Design Wall Fun

It has been a long time since I tried my hand at setting blocks from a block challenge but I recently had that opportunity through Sew Pieceful Bee, a group I joined this year to re-connect with old friends.  The blocks were made by members of the Golden Triangle Quilt Guild in Beaumont, Tx.  Figures 1-2 are two versions Dot Collins and I worked on one morning using the blocks and 6" red fabric squares provided by all of us.  I wanted to pursue an idea of using white strips in the sashing to connect to the white background of most of the blocks.  We agreed to cut the fabric squares down to 4" squares and insert random size strips.  I went a step further and created a cross block to be used at the corners again using random-sized strips (Figure 3).  I also used red fabric squares in the corners (Figure 4 and white squares in the corner (Figure 5).  Tried a group red/white diagonal row set using the variations (Figures 6-9).  My personal favorite was the last one...seemed woven.  I have no idea if any of my ideas for set/sashing will make it to a finished quilt.  I was just happy I got to play with them on the wall!
    

Square in Square Set                                 Fig. 1

 

 

 

 

Vertical Set 6" Block Sashing                       Fig. 2

 

 

 

 

Block Set with Irregular Size Strips and Cross-Block Sashing-Fig. 3

 

 

 

 

Block Set with Red Fabric Corners in Sashing-Fig.4

 

 

 

 

Block Set with White Fabric Corners           Fig. 5

 

 

 

 

 Diagonal Rows-White Corners                     Fig. 6

 

 

 

 

Rows-Red Corners                                         Fig. 7

                          

 

 

 

Rows-Strip Corners                                       Fig. 8

 

 

 

 

Rows-Cross Corners                                     Fig. 9

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supporting your Local Quilt Guild

A good way to support your local quilt guild is to donate a mini-quilt or two to the mini-quilt auction.  The guild is able to raise money on it and you know your work will be loved by a fellow quilter or quilt appreciator.  If you buy one yourself, you will acquire some small but wonderful work by fellow members you know.  Below are two I donated, After Harvest and Focus on Ficus (Fig. 1-3), and one I purchased, Considering 3 (Fig.4), by guild member, Sylvia Weir, whose work I love.  I happened to be in a felting workshop/class with Sylvia some time ago and while shopping the Vendors, she picked out the fabric that went around the felted design in  After Harvest.  Focus on Ficus was created from random bits of painted, monoprinted, and deconstructed screen printed fabrics.  It was difficult to tell how Sylvia constructed her collage.  I think it was surface design with other fabric bits sewn on.  The whole of it was wrapped with a shimmering see-through fabric.

After Harvest      14"x 14"                          Fig. 1

 

 

After Harvest - Detail                                   Fig. 2

 

 

 

 

Focus on Ficus  7"x10"          Fig. 3

 

 

 

 

 Considering 3                    Sylvia Weir 

                                                     Fig. 4

Golden Triangle Quilt Guild Show 2014

Yesterday I attended the Golden Triangle Quilt Guild Show in Beaumont, TX.  (Figures 1-2).
Judges for the show were NQA certified judges Nell Smith (Texas), Cindy Erickson (Midwest) & Madeline Hawley (Georgia).  They made a difficult job seem easy.  I scribed for each of them as the show was setting up and admired their professionalism.  I scribed in many different categories because I only had one entry while other members had multiple entries in various categories and we were all exempt from scribing in our own entered category.

Guild member, Karen Stone (shown below with my favorite of her quilts - Fig. 3) was the shows' featured quilter.  Other personal favorites are shown below (Figures 4-7).

It was no surprise that Judy Beskow blew away the competition in the Small Art category with her fabulous I am a Rock Star (there is my wee entry hanging next to hers and looking rather puny - Fig. 8).  So, I was very surprised indeed when I saw that Nell Smith selected Flowers for Elizabeth for her Judges Choice award (Fig. 9).  Elizabeth was thrilled for her Grammy when she heard the news.

Golden Triangle Quilt Guild Show 2/8/14    Fig. 1

 

 

 

Christine & Virginia Viewing Quilts     Fig. 2

 

 

 

                                                   Fig. 3

Karen with her quilt & my personal favorite

 

 

 

Kisses      Melissa Tweedel                           Fig. 4

 

 

Vinyasa       Melissa Tweedel                 Fig. 5

My pick for Viewer's Choice

 

 

Light Houses at the Beach        Fig. 6

Cathy Lempa

 

 

 Plaids&Things  P.J. Broussard  Fig. 7 

 

 

Art Small                                                       Fig. 8

I am a Rock Star along side Flowers for Elizabeth

 

 

Flowers for Elizabeth                   Fig. 9

Quilt is the property of Elizabeth Fahrion

 

 

   

The Art in Fiber 2014 - "Connected" Now Open

Below is a photo (Fig. 1) of some of the participants present at the opening of The Art in Fiber 2014 at the Copper Shade Tree in Round Top, Texas.  Salt 'n Pepper, fabric and acrylic composition, featured in the 12" x 12" grouping on the back wall in photo is shown in close up below (Fig. 2).  Also shown below are photos of my finished theme pieces, Perspectives:  Two Sides of the Same Coin (Fig. 3-4), and some other work (though not all) currently there (Fig. 5-7).  Work shown in Figures 3-7 are composed of dyed/painted coffee filters and paper towels.

