New Work for Art Box CSA

New Work for Art Box CSA
8" x 8"

I am not sure of the launch date, end of Oct? First of Nov? (Art Box CSA is now closed.  Thank you for your support!) However it is coming up.  And, I have been working on some new ideas.  The first references work that I have done earlier, and I still really like the simplicity of the design and the colors.  This series is called Grey House.  The new part about this set is that I started working with a neutral gray and white palette for the background squares.  I love the way it helps the turquoise and other bright colors practically jump right out of the box! 

Grey House

The second set was inspired by a new batik fabric I have been working on for a completely different project.  I made enough to have extra to use on the Art Box pieces, combined with a zipper and a flower, it is delightful!  I hope you will think so too.  I love the way this piece has so many different levels, from the bottom layer which is exposed from the open zipper, to the middle level of the yellow background, and last, the top level of the quilted flower with the center cut out.  The flower is also one of my batiks, mentioned in an earlier post.

Zip Flower

Be sure and visit our Art Box website for the sale of these beauties.  I'll let you know when, and til then there are still a few left from our initial offering!

Great News: Art Box csa!

Great News: Art Box csa!
community supported artists
Update: this site has been closed.

Today is the official launch of our new creative endeavor, Art Box csa!  Eight artists have joined together to create small works of art at affordable prices.  The art is grouped into boxes and available as a full set of 8 pieces or a half box of 4 pieces.  I am so proud to be included in this distinguished group of artists!
We are:

Jamie Fingal

Judy Coates Perez 

Lyric Kinard

Deborah Boschert

Leslie Jenison

Desiree Habicht

Kathy York 

Sue Bleiweiss

The idea sprang from community supported agriculture; paying a fee and having a basket of vegetables and fruits delivered to your doorstep.  However, instead of produce, you will be getting small works of art from us!  Each artist made 8"x 8" pieces that are framed or wrapped on a canvas the same size (and 1 1/2" deep).  See mine here.

I was inspired by watching grackles in my yard.  Ready to play with a new technique of putting dye directly in the soy wax, I got busy and made a number of fat quarters.  It was so fun!  I just love doing this!  When you draw shapes with the wax, you are painting the color on at the same time!

Then the background was hand painted with thickened dye, and the piece was steamed to set the dyes.  After that I boiled the piece to get the remaining wax out, and completed the process with a wash and dry!

Next I cut the fat quarters into 4 pieces, pieced an aqua border around the central motif, sandwiched with batting and backing, and then machine quilted.  Last I added a lot of embroidery to the bird, which I just LOVED the texture it created, and did some hand quilting to finish off the piece.  Last, I stitched the corners and snugged it into a canvas, stapling on the back.  Click on the photos to see them larger.

side view

front view

Sorry, there are a limited number available.  You can purchase these directly from our CSA website.

Excitement in the Air!!

Excitement in the Air!!
Tomorrow the International Quilt Festival opens in Long Beach, CA for 3 days.  I have a new piece making it's debut there and it is a bit of a sentimental piece for me, Morning Commute with Sweet Jane (here, and here).  It is in the exhibit called Rituals curated by Dinner @ 8 artists, Jamie Fingal and Leslie Jenison.  It is sponsored this year by Moore's Sewing Centers. And even though I will not be able to attend the new opening of the show, it will travel to Houston this fall, and I can not wait to see it!!

Additionally the book, which has all the quilts in it, is available for purchase now.  You can click on the photo on the sidebar.  A preview is also available. I just LOVE the cover showing slices of a number of quilts.

Also in Long Beach, I will have a quilt in Tactile Architecture, Central Park, and a group piece called Artists' Village, an amazing collection of 3D fiber houses made by an incredibly talented group of artists!! It is fun!

Flower Garden close up of French knots

Artist Village

Next on the list, I have had some recent publicity, which is always good for the ego!  In the International Quilt Festival Houston Class Catalgue, there is a picture of my quilt, A Few of My Favorite Things, used to promote the exhibit of Lone Stars III book.  Awesome!  It's on page 48!

And, last, our new collaboration to sell small works of art in groupings of 8 or 4 is almost sold out!! I am so happy that this has been so successful so quickly!  New works are in the making to restock our offerings!
Check it out!  Art Box csa (community supported artists)!  or you can click on the link in the sidebar too!!

Art Box csa

Going to the Show!

Where the Walls Have Eyes is going to Quilt National 25! And I couldn't be happier!!

