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!

Silk Quilts

There is nothing quite like cuddling under a silk quilt ... especially one that has personal meaning. My friend, Alicia, and I created quilts as mutual Christmas presents for three of our friends with silk scarves that had belonged to the mother of two of them and an older friend to all of them.

Each of them is about 60"x 60" and batted with wool. Silk yardage, as well as silk-like fabrics are combined with the scarves to complete the designs on the fronts and backs. The exception is the backing of this one made for our friend who has grandchildren. The cotton batik and yardage on the back makes it a bit sturdier for her to cuddle under and read stories with them.

Two scarves also make up the front of the one above. The quilt below has one in the center set on point and the corner triangles are made from another cut diagonally into four sections. The green fabric is "silk cotton" by Robert Kaufman. The color selection was limited when we shopped for it. How well it blended in with this and the next pictured quilt surprised us. The print fabric on the back of this one is a rayon blend.

A center scarf is set square and another one is cut into corner blocks for the quilt below. They are combined with silk yardage to complete the design. The same purple satin is on all four sides around the outside edge of the back and that's the same green satin cotton in the center diamond.

This one had been planned for one of those three friends. That is until the son of one the women whose scarves were used for these quilts saw it. He fell madly in love with it, so this quilt will be his when Alicia finishes burying the quilting thread ends and hand-stitching the binding in place.

The top has one scarf on point in the center, two small scarves cut in half to complete the center square, plus another one cut into corner blocks framing black silk panels. On the back there are two cotton prints on the outside edges between the silk corner blocks.

The cuddle quilts I make are made as gifts for people I care about, be they family members or personal friends or someone in need of comfort and warmth. Most of my art pieces have price tags, but not these symbols of my love and care for those who receive them. An exception is the man who's getting that last quilt. He absolutely, positively would not accept it as a gift even though Alicia and I wanted him to have it. Our compromise is that he pay for the materials we had purchased to make all four quilts. Now she and I have the pleasure to find a way to splurge on something fun for both of us to do the next time we're together.