Big Hairy Mess

...of yarns sewn around the squares of silk.

Now to tame and control them into a balanced composition. This piece is entered in the "Modern Quilt" category of our upcoming quilt show, so the fringed surface of loose yarns will be much more contained and controlled than on the other art piece I made in this technique with the same materials.

Unraveled IV - 24" x 48"

Happy Valentine's Day!

Unraveled VII

This piece has been brewing in my head for quite some time. Finally, it's being realized in materials to be one of my entries in our guild's upcoming quilt show.

First, I laid out silk fabric samples on a background of raw silk to see the effect. I liked it! So I went digging for the disc shaped "beads" I bought in Colorado last summer. Seeing those discs in the bead shop is what sparked the idea for this...

Then I got serious about the arrangement of hues ... to create a diamond shaped focal point with the yellows, plus arranging the others in a loose progression of hues...

Then I determined that another row was needed to balance out the proportion of the design made with the silk squares to the size of the background...

This is part of the "unraveled" series ... meaning yarns are part of the surface design. I'm always on the lookout for the yarn made in Nepal from recycled silk saris. This past year I found the two that are hanging to the sides in the photo above.

The background silk tussah has batting and a backing of upholstery fabric attached with a minimum of machine quilting. The silk fabric samples were kept the size they were already cut and have been sewn to the sandwiched background. Each silk square is individually stuffed on the surface, then the disc bead is hand stitched in place with mono filament thread. The variegated green silk sari yarn is couched around the squares that reflect the diamond pattern made by the yellow ones.

Stay tune for the next step ... the variegated gray silk sari yarn will be stitched around the other silk squares to fill the surface ... I think.

Happy Birthday Elvis!

My husband honors Elvis with his "Pop Art"*

All that above is affixed to the Elvismobile below ...

What would Elvis say, indeed!

*He's adopted that term, because our sons call him "Pop."

50 YEARS LATER

It's my birthday!

How did 50 years go by so quickly?

Today I'm 71. In the photo on the right I was 21. It seems a short time ago that picture was taken. The young me seems to be looking on the older me with amusement.

 
    
"Love Me Tender Souvenir Fork"           14"x14" - 2004

I made this piece as a result of a  of cake themed round-robin exchange with SMQ's Thursday Bee group. It began with my slice of plain chocolate cake on the plate with the plaid table cloth. The fork plus its embroidery, raspberry filling, frosting, and whip cream were added by my friends. I finished it off with the raspberries and gold border mat. 

Seems as though it was a much shorter time than nine years ago that it was made. Time flies when you're having fun!