12 Connected

"Family Makes It a Home" by Jan Girod

2012-01-12T15:58:00.001-08:00

I am very late with my "Home" piece for the final challenge. Honestly, life just kept getting in my way....work, family holiday plans, and illness. I have always felt that home was wherever my family is, so began my thoughts for this piece. The house photo was printed on pre-treated inkjet cotton fabric and the family photos are printed on ExtravOrganza. The fabric was so perfect that I could not resist using it, the fabric is called Etchings by 3sisters for Moda.
The piece was machine quilted, then the family photos were attached over the house photo with hand embroidery stitches. Simply embellished with my Grandmothers' mother-of-pearl buttons, a small key and a Habitat for Humanity charm that says "Bless this House", exactly the right concept for this challenge quilt.

When I read what the final word would be "Home", my musings were that it seemed so fitting...our first word was "Sanctuary" and our final word was "Home". Many times I've said, "my home is my sanctuary" and I've always hoped that I've created a "home" for my family that gives them that warmhearted feeling.

Homespun

2011-12-03T12:09:00.001-08:00

Lately I have been feeling nostalgic for my early quilting days. In the 1980's we had solid cottons and calicos and my first quilts were Log Cabin, Ohio Star and Double Irish Chain. Nowadays quilt shops are filled with batiks, novelty prints and all manner of geometrics and designs have expanded in complexity and refinement - all of which I love. The changing landscape is the reason quiltmaking has held my attention all these years.

But I have been looking back and find myself longing for the simplicity of those early efforts. I ran across this piece of black and white homespun - a piece from my mother's stash - and I was transported. I hand-quilted two rows with buttonhole thread and beefy stitches and topstitched the outside border by hand with a sewing-weight thread. The tiny, white buttons are from some long-forgotten project. I purchased the knitted roses at Britex a week ago thinking I would sew them on a sweater, but find they work perfectly here.

This piece reminds me of the basement at J.C. Penny's in Sunnyvale in the 1960s. My mother and I shopped in the fabric department that, at the time, inlcuded sewing pattterns, notions, yarn and fabric as well as sewing machines. The fabric and buttons connect me to my sewing roots and the roses reflect the present and my latest obsession with all things ruffled and flowered.

I enjoyed participating in this final challenge.

Susan H. in San Francisco

HOME

2011-12-02T06:54:00.000-08:00

What means home to me? A person, family, a room, a house, feelings, a scent, memories, a scenery or an area?
Well, for me it is a combination of a person, a house, an area and a scenery.
At home with my husband, looking out of the kitchen window to the colorful and changing scenery of a sunset. The roofs of the houses and the clocktower of our church dark in the opposite light.
I see with my inner eyes the land, which lays between the sunset and our home - villages and a few towns - roads and railroad tracks - forests and rich farmland, on which vegetables, salads and corn grows - small ways for bycicles and hikers - three lakes with fish and other animals and shores for swimming and camping.

I worked with fototransfer (a map of our area and 3 pictures), watercolor, felting and quilting.

This is our last challenge. These two years helped me to stay tuned, work with a theme and finish in a certain time. Thank you to all!

Heidi

All Squared Away by Jan Girod

2011-10-01T17:17:00.001-07:00

When the word "Square" was announced on August 1st I thought of a "town square" or a "game board", but these just didn't excite me enough to provide the motivation to create a piece of work, so......! Procrastination seems to be what has happened with the last several words and this one was no different, at the last minute Tuesday, September 27th this came about.

For the last several years I have been working on water soluble fabrics, allowing me to create small machine embroideries, dimensional work such as the leaves in "Kudzu" or needle felted backgrounds for embroidery. The small trees were done in such a manner, then framed within this small quilted frame. The little quilt was machine quilted in a simple square grid pattern.

SQUARE

2011-10-01T08:24:00.000-07:00

The start of this challenge was August 1st, our Nationalday.
Our national flag is a red square with a white cross. So I decided red to be my color.

Square came to my mind, when I was thinking of quilt patterns. Many of them are based on squares. I like traditional quilts as much as I like designing my own ideas.

I machine stitched with white thread squares on a red background. Then I cut 4 different red fabrics into smaller squares, mixed them and machine stitched the piles in the middle of these squares.
With threads, beads and buttons, I embellished this quilt.

Square - Heidi Stucki

Heidi

Yes, In Any Language by Jan Girod

2011-08-01T19:47:00.001-07:00

This is not the quilt that I set out to make. How many times has that happened to you? The idea of using the word "Yes" in several languages was part of my thought process for this challenge from the beginning, but not the techniques used or the end result. Once again my daughter had to flat out tell me that I was hung up on the techniques, clearly they were not getting me where I wanted to go and that I needed to forget the plan. Well she was so very right. I actually had to grovel tonight. I thanked her for the "kick in the pants", that I actually love the way this piece turned out and that it is probably better than expected. Actually kissed her cheek in gratitude for her bluntness...which by the way she is very good at.

I am sorry that the colors in the photo's seem so different, I wanted to get these posted and did not wish to take time to set up my photography lighting. The top photo is the accurate photo, but in order for you to see the writing clearly I had to illuminate my design wall with my work lamp.

New Word for August and September 2011

2011-08-01T04:33:00.000-07:00

SQUARE
•

a flat shape with four sides of equal length and four angles of 90°

•

any square-shaped object

•

an area of approximately square-shaped land in a city or a town, often including the buildings that surround it

•

a particular space on a board used for playing games

•

the number that is the result of multiplying one number by itself

or have a look at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square
http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/american/square

Use what you want of the meanings and technique possibilities within the work.
I wish you happy and inspiring hours working on this.

Heidi

YES

2011-08-01T04:14:00.000-07:00

And here it is:

The YES, which is as important as the NO.
Yes, I will go on - no, I do not give up.

The fabrics (old linen sheets) are hand-dyed or screen-printed and were waiting to be used - even the YES.
The yarn matches the blue fabric and puts forward the blue screenprint pattern.


Screenprint with water solubale waxcrayon

YES

Sneak peek YES

2011-07-21T07:19:00.000-07:00

Sneak Peek YES

A littli preview .....
Heidi

"Ain't No Spring Chicken" by Jan Girod, theme "Spring"

2011-06-01T18:47:00.000-07:00

This is not what I orginally planned to create, but a nap with the dictionary and I awoke with a whole new plan. After recently cleaning, organizing and having our studio spaces photographed, our studios are currently appearing in the Summer 2011 Studio magazine by Cloth Paper Scissors, I found so many things long forgotten about. This chicken block was left over from a Mary Lou Weidman quilt I made eons ago. She provided just enough attitude to create a great looking "spring chicken".

Her curls were orginally the springs in 3 older ball point pens, they don't work anymore and hubbys' collection is a few less. A trip to the party store provided her legs and feet. Dismantling little notepads left me with the right length white springs for her legs and her feet were part of a hand clapping toy. She has made me smile and giggle ever since she was done.

SPRING

2011-06-01T10:21:00.000-07:00

So good, that spring in English also means a technical spring. As Karen, I have made my spring quilts and was glad to have this choice.

For our Swiss Quilters exhibition, I was working on a traditional Amish quilt - Jacobs ladder - with Amish fabrics from Intercourse. After this, I wanted to do something different.

I needle felted Organza to synthetik felt and embellished with beads and golden wire springs. Then I hand stitched the piece on thick black felt and a golden Organza.

Golden Springs

Heidi

Spring!

2011-06-01T06:16:00.000-07:00

When the word was announced I had just completed a Spring Quilt with bugs and flowers and I couldn't go there again. So I decided to use a different meaning and thought of a spring bouncing around. I had purchased lightweight aluminum circles at a scrap book store a few years ago and they seemed like the perfect thing to use on this piece.
I have been doing a lot of fabric dyeing lately and I always throw some "Color Catcher" sheets into the washer when I am rinsing the fabric. They come out in beautiful colors and since I just can't throw them away, I have quite the collection. I decided to use them in this piece too. I collaged the color catchers and some textured paper onto black felt and sewed them all down. Then I hand appliqued the circles on top. Does it look like it is springy???

Another sneak peek of SPRING

2011-05-17T02:44:00.000-07:00

Heidi

spring peek

2011-05-06T11:17:00.000-07:00

detail spring

Spring made me jump. I love the possibilities.

Heidi

Bird - "Bird: Past Tense"

2011-04-08T07:45:00.000-07:00

The minute I got the word "bird," this image flashed into my brain. It must be my warped sense of humor! I had fun drawing it and might do a little series on this guy. Anyone want to help name him?

Not much to this quilt; one of the simpler quilts I have done. The background, white and pink are all unknown fabrics from curtain samples. The quilting was fun, small spirals on the cat and the background quilting is something that I made up...I call it "lightning spiral." If someone else has done this, I don't remember seeing it!

The whiskers are handstitched wool embroidery yarn.

Sorry this was posted too late. Life has a habit of getting in the way. I can't wait to work on the next word, Spring. I already have an idea. Let's just hope I can get this one done before life turns the tables on me once again!

Lisa Kay

Bird challenge

2011-04-02T00:00:00.000-07:00

TRACES close view

Birds - they wake me in the morning, I see them fly by or sit on a roof or a tree. Or I see their traces.
I have taken a picture at Lake Erie of bird's footsteps on the beach. That was my starting point for this challenge.
I took monoprinted fabrics and made a collage. Normally, I love working with strong colors so it was an additional challenge to stay in black and white - more or less!