FiberVoices and Out of Bounds "Connected" at the Copper Shade Tree (Fig. 1)

Photo - Cheryl Johnson

 

 

Salt 'n Pepper          12" x 12"                    (Fig. 2)

(Shown on the back wall in the photo above)

 

Theme   8" x 12" (Fig. 3)

 

 

 

Theme     12" x 16"                (Fig. 4)

 

 

 

Two Bananas                   4.5" x 6.5"          (Fig. 5)

 

 

Three Pears              4.5" x 6.5"                  (Fig. 6)

 

 

 

Peach  4.5" x 6.5"               (Fig. 7)

 

 

 

Cabins Across Time

The Golden Triangle Quilt Guild in Beaumont, TX, is having their quilt show this coming Friday and Saturday, February 7 and 8.  We have two art quilt categories this year which is especially exciting and I can't wait to see the entries.
Also, a few antique and old quilts will be turned on a bed and each viewed while their story is told.  My quilt and its story is shown below.  The photo was scanned from an old print taken in 1997 with a throw-away camera so the quality of it, I'm sorry to say, is not good.

Cabins Across Time                          64" x 64"

Pieced by:  Quilter Unknown

Hand-quilted by:  cmf

 

 

I bought a log-cabin quilt-top at International Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas, in 1996.  The vendor said it was from the 1890's. The fabric was very brittle to the touch.  It seemed fragile almost to the point of being useless.  I batted it with unwashed 80-20 cotton/poly and used a new, unwashed, reproduction fabric on the back.  I began hand-quilting it in 1997.  With every stitch, the fabric would shred away from the needle.  I did not know if I would get a quilt out of it at the end but I continued quilting it over a 3-month period until it was done.  At that point, I decided to wash it and dry it in the dryer thinking that the thread would shrink, the batting and backing would shrink and the small rips around each stitch would shrink.  It worked!  When Jane Hall, a nationally known quilter able to date old fabric, saw it, she said, "Connie, you know what you did?"  I said, "No", imagining I had ruined its value.  She said, "You saved the life of this quilt-top!"  Because it was pieced by an unknown quilter around 1897, according to Jane, and I quilted it in 1997, I called it Cabins Across Time in honor of my connection to the unknown piecer and the 100 years between us. 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

Studio Work for Art in Fiber 2014

Whew!  Studio work for Art in Fiber 2014's "Connected" show, opening February 1 - March 2, at Copper Shade Tree Gallery in Round Top, Texas, has been completed and delivered.  Work  was created using coffee filters, paper towels and instant-set dyes in a collage and stitch process which, by the nature of play, is continuously morphing and evolving.  Below, I have posted some studio photos showing the "Connected" work in progress.  I worked from my own drawings (cartoon for realistic interpretation and rough sketch for impression), photos I took in the Napa Valley, and real fruit models (See Figures 1-7).  Finished work, Perspectives:  Two Sides of the Same Coin, and other work can be seen at the Copper Shade Tree Gallery during show times.  Photos of the finished work will be posted after the show opens.

                                                                       Fig. 1

Begin with rough sketch, cartoon drawing, your photos or just wing it 

 

 

                                                                       Fig. 2

Begin building your design

 

 

                                           Fig. 3

 

 

                                                                       Fig. 4

 

 

 

                                                                       Fig. 5 

                                           Fig. 6

 

 

                                                                       Fig. 7

Get Messy and Have Fun!

 

 

The Art in Fiber 2014

Copper Shade Tree Gallery in Round Top, Texas, will open The Art in Fiber 2014, on Saturday, February 1, 2014, at 2:00 p.m. and continue through Sunday, March 2, 2014.  This years' Art in Fiber, "Connected", features the collected works of two Texas fiber art groups, FiberVoices and Out of Bounds.  Participating artists include Debra Griffon, Joy Hancock, Karol Stanberry, Cheryl Johnson, Jennie Chiovaro, Connie van Zyll de Jong, Lea Ann Ferring, Beth Porter Johnson, Carolyn Allison, Ginny Eckley, Susan Fletcher King, Nancy B. Dickey, Linda Teddlie Minton, Mary Ann Littlejohn and myself.  The postcard shown below, front and back, features the work of FiberVoices member, Nancy B. Dickey.



