Comfort For Kids--Charity Project and Some Miscellaneous

Our guild (Patoka Valley Quilt Guild) has a service project which supplies quilts for kids in traumatic situations. The local police and the county domestic violence outreach program are supplied with quilts to hand out to traumatized children they encounter. We needed 80+ quilts for this year. I worked on some of these quilts while I was snowed in last month. I got two quilts totally finished and two tops completed. I'll be taking them to the next guild meeting.

If you have an abundant stash (like me and lots of my friends), making a charity quilt is a great thing to do. The first two pictures are the finished quilts.

For this sweet little quilt, I used a jellyroll (made up of 1 1/2" strips) and added a little white fabric. It is backed with flannel to make it extra snuggley. 

I love the kid-friendly printed fabric--bugs, snails, bright colors--in this quilt. I hope it will bring a smile to someone's face. 

These two tops are made totally of flannel and minkie (minky???) fabric. They are VERY soft. 

Think about using your talent to help someone less fortunate than you are.

I have also been spending some time preparing a few projects for machine quilting. This is a traditional little (approximately 16" X 20") Lori Smith quilt I have pin basted.

Even though most of my time these days is spent working on more contemporary quilts, I still love traditional patchwork and applique. What can I say...I like it all!

Monoprinting Continued

I was working on some of my soy wax batik fabrics for the "And Then We Set It On Fire" (http://www.andthenwesetitonfire.blogspot.com/) technique for the month of February. I decided that while I had my paints out, I would color one of my previously monoprinted and stenciled fabrics. I really love this blue. I mixed a turquoise with a "Caribbean blue" and added it to paint extender. I'm not sure how I'll use the fabric yet, but I sure am having fun making it.

Etudes: A Daily Practice--Jane Dunnewold

When I recently took the Improvisational Screen Printing class with Jane, she took us up to the Hite Gallery to give us a private gallery talk about her work in the "Etudes" exhibit. Wow, what an opportunity. She told us all about the pieces--what she was thinking, how some were named, how she got the look she was going for, what some of the symbolism meant, etc. It was very enlightening.


I want to share some of the pieces with you. They are mixed media pieces created using cotton and silk over an industial grade backing. Processes included screen-printing, devore (burnout), lamination of both paper and metal leaf, sanding, fusing, and drawing/writing. She also used vintage Bible pages, musical scores, re-purposed clothing, sand, paint, and hand stitching in the pieces. Most of the pieces are approximately 12" X 44".


I apologize for not getting all the names down. There were VERY small numbers beside each piece that related back to the names of each piece in the gallery handout. My camera didn't capture the numbers clearly, so I couldn't match them up when I got home. I remembered a few of them.

The picture below is called "Choir: A Capella" and measures 12" X 48".

 Closeup of the piece above.

 The piece below is called "Etude 28: Counterpoint" and measures 12" X 44".

Below--"Etude 34: Arabesque: Adagio"

 Closeup of "Etude 34: Arabesque: Adagio"

 This piece used small bits of what looked like a crazy quilt to add color to it.

 Here, Jane talks about the piece. This one is called "Etude 21: Retreat Adagio." It includes a piece of a blouse.

The next piece uses a piece of a blouse and a tissue paper pattern piece.

 Here is a close up.

 I like the vertical "slivers" in this piece.

 Close up.

Pages of music are used in this piece.

 Bits of color and gold leaf are added here.

 A flour-paste resist was used on the background of these pieces.

 Dyeing the fabric with India ink gave Jane the color she was looking for.

 She said she has used this screen print of birds in many pieces.

As I said, this is just a small sampling of the exhibit. There are 48 pieces in all.

In Jane's words..."These 48 studies sprang from a four-month commitment to making/working every day as spiritual practice. Selecting the color palette, the tools, and the materials prior to beginning encouraged discernment on the impact of limitations. Daily fuel for the practice emerged as a co-mingling of spiritual belief with a visual language crafted over twenty years. I was astonished and humbled by the breadth and richness of the imagery."

LAFTA Fiber Arts Exhibit at the Jewish Community Center

This year's LAFTA (Louisville Area Fiber and Textile Artists) Exhibition at the Jewish Community Center in Louisville is full of a variety of techniques and fibers. There are art quilts, baskets, felt vessels, hats and scarves, mixed media projects, and more. This is just a small sample of what you might see...

Remember, you can click in the picture to get a close up shot. I even think that if you click in the picture again, you get even a larger shot. For many of these pieces, it is well worth the effort.

"Earth's Overflow" is one of two pieces Marti Plager has in this exhibit. This piece measures 32" X 54". It is machine pieced and quilted and is made of hand-dyed cotton, discharged, and screen printed material. It certainly looks like lava to me.

"Blue Vessel" was made by Trish Korte. It measures 7 1/2" X 10" and is a wet felted vessel with beads. Don't you just LOVE the colors.

This art quilt is called "Crazed 4: Painted Desert" and was made by Kathy Loomis. It measures 27" X 39". It is machine pieced and machine quilted. Now, these are my colors. It would go nicely in my living room when I get my "butta" yellow couch moved in.

"Body of Evidence" (collaged and painted paper) was made by Kevin Rose Schultz. It measures 18" X 24". I think the detail achieved in this piece is amazing.

Susan Miracle made "In the Closet" which measures 30" X 60". It is made by hand ruching and applique. This piece is extremely unusual--you really need to see it in person to get a "feel" for how it was made.

"Roots" by Pat DaRif measures 27 1/4" X 33 1/2". It is made of hand-dyed and hand-painted cotton and is machine quilted. Doesn't this look just like a slice of the earth?