TRACES

Unfortunately, the colors don't show well.
Heidi

"Blue Bird, Blue Bird" by Jan Girod-Bird

2011-04-01T12:30:00.000-07:00

When the word for this challenge was announced I lept with joy as I have been using these birds in my work quite frequently....this would be so easy. At midnight last night as I stitched away I was thinking, oh what a fool you are, but it is done and I feel absolute relief. For several years now I keep finding myself using trees and birds in piece after piece....sketchbook too. I have attributed it to growing up in Minnesota, following behind my uncle who became a wildlife biologist. My friends never did get my affinity for snakes, oh well to each his own. I began with a unique piece of hand painted fabric I had been saving for a special project, it fit perfectly. The branches are drawn in freehand and colored using Derwent Inktense Pencils...love using them. Once everything had dried I transfered on the birds using TAP-Transfer Artist Paper. Leaves are a combination of painted Wonder-Under, sheer fabrics and free motion quilting.

bird challenge - Lynn Krawczyk

2011-04-01T11:05:00.000-07:00

Blue Line
Lynn Krawczyk

I chose the theme for this challenge and it wasn’t a difficult thing for me to choose Birds.

Its a combination of my love for the little fellows and my intense desire for winter to be done with us. Spring, please.

My favorite bird imagery is birds on a wire. There’s something very romantic about the silhouette of a small bird, high on a single line against the vast sky.

Thrills me every time.

I started my piece with some soy wax batik fabric. I stamped the fabric with a wood batik block I found at a flea market and then did a wash over it with watered down black dye-na-flow. The effect reminds me of the variation in the colors of the sky depending on the time of day and the season.

I wanted to experiment with the stitching on this piece. I am a loud and proud hand stitcher but when I thought of this piece, I wanted really tight long vertical lines. What I had in mind could best be accomplished with machine stitching.

I decided to do the stitching before I printed the imagery. I used two different thermofax screens to print the birds. The smaller scale birds are done in black and the larger birds are white and the one single line of blue.

I particularly like how stitching first broke up the screen printed images, making it feel more daydream, produced more shadows. I think its something that I will do more of.

Birds of a feather

2011-04-01T09:47:00.001-07:00

I have a beautiful blue feather that was calling out to me when the topic was chosen. I have been playing with Inktense pencils so I drew the feather on freezer paper backed fabric and colored it in with the pencils. I used fabric medium to wet the pencil marks and the colors came to life. Then I freehand quilted the feather and appliqued it to a fused collage background. I like weird outside edges and I love the technique of zig-zagging a binding. It all came together very quickly and I am happy with the results.
Here you can see the blending of colors from the pencils and the quilting.

New Word for June 1 reveal

2011-04-01T09:36:00.000-07:00

Spring sounds so trite........but it is so on our minds as we all start to recover from what was for most of us a hard winter. Here in Northern California we just emerged from 21 straight days of rain. Unusual for us for sure. So I looked up "spring". It has some other meanings that are also fun.

the first stage and freshest period: the spring of life.

a source or fountainhead of something: a spring of inspiration.

an elastic or bouncing quality: There is a spring in his walk.

a leap, jump, or bound.

Do have fun...........that's what it is all about!

Beauty of birds

2011-04-01T06:46:00.000-07:00

Here is my version of this challenge. I am lucky enough to live where I can look at birds in flight all day long if I wish. The primary feeling I wanted to demonstrate was both the simplicity and the grace of a bird in flight. The lines are smooth and graceful. Gliding is the best. So here it is.......in abstract, but here it is. Thanks for a great "word". It is my turn to post a word and I will do it from work today....

BIRD CHALLENGE

2011-04-01T06:17:00.000-07:00

Well, it's April 1st, and I'm looking forward to seeing what we have made.

I hope I haven't gone too far around the bend on this one, but the first thought that popped to mind for "bird" was a woman I admired for her work in ecology and the spreading of wildflowers across the US. I'm thinking, of course, of LadyBird Johnson.

I studied many on-line photos of her, and modeled my image on several from her later life. I knew she always tried to wear bright colors, so I gave her a dress made from Kaffe Fasett fabric with a big flower as a collar, a red silk hat, and set her among as many pieces of floral fabric as I could squeeze onto our 11 x 17" format.

I had fun making "LadyBird."

Sue Walen

Pythagoras Unbound

2011-02-04T19:20:00.001-08:00

In this piece, the standard square-in-a-square image used to illustrate the Pythagorean Theorem explodes in three steps. Two colorful cotton fabrics were fused and cut apart using pinking shears. The background was machine quilted in a wavy grid and the edges left raw - a wide zigzag holding the three layering together. Construction mirrors the free, unrestrained, playfulness of the subject matter. And so the change in perspective from precise to silly.

Good Art Among Us

2011-02-04T17:01:00.000-08:00

I just posted a print copy of Jane Dunnewold's lecture for Form-Not-Function. It is well researched and thought provoking.
Go to http://www.artjourneys.blogspot.com to read this great piece.

Cathy Ortelle

new challenge word: BIRD

2011-02-03T11:47:00.000-08:00

Maybe its because I'm weary of winter. Or perhaps its because birds are a recurring image in my work lately...but I thought maybe since we are all day dreaming of spring and the things that will come with warmer weather that the next challenge word would be BIRD.

You can do anything that has to do with birds. A bird itself, a nest, eggs, birdhouse, chicken coop - whatever strikes your fancy! Have a pet bird you'd like to honor? Do you enjoy looking at birds on a wire? (That's my personal favorite!) Do you like watching birds at your feeder?

Everything is game!

And to provide a little bit of inspiration, here is a photo mosaic to get your wheels turning on our fine feathered friends:

1. Robin_8203, 2. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, 3. Getting In A Lather, 4. Rose-Breasted Grosbeak - USA, 5. Female Bullfinch in garden Jan 29th 2011 9821, 6. Lots of blue eggs, 7. calling whoopers, 8. Robin Eggs are really Blue., 9. Bullfinch, 10. Bird Houses on a Red Barn, 11. DV3E2460, 12. Female Cardinal Feeding, 13. Untitled, 14. Looking for her Sweetheart - Mallard Duck, 15. Stock Dove (Columba oenas), 16. Red-breasted Nuthatch, 17. Pretty Cardinal, 18. Snowy day, 19. eye contact, 20. The dreaming tree, 21. free, 22. Snowy Owl, 23. 目白　　Japanese White-eye, 24. green ON green, 25. Chicken, 26. dove in the snow flying - Canon 500d, 27. Two eggs, Nestbox #1, yesterday afternoon, 28. ~Do you happen to have a pair of birds that are... just friendly?~, 29. colorful stare, 30. It Must Be Love, Love, Love ..., 31. Roosters, 32. Birds, 33. Take this down....HFF Everybody..:O)), 34. notes of a rock song, 35. I believe in love...., 36. Follow the leader

Have fun!!!

Changed - Cathy Ortelle

2011-02-02T16:45:00.001-08:00

I might have taken this challenge too literally. I first heavily rusted (Change!) some Pima cotton fabric; it reminded me of a topographical map.

I then quilted some turquoise hand-dyed fabric to batting and overlaid the rusted fabric. Voila! Clear blue lakes nestled in Northern California mountains. I tried to machine quilt around the obvious places. Disaster! It looked horrid. So I ripped out the machine quilting and tried some hand work. Even worse. I don't have the dexterity to do good hand work any more. So I will be doing more machine work in the future.

I missed last month's challenge - sorry again. I have a huge Christmas party and my whole house is turned upside down and things are packed away. I still haven't found the challenge that I had almost completed before Christmas. Maybe it will turn up some day.

There's lots of fun work in this challenge. I'm looking forward to the next!

Color Change

2011-02-01T13:35:00.000-08:00

I got some red-green fabrics from my sister-in-law. Her mother was a dress-maker. I had nice red velvet and dyed cotton in my stash.
I cut squares and zig-zaged them together with the green 'line'.I discharged the top with a self-made flower stamp. What a change - and so different in each fabric! On the partly woolen clothing material on the far right and left, the color is brown. On the dyed fabric, it is yellow also on the velvet.
The outline of the flowershape is stichted with pearl thread.
With paintstiks I changed the color of the flowers into gold, green and pink.

It does look changed - or not?
Heidi

Change -- "Quilt Metamorphosis"

2011-02-01T13:33:00.000-08:00

Since I was the one that chose this month's word, I have had extra time to think about what I wanted to do. I decided to take an old quilt* and change it into a modern piece of art. I took a simple log cabin with hand stitching and kept changing it until I was happy. I left the left side pretty much the same and kept adding more and more as I went further to the right.

I started with the quilt* already quilted and didn't bother taking it down to just a top. I first added a layer of white spray paint to diffuse the background. I stamped with the cap of a film canister the metallic red and green circles and used a pencil eraser to stamp the small gold circles. I fused straight strips of fabric angled somewhat out for a modern look similar to a log cabin.

That didn't seem to be enough change and after thinking about it for a couple of days, I decided on an additional change. I again sprayed the piece with more white paint then added the circular "log cabin." I then stamped more circles from the film canister cap with white paint.

I then layered it with batting and another back and requilted it moving from squared off quilting on the left hand side to the right hand side where it is all curved quilting.

I finished off with a decorative hand stitching. Starting in the upper left corner with white, straight "chicken scratch" stitches and moving to the lower left corner where there are just magenta french knots. In the middle, the colors change places.

Going from left to right these are the changes that the quilt makes:

Old to New
Dull to Bright
Traditional to Modern
Square to Circle
Light to Dark

I hope everyone had as much fun with Change as I did!

Lisa Kay.

* No antique quilt was hurt or in any way damaged by this experiment. It was an old pillow sham made in China that looked like a quilt!

Change: Then and Now

2011-02-01T11:14:00.001-08:00

As I thought about the word change in relation to quilting, I realized that I have been quilting for 30 years as of this year. I began by hand sewing 9-patches in an Amish quilt class and I have never looked back. Since I was using solids at the time, I opted to create a background using solid, hand dyed fabrics in a 9-patch pattern. On top of that, I created a flower of sorts using soy silk fiber, painted and melted tyvek and yarn. The flower is a statement about where I am with quilting today. I love embellishing with dimensional materials and playing with new products and techniques.
Here is the soy silk fiber with the tyvek piece in the center. I think there is some angelina fiber mixed with the soy silk to add a little sparkle.
I crocheted fuzzy yarn and couched it to the background to create these tendrils. ...after I quilted the background, of course!

