The Art Quilt Blog

Tuesday's Tile Caught Stepping Out

2012-02-28T08:08:00.000-06:00

Quilter's Tile - Mowing Around the Violet Patch

8" x 8"

Hi, Sharon here. This past week-end I had the opportunity to view this heartfelt show.

Original Valentines

Artful Expressions of Affections

February 25 - March 17, 2012

Nicolet College

Art Gallery

Rhinelander, WI 54501

I felt privileged to be part of this show and one of my Tuesday's Tiles, Mowing Around the Violet Patch,with its tiny silk ribbon flowers, caught the attention of many. By mounting this small work on a fabric covered canvas elevated it from a simple square (or as Mom would say - potholder) to a dainty artwork. Because this piece reminds me of my dad, it holds special meaning for me.

Each of the pieces in the show had a special meaning to the artist and it was thought provoking for the viewers. The varied artworks were hung between delightful valentines, the kind I remember as a child.

One of my favorites was Apple of My Eye - Applemania.

(used with permission of the artist)

The apples looked so juicy and delicious that I thought certainly this was a photograph. I was totally mistaken because this lovely artwork was a pastel done by central Wisconsin artist, Andrea Fenner.

Poetry as well as art was displayed. One of my favorites was a poem by Jane Banning (used with permission of the author).

Yearling Deer

Back legs stork-thin

knock-kneed

front feet

tiny hooves of a Victorian lady

neck long as a brown question

she eats mushrooms,

twitches her tail,

browses.

With the planting

of each

hoof-gloved foot,

I, blunt and fleshy-handed,

am unsure

which one of us

is the more

evolved.

What would your artful expression of affection say? Do you have a favorite quilt or other artwork that shares a bit of your life, brings to mind a beloved person or evokes images of a special moment?

Introducing Shirlee Fassell

2012-02-24T16:04:00.002-06:00

Hi! I am new to the "art quilt" world and honored to join the Art Quilt blog ... If you really want to call what I do art quilting. My real passion is embroidery and I started making crazy quilts.

Vintage Vignettes 2007 finalist $100,000 Quilt Challenge

shortly after this was finished in 2007 I started taking tambour embroidery lessons. I did lots of small projects from 2007 to 2009.

Doll bed quilt 2009

By 2010 when my CQ friends mounted a 2012 CQ challenge I was perplexed. I no longer wanted to crazy quilt. I had fallen in love with my tambour hook. I tried several attempts and this is what happened.

All the embroidery is done by hand using a tambour hook... and occasionally a needle. I only employ the sewing machine (with lots of trepidation I might add) when I have to assemble the quilt.

Close up view each circle is about 6" in diameter and the quilt measures 56" by 62"

I am now working on another "quilt", I probably will call it "psychedelic circles". The circles are lame with silk organza layered over it.

Some of the circles are done individually and some are done in groups. They are not yet attached to the background. This is 1/4 of the quilt. There are about 33 circles ranging from 6" to 8" in diameter.

You can see more on my blog NeedleandHook.

I do not sell anything but occasionally do lectures and teach tambour.

Creative wisdom

2012-02-16T06:15:00.001-06:00

I just wanted to share this blog post that Lyric art posted today, she has a really good blog that I find inspiring for any creative type

Creative Wisdom from Pixar's John Lassiter 3 of 7

Posted: 15 Feb 2012 05:00 AM PST

John Lasseter’s 7 Points (by way of Scribble Junkies)

3. Quality is a great business plan. Period.

“There is a crucial rule: no compromises. No compromises on quality – regardless of production constraints, cost constraints, or a deadline. If you get a better idea, and this means that you have to start again from scratch, then that’s what you have to do.

In any creative industry, quality is the sole business plan that prevails in the long run. Many managers fail to understand that, but the spectators understand it. The process is only finished once the creative professional in charge says it’s finished. That does not mean that there isn’t to be any pressure – there’s pressure all the time anyway – but the individual creator always needs to have the last word.”

How this might relate to my career as an artist?

Don't settle for less than my best effort.

Now you know by now that I'm firmly in favor of making BAD ART!

I do not, however, send BAD ART out into the world.

BAD ART is a necessary stepping stone into the wonderful world of GREAT ART! The bad stuff is just a way to let yourself go, to freely play with new ideas and spark creative juices and let them flow in unexpected directions.

When it comes time to settle down and work on the good stuff - do the best you possibly can.

Strive for excellence in your technique, beauty in your composition, quality in your craftsmanship and just plain DO YOUR BEST.

(yes, I was a cub scout den mother, thank you very much)

What areas of your art need work?

Where can you improve your QUALITY?

Life 2 - Be The Change You Want (just finished)

2012-02-04T16:36:00.001-06:00

If you would like to know what the words say on the body of the lady, I've written them out on my website here.

Tuesday's Tiles and Tiles and Tiles

2012-01-31T09:14:00.000-06:00

Quilter's Tile - Dragons and Frogs

8" x 32"

Hi, Sharon here. I am still enjoying making my Quilter's Tiles and thought I would post one of my favorites here today.

Sometimes you can become so engrossed in a project, that you find it difficult to stop. Time flies by and you just keep sewing on and on.

I had so much fun making this Quilter's Tile that it became two, then three, then four. The fabrics were scraps that I had left from making a quilt for my granddaughter. As I stitched away, I was thinking of her and the fun we always have together. I enjoy working with bright and colorful fabrics and did a bit of improvisational piecing to combine the different sizes and shapes of my scraps.

Since I now had four tiles, I chose to join them into a one long wall hanging and when I look up from my sewing machine I think of Emily.

The tiles were joined with a row of black beads hand stitched between each tile.

You can stop by my blog for more Quilter's Tiles.

Who Inspires Your Creativity?

2012-01-21T18:00:00.000-06:00

"New Dawn" by Carol Bryer Fallert 2000

Picture published with permission from the artist.

When I was a new to quilting my mother sent me an e-mail that featured Caryl Bryer Fallert's quilt "New Dawn". I had never seen anything like Caryl's work. Her use of vibrant color, mixtures of fabrics types, intricate quilting and hand dyed fabrics spoke to me on so many levels. I spent hours exploring her website. I knew that I had to learn more.

I had a chance to visit her Bryerpatch Studio in Paducah during the AQS show in 2009. She had many of her quilts on display. It was such a treat to see her work up close. Her newest work that year was a quilt called "On The Wings of a Dream". The quilting and workmanship on this piece is exquisite. I love the way she blends warm and cool colors in this quilt to add a sense of dimension. The images seem to be flying off the quilt.

I credit Caryl's work with giving me permission to explore my own creativity. I am pretty sure that she (and Ricky Tims) are responsible for spurring my love of fabric dyeing too.

Who inspires you? I encourage you to write a post about where you find your inspiration.

Have a wonderful weekend! Chris

P.S. Thank you Caryl for letting me share your work.

(Please remember to ask permission from the artist when using an image of their work.)

2012-01-21T09:05:00.000-06:00

O - Water Lilies

22" x 32"

You are invited to an exhibition of floral inspired art with live orchids in bloom.

Winter's Garden

at the Riverfront Arts Center

1200 Crosby Ave.

Stevens Point, WI

January 20 - February 19, 2010

I am pleased that my art quilt "O- Water Lilies" will be part of this beautiful juried exhibit of art and flowers. You have been watching the progress of the background of this piece and now you can see the finished quilt.

(More details on making this quilt can be seen on my blog.) http://sharonrotz.blogspot.com/2012/01/winters-garden.html

Trout fishing in America - freestyle Friday

2012-01-20T06:44:00.001-06:00

Rainbow trout in the weeds

15" x 17"

$45.00

Go to my etsy shop here

Yes, the elusive rainbow trout. One of the most beautiful fresh water fish there is, sought after by anglers far and wide and also very delicious especially when fresh from the stream.

The fish is put together first, fused together using parchment paper over my pattern for placement. The fabrics are important for the fish, batiks with dots make it more realistic. Had to buy more fabric, darn :-)

The weeds are made on their own separately and then seen on later so you can twist, turn and bend them.

I took pictures along the process road, so I made a downloadable PDF pattern and tutorial for this quilt and put it up for sale in my etsy shop for only 5 bucks if anyone wants to try it. The fish pattern pieces are already reversed for you so all you have to do is print and play:-) there is also a detailed tutorial. The link for the pattern is here.

Happy Quilting!

Tuesday's Tile

2012-01-17T12:44:00.000-06:00

Quilter's Tile - "Looking at a New Age"

8" x 8"

Some Quilter's Tiles happen quickly. An idea may come and I jump on it and it is finished before I know it. Other Quilter's Tiles are the product of several adventures with different techniques.

The background of this tile was painted with Dye-Na-Flow paints some time ago. Later, I bought some Lumiere Metallic paints and another bit was added.

The borders are added using Kaufman Radiance silk fabric. They have a wonderful reflective quality that adds highlights to your quilt. The fabric blended beautifully with the shine of the metallic paint.

I especially liked the contrast of the olive borders with the hand-dyed turquoise (lovely fabric dyed by Frieda Anderson).

I machine quilted some areas of the quilt and then had quiet moments while I relaxed and added hand embroidery stitches. Love making those cute little french knots.

Not all finished in a flash, but a slow process as I meandered from technique to technique.

Creating a background

2012-01-14T14:56:00.000-06:00

Hi, Sharon here.

I was digging in my stash looking for a blue fabric to use for a background of a new quilt. I came upon these pieces that I had cut out for a double wedding ring quilt. The approximately 2" pieces were all cut on a curve ready to be stitched into the wedding ring arcs. Since I no longer feel the desire to make a double wedding ring quilt, I put my imagination to work to find a new use for the pieces. Was it a wise idea to re-cut them all or could I find a way to use them as they were?

I ended up stitching them together as they were, alternating the wide and narrow ends and sewing them together into rows. This seemed to work although the edges of the rows did seem to wobble a bit (probably, way too much to quilt piecing perfectionists). I could trim the rows to straighten them out or......... I could stitch the rows together and see what happened.

I liked what happened. It turned into an improvisational looking piece with a bit of hand-dyed fabric tucked between the rows. Now that I have a dappled blue background, I searched my photos for inspiration.

What do you see? Where would you go from here?

Check back to see what happens next.

Freestyle Fridays! Busty cup

2012-01-13T08:07:00.001-06:00

What is going on here! This is an art quilt blog!

