skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Finally and at last! This table runner has languished in the "unfinished project area" of the sewing room for a long time. I've always liked it, but didn't really have a plan for it. When I needed a thank-you gift for someone, I decided to finish and present it to them. A plan! That's how it is with a lot of my ongoing projects- they wait, and wait, and wait a little longer. Eventually they find their way to completion. So I'm not too hard on myself for having lots of projects in the works.
This one was so old that I had to have a quilting friend remind me of some of the details. We took a fusible applique class on a quilting cruise. And it's old enough that we hand cut all those fussy pieces. Die cutters were not yet trending when we did the project. So that's a lot of cutting! Longarmer Debra Johnston quilted it after I free-motion stitched all the edges of the design elements to prevent fraying. That's a lot of stitching!
And I received a gift from quilting friend Joanne Nolt who made this handy cross-body bag. I love the colors, and it's just the right size to carry what I need.
The back view shows the outside pocket, which is also convenient. I love these colors- did I mention that already? I recognized the Jane Sassaman fabric print she used. It's a favorite and I even have some of this in another color.
And yet another gift, this one from my daughter Joanna. It's "The Thinker". She makes me smile when I glance at her. She's an air plant that needs very little care- just a sunny window and a spritz of water from time to time. If you look closely in the photo at the upper left, you'll see Frosty the horse happily grazing in his paddock.
One project isn't even done before I begin another! Does that happen to you? This "Dancing Squares" baby quilt has been in process since last Spring when our guild had a lecture presented by Lynn Hagmeier. Her patterns from Kansas Troubles Quilters feature a technique she calls layered patchwork. It's an easy-to-sew method. This quilt looks like it's trapezoidal, doesn't it? Try as I might, I was unable to get a straight on photo of it. It's actually in square. Better photo and hanging skills would benefit here!
In Lynn's method, pre-cut fabrics with pinked edges are used. In this case, it's 10" Layer Cake squares, 5" Charm squares, and 2 1/2" Mini Charms or squares cut from a Jelly Roll. Stack 'em and stitch 'em- that's the easy sewing method, so it really is a quick quilt (despite my taking a long time to finish it.) Longarm quilter Debra Johnston did the quilting. You can see the pretty swirl pattern and the pink thread she used on the back, shown in the next photo behind the pouch. This quilt will be going to a grand-niece, Nola Dawn. Isn't that a pretty name?
Did I show you this already? I lose track, but it was such fun to make that it can't hurt to show it again in case I didn't, or you missed it. Jenny Doan of Missouri Star Quilts showed how to convert a candy bag into a cute zipper pouch using iron-on vinyl, a bit of fabric, and a zipper. Fun, fun.
Our Fiber Art Bee had a fun workshop on making bird blocks from simple shapes. I used pre-fused scraps from my bin to make Mama and Baby Bird. There are decorator fabrics in the block along with cottons. I added some hand embroidery as Mama quizzes Baby on the basics of bird life. There may be more embellishment once the block is incorporated into a project.
All of this sewing just exhausts Iggy. He's the little Silver Tuxedo rescue who's been with us for a
year plus now. He knows how to relax!
Our local art museum- The Appleton Museum- held a journal making class recently. It was titled "Up-cycled Junk Journal," and we began by choosing a discarded art book to alter into a journal. All of the materials were supplied for us, though I used my ample stash of trims and embellishments to finish the journal at home. The map canvas-fabric I chose for the cover base was a popular selection among the students. It's quite unique.
Rolls of this sticky-back pattern paper were perfect for the inside covers. It was almost like Contact Paper, but not as gummy and unmanageable.
I think every journal deserves its own jewelry, so I made this charm which I'll add to the spine eventually. I tried to echo the colors from the map fabric in it.
Here's my work station at the museum's classroom. We used PVA glue spread with a craft stick to adhere the fabric to the discarded book.
My neighbor at the work table also chose the map fabric. But look at the photo frame she painted to add to the cover. It will create a shadow box in which she can create a 3-D focal piece. Clever idea!