Change as in mediums

2011-02-01T10:17:00.000-08:00

Here is my change, from paint to fabric. For those of you familiar with my blog,http://helenmoreda.blogspot.com/

you will know that I am up to version # 12 on my blog of this little trike done in oils for my art class. #'s 13 and 14 are being worked on in the studio. So how do I stop and create in a different direction for this challenge? Just change the meduim. This little trike is fused out of commercial fabrics and painted with thread. The lovely part is that I just cut it out without any stress. I know the trike well now and it is less and less important that it be just so. I want the whimsey. Did I get it?

New Botanicals ... encaustic

2011-02-01T08:43:00.000-08:00

This challenge did indeed bring about a 'change'... a real fun change! I
made the change [noun] from fabric and worked with paper, yes newspaper and a photograph printed on paper. I used paint where I wanted on the newspaper .. a collage of garden guide photos. I then cut the papers into strips, layered tissue paper over the top, used gel medium to hold them all together... changing from newspaper articles and photograph [verb]. Then I placed the piece on a batt, used a botanical fabric on the back and quilted from the back. Then I finished with a wax....
I love, love, love this technique and am happy I was encouraged to try it with this 'change' challenge.

I certainly look forward to your comments.

"The Game of Life" by Jan Girod-Change

2011-01-31T18:43:00.000-08:00

Change, a word with many layers….life changes occur whether we “want” them to or not, some good, some bad. So as I pondered the meaning of this word I was a bit overwhelmed by the ideas of how I "could" proceed. Then lightening struck…..simplify! Take the medium we all love to work with, fabric, alter it through surface design or simply cut and paste, so to speak. A couple of the commercial fabrics were used as is; on others the following techniques were used by me or friends to “change” the cloth: hand-dyeing, shibori, and discharge. I then tore, cut, fused or stitched the fabrics together into a random composition that I found pleasing…simple as that.

Change, not yet quite finished

2011-01-23T05:57:00.000-08:00

I hope to finish soon.

Heidi

Change Peek

2011-01-20T16:31:00.001-08:00

Hhhmmm...What do you think?

Lisa Kay

Change... a peek...

2010-12-26T20:15:00.000-08:00

I have been excited about this challenge since it was announced. Here is a peek..... hey... a 'change' is underway... hmmmm

ICON: RADIOACTIVE HANDS

2010-12-03T10:04:00.001-08:00

This is not a very good picture. I will have to have it photographed professionally. There's some silk embroidery on the hands, and beads. After I had put it together, I did think the hands looked radioactive, given the colors I chose -- another thing with iconic meaning.

I came up with hands after stewing for a long time over the meaning of Icon. There are so many things one could do with that theme. I finally thought of hands because there are so many meanings with hands -- and we are artists and work with our hands. Some of the things from the Thesaurus that jumped out at me: applause, come to hand, give a hand, helping hand, hand and glove, hold hands, on the other hand, under hand and seal, with one hand tied behind your back, hand down, hand up, hands on, hand out, hand over, handbag, handcuffs, handicap, hand in hand, handiwork, handmade. And maybe that's enough.

Susanne

Next Word: Change

2010-12-01T21:25:00.000-08:00

Those who know me well, know that my motto is:

Everything changes
Nothing stays the same
Make your peace with that
and all will be well.

I hope you all enjoy change as much as I do!

From the Houghton Mifflin Online Dictionary:

Noun

1. The act, process or result of altering or modifying: a change in facial expressions
2. The replacing of one thing for another; substitution
3. A transformation or transistion from one state to another; a change of seasons
4. Something different; variety; I ate early for a change
5. A different or fresh set of clothing
6. Money of a smaller denomination given in exchange for money of a larger denomination
7. The balance of money returned when more than due is given
8. Coin
9. In music; a patter or order in which bells are rung
10. In Jazz; a change of harmony, modulation
11. A market or exchange where business is transacted.

Lisa Kay

Icon - Worship from Afar

2010-12-01T20:46:00.000-08:00

In an online discussion about the word Icon with our group, Susan Hendrickson said "What I am thinking of here is to move from the literal (a picture of an icon) to the personal." That statement got me thinking about not looking at the icon, but at the person "making" the icon. What I mean by that is that for something or someone to become an icon, someone has to worship it or them. How do they worship? In the case of a moviestar, singer, etc., the worshiper rarely, if ever has contact. That makes the only worship available to the worshiper "from afar."

The back ground walls are hand dyed cotton fabric, commercial cotton floor. I wanted the look of graffiti on the walls without it being words and I think that I accomplished it. The words Worship From Afar were first quilted but didn't show up enough so I also highlighted the words with fabric markers. The open doorway is also hand dyed cotton and acrylic paint outline and stamped word Icon. I didn't use an "O" but found a circle stamp in the right size.

The hands belong to a friend of mine. I took a picture, digitally altered it into black and white and printed it onto cotton fabric, and simply hand stitched around it with wool embroidery thread left over from a project from 28 years ago! I then "tacked" the hands onto the front down the middle (but not going through the hands) so that they stand out from the background. The piece is faced with the same hand dyed scrap as the walls.

It has been a busy day and I almost forgot to post! I had to get up after going to bed because all of a sudden I remembered!

Lisa Kay

An Icon of Prehistoric Art

2010-12-01T19:45:00.000-08:00

I knew immediately what my image of an icon would be!

I took an art class this fall, and one of the things that just fascinated me was the story of the oldest known carving, called the Venus of Willendorf. She is a tiny (4.5") statue unearthed in an archeologic dig in Austria, in the town of Willendorf. She was created about 22,000 BCE, in an age when we were hunter-gatherers and Europe was essentially in an ice age. She is carved of non-native limestone (what does that tell us?) and tinted ochre red.

What is she? She has large breasts and hips and striking detail of the labia of the vulva. Her arms are small, shown resting on her breasts. She has no feet, and cannot stand erect. She has no face. Or is it covered by a woven cap? Or is that braided hair? Or is it the face that mustn't be seen?

What was it like for a woman in the cold climates, thousands of years ago, hunting and foraging for food. Imagine being pregnant, giving birth. How many women, how many babies survived the cold? Did the mothers have enough milk to keep the babies alive? In such devastating times, a woman built like the Venus -- wide-hipped, well-stocked breasts, and extra fat -- would be well provided to be a survivor and provider for her babies.

Is she an "earth mother"? A goddess? A fertility symbol? A work of Art? Or is she merely Paleolithic Pornography? They say that her most satisfactory and satisfying position is to be held in the hand: she becomes a remarkably sensuous object. For women? For men? For children?

These figures have been found from western France to the far reaches of Siberia. Isn't she fascinating?

Construction: I made the background first, hoping to suggest layers unearthed by the archeologists. The venus figure is made of two layers of red charmuse held together with misti-fuse. Her details are done with thread-painting; I hope they show up clearly enough. Then I printed some tidbits of information on Jaquard organza, and stitched them here and there on the front. The back tells the story of the Venus, printed on sticky-backed Pabric.

It's fun to google "the Venus of Willendorf."

"Simply An Icon" by Jan Girod-Icon

2010-12-01T18:11:00.000-08:00

Have you ever fought within yourself over doing what first pops into your head, in a test it is called "second guessing" I used to do it all the time. The moment the new word was "unveiled" 2 months ago I pictured doing this piece, at least in some fashion. However, I spent the entire time trying to talk myself into doing another piece when all was said and done I found myself back at the first thought, the first image that had come to me.
Several years ago I had the opportunity to tour the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia. When we found ourselves in the space with the Russian Icons, I was stopped in my tracks. Have you ever felt like your moving in slow motion? There I was standing in one spot, turning slowly, wondering how I was going to look at them all. They were exquisite! Some extremely ornate, some expertly painted, others were very primitive; but all were very beautiful. I could have stayed there all day; however I heard someone rather loudly instructing me to move on, move on. All I could think ....was oh no....please let me stay here...I swear I will be on the bus in time. Poor guide was afraid she would loose her job, I moved on, but have always felt like I missed out. Someday, maybe someday I will return.

icon reveal - ani difranco

2010-12-01T12:29:00.000-08:00

Say It
Lynn Krawczyk

The word issued to us for this challenge was Icon. I had to give this one a little think. Its got a huge connotation to it, could go in so many different directions. I knew almost immediately that I wanted to do a person, a woman. An artist? A poet? A musician?

How about all three?

I chose Ani Difranco. She is a singer, song writer, activist, loud mouth, unabashed, tell-it-like-it-is, political woman. She says what she thinks and makes no apologies. I have been fascinated with her music for years now and often find myself playing her albums when I am in the studio, looking for the zone to sink into so I can get some serious work done.

She is the kind of brave that I hope to be someday.

You may not agree with her politics or what she has to say, but you have to admire that she stands up and says it without apology. She is an icon of the music industry.

I knew that I wanted to use a photo of Ani in the quilt but I didn't want it to be just plunked down and glaring. I wanted something that was scuffed up looking, rough around the edges - a prominent part of the composition but not bold all at the same time.

I found this photo on flickr and asked the photographer if I could make a thermofax screen out of it. I received a yes and was off and running.

I pulled brown fabric from the stash that was discharged in a folded pattern and some vibrant orange hand dyed cotton. Ani is not quiet with her lyrics and music and I didn't want to do a low volume piece.

I did three layers of thermofax screen printing. First up is a scuff print of the photo:

The second layer of printing was an all over text and then the third is an abstract coffee cup stain design.

I hand stitched the piece in a neon yellow perle cotton thread in bold graffiti like stitches.

I like the contrast, the push and pull of the colors against each other.