Busty cup sleeves to promote breast cancer awareness is what :-)

I saw this on sewcalgal's blog and always one for the the unusual, I just had to try one.

This one is mine - I didn't really use any pattern, just took the cup - made a simple sleeve with Velcro and then went to town with embellishments. The boobs I used cotton balls and covered them with a light pink sheer fabric. Some of it done on machine, some by hand.

This one is from the website. Click here to go to the loose fiber site to see tutorials and ideas to make your own busty cups. You could donate these to your local breast cancer fund raising org to put in gift bags, or sell them and donate the money to breast cancer groups or just give to a friend that needs to smile.

I hope you make one of our own,

if you do please post a picture somewhere and let me know where it is. I know you have a creative spirit or you wouldn't be reading this blog and I know you could really make a cool and unique busty cup.

Sunflower III

2012-01-06T11:31:00.002-06:00

For the past few years I have made a Sunflower Art Quilt for the Contra Costa Sunflower Art Show in Davis, CA. Money earned from sales goes to help Mental Health needs in that community.

This is my third such Sunflower art quilt.

The first two sold! And the second one won First Prize!

I think I used every technique and tool I knew in this making of this one. It incorporates the photos I took of sunflowers in the fields outside our town, which I transferred to silk; three dimensional components in the flower heads, stalks and leaves; stamping; poetry iron transferred on; beading, hand stitching, embroidery, free motion machine top sewing; couching, stuffing and more!

I used both old and new fabrics; garage sale and thrift store finds in embellishments, and many hours of sitting and standing up work!

I would have put it up for sale, but my 21 yr old grand son offered to buy it from me "because I'd like to support your art, grandma"; but who can take money from a grandchild? Not I. So after it appears in the Sunflower Art Show next May it will be his to keep. I told him to think of it as an early "inheritance!" ;-)

This most recently hung at the Vacaville Art Gallery Members Show. It's time to go pick it up!

Oriental piece 2 finished.

2012-01-06T08:03:00.002-06:00

Link to photos of process here.

Freestyle Fridays. - Vermont farmland

2012-01-06T07:11:00.001-06:00

Vermont farmland with cows

13"x18"

$40.00

http://www.landscapelady.net

(my etsy shop)

This is my favorite kind of quilt to make - which is why I call myself landscapelady :-)

The inspiration for this quilt was taken from a view from route 7 going towards vergennes Vermont.

The freestyle part of this? I felt it needed something at the bottom for balance, so I took a piece of rug netting ( not sure of the term for it, but it's the base used for rug hooking)

And I used locker hooking to add fabric strips and yarn to "the fence"

Happy Quilting!

Tuesday's Tiles -

2012-01-03T09:00:00.000-06:00

Quilter's Tile - Flower, I Felt
8" x 8"
©2012 Sharon V. Rotz

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Sharon, here.

All week long I've had second thoughts about continuing my quilted tiles. It seems even after all these years, my mom's comments still hit me. As I was showing my niece some of the tiles I had done, my mom asked "Why are you taking the time to make all of these? What are they, potholders?"

Can you really justify yourself to your mother without feelings of guilt?

Why am I making these? It did make me stop and think.

I see them as little pieces of art. And why do we make art? Today my answer is ...........To release our creativity by having fun, showing our spirit, and exploring new ideas.

Sorry, mom, potholders or not, there will be another quilted tile.

(Details about making "Flower, I Felt" can be seen on my blog.)

The BIG question is "Why Do We Make Art?" (Or should we spend our time doing other things?)

What are your thoughts?

Dragon Reflections in Another Place

2012-01-01T21:31:00.000-06:00

Dragon Reflections

Chris Daly 2011 created for

Art Quilts Around the World "Another Place" Challenge

I am an avid reader of fantasy fiction. As a child I was immersed in the Land of OZ series by LF Baum. Not only did I love the stories but I marveled at the fantastic illustrations of John R. Neill. Later I traveled with Ursula Le Guin to Earthsea and Anne McCaffrey to meet the Dragon Riders of Pern.

This quilt was created for the Art Quilts Around the World "Another Place" challenge. We were to create a quilt using a technique we had not used before. We also had to use plastic and paper in our quilts.

The idea of a dragon theme quilt came to me immediately. Trying to figure out how to incorporate plastic and paper into this project kept me from starting my quilt top for quite a while. I tried thinking in an abstract mixed media sense but kept coming back to my original theme. Once I had the idea of a reflecting pool it all came together.

The dragon reflection in the pool is drawn on card stock using colored pencils. I quilted the batik fabric then covered the dragon image with the plastic from a Ziploc Freezer Bag. I tried a cellophane type of bag first but the stitching perforated the plastic. The plastic in the freezer bag is very pliable and stands up well to the machine quilting.

I worked on the quilted dragon head separately. I drew the quilting details on the top fabric first using a pencil. Next I layered the top with batting and a muslin backing. I machine quilted the scales on the dragon head and neck. Once that was complete I applied Daler Rowney acrylic inks over the top of the quilting, a technique I have wanted to try for a long time. The inks covered the pencil lines, toned down the turquoise blue quilting thread and added a vibrant shimmer to the dragon. I added 2 more layers of batting under the dragon's head to give it more dimension. The head is appliqued it in place using a straight stitch.

The Daler Rowney acrylic inks were a gift from my mom this Christmas. I love these inks. The inks have more substance to them than some of the other fabric paints on the market. They were easy to mix and apply. I love the subtle shimmer they add to my fabrics.

freestyle friday

2011-12-28T07:11:00.000-06:00

The Zen of machine quilting

I have seen and read about the zentangle craze and since I am a manager in my work life and have sat thru many a meeting - I have perfected my doodling skills. So when I saw that someone had taken it a step further and free motion quilted with the same method - a light went off and I said "I can do that!"

I googled royalty free zentangle patterns and did copy the guitar and the piano from that - it was royalty free so I hope that it's legal to do so. But all the doodles and lines are from my imagination. This was really fun and freestyle for sure.

zen music
10" by 12"
$35.00
http://www.etsy.com/listing/89244968/zen-music-art-quilt

Tuesday's Tile - Wisdom or Gold

2011-12-27T08:55:00.000-06:00

Hi, Sharon here. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.

Quilter's Tile - Wisdom or Gold?

8" x 8"

Today's tile combines a variety of techniques. In the background of the piece, I've used Shiva Artist's Paintstiks over texture plates and Dye-na-Flow paints to vary the color of the fabric. I then took the fabric to my machine and added some decorative stitches using metallic thread. (Some of the over 200 stitches that my machine will do and I usually never use. What great options, I need to expand on this.)

For the writing, I dropped the feed dogs and machine quilted the words.

To finish off this tile, I went green and used recycled items. The borders strips were strips from old ties and the buttons cut from an old suit coat.

Freestyle Fridays - barn window

2011-12-22T12:30:00.001-06:00

I am going to try to try something new every week to challenge myself - something that I have either never done or have dabbled in before but want to try something different.
I want to lay caution to the wind and just go for it :):)

and I will try to post what turns out in these adventures in quilting every friday - thus the title "Freestyle Fridays"
(I may not make it every friday but will try) sometimes life gets in the way

I started out with a piece of orange fabric that was just not going to be used the way it was - too bright - too orange. I had a spray bottle of bathroom cleaner that has bleach in it and sprayed the fabric, let it dry and pressed it. that got me the look I wanted. Then had a length of knitted yarn that I started and never did anything with, so I cut that apart and used it as a tree branch. The rest just sort of fell into place. I cut strips of some sheer like fabric in shades of wood colors for the window and barn walls. I also added other bits of yarn to the branches for more texture and depth.

more yarns were couched together to make a nest for the button red bird to sit and I then added some leaf buttons and regular small brown nails on each wall.

The little spots of what looks white on the window frame is the camera reflecting light from the sequins of the fabric. (Not sure how to fix that)

view through the barn window
16" by 15"
$45.00
http://www.landscapelady.net

Tuesday's Tile - Red Leaf

2011-12-20T16:36:00.003-06:00

Quilter's Tile - Red Leaf

8" x 8"

In the midst of Christmas activities, a friend and I got together for some quilting playtime.

After watching Frieda Anderson and Laura Wasilowski with Nancy Zieman on Wisconsin Public Television, Pat and I set out to have our own fusing adventure. (By the way, I'm so thrilled to call these three talented quilters my friends. Frieda, Laura, and Nancy are all so enthusiastic about sharing, don't miss it if you have the opportunity to learn from them.)

Back to my quilting. Using pre-fused fabrics, I arranged and fused these pieces directly to the batting. Then I did a bit more fusing to add details. So quick and easy with great results. Another fun day.

landscapelady art quilts for sale

2011-12-17T13:39:00.001-06:00

to purchase these and other pieces go to my etsy shop

http://www.etsy.com/shop/landscapelady

or email me at mcquilts@hotmail.com

Seaside friends
$75.00

this 18 in wide by 28 in art quilt has a young woman sitting on a stone wall with the beach in the background. A bird is perched by her side and she seems quite taken by him. There are rocks on the beach in the background and seagrass in the foreground. I used mostly pastel batiks and the border is an earthy tan/brown color. There is a sleeve on the back for hanging (which is made of a home dec floral print ) and it is signed on the back. All of my quilts are one of a kind originals.

Comstock covered bridge
$90.00

this original and unique piece is 11.5 by 21.5 inches and was inspired by a beautiful covered bridge in vermont. It comes with a tag with the following info:

Comstock Covered Bridge, Vermont
Built in 1883 by Sheldon and Savannard Jewett
It has a 60 foot span over the Trout River on Comstock Bridge Road,
just off Highway 118 near
Montgomery

I used batiks for most of it and have cut out ferns and fusible appliqued them down around the rocks. The water has painted rapids and I have quilted it all down with decorative threads.

Old Man of the Mountain
$45.00

This unique 10 in wide by 14 in long quilted art quilt is of the old man of the mountain in the white mountains of new hampshire who met his demise in 2003. I have stitched the words old man 1805 (which is the date of the first recorded sighting of the old man) - 2003 at the top part of the sunset sky. Decorative thread was used to quilt his features giving some texture to the piece. The back is sort of a rust color with a leaf motif and has triangles of fabric to hold a dowel or stick on the top to hang and the bottom for stability

Tuesday's Tile - Wonderful Counselor

2011-12-13T09:12:00.000-06:00

Quilter's Tile - Wonderful Counselor

8" x 8"

Today's Quilter's Tile is made of marbled fabric which I cut and added around a center marbled piece created by "Lost Marbles" by Debi Huff.

