Just Around the Corner

Just Around the Corner
24" x 24" x 5"

I had such a GREAT time at the opening of my first exhibit in Austin!  It was called Inspirations in Fiber Art, with Barb Forrister at the Gallery at the J.  The art committee put together a wonderful event with wine and snacks and a delightful flutist, Kenzie Slottow, who composed her own fantastic compositions that set a perfect tone to go with our exhibit!  Thank you so much!

And now an opportunity to reveal one of the two pieces I made this fall to go with my other works.

This piece is wrapped around a 1 1/2" deep canvas.  It makes it easy to hang, and it can be easily rotated into different orientations.  This is both fun and functional.  Each direction gives a different feeling to the piece.  And over the years, if the buildings start to sag, because of gravity, it can easily be rotated another direction.  LOVE it! And, I love the background, part black and part white.  It sets a very modern feeling to the work.

My two characters (Guatemalan worry dolls) are staged to meet each other 'just around the corner'.  Their path is traced through the spaces between the buildings, much like our own meandering paths, with large stitches of embroidery floss....

which is apparently difficult to capture in a photo, but wonderfully apparent if standing in front of the piece!
And a few process photos, just in case you wondered...

Here's an audition of building placements before they were stuffed.  At this point, they are merely stitched into cube shapes and turned right side out.  They stand pretty well like this, unless a cat happens to jump onto the table.  In this arrangement, I have the tall buildings at opposite and diagonal corners with the short buildings forming a valley (of sorts).  I like it, but did not choose it.

This is a photo of the stack forming as I fill each shape with an individually cut piece of ethafoam to fit.

Once I determine how many buildings I will need, I often place them in a grid, and slowly fill it in.  Then I don't need to keep count.  I love this photo though.  The buildings looks so lovely, and the color is so concentrated.  It sings of blue.

This is the quilt with the corners stitched to fit around the canvas frame.  I painted a grid of dots to help with the placement of the buildings.  This is one line stitched on.  A start...with many more to go.

Many people have asked, how do I attach the buildings and what do I do to get them to stand out from the surface.  Well, I hand sew around the edges of the buildings.  If the fabric is tightly stretched, it works pretty well.  It is difficult to pin the buildings in the correct place, as they tend to resist the pinning process.  And if you pin too many, you will get a lot of pokes while attempting to sew them on.

As I add more and more buildings.  I love seeing the quilt bent in various hilly shapes as I work.  It is mesmerizing and so rewarding.  And, it sends my mind into a creative whirling vortex.  This looks pretty cool, yes?

And, the exhibit is up through Jan 12, 2014.  So if you weren't able to make it to the opening last night, you still have a chance to swing by to see it!