It was fun to explore a piece that expressed what I feel when I listen to Ani's music. I'm happy I got to honor her in this challenge.

Homage to Westwood and Balenciaga

2010-12-01T12:13:00.000-08:00

In this piece I pay homage to two fashion icons - Vivienne Westwood (British) and Cristobal Balenciaga (Spanish.) When I saw the Westwood exhibit at the de Young Museum here in San Francisco, I was blown away by her vision and courage. (So much so, that I returned twice.) I was first introduced to Balenciaga on a trip to Spain in 2006.
Unable to get into the Picasso Museum due to crowds, I opted for the Textile Museum just across the street - what a treat! On the top floor I discovered an exhibit of Balenciaga's work decade by decade. His couture pieces were stunning.

The faux fur/leather was purchased in Santiago de Compostela (on that same 2006 trip.) The fabric shop was jaw-dropping beautiful. The snakeskin jersey was purchased there as well and yes, I made the gloves (mostly by hand) from a Vogue pattern and have a new respect for glove makers! That same fabric is echoed in the Dior roses. An old belt was sacrificed for the sake of art and the feather trim is from a store in Fort Bragg. I have had it for years waiting for the perfect project.

For those who know these two designers, it may seem odd to put them together in the same piece. The gloves and fur are for the wild Westwood. The Dior roses and hand stitching are in honor of Balenciaga.

It seems to me these two coexist quite nicely here. I had planned a series based on couture dressmaking techniques. Now that I have finished this piece, I find I want to go in a different direction with that series. Rather than reproduce techniques I rather like the idea of interpreting each in a more personal way. And I am quite sure there are more gloves in my future...

Susan in San Francisco

TOBLERONE

2010-12-01T12:06:00.000-08:00

Do you know the Swiss chocolate Toblerone? It has the form of a trianlge. On the wrapping is one of our famous mountains, the Matterhorn.

My husband and me spend since 3 years in June or July a few days in Zermatt, at the foot of this unique mountain. We are every year impressed anew by the changes, that the sun and the light create on this huge triangle.

I printed one of my pictures onto fabric. In my stash, I had almost the same blue as the sky and some dark green for the trees. I bought two special fabrics for the left side (smile) and pieced it.

And the triangle at the bottom?
The preamble of the Swiss Federal Constitution of September 12,, 1848, starts with the words:
'In the name of Almighty God!'. I am glad, that this is the foundation of our beautiful country.

Toblerone and Matterhorn

Are Matterhorn and Toblerone icons?? I guess, because people all over the world know, recognize and love or hate them.

Saguaro

2010-12-01T11:57:00.000-08:00

It was so hard to figure out the difference between 'Icon' and 'Logo'...as in the Nike 'check' and Marilyn Monroe.... especially to make something I wanted [as in having to live with whatever I make]. I could have used the Canadian Maple Leaf... but do I want that on my wall? Not really..... then , while going through some of the maps in the car, the Saguaro on the Arizona map caught my eye. And...so true... is the Saguaro not synonymous with the desert... particularly in Arizona? That is how I chose what I would do... and here it is....

Saguaro in bloom

I started with a piece of hand-painted fabric... somehow it seemed to have the right color and texture for both the background and the foreground. Free motion stitching, some decorative stitch and hand stitching complete the 'feel'. The binding.. which this piece seemed to need was hand dyed commercial fabric using a tjapa from Indonesia. It had the prickly sense... so it worked. The flowers and the saguaro arm are painted and the 'prickles' are thread.
Here is a close-up shot of the flowers.... which were made using a soft polyester and rusted cotton interfacing... [nothing is sacred!]

I hope you enjoy this as much as I do . My neighbor... a retired florist said... 'I love everything about it! It has a wedding feel to it'....
Carole

Icon or Logo?

2010-12-01T06:05:00.001-08:00

I pondered the word Icon for a long time and asked people what the word meant to them. I got answers like Marilyn Monroe or James Dean. So the next question became....how do things become icons and ....when is a Logo considered and Icon?

I thought about the Nike Swoosh. Surely it is symbolic of athletics worldwide...so has it become an icon? I think so!

I have been doing a series of quilts with my own little creature who I call a "Dunderhogan". This seemed to be the perfect time to revisit him in all his confusion. I picked logos that most people can identify quickly and created a question mark "logo" over his head to express his and my confusion over the word. I played with felted wool on upholstery fabric and opted not to quilt the piece. I discovered that I love working with felted wool and am now creating a larger quilt with it.
Here is a close up of my Dunderhogan. He always has wide open eyes and a fuzz ball on his belly. You can see others at www.dunderhogan.blogspot.com. This one will join the gang soon.

This was a wonderful word to ponder. Looking forward to the next one.

Icon

2010-12-01T05:53:00.000-08:00

Here it is. When I first started to do art quilts and play with abstractions, I used the blue shape you see coming out of the rectangle on top to depict my spirit. I have done this many times, not to be confused with the leaves I also use frequently. This image is a great comfort to me and fun to play with in compositions. When Icon was announced I knew I wanted to once again create a journey, my journey, the journey of all of us.

The piece is machine stitched, fused, tulle overlay(very frustrating to quilt over) and machine quilted.

This close up is of the bottom layers......the earth, where we are rooted, grounded.......

This close up is from higher up where I transitioned to lighter colors, showing how we break out of our boxes. This part of the quilt also has some of my hand dyed silks while most of the bottom is commercial fabric.

Thanks for a great challenge.

Peek a boo!

2010-11-30T14:31:00.000-08:00

Here is my peek. I formed an idea and actually followed it through to completion.

Tomorrow is the day......and the background for my next piece is already on the sewing table.

Icon Peek

2010-11-26T17:42:00.001-08:00

I just finished! Yeah! A quick peek for you all!

Lisa Kay

Ebullient

2010-10-01T20:37:00.000-07:00

When we were given the word, I thought...what the heck? That is one word I never hear...or use... but amazingly I have heard people use it at least 4 different times in conversation since I read the definition. Synchronicity??? I pondered for a long time and the idea of water squirting from a fountain kept going through my mind. I used fabric paper again because I loved the deep colors and I wanted a cheery background hence the bright yellow dyed fabric. After a crazy summer I just needed to keep it simple.

And the word is...ICON

2010-10-01T20:09:00.000-07:00

Icon , noun

1: a usually pictorial representation : image

2: [Late Greek eikōn, from Greek] : a conventional religious image typically painted on a small wooden panel and used in the devotions of Eastern Christians

3: an object of uncritical devotion : idol

4: emblem, symbol icon of 1960's residential architecture — Paul Goldberger>

5 a : a sign (as a word or graphic symbol) whose form suggests its meaning b : a graphic symbol on a computer display screen that usually suggests the type of object represented or the purpose of an available function

Have fun and I will see you all back here December 1st - enjoy!

An Experiment

2010-10-01T19:19:00.000-07:00

I thought long and hard about the Ebullient challenge. A few ideas started to form, but nothing really gelled. And then I received the November issue of Threads magazine with an article about smocking. The effect was wonderful - it looked like woven fabric tubes. I had some sequined
organza and set about smocking it. That particular fabric was something of a nightmare to use, but I pushed on. The design complete, I finished the smocking and promptly changed my mind about the border fabric, opting instead to use a shiny, navy vinyl with a peek-a-boo opening framed with beads. Working with the vinyl made the organza seem easy in comparison. And a word of advice here...shiny vinyl is hard to photograph.

You know how it feels to pass the point of no return with a project? When you have used up your little bag of tricks and hear Tim Gunn's voice in your ear "make it work!" But the more I worked the more I heard Heidi Klum say "it looks home sewn'" and then "I'm sorry, Susan, You're out."

And so, what I have is a door. A Star's Dressing Room Door. The lesson here? It's all well and good to try new materials in a challenge - that is the point! To try new things, stretch, grow as an artist. Some experiments work out well. Some not so much. Hence the title. An Experiment. And it was. And the best part was the smocking. I will use that again, but with a lovely light-weight wool or silk. Maybe this weekend...

Susan H. in summer-what-summer-I-don't-remember-summer San Francisco

Dancin'

2010-10-01T17:57:00.000-07:00

In earlier decades of my life, some of my most ebullient memories were made in DANCING. I lo-o-o-oved to dance. I did American country dancing, English country dancing, international folk dancing, ballroom dancing, clogging, and swing....anything with a partner. I'd get so "high" on ebullience, that I'd never know my feet hurt, my stockings were torn, even that there was blood in my shoe! I'd be swept away on the music and would go till the musicians pooped out! So dancing was the inspiration for this little quilt. As luck would have it, I came upon an old photo of a couple of swing-dancers, which helped me figure out where to put the arms and legs.

I made each of the dancers as a separate "doll" and had such fun dressing them as urban swingers of my generation. Of course they had to have mismatched patterns, cool sox, and leather-soled black dancing shoes. I had just a small piece of white music fabric for their background, and then found some black "music" fabric for a border.

The biggest problem I've been having in these challenges is staying within the 11 x 17 dimensions. My ebullient dancers were really struggling to burst out!

I've had such fun with this challenge, remembering the JOY that came with DANCIN'.

Sunset

2010-10-01T11:47:00.000-07:00

Ebulient was not a word easy to understand for me in English. I would have prefered to hear examples in German.

We life now more then 7 years in our flat, but we still enjoy the sunsets anew.

So, suddenly during these beautiful September evenings, my mind and eyes were opened and I knew what I had to do!

In September 2008, I was lucky to attend a class with Dijanne Cevaal where we did transfer printing on Lutradur. Back home, I worked with one piece and put it on a handdyed yellow background. Then I highlighted some areas with blue and red wool and did machine quilt it.

This piece was hanging in my studio and waited and waited ...
I now know, why it had to wait so long!

It was perfect for this challenge theme, because it shows the feeling, I have, when I watch the sun becoming red and the sky turning from blue to dark.
To finish my quilt, I found a perfect background in my stash, which adds dramatic to the picture and I did more machine quilting.