I added writing with a Pigma pen and handstitching.

The edge was finished off with hand beading.

Tuesday's Tile - Constellations

2011-12-06T08:43:00.001-06:00

Hi, Sharon here, with another Quilter's Tile.

Quilter's Tile - Constellations

8" x 8"

And then the little angel flew off to the stars

where she lived with Greater Bear, Smaller Bear

and all of her other animal friends.

Looking through my sketchbook, I found this little angel and she was the inspiration for this whimsical quilter's tile.

Often I start a project without a plan, well, maybe I should clarify that to without a drawn plan, just an idea in my head. For this project, I actually used a sketch that I had in my sketchbook. I did flow with it and make changes along the way. (For step-by-step, stop by my blog)

How do you work? Do you make a pattern and make all your mistakes (or changes) on paper before you start?

Bartonsville covered bridge quilt

2011-12-04T09:54:00.001-06:00

This past summer hurricane Irene devastated Vermont (where I live). We lost many covered bridges that had been here for over a hundred years. One of those bridges was the Bartonsville bridge, you may have seen the video on tv with the bridge being swept away in the storm. If you would like to see it there is you tube video of it here , so of course I had to make a quilt of the bridge.

another couple of photos I found interesting was a before and after of the bridge

amazing what the power of nature can do

If you would like to see more photos of my bartonsville bridge please go to my etsy shop - click here

landscapelady introduction

2011-12-02T16:13:00.002-06:00

Hello fellow art quilt lovers! My name is carol mcdowell and go by landscapelady for my art quilt business. I am new here so thought I would tell you a bit about myself. I am 54 years young, have two dog "children" and live in Vermont. I work full time but spend as much time as I can creating. My roots are in patchwork having gotten the quilting bug - omg, I guess it's been 30 years ago. Funny I don't feel that old, must be all the quilting has made me feel younger:-) the past ten year I have found art quilting and particularly landscapes to be my forte', although I do feel the need for a good ol' fashioned patchwork once in awhile - usually putting a different twist on it. For example right now I am working on a simple mariners compass and used a border of little chicks and of course had to stick a rooster on it as well. I will post a picture when it's done.
I sell my quilts at my etsy shop. The prices are probably way to low for the work, but you have to start somewhere and right now I'm happy just getting a little "pin" money (or should I say fabric money)
I am new at blogging, so please bear with me. I have also started a blog at http://landscapelady.blogspot.com/

My first post is not so much about quilting but about a special gift. If any of you have a grand or great grandmother that is a story teller you should read it:-)

Anyway, I'm very happy to find a place to be able to interact with other like minded quilter's and look forward to sharing projects etc.

My etsy shop is at http://www.landscapelady.net
You can find me on twitter As quiltscapes
And Facebook as landscapelady

Winter is here in the northeast and soon the chickadees will be at my bird feeder.
I made these two little quilts in their honor.

2011-11-29T12:18:00.002-06:00

A Small Dragonfly
This Way, That Way, This Way, That,
And It Passes By.

Just finished. A piece for exhibition at the Redditch Needle Museum September/October 2012. There's a few of us working with the theme "Orientation" We'd be delighted if you'd like to pop over occasionally and join us as we work on our various pieces, chatting about our inspirations and ideas....here

Curators note: See close up views of Annabel's exquisite stitching on her blog

Tuesday's Tile - White on White

2011-11-29T09:04:00.001-06:00

Quilter's Tile - White on White

8" x 8"

Floating on a cloud

Peaceful, gentle breeze

Hi Quilter's, Sharon here. It's Tuesday again and a new Quilter's Tile.

This week's project is one that enabled me to enjoy the gentle art of hand stitching. Everything here was done with a hand needle, a spool of thread and a bit of heavier pearl cotton thread.

Also, my color muse was on vacation and I only used white muslin. This was a stretch but I do like the result.

For further information on making yo-yos, step over to my blog.

Challenge Idea for 2012 "A Series of Quilts"

2011-11-26T10:01:00.001-06:00

South Dakota Series - Created by Chris Daly in 2008 after a journey to the Black Hills of South Dakota. These are some of my earliest experiments with Art Quilting.

One of the things I love about small art quilts is the opportunity these pieces give us to experiment with new ideas. These quilts give us chance to develop a small spark into a larger vision.

I have many art quilts that I would love to rework. Some of my pieces would be duplicated using different fabric colors so they can be hung together in a series. Others pieces beg to be made into a larger wall quilt adding more embellishments and complex machine quilting. Still others would be reworked using a completely different technique.

In 2012 I encourage you to join in and create "A Series of Quilts"

Start with a new idea or use a piece you have already created as your inspiration. This challenge is open ended. You can choose your own theme, make your quilts any size and use as many or as few techniques as you please.

Please post pictures of your works in progress. Discuss your inspiration and the techniques you are using. If you learned the technique in a class, from a magazine, book or blog please provide credit to the teacher or author and a link to their website if available.

Some of our blog members have already created a series of quilts. Each quilter has different concepts and approaches to the idea of "Series". Here are some links to their blogs for inspiration:

I love Sharon's Quilters Tiles. Sharon continues to experiment and expand on new techniques every week.
Margeeth's self portrait: Margeeth created a series in just one quilt.
Lynn's beautiful Sunflower Quilts: Sunflower, Indian Summer, and Sunflower III, which continue to evolve and inspire with each new creation.
Barbara's gorgeous quilts created on hand painted silk
Karen's ingenious Thousand Words Quilts created simultaneously for a challenge.

Want to play along? If you are not a blog member member click here for instructions on how to join us. (Be sure to read the welcome post too.)

It Started with a Blob

2011-11-23T08:18:00.001-06:00

Quilter's Tile - "Did You Hear....."

8" x 8"

Do you find yourself stuck? Are you looking at a blank piece of fabric wondering what you could do? Some days I find myself lacking inspiration.

One way to start is with a blob.

Yes, a blob of color on the surface and then letting your imagination go wild.

For this piece, I blobbed on a bit of red textile paint, folded my fabric, opened it and let it dry. No longer faced with a blank sheet, I started to play with fabric markers and finished up with machine quilting.

You are invited to find out more details on my blog.
http://sharonrotz.blogspot.com/2011/11/tuesdays-tiles-did-you-hear.html

What will you create with your next blob...........?

Sharon's Tuesday's Tiles

2011-11-15T09:10:00.000-06:00

Quilter's Tiles - Ghosts of Koi
8" x 8"
©2011 Sharon V. Rotz

One bright and sunny day, the happy little quilter decided to brighten up her garden with a soothing and serene pond full of colorful, orange and white koi. The little quilter dug and dug and filled her pond with clear, clean water. Cheerfully, she admired her beautiful koi as she placed them in the water. How she loved their bright, intense orange color.

But, as the fish splashed into the water, their brilliant color began to bleed. Alas, they were not colorfast. The sad little quilter was left with nothing but ghosts of koi.

Moral of story: Always test your koi before adding them to your pond.

I enjoy trying new techniques and would like to share my adventures with you. Using a small format, I can finish quickly, so these have turned into Quilter's Tiles, 8" x 8".

More information about this week's tile can be found at my blog. http://sharonrotz.blogspot.com/

Phylum: Arthropoda, Order: Lepidoptera

2011-11-06T14:47:00.000-06:00

Phylum: Arthropoda, Order: Lepidoptera

Created by Chris Daly - June 2011

This is the quilt I created for the Art Quilts Around the World "Animal Kingdom" challenge back in June.

When I was a child my father gave me a butterfly net. I caught butterflies, euthanized them and mounted the butterfly specimens. I learned a lot about butterflies from those experiences. Looking back on those days I have very mixed feelings.

As an adult I prefer to observe live specimens. Our farm is the perfect habitat for many species of butterflies especially Eastern Swallowtails, Giant Swallowtails, Monarchs and Viceroys. Each summer I look forward to the time when butterflies return to feed on the nectar of our lilacs and hydrangea bushes.

This quilt was made using a combination of hand dyed silks, silk ribbons and cottons. I made the 3D butterfly using a free motion embroidery technique learned in a class taught by Nancy Prince. I sandwiched a poly stabilizer between 2 layers of hand dyed silk and added another layer of wash away stabilizer with my design traced on it. Once the embroidery was finished I stitched floral wire around the edges to give the wings shape.

No butterflies were harmed in the making of this quilt.

See more quilts from the Animal Kingdom challenge here

Love Letters: Amaryllis

2011-10-22T21:45:00.002-05:00

Hi, everyone -- Diane here.

Have you ever gathered fabrics over a long period of time, waiting for the opportunity to start that special project that's been percolating in the back of your mind?? Of COURSE you have -- you're an art quilter, aren't you?! So, after much gathering and percolating, I've finally put the finishing touches on a piece that I've been wanting to make ever since I bought a copy of "Appliqué Art" by Stewart Merrett, a book that is a visual feast of beautiful projects created with gorgeous decorator fabrics. Please visit my blog to learn more about this little art quilt and to see more photos.

Diane

2011-10-15T12:09:00.000-05:00

Inspired by Autumn Leaves

Capturing the Sun

13" x 13"

Sharon V. Rotz

Hi, Sharon here, on a lovely autumn day. I love the color of the season and can't resist the temptation to capture (and save) a bit of the brilliance in my quilts.

Inspired by colorful autumn leaves, these small quilts are fused using hand-dyed cottons and silks.

The background is an over-dyed cotton. Over-dying starts with a commercially printed cotton and then dyed to create a new look.

Machine quilting and hand stitched beads add detail.

You can follow the complete process for making these quilts by clicking here.

back in the Netherlands

2011-10-06T07:00:00.000-05:00

After 3 month sailing I am back in the Netherlands. On board I made some small quilts. Here is an impression of Norway. On my site are the other journal quilts

Barcelona by Lynn Cohen

2011-10-03T11:33:00.001-05:00

Actually I made this small art quilt three months ago, but Sept. 30 was the date to post it on

Quilts Around The World Blog for all to see.

Subject: Barcelona

You will see many different interpretations of this challenge on that blog from famous artists, historical buildings, etc. Mine is a very personal experience memory quilt from a time in my life when I was as it says "Young and Adventurous" and did a lot of traveling.

