I hope you all had a great Christmas and are continuing to enjoy the holiday season!
At the beginning of December, I blogged about my 3 postcards for a Mistletoe fiber postcard exchange organized by Brandy Lynn of Quilter on Fire. On December 3rd, Brandy let us all know who we were exchanging postcards with, and I mailed mine off to Canada and the US. Below you can see the postcards I received from my ‘pen pals’ – all very different, and all beautiful!
You can see many of the Mistletoe exchange postcards on Pinterest here.
I’m working on my 2016 year-in-review, and I plan to post that before the end of the year.
Thanks for stopping by. Today, I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many other creative projects to inspire you.
Posted inArt quilts|Taggedpostcards|Comments Off on Mistletoe postcard exchange – part 2 – 2016.12.28
In January, I’ll be teaching a 2-day workshop on my Circles technique. I teach participants how to design and create their own freezer paper patterns, and demonstrate a variety of techniques I use to create my circle quilts.
In a 1-day workshop, most participants complete at least 2 (and sometimes 4 or 5!) circle blocks of their own design. At the January workshop we will have the benefit of an additional day, which will allow participants to work on bigger and/or more complex circle quilts. I also want to show how the techniques can be used for other shapes – not just circles.
I have a few class samples of circles, but now I am working on some samples showing how one of the techniques can be used for other shapes.
I made a quick design in MS Paint, then drew it out on a 12 x 12 inch piece of freezer paper. I cut apart the freezer paper and pressed it to the back of the fabrics.
This is a high-level explanation of one of the techniques I teach in the workshop. I reassembled the pattern by overlapping the seam allowances. Working from the back, I stitched in the gap between the paper templates. Then from the front, I trimmed each seam allowance very close to stitching. This leaves raw edges, which I covered with thin black bias tape. It’s fusible tape, so I pressed it into place. The tricky part was getting nice sharp corners without burning my fingers!
I love how my tools are the same colors as the fabrics. I think this is a good illustration of some of my favorite colors!
Here are all of the class samples. If they look wrinkled, it’s because most of them still have the freezer paper ironed to the back, so I can use them at the workshop to illustrate the various steps I use to construct them.
Thanks for stopping by. I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many other creative and inspirational projects.
I’ve finished ‘Maple Reflections’, my second artwork for the Fibre Art Network exhibit ‘Botanical Reflections’. You can read about my first piece ‘Ginkgo Reflections’ here and here.
As with the Ginkgo leaves, I fused and stitched the leaves to felt. For the Maple leaves, I used 2 different fabrics for each leaf, and left a narrow bit of felt showing for the main vein. Then I free-motion stitched the leaf veins and around the edges. Fortunately I had just enough of the olive colored felt left for these leaves.
I’m very pleased with my idea to fuse and stitch the leaves to felt. In addition to adding dimension, it’s much easier to do the free-motion stitching on a small piece of felt, rather than on the whole quilt! I can, and do, free-motion quilt in any direction, but if possible I like to turn my quilt so that I’m stitching toward myself. It feels like I have more control.
This process also gave me the option of rearranging the position of the leaves, and adding more leaves as I worked on the piece. As you can see below, I changed my mind a few times about the number and positions of the leaves.
Once the leaves were finalized, I pinned them to the quilted background, then positioned the purple bias tape. I was able to stitch it down without removing the leaves – I just lifted each leaf out of the way as I stitched. Then, I quilted each leaf to the background, stitching through the middle vein and around the edges.
While working on this quilt, I started wondering exactly what type of maple tree these were from. I took a break from quilting to do some Internet research, and I’ve concluded that it’s an Amur Maple. This first image below is the photo I took in Victoria BC. The others I found on the Internet – click on each one to see the website it’s from.
Here’s a photo of both my Reflections quilts together. Each is 12 x 24 inches. I think they look great as a diptych, but it’s unlikely they will be displayed together. There are over 70 entries for this exhibit! Those of us who opted to make 2 entries, will have only one on display. If the first one sells, then the second one will be hung.
And here is a detail shot. The reflections were cut from the trimmings of the leaves.
Thanks for stopping by. I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many other creative and inspirational projects.
In my last post, I showed my progress on my 2 entries to the next Fibre Art Network (FAN) exhibit, ‘Botanical Reflections’.
I have completed the first one, ‘Ginkgo Reflections’. It includes several of my favorite design elements – circle shapes, leaves and bright colors. In nature, Ginkgo leaves are a beautiful lime-green, turning golden-yellow in the fall. I opted to make mine in bright, fanciful colors.
Here’s some information about how I made it. I made freezer paper templates for the quarter-circles and background. I pressed the seam allowance of each quarter-circle over the edge of the template, then machine appliqued them to the background pieces. I quilted the background before adding the leaves. I didn’t quilt the bottom section where the reflections are fused until after I attached the leaves.
To give the leaves some dimension, I fused them to felt, then free-motion stitched the leaf veins. I cut each leaf with a narrow border of felt.
