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I have a problem-I have Quilt it to Death Disorder-QITDD. I really don’t know how to keep it simple. I knew my Maine Girl quilt needed to have a simple quilted background that did not take away from the main image-one that just let the girl shine. Well, you know where this one is going… I tried sketching it with parallel lines in the background-ironically that seemed to distract from her. I also tried a simple stipple-ugh-so trite. I tried bubbles-that definitely overworked it. I thought it might need a grid, but plain grids are actually very difficult to pull…
Our Feb assignment in Elizabeth Barton‘s on-line Design Master Class course was to capture the sense of movement. It was intriguing to see how different students interpreted this challenge. That is one of the things I like the most about on-line learning-to be able to examine and study the work of others in the class. I depict movement a lot in my work-like my Morning Breeze quilt. So I did not want to do what I know-I wanted to challenge myself. I decided to work from a photo I took of 3 girls riding the mail ferry in the Casco…
I am working on a quilt that I will submit for consideration into a juried exhibit. The exhibit has specific size requirements. I completed my quilt and was preparing to cut it to be 24″ x 20″. You know the adage-measure twice, cut once. When it comes to making a cut on a quilt that must be a specific size, if you cut too small you will be out of the running. Since I made this quilt specifically for this exhibit, I was going to be very careful about my cuts. I lined up two rulers to lay the line…
On to the “Big Quilt Room” of the show: What a charming quilt! Geri Richardson designed and appliqued “9 Lives Plus 3”, featuring 12 months of cats. Quilted by Shireen Hattan. Sandi Fong made and quilted “Hearty Heart of Hearts” to do double duty as a Valentine’s quilt and for her anniversary. The feather quilting was beautiful. This was one of my favorites. Suzie Quinnell made and quilted “Zenspiration”. She combined traditional log cabin blocks, zentangled blocks, silk and some fabulous quilting to make this gorgeous quilt. I love this quilt! Donna Brennan made and pieced “Quilty Qwerty” and I…
The Folsom Quilt and Fiber Guild Show was held last weekend-this is my home guild. Our theme was “A Walk on the Wild Side” and it was a wild romp! Anita Marshall was our Decorations Chair and she definitely had a “wild” take on decorating! We hold our show in an aging community center and there are not enough women’s rest rooms, so we take over one of the men’s rooms to make it ours. To keep visitors from putting trash or debris in the urinals, Anita decided to put cactus in there. That’ll do it, huh? Sheep in Wolf’s…
I had a fascinating lunch time discussion during our most recent Regional SAQA meeting. A group of 5 artists were talking about happens when we make our art public. I was in the minority with my approach-I was also the least experienced artist in the group. I recognize that when I put my art up on the internet or in a show, people may/will copy it, put photographs up without attribution, or even outright steal my ideas. I’ve already experienced some of this and I’ve already seen another teacher use my class handouts and call them her own. One nationally…
Really, just because you read it here, don’t necessarily believe it! I recently read an important revelation about marking on quilts, on one of the most respected quilting blogs out there. Well, important if quilting is a big part of your world and something comes along that makes quilting easier. Marking a design on a quilt is always fraught with peril: will the mark still be crisp and visible after I’ve stuffed it through my machine a bunch of times? Will I have to immerse my quilt and then block to get rid of it? Or will it leave some sort…
Studio Art Quilt Associates is celebrating its 25th anniversary-whoop! As part of that celebration, a call for entry went out for a 10″ x 7″ art quilt that showcases the artistic expression of the member. The 2014 Anniversary Trunk Show will premier at our conference in Washington, DC, and then travel all across the United States and around the world. A group of quilts from this exhibition will be chosen to become a permanent part of the collection of the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Kentucky. Wow, I would LOVE to have something in Paducah’s permanent collection! I think I’m…
I needed to make another trapunto sample for an upcoming guild visit. I forgot how much I love the texture that trapunto brings to a quilt! I decided to add some metallic thread this time. I can’t figure out how to properly photograph the metallic so that it shows up-those lines are Yenmet Silver Metallic. One of the secrets to trapunto is controlling all that extra puff with LOTS of pins! Talk about texture! I took this photo of Ricky Tims’ “Songe d’Automne” while hanging in the 2012 PIQF. His trapunto must have been raised 1/4″ off the surface of…