Read the quilt and

excerpt from my journal

and the other blog for the whole story!

Casa Mila Entryway

2011-10-02T09:00:00.000-05:00

"Casa Mila Entryway" by Chris Daly 2011

This is quilt was completed for the Art Quilts Around the World "Barcelona Challenge"

I am fascinated by the works of Antoni Gaudi. His use of heavy structural elements against such delicate details intrigues me. When I started this challenge I had planned to create a project that focused on the colorful and delicate attributes of his buildings and the Park Guell. But my eyes kept drifting back to the structure, the incredible metalwork and columns supporting the viaducts of the Park Guell. I found my inspiration from a picture of the entrance doorway to Casa Mila (La Pedrera) taken at night. There was a warm glow of light coming from the building.

I created this piece on white cotton fabric using black Pigma markers, colored pencils and Jacquard Lumiere metallic gold paint. The quilting was done with Superior Threads black "Glitter", a holographic thread, and YLI invisible clear thread.

The majority of the quilts have been posted for this challenge. I invite you to visit and see everyone's contributions to the challenge.

Barcelona Preview

2011-09-28T16:46:00.001-05:00

A little peak at my Barcelona quilt in progress. I love this challenge... but it was so hard to get started. I found this project had too many sources of inspiration. It took me a long time to be able to narrow my focus.

Looking forward to the end on the week for the reveal on Art Quilts Around the World Blog!

Chris

Working from the Back

2011-09-21T08:56:00.000-05:00

Hi, Sharon again.

I am speaking of using a heavy (in this case, metallic) thread in the bobbin and stitching the design on the wrong side of the fabric. The heavy thread is usually hand-wound onto the bobbin. The bobbin thread needs to be adjusted (loosened) so the thread can pull out freely. I've also heard of by-passing the bobbin tension completely.

I used "Hyra-stick Tearaway Light" as a stabilizer. It as an adhesive that is water activated.

Since I am a novice at this, I'm sure many of you have helpful hints which you can pass along. We are all looking to improve our work so please feel free to comment.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Threads in the Bobbin

2011-09-20T18:59:00.001-05:00

Quilter's Tile

8" x 8"

Sharon V. Rotz

Hi, Sharon here.

Today I've tried some bobbin work. Since I haven't done this much before, it was fun to experiment.

Have you tried this technique? What are your best suggestions?

Where Does Your Quilting Lead You?

2011-08-22T09:35:00.001-05:00

Lizard Tails

25" x 39"

Sharon V. Rotz

Where does your quilting lead you? Do you follow the flow by quilting along the design of the fabric? Do you stitch in the ditch? Do you meander across the quilt just hoping to get done?

There are so many options and each quilt is another opportunity to try a new approach. In Lizard Tails, I ignored the fabric design and the block piecing and quilted flowing lines across the entire quilt top. It was a liberating experience not to feel constrained by the pattern of the quilt.

I used a variegated thread that changed from chartreuse to orange, a perfect choice. How did Signature Threads know exactly what I would need?

These quilting lines only led to more opportunities for additional details. Hand embroidery added texture to the open spaces between the machine quilting.

You can learn more about the steps to making this quilt on my blog.

Hoffman Challenge

2011-08-15T08:28:00.000-05:00

Hi there,
Wonderful news:
I won 2nd best use of Sulky in the Hoffman Challenge 2011 with my coat "once in a blue moon"
I'm absolutely thrilled!

You can see more pictures and the story behind it on my blog

art2wearblog.blogspot.com

Quilter's Tile

2011-08-07T17:59:00.002-05:00

Quilter's Tile

8" x 8"

Sharon V. Rotz

On these hot summer days, I've found it is a perfect time to work on smaller projects. These smaller quilts, which I call Quilter's Tiles, are wonderful to try new techniques in a fast and easy way.

I previously dyed this piece of fabric using a resist to block out some areas. On one hot day, I found a bit of shade and relaxed and was ready to draw on my dyed square. I pressed a square of freezer paper on the back to stiffen the fabric. It took a bit of courage to uncap my Sharpie permanent marker and start to draw. I'm not the best artist and didn't have a plan.

I found it did seem less intimidating to draw on the fabric since it already had color on it, no blank canvas. I was surprised and pleased with the result. I layered my little quilt and and stitched on the drawn lines to quilt it. Fused binding finished it up.

You can see more of my Quilter's Tiles on my blog.

A bunch of new works, a little Jekyll & Hyde

2011-07-25T18:35:00.017-05:00

This silk hand painted art quilt is titled. " English Cottage Garden".
It is an original work. I painted the silk using silk paints and colored inks from a compilation of drawings from my garden photos After hand painting the silk background, I separately painted the numerous cottage flowers. There's lots of typical english flowers from foxgloves to Iceburg roses. Then the flowers were all appliqued on and thread painted. But I think that the real star is the quilting, all done without any marking, on my domestic machine. The size is 35 X 19". The cost- $370.00

" Tangerine Sky" is an original silk art quilt. It has the sunniest most luminous colors, as silk conveys so well. I hand painted all the silk, the flowers were done seperately, then appliqued on . The silk paints were combined with acrylic inks, making a very unique look.The quilting was done to blend with the style of the abstract back drop.I tsed thread painting to add another layer of interest. It is 20 X35". $325.00
"Gramma's Hollyhocks"is hand painted silk. The the leaves & hollyhocks & stems were drawn separately, then hand painted & appliqued on with a trapunto like effect -[raised slightly]. Thread painting was used to add further design detail, as does the quilting, It measures 46 X 27", a fairly large size. $335.00
Hyde or is that Jekyll? I always mix them up. But flowers, flowers, flowers, then crows. Go figure. This is a Truly Original and Unique, Contemporary art quilt in earthy colors. The subject matter; an old knurled tree with crows or ravens [if you prefer] landing on it, is unique, to say the least. As different as that sounds, it works extremely well. It may not your typical theme of flowers and bees, but it is an outstanding piece of fiber art. Hand painted silk with applique & thread painted. The size is 37 X 19". $350.00

This is an original contemporary abstract art quilt.. It has wonky piecing in a rainbow of fun colors, violet, gold, blue. Many batiks were used. The custom quilting was done in varing bright colors, it makes the quilt. The size is 48 X18 ". $145.00

For more details & more photos or purchase information visit .

http://etsy.com/shop/AsianArtAndQuilts/

http://asianartandquilts.com/

The Truth is...

2011-07-18T19:51:00.004-05:00

that I haven't turned on my sewing machine in well over a month...have not made anything out of cloth lately...This is a thread painting I created for a challenge on Quilts Around the World that was posted on that blog and mine the end of June. And I just entered it in an art show in our local art gallery in three parts: Photo; drawing; thread painting for a show called "Animals, Animals, Animals".

click on photos to enlarge and see details

I've been taking lots of photos since summer started and have taken up my sketchbook, pens, and watercolors. Oh, and I've been knitting for our new grand baby coming in a months time. But since finishing a quilt for her I have not made even a journal art quilt. That muse is on hold for some reason. But lest you think me fallen by the wayside I decided to post these today. I am sure the sewing quilting creative me will rise again....before too long. Stay tuned. In the meantime I am enjoying all that others are doing here!

Sun and Heat

2011-07-18T09:27:00.000-05:00

"I Love My New Sunscreen"

8" x 8"

Sharon V. Rotz

As the heat wave stalls in the Midwest section of the United States, we are all dealing with sun and 90+ degree temperatures. I am thankful that I have a cool studio to work in.

I was playing around with a small piece of fabric that I had printed on. A novelty print caught my eye and I decided to cut out the lizards and fuse them on my printed fabric. As I was trimming them, I noticed my swatch had multiple orange lizards but only one green one. How could I use the green one? Or not all?

I looked again and all of my lizards seemed to be baking in the sun...........but not my green one.

A fun little project for a hot day.

New Piece

2011-07-16T11:47:00.001-05:00

It's seemed a little quiet on this blog, so I hope everyone is still around! I've just finished another quilt, which is a gift for a friend who I've just got in touch with again after many years. I wondered if you'd like to see it?

The friend is very fond of Menorca, - and lizards. The stones are Taula Stones and date to about 1000BC.

There's a little bit more about the stones on my website www.annabelrainbow.com

I've hidden lizards in the picture but have blown this one up and you may be able to see it.

It's 85 x 60cms, and is heavily machine stitched white cotton, and acrylic paint.

Hi from Sharon

2011-07-10T18:58:00.001-05:00

Hi, Sharon Rotz here from central Wisconsin. I'm excited to become part of The Art Quilt Blog.

I've been sewing for way too many years to count, learning as a young girl in a local 4-H club. From there I went on to college in Home Economics Education. I've had many years of experience pushing fabric through a sewing machine making just about anything that could fit under the needle.

For the past several years I have been part of the vast quilting community, teaching quilting, and writing patterns and books. I love to try to new ideas and find myself constantly pushing on the box making it bigger and bigger to encompass all of my new directions.

I find it challenging and rewarding to find ways to effectively use commercial fabrics in my quilts. How can I take another's fabric design and make it my own?

Please join me as I explore quilting here on The Art Quilt Blog and on my blog. You can also visit my website www.bysher.net.

Bragging Rights! Wanting to share good news!

2011-06-30T00:37:00.003-05:00

It's been a busy summer so far for me with art shows (this one for sunflower art in Yolo County Davis Art Center where this quilt "Indian Summer" won first place and SOLD! I am stoked to say the least. It was in competition with all sorts of art mediums (oil, acrylic, watercolor paintings, sculptures, mixed media, and fiber art just to name a few).
I also was lucky at the Dixon May Fair where it won a third place in all of their quilt competition (traditional and contemporary); and while I am all puffed up here I'll also tell you that a water color of mine "Class of 2010" won two seconds, one at the fair and one in the juried art show in our local gallery.

Hoping to find time to enter the challenges here in the coming months!

June theme at Sketchbook Challenge

2011-06-03T02:37:00.000-05:00

... is "Pathways" ! As this month is early summer over here in my part of the world, this calls at last me to the outside. Lucky coincidence - I've two weeks off work later in this month, and I plan to spent parts of it outside with my sketchbook. So hopefully, I'll have a quilt to show afterwards ;-)) What about you?

For more information about how Leslie Tucker Jenison introduces the theme, just follow this link!

may theme: I Can't Resist!