If I see the picture on the screen, I think that I might add some beading to show the glittering light of the sun, shining in our rooms.

Heidi

Aw.... Shucks...Ebullient

2010-10-01T09:14:00.000-07:00

Ebullient.. a word we 12 have come to know well!
But, whatever does it mean and how can I ever put it into a work of art?
After lots of cogitating, researching and playing... I knew I wanted something happy,
lively and..well... ebullient.
Color was the first on my list, as color evokes all sorts of feelings and emotions. I
wanted contrast so the 'feeling' would come to life.

This was the sneak-peek.... now what?
In my search for the right
additional 'element', I came accross a partial flower I had made some time ago. I painted over it
to get it to 'live'..anyway the process was so much fun.. I almost didn't know when to stop!

I used Shiva Paintsticks on some less than lovely blue hand-painted fabric I had done , then
commercial cottons... one thing led to another... who would have thought I started out with a water/beach scene in mind?

I really liked what I had.. but how do you give 'emotion' to a flower?? I gave 'her'... [now in the feminine
tense] a blush..... and note the word 'yes'.....and a girl's dream comes true....

Here is the close-up of the emotion...
Free motion quilting, some trapunto, lots of thread, french knots and embroidery complete the
piece. It is faced... and the shape is unusual for me.

Aw... Shucks!

What a great time we had doing this... sneak-peeks added to the suspense... lots of chatter .... thank you so much for a great time doing this challenge!

and we always appreciate comments...

"Sheer Delight or Hubba Bubba"-Jan Girod-Ebullient

2010-10-01T07:57:00.001-07:00

This piece has been a struggle from beginning to end. The word itself was a challenge all on its own, I searched through multiple definitions, I tried multiple color combinations and as you can see by the title I could not even choose a name for it.

When I saw phrases like "full of joy, unrestrained high spirits, effervescent bubbles" as well as a definition of "boiling", I latched on to those and began my creative meditation....this is not the same as procrastination. Mainly my work is realistic, however "ebullient" is an emotion and I could only see it as abstract, not my strong suit.

Over the last several years I have been experimenting/playing with techniques where synthetic fabrics are distorted using heat. I knew that nylon organza would give me the look I was envisioning, however I tried three different colorways before making my final decision. My dog was not thrilled, as he followed me up and down the stairs to go outside to do this technique (safety first...proper ventilation for me and the dog), he really just wanted to lay in the sunshine but you know that phrase "curiosity killed the cat", well that applies to him.

First I ripped the organza in strips of varying widths, took them outdoors and used my heat gun on them, which caused them to bubble and shrink lengthwise and a bit widthwise. After trying to weave them I realized I would need to seal the edges or all those stray threads were going to drive me crazy, so I took out the soldering iron and sealed all the edges of my strips. I choose to use the "ombre" organza because once woven I could adjust the colors back and forth, up and down to get various color combinations.
To accentuate the bubbles, a simple running stitch with metallic thread around the perimeter definitely gave me the look I was striving to achieve. Then in the "concave" bubbles I beaded circles. Try as I might I could not trim the edges straight and even, they needed to be irregular. This decision was certainly one of those times when I waited for the piece to tell me what it wanted. I think this piece represents my "ebullient" personality.

Moving Forward

2010-10-01T06:23:00.000-07:00

Here you see my close up. I am calling this blog entry moving forward because my goal has been to arrive, some day, at mixed media. But I love my painting. So I took some fabric that I had previously dyed myself, taped it to an artist's canvas and picked up my brush. As you know, I do leaves, lots of leaves. So I used a reference photo and painted away. Then the layering and quilting, watching for my notan.......areas of light and dark.

This was my sneak peek.........on the easel at stage one.

And here it is finished. As you see it, it is reading with too much white. I went in once and toned the whiter areas down with green but I am thinking they should still be toned down more. Just a lilttle more green. Or lilac might read well also. Even though it is quilted, I can still touch up highlights. The majority of the painting was done before layering.

Looking back at my close up, that is a pretty good composition also!

Don't know the next challenge, but I do know how I will approach it.

It always makes one feel great to take another step. Shakey and unsure but forward. Thank you all for my journey and loving watching yours.

Helen Moreda

Ebullient

2010-10-01T06:09:00.000-07:00

I immediately thought of bubbles for the word ebullient. I know people with ebullient personalities and they act " bubbly" to me. So when I thought of bubbles, I thought of scuba diving and the bubbles that rise to the surface as divers dive.

It just happens that my boyfriend is a world-traveling scuba diver and he and his dive mates take wonderful underwater pictures, so I wanted to incorporate some of these pictures in my work. But I also wanted to challenge myself, and I didn't want to print them on fabric.

I investigated several different techniques and decided to try printing on metal. I ordered the metal material from "Dick Blick". I had seen several demonstrations of Golden's Digital Grounds and decided to try that. I primed the metal with the digital ground, putting on two separate coats and allowing drying time between. I taped the prepared metal to carrier sheets and printed the pictures onto the metal. I loved that they exceeded my expectations and came out sharp and clear on the metal.

I had prepared the background with an underwater batik scene I fused to Timtex. I cut the metal photos into circular shapes to represent bubbles. I then free-motion machine stitched the metal to the background and quilted some wavy lines around the background. The edges are satin stitched. I attahed grommets to match on the upper edges as a hanging device. I used left-over printed metal cut into bubble shapes for the back and label and glued those on the back.

As a bonus, I presented the piece to my boyfriend for his birthday and he loves it, And I loved this challenge and am trying to use printed metal in other ways.
Cathy Ortelle

Ebullient: Last Day of Summer for the Barnes Boys

2010-10-01T04:32:00.000-07:00

This piece is taken from a photograph that my friend, Lisa Barnes, took of her her three boys jumping in the lake at her parent's home in Northern Minnesota in 2005 (see Photo below). She showed me the picture that Christmas and I told her that I was going to make it into a quilt one day. Seeing as I had only been quilting for about 18 months at that point, it was rather ambitious, but I knew I would figure out a way to make that quilt eventually.

After thinking about the word "ebullient" and not knowing what to do, I was looking through my digital pictures and came across this one again and knew it was the right picture at the right time. Again, like Isabella's Sanctuary, I hope to make this a large scale quilt one day.

Materials include: commercial and hand dyed cotton fabrics, cotton and polyester threads, glue, fusible webbing, heavy weight stabilizer, 80 cotton/20 polyester batting, acrylic paint, swarovski crystals.

Techniques include: fusible applique, glue applique, thread sketching, fabric painting, machine quilting, and embellishing with crystals. Finished with a whole cloth facing.

The first thing that I did was enlarge the picture to the required size and make it black and white. I layed it out on the table and pulled out appropriate fabrics. I was lucky to have a commercial sunset gradient from an old McKenna Ryan fabric collection which worked perfectly for the sky...no piecing required! Most of the water was put together with glue and some fusible. The boys were fused on after the background was done. I painted the sun rays and used a syringe to put a thin line of white for the light on the edge of the boys. Then I put a non fusible stabilizer on the back for the thread painting in the water and on the rays. After that it was sandwiched, quilted, faced and then embellished. After I found the picture and got going on it (I must admit it, I was afraid to start and have it not work out) it was one of the faster quilts to get done. It just flowed together. I thought about putting beads on it as well, but after letting it sit for a couple of days, the simplicity of the quilt really drew me in and I knew that my beloved beads would be overkill.

I have to admit that I loved doing the free motion quilting for this piece. I recently splurged and purchased a sit down HQ Sweet 16 machine and I can't believe how much better it is for quilting! There is so much more room. I really felt "free" in my free motion quilting. I don't think that I would have been brave enough to try all those swirls on my domestic machine.

I can't wait to get the next word and see everyone's quilts. I have to admit, this has been one of the best projects in which I have been involved. It has made me stretch my creativity time and time again. Thank you all!

Lisa L. Kay

Ebullient... coming... Friday October 1, 2010

2010-09-26T19:51:00.000-07:00

We are very excited!! Some of the 'sneak-peeks' have already been posted... and most of us are done...we are just waiting. To build anticipation for the REVEAL on October 1... here are the details of this challenge:
Here is the 'word'... Ebullient

a lot of fun, I think can be had here....
Whether in fact, or in technique...color, texture...

e·bul·lient

–adjective

1. overflowing with fervor, enthusiasm, or excitement; high-spirited: The award

winner was in an ebullient mood at the dinner in her honor.

2. bubbling up like a boiling liquid.

Synonyms

zippy

elated

gushing

agitated

exuberant

chipper

vivacious

Here is an interesting website to help kick start the creative juices...

http://sanfrancisco.going.com/event-708361;Ebullient_the_art_of_Harry_Cohen#

Watch this site!

A Peek at Ebullient

2010-09-24T09:52:00.000-07:00

Here is a peek (pun intended) of my completed piece. Hooray! Ahead of schedule.

Cathy Ortelle

Sneek-peek

2010-09-22T10:40:00.000-07:00

After all, I did it!
Heidi

Ebullient Peek

2010-09-20T20:52:00.001-07:00

My piece is finished except for some embellishments. Can you tell what it is...other than ebullient? It turns out that ebullient wasn't so hard after all. I can't wait until the reveal!

Lisa Kay

Sneek-peek... Ebullient

2010-09-11T18:44:00.000-07:00

A small peek at what is happening at my house for the Challenge word Ebullient...

Sunday, a peek

2010-09-05T14:44:00.000-07:00

How much fun is this? Here is my sneak peek. I have taken it a step further and I love what is happening. I will continue to play.

