Happy Valentine's Day

Here's hoping you're "in the pink" ... that you find time in your day to imagine or create something out of this world.

This piece was made just for the fun of it quite a few years ago. I liked the challenge of working with all that pink. It's constructed in my "ortwork" technique and I think the size of it is about 12 inches square. It was donated to the Smoky Mountain Quilt Guild small quilt sale back then.

My Plan for ArtPrize 2011

Since ArtPrize 2010 ended last October, I've been tossing around the idea of creating another BIG installation piece for its next competition/exhibition. The big question in my mind was whether I had the stamina and the desire to put all my efforts into another humongous 9' x 7' art piece.  The answer is YES!

Last week I printed out reference photos and did a lot of cutting and pasting, as well as pastel work to make a paper mock-up of what I have in mind ... the Smoky Mountains on a spring morning.

11" x 8.5"

I love mountains as much as I do Lake Michigan. This one features the Smokies, which is only an hours drive away, but there's a strong influence of the Rocky Mountains in my feeling about doing it. In fact,  quite a few of my reference photos for the perspective of looking down as well as up nearby slopes were taken in Colorado. I've spent the last 20 springs in the Smoky Mountains, so that range is featured in this piece.

Finally, my schedule and studio are clear of other projects and obligations so I began a small fabric study.  I had determined how the composition is to be sectioned for 25 panels on the paper mock-up.

I sketched in the divisions on the army blanket that serves as the bat ... keeping in the spirit of recycling materials for my "ortwork" technique.

I got just so far before I ran out of dark green scraps from the bag on the table.  Another bag was brought in from the garage to dig for and sort out possible bits and pieces to continue with this piece ... and for the next larger study with more details I plan to make before work begins on the BIG one.

There's lots of digging through many big bags in my near future.

Playing With Scraps

All the trimmed off edges from my "ortwork" pieces get saved.  Today I decided to get out the bag they're stored in to play with those cut-offs.  There are some from the prairie flower installation piece,  my self-portrait, this month's "Interpret This" project,  the Rockie Mountain lake piece plus others that I've forgotten what they're trimmed from.

The strips got laid out and moved around until the arrangement looked good.

This is the layout that pleased me.  I liked the flow of the lines as well as the distribution of colors and patterns.  The already quilted pieces were butted together and zig-zag stitched by machine with mono filament thread.

I decided to couch yarns in a vertical pattern to bring even more cohesiveness to the overall design ... and had begun doing that before remembering that I wanted to document my process with photos.  I took a picture before more than two rows of yarn got stitched on.

I thought back to the piece, "Fading Memories", that I had recently completed and was inspired to use brown and beige yarns to go for the effect of tree trunks.  The colors were beginning to look like shafts of light, sky, and "stuff" in the background.

Then I remembered that I had been saving this paper napkin with the gold printed leaves.  They would be interesting leaves for this pieces.

I mixed a bit of fine gold Perle Ex Pigment with acrylic medium and brushed it on the surface.  This strengthened the tissue and will make it impervious to moisture, as well as give it a bit more shine.

After cutting out the paper leaves I recalled that I had a stash of leaf skeletons tucked away in a basket on a top shelf.





Here the paper napkin and skeleton leaves are arranged on the surface.

Some decorative yarns are snipped into little pieces for additional interest.  Then a layer of brown tulle was placed on top to hold everything in place.  I quilted the background with a dark mono filament thread in a bark-like pattern.  The paper leaves are quilted with a variegated gold thread.  The last thing was to square it up and finish the outside edge with couched yarns.

"Fading Memories II" (10"x 8")

Well, finishing the edges was almost the last thing.  LuminArte paint was added to the leaves to give them a bit more shading and shimmer as well as to make the leaf skeletons more prominent.  I can see now that I need to go back to add some of that gold shimmer to the white spots.

This piece will be my first donation to the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative.

More Mini Prairie Flowers

More mini quilts made with the pieced together cut-offs from "Prairie Performance" as their foundation have been created.
I position the main elements, such as the blossom, stems, leaves, and of course Elvis on the background first so I can determine a "point of view" or perspective. Those get removed so the background can be filled in with more scraps of thread and fabric. A layer of netting is laid over that and then it gets quilted.
Most of the flowers and leaves that are the focal point or in the foreground are machine appliqued onto the surface so they're dimensional.