2011-05-31T09:02:00.000-05:00

I finished both my Sketchbook page and my journal quilt just in time.

You Can't Resist was a great theme for me: I am organizing a Soy Wax class with Melanie Testa and guess what? The title Melanie had chosen for the class is ... YES: You Can't Resist!

I had a package of the appropriate quality of soy wax at home in order to test it. Last week I spent two afternoons in my studio, happily creating with soy wax and thickened dyes. The blog post is not ready yet, but in the next couple of days I am going to upload photos on my personal blog.

Marlis Egger | Journal Quilt - 8" x 8" | soy wax resist | fiber reactive dyes
(I'm still exploring the potential of my favorite letter, the B...)

You Can't Resist! (whole spread opened up) - candle resist

May theme from the Sketchbook Challenge

2011-05-02T14:06:00.000-05:00

Looks like May is going to be an inspiring month ;-)) The new theme is:

Can't Resist This!

It was posted on 05/01/2011 by Judy Herwitt. Now the first thing that comes to my mind is ... chocolate !! <Sigh> But don't forget that you can use stuff to work as a resist ...
For more information, look here:

Can't Resist This!

And now - have fun and show us, what you can't resist ;-))

Branching Out: Quilting By Hand, Large!

2011-04-30T11:34:00.006-05:00

For me to make something that looks even the tiniest bit traditional is a huge detour from my usual art quilt creations. I wasn't even sure I still knew how and was amazed as I stood ripping fabric into strips how the knowledge of my earliest quilt making started filtering through my brain saying do this now, now do that as it all came together. It was like being in that first beginners quilting class I took in 2007 all over again. And then once I got it all pieced together, sandwiched and sewn I decided to do something really different for me. I have never hand quilted anything this size before. Because this is to be a baby gift for our new grand daughter coming in August I wanted the back to look neat and free of free motion sewing mess. So I decided to go out and buy a big quilters hoop and some invisible thread and to hand sew the whole thing so the back would be 'clean'. Today my back and fingers and arms ache, but I have four months to finish it and I accept this challenge to myself. I CAN do this! Thanks for asking me to challenge myself to something new!

The fabrics used are a gift from a friend of all kitty prints, the borders and sashing cat paw prints; also something I rarely use. The back is in the blue and the red cat paw prints and one strip of cats climbing a lattice print pieced together!

Rather than a traditional bound edge I made a pillow case and flipped it.

As I worked fast in its construction stage I was glad to see it still has some Lynn Style wonky shapes and imperfections!

click to enlarge the photos if you want to see the cute kitties running about.

april theme: branching out - out on a limb

2011-04-28T10:40:00.000-05:00

Marlis Egger | Journal Quilt | 8" x 8"
hand dyed fabric
textile paint
hand quilted

Hi everyone, Marlis here.

Can you believe another month is nearly over???

When the new theme was announced I thought oops … what shall I do with THIS?? Branching Out – Out on a Limb. I was glad that Jane Davis told us something about her theme:

Branching Out: expanding skills, sprouting new ideas, discovering unknown territory

Out on a Limb: (flip side of branching out) taking risks, facing fear of failure, getting into discomfort zone, facing Inner Critic, taking the plunge with courage.

If this wasn’t a perfect theme for me right now …??? (I’m in a transition period of my life)

When I am painting (printing, stenciling etc.), I often avoid getting into discomfort zone because once I love what I did, I don’t want to ruin or spoil my cloth (or even my paper…). So I stop – instead of building up layers.

In my sketchbook I decided to start with the very next page - turquoise with some white circles (resists). The first layer was stamping with a cork, the second stamping with an empty spool of thread, the third stamping with a self made eraser stamp, the fourth some bold brush strokes and last but not least three of my beloved ;-) curved, black crosses.

I took exactly the same steps to creat the journal quilt, starting with a piece of hand dyed turquoise fabric.

Sketchbook page, front

Sketchbook page, opened up

Low water immersion dyeing

2011-04-24T01:39:00.000-05:00

As a family we eat about 5 (organic whole wheat) loafs of bread a week. Those 5 bread come in plastic breadbags and I keep those bags for second use. We all take our bread in breadboxes, so those bags accumulate. Last night I did need a breadbag, so I looked in the closet and found two breadbags filled with breadbags. That is a ridiciulous amount of breadbags, and I still had a lot of white fabric and a lot of mixed dye, so I decided to do some "low water immersion dyeing", which took me all morning. This are the fabrics I dyed:

This is what I learned:

It might environmentally more friendly to use recycled breadbags, it is not advisable, because almost all bags leak, resulting in a terrible mess.
Plastic bags melt if you microwave them too long.
I meant to make series of different colours, but because I added the dye directly to the fabric without mixing it first, the colours didn't mix properly and I eded up with four series of quite similar looking fabrics.
Because of the leaky breadbags, I couldn't squeeze the bags properly which caused quite uneven distribution of the dye which resulted in quite busy fabrics.

New member

2011-04-21T13:56:00.001-05:00

I have just joined this group, after recommendation by other quilters.
I am a quilter since 1992. After some tradional work I started soon with landscapes. Now I make mainly art quilts. You can see at my website what kind of work I make. http://quiltpage.homestead.com
In summer my husband and I sail our catamaran. So I don't make large work then. But I make journal quilts all the time. Hope to be able to post to the blog when abroad. In winter I start with large work again. greetings Marijke de Boer

Different Challenge and Blog Updates

2011-04-09T15:21:00.000-05:00

Tropical - Chris Daly 2011

Sorry to be so quiet lately. I have been very productive dyeing, taking classes, retreating with loved ones and girlfriends and sewing just for me!!! I have worked on some pieces lately that make me feel I am taking the right path and defining a quilting style that suits me.

I made this quilt for the Art Quilts Around the World "Different" Challenge. We were to work in colors that we would not typically use in our work. Red and Aquamarine are two colors I never thought of using together but I love the effect.

You can read more about the process here

Recent updates to The Art Quilt Blog:

The blog writing space has been widen to allow posts to use extra large pictures.

A stand alone page has been added for listing "Art Quilts For Sale". This page lists the artist's name and a thumbnail photo of each quilt that is for sale. These photos link back to the post on this blog that the artist wrote about the quilt. If you have listed quilts for sale here and they have been sold be sure to let me know so I can take the photo off of the Art Quilts For Sale page. Also if you have a quilt that has not been listed and should be, please contact me and direct me to the post you wrote about your work.

I'd love to hear your feedback or ideas for organizing this page.

I hope you all are having a creative weekend! From sunny Wisconsin where our temperature will finally reach the 70's tomorrow....Chris

April's Theme

2011-04-04T01:13:00.000-05:00

This month's theme is Branching Out, which means expanding your skills, sprouting new ideas, discovering unknown territory. The flip side of that is Out on a Limb, which means taking risks, facing fear of failure, getting into your discomfort zone, facing your Inner Critic, and taking the plunge with courage.

This month's fearless leader suggests that you :

try "...something new, something that really challenges you, even something that inspires fear of failure. Do something that your Inner Critic knows you can't do! There is no failure or "can't do" in branching out; when you are honestly challenging yourself you will always be treated by a surprise. Remember, only you can know if you are truly branching out. One person's safe zone is another's unknown territory. Oh, and don't forget to have fun!!!"
Looking forward to seeing your journal quilts on this theme!

Lynn's Sunflower Quilt: "Indian Summer"

2011-03-30T09:50:00.004-05:00

Before Have you ever done this? Taken an older work of art (quilt above) and added to it to make it something brand new? That's what I did here. This was my "Seeds of Hope I" art quilt from a 2009 and I added petals and beads making it into a sunflower for the upcoming Yolo County Sunflower show for Mental Health in May. After I had great fun sewing and gluing more beads to the heavily machine felted flower head, and using fabric paint to change some of the color!

She is rich in color and texture!

She'll show in May and has a price tag of $200 part of which goes to help mental illness!

She can sell anytime, but the buyer has to wait for her show dates

to receive their purchase!

5th Journal Quilt

2011-03-27T13:56:00.000-05:00

After I did some sketches in my sketchbook with "stippling-alike" lines, I thought - what about drawing like this on fabric? And so I did that. My cheap pen did bleed a bit, but not too bad. Some of the shapes (that's different to classic stippling - it's all about drawing connected shapes) were filled out in the next step. Today I quilted it - I would have liked to do some quilting that fits the Sketchbook Challenge theme "Spilling over", but nothing came to my mind that I liked. Oh well - so be it. I had the idea of adding some red to the piece, so using red thread for the quilting was a logical step. As I like the simple and clean look of grid quilting, I did that - and varied the width a bit. Last step was a red binding, done with 2 rows of satin stitching. And here it is - my 5th Journal Quilt!

Bamboo 2 finished. A snippet

2011-03-27T10:47:00.002-05:00

Dyed cloth, free machine stitch, paint. More images here.

March Journal Quilt

2011-03-24T18:58:00.001-05:00

"Parrotpalooza"

12.5" by 14"

Acrylic Inks on cotton, cotton threads and wool batt

This is my take on "spilling over." The parrots are spilling over the sides. I was going to have them all sticking out, but I couldn't bear to cut away anymore of the background. I did this mainly as an exercise in using these acrylic inks. And no, there wasn't any ink spilled.

For the gory details about the inks, click here for my guest post on "...And Then We Set It on Fire. For the rest of the windy explanation, click here for my personal blog "A Creative K."

Re Worked My "Spilling Over" Quilt

2011-03-19T11:27:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I decided that my "Spilling Over" quilt needed a frame. I dug through my stash and came up with this fantastic silver filigreed like fabric and laid it over black fleece to get this border. I also put some extra fleece under the vase to puff it up some more giving it an added
3-D look and feel. I hand sewed the top main part to the silver frame. And hand sewed another sheet of black fleece to the back. It is now much more sturdy that it was initially. I love the fact that everything used to make this quilt was gleaned at a thrift store or garage sale.

Silk neckties for 1$; buttons, thread, and all fabrics used!

I think she is now ready for an art show!

;-)

The Art Quilt Blog: Sunflower Garden original hand painted silk art quilt

2011-03-19T01:25:00.000-05:00

The Art Quilt Blog: Sunflower Garden original hand painted silk art quilt

Sunflower Garden original hand painted silk art quilt

2011-03-19T01:12:00.004-05:00

Sunflower Garden an original art quilt by Barbara Harms

This is my latest original art quilt. I hand painted the silk for the background. Then painted the flowers & 2 little yellow birds, also on silk, and appliqued it all on. Then thread painting was used to add more detail.

