A Rippling Quilt

I've been working on an abstract piece that has a lot of quilting going on in  straight lines across the width of the quilt, both handwork and machine stitching.  There's also a variety of fabrics into the mix on this one, some are pretty thick pieces of hand painted fabric, some burlap and white cotton are commercial fabrics, the rest are hand dyed fabrics I made months ago.

When I finished I noticed that there was enough rippling happening to disturb me because it would keep it from hanging flat.  So, I went onto the SAQA list group and asked for some advice.  It turned out there's one way to avoid it that I learned - stitch only in one direction!  Allright!  For the next time.  But there were a few good options to straighten it out after the fact as well.  I tried the path of least resistance first - the simplest method was to "block" it.  And it worked  - hooray!  Easy, too.  Just took a lot of time to put that many pins into it.  If I hadn't just picked up a new box of pins, I would have had to run out to get them - lucky me and my impulse to buy these little accoutrements to the quilting habit.

Here it is all pinned up and drying:

I still have to bind or face it and I may have to do it again afterwards but that's not a problem - it will lay flat when it's finished.

Music of the Night

Throughout the next few months I'll continue to share with you more quilts from the Lowell Quilt Festival.  They are all from the main exhibit space at the Lowell Auditorium.  Without further ado:



Music of the Night by Pamela Arsenault, Southborough, MA



 

Close Up, Music of the Night

The World Quilt Show in Manchester NH

Last Thursday I got to see half of the World Quilt Show, New England XI.  I wished I had been able to see the whole thing but I was simply too tired to drive to Manchester for a second day.  But alas -  I'm happy I took in half of it in!



La Luz by Betty Busby was one of my faves.

I was pretty rushed so I only took a sampling of what was there.  Here's the goodies!

Whistler Museum, LQF

Today, I'm off on another quilt sojourn to The World Quilt Show - New England XI in Manchester, NH.  I'll be taking a class by Marjan Kluepfel called Zen and the Art of Free Form Fiberscapes.

Meanwhile, here's another link to more fun events at the 2013 LQF:  The Whistler Museum



Into The Silence by Wen Redmond



Genesis Colony by Betty Busby

 

The Brush Gallery

The LQF extends from the main auditorium to various galleries throughout the city of Lowell.  The Brush Gallery is one of the most exciting ! This year's exhibit there was an up-close in-your-face delight!

Among the highlights of this exhibit were three SAQA members:



Whistler's Annabel by Janice Jones

Katrina by Sandy Gregg



Adoration by Gwyned Trefethen (This is a close-up of that quilt.)

 

The SAQA Exhibit, 3 Cohesive Pieces

The SAQA Exhibit,  3 Cohesive Pieces , was designed so that those of us who have never shown our work before have the chance to do so.  You'll see a range of talent, though, ranging from brand new to very experienced - it's an exciting piece of work owing to Valerie Poitier and Michele David, our Regional co-reps and curators of this exhibit.



Valerie Portier, Regional Rep for MA/RI with her 3 Cohesive Pieces

My Three, the Let Them Be Left series

A highlight of the show!  L to R, Congo, Africa and Warrier by Janice Jones

Click on the link above and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Lowell Quilt Festival 2013, Boston Modern Quilt Guild, Part 1

It has been a busy 2 days at the Lowell Quilt Festival – one more to go! I’ll start out by showing some of the Boston Modern Quilt Guild “Red Nails” Challenge, so named for its colorway to coordinate with very red fingernails.  And some of the exhibit space pics of Appleton Mills..

This is a water sculpture that greets you at the door of Appleton Mills!

More sculpture high into the rafters.

Contemporary lighting throughout - a great feature for an exhibit!

Modern and comfy seating at the gallery space.

This captures the sense of the loft space.

I just received my first smartphone which I chose because it has such a great camera, but I am just learning how to use it.  Among other things, I had a hard time keeping my fingers out of the way so some of my pics need to be retaken.  But here are some close ups that came out pretty good.  I'll retake some and add them later.

It's a really good show!  We had a lot of positive chatter from viewers all day yesterday!

Red Nails Challenge Quilts



Red Nails Challenge Quilts



Glam Rock Girl by Stephanie Harrison



Red Nails by Zuska Blasi



Untitled by Samantha Russell



Dropping Petals by Natalie Sabik

 



 More to come!

A Long Post In A Long Heat Wave

What would we do without AC???  Those of us in Massachusetts  have been in a week-long heat wave.  We may break a record today.  At 10 AM the temp is already 100 degrees !!!

It hasn't mattered all that much because I've been hard at work in my sewing room getting ready for the Lowell Quilt Festival.  I just mailed off my 3 Cohesive Pieces to the NEQF for the SAQA exhibit and am about to deliver another 3 to the BMQG.