Helen M

EBULLIENT

2010-08-16T11:05:00.000-07:00

EXUBERANCE
That's the title I've chosen for the quilt I made -- just this morning, in a frenzy of inspiration. I've been in a slump for the past 4-5 months, don;'t know why, and I got out of it the day of a big storm last week when the electricity was knocked out for over a day. I sat by the light from a window and made a small quilt by hand, something I haven't done for a couple of years. And when the electricity came back on, I had the sewing machine going with my other idea, which is this quilt, and may start a series.
Exuberance is made from sewing small triangles all over an ugly piece of fabric that I knew I was never going to use. Many of the triangles are left over pieces of Flying Geese that went into a humongous quilt I made for the bed -- something I'll never do again. Too big, too much sewing. I had no idea I had so many Flying Geese triangles left over... and still more. I think I put them to good use, and I love how it came out.

Susanne

Grandma's Flower Garden

2010-08-02T10:38:00.000-07:00

Last year, I saw in various shops flowers, which my grandma used to have in her garden in front of the farmhouse, they lived in. They are called 'Phlox' (Phlox paniculata Hybr.) and 'Bartnelke' (Dianthus barbatus). Every time,I came across them, it reminded me of her. She also had roses and of course other flowers.

We lived near and visited them often. She was a very kind and loving women. My father was the oldest of six, and I was for six years the only grandchild. - Don't ask about beeing spoiled! I was 11, when she died with 64.

As I was thinking of her more often, a moment came to my mind. We were together in the garden and she guided me to a rose and said: 'This rose is called 'Gloria Dei' and I planted it after you were born.' This touched me deeply! In fact, me being born healthy and sane is reason to be thankful, because my mother went ill with polio in her 8th week of pregnancy.

For this quilt I did effects on a picture of a Gloria Dei rose and put my Grandma on it, then printed it on cotton and fixed it with fast-to-fuse. The flowers are hand-sewn with roses printed on cotton. The purple piece on the left is a hand-dyed tumbler-sheet painted with gold. The yellow and green cotton is hand-dyed.

Reminiscence Bump

2010-08-02T07:57:00.000-07:00

When the word for this challenge was announced, I googled and found a wikipedia entry for 'Reminiscence Bump' - the time period in which autobiographical memory is most vivid. (From adolescence to young adulthood.)

I loved the term and immediately thought of rows of stitching around 'bumps' representing bubbles of memory. My original plan was to fill the bumps with shiny beads and charms but the effect was simply too busy. Once everything but the pearl necklace was removed, the design could come through.

The fabric was purchased at the Britex remnant sale (an experience in itself!) for another project. The fabric content was missing from the wrapper, but it feels and sews like taffetta. After auditioning several different metallic threads, I settled on a gold rayon.

The quilting design was intended to be evenly spaced rows. As I sewed, I realized memory is not like that. Not always well ordered, available and reliable. The rows began to wiggle a bit - cross over one another. Finally, the binding is top-stitched with the same rayon metallic thread wobbling and uneven. We may attempt to frame our memories neatly, but they are as we are - imperfect. Delightful, fabulous and intriguing, but imperfect.

Reminiscence: The Weeping Mulberry

2010-08-01T19:03:00.000-07:00

The new challenge word popped me right to this spot in my memory. As a little kid, we lived in a neighborhood where there weren't any kids my age, so I spent a lot of time on my own, mostly reading. One of my favorite places was under our mulberry bush, especially in the spring, as the berries slowly began to ripen. It was almost like my own little house outside, where I'd read or daydream.

As I thought about how to show you that, I sat down cross-legged on the floor (not an easy thing at my age!) and held a sketchbook, and asked my hubby to take a photo of me. That was the only way I could figure out how the legs & feet would look. In fact, the shoes are my red Keens that I wear most of the summer.

When I was a little kid, I had wild and wooly reddish hair (now I have w & w gray hair). My mom never knew quite what to do with all of it, so she mostly pulled it into braids or just two large puffballs.

I read up on mulberry bushes or trees, and was reminded that they have a deeply grooved bark, so that little piece of fabric I found in my stash seemed perfect for the job.

I experimented with several ways to show the weeping branches, maybe to indicate some ripe berries, and finally settled on this batik which has a variety of yellows, greens, and purples on it. I cut little strips with an "organic" edge and sewed them into the top of the piece, but just let them hang loosely from that....hoping they'd show a bit of shadow in the photo, to suggest the feeling of being "hidden" by the mulberry bush, in my own private place.

"Family Stories"-Jan Girod-Reminiscence

2010-08-01T16:22:00.000-07:00

Family stories, listening to the elders of our families tell the tales about their ancestors, we aren't always sure if they are accurate or a "tall tale". I became the caretaker of those reminiscences and the treasures of their lives, for both my husbands and my own families several years ago.

After moving to Georgia 30 years ago I made the trek each summer to Minnesota with my two children so that they would know their great-grandparents, grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins. This was an important part of my childhood and I wanted my children to have those memories. Breakfasts with my husbands grandfather became a highlight of those trips. He was a natural born story teller, his life was full and long. His stories about his father's family were wonderful, entertaining and a bit farfetched at times, but nonetheless his family "stories".

In more recent years my daughter expressed disbielf that she would not be included in her paternal family tree as it only reflected "male" names back to 1491. I innocently began my search for those womens names, facts and stories, very slowly learning a few names. Some of her great-grandfathers stories we have been able to establish as true, we have gained additional stories from distant family members and others may only be best equated to "big fish tales", but they are still part of our family stories.

This piece was made by printing old Swiss documents and photographs onto TAP (Transfer Artist Paper) and transferring them to a batik and copper metal. I could not quickly find a map of Switzerland (sorry Heidi) so I used an old map of France, coated it with Golden Matte Medium, giving it a bit more strength. Then I dug around till I found vintage laces, tatting and watch parts as many Girod's were watchmakers.

Reminiscence Challenge -- The Old White Pontiac

2010-08-01T14:49:00.000-07:00

When we got the challenge, I started thinking back to my childhood. Ledra (pronounced Lee-drah, rhymes with Lisa, Lee-sah), is my twin sister and is in every memory I have from childhood, so I started looking through my dad's album of our baby pictures. I found this picture of the two of us hanging out the window of our old white Pontiac. We are probably about two and a half. The old white Pontiac is actually a 1959 Pontiac Catalina Four Door Sedan and my parents brought us home from the hospital in her. The family took many trips in her, fitting copious amounts of paraphernalia in the trunk, until she was sold in the late 60's.

From that picture, I started "reminiscing" about all the things that happened in that old car. There is the time, when we stopped along the route to Grandma Blume's house to find a bathroom. Daddy got out of the car and went in to ask if they had one (yes, you youngsters out there, bathrooms weren't in all gas stations way back when). Ledra got out of the car and went to find one herself. Since Daddy didn't realize it, he got back in the car and drove off down the road. It wasn't until he was a couple blocks away and looked in the rearview mirror and saw Ledra running down the road after the car that he realized she wasn't in it!

At first I tried enlarging the picture and making a portrait like my first challenge. Since the original picture is very small, I couldn't get it large enough and retain enough clearness to use my regular technique (although, I still haven't given up on that idea…I just have to figure out how to do it!) I wasted about a month with that route. Then one morning, I woke up to a blog from our own Lynn Krawczyk advertising her new thermofax screen business. That was just what I needed. So I sent a scan of the picture and she sent me a screen (thank you, Lynn!). I also wanted a map in the background so I sent off to Spoonflower a digital map to print on fabric for the background. By the time I got it here, it was just this past Monday, but everything came together quickly after that. I screened the image, printed out the list of memories, fused it on the background, stamped the name of the quilt, quilted it, faced it, beaded it, and melted crayons on it! Materials: Self designed 100% cotton fabric, acrylic screen paint, ink, crayons (melted, of course!)

What a wonderful time I had reliving those old memories. My 86 year old dad got a kick out of it and laughed at the memories, too.

the big orange chair

2010-08-01T11:42:00.001-07:00

the big orange chair by Lynn Krawczyk

I am a child of the seventies. Orange, gold, green and brown - this color combo makes a lot of people cringe but me? I love love love them.

My mother decorated the house we lived in when I was small in this color scheme. Including the little t.v. room where I watched Mr. Roger's Neighborhood and Sesame Street. What I remember clearest is the big orange chair that I would sit in, nap in, read in.

It was orange velvet, custom made to fit the space and followed us to the next house when we moved. The walls of my little t.v. room were painted gold and mom put up hanging plants with macrame plant holders suspending them from the ceiling.

I tried to incorporate all these things in this piece. I used thermofax screens to scuff print the background fabrics and then assembled them in my collage style. I then used a thermofax screen for the chair and printed the darker orange outline. I painted in the middle sections with two other shades of orange with paint that had low opacity so that the background fabric would show through.

I find my love of these colors creeping into much of my life even now. I just painted the lower half of my bedroom walls a pumpkin orange and the top half a linen color. I wear a lot of earth tone colors including olive green and brown.

These colors will always be home to me. Me and the big orange chair.

Reminiscing with Paul

2010-08-01T11:00:00.000-07:00

I'm an early Beatles fan who was lucky enough to see them in person at their first San Francisco show at the Cow Palace. I saw Ringo a few years ago at a performance in Sonoma County and was recently able to enjoy Paul's concert in San Francisco. Wow!

My first inclination was to title this piece "Still Missing the Beatles" but I know their music lives on for my enjoyment. Paul's tributes to George and John evoked a lot of emotion from the audience, myself included.

I took over one hundred photos at the McCartney concert, some of which are on this piece. I collaged them with my computer photo program, a simple technique, but exactly what I wanted.

My idea was to get the flavor of the sixties with the sky blue and avocado green hand-dyes fused to the batting.

I used Bubble Jet Set on Pima cotton then ironed it to freezer paper to put through my inkjet printer. I then fused the photo fabric onto Wonder Under and ironed directly on the batting. This reminiscence challenge leaves me with a really memorable wall hanging.

August 1, believe it or not

2010-08-01T10:31:00.000-07:00

Happy August. Where or where did the time go?