"Native Plants in the Wilderness" (bamboo fabric, hand dyed, screened, appliqued and embroidered using hand-dyed linen) was made by Joanne Weis and measures 25" X 52". It looks like the light just eminates from this piece.

"Eye of the Beholder" uses rust dye, soy wax, fabric paint, hand painting and hand beading. This piece was made by Mary Lamb Nehring and measures 34" X 46". These are some of the techniques I'm working on now. I'm just hoping I can use them half as effectively as Mary.

This hat (knit and fulled) and scarf (woven) were made by Susan Grant and Cecy Thompson. The hat is 8" in diameter, and the scarf is 72" long. You wouldn't believe how soft these are.

I really enjoyed this show and know you will too. Pictures cannot do these pieces justice. There is lots more to see, so come on out to see these pieces and more; you will love them.

Form Not Function Exhibit 2011

I have some photos from the "Form, Not Function: Quilt Art at the Carnegie" Exhibit at the Carnegie Center for Art and History in New Albany. It will be available for viewing until March 5, 2011. Please take the time to view this exhibit. There is SO much more that I wasn't able to show you, and the pictures DO NOT do the pieces justice.

 

"Red Bioluminescence" was made by Barbara Watler of Hollywood, FL. It is a whole cloth quilt and uses reverse applique with photo transfers. It is machine and hand stitched and embellished. It is machine and hand quilted. It was chosen the "Best in Show."

"Oil Spill 2" was given the Award for Political and Social Commentary presented by Kathleen Loomis. It was made by Caroline Szeremet from Hebron, KY. It is a single piece mono-print and painted with thickened dyes and fabric paint. It is machine quilted.

Jill Ault's piece, "Ovals, Interference" was made using digitally printed cotton. It is pieced and machine quilted. It was given the Award of Merit by "Today's Woman Magazine." Jill is from Ann Arbor, MI.

"Self-portrait (#5)" was presented the Award of Excellence by Louisville Area Fiber and Textile Artists. The piece was made by Shin-hee Chin from McPherson, KS. (Dye and paint. Fabric twisting, blanket stitch, hand quilted.)

This is a close up of "Self-portrait (#5)." Tubes of fabric are actually rolled and connected to form this piece.

I didn't get a chance to photograph all the winners; I missed these.

Award of Excellence for "Appalachian Landscape V" (Patricia Mink; Johnson City, TN) presented by the River City Fiber Artists
Award of Merit for "Home #13" (Lisa A. Call; Denver, CO) presented by the Forget Me Knot Quilt Shoppe

This was one of my favorites in the show. I think it is because of the luminescence that comes from the piece. "Plexus" was made by Betty Busby of Albuquerque, NM. (Fiber-silk, cotton. Acid dye, stencil, and airbrush.)

Rayna Gillman (West Orange, NJ) made "Broken Dreams." (Fiber, Monoprint and screen print on cotton.) I'm all about the "graffiti look."

"Crossing the Line" is made of black and white cotton fabrics. The figure fabric is by Red Ant Textiles. Cotton batting was used. The piece is machine pieced, hand appliqued, and hand quilted and embroidered. Melani Brewer is the maker and is from Cooper City, FL.

"Grieved" is a free-standing piece. It was made by Jill Rumoshosky Werner from Wichita, KS. It consists of cotton fabric and cotton batting. It is machine pieced and quilted.

Judie Huss of Indianapolis, IN, made "Study in Black and Grey." (Discharged cotton with cotton stitching. Hand quilted.)

 I thought you might like to see a close up of this piece.

"Aspen Reflection Watercolor" was made by Charlotte Ziebarth from Boulder, CO. (Digital textile. Digitally altered photos printed on cloth, free motion quilted.)

What a fantastic show! I've only shown you a small portion of the exhibit. If you get a chance, you MUST see it in person--these pictures just don't do any of the pieces justice. For more details about this exhibit (and others) check the "Upcoming Quilting/Fiber arts Events" portion of my blog--to the right of the blog posts.

Class with Jane Dunnewold--There's More

This is a continuation of the last blog post I made about my three-day Improvisational Screen Printing class with Jane Dunnewold. Again, I am humbled to have had the opportunity to study under her.

The following pictures are from the class. Here, class samples of multi-color screen prints are drying on the line. I just love colorful pieces.

We had "Show & Tell" at the end of the class. Here you can see more examples of multi-color prints. 

 These are some class samples tacked to the wall--ready for "Show & Tell."

I think this was my favorite piece in the class. The student first printed her multi-color print then screen printed her flour-paste resist (the black design) over it. I really liked the stark contrast of the very graphic black part of the print to the subtle background.

 Kathy Loomis shows us her work during "Show & Tell."

Below is a good example of a multi-color print. That student started the printing with the yellow print on the right. 

I know I said it in the first blog post about the class, but I just can't say it enough. THIS CLASS WAS FABULOUS--see how happy I look!

Check back soon. I have a post ready with pictures from Jane Dunnewold's "Etudes: A Daily Practice" exhibit at the Hite Art Galleries at the University of Louisville (available for viewing till February 13, 2011), the LAFTA show at the Jewish Community Center in Louisville (available till February 22, 2011), and the Form Not Function exhibit at the Carnegie in New Albany (till March 5, 2011). For more information on each of these exhibits, check the "Upcoming Quilting/Fiber Arts Events" section on my blog. It appears to the right of my blog posts. What wonderful opportunities to see great fiber art. If you get a chance to see any (or all) of these exhibits in person, DO IT!