Every fall, members of The Fibre Art Network (FAN) meet somewhere in Western Canada for our annual retreat and planning meeting. This year, we will meet in Winnipeg MB in early October.
The theme is “Gateways and Portals”. The retreat announcement says “We will be asking everyone to participate in a challenge again this year. The pieces are to be 8 ½” x 11”, and designed to fit with our theme. We would like people to try and use a technique that is new to them in creating their piece.”
The theme brought to mind my photos of interesting doors and windows from our trip to Croatia in 2013. Here are several of the photos I considered for this project.
On the left below is the photo I decided to use. Using photo editing software, I cropped it and boosted the contrast – right image.
When I was happy with the look of the photo, I printed it onto fabric. In the past, I have used commercially prepared 8.5 x 11 inch sheets to print photos on fabric. As the finished size of this project must be 8.5 x 11 inches, and I needed a seam allowance around the edges, I needed a larger size. I have a printer that will take paper up to 13 inches wide, so I decided to use Bubble Jet Set to prepare my own fabric. After the fabric dried, I ironed it to freezer paper, cut it to 10 x 13 inches, inserted the prepared sheet into my printer’s paper tray and printed my photo.
I let it dry for 30 minutes, then (with some apprehension) rinsed it in lukewarm water. To my relief, there was no loss of ink.
I wanted to emphasize the roughness of the rock wall and the depth of the inset door, so I quilted the foreground rock surfaces with one layer of batting. Then I added a second layer of batting and quilted the grout between the rocks and the surface of the door. The sections that were quilted through both layers of batting receded and the other sections puffed up, giving the quilt a dimensional trapunto effect.
I was very happy with the dimensional quality of the finished piece. As usual with my art quilts, I finished it with a facing.
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.
This week, I started and finished a small art quilt. I’ll have to post about my techniques and process next week, because I’m about to leave for North Vancouver to help set up for the first-ever VMQG Modern Quilt Showcase. There will be over 100 modern quilts on display, and it will be fabulous! If you live nearby, come and visit us on Saturday or Sunday. Click here for details.
For now, here’s a peak at my new art quilt – made from a photo I took during our Croatia trip in 2013. I’ll be back next week with more information about it.
Thanks for stopping by. Today, I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many other creative and inspirational projects.
I’m thrilled to have 17 of my art quilts on display at the Constituency Office of Judy Darcy, MLA, New Westminster, along with work by several other artists including Judy herself – Judy is a very talented photographer.
I will be at Judy’s community constituency office on Saturday, August 13 from noon to 2pm, and on Sunday, August 14 from 3pm to 5 pm. I will be happy to answer questions about my quilts, my process and my inspiration. Judy’s office is in the Uptown neighborhood of New West, at 737 Sixth Street. If you’re in the area, I hope you will stop by.
Here’s a photo of Judy with my New Westminster themed art quilts hanging in her community office, and a photo of Judy with one of her gorgeous photos (and look! you can see my portrait quilt in the background). [both photos courtesy of Judy’s Facebook posts]
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’m thrilled to have my art quilts on display at the Constituency Office of Judy Darcy, MLA, New Westminster, along with work by other artists including Frank Bennet, Janet Kvammen, Kelly Lambert and Judy Darcy – Judy is a very talented photographer.
I met Judy at the opening day of my duo exhibition last month at The Gallery At Queens Park. Judy and I share a love of bright colors, and she asked if I would like to display some of my quilts at her office during the Cultural Crawl. Of course, I immediately said yes!
Starting next week, about 15 of my quilts will be on display at Judy’s office, including these two that feature New Westminster. I will be at Judy’s office on August 13 and 14 to talk about my quilts.
Judy has been spreading the word about the artists who will be on display at her office, on Facebook and even in the BC Legislature. Judy’s office is in the Uptown neighborhood of New West, at 737 Sixth Street.
The second location is the VMQG Modern Quilt Showcase. More than 100 modern quilts made by the members of the VMQG will be on display at the Pipe Shop Building near Lonsdale Quay on August 27 and 28.
Thanks for stopping by. Today, I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many other creative and inspirational projects.
Back in January, I posted about the current collaborative project I’m working on with my sister Anne – ‘WATER: an Element’. Since then, I have thought about it a few times, but there always seemed to be other projects taking priority. However, next week I’ll be visiting Anne in Victoria BC, so I decided I had better get working on this.
When Anne and I last worked on this in January, we confirmed our original design and made some decisions about fabrics – left photo below.
We cut our full-size freezer-paper pattern into 3 sections. I took the right section of the pattern, and the fabrics we selected for it, to start piecing and appliqueing.
Today when I started working on it, I realized some of the fabric pieces were not wide enough to place them as we had intended, so I had to improvise. I added a couple of fabrics, but I’m not sure I like them. I started cutting the fabrics at the bottom with the cresting wave shape, then switched to choppy waves, and then to more subdued waves and gentle curves at the top. We will probably add more wave shapes with applique, paint and/or stitching to make a more cohesive design.
