that is the instruction booklet for the camera sitting underneath those socks!  LOL  I will read it later on.  But first, the MOST IMPORTANT TEST!!!  What would it do with fabrics and quilts and quilting?  Would I still be happy?  Let’s take a look!

First, the full quilt on the frame, as the IQ is quilting a pantograph on it (yes the machine head is MOVING during this picture):

OH MY!!!  The purples are PURPLE!  The same shade/tone as the fabric, and the oranges are true!!!  The turquoise is the actual faded grayed color it is!  and the blues are vibrant!    I’m getting happier, but the final test,  WILL IT SHOW THE QUILTING DETAIL!?!?!?!?!


WOO HOO!!!!!   Taken ON THE FRAME, in daylight, NO SPECIAL SETTINGS!!!!  NO adjusting the lighting, no messing around with anything!   Just walk up and shoot on auto and that’s the detail picture I got!!!!   Did I mention my REDS are RED!!!!!  And my orange and purples are true as well!!!!!!

If I seem just a wee bit excited, I am!  One of the things I’ve missed most over the last several months has been the ability to take pictures and share them here on the blog without major frustration.  Thanks to DH and his generosity, I can now do that again.  And he kept in mind that I can’t handle a heavy camera, this one is LIGHTWEIGHT!  Pocket sized really!   It’s a Nikon Coolpix camera, and it’s a burnished purple color!  (hey, that counts too!)

Now, on to opening up the package for my new MP3 Player and downloading an audio book to listen to while I quilt!

P.S. and yes, I WILL read the instruction manual for the camera eventually! ;>)

Cocoa and new art

Judy3 Comments on Cocoa and new art

Time has been passing at the speed of light, if not faster the last few weeks.  Every time I turn around days have gone in a blur of business.  Lots of customer quilting going on, but not many pictures.  I really need to get someplace set up where I can take proper photographs of large quilts, my current setup leaves much to be desired.
But on the home front, we have a new addition to the household.  Cocoa came to live with us today.

She has one blue eye, and one brown eye, which you can’t see in this picture.  She’s as camera shy as her new mama is and I had to use the flash feature to get even this photo of her.

She’s still getting adjusted to her  new home, but our existing furkids took to her almost immediately.  Snowy did give me a bit of trouble this evening, he thought she’d been here long enough and wanted to play with her.  Cocoa, on the other hand, still wasn’t sure exactly where she was, let alone didn’t want to play.  He thinks she’s a puppy, but she’s really 4 years old and a shy little girl.  They’ll learn to handle each other as time goes on!  The good news is she’s learned to negotiate the doggie door (boy did that give me a start to hear while I was in the studio) and she’s eating; both of which mean she will adjust given time and tender care.

I’ve also been working on creating a few new pieces of art.  After many trials and tribulations achieving the effect I wanted thread painting on silk that has been painted, I went back to what I’m comfortable with, photo’s on cotton.  I’ve just started these two pieces, the beginning of a series of small works depecting Autumn and Winter in the Carolinas.

And it feels amazingly wonderful to be creating art again!!!!!!

What a week!

Judy3 Comments on What a week!

Wow!  What a week!!  How did it get to be Friday already?

The week started with the arrival of my  new phone, which of course took a little bit of time to learn to use.  Phones aren’t just phones anymore, they’re little computers with their own software and programming menus!  But I think I’m going to love this and it will be so much easier to share pictures.  That said, here’s a little photo show and tell.

First there was the door painting (by the husband, not me!):

Doesn’t it look great!  He’s only got 3 more doors to go (4 if you count the French doors as separates).  But he swears he will NOT spray paint another door, the fumes are horrendous!  Guess it will have to be a mini-roller……oh wait!!!  If it’s a mini roller it might be my job!  I do not spray paint, aerosol fumes and asthma do not combine well.

Most of the studio time this week was spent quilting, custom on an applique quilt that’s ready to return to the customer.  Hope she likes it:

(More pics to come after the customer sees the quilt!).

That took longer than expected, a full 3 days, and Brandi was getting a little impatient for attention:

See that look of disgust!  And of course she desperately needed groomed, which she got today.  She certainly smells better tonight, but the look of disgust is still on her face.

Of course while I spent 3 days on the above quilt, Baci wanted to jump in my lap every time I sat down:

Since I was working on this applique (for myself), he had to wait…..

Eventually though he got his way…..doesn’t he look content!

Oh and how did the week end?  With an early present to myself!  Years ago I learned to treat myself to a present every year and this year I went all out and purchased the Aurifil suitcase for my applique.  Yep, the whole suitcase!

Yep, that was this week, in a quick recap.  Hope your week was as fun as mine was…. I’m off now to see how much I can cram into one weekend!!!!!