Posted by Asian Art And Quilts
Contemporary Fiber Art by Barbara Harms
http://www.etsy.com/shop/AsianArtAndQuilts?ref=pr_shop
http://www.asianartandquilts.com/

spilling over

2011-03-18T08:10:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone, Marlis here.

Creating the Sketchbook page was not difficult this month: for the last couple of years, I have been working a lot with subdued colors (beige, grey, but also black and white plus an accent color), so my Spilling Over was colorful indulgence. After I added stitch and turned the page, I noticed all those beautiful holes and stitches - and had to create a second page using these stitched lines as a guide ... and dive into more color. And fun I had!

The tricky part however was translating the page into fabric. I challenged myself to work differently from how I usually work. To go out of my comfort zone. To be messy. To be imprecise. To spill over ;-).

Journal Quilt

Sketchbook | first page

Sketchbook | second page

"Tumult - In Memory of Lives Lost"

2011-03-16T01:01:00.000-05:00

March, 2011

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hand painted linen/cotton blend fabric, lightly embellished with roving (grey, blue, pink) and yarn; quilted with mustard, teal, burgundy, variegated blue and variegated green thread.

Close up - top right corner.

Close up - Japan

Back (silk taffeta).

Blogged about at my process blog: Coneflowers In Leslieville

Spilling Over

2011-03-14T00:17:00.003-05:00

Hi All, Kit Lang checking in.

thought I'd share with you my piece for the Spilling Over challenge.

This is made up of two different hand painted fabrics, some dyed scrim from Deborah O'Hare at The Blue Hare and some roving in blues, greens and pinks which I lightly felted to the linen/cotton blend hand painted background and then quilted with an assortment of variegated threads.

The 'spilling over" part comes in with the blue/pink/bright overlays which look like spilled paint to me.

Process at my process blog Coneflowers In Leslieville.

Hope you had a great weekend!

4. Journal Quilt!

2011-03-13T15:53:00.000-05:00

After I used my first "carte blanche", it was about time I did my 4. Journal Quilt. I still was fascinated by the theme "opposites" - so I used it. Is there a stronger contrast as the one between white and black? To me, no - so I wanted to play with that. And I became more and more intrigued by handstitching on the surface - just a sample for this is the work by Lisa Call. Last not least, I wanted to explore the contrast of straight line and curved lines.
So; I set to work: ironed a piece of white linen of about 7", backed it with a piece of thing batting and picked a fairly thick silk sewing thread (guess it's supposed to be used for buttonholes?). Than I settled in front of a nice movie and started stitching - by hand ... and I liked it! First, I tried to do straight lines across without marking. Not a good idea ;-)) So I unstitched my first few stitches and wondered how I could mark my line? The pojagi class I took some weeks ago came to my mind, and I tried pulling my needle along a ruler across the fabric with a little pressure. It worked ... I should have used it for ALL of my straight lines ;-)) I did 7 straight lines on one half of my piece. For the second half, I wanted a contrasting way of lines. Hmmmm ... how about circles? Yes. I started with a circle - and made it bigger as I had first thought. And I made up my mind - just one circle is enough.
I am very pleased with my 4. Journal Quilt - I will for sure explore hand-stitching further. Oh my, many more possibilities ;-))

Spilling Over Challenge Quilt by Lynn

2011-03-12T10:13:00.004-06:00

I've recently learned how to make yo-yo's and went a bit crazy yesterday producing a flower pot full of them! So many that they wound up "spilling over" the vase! These silk necktie fabric flowers have beaded button centers and florist wire stems. All sewn by hand using invisible thread on black fleece.

PS: Chris, I love the new background you've chosen for the blog!

Barbara Harms AsianArtAndQuilts For Sale

2011-03-10T23:32:00.010-06:00

I am grateful for this opportunity to show our work which is for sale. Thanks to Chris for such a great idea and the work to get it up & running.

. I've included a small a sampling of the many quilts that I have for sale on my Etsy shop www.etsy .com/shopAsianArtAndQuilts?ref=pr_sh op.
My prices range from $100.00 - $400.00.
Most of these original quilts are hand painted silk with extensive applique. All the petals on the quilt, 2 Sunflowers , for example, were each individually hand painted, then appliqued on for example, as were the centers.
Another example of the detail seen in Heron Under the Moon.
The heron and his feathers, the cat tail & grasses were all individually appliqued.
Please visit my etsy shop to purchase any of there and see my entire stock of original art quilts at the above link. My blog is www.asianartandquilts.com
Barbara Harms-Contemporary fiber and quilt artist
Sold May 2011

Two Sunflowers - Sold May 2011

Heron under the moon - Sold May 2011

Wisteria and 2 Birds-Sold July 2011

Everything Under the Sun - Sold July 2011

Under The Cherry Tree -Sold July 2011

Hi I would like to introduce myself. I'm Barbara Harms

2011-03-10T16:09:00.007-06:00

Hi All,
I'm Barbara Harms or the artist behind AsianArtAndQuilts http://www.etsy.com/shop/AsianArtAndQuilts?ref=pr_shop.
I am from Las Vegas and was a water colorist there, selling some of my work. But as a single Mom, my main focus was raising my children . They turned out to be wonderful people, who are grown and flown the nest! So for the first time, I have the time and circumstances to focus on my art full time.
I opened a shop on Etsy and it's doing well. Did I forget to mention that I have now transitioned to art quilting? It was a natural for me, I love quilting and art, the fusion of both is my perfect niche.
I especially love using silk painting and lots of applique on many of my quilts.
I've had some interest in my work, was a featured artist in a venue in Portland for the Portland Art Walk, a few other things along those lines.
One great side perk has been my art blog www.asianartandquilts.com. I started it to present my work as an artist and promote art quilting. I thought it would be very interesting to feature interviews with some awesome fiber artists and quilters. The people who have influenced and inspired me.
To my delight I asked [I figured the worst thing that could happen is they could say ;"no"] and some of my favorite quilters actually agreed! What a privilege that has been for me. I've had interviews with Karen McTavish, Diane Gaudynski, Lisa Call, Jean Wells Keenan, Tracy McCabe Stewart, Denise Tallon Havlan, & Ann Fahl . These are all artists I have long admired and getting to meet them online and hear them express themselves, WOW I am so in awe! They are such nice people as well.
I've also met some very talented art quilters on ETSY, whose work I really admire as well, 2 that come to mind immediately are Betty Busby & Terri Aske, both quite successful quilt artists.. You meet the nicest people in the quilting world.
Well hope this gives you a little run down on me, check out my work and let me know what you think, [well if you hate it, maybe you can keep that to yourself].

Barb Harms
http://ww.etsy.com/shop/AsianArtAndQuilts?ref=pr_shop.

The Lion and the Lamb

2011-03-04T07:38:00.003-06:00

The Lion and the Lamb quilt is rather large, but still definitely a wall quilt, measuring 49 inches wide by 45 inches tall. I've always loved the lion and lamb imagery, and decided to tackle it using an applique/mosaic approach. I first researched images of lions and lambs, even to the point of sending myself a picture of a garden statue that I saw in Hobby Lobby! I picked my favorite photo and dithered with it in Photoshop Elements until I had a fairly simple black and white version, which I cropped, and enlarged somewhat and printed out. Using a sharpie marker, I chose the important lines and made a line drawing of the printout, kind of like what you see in a coloring book. Since I wanted to have a stained glass look, I needed to then turn the sketch into what I call a mosaic, where there each piece of the picture is surrounded by a bit of space, which would eventually be the black background fabric showing between the "tiles".

The next step was to enlarge my new sketch to final size, for a 'blueprint'. There are several ways to do this - but here's how I do it: I take a digital photo of the sketch, and in photoshop I 'clean up' any blemishes or shadows. I've been told that you can enlarge a sketch from photoshop, but I don't know how. I bought an inexpensive software program called Big Picture Quilt, which will enlarge and print any size out of a regular home inkjet printer. Obviously, the bigger it is, the more trimming and taping you have to do, but you end up with a large version to work with. I then laid this 'blueprint' on a flat surface and made a copy of the blueprint, this time on tracing paper. I've used clear plastic that you can buy at Wal Mart, but a roll of tracing paper is a lot cheaper. I would use the tracer paper blueprint to later place the fabric pieces onto the background fabric. Time to play with the fabrics.

I wanted turned edges on all the 'tiles', and I wanted to try out Stable Magic for Applique that I'd purchased at the Paducah show a while back, so I proceeded to, with a light box, trace all the individual pieces onto the stable magic and, while sitting in front of my computer watching episodes from the 1st season of Fringe, using glue stick to turn the edges of my fabric pieces around each stable magic template. What intrigued me about the stable magic was that I didn't have to remove it, like freezer paper, and it would dissolve away once washed and rinsed.

I focused on the lion's mane, first, and only worked with 3 or 4 traced templates at a time, thereby eliminating the step where most people mark the templates to remember where they go. I'd finish a couple and then lay them on the blueprint, and continued that way until the entire mane was done.

When it was time to move the pieces to the black background fabric, having already pinned the side edge of the tracing paper blueprint to the side edge of the background fabric, I could start transferring the fabric pieces from the paper blueprint. As you can see in the picture below, I pinned the side edge only so that I could gently fold the tracing paper away to access the background.

You may have noticed in the photos that I didn't make the face of the lion like a mosaic. I knew that I wanted to thread paint in his face to help make him more expressive and less abstract, so I decided to fuse the lion's face, excluding all black outlines. To do that, I put the blueprint on the ironing board, and began making templates of the facial pieces by tracing the whole lions face onto the paper side (back side) of fusible web. I used Wonder Under. Once you cut out the pieces, you can iron them, without steam, to the backside of the fabrics you've chosen for the face. I opted for 3 shades of blue with white, which I later decided to change to 4 shades of blue because the white was too bright. Once the pieces cooled, I peeled the paper, and using a larger sheet of the fusible backing paper on top of the blueprint on the ironing board, I assembled the face right on the fusible paper; (after it's used, that paper is excellent to use as a non stick surface for assembling all kinds of fusible pictures). The fusible paper is see through, so I could easily see the blueprint underneath for assembling the face, independently from the quilt. Once assembled and cooled, I transferred the face to the quilt, using the tracing paper to guide my placement.