I haven’t sewn or fused any of the sections together. The fabrics are ironed to the freezer-paper pattern, and pinned near the edges. I’ve rolled the whole thing up, so hopefully it won’t fall apart on the trip to Anne’s.
Here are a couple of my favorite sections – both are Anne’s photos that she printed on fabric. The surfer is a photo of her daughter, screen-printed on silk. The fabric under the cresting wave was printed using a blueprint process.
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.
Our ‘Heart of the Forest’ exhibition is going very well! Judy Villett and I have a duo exhibition at The Gallery At Queen’s Park in New Westminster BC. It’s on until July 24th. One or both of us will be in attendance every Saturday and Sunday from 1 – 5pm.
Last weekend, my sister Joan visited the gallery. A few years ago, I made her this quilt ‘Through the Trees’, and she generously offered to loan it to me for display in the gallery.
This Sunday, July 17th Judy and I will be doing Artist Talks from 1 – 3pm. We’ll talk about the textile works on display – our inspiration, design processes and techniques used. We’d love to see you there.
In other news – all of the quilts juried into the Canadian Quilters’ Association (CQA) National Juried Show (NJS) have been posted on the CQA website – here. If you weren’t able to attend the NJS at Quilt Canada in Toronto, you can see all of the quilts online. The photos are very well done. (Even if you were there, it’s still worth looking at them all again!)
Here’s a peak at what you will see on the CQA website.
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.
On Wednesday evening, Judy and I hosted the Opening Reception for our textile art exhibition at the Gallery At Queen’s Park. In keeping with the theme of our show ‘In the Heart of the Forest’, we had a Teddy Bear Picnic at our opening reception. It was a great success.
At 6:00pm, the lemonade was chilled, the cookies were served and the music was playing (guess what song we played over and over again!) The teddy bears were gathered around the picnic table, eagerly waiting for guests to arrive.
From 6:00 to 8:00pm, we had a great turnout, and several people brought their favorite teddy bears or other stuffed animals to the picnic. One of our guests was Art the SockMonkey from 100 Braid St. Studios.
Our textile exhibition ‘The Heart of the Forest’ continues though to July 24th, and Judy and I will be there every Saturday and Sunday from 1:00 to 5:00pm. If you have a chance, we hope you will drop by and visit.
Thanks for stopping by. Today, I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many other creative and inspirational projects.
Our exhibition is open! Judy Villett and I have a duo exhibition at The Gallery At Queen’s Park in New Westminster BC. It’s on until July 24th. One or both of us will be in attendance every Saturday and Sunday from 1 – 5pm. We’d love to see you there.
The Opening Reception for our exhibition will be Wednesday, July 8th from 6 – 8pm. In keeping with the theme of forest and trees, we are having a Teddy Bear Picnic at our opening reception. Everyone is welcome.
Thanks for stopping by. Today, I’m linking up with these blogs – click on the links below, where you’ll find many other creative and inspirational projects.
Last week, I attended Quilt Canada in Toronto ON with my friend Janet.
We arrived Tuesday evening at the ALT Hotel near the airport, and were greeted by wonderful signage and logos that reminded us of colorful modern quilts. We thoroughly enjoyed the hotel.
On Tuesday evening, we attended the National Juried Show (NJS) Awards Ceremony. I had been notified that one of my entries had been chosen for an award, so I was very excited. I was thrilled when it was announced that Circular Thinking had been awarded 1st place in the Art – Abstract category. Then, I was thrilled and amazed when I was called up again to receive the 3rd place award in the Art – Naturescapes, Pictorial category for Swoop. We couldn’t see the actual quilts until the next day when the show opened, so the photos below were taken later.
We spent the next 4 days attending lectures and events, shopping in the merchant mall, meeting friends and, of course, viewing hundreds of gorgeous quilts! This is the first year photos of the quilts were permitted, so I took lots! Here are some more of my favorites.
Terry Aske_Anne deVerteuil_FIRE_2016 CQA NJS
Janet Archibald_A Vancouver Winter
Beth Van Wyngaarden_ Birch Trees, Fall
Marianne Haak_Shards of Glass
Margaret Cale_Waves
Ann Marie Patrick_ Toadstools
Anita Payne_From the World to Canada
Judy Weiss_Height of the Storm
Joanne Love_Curiosity
Alison Dean Cowitz_Leo
There were also several special exhibits, including Canadiana by members of the Fibre Art Network members, and Cascade of Colours, by the Beaconsfield Quilters Guild.
FAN Canadiana exhibit 1
FAN Canadiana exhibit 2
Cascade of Colours_Beaconsfield Quilters Guild
You can see all of the award winning quilts on the CQA site here. And within a few days, there should be a link added to see all of the quilts in the show.
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.
