Fiber Fever

I recently had the opportunity to view the current fiber exhibit, Fiber Fever, at the Foundry Art Centre in Saint Charles, Missouri. The show runs from August 8, 2014-September 19, 2014. The variety in the entries makes the exhibit VERY interesting. There is everything from quilts, pieces that include stitching on paper, and tapestries, to woven electrical cords. It is well worth a visit to see it if you are anywhere near the area. Saint Charles is a fun little town (and you are REALLY close to St. Louis); you might want to make this a destination for a trip.

Here are a few of my favorites. There is LOTS more to see if you get a chance to go.

This is a piece called "Buckets of Unfinished Business" and is made of loom woven recycled felt, acrylic paint, and forged steel. It is made by Priscilla Roggenkamp and Keith McMahon. I love the subtle colors and texture.

This is made of twisted coated copper wire and is called "Light." The piece is made by Nancy Koenigsberg. I was drawn to this because of the way it seemed to glow from within.

I am REALLY into hand stitching and all kinds of embroidery these days. This piece, by Candace Hicks, is called "String Theory Volume III." It actually looks like paper with handwriting on it, but it is fabric made to look like pages in a notebook. The "handwriting" is hand embroidery. I certainly appreciate the time it takes to make something like this. You could actually touch and turn the pages of this piece (with the provided white gloves, of course).

This canopy, by Susan Lenz, was spectacular. I loved the way the light reflected down through all the different fabrics of the piece.

Kelly Kozma's "So Many People in the Neighborhood" is made of embroidery thread, colored pencil, graphite, collage, latex paint, textured metallic paint, and gloss on paper. The colors in this piece really pop.

If you would like more information on the exhibit or on The Foundry, click here. You might also check out my little "blurb" about the exhibit in the "Upcoming Quilting/Fiber Arts Events" category to the right of this post. If you would like more information on Saint Charles, click here. I hope you get the opportunity to see this exhibit in person. If you are a person who loves fiber art, you know that pictures just don't do the pieces justice. You really need to see them "up close and personal."

 

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Penguin Cheer, My Granddaughter, and A Fairy Garden

This weekend I have been busy working on a couple of my blocks of the month. I did finish my new Penguin Cheer block.

It is nice to take a little time from "serious work" to do something fun.

I got a little behind on my Country Threads block of the month blocks. This weekend, I worked on last month's blocks and this month's blocks. I haven't gotten them all finished yet. I'll take a picture of them when they are done.

I have also had company and have done some traveling. The first week in July, I had company and went from home (in southern Indiana) to drop my friend off at the airport in Nashville, Tennessee. From there, I went to my sister's house in Memphis. We both traveled to my son's house in FAR western Arkansas. We had such fun visiting my little granddaughter.

She turns one on July 23rd. I just can't get enough of her! Then it was back to Memphis for us. After a couple of days, I went back home to Indiana. It was wonderful to visit with my friend of over 36 years (Irene) and to spend time with my sister. While at my sister's, she made a terrarium (a little fairy garden) for me.

I just love it. I know you can't see everything from the picture, but there is a little "Home Sweet Home" rock beside the door of the house, a little teeter totter with a frog and turtle on it, a couple of birds, a turtle, a mushroom, some teeny tiny terra cotta pots, and lots of moss and plants. I'm just hoping I can keep the plants alive.

Needless to say, I haven't gotten as much work in the studio done as I would like. I am diligently working on my "extreme embroidery" piece and have even made a few hexagons for my hexagon quilt. I must say, though, that my right hand has enjoyed the time off from hand stitching. I have been having some pain and purchased a brace for my hand (which I wore while I did all that driving). Between the brace and the time off, my hand has felt pretty good; and stitching hasn't seemed to bother it the last few days!!! Yeah!!!

 

 

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SAQA (Indiana) Meeting

I had the opportunity to attend a meeting with several members of the Indiana division of SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates). Cathy Franks was kind enough to host the meeting at her beautiful home. A big plus to that was that we also got a tour of her studio.

The program consisted of several members presenting surface design products and tools with which they are familar. We saw presentations on Versatex screenprinting inks, extenders, and Thermofax screens by Judy Ireland. Mary Jane Keys showed us some of her batiks and discussed batik waxes, dyes, and tools. Kate Lenkowsky discussed block printing inks, Blick's Golden Cut "linoleum" for relief printing, cutting tools, and Golden varnishes with ultra violet light stabilizers. Cathy Franks showed us how she uses breakdown printing with Procion dyes and Jacquard's pearl powdered pigments.

I didn't even think about taking pictures until I saw someone else doing it. (Duh!) When I finally "got on the bandwagon," I took pictures of a couple of the presentations and of Cathy's studio.

Barbara Triscari showed us how she uses Tsukineko and printer cartridge inks and iron powder.

Mary Ann Vansoest showed several ways to finish fiber art work including the use of stretcher bars and gallery wrapped canvases rather than a binding or facing.

At the end of the meeting, we got a tour of Cathy's studio. She has LOTS of thread--stored vertically...

and horizontally.

These two pictures show just a SMALL portion of her thread stash! (Cathy does long-arm quilting and a lot of thread painting.)

She also has a really nice fabric stash and big cutting station. She uses old chest of drawers for her cutting table base. She stores thread in the drawers. She covers her fabric with the white curtains to protect it from the light.

Here is another view of her studio. As you can see, Cathy has won numerous awards. (That's Cathy in the blue shirt.)

It was SO nice to spend time with these talented artists. I really enjoyed the day and wish to thank Kate for organizing the meeting and Cathy for hosting.

 

 

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New Penguin Cheer Block

If you read my blog, you know that I got myself into a block of the month with some friends awhile back. I finished this month's block yesterday (just in time for our deadline). This one is a big one, but it was an easy one because of the size of the pieces.

If you want to follow along and try your hand at this block of the month, the patterns are here.

I also finished an art piece yesterday but didn't get a picture taken of it. I'll take the picture before too long and post it.

 

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New Cap

I know it has been awhile, but I have been on the road most of the spring and summer. Traveling with my husband, going to quilt shows (Paducah and Chicago), a family vacation with my kids and ALL my grandchildren, babysitting with my grandson, and traveling to Arkansas to visit my son and his family have made trips to my studio far too infrequent. I AM working on some pieces--another "extreme" embroidery piece, a quilt to hand quilt for my granddaughter, a quilt for my daughter, and a quilt for a friend who had a fire at her home. All of these are in various stages of completion.

Today, I worked on my new baseball cap. It was plain white when I bought it, and (of course) I can't have that! I decorated it with some of my Zentangles, and I sure like it better.

Drawing my "doodles" is really relaxing. Give it a try.

 

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I Think It Was a Hit!

Tomorrow is my granddaughter's ninth birthday. We got to be in Arkansas for the celebration held earlier this evening. I gave her a fleece panda bear rag quilt. I think she liked it! Happy Birthday Bianca!

(The quilt isn't standing on its own...my husband is holding it up!)

All of the grandkids have gotten quilts now, but when the other girls saw this one, I got requests for a cat quilt and a monkey quilt!

 

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