I then turned my attention to the lamb. I basically followed the same steps as with the lion, including a few turned edge pieces using the Stable Magic. Keep in mind, I haven't actually attached any of the pieces, whether by fusing or gluing, to the black background fabric yet. I may want to adjust their placement once I've put the faces of the animals into position.

At this point you might ask, "How did I know when to fuse and when to turn edges?" Partly, as mentioned, to avoid the black "grout" between the pieces, and partly as a matter of dimension. The Stable Magic actually gave a tiny bit of volume to the pieces, actually giving them an almost subconscious trapunto effect. (that's what I call an effect or technique that makes barely discernible changes to the apperance of the project)

IT'S TIME TO GLUE AND FUSE!!!! Once the Lion's face and the entire lamb were nestled and fused into position, I gently lifted the tracing paper and made a few adjustments to where the 'tiles' of the mane were, and then started gluing. Again using a glue stick, which is much stickier right from the outset and holds more immediately.

The only assembly left to do before the quilting was with the mod flowers, which are a part of the challenge requirements and have always been a favorite of mine. If you don't believe me, check out the picture of the baby quilt I made for my first grandchild 3 yrs ago! I didn't want the flowers to compete with the mane, or overwhelm the lamb, so I opted for black and white flowers. Serendipity! I spent another afternoon watching episodes of Fringe on my computer while cutting out flower petals from Stable Magic and gluing the edges of black and white fabric around them. I wanted the flowers to have 5 petals, and for the petals of one flower to match each other, so I stacked 5 sheets of Stable Magic together, pinned them, drew 1 petal for each of the flowers planned, and then cut them out, keeping each stack of 3 petals pinned together.

I didn't worry about turning the edges or the base of each petal, which would produce unfinished centers when positioned on the quilt. My plan was to stitch some kind of flower center on each one, hiding the unfinished edges.

Finally, time for some stitching. I decided to layer the top onto black batting with spray baste BEFORE doing any sewing, mostly for stability. I used Invisible thread in both the top and bobbin, and free motion stitched around each flower edge. I originally had thought that I'd do machine applique, but then realized that it would mean keeping the feed dogs up and tediously turning the quilt under the needle. NO WAY. I really enjoy free motion, so I opted for that. After the top stitching, I threadpainted the Lion's face.

Then came the quilting, which meant putting a backing on it, also spray basted. Again, free motion quilting with invisible thread on the black background, which surprised me by showing up as sparkly instead of invisible! I used stippling on the black, but did no quilting on the mane or flowers. I curly quilted the lamb, except for the parts that had turned edges, which I left with just the topstitching around the edges.

Onced the quilting was done, I had the basic quilt top sans borders quilted to the batting and backing which were cut deliberately larger than the black top. This was because, though I wanted to have 2 borders, I knew that if I attached the before quilting I'd have bulges outward wherever there was a lot of heavy stippling. So now I could draw my straight edges around the stippling and add my borders. The narrow brown variegates border was chosen to complement the lion's eyes. btw - the lion is blue because I want his eyes to really show up well, and because blue seemed a pretty cool color for a lion! The final, unique thing to add, before squaring, binding, and adding a sleeve, was the free motion quilting in the brown border. Using a coordinating dark brown thread, I wrote the word love alternating with more mod flowers all around the border. And voila:

Introduction - Cindy Bettinger

2011-03-04T07:15:00.007-06:00

HI! - My name is Cindy Bettinger, and I'm honored to be accepted as a member of the Art Quilt Blog. I've only been an "official" member of the art world for a year, and that year has been wonderful. Most of my life has been spent developing my ability at the piano, first as a student and then as a teacher. I have a very small income from piano teaching, and feel called to continue teaching because I wholeheartedly believe that music the language of heaven and through music God helps and encourages His amazing creation. The funny thing is that I've always loved to make art, in every form, and why it never occurred to me to pursue art as a serious career is a complete mystery to me. Artistic expression has, until last January, remained in the "hobby" section of my life, where I spend time when I have time to spare. Over 10 yrs ago I discovered quilting, and I spent most of that "spare" time developing my skills, from hand-piecing to hand-quilting. Machine piecing and quilting. I already had embroidery, painting, sketching, portrait, beading, jewelry making and design skills that I had developed over the years, and when the recent enthusiasm world wide for art quilting and embellishing caught on, I jumped in with eyes wide open.

I'm seeking to find a way to meld my music and art together and I don't know how long the journey will be, nor what direction I will be taking. In the journey, I have simply given myself permission to play, and not only in my spare time, but in time that I set aside for this purpose. Along the way I hope to make connections with like minded creative people who are willing to explore with me, and to share inspiration. This year my goal is to at least support the cost of my blog with an income generated from my art rather than my music - which is probably a pretty modest goal, but it's big to me.

Happy March!

2011-03-01T23:37:00.000-06:00

The Journal Quilt Challenge theme for this month is "spilling over".

spill over

(intr, adverb) to overflow or be forced out of an area, container, etc.

n spillover

1. Chiefly US and Canadian the act of spilling over

2. Chiefly US and Canadian the excess part of something

3. (Economics) Economics any indirect effect of public expenditure

4. (Astronomy) Astronomy the part of the noise associated with a radio telescope using a dish antenna caused by pick-up by a secondary antenna from directions that do not intercept the dish

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the original poster says: "A free expression in words, color, pattern, and your own personal style - a time to spill over on the page of life. "

go with the theme have fun - and I hope to actually produce my February journal quilts sometime before the end of March!

Cheers,

Kit

New member/art quilter

2011-03-01T14:16:00.002-06:00

Hi fellow quilters, I'm new to this blog. I've uploaded two examples of my work. I have been having fun with fabric for almost a year, although I'm not new to sewing... I've just happened on to a whole new way to use my machine in the form of free motion sewing! I love it. What I need help and advice on is how to price my art quilts. Both of these are approximately 16"x22". I've done a lot of thread sketching detail on both. What is a good rule of thumb for pricing work? Of course the other big question is how do I get myself out there, but for now I'm going to stick with local stores. I'm located on the coast of NC just north of Myrtle Beach, SC.

Thanks for any ideas/suggestions

Mary

opposites | my journal quilt

2011-02-21T07:56:00.000-06:00

Hi, Marlis here. It’s hard to believe that another month is almost over. I had a lot of fun working with this month’s theme OPPOSITES – in the sketchbook as well as with fabric.

Opposites. So many possibilities: black/white, shiny/dull, patterned/plain, organic/geometric, vertical/horizontal, circular/angular – to name just a few. The next blank page in my sketchbook was aqua green, so I decided to opt for the color first. Aqua green’s complementary color is red – not my favorite color combo. But sometimes we should get out of our comfort zone, shouldn’t we?

When I prepared my sketchbook, I applied a candle resist to some of the pages before painting them. More often than not, I used one of my favorite marks: the “curved” cross. A couple of months ago I started to use this mark extensively and in various ways: stitching, drawing, stamping. I even carved some stamps out of erasers. I guess, I have to think about why I just love these marks…

To finish the pages, I added some drawings and the flip-out part is created in the opposite color scheme: red on aqua green.

"Tea Time" Journal Quilt #9/2011

2011-02-17T10:40:00.005-06:00

(not part of the opposites challenge)

A collection of red tea bags using red thread on white polyester...

"Love Connection" Journal Quilt #8/2011

2011-02-13T18:14:00.005-06:00

I used all my red neckties to piece together this Valentine Tie Quilt

With a smart white silk handkerchief in the pocket!

I used the narrow end of the neckties for this background, and the fat end of the pink tie for the pocket.

I guess if I want to use it for the opposites theme you can find circles and squares; and pointy and flat ends going in opposite directions!
It's fairly simply done with machine stitching and some free motion stitching for the hearts.

Happy Valentine's Day!

3rd Journal Quilt: "Opposites"

2011-02-13T14:57:00.000-06:00

This third Journal Quilt was a rather quick project. It started with a simple statement - "I wonder how stitching through acrylic paint pieces would work?" Jens heard this simple sentence - next thing I know, I had a leftover piece of acrylic paint (it had dried and hardened on the palette) in my hand. It was yellow ... and the new theme for our challenge was "Opposites" ... in my opinion, that called for purple. Out came the box with my purple scraps, and I pieced a roughly 6" square in dark-purple scraps. I layered it with a backing and some batting. Next thing I took the acrylic paint piece ... and after all the straight seams in the background, I cut it up with some curved lines. With a little help of Mistyfuse, I glued my two pieces down to my background. Than I quilted - with yellow thread, of course ... - a freehand-grid over it. Last step was finishing the piece; done with a zig-zag in yellow.
Conclusion: stitching through acrylic paint pieces works ... but: it breaks very easily. When I use it again, I'll use some very thin netting on top of it to keep stray pieces in place. I'm already glad about this Journal Quilt idea, it gives me motivation to really try new techniques hands-on and stops me from only thinking about doing it. What will I try next ??? For the 4th Journal Quilt, the theme will still be "Opposites" ...

It is not opposites, but...

2011-02-11T06:23:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone,
Once again, I have missed a challenge. Just seem to be focusing on getting some special pieces done this month.
I thought I would share this piece which I finished a week or so ago. I am particularly pleased with how it turned out.
It is based on a quote I read in an annual report of the foundation of author Greg Mortensen (Three Cups of Tea). The quote is "When it is dark, you can see the stars." I used thread painting and beading. (I have been doing an online workshop in beading these past weeks.) It is a foot square in size.

Hope you like it.

Still in the opposite frame of mind!

2011-02-10T16:33:00.000-06:00

Color Wheel Opposites

2011-02-07T16:23:00.000-06:00

I thought I was being so clever this morning when I googled the color wheel to see which colors were opposite each other.....then I read through Lynn's process of stitching her Oranges and Apples and realized she was one - maybe two - steps ahead of me. Can't go wrong with opposites. A fun challenge!