That makes 12 of the 20 I intend to make. Five of my friends who've contributed scraps that were used in the prairie flower installation received their quilts after our SMQ Guild meeting last evening. One got hers last weekend when we were in the mountains. Tomorrow several more will get their's at Thursday Bee. Only 8 more to make.

PS: Did you find Elvis in each of those?

Mini Prairie Flower Quilts

I found a project. Making mini quilts that feature prairie flowers. I figured that I might as well do this while all the supplies from making "Prairie Performance" are not yet put away and I'm in the groove of working with them. It surprises me that I'm not sick to death of this theme. I guess those flowers are not yet out of my system.

Their foundations are made from the pieces cut off the 25 panels when I squared and trimmed them to their finished size of 23"x 24". Whatever else would I do with those trimmings? At any rate, I just cannot discard them.
Here are five sets laid out. The bottom one's strips are sewn together with a zig-zag stitch.
And here's the stack of twenty foundations cut from those stripped together pieces.
The first one I made features daisies. I was disappointed this favorite flower of mine was not indigenous to the prairies of northern Illinois. Consequently, there are none in the installation piece.

foundation strips finished piece

I'm making these as thank you gifts for my friends who've contributed scraps that most likely ended up in the BIG prairie flower quilt. I think they'll appreciate having these small quilts made of scraps and leftovers from "Prairie Performance".

"Cone Flowers" 8"x 10"

As you recall, Elvis was tucked in a number of places on the big quilt. Each of the mini ones will have an Elvis cut from this chiffon scarf hiding among the flowers.
Here's one. Can you find the other in the field of daisies?

"Lofty" Work

Our older son was fascinated by the loft of all the bits and pieces layered on the prairie flower panel I was working on last evening. He got out the camera and snapped a few shots.
He had a hard time imagining how I know all these raised ... lofty ... floating pieces will look when they're flattened out with netting and lots of quilting.
Really, I don't know. However, after creating many pieces with my "ortwork" collage technique for a number of years, I have a pretty good idea what combinations will give the effect I'm after. This piece is now layered and pinned, so it's back to the machine work.

Scraps, Lots of Scraps, Bags of Scraps

For years I've been making art quilts with a collage technique I call "ortwork" ... a play on the words artwork and ort which is the British term for scraps. I look at all of these bits and pieces and see potential "brush strokes".
For the last month this has been the sole source of material for a major project that will be ongoing for quite a few months ahead. There have been hints of this project in previous posts. It's being revealed today in response to a campaign by Michele of With Heart and Hands for her readers to feature scrap quilts, or "quilts made with everything but the kitchen sink".
During this past month of work I've created the first layer, the one I call under painting for a large ... no make that HUGE ... commission project. This schematic represents an installation of twenty-five separate panels that all together measures 14 feet wide and 10 feet high.
My older son designed a grid template on Photoshop for me to drop a photo of each piece into place as it's completed. I am so thankful for this invaluable design tool. Without it, there would be no way for me to see all these panels together and how they interact as a whole piece. Otherwise, the only time I'd ever see them in their proper orientation would be when it's finished and installed on the wall of a lobby.

Here's a close-up of one panel that measures 24"x 34".
It, plus the other 24 panels, are packed up along with supplies ready to be transported to Studio North next week. There I'll build another layer(s) that will transform them into a large field of prairie flowers under a summer sky.

I'll post my progress throughout the summer.

PS: For an occasional break I may whip up a lake quilt from the heap of scraps. I haven't made one of those since #68 last fall in Studio North.

