Pacific West Quilt Show Entry

"April Village" was also juried into the Pacific West Quilt Show. Today is the last day of the show in Tacoma, Washington.
This piece won an honorable mention at the show! It also comes with a cash prize. Nothing huge, but it will cover the entry fee!

Canine Bound and Chicken Scratched

I've been able to finish up on the Canine.
I did decide it should be hand stitched on the ears, nose, and legs.

Bound with hand dyed green.

Canine Quilting Done

Well, I finished up the machine quilting on the Canine. I am going to go ahead and bind it now.
I still have not done anything on the legs, inner ears, or nose as far as quilting. I really like those areas unquilted, but I am not sure it will stay that way. I may do the hand stitching, but I can do that after it is bound.

I also decided to just leave the space in the foreground rather than cropping it away. I sort of feel that since the cropping is close on the sides, that kind of places him on the ground rather than making it seem like he is floating.

Canine Background

More decision making on the Canine. Here it is pinned on my design wall so I can stand back and look at it. I don't do a lot of figurative work, but when I do, I have a rather goofy tendency to place my figures floating in air . . . .This is a chronic problem for me. Or is it a problem?

Maybe it is not the best, but it is what I do. I get all wrapped up focusing on the figure and I forget the ground until it is time to quilt and crop.

I know I could just crop this piece by removing the bottom 12" and bring the canine closer - that would ground him, but I really love all that space beneath him (is this why I always tend to float my figures?). So I am going to just quilt some plant life there and hope that works.

We shall see . . . stay tuned.

Canine Quilting

I pulled this piece out of the stack of unfinished works and I hope to complete it soon.
It was drawn with glue gel a while back, and then painted with fabric paints, but it had not been quilted yet. This is one of a series of "predator" whole cloth painting/quilts done in an expressive style. Rough, expressive lines sketched with glue gel, then painted with bold, bright colors.

I finished the blue bear last year. I also have a purple panther and an orange lion waiting in the wings.
I find if I can just sit down and quilt an hour or two each day - it will get done. I am pleased with the quilting on his body, but I am not sure what to do about the legs, nose, and inner ears. . . . I would like to do a different pattern since the fur grows shorter there. I am contemplating leaving those unquilted or even doing some hand stitching there - maybe a little chicken scratch.
Input welcome.

Spring Blossoms - Finally Finished

I've been working on this one for quite a while. I've shared a lot of the process since I've done little else besides working on our gigantic home improvement project.

I am satisfied with the final result, and the deadline has arrived.

My 4 year old grandson, Airus has repeatedly asked if he could have this quilt. He has probably brought it up at least a dozen times.

Glass Beads for Sun Rays

After punching up the leaves and the flowers on this quilt, I felt the sun was a bit weak, and I decided to add some beads. I wanted to go kind of funky with the look, so I auditioned a bunch of different colors and types.

I decided to use a variety of beads on each strand to create visual interest. Below, I have dumped a bunch of beads onto the tray.

Flower Centers - Felted Wool Balls

Continuing on with this quilt - I have a lot of felted wool balls made for me by my daughter, Michelle. These were dyed, then cut in half and attached randomly around the ground for the flower centers.

Spiral Tree Changes

If you follow my blog, you will know I have been working on this piece for several months. It is slow going on account of all the distractions with our home improvement projects.
I have been invited to enter an annual show curated by Dinner at Eight artists Leslie Tucker Jenison and Jamie Fingal. Last year's theme was "Beneath the Surface". This year's theme is "The Space Between". The size requirement is 36 x 48".

I actually had another quilt started for this show (something more serious, elegant and deeply meaningful), but I had to abandon that one because this one kept calling to me. I am struggling with the fact that it is so frivolous. I am struggling with the fact that it started with a silly doodle and the colors are SO BRIGHT! But I can't worry about that. I need to get it done because the deadline is looming!

As you can see, above - I have diminished the white lines left behind by the glue gel. I usually like to keep them as a design element, but I just found them distracting and too overpowering - so I filled them in partially with a black fabric marker. It is kind of amazing how much that changes things - no? (yes, I know it looks like I may have ruined it at this point)

I was just not happy with the way the block printed leaves looked against the sky. They were just way to subtle for me and disappearing into the blue sky. So, I stitched these lovely silk leaves in place - stitching only on the veins of the leaves - which makes them quite 3-D. A lovely effect, I think.

Now we're talkin'. . . .

No, it isn't finished yet. I am going to add some 3D flowers in the foreground, and shiny beads around the sun. Stay tuned!