Our instructor had the space well organized and supplied for everything we needed for journal making. You can see a few sample journals she shared on the front table.
What will happen inside the journal remains to be seen. But we were given some beautiful art auction magazines to harvest for images. I'm enjoying just looking through them for now. The fashion one has some wonderful women's "society portraits". I'm sure these will be very lovely and useful in upcoming journals.
There are traditional quilt blocks, and then there is tradition launched in a wonderful new direction. This is the final of three posts about the Dunedin Fine Art Center exhibit that I wanted to share with you. It's kind of a game to find the Bow Tie blocks in these quilts made for the "New Quilts From an Old Favorite" from The National Quilt Museum. Leslie Johnson's "Puttin' on the Ritz" is a case in point. You may find yourself humming that tune and tapping your toe as you study this colorful quilt to find the Bow Ties. Hint: there are more than just the one the ballroom dancer is wearing. You may have to lean in to find them. Give up? They are there in the undulating rows of colors. The artist states that she changed the intersections of the colors and offset the rows to create the background. The focal point dancers are appliqued, and other techniques include hand piecing, embroidery and beading.
Quiltmaker Sandi Snow created some challenges for herself in "Abstract on Black Tie". There are mutitple facings which allow the quilt to have interesting irregular edges, along with Sashiko-style stitching and Big Stitch hand quilting. Not visible in the photo, there is matchstick quilting in the shape of Bow Ties in the black background.
Look! It's Mary Poppins, "The Perfect Nanny" made by Cathy Geier. She included the London skyline, soaring birds, and chimney sweeps in her piece commemorating Mary Poppins' departure. The Bow Tie blocks contain lyrics from her favorite songs related to the story. Such a joyful quilt!
Quilt artist Susan Morgan used her own hand-drawn patterns to piece and paper-piece "Black Tie Optional". Bow Tie blocks of all sizes overlap and intersect throughout. She quilted this on her domestic machine. Quite a mesmerizing piece!
Now admit it- these Bow Ties are pretty hard to find, right? I had to study "Black Ties and Tails" made by Karen Grover for a bit before I realized these are Bow Tie kitties! The cats were assembled and machine appliqued in place after the whole background was quilted. So whimsical!
I think you can easily spot the Bow Ties in "Negotiating the Price of an Apple", a masterful quilt by Tere D'Amato. The detail in this quilt caused me to stop and study it for a time. I hope you've enjoyed this tour of the 2019 Quilts & textiles @ DFAC and I appreciated all of your comments about this wonderful quilt display.
There's lots more to see from the "Quilts & Textiles @ DFAC" exhibit at Dunedin Fine Art Center. One of the displays was a wide array of works from members of Tampa Bay Surface Design Guild. The exhibit is up for three more days if you can get to the Center to see it in person. But if not, enjoy another sampling of the work. This Tattered Garment Jacket by Sandra Black is made from dyed silk and satin.
Joanne Baxter made this soft sculpture "Fish Bowl" with hand-dyed fabric and couched yarns.
This unique felted piece is Trish Sande's "Tree Podillian". I had to look up "podillian" but did not find a meaning. So.... ? But it is earthy and pod-like, so I'll settle for that.
"Through the Veil" by Aida Sheets and Sarah Butz is made from stitched and manipulated paper, some of it handmade tree bark paper. The neutral colors and random stitched and painted marks really appealed to me.
More paper, this time handmade silk paper, is combined with fabric, yarn and driftwood in Kathleen Fulmer's "Serenity with Bling" mixed media piece.
Lorraine Turner creates magnificent collage quilts to tell the stories of animals. She is a textile artist who works intuitively to assemble all sorts of materials in her expressive quilts. Look closely at each of her pieces- there is much to see and learn! "The Heart of the Camargue" combines cheesecloth, eyelash silk, and free-motion stitched feathers that break the borders of this quilt.
"Calico Wild Horses"- a beautiful blend of color, texture and imagery.
