Friday, December 16, 2016

IQA Classwork 2017


I finished my classwork project from Quilt Festival in November.  The class was with Ana Buzzalino who gave us the ins and outs on Transfer Artist Paper.  We had a kit containing an assortment of several different types of fabric such as velveteen and silk organza plus photos, clip art, etc., to transfer.  I transferred onto muslin and a scrap painted piece of fabric (think it was an unsuccessful gelli print) that I had brought with me to class, reds and blues, very spring-like which in this project acted as a "theme" fabric.  We then were to collage our transferred bits into something cohesive.  At the end, I thought my background too white, so I muddied it up a bit by swiping a black Fabrico ink pad over the top of it.  This really needs to be seen in person to be appreciated as some of the imagery is very subtle and barely seen...unless one is up close. It was fun to play with the process and the materials.    



 

Lov'in the Fishmats



I made placemats for the Sew Pieceful Bee 2017 exchange (previous post) and I also received placemats.  It was such a delightful surprise.  I love them!

Group member, James Bridges, drew my name and made Fishmats.  The napkin is the tail.  How cute is that!  They are beach cabin bound...
















Wednesday, December 14, 2016

It's Coming Up Peas and Carrots



Last year at this time, I drew my friend Marlene's name for our Sew Pieceful Bee Exchange this year. My theme was Peas and Carrots and the 4 placemats shown below are my own interpretations on the theme (see figures 1-4).  Each placemat measures 14" x 18" and was pieced and/or raw-edge appliqued, batted (used fusible batting), backed and machine quilted.




               
                                                                      fig. 1





                                                                       fig. 2





                                                                        fig. 3





                                                                       fig. 4

                                   

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

SAQA Trunk Show 2017



When the water on the Texas Gulf Coast turns green, it is said to be "good fishing".  The only time it is not good fishing is when the coast is experiencing an algal bloom, sometimes a harmful algal bloom that gives off toxins and a brownish-red color.  These clustering single-cell flagellates (microscopic marine plankton) can kill fish and render bivalves such as Oysters (my favorite) inedible.  Red Tide (fig. 1 below) speaks to the complexity of  water born microorganisms and their impact on nature.

Red Tide is wax resist/dye on silk, collaged to enhance design and give it "voice" then machine quilted on Peltex stabilizer.  It is one of several works composed with wax resist/dye using marine life and water themes.




         Red Tide              7" x 10"                    Fig. 1          

     
  

Monday, November 21, 2016

BAFA New Design Challenge November, 2016



Members of Beaumont Area Fiber Artists brought their circle blocks to the November meeting for exchange with another artist who will then take it to the next stage and return it in January.  Some of them looked finished "as is" and others looked like a WIP.  Some members did more than one.  Lisa Johnson created her circles in Star Trek circle language (Figure 7) to spell her name then took artistic license and moved a small circle so there is no telling what she spelled!  See Figures 1-15.  Jerry Lynne Domingue shared what she called a "What If" quilt...an interesting version of slice and dice taken to many levels (see Figure 18).  Dot Collins showed a circle quilt top she made for one of her granddaughters (see Figure 20).  Sylvia Weir brought her self-portrait posted here (see Figure 17).




Melissa Tweedel                                         Fig. 1




Sylvia Weir                                                    Fig. 2




Dot Collins                                                   Fig. 3




Kathy Risinger                                             Fig. 4




Kathy Risinger                                              Fig. 5





Jean Aguilar                                                 Fig. 6




Lisa Johnson                                                 Fig. 7




Susan Cornell                                            Fig. 8




Beth Mayer                                                  Fig. 9




Dot Collins                                               Fig. 10




cmf                                                            Fig. 11
    




Jerry Lynne Domingue                        Fig. 12


                         
Christine Schmelebeck                        Fig. 13 




Christine Schmelebeck                     Fig. 14



Sherry Walker                                          Fig. 15





All together                                                  Fig. 16 





Sylvia Weir Self Portrait       Fig. 17




Jerry Lynne Domingue                 Fig. 18




Susan Cornell                               Fig. 19 




Dot Collins                           Fig. 20






Sunday, November 20, 2016

Magical Minions


My friend, Nikki Strimpel, and I challenged ourselves to make Minion quilts for our grandchildren out of pre-printed panels and companion fabrics, plus a number of additional fabrics not related to the line.  Mine are posted below (see figures 1 and 2 below).  I made the quilt tops and both quilts were quilted by Nikki Bracken.




Fin's Minion                                               Fig. 1




E's Minions                                        Fig. 2

Sunday, September 25, 2016

Design Exercise: Getting Our Sushi On



BAFA members decided to select a piece of commercial fabric, and cut it into fat-quarters for each participant (Fig. 1).  We each then created a fish from the fabric (Fig. 2-10).  Since it was a low value contrast fabric, some of us used the backside of the fabric.  I did that too but then gave up entirely and took advantage of the muslin backing and paint. My fish design was drawn using a photo of a group of dead Red Snapper as inspiration.  Others drew their own or pulled a pattern off the net.  When I stepped back to look at my finished fish, it reminded me of Sushi so I called it Getting My Sushi On.  I thought all our results were terrific and so imaginative.  We all got our Sushi on with this exercise.
Our next step with this exercise is to get it onto the most imaginative background we can.



Selected Fabric                                               Fig. 1



Beth Mayer                                                    Fig. 2



Dot Collins                                                    Fig. 3



Jerry Lynne Domingue                                  Fig. 4



Kathy Risinger                                               Fig. 5



Sherry Walker                                               Fig. 6



Susan Cornell                                                 Fig. 7



Lisa Johnson                                Fig. 8



Nancy Dickey                                                Fig. 9




Getting My Sushi On                    Fig. 10


Monday, September 19, 2016

Presenting Alice Challenge Quilts to GTQG



Seven members of the Golden Triangle Quilt Guild presented their Alice in Wonderland challenge quilts to guild members present at the day and night meetings.  They talked about their inspiration, creative goals, techniques and materials they used for the work they created (Fig. 1-7).

The following day, five of the members presented a hands-on, mixed media workshop.  Melinda Stanton walked us all through computer searches and apps for the I-pad to aid in finding inspiration.  Michelle Walker did a hands-on 15 minute fabric landscape sketch, all improvisational.  I did a hands-on create confetti fabric and gave a free-motion stitching lesson.  Susan Cornell did quick landscape sketches and work with Pro-Chem Paints.  Dot Collins did cartoon drawing and work with pigmented ink.  It was a very full day and fun was had by all (Figures 8-18).

Three of the girls had never created an art quilt before (Fig. 2, 3, and 5)



Alice II              19x30                 Fig.1



Michelle Walker                              Fig.2



Melinda Stanton                                  Fig. 3



Janet Coggins                                             Fig. 4



Lisa Johnson - Property of W. Rabbit         Fig. 5



Susan Cornell - Lobster Quadrille                 Fig. 6



Dot Collins                                                    Fig. 7



Susan working with Pro-Chem Paints
Fig. 8



Creating Confetti Fabric                Fig. 9



Confetti Flower                         Fig. 10


Confetti Flower                        Fig. 11



15-Minute Fabric Sketch           Fig. 12


                                              Fig. 13


                                                                     Fig. 14


 Landscape Fabric Sketch with Confetti - Fig. 15


                                                                     Fig. 16


                                                                     Fig. 17


                                                    Fig. 18