It is difficult to photograph a 3D art project.  I guess I did okay with these because the jurors liked them! A big thanks to Martha Sielman, Luke Haynes, and Ellen Blalock for their efforts in putting this exhibit together and including me in their decisions!

I have only been in Quilt National once before.  It was '09. That was quite the emotional experience for me. It validated my new identity as an artist. This time around was very different. It was also very emotional but for a different reason. My mother is no longer here to share the good news with, and it was the first thing I wanted to do, call her. 

Quilt National 25 opens in May of next year, but they need the works a long time before that. This is because they need to see the quilts up close and personal to award prizes. And normally for an exhibit, this is done after the exhibit is hung. However, Quilt National publishes a very nice hardback book of the exhibit, and they need the extra time to put the book together (with the prize winners), and you know, actually publish the book and print the copies. So shipping is very early. 

I did not waste any time! I knew it would be easy to get a box, because I have a fantastic box store near me with boxes in every size. The limiting problem was going to be the plastic bag. Quilts need to be shipped in plastic in case the box gets wet. And this cube was too large to fit in any plastic bags I could find, including XXL garbage bags. I could find big enough bags if I was willing to buy 100 of them (which I was not). So, I opted to build my own plastic covering.

I bought plastic sheeting from a local home improvement store. Cut it into pieces, and taped the pieces together into a tube.  Then I put my lovely cubic work inside, and basically wrapped it like a present! I taped the top and bottom ends, and it fit perfectly inside the box.  

The last piece was to "protect" the box with my hand drawn talisman. Voila! Done! And very happy that it has safely arrived at the Dairy Barn Arts Center in Athens, OH.

New Work on ArtBox csa!

New Work on ArtBox csa!

Our site has just gone live with new work for our ArtBox collaborative! (Art Box CSA is now closed.  Thank you for your support!) We have a limited number of new combinations of lovely small art work.  Here are my contributions, but be sure to check in, as we have added new artists in our lineup!

Zip Flower  (8" x 8" x 1/12")

Grey House (8" x 8" x 1 1/2")

 

How to Make a Tiny Art Quilt

How to Make a Tiny Art Quilt
Process of a quilt for ArtBox csa

First, I start with inspiration.  I had an idea to make this fabric.  I headed out to the garage and pinned some white fabric to a frame.  Then, one by one, I drew these circles with a tjanting tool.  It went a lot better than I expected (as I was expected a lot of wax dripping, but I got lucky, or perhaps enough skill now...). 

Then I mixed up about 6 different colors of dye, and one by one, painted in the centers of the circles.  This took a long time, but I was hopeful it would look good when I finished.  After dye painting the centers, I let it dry, and then painted over the dye with more wax.  Then I was able to dye the entire piece in turquoise.  Next step, wait 24 hours for the turquoise to set, and then rinse in cold water, and boil out the wax.  I always wash my batiks in detergent in the washing machine to finish the process.  I loved the results and decided to use this fabric for my next series of art boxes!

 

The first step to creating the work was to layer two pieces of white cotton fabric (approximately 12" x 12") with a layer of batting in between.  I traced the canvas on the white fabric lightly with a pencil to define my composition area.

Next, I gathered enough supplies to make all six of the art boxes, hoping that this would save time.  I pre-cut as much as possible.  The list includes, the dot batik fabric, centers of the flowers pre-cut, left over batik flowers from another project, dyed turquoise batting, zippers, green stems from fused fabric, green leaves from a commercial print, and yellow squares (these will be trimmed to 8" x 8") with batting and white fabric layered.

I took the precut batik dot fabric and fused it into place.  The top edge has been turned under to finish, and lies right on top of the pencil line along the top of the square I drew.

Next step, I added some fusible to the back of the zipper.  There are probably different ways to put on a zipper in this curvy shape, but I thought fusible might be easiest.  I turned down the top edge of the zipper and fused it to itself and the same with the bottom of the zipper.  I slowly pressed the zipper into place as I held it and curved it to match the shape of the fabric under it.  This only works if the zipper is unzipped as shown in the photo.  Next, I top stitched the zipper in place.  I used a zipper foot to do this on my sewing machine.

Next I prepared the flower.  I fused it to the turquoise batting, and machine quilted around in circles and then around the edge.  Next, with sharp scissors, I cut out the center.  I used a large eyed needed and six strand embroidery floss to whip stitch around the center of the cut edge.  Last I trimmed the batting to be visible just beyond the edge of the flower fabric.  It is now ready to add to the quilt.  But first....

I placed the yellow quilt sandwich (yellow fabric on top, batting, white fabric on the bottom) on top of the zipper section, making sure that the yellow fabric will completely cover the pencil marked square on the white fabric.