3D Leaves on Spiral Tree

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have not been satisfied with the lack of contrast between the leaves and sky in this piece. So how about adding some 3D silk leaves as embellishment?
I have had these hand dyed hand sewn silk leaves laying around my studio for years. They were made for another project - a garment - that never happened. I like the way they bring this piece to life.

Now I am not sure I like the white lines left behind by the glue gel. They are kind of distracting. I am thinking maybe they need to go. Filled in with a black or gray fabric marker, perhaps?
After that, some wool felt flowers blooming down on the ground?

Can you tell I am color deprived this winter? I always do my brightest work in the winter, and hey, it has been a long white one for us this year.

Spiral Tree Washout

I try to do something in the studio every day even though we are working hard on our home renovation. Last week, I washed out the glue gel in the Spiral Tree.

I submerged the whole piece in warm water and left it there for about an hour.
Then, I checked it for any areas with glue still remaining - those areas I rubbed gently with my hand to remove the softened glue. After that, I put it in my front load washer on delicate cycle (delicate cycle to avoid abrasion, which will fade the fabric paint.)

Finally, I hung the piece to dry. It doesn't go in the dryer because abrasion from the tumbling will fade the paint.
Now, I've got to get it set up for machine quilting - a deadline looms next month!

Touching Up the Sun

I thought the sun needed to be expanded a bit and again, block printing is my approach of choice.

I think this will come together nicely when I get the glue gel washed out and add the stitching and embellishments.

Block Printing the Spiral Tree

I am pleased with the way the leaf printing turned out.

Likewise, the grass.
I do think I am going to have to do something about the sun. It looks out of proportion to me.

Happy New Year!

Spiral Tree - Painting Done!

I have finished painting the background for this Spiral Tree piece. At this point, the glue gel resist lines are not very obvious because they have been painted over. I am happy with the bold colors and lines at this point. The next step will be block printing.

Work in Progress - Spiral Tree

A few weeks ago, I showed this piece after I drew my resist lines on the white cotton broadcloth with Elmer's Glue Gel. Painting it will take a while. I paint one color at a time, allowing it to dry between colors. This way, color bleeding will be minimal. I am using Pebeo Setacolor Fabric Paints straight from the bottle - without diluting. This gives me a lot of control over the paint.

Spiral Tree - Another Version

More spiral doodles. This one - I hope to execute in a larger format:

This looks a little wonky in the picture. This is a 3 x 4 foot piece of cotton broadcloth.
I've drawn my spiral tree using Elmer's Glue Gel.
When it dries, I will paint it, then will use my new leaf printing blocks to print before washing out the glue gel.

There are some bad blobs of glue on the roots, but I think I will be able to fix those after the glue gel is removed.

Looking forward to seeing this image in color!

Emerson Cultural Arts Center - Fiberart Show

I am just returning home from Bozeman. Last night I participated in the Artist Reception at the Emerson Center for Arts and Culture, where I have two pieces hanging in the show. Above, my piece Picket Fences, and below Calico Hills.
Link to the Emerson Center here.

Community Threads & Yarns
Juried Fiber Exhibit
August 20 - December 23, 2010
Gallery talk 5:30 Emerson Lobby Meet the artists at 5:30 pm on
ArtWalk night, Friday, September 10th.

Artists include:
Becky Boaz
Katie Cash
Amanda Cater
Leisa Cook
Susan Fairfax
Gina Gahagan
Roxy Goff
Susan Lenard
Carol Roehm
Marlene Saccoccia
Nadine Shafer
Mary Venable
Geri Ward
Cynthia St. Charles
Regina Seagrave
Karin Utzinger

Village Details - A Few More

This piece is large - approximately 60" square. I won't be showing the full view on the blog at this time.

I have not actually bound this piece yet - will be doing that this week. It is kind of challenging figuring the binding out . . . I think it is so busy - it really needs something to sort of reign it in and contain it. I have auditioned a number of different fabrics and even cut one but now am rethinking it.
I know I could take the easy way out and face it, but I think that might not actually be the best look . . . . .

Village Details

This is a piece I have been working on for over a year. It is finally quilted. Whew! I must have stitched on this thing for over a month!

The process for this piece was glue gel resist, painted with Setacolor opaque paints. Block printed with hand cut blocks. I left it to cure for over 6 months before washing it out.

I didn't get around to the quilting until this winter.

Blue Bear - Done Quilting!

35 x 52"
No name yet . . . . Blue Bear might stick.