Tropical Garden Layout

Today I finally got some actual work done on the tropical garden piece for which I had composed and sewn the first layer of work in my Tennessee studio.

The leaves, flowers, and tiki are just laid in place. I consider this to be an initial layout. There will more plants in the foreground and upper corners as well as those you see getting more refined. I see at least two more layers of work before it's finished. Here's an example of the layers for one of the panels of "Prairie Performance"...

All the leaves and flowers are laid over the background (first photo) in the center picture. In the third one, most of them are placed under a layer of tulle netting to hold them in place while some of them are stitched on top of the tulle to give depth and dimension to the piece.

It feels good to actually have gotten some actual elements on that background after the hours spent doing the prep work of gathering foliage and flower petals as well as researching information about particular plants.

"Quilts For Mom" Quilting Gallery Contest

Once again I've entered one of my quilts in the Quilting Gallery's weekly contest. I never enter with the intention of winning ... which I haven't so far ... but as another way to share my work with more quilters around the world. Go here to see the other entries for this weeks contest and to vote for your favorite. Check out my favorite one that's titled "Mom." It's created by a Michigan artist who also loves to recycle fabric and stuff into her art.

 "Hollyhocks" - 18"x22" - 2004

This is another "ortwork" piece that was my answer to the challenge of interpreting a photograph. The blossoms are made from cut apart and reshaped silk flower parts. It is detailed with pastel oil sticks and paint. Many of the leaves are reshaped from the silk plants. The small ones are shapes cut from interior decorator fabric samples. This was purchased by a friend in Knoxville and hangs in her bedroom.

PS: This entry won the Quilting Gallery contest. Thanks to all of you  who voted for it. The black roses quilt that got a whole lot of votes was not eligible to win ... ???

Indiana Sunset

A year ago last August, a niece had taken this photo somewhere between Indianapolis and Bluffton. It was a special day for my sister when all six of her children "came home" with all of their children. It was a memorable time and just before her radical surgery. It's also the last time that she felt like "herself".
I've interpreted this sunset that embodies so much meaning into a small quilt as a birthday present for her (which is later this month).

"Indiana Sunset" - 13"x 11"

It ended up with quite a bit of pastel work to help light up the sky and to define the foreground. I also lightly swept the flat side a green pastel stick across the quilted black trees just give a hint of color that can be seen at that time of day.

While working on this piece it occurred to me how comfortable I feel working in this scale (13"x 11") for large landscapes. This collage has no orts. It felt strange to rummage through stacks of fabric instead of digging in a big bag.

PS: sshh! if you know my sister. She doesn't have a computer or access to one so I feel safe that sharing this won't ruin the surprise.

International Artist's Day

October 25th every year has been selected as International Artist Day. This worldwide tribute honors and brings recognition to artists contributions made to civilization. Everyone around the world can do something special on this day to enhance the visual arts: take an artist to lunch, host an exhibition, buy a piece of art, attend a gallery show, visit a studio of your favorite artist.

My tribute is participation in the "Pay It Forward" (PIF) art share meme that is circulating. This involves giving art to the first three people who leave a comment on this posting. The first person will receive this small lake art quilt. It is a collage constructed of pieces from the first 50 quilts in my lake series.

Lake Series 50 1/2 (8"x 7")

The second and third people to comment will receive similar pieces made in the future from the second fifty quilts in this lake series. One of the stipulations of PIF is that it take place within one year.

The only thing that those of you who participate in this PIF meme have to do in return is "pay it forward" by making the same promise on your blog.

Waiting In New Orleans

Here is another "doll". She is the result of a challenge. Seven of us each brought a piece of fabric that we thought was interesting or difficult to use. There was a large scale print of green limes, a red machine-made lace, a smudged mis-printed piece, a primary color striped white fabric, a muted red-violet oriental wave print, and I contributed a hand-dyed red wool. We gave ourselves a year to think of a way to use these "somehow". There were no rules imposed. I chose to use mine all in one piece.

"Waiting in New Orleans" - 19"x24" - 2003

She is not a "red hat" lady ... she's a bit too young. I based this piece on a painting I had seen in a Boulder, Colorado gallery. Tom Barnes features "long neck ladies" wearing huge red hats decorated with a single oversized blossom in a water color series. Here is a photo of one of his paintings from the gallery postcard.

"Madam Ste. Ursule" - 32"x32"

I fell in love with his paintings, but certainly could not afford to buy one. I "played" with one for this challenge. There was a role for each of the fabrics ... plus. I chopped up several silk flowers to make the blossom. The background is a flanel with ikat-like white lines shot throughout. Her skin is unbleached muslin and her lips are a red silk brocade. I used oil stick pastels for shading her alabaster skin tone and the blossom.