Then with the pencil again, I light traced the lump of the zipper onto the yellow fabric.  I used this pencil line as a guide to machine quilt the yellow block, sort of echoing the shape of the curve of the zipper.

With a rotory cutter and mat, I used a grid ruler to cut the yellow into a perfect 8" x 8".  Then I cut this apart with scissors along the pencil line of the zipper.  The part where the zipper and batik dot fabric shows through is tossed aside and will not be used.

The curve along the zippered shaped is gently trimmed with scissors to get a good fit.  Then the yellow quilted sections are placed on top and satin stitched into place.  I used pins to hold it while I was stitched just the zippered edge. It was difficult to stitch near the zipper pull, so I alternated zipping it up or down just a bit to stitch through that section. Next step is to fuse the flower center, the flower stem, and the leaf.

I pinned the quilted flower into place and machine stitched along the batik blue edge to hold it in place.  I also satin stitched the leaf, and hand quilted the stem with the embroidery floss again.

Next, I machine quilted my name in the lower corner,

Then satin stitched the rest of edges of the yellow block to the white background carefully missing the edge of the "Y" in my name!

The last step, I did not take photos of , sorry!  I fold the little quilt diagonally through the corners (right sides together) and machine stitch a right angle to the edge of the white fabric, and then trim the excess.  This shapes the little quilt into a 3D small box and the canvas slips right in leaving the quilt perfectly positioned on the edge of the canvas.  The final edges are folded to the back and stapled in place to the back of the canvas.  I sign the back of each canvas and name the quilt.  This one is called Zip Flower.

You can purchase one of these quilts at our ArtBox csa website (ArtBox csa has been closed).

Neurodiversity

Neurodiversity
94" x 95"

Neurodiversity is simply a term that means a lot of different kinds of brains.  I think this makes for an interesting world.  It is difficult dealing with people who are different than I am, but I can see value there. I am also of the firm belief that if we seek answers for today's or tomorrow's complicated problems, we just might need that "out of the box" style of thinking. 

I abstracted this idea to color choices in my quilt.  I wanted to show lots of diversity in color combinations.  What I found really interesting is that some of the colors I used were not favorites of mine.  I couldn't imagine how to use them all together in a way that would be appealing to me.  I learned that when pairing up these colors with other colors, suddenly I could see the beauty.  It opened my eyes. And, put all together rather randomly in a small photo, it's a bit overwhelming.  However, the giant size of this quilt, in person, is really quite nice.  I love seeking patterns in all of this chaos!

It's all hand quilted too.  You may remember me talking about this quilt in a previous post? I really enjoyed slowing down to do the work, and the meditative quality of time spent hand stitching.  It was good. 

I also thought for this quilt, it would need a colorful back.  So I took some of the same fabric I used for the front and created a new pattern for the back.  I call it Light Box, though I am not sure why.  Honestly, after I finished it, I actually preferred it to the front!  I am really drawn to the organization of the colors because it has a calmer energy.

If you notice, all around the edges, the squares are cut off.  This is because I always make my backs larger than the fronts.  That way, if the front side shifts at all during quilting, the back is still covered.  I can't tell you how many times I have relearned this lesson in previous quilts! 

Speaking of neurodiversity....one of the things my brain struggles with is putting things into categories.  Is this an art quilt or a modern quilt or a variation of a traditional quilt???  I plan on listing it in one of my gallery pages, so where do you think it should go?

Anyway, I have made another Light Box quilt, and entered it into the new juried show called A Celebration of Color.  The show is judged and will have prizes and opens at the International Quilt Festival in Chicago this April.  I will post about the new quilt next week!

Honorable Mention!

Honorable Mention!

I am happy to announce that my quilt, High Rise, won an Honorable Mention this year in Houston! Even more delighted to actually see the show and how many outstanding quilts that were in my category. I have no doubt that the judges had a tough time picking winners for this category!

I am also really proud of all the attention our Artists' Village (and here) has received. IQA (or was it Quilts, Inc.?) went above and beyond to make the display an awesome one! They built an entire stage to set it on and draped it with black fabric. The lighting was perfect! And the height of the stage was just right to see all the details of the houses. I absolutely LOVED it! And I enjoyed seeing the project connect with so many people. A labor of love!