Mountain Quilt Finished

I thought you may like to see the stages to complete this "ortwork" collage piece that features the Smoky Mountains. The background pieces from my scrap bag were laid out to establish the basic placement of the mountains, groves of trees, and sky during the Friday afternoon demonstration at the gallery in Gatlinburg. I had in mind to portray the new growth that I had observed on the drive to the mountains. This step is akin to doing an "under painting".
Friday evening at home I added details with more bits of fabric scraps. There was a lot of cutting with scissors and the rotary blade. Angora yarn and wool roving was used to soften and blend areas.
A pale, muted red-violet tulle was laid over the surface to trap all those bits and pieces in place. Lots of pins held this sandwich of backing, batting, scraps, wool, and tulle together. I used a variety of threads, many of them variegated, to quilt patterns that suited each area of the scene. I like to use the zig-zag stitch setting for free-motion quilting of the trees.
It was then pinned to the design wall. Oil stick pastels were used to highlight and define shapes and edges. This is a slow process. After adding a touch of color or shading I need to leave the room or do something else before I can assess it with a "fresh eye" to see if the addition is convincing. A black permanent ink brush tipped marker was used to add more tree trunks and branches to the grove of trees in the foreground. To set the pastels the piece was sprayed with Krylon's clear acrylic. I use the one that has a UV ray protection to help guard against fading over time.
I squared it up trimming away the unfinished edges. You may recognize the fabric frame from the large mountain piece recently completed. I had intentionally made more than was needed for that piece, just in case I goofed cutting a mitered corner. Sure enough, I did ... and still had enough leftover to frame this one.

"Spring from Morton's Overlook" (2009)
20"x 18"

To see the other four "ortwork" collage pieces featuring this same view click on the Smoky Mountain Quilts lable.

Flowers For Me

Another study was needed to test out a mounting method with which I've been playing. This Monet-like "ortwork" piece is the result. It's one of the few that I've ended up keeping. It's hanging in my kitchen.
If you'd like to see more of this cozy corner go and the artwork in my kitchen go here.

More Flowers

This is the way my "ortwork" flower pieces begin.
Opps! I take that back. This is where they begin.
Bags of scrap fabrics, thread ravels, strips of wool cut for rug hooking, roving, and disassembled silk plants.

At this point one layer of netting has been applied and quilted just enough to keep all those bits and pieces in place on the background. I'm building another layer with flowers, stems and leaves plus more texture.
I cut the silk flowers apart and shape them to resemble particular flowers for my composition. The cone flowers get centers from balled up strips of wool. The yellow coreopsis will be getting some of those, too.
I love these bright pink poppies. The snippets from shaping petals become part of the piece as buds and flowers in the background. The leaves are also reshaped from my box of disassembled silk ones. I'm finding the backside of some are what is needed for a few of the plants.

Flowers, Flowers, Flowers

Flowers! I've been knee deep in flowers ... literally.

All week I've been busy coming up with another variation of these.

Studies I had made a year ago last fall.

"Our Biosphere Reserve"

This is the result of my "playing" with all those scraps.

Our Biosphere Reserve - 40"x 31"

The Smoky Mountains National Park is designated as an International Biosphere Reserve by the United Nations in observance of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 2009. This international recognition represents the Smokies' importance to the planet. The purpose of this United Nations' program is to recognize and encourage preservation of the world's great cultural and biological areas.

This art piece features my interpretation of the view from "Morton's Overlook". In the spirit of conserving our biosphere's resources this quilt is made from recycled or repurposed materials. The picture part is composed of fabric scrap bits and pieces from previous projects, both mine and other peoples. The foundation structure features an old blanket as the batting and upholstery fabric leftover from a friends project is the backing.

It took concentrated effort to meet the deadline of presenting it at the Smoky Mountain Quilt Guild meeting last night. This was one of twenty-one quilts competing for inclusion in the SMQ Guild's entry for the Ultimate Guild Challenge in the AQS summer show. The theme chosen by our guild for its entry was "Go Green", which was open to interpretation by each participating member. Leah Marcum-Estes, director of the Oak Ridge Art Center, was invited to be the juror to select the eight quilts for this entry. We certainly presented her with a challenge to choose only eight from so many wonderful quilts. I'm pleased my quilt was one of those selected to represent the Smoky Mountain Quilt Guild.

The SMQ Guild has won awards in three previous AQS Ultimate Guild Challenges. To see the quilts for the year we won the Grand Champion Award ($5000) go here. To see my quilt contributions for the other two award winning years go here and here.

Busy Quilting and Coloring

For several days I've been machine quilting ...
and coloring in with oil stick pastels to enhance, correct, and highlight various sections of the quilt ...