"Welcome Rain" depicts a Black Panther in its native rain forest habitat.
Dyed cheesecloth, felting, lace and doilies are just a few of the materials used in "From the Bottom of Our Hearts" that depicts a family of Emperor Penguins of Antarctica. I have one more set of photos from this show to share with you. As you can see, it's a wonderful exhibit just full of inspiration.
The Dunedin Fine Art Center in Dunedin, Florida, has some wonderful textile exhibits. This year's is especially exciting because it's six quilt shows in one exhibit- Quilts & Textiles @ DFAC. The exhibit is on for another week if you get time to visit in person. But if not, come along and enjoy a small sampling of the astonishing quilts on display. So inspiring!
Works by Sheila Frampton-Cooper are bold, graphic and feature her innovative curved piecing. This is "Jungle Love". The solid-color fabric pieces really show off the variety of quilting designs.
Those intense, rich colors result from Sheila's use of thickened dyes to paint fabrics like those used in "Yellow Brick Road."
A lot of piecing went into "Life in the City", her first art quilt.
The shades of green and ocher are so appealing in "Ruins of Roussillon". It was inspired by a village in France where ocher was mined. The quilts in the exhibit are displayed so well with lots of space around each one so it's easy to stand back and appreciate each one.
A second quilt show is titled Tribute to Rainbow's End. This local quilt shop has been in business for more than 30 years and is large enough to be a destination shop, pulling quilters from many Florida communities. One of the owners made this "Where the Rainbow Ends" quilt. And there were many quilts displayed to honor the shop's long history.
One of my favorite quilt artist's is Jane Sassaman. One small room was dedicated to a display of her quilts, the third show-within-a-show. This one is her unique take on an album quilt titled "Illinois Album."
Wild blooms and foliage with butterflies combine in this beautiful piece. Can you see the spider? Regretfully, I did not write down the name of this piece.
The artful curvy lines and colors make "Coral Bean Pods" one of my favorites in Jane's exhibit. Dunedin is a pretty long drive from our home in Central Florida, but it was well worth the time. I'll share more of this wonderful exhibit in upcoming posts. Don't these quilts just make you want to sew?
What to do with bits and pieces of images and project leftovers? My solution is to combine them into a tag book. I keep a box with all sorts of these items in it, and when the spirit moves me, I dig in and look to see which things will play well together. And this is the result. I cut my own tags from black card stock, then arrange and glue away until I'm happy with each tag. Next, I sew the pieces down, leaving the edges until I'm ready to join the tags to make the accordion-style book. So therapeutic!
The ice-dyed silk ribbon from earlier this summer seemed just the right fit to grace the top of each tag. And the blue leaf and feather sun prints on several tags are from Somerset Studio magazine artist papers which are included in the issues. All those images, and hardly a dent in the box contents! I'm sure there's at least one more tag book in there, perhaps more.
I might have used even more images and decorated the back of each tag, but I actually like how the stitching looks from the back. Of course, every book needs a bit of jewelry, so I fashioned three charms to hang from the elastic hair band used to hold the book closed when needed. Book making is so creatively satisfying to me, and there are so many more books and styles of binding I want to try. But in the meantime, the bits and pieces proliferate!
Since I've spent a good part of this summer out of the loop, so to speak, recovering from some health challenges, I was happy to get out for lunch with our daughter Joanna. We went to Bahama Breeze restaurant. Have you visited one of these restaurants? This was our first visit, but won't be our last. The entry is a colorful and inviting porch, and you just have to sit down for a bit.
The decor is inviting, too. High up are these pretty fans. I forgot to include photos of our entrees, but we both enjoyed them- Key West Fish Tacos for Joanna, and Grilled Salmon on Mixed Greens for me.
Does anyone else fall prey to the need to photograph appealing carpets or wall decor in restaurants, hotels and public places? I was very taken with the design on the wall in the ladies room- it looks like layers upon layers. I wish I could achieve that look with paints. A fun time.