I did venture out on Wednesday, though, to meet fellow BMQG member, Gwen Marceline,  at Quilter's Way in Acton a great quilt shop with very friendly staff and a great selection of quilting fabrics for the modern quilter!  I used one of their machines while Gwen taught me how to "face" a quilt, for which I'll be forever grateful!  We followed thesillyboodilly super-duper-easy-way-to-face a quilt  tutorial, which I couldn't quite follow myself.  Now that Gwen walked me through it holding my hand step-by-step, I can't imagine why I couldn't follow it which shows to go you how seriously direction challenged I am!   I love these facings and I think they're quite appropriate for art quilts.  And they so fit the modern quilt aesthetic even on large quilts.

The guidelines for the Boston Modern Quilt Guild's LQF Mini Quilt Challenge are that they must be no larger than 2 feet in either direction  and this color palette.  So here  are my two mini-quilt entrees and they are the two that I faced. 

I began "Run Janny Run" as the first for a series on the fleeting moments of my memories.  As a child I was a runner who used to run in a citywide road race on the fourth of July and I won many of these races and was quite proud of it. I would probably have been diagnosed as hyperactive because I never stopped moving, therefore graduating to bikes as a form of constant movement as well as competitions and "shows" that us kids put on in our little neighborhood doing tricks on bikes. We dressed up our bikes all spiffy with baseball cards hitched to the spokes of the wheel with clothespins and with streamers flowing from the handgrips.

We also played many ball games from day to night so the many round shapes reflect this.   I did have a bike that was green but it had to be red for this piece!  Those largish houndstooth checks also reminded me of another summer love of mine, when I went to a summer program of doing crafts every Saturday where I made key chains for my relatives out of gimp. The bold black diamond shapes on white reminded me of summer carnivals and racing flags.  I also had a fascination with flowers and ladybugs.  Again I had to run upstairs to fetch another carving to print these little suckers and hand embroider them.  And we were all especially enamored with blowing dandelion flowers as they went to seed!

"Run Janny Run"

 Soon after I started "Run Janny Run" "Fugitive Memories" began to insist itself into existence.  I didn't even know what was coming of it but I had to put the first one I was working on aside to do this next one because it simply pushed its way into life as if the various elements jumped out of my drawers onto my table and practically arranged themselves.  My shibori dyed fabric squares are mixed with commercial fabrics.  Again, the dandelion motif wanted to share in both quilts!  And some of my tiny bird carvings came to life on some fabric that I painted blue and white as I was working on painting the background for the girl runner. Some pieces of decorator fabric that were recycled to me from a freecycler were just the right hand to lend some soft and lush texture to the right of the birds in flight. Those bottom silks came from the same source - I love to reuse and recycle in my art whenever I can.  The tree photos I took at the top of the Lake Quanapowett and played with color in Photoshop until they practically caught fire!  I can't tell you any more than this as I did not plan this at all and it chose what it wanted to be rather than the other way around, as it often goes with us artists.

"Fugitive Memories"

The sleeves are also a new design for me.  It's a "D" shaped sleeve and I followed another online tutorial for this:  tallgrassprairiestudio./hang-your-quilt-hanging-sleeve-tutorial.html.  I like it more than my usual one and I think it'll hang better. 

Back Of  "Fugitive Memories" showing the facing and the sleeve on top.  The facing
 does not show at all on the front of the quilt.

Back of "Run Janny Run"

My 3 Art Quilts Accepted into the SAQA exhibit at the Lowell Quilt Festival!

Here’s a shout out to anyone who may want to check out this year’s Lowell Quilt Festival.  Put it on your calendar now:

THE LOWELL QUILT FESTIVAL: 
A Citywide Celebration of Quilts & Fiber Arts
featuring
IMAGES:
New England's Premier Judged & Juried Quilt Show
August 8 - 10, 2013

Exhibit Hours:  Thursday & Friday, 10:00 am - 6:00 pm. 
          Saturday, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.
Gallery Night at NEQM and Partner sites:  Friday, August 9, 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm

The 3 small art quilts that I showed you a few weeks ago were actually accepted into the SAQA exhibit  called “Three Cohesive Pieces.”  It will be upstairs in the auditorium.

I’m so looking forward to this!

A Series Evolved: Let Them Be Left

It's been awhile since I've posted, but I 'm pleased with the work I've been doing.  I'm finally at a point in my fiber art where I'm ready to take myself seriously, not too seriously, mind you, but enough to buckle down, join Studio Arts Quilt Associates and submit my very first quilts for a curated exhibit.  Although this isn't quite a juried exhibit, which I have never yet submitted anything to, this is a big accomplishment for me.  My quilts may or may not be selected but at least I brought three of them to a point of completion, on time, and what I believe to be worthy of consideration

I took full advantage of a critique group, which I found to be extremely helpful.  I tore apart one of my quilts, the original "Let Them Be Left," and made a couple of quilts from the one (one of which I didn't like at all and is not shown here or included in this series.) Then I went on to make 2 more in a series focusing on my own personal voice and responding to critiques from some other fresh and knowledgeable eyes, besides my own.



Let Them Be Left, machine pieced, quilted and appliqued. Included are digital images as well as
 hand carved and printed images.
 

Detail, Let Them Be Left, also shows some tiny fish at the top that are hand painted and transferred onto this piece.
The digital photo, actually taken by Andy Sexton in Woods Hole Harbor sewn onto a piece of eco dyed and
rusted muslin.
 