"Apples and Oranges" #7/2011 Art Journal Quilt

2011-02-05T09:57:00.009-06:00

You may click on photos to enlarge and see more detail

The first thing that came to mind when I heard the challenge for this month was OPPOSITES was "Apples and Oranges". So I gathered my materials cutting them out from new orange and light green wool and scattered them across an old piece of dark green felt. I machine felted them into place, then free motion sewed them with spirals and circles.I used variegated embroidery floss to outline the fruit to make it stand out more. I mixed some orange netting into the oranges for contrast in fabrics and added beads for more texture. I learned that orange and green are secondary colors on the color wheel and thus opposites too. I free motion sewed around them all making rows in which to sew more beads sometimes with matching colors opposite each other. I sewed buttons of matching colors in opposite corners in opposite sizes of large and small.

It was my day off from my job so I was able to work on this from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. utilizing opposite ends of the day and night!

It was fun making this challenge quilt filled with opposites of

Apples and Oranges!

Theme for February Challenge

2011-02-01T19:25:00.001-06:00

From The Sketchbook Challenge is... ::drumroll::

OPPOSITES

This is wide open. You will make your choices as you go along. Consider this: the best way to enhance something in an image is with its contrast, its opposite. A warm color will be set off with just the right touch of a very cool color. Rough texture is emphasized by smooth surface. Agitated lines have a stronger voice when contrasted with gentle areas.

Opposites include those of color, temperature, orientation in space, kinds of marks... and more.

Looking for the theme for February!???

2011-02-01T18:51:00.001-06:00

What's our next Challenge theme for February? Can't wait to begin!!! ;-)

Journal Quilt No 2 - "ART"

2011-01-30T14:20:00.000-06:00

My second Journal Quilt was actually finished Saturday, but I did not find enough time to post it ... Sorry !
I painted the letters on my pieced background, and added threadwork with white thread on top of the white fabric paint. The binding was done with an almost black knitting yarn and a strand of metallic white embroidery thread. And the final touch ... was done with Marabu Fun Glitter Glue! I put white / silver glue on top of my letters, and added a small red line of glue to the binding. On my blog you'll find a bit more information and more pictures of the process.
Even if this piece started of as a "use what you have"-project - after the background was done, I knew I wanted to add the word "ART". Art has become an important part of my life - therefore, it is "Highly Priced". Adding words / letters starts to intrigue me, so be prepared to see more of that in the future ;-))

"Taking Flight"

2011-01-28T06:18:00.003-06:00

This is my second journal quilt for our blog challege (theme: Highly Prized).

This one talks about personal empowerment working hand-in-hand with belief in a spiritual power, and how that combination propels me forward, gives me strength, and provides balance in my life.

Explication and technique at my process blog: Coneflowers In Leslieville

highly prized | my journal quilt

2011-01-26T02:57:00.000-06:00

Hello everybody, Marlis here. I introduced myself ages ago but haven’t posted since. I’m glad Frauke and Kit came up with the Challenge idea. I am participating in the Sketchbook Challenge and, being a quiltmaker, I’m more than happy to join this Journal Quilt Challenge. I quite like the idea of working with the same theme in two different mediums (paper and cloth). My goal is to make one Journal Quilt a month in the size of 8”x8”.

When the theme “Highly Prized” was announced, I did a quick brainstorming. What do I prize highly? My husband, my cats, the view out of my living room window, Sushi, a glass of Prosecco, my daily walk, my friends ... and a lot more. I can’t draw (or that’s what I thought before I joined the Sketchbook Challenge…), so I picked the most difficult topic <g>: my cats, or more specifically Flori Cat. For the Journal Quilt I used a digitally processed version of the same photograph I had used as reference when I made the pencil sketch and printed it on fabric. I made my own stamps for the paws (from erasers). The piece is freehand quilted following the irregular lines of the background fabric. Very simple - but that's the way I like to work (my motto is "less is more").

Btw: this is my sketchbook page:

Grandmother's Flower Garden

2011-01-20T16:54:00.000-06:00

I prize lots of things but nothing really seemed to punch my get-up-and-make-a-journal-quilt-about-it! That is until I started putting the binding on a bright batik quilt, one so full of color, that I named it "Grandmother's Flower Garden." This quilt began bringing back so many highly prized memories I have of my grandmother's flower garden.....and that's when I had it.....my ah ha moment....an idea for my highly prized journal quilt.

Her garden was always a simple one with zinnias and marigolds and canna lilies - oh, just all those old time flowers that re-seed year after year and flourish in the heat of the South.

So, I found one of my thread sketched fabric cards, printed it on fabric and surrounded this pretty lady in her smart hat with imaginary flowers. There you have it, my highly prized journal quilt.

It's a wee one at 7 1/2" x 9".

Marty

Highly Prized - Grandmother's Flower Garden - a journal quilt

My first Journal Quilt - finished ;-))

2011-01-15T13:29:00.001-06:00

While I tested an idea for creating wood-like structures with felt and wool, I suddenly realized I liked my little piece very, very much. So I measured it, hoping it would be big enough - which, in fact, was! I cut it down to a roughly 6,5" x 6,5" square and declared it the base for my very first Journal Quilt.

Surprise, surprise, my background reminded me of wood ... Something like "forests" came to my my mind - how to depict that on 6"x6"??? I spotted a fabric with dwarfs in the wood - would that work? Let's give it a try ... Thanks to Mistyfuse, the dwarf was sitting comfortably on this little piece of felt in no time.

Next came grass - and another mushroom ;-)) The stitching was done with several threads, one of them hand-dyed (the bright green at the left and the right side). Using this one was hard on the HORIZON, I would not like to do a big piece with it (or maybe I just need to play a bit with different needles and settings on my machine ... it really looks great to me ...)

For the next step I wanted to add leaves. But I wanted also a 3D-effect ... I joined a leaf-printed fabric with a solid handdyed fabric and cut the leaves out. For the veines, I used stitching. See the tiny leaf on top of the picture? That was done without any help ... and I struggled to get it done properly. Than I heard a tiny voice in my head say - "use a stabilizer!" I did, as you see in the other leaves, and doing the stitching on them was no problem at all.

Before I sewed the leaves down on the piece, the edges were secured with a zigzag. Than the leaves were sewn on with a single stitching line in the main veine. This way, they add depth to the design and I hope, you have the impression of a dwarf, sitting hidden behind leaves !
And where's the connection to "Highly Prized"? The piece started off just because I liked my felted test-piece so much. The dwarf was just a cute thing to use. But while I worked on it and silently asked myself the same question - I realized: dwarfs are common figures in literature and fairy tales. As a bookseller, I LOVE to read, and I love fantasy stories. Therefore, the dwarf in the woods is a symbol for all the figures and creatures in my favourite stories!
Working on my first Journal Quilt was a LOT of fun. I'm happy that I was able to visualize an idea and to make it work. Now I'm looking forward to your comments and your questions ;-))

#2/2011 Art Journal Quilt Highly Prized: "Home"

2011-01-14T01:14:00.005-06:00

click on photo to enlarge to see details

It's going to be interesting (to me) how many of these I turn out. My goal is two a month, but if I get on a roll, it might be more some months and less others. I give myself permission to do as much as my creative energy so desires!

My second journal quilt for the "Highly Prized" theme is my "Home"!
As I wrote on my Getting My Feet Wet Blog about this we went from being long time renters to home buyers 22 years ago. It was an unreal experience buying our first and current home. And paying off the 30 yr mortgage last year was even more surreal! But we did it and I am so proud!

Materials used: 3 more silk neckties, orange netting or tulle; embroidery floss and buttons.
I enjoyed using a new decorative stitch on my sewing machine and hand embroidering outlines around roofs, walls and window over brown felt. The buttons were from a big box set from Joanne's. There sure are a lot of orange buttons in that box!

Highly Prized

2011-01-13T23:27:00.002-06:00

This is the first of my journal quilts for our project on the theme "Highly Prized" (click pic for greater detail)

When I thought of what I prize highly, I immediately thought of my BSP (Beloved Spouse for those of you who are new to my blog), my children, my family. There is nothing that I prize more highly than my precious family and our love for one another, and I am nearly daily, consciously grateful for BSP and the life we have made for ourselves.

If I'd had the ability, I would have printed the words and the photo onto the fabric, but in lieu of that ability, I've glued and stitched them (the words with clear filament thread).

Otherwise, I'm pretty pleased with this abstract and celebratory visioning of our life.

Highly prized - my Beloved Spouse, our children and our life together.

Your thoughts? Ideas for improvment?

How it's made at my process blog

Queensland Flood Appeal Auctions

2011-01-13T19:54:00.003-06:00

You will all have heard about the catastrophic flooding in Queensland, Australia. I have joined several other quilters in a great initiative started by Toni Coward of the Make It Perfect blog, to auction a quilt online with all proceeds going to the Premier's Flood Relief Appeal.

I am auctioning this quilt:

Monstera deliciosa
40 x 40 cm (15 3/4 x 15 3/4 in)
Whole cloth quilt, reverse applique, machine quilted

For details please visit my blog. Toni's blog will have a list with participating quilters soon.

Your generosity is much appreciated, particularly by those most affected by the floods. I offer you my thanks on their behalf. Please share this auction with as many people as you can.

Rediscovery

2011-01-11T20:04:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone,
I joined this group back on October 20 and then somehow got lost. I just rediscovered everyone and am so happy to be back. I will be posting more in the future. I have another trip next week but after that I hope to settle in and sew for all of February. Will be delighted to share my explorations and ask all of you for feedback. Maybe I can also post something for sale.
Happy New Year!

Judy

First Journal Quilt

2011-01-11T15:44:00.000-06:00

"Repeat Eyes Her Dinner"

8 x 12 inches

This is my first journal quilt and my personal challenge was to use some of my shibori-dyed fabric. I used the stuff with the little circles because they look like moons and geckos are nocturnal.

The long-winded explanation is on my blog here.

#1/2011 ArtJournal Quilt "Highly Prized"

2011-01-07T14:02:00.004-06:00

Looks like I am kicking off the new "Journal Quilt" challenge. The first of the theme topics as I understood it, is "Highly Prized"... My daughter in law is pregnant with twins (just) and we are all holding our breath in hopes these babies thrive and grow. It is a high risk and highly prized pregnancy!

I used my new stash of silk neckties to make the silhouette of the pregnant woman and layered her over Jacquard silk paper on which I printed a photo of a prize ribbon from one of the shows I entered last year. The white background is some starched white linen I bought at the thrift store. I used gold Sulky glittery thread to outline it all and to free motion top sew swirls throughout for a heavily textured background. I used matching silk necktie for the binding around the quilt. Obviously there is a pun intended in "The Best of Show" words.