 

 

 

 

 

 

An Arunas Oslapas!

Before Christmas, I received an unexpected mystery package from friends.  It was an Arunas Oslapas - http://oslapas.wix.com/metal, of Red Rivet Studios. I had met Arunas some years ago and admired his work.  I loved the woven metal and other metal works that resembled quilts.  My Oslapas turned out to be a beautiful (my family room colors) woven metal umbrella stand. It was love at first sight!  To make it a bit more practical addition to our space, Mike repurposed it with a round wood base and top.  Now the umbrella stand is the best part of our new end-table. 

                                        Figure 1

Umbrella Stand by Arunas Oslapas

                                Table by Mike

 

 

 

                                         Figure 2

 

1213 UFO Finished

I finished one old UFO (Unfinished Object in quilt-speak) this year, this month.  My goal for next year is to finish four.  I have 8 or so behind this one in various stages of completion, one ready to be batted and backed for quilting. 

Christmas Greetings, featuring a Nutcracker theme print fabric goes with my Nutcracker Christmas Tree (see fig. 1 and 2 below). 

    Christmas Greetings               44"x44"                  Figure 1

 

 

 

 

 

Connie's Nutcracker Tree          Figure 2

 

 

 

 

 

       

Quilt Festival Fun Classes 2013

I always try to take a class or two at Quilt Festival each year though I find I attend more lectures than I used to and sometimes classes take a backseat to that.  This year, I took two classes - one on using Photoshop Elements software and one on painting with Tsukineko inks.
 
David Taylor taught the Photoshop class.  He made it look so easy and fun.  Better yet, he made it seem like something actually doable by the novice photoshop experimenter.  Now, I'm actually thinking of downloading the software I bought three years ago and never took out of the box so I can play.  Well, at least it will be getting out of the box...

The other class was with Patt Blair, a wonderful teacher.  I thought I would do a portrait of my granddaughter, Elizabeth, when she was around three years old.  I mucked it up irretrievably at the eyes, drats! (See Figure 1, Original Photo, and Figure 2, my first ink attempt at portrait painting, below) but decided to finish it so I can further muck it up (making even more mistakes), before attempting the re-do.  Finished version and re-do version to be posted down the road when ready.

                                                  Figure 1

 

 

 

 

1-day Class with Patt Blair

 

 

 

 

Quilt Festival Fun 2013

Besides my annual thread purchases, including new SAQA thread, I bought two 12 x 12 pieces in the SAQA Booth, gave one away and an Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative piece which I also gave away.  I congratulate the staff of that wonderful organization who worked so diligently to reach their goal ($1 Million).  Of course, I also had to have 4 Pet Postcards (who could pick just one?) to support Friends for Life, a no-kill animal shelter and adoption center in Houston. 

The SAQA donation work I kept was made by Amira Wishinsky.   She called it Graffiti in Berlin (See Figure 1 below).  I loved the abstractness of it. It reminded me of a cartoon "speak" bubble and seemed Picasso-ish.  I rotated it right (See Figure 2).  It reminded me of a water drop and really spoke to me.  It now lives at the beach cabin.  Pet Postcards, Figures 3-6, shown below.

Graffiti in Berlin         Amira Wishinsky  12"x12"

                                                                       Fig. 1

 

 

Beach Perspective   Amira Wishinsky  12"x12"

                                                                  Fig. 2

 

 

 

 

Scratch Loves Soccer  4"x6  Wendy Butler Berns

                                                                      Fig. 3

 

 

Untitled       4"x6"       M.Bull

                                       Fig. 4

 

 

 

Best Friends                         4"x6"

              Maker Unknown   Fig. 5

 

 

  Jazz Cat       4"x6"     Grace Sim

                                             Fig. 6  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Postcards - What to do with them

I love postcards, both receiving them and creating them myself.  But what does one do with them once a large pile has accumulated and continues to grow? Mine are generally displayed in a large clamshell at the beach cabin.  I have even framed and hung them on the wall in such a way as to "suggest" headboards above each of the beds (I had to get creative after checking out the cost of real headboards for the six beds in the cabin).  This was a fun project, and saved a bundle on real thing.  See Fig. 1 - 4 below.

  Bedroom 3                                                   Fig. 1

 

Bedroom 3                               Fig. 2

 

Bedroom 2                               Fig. 3

 

Bedroom 1                                                   Fig. 4