The branch is made from a piece of purple bias tape. As you can see, I changed my mind several times about the placement of the individual leaves. After I finalized the position of the leaves, I attached them by quilting the narrow felt border of each leaf. Then I cut small pieces of fused fabrics for reflections. After fusing them in place, I finished quilting the bottom section.
Here’s a photo that shows the quilting really well.
Now I’m working on my second entry – ‘Maple Reflections’. For this one, I decided to quilt circular lines on the top half. You can see that I cut the batting from each corner, to reduce bulk, as explained in my tutorial about facing quilts.
I’m just starting to select fabrics for the Maple leaves, but they will also be bright. I’ll use the same techniques as described above. Check back in a day or two to see my progress on this one.
Thanks for stopping by. Today, I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many other creative projects to inspire you.
‘Botanical Reflections’ will be the next Fibre Art Network (FAN) exhibit of mixed media fibre art. Each piece will measure 12″ x 24″ in either a landscape or portrait orientation.
‘Botanical Reflections’ will debut at VanDusen Botanical Garden in Vancouver on January 27, 2017 and continue through until March 15, 2017. VanDusen is an internationally recognized garden and display venue, focusing on native plants and materials in a 22 hectare setting. The exhibit will be shown in a gallery adjacent to the public admission area.
I signed up to make two entries for this exhibit. I considered a variety of themes and techniques, before deciding on a somewhat abstract presentation with my favorite design element – the circle – or in this case, a half-circle.
My inspiration for my first piece is this photo of a Ginkgo branch, that I took in Naramata at the 2011 FAN Retreat. For the background, I selected 4 blue-green Batiks. The bottom half is intended to look like water, the top half like trees. I’m portraying the Ginkgo leaves in bright colors. I’m calling this one ‘Ginkgo Reflections’.
My second entry will be similar – same background fabrics, similar circle, and similar colors for leaves. The inspiration is this photo of maple leaves that I took in Victoria BC in November 2011. It will be called ‘Maple Reflections’.
I’ll be working intensively on these 2 entries for the next few days, because the deadline to finish them and submit photos is December 15th.
Thanks for stopping by. I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many other creative and inspirational projects.
In December 2014, I participated in a Snowflake fiber postcard exchange organized by Brandy Lynn of Quilter on Fire. It was a lot of fun to make the postcards, and even more fun to receive postcards in the mail.
Brandy has organized another exchange this year, with a Mistletoe theme. I signed up to make 3 postcards. Here they are.
Here’s how I made them. Note that throughout the construction process, I used parchment paper when pressing to avoid fusing pieces to my iron. Click on any photo to see a larger image.
I used a firm double-sided fusible stabilizer, and wrapped the background fabric around to the back. For the leaves, I applied Mistyfuse to the back of small pieces of dark green and chartreuse dupioni silk. I drew mistletoe leaves on freezer paper, cut out the shapes and ironed them to the front of the silk. Then I cut around the freezer paper. I positioned the leaves on the postcard, then fused the darker leaves.
Then I positioned the chartreuse leaves with the red ribbon under the stem. I stitched the chartreuse leaves with gold thread.
For the back of the postcard, I used the template I designed in Excel in 2014, and printed it on ivory-colored linen-blend paper. I fused the paper to the back, covering the raw edges of the fabric. From the front, I stitched around the edges through all the layers.
After a final pressing, I tied the ribbon in a bow and added some gemstone stickers as the mistletoe berries. With these embellishments, I’ll have to mail my postcards in envelopes, rather than ‘naked’ through the postal system.
Thanks for stopping by. I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many other creative and inspirational projects.
I’ve made comments in my last couple of posts about the difficulty of taking good photos of quilts when the weather is dark and gray. On Monday, we finally had some sun, so I took photos of my 3 entries for the SAQA exhibit titled H2Oh!. The entry deadline is today – November 30.
I take photos of my quilts on my design wall – it’s on wheels, so I can roll it wherever the light is best. It has 2 sides – one covered with light gray fabric, and the other with dark gray. When I am taking photos that would be better against a white background, I pin a length of white flannel to the design wall.
I pinned up the first quilt, and started rolling the wall around to find a location with even lighting – no shadows or bright spots. I quickly discovered that the light from the window was too bright! So I turned the design wall away from the window and starting taking photos. I discovered that when I use my Nikon camera, with the white background, I don’t need very much light – so in the future, I don’t think I’ll have to wait for sunny days. (I had been taking photos against a gray background with my iPhone camera, which does seem to need more light.)
Once I had the lighting sorted out, I spent a couple of hours taking photos, loading them on the computer, checking for focus, straightening, cropping, etc. As the SAQA prospectus notes “We encourage you to send the best photos you can. Remember that the images you send are the only representations of your work the juror will see when considering your entry. . . . Furthermore, if you are selected for the exhibition, your submission photos will be used for the exhibition catalog. Therefore, your images need to be of the highest possible quality.”
I firmly believe there is no point in spending many, many hours creating an art quilt, then rushing the photography, so I allow a few hours to complete that part of the entry process.