"In The Weeds" also uses some rusted fabric along with commercial fabrics and some recycled silks.  It's also machine pieced, although there are only 3 pieces, and machine quilted and appliqued with free motion thread painted details.
 

Detail of "In The Weeds."



"Sea Anemone Dream," third in this series uses all commercial fabrics and is also machine quilted and appliqued, but it is  primarily a whole cloth quilt, except for the narrow borders. It also includes quite a bit of free motion thread painting and some lightly hand painted areas.

Detail, "Sea Anemone Dreams."

True Expression

I want to know if the artist of this next piece reads science fiction.  She must - this shouts sci-fi to me - a beautiful, bold universal landscape.  Another painted piece, along with piecing, this draws you straight to it!

Two Thousand Seven, Elizabeth Busch

 This quilt speaks to me as a collage artist.  In the book, it's vertically arranged but this horizontal layout is how it was exhibited, and I believe, how it was meant to be.  Also, the colors in the book do not do this piece justice!  It's quite alive and very appealing to look at.

Desert Study Maryline Collioud-Robert

 Again, this next piece was upside down in the book if I remember accurately.  It's a textural master and a color spectacle!  Must be seen with your nose right up to it to thoroughly enjoy it.

Gold Canopy Gris, Tim Harding

 Night Rain, below, speaks to the inner me.  It's evocative of old and new meeting, colliding, integrating, remembering, experiencing - I love this!

Night Rain In Venice, Fenella Davies

One of the main themes that really took my breath away as I viewed this display is the raw bravery of experimentation and true expression. I aspire to be able to do this...at least I'm working toward it, in small but strident steps in my fiber art.

Up Close

The Forest is the first quilt you see as you enter the exhibit and it is truly a treat to see in person,  The entire quilt is hand stitched and there's something about how each applique billows and falls with each stitch taken and so, as a whole, the piece becomes alive with color, texture and movement as in a symphony!

Close Up of The Forest, Misik Kim

The Forest, Misik Kim

  Town News is the funniest!  It depicts a small town in California by its police log in a delightfully quirky style of illustration.  I love the little eyes with legs on the lower left!

Town News, Linda McDonald

 This is the one piece I thought looked better in the books and photos than in person.  It just doesn't appear to be as cohesive in real life as it does in print.

Woman With Two Gents, Leslie Gabrielse



And this next piece is striking in its real up close and in your face craftsmanship!  Each stitch is lovingly taken and each thread expresses the artists natural affinity to the subject and the medium!  A joy to behold!

 



Cherished Times, Carolyn Crump



   



 

I feel so inspired...

...I hope it doesn't wear off before I produce something!  We visited the Lowell Quilt Museum this afternoon and took in the Masters II exhibit - WOW!  It's one thing to see pictures of these quilts - I have the Masters books, but to see them in person is such a thrilling experience.  To see up close the texture and weight of the materials, the colors, the stitching, the luminescence, the layers, the varied sheens and sheers - well, I feel full, like after a good meal but with a buzz too!  

Here are a few of the quilts I saw.  Some photos of some of the quilts that I loved were way too blurry to post, although I chose to show some that are a wee bit fuzzy just so you could see what's there to see if you make it there before the exhibit closes on April 13th!



A Time To Dance, May 17th, Karin Franzen
this a lovely layered construction that HAS
 to be seen to be fully appreciated!

Waiting For Rain (close up), Margery Goodall
Incredible craftsmanship in this piece! Some of these strips
appear to be only about and eight of an inch wide.

Urubamba (close up), Jan Meyers-Newbury
When you see the whole quilt, it's gorgeous!  The colors and
textures of the hand dyed fabrics undulate even as they are
bound by geometric forms.



Frision Sky, Dirkje van der Horst-Beetsma
This is stunning in its' simplicity with some
amusing surprises in its construction.



I'll post more of these in the next few days, but before I go, lest you think I'm slacking off,
 here's one of the tasks I've been working on:

 

I'm trying to line them up according to value. Some of these groups of strips are 10 to 20 thick

and vary in length and width, although most are 1.5 inches wide.

 

 I really don't yet know how these strips will be incorporated into a quilt, but I'm in the process....

 

 

Quilted Espresso

I finally quilted this one!

 

winter vision - a new art quilt

New small art quilt - #4 - only 96 to go! 

  

I did frame this one. I wanted to see if I like the deep frame wrap around look to mount these babies on and I do!  Can't really see much of it here but you get the idea.

 

 

Again, I experimented with texture and dimension.  Like my "Let Them Be Wild" quilt

(Turtle Moon Impressions: Let Them Be Wild) I used small scraps of fabric hand-tied with embroidery thread to build a textural quality.  This time, they're the shape of  leaves and some are printed with the text of a some words I journaled (also on the top of the frame) about taking the photo which is also digitally printed on cotton - an old sheet, in fact, prepared with inkAid. It's also bordered with a sliver of one of my new digital skins and quilted with gold metallic thread.  I'm doing the happy artist dance!