My memories include one of my first art quilts which now resides with a good friend.

It was a branch similar to this done in very branch colors, very carefully but was fused and quilted very lightly.

For reminiscense I wanted to do a similar piece the way I would present it now. I almost did it! I am taking painting lessons and learning so much about the structure of paintings. So next time, I will have a reference photo and really consider the light source more carefully. This piece evolved and so not all that was possible. Only because I do not usually do that reverse sewing thing!

What is new is the attempt to create shadows and a source of light.

What is new from the older work is the use of color. Bright can be good.

These painting lessons are taking time from my textile work, but that is where I am at at present and just a part of the whole evolving quest.

Please do visit my blog and feel free to comment.

http://helenmoreda.blogspot.com/

Please also comment on your journeys and the detours you have taken.

And thank you........

Reminiscence

2010-08-01T07:22:00.000-07:00

My first thoughts when I heard the new word were to create a crazy quilt using old photos but I had just finished a cloth book with pictures of my parents in their youth and...been there, done that. So my mind went to the Victorian era anyway and I decided to play with fabric paper and try for a Victorian look. I started by collaging tissue paper with thicker hand made papers from Thailand. These had leaves and flowers embedded in them. When the glue had dried and the papers were thoroughly attached to the muslin, I tore ragged edges, layered batting and backing just inside the edges and did some free motion quilting in leafy patterns.

I used my rubber stamps and printed postal marks and writing randomly across the surface. Then I played with old buttons, ribbon and tea stained rick-rack. The whole thing felt like play time to me.
Buttons, rick-rack and ribbon were sewn on by hand.
You can see the rubber stamps as writing and postmarks and a little of the floral quilting.

Reminiscence... Skinny dipping

2010-07-31T23:12:00.000-07:00

Unveiled..... the latest Challenge... thank you Jan.. good memories.

Skinny dipping

As a young teenager, what fun we had, under the full moonlit skies to peel off our clothes and go for a 'midnight swim'... midnight? .. only in the state of darkness for us, not the time.

I used a lot of techniques in this.. first it is paper fabric... fabric paper? [I never know which]... then I

'foiled around'..used the inks, stitches, embellishments and added bling to the wet body climbing out from the water. The 'fabric' includes many layers and inclusions.

I am fond of the 'Forte' teas, so used the leaves in a discretionery way... hmmm... reminiscent? An angelina heart has been well placed and Lutradur was used to create the lace on the right hand edge, adding to the feminity...

This piece now hangs in my personal bathroom, above the soaker tub... candles and all...

My Introduction; Jan

2010-06-10T16:39:00.000-07:00

As I remember there was a request that we introduce ourselves when we announce the next word for our challenge so that means its time to share a bit about myself. My name is Jan, when signing my work I use my full name "Janelle Girod" as a way to acknowledge my parents and their influence in my "creative" life. Growing up I thought everyones' families did what mine did. My parents are both gifted creatively, my mother paints in various mediums, was "green" before it was cool, never knew what she might convert into something beautiful or useful. My father hand carves wood into human forms, animals, creates vehicles out of wood and draws what ever we ask for. I didn't bother to draw much growing up, cause it never looked like their drawings. My paternal grandmother, was always an artist working in whatever was available oil paint, pen & ink, copper relief, bars of soap, watercolor and fabric; these are what I know of. My maternal grandparents always approached life with a creative mind set...my grandmother knitted (rarely did I see a pattern), knocked holes in walls when she decided a change was needed. As a professional welder for a steel company my grandfather used those skills when he could see how they would lend themselves to their lake home or anything else....as well as creating a child's cupboard for his granddaughter because she wanted one....I still have it today and now my grandson can be found digging through it to make us wonderful imaginary meals. I was an adult before I realized this was not how everyone approached life.
Officially I began quilting in 1975 with a class while living in Virginia; however I had played with fiber since I was a child in addition to whatever anyone around me was using to create "stuff". This picture is of my general work area, be it for my machines or journaling. The art work on the walls is mostly done by my paternal grandmother, a family member recently sent me the pen & ink drawing she had done as a teenager, gifting it to her cousin for their dining room where it hung all these years. The other entire wall is a dedicated design wall that I am currently trying to come up with a way to change out the background fabric easily, so that it can be used for photography. Across from this work station is my cutting table, set at a height appropriate for me at 5 feet 12 inches; it is a large wonderful work surface to stand and work at. No backaches here! You notice the "cat bed" in the window....usually no cat in it but my constant companion, Rocket Man, a Miniature Pinscher who ran from the room moments before this picture was taken because someone opened the pantry in the kitchen. For a small dog he has a "Huge" stomach and attitude.

This is a photo of my reference library, computer work station and supplies like beads and stamps. I love having these things within arms reach, not hidden from view. I have to admit that my fabric stash takes up the entire guest room closet..it does not fit in this rooms walk in closet..don't ask! The guest room also has an entire wall of shelving for things like paints, dyes, brushes, yarns and papers (everything from our studio space when we had the brick & mortar location). I'm sure my guest really feel crowded, but all those goodies have to go somewhere....besides if they are really feeling creative they could just sit in there and make some great art.

Here is a photo of what I do when I'm not in "my work room", this is a corner of Fiber on a Whim's booth at the North Carolina Quilt Symposium. http://www.fiberonawhim.com/ I co-own this with my daughter, Kristin. We closed the brick and mortar location approximately 1 1/2 years ago when family demands became the number one priority. Now we try to vend at least once a month at a show, preferably twice and we also try to book a guild lecture/trunk show each month. This seems like a lot but compared to driving into the shop each day, this is a breeze; my grandson can work/play with us and we can have "pajama party" days. The traveling also allows us the chance to visit with friends around the country.

Reminder: The new word is "Reminiscense".

Main Entry: rem·i·nis·cence Pronunciation: Function: noun Date: 15891 : apprehension of a Platonic idea as if it had been known in a previous existence2 a : recall to mind of a long-forgotten experience or fact b : the process or practice of thinking or telling about past experiences3 a : a remembered experience b : an account of a memorable experience —often used in plural4 : something so like another as to be regarded as an unconscious repetition, imitation, or survival synonyms see memory

I have thoroughly enjoyed being part of this group. Thank you one and all for letting me "play" with you.

I promised you a map....

2010-06-07T10:28:00.000-07:00

Hope this little sketch shows up. No prizes, but it was fun to read your comments. Thanks!
Sue

Green with Envy- Cathy Ortelle

2010-06-02T20:28:00.000-07:00

Green with Envy
Recycled and reused fabrics were used for the "Green" challenge. And, I looked around till I found pieces in the color green. The leaves on the left were made from "roughed up" apholstery fabric. I plan on mounting this on stretcher bars with the fabric in the lower right corner. It was machine quilted with variegated green cotton thread.

Green detail

"Kudzu" by Jan Girod-Green

2010-06-01T17:29:00.000-07:00

Kudzu is a vine found in the Southeastern United States. It was introduced from Japan in 1876 at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition where it was highly toted. I've been told by native Georgian's that they claimed it would help control erosion....but today it runs rampant. It grows over everything, trees, buildings...lore has it that it can grow a foot a night, so don't close your eyes. I'm orginally from Minnesota, nothing comes through the winters. The biggest shock for me 30 years ago when I arrived in Georgia was the size of Poison Ivy down here and Kudzu. When driving back from IQA in Chicago this spring I knew I was getting close to home when the roadsides had there own "monsters" watching us go by. The trees become anything you can imagine.

I knew I had my idea....the background for this piece is painted Lutradur (a fantastic stabilizer). Vines were achieved by zig-zagging sisal cord with thread, the leaves were done using water soluble stabilizer, a sheer fabric in a simple leaf shape and thread. The flowers....well I will leave that story for another time...

Green Does My Garden Grow

2010-06-01T12:52:00.000-07:00

Here we go again.

My garden is my favorite spot, obviously.

For years I had a block on my design board I wanted to expand and low, it was green.

So I made some similar pieces and then had to kick out the original one.

The greens were way too grayed.

I wanted some cleaner greens. Finally I need brightness in my work.

I find I am so much more at ease doing traditional work to make art.

There is a peacefulness handling blocks and it is so fun to see how they can tell a story.

Here you see pathways, you see wandering, you see the colors of the yard, you see soft and hard, straight and meandering. What else, my friends?

"Reassembled 1" - Green Challenge

2010-06-01T12:22:00.000-07:00

Reassembled 1 by Lynn Krawczyk
(photographed on a black background)

I may have stretched the idea of "Green" a bit. I went through several variants before finally finding my way.

I wanted to go along the lines of recycling and reusing but wanted to reach beyond the obvious meaning. I decided to turn my attention toward my UFO box - which offered plenty of options to work with!

The piece that I ended up choosing for this project is shown in its original state below:

I've always liked this piece but it didn't have much energy the way it was and I could never figure out where to go with it to finish it. I randomly chopped it up and put it back together into the composition you see at the top of the post.

After I reassembled it, I did something that I almost never do with my work - I machine quilted it. I am a dedicated hand stitcher but this piece is covered with gel medium and gesso and various paints which would have made hand stitching very difficult or even impossible.

Since I know my limitations when it comes to me and my machine quilting skills, I did a simple grid pattern on it. After quilting, I did some printing with thermofax screens to help pull everything together.

I am really happy with the result and plan to do more pieces like this.

Blue Lagoon

2010-06-01T09:30:00.000-07:00

I used the 'Green' theme to rework a 20 x 20 piece that wasn't the best, even tho' I really liked it, it was just lacking. I trimmed it down, removed a few of the beachy elements, added the tree and leaves, together with an egret leaving the scene for better fishing.
The leaves are made using scraps of dupioni silk and water soluable stabilizer, in a hoop and free motion zigzag stitch.
The bottom , in real life, the scrim hangs below the edge. It doesn't make for a great photo hanging down. I do like the vertical as opposed to horizontal on this one.
It may still get some more work, what do you think? Should the egret be flying in? or out ? as it is.

