Pillow Commission, Continued

Here is the first pillow, front (above) and back (below).

After I made all the pillow fronts, I sewed strips from all the remaining fabrics to create the backs. I inserted a black hidden zipper in the black stripe near the edge.

Front and back of the second pillow. These are made for a 22" insert, which will look just right on the back of the chairs.

Pillow Commission, Continued

Working on the commission for seat cushions, I found I was not satisfied with any of the red orange fabrics I had on hand, so I chose to paint about 1 1/2 yards, and I was satisfied with that, so I proceeded to printing the blue and red fabrics with my hand cut printing blocks.

I used black and mixed up the correct red and taupe shades. I knew I would be cutting these fabrics into strips.

The other fabrics I settled on were a group of gelatin plate prints (below) I had done several years ago using plant material. The colors were perfect, I thought - and the design would be great for their house. There are lots of windows and the landscaping is really beautiful - lots of big old trees and shrubs.

I think the one below was printed with an onion - it is on raw silk.

Here are all my fabrics on the design wall.
Now to put them together in some way!

Commission

I've been commissioned to make back cushions for two upholstered chairs and a love seat.
The owner has chemical sensitivities and the furniture is coming from a company called Zola, which makes eco-friendly furnishings. Here is a link to the Sofia style furniture. This furniture is quite stylized with a very deep seat. A pillow at your back is necessary to make it comfortable.

The color in the upper picture (at least on my screen) is a bit off. The picture below is a better representation of the red/orange shade called "Rhubarb" and the taupe shade called "Mushroom".

I started off by pulling fabrics from my stash that I thought would work with the two swatches and the oriental rug that will stay in the room.

Edith Freeman at Yellowstone Art Museum

I could not resist sharing a few more images from the Edith Freeman exhibit at Yellowstone Art Museum. I LOVE her work!

Edith Freeman at Yellowstone Art Museum

During our recent visit to Yellowstone Art Museum, we were introduced to local artist, Edith Freeman.

Edith did not begin her art career until she retired from her career as an elementary school teacher.

Her medium? Woodblock printing!

We were totally entranced by her mystical depictions of the landscape of Eastern Montana.

So inspiring! Each color was carved and printed individually!

Mail Art Project - Week Ten

Rusty Washers

This group of postcards is made of rust dyed fabric embellished with screen printed petroglyph imagery - (I think I took the picture in Arizona). I have added some rusty washers - stitched in place with pearl cotton.

I have two extras to mail to blog readers this week. They are going out to Sandra in Bismark, North Dakota and Sally in Sandy Bay, Tasmania, Australia. Email me your mailing address and full name, if you have not already done so and I will add you to the drawing for all future extra Mail Art!

John Buck at Yellowstone Art Museum - Wall Art

Not only does John Buck do fabulous moving wood sculptures - but his wall art is stunning.
Both carved wall hangings (above) and woodcut prints are hanging on the walls all around the gallery.

The woodcut prints really captured my imagination.

This carved wall hanging is so striking! Huge - probably 6' diameter.

I am SO inspired!

John Buck at Yellowstone Art Museum

This is absolutely the most impressive show I have ever seen at our local art museum!

All of these sculptures have moving parts. Essentially every piece moves. Amazing!

We lingered in this gallery for a very long time.

I am now a huge fan of John Buck's work! If you live near Billings - get yourself in to the show sometime before January - when the show closes!

This event has restored my faith in Yellowstone Art Museum (which has had some pretty pathetic shows in recent times!)

Yellowstone Art Museum - Small Works Auction

"Rock On"
acrylic, thread, and stones on watercolor paper.
5 1/2 x 9"

Today is auction day at Yellowstone Art Museum!
Every December, the museum sponsors a small works auction to raise funds.
This particular event - the Miniature Masterpiece Mystery was an "invitation only" event.
I was invited to submit a piece in a particular size.
The artist is not revealed until the piece is purchased.

This is a fundraiser for an arts scholarship to be awarded to a child who's life has been affected by AIDS.

Here's the wall! Auction tonight!

Spiral Tree Design

I love this spiral Christmas tree design that began as a doodle.
I converted my pencil sketch into a Thermofax screen, and I printed with gold onto green hand dyed fabric. After the fusible web was added to the back of the green, the individual trees were cut out and fused to this nice red hand dyed fabric (left over from the placemats I made for Christmas gifts)

I measured for correct placement - I am planning to make this as my Christmas greeting postcard. Looks like I will have 28 of these to mail out in mid December!