Even though the red wool was wonderful, I layered wool roving over it to give highlights and shadows to her hat and gloves. The roving was also used to soften and shade the fabric of her dress. Making a glass of wine that looked convincing amazed me. Oil stick pastel is used to give highlights to the glass and reflected colors in the wine.
This is a fabric collage layered under black tulle. The black outlines are a straight stitch with a heavy thread. That stitching is also the quilting for this piece.

I devised a unique framing technique for this wall quilt. A piece of foam core was cut. The inner opening of the foam core mat ends at the outer black line on the border. A thin batting was glued onto the front surface of the foam core with spray adhesive.The quilted piece was bordered in the usual way (note the primary striped white fabric was overpainted with a diluted black and forms the inner border around the piece). The backing fabric was sewn to the quilted and bordered front piece pillowcase style, leaving one end open. The foam core frame was slid inside and the open end slip-stitched shut. I carefully machine couched black chenile yarn at the inside edge of the foam core frame as well as between the striped and dark borders. If the piece were any larger, doing this machine stitching with the foam core inside the piece would be impossible because of the limited space in the harp area of the sewing machine.

Here's a photo of the backside. The hanging device is hand sewn in place. You can see the zig-zag stitches of the two couched seams.
This piece has a permanent hanging space in our living room. It hasn't been entered in any shows because it so closely resembles the painting even though the scale is much smaller and the medium is different. I made it for me.

Red Quilts

You Are Rouge Red

Of all the reds, you are the most energetic and vibrant. You never need to recharge, and in fact, you often recharge others. Gutsy and brave, you've never let your fears stop you from doing anything. You figure that life is all about experiences, and you'll always take that leap of faith.

What Color Red Are You?

This quiz, plus the challenge from Karen of "Threadstory" weblog to show her red quilts inspired this posting. Red is not my favorite color, but close. Really the orange family is at the top of my list. But I must say that my preference is for wam colors as opposed to cool ones. So here are a bunch of quilts that feature red.

"Queen of Hearts" - 19"x19" - 2005

I was "just playing". There had been a show on Simply Quilts that featured a way of sewing squares together, cutting them apart, sewing together, etc. This way of constructing complex blocks intriques me. It's like performing magic. Also, I wanted to make an irregular checker board pattern. This is the result. The piece was purchased by a friend and it hangs in a log cabin in the Smokies.

"City Cats" - 1996

This is a cuddle quilt I had made for my daughter-in-law who is a cat lover. Go to the previous posting "City Cats" to read more about it. It is machine pieced and hand quilted. I wasn't feeling the time pressure yet that pushed me into machine quilting. That came when I turned 60 years old.

"Warm and Fuzzy" - 36"x38" - 2006

This one was my answer to a guild challenge and was donated to "Saving Little Hearts". Go to this previous posting to read more about it. I used quite a bit of orange in this one as well as reds. I love that red border fabric with the blue spirals. Drats! It's almost gone.

"Coming Unstrung" - 28"x24" - 2002

Visually "it" is all barely hanging together. A collage of raw edged silk fabrics layered over cotton fabrics portrays emotions run amok. All this being contained in a regular shape with a loose grid within, depicts a trying to hold it together. Holes are cut through to different layers . The cut-away circles appliqued to the surface represents trying to put the pieces in place.. Yarn couched to outside edge contributes to the "frayed" mood. Again, this piece began by "just playing" with a technique taught by Kate Cox in a guild workshop. The piece was purchased by an elderly lady who stated it portrays how she feels a lot of time. It's hanging somewhere in New England.

"Land of the Unicorn" - 12"x12" - 2002

This piece was made as a study with the intention of making a really big wall quilt. I haven't given up the idea, but have donated this small one which was sold to raise money for our quilt guild. It is made in the collage technique that I call "ortwork" ... lots of bits and pieces layered under tulle.

"Hollyhocks" - 18"x22" - 2004

Another "ortwork" piece that was my answer to the challenge of interpreting a photograph. The blossoms are made from cut apart and reshaped silk flower parts. It is detailed with pastel oil sticks and paint. Many of the leaves are from the silk plants. The small ones are shapes cut from interior decorator fabric samples. This was purchased by a friend in Knoxville and hangs in her bedroom.

Then there are three large cuddle quilts that I paper pieced earlier this year that feature a lot of red fabrics. These are three of six memorial quilts I've made from my mother-in-law's fabrics for her grandchildren. I have three more yet to do (there are eight grandsons and one granddaughter). One of them will also feature the red wool that's in the border and sashings of this first one. I'll be posting more about this series of quilts in the future.

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