Green and Green

2010-06-01T09:15:00.000-07:00

The idea of photocopying greens came to me immediately, but the overall design took a while. Mint, rosemary, marjoram, dill and red leaf lettuce were photocopied onto paper-backed muslin. All fabrics are left over from other projects. The blue batik in the lower right corner is the bottom of an old shirt. The batting is "Quilters Dream Green" made from recycled plastic bottles and the the quilt back is unbleached muslin.

Quilting lines follow the hills and are meant to look like the irrigation ditches I remember passing on my walks to school on 1960's Sunnyvale.
(Sorry about the fuzzy image - camera difficulties. Will try to get a better image in the next couple of days.)

Susan H in San Francisco

2nd green

2010-06-01T07:17:00.000-07:00

Here is my 2nd green - made with left-overs from a former project and waste of electrical wirde and a green plastic folder.

Noughts and Crosses

2010-06-01T06:52:00.000-07:00

Green - a few ideas came to my mind. Not all did work.
The piece I take for the challenge is made with recycled material, I had in stock.
At the bottom on the right side is an old linen bedsheet with a handstitched hemstitch, which is a Gelatine monoprint.
On the left is an old duvet cover with ribbon closure. The piece in the upper middle is some sort of towel. Only the x-discharged fabric is new cotton. I dyed all fabrics with Procion MX.
The long black stripes are PVC - machine turning waste.
I added machine- and handstitching.

Green

2010-06-01T05:42:00.000-07:00

I took an online class by Susie Monday about using graphics on fabric. I decided to print the word green on thick handmade paper from Thailand. I used different fonts and different shades of green. In some places the paper was a little too thick going through my printer so there are dark ink marks but for the most part, the lettering worked well. I cut out the individual letters and glued them to the background fabric after playing with the arrangement.
I sewed down the skeleton leaves to my batik background and did some hand stitching with my hand dyed threads. It was a wonderful opportunity to use what I had learned in a project.

Green Challenge

2010-06-01T04:18:00.001-07:00

"Green Can Be Any Color…As Long As You Recycle, Repurpose, Reuse and Restore!" Yes, this is a very long quilt name but I like it.

For my “Green” challenge, I decided to interpret it as recycling. Men’s cotton shirts provided the fabric and the buttons; the batting was left over from an old project; the beads were all from a garage sale necklace; and I used sheets of foil that were so used up that it was hard to get anything off them.

I just sewed the fabric into strips and then zigzagged the seams for very simple quilting. Although the quilt was set horizontally, I wanted a vertical feel to it. I then cut the insets for the bead fringe and faced it. I made a stencil for the large word out of freezer paper. It was at that point that I realized I didn’t want any of the color green in the piece and so I decided to use orange and gold against the brown background. The buttons were an easy addition although I had to cut buttons off more shirts than I had used for the fabric. I stamped the words Recycle, Repurpose, Reuse and Restore with ink and also foiled the words at this point, but it would have worked better had I done it before it was quilted. Some of the words "sunk" into the batting and became somewhat unreadable. Live and learn! The bead fringe was done last and I painted a few of the beads gold to go with the foiling.

For me, this was more of a challenge than the “color” one because it was such (IMO) drab colors, yet I ended up really liking it. I can’t wait for the next word!

Lisa Kay

Green Challenge, A Day Early

2010-05-30T19:59:00.000-07:00

Leaving at crack of dawn tomorrow for QSDS, so I've gotta post my green quilt tonight. A few words: I had a devil of a time finding something I really wanted to do, and in fact I never did. But I did go out in my back yard and yank off a bunch of leaves and practiced looking at them pretty carefully (which was interesting) and drawing them pretty accurately (also interesting), and then making 11 of them them out of two layers of fabric. Thought they might look good on a sharp red background. I smooshed them around in different configurations, and ended on this one. I stitched a few stitches on the center "vein" in each, but largely left the leaves floating, hoping for subtle shadows. Finally, hand-stitched in echo-type quilting, leaving certain areas unfilled on purpose.

Now, since it's not a terribly interesting quilt in itself, I thought I'd make it into a challenge: The first person who can identify 10 of the eleven leaves wins A PRIZE! Hint: some are from a flower, an herb, a fruit, a vine, a ground cover, Not all are exactly to scale. Send me an email with your guesses: suewalen@me.com.

I'll post the map to the names when I return from QSDS (studying with Sue Benner, whom I've wanted to work with for years!) Happy memorial day all~

Sneak Peek

2010-05-20T19:46:00.001-07:00

A little bit of green-less....

Lisa Kay

Green

2010-05-20T07:01:00.000-07:00

A look through a small window ..

Leaf it to me... Green

2010-05-19T18:59:00.000-07:00

A sneak peek...

Sneak peak

2010-05-06T05:26:00.001-07:00

Okay, I admit it. I am one of those people who can't stand to leave things til the last minute so I jump in immediately. I have been playing with lettering on fabric so this one came easy. I have also been dyeing thread and it was fun to use something from the collection that I am amassing! Can't wait for the reveal.

Color Challenge

2010-04-02T14:11:00.000-07:00

Congratulations, everyone. I think the Color challenge turned out great. I certainly enjoyed looking at what everyone came up with.

Susanne

Color... me Happy.... POPPY-LICIOUS

2010-04-01T22:58:00.000-07:00

When I understood the 'sense' and intent of the challenge word 'Color'... is was easy. I had this piece of fabric that had been nagging me for sometime. In fact, it just kept saying 'Pick me, pick me'... it wanted to be in everything!
So, just finishing a study of the Masters and Cubist Style art.. I knew what I was going to do.
Here is my Poppy-licious... done in Cubist Style [early 20th century] in all their glory. To me they look 'Happy'.

I actually used the background of a UFO...I liked the way the black and white added punch and helped move the eye. The off-kilter border adds tension and further interest.
I did a LOT of thread work and hand stitched the French Knots.
I truly enjoyed this challenge!
Carole

Wow, Ladies!!!

2010-04-01T20:34:00.000-07:00

These are some truly incredible quilts. I love all of them! This sure was a fun challenge. Great theme and excellent interpretations.

I hope that everyone will have fun with the Green theme too. Remember that there are a lot of ways you can interpret this. Enjoy and Happy Holidays! Peace and many blessings, Annie

Went to my Kitchen

2010-04-01T20:16:00.000-07:00

and there I found bright colors right away...set against the dark blue & white tiles over the sink. Having trouble getting a good photo of this, but here's the best I got today, pinned on my black design wall:

In the Skies - with Diamonds

2010-04-01T16:25:00.000-07:00

I should have said without diamonds, but they (crystals)are in the plan. I love color, the brighter, the better. So I used pure basic dye powders and let them do their thing. I love the result and the Neon thread I'm using will punch it up even more.

Punk-a-Doodle Color Book by Jan G.

2010-04-01T16:22:00.001-07:00

My work is usually done in bold saturated colors, therefore when the theme of this challenge, "color" was announced my mind instantly went to an idea I'd been mulling over. A color book for and of my grandson using Transfer Artist Paper (TAP) by Lesley Riley. Ever since finding out you could use various art materials to color the transfer paper, I have wanted to "experiment".
To simplify things I decided to turn my photographs of "Punk-a-Doodle" into line drawings, there was only one problem....I didn't know how. Which meant learning a new process in Photoshop Elements....not always as easy as I'd like it to be. Then I also needed to experiment with a variety of art materials to see which would give me the look and/or depth of colors I wanted. The page on the left was done with watersoluble oil pastels, I love how it looks like an old coloring book page. For the page on the right I wanted the colors to be more vibrant, that was achieved by using Crayola Sketching bright colored markers.

For the cover I decided on a bright yellow, like the color books of my childhood...at least that is my recollection. For now the piece is shown flat, both sides, however it does fold nicely and that is how it will be used. I placed staples along the binding with the plan of adding more pages, a little boy is so looking forward to coloring the pages. When I began working on this he began planning, so "we" will choose 4 additional photographs, alter them and let him apply the color. Hopefully it will become a special keepsake to remember his Grandma by.

Color Challenge

2010-04-01T14:49:00.000-07:00

Bright colors are in my usual repertoire so it wasn't hard to come up with something bright and abstract is always fun. I wanted to convey movement and speed with the colored ribbons whipping through the quilt and around the more stationary circles.

I used one of my hand dyed fabrics for the background and then, after applying a stabilizer, spent several hours sewing a grid on it. I wanted the tactile feel of the grid and the contrast with the circles and curved ribbons without having to do that small of a grid in the quilting. I actually drew the pattern when I was bored one afternoon and appliqued it together with a matching thread zig zag. The actual quilting is simple stitch in the ditch with black thread. I did some large decorative hand stitched X's for some dark hard line contrast.

I haven't decided if I want to name this Color Movement or XOXO's. I finished this a couple of weeks ago and it is already hanging in a local quilt show along with my first challenge piece. This has been a wonderful challenge so far and I can't wait to get started on the next one!

Lisa Kay

Color Tracks

2010-04-01T13:06:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been very inspired by the free piecing in Gees Bend quilts. I was lucky to go see several quilts on display when the tour came to the Flint Institute of Art here in Michigan a couple months ago.

I've begun exploring this type of piecing in my own way and decided that this was a good format for the color challenge. Anyone who knows me well knows that I rarely use bright colors in my work. I am an earth tone and jewel tone girl to the core so this really was a challenge for me to do.

I decided to break up the larger blocks of color with embroidery. I like big strong bold stitches that show up easily so this seemed like an excellent way to add even more color to the piece.

I also chose to leave my edges raw. This is a consistent element in my work, I almost never add binding. It was fun to work in a color palette that is not my usual one.

Lynn K. in Michigan