Now that the green trees are fused to the red, I can layer with batting for the machine quilting.

Doodle to Design

Today, I started working on my Holiday Mail Art Postcards.
As always, my imagery needs to be original - so I decided to use this pencil doodle (above) to create a Thermorfax screen sized to print onto postcards.

I am a compulsive doodler and many of my doodles are based on spirals.

I used gold Speedball Fabric Ink on green hand dyed cotton. When the ink is dry, I plan to add fusible web on the back and cut the trees out. I am thinking I will fuse them onto red hand dyed fabric, but not certain yet.

I love this print! It has my mind spinning with other spiral doodle fabric I could create!
In fact - I have a whole series in mind!

Placemats from Fabric Scraps

A few weeks ago, I posted this image of some hand dyed, painted and printed scraps I sewed together randomly. I said I was thinking about making them into placemats for Christmas gifts, by cutting strips of these sets and mixing in some strips of hand dyed red.

Well, that is exactly what I did, and here are some of them on the design wall prior to quilting and binding.

I had enough to make a dozen placemats. Nice! Will be gifts for each of my daughters, along with hand dyed red napkins.

I really love the way they look on the design wall. Such nice movement! Seems almost a shame to relegate them to a utilitarian purpose, but too late now! Art for everyday! I think they will be appreciated.

Mail Art Project - Week Nine

Hand dyed fabrics, pieced and machine quilted make up this group of mail art.

Work In Progress - Sushi Postcards!

Today I started a new group of postcards that will become Mail Art at some future time.
This scrap of hand dyed, block printed fabric was pulled from my scrap drawer. I cut shapes from the drawer filled with fabrics that already have fusible web attached - leftovers from past projects. I have been wanting to work with sushi imagery for quite a few years . . . not sure if it warrants further exploration at this point or not . . . . . I did a bit of image research online before starting to work on this today. I love the colorful look of sushi on a plate, but am not sure it is interesting on a wall.

Next, I will layer this with batting, and will quilt it without a backing fabric - just the two layers.
Then, I will cut to size - 4 x 6" and attach to 4 x 6" cardstock with a gluestick.
After the glue dries overnight - I am ready to zig-zag the edges to finish. I'll file the postcards away until I am ready to send them out.

I must admit - it kind of whets my appetite for future food imagery Mail Art!

Satin Bed Quilt

Another scrap quilt I started as a gift, but now think I will hang onto!

This one is made of satin! Very heavy and shiny!
I never met my mother-in-law. She died before I met my husband.
She made satin pillow cases - remember how popular those were back in the 70's and 80's? Well, that is when she was making them. She gave satin pillow cases as gifts and used them on all the family pillows. I think maybe she even sold them.

I inherited her collection of rolls of satin fabric. Believe me - there is a LOT of it!
I have done a couple of satin quilts, but they are not pleasant to make.
The satin frays like crazy and the threads stick to everything - static electricity!

I used the serger to piece this quilt. It was the only way I could cope with the stuff!

Anyway. I am hanging onto it for now.
The back is hand dyed to coordinate with the front.

This is a good sized quilt - full size - I guess.

I really love the energy in this quilt!

String Pieced Scrap Quilt

A while back, I decided to try and use up my collection of commercial plaid and solid cottons, madras and homespuns. These fabrics have been languishing in a drawer for 5 or 6 years and I really wanted the space for something else.

I sorted all my plaids and solids into piles of warm and cool colors and cut them into random sized strips - ranging in size from 1" to 2 1/2" wide. I used a muslin foundation cut to 8" square. I started by sewing a warm and cool strip together across the diagonal. These two were pressed open and then I added more strips of the respective color family to each side until the foundation was covered. After trimming, I played around with the squares on the design wall until I was happy with the arrangement. I was able to scrounge enough remaining scraps to make the border. Yipee! I pretty much finished off that group of fabrics!

The backing was a good quality cotton sheet hand dyed to coordinate with the colors on the front of the quilt.

I made this quilt as a graduation gift for a nephew.
After it was finished - I decided I would like to keep it, and have rationalized my decision with the fact that said nephew is too tall for this one (he really would not be able to cover up with it!)

I hope you will forgive the quality of the photos! It is tough to get good light this time of year!

Small Works - More from the Legend Rock Series

Legend Rock #9
8 x 10" ready for framing

Legend Rock #10

8 x 10"

Legend Rock # 11
8 x 10"

Legend Rock #12
8 x 10"