Once I had satisfactory photos, artist statements written and re-written, and titles for all of the quilts, I submitted my 3 water-themed entries. Now I’ll have to wait until mid-January to see if any of them will be accepted.
Here are my three entries to H2Oh! – theme ‘Water – it’s everywhere!’
The first is an art quilt I made a few years ago, titled ‘Reflections on a Blue Day’. It’s based on a photo I took of the Fraser River, which flows past my home in New Westminster. I love to watch how the river’s color and mood change from day to day. On a sunny day when the river is calm, the reflections of the blue sky appear to float gently on the surface of the water. Techniques are: fused raw-edge applique, free-motion quilting, and has faced edges. Size is 29 x 40 inches.
My second entry was made in October. ‘Rain, with a Chance of Sun’ is an abstract interpretation of a typical Vancouver winter day – mostly dark, gray and rainy – with the chance of occasional sunny periods. It’s machine-pieced and quilted with a walking foot. The yellow reflections are fused. It’s 20 x 29 inches.
My third entry is ‘Golden Reflections’, which I made in November – see more information about my process here. I printed a computer-enhanced photo on fabric, then quilted it with poly-sheen thread and painted some of it with watercolor pencils. It is 12 x 24 inches.
Thanks for stopping by. Today, I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many other creative projects to inspire you.
I was so pleased with the Croatia Portal journal quilt I made in August, that I decided to use the same photo and technique for my entry to the SAQA 2017 Trunk Show.
The required finished size is 7 x 10 inches, so I was able to print the photo on a commercially prepared 8.5 x 11 inch fabric sheet, rather than prepare my own fabric. Other than that, I followed the same construction process as I used in August.
Artist Statement: While visiting Croatia, I took a photo of this small rustic door, tucked under a flight of well-worn stone steps, and set deeply into a rough rock wall. The passage of time can be seen in the shape and surface of the door. I wondered: how old is it; what history has it seen; what might be behind it?
Techniques: Digital image, computer enhanced, then printed on fabric. Rock surfaces machine-quilted through one layer of batting. Grout and door quilted through two layers, resulting in a dimensional trapunto effect.
Materials: Photo printed on fabric, two layers of batting, cotton fabric, thread
Meanwhile, I’m still waiting for brighter weather to take some better photos of my entries to the SAQA H2Oh! show. If we don’t get some sun tomorrow, I’ll have to rig up some lights, as the entry deadline in November 30th.
Thanks for stopping by. I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many other creative and inspirational projects.
It’s been 3 weeks since I last posted – where does the time go?
In my last post, I showed a quilt I’m making for the upcoming SAQA exhibit titled H2Oh!. My goal is to have 3 water-themed quilts to enter in the show. Since that post, I’ve finished one quilt, and started another.
‘Rain’ is an abstract quilt. In my last post, I said I was going to quilt it within a couple of days. I did have it completed by October 31st, but then I had problems getting any decent photos of it. The weather has been very like my quilt – mostly dark, gray and rainy – with occasional sunny periods. But the sunny periods never seem to occur when I’m in my studio! So here are some photos taken in bad lighting conditions. I’ll have to take better photos before I submit it at the end of November. (Click on the photos to see a larger image.)
And a couple of detail shots:
The finished size is 20 x 28 inches. I’m still considering titles for this one. I like the alliteration of ‘Probability of Precipitation’, but I also like the simplicity of ‘Rain’. And reading what I typed above, now I’m considering ‘Occasional Sunny Periods’.
And here’s my next water-themed quilt – ‘Reflections’. I started with a photo I took a few years ago near the Vancouver Convention Centre. Using computer software, I cropped it to show an area with interesting reflections, then enhanced the color and contrast.
I printed the enhanced image on prepared fabric – 13 x 26 inches. (The widest my printer will accept is 13 inches.) Printed on the fabric, the image doesn’t look quite as bright, so I may add some highlights with paint. But I’m quilting it first, using poly sheen variegated threads.
Here are some photos of it (also taken in bad lighting). I’ve started quilting at the top, and I’m about a third of the way down. I’m using 4 different colors of thread, so there’s a lot of stopping and starting, and thread ends to bury.
Thanks for stopping by. I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many other creative and inspirational projects.
There’s a new quilt taking shape on my design wall. It’s for an upcoming SAQA exhibit titled H2Oh!. The theme is ‘Water – it’s everywhere!’ The entry fee is $40 USD for up to three (3) entries, so I’m trying to pull together 3 water-themed quilts. The entry deadline is November 30.
The working title of this modern abstract quilt is ‘Rain’, although I’m toying with ‘Rain with a Chance of Sun’ and ‘Probability of Precipitation’. As always, I’d love to hear your suggestions for other titles!
It was inspired by the bottom fabric, which looks like rainy puddles (I used it for Rainy Day Girls) and the Urban Textures gray ombre fabric that looks like threatening rain clouds. I pieced it yesterday, and plan to quilt it this weekend. I’ll quilt ‘rain’ using my favorite variegated black-white-gray thread that I used for all my Rainy Day People quilts.
Thanks for stopping by. I’m also linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many other creative and inspirational projects.