 

Artists' Village with Kathy York, Sherri McCauley, and Barb Forrister

Artists Village with Kathy York, Sherri McCauley, Jamie Fingal, and Leslie Jenison

 It's hard to believe that I spent four fabulous days in Houston and still did not see all the quilts. The ones I saw were simply fabulous and too many to list, but of course, I have to mention the Twelveby12 exhibit.  I got to meet a few of the artists, which was a blast.  After following their work (take a peek at their blog and see the group photo that I wish I had taken!), it was great to see the pieces in person.  Such an inspiring project!  I love the way it enriched each of their lives and their work and also how it connected them as a group. Even better, is how it has gone practically viral and other Twelveby12 groups are springing up.  Yes, I bought the book.  Can't wait to read it!

I made the small mistake of depending on my iphone for photos. And while it takes relatively good photos, it does not have a flash, and it needed one! Next year, I will take my camera!! duh! Meanwhile, it seems like there would be plenty of time to see everything, but no. And not for the obvious reason....eh, that I spent too much time shopping the vendors. The main reason for me was that I kept running into people that I only see in person at the quilt show. I HAVE to stop and visit. It is the most wonderful use of time and I wouldn't trade it for a minute. Maybe I should just plan to spend even more time in Houston if I want to see all the quilts in all the exhibits??

Jamie Fingal, Rachel Parris, Frances Alford, Judy Perez, Kathy York, and Leslie Jenison

Frances Alford ,Sherri McCauley

Behind this glass wall is Spencers, our meet up spot for dinner

Kathy York, and Frances Alford

Jamie Fingal, Judy Perez

Rachel Parris, and Sherri McCauley

Jamie Fingal and the Girls

Jane LaFazio

One of my favorite activities at the show this year was doing Open Studios for Quilting Arts Magazine. I met so many wonderful people there and had a great time demonstrating the simple techniques I used to make the 3D buildings seen on several of my quilts. The funniest story I can share with you .....I had a hard time setting up my demonstration. Though my hands are almost fully recovered, I have lost flexibility and a lot of strength. The Bernina sewing machine, so graciously donated for use by Bernina, was still in the box. I started having a minor panic attack when I couldn't get it out of the box. Pokey Bolton happened to be standing on the other side of the curtain and heard that 'special tone' in my voice and came bounding through the curtain like Wonder Woman! And poof, in a flash, the machine was quickly extricated from it's box. My jaw hanging open and eyes popping out, she disappeared just as quickly before I could even say, "Thank you!".

Jamie Fingal, Kathy York ,and Rachel Parris in front of Blue Towers at the Space Between exhibit

I was lucky to have so many quilts in the show this year, especially considering that I lost half the year at least half the year in recovery. I had my quilt, Blue Towers, in The Space Between exhibit, curated by Dinner @8 Artists (i.e., Jamie Fingal and Leslie Jenison). I had already bought the book and was looking forward to seeing the quilts in person. The photos are always so awesome, but they never do the quilts justice. Seeing them in person is such a richer and fuller experience. I got to meet the cover artist, Susan Brubaker Knapp, and hear her story in person. Very touching! The quilts were simply amazing. I could stand in front of them for hours!

I had two entries in Tactile Architecture, Central Park and the Artists' Village. I had two entries in the Judged Show, High Rise and a group quilt, Artists Garden. I had five quilts in the book, Lone Stars III, two of mine, A Few of My Favorite Things and Little Cities, and three group quilts, Cosmic Curves, I Sing the Flower Eclectic, and Group Conversations. Three of these were at the Houston Quilt Show in the Lone Stars III exhibit, and two are at the new Texas Quilt Museum. The exhibit in Houston of the quilts in the book was phenomenal! The layout of the exhibit had traditional quilts and art quilts interspersed. I thought the effect was wonderful!

I was also given a minor presence in Libby Lehman's Lecture (though I unfortunately did not get to see it), and in Stitched which showed on Saturday morning. And if that is not enough, by complete surprise I found that my winning quilt High Rise is featured in the gallery section of On the Quilt Scene!  It looks beautiful!  Thanks Quilting Arts!!!!

Two other events definitely worthy of mention were the Alliance For American Quilts Save Our Stories and the event for the quilters in the book Lone Stars III. Karey Bresenhan and Nancy O'Bryant Puentes hosted a wonderful event with fabulous food, drinks, and an interesting introduction to her book. We signed each others' books and then went down to view the exhibit. These two events are interconnected this year because quilters who were in the book were invited to share their stories through a recorded oral interview.  I was asked to bring a touchstone object, which I selected my quilt, Fifty, Female, and Fearless.  The interview lasted about 45 minutes and will be available after it is transcribed.  It is such an honor to be a part of this project and to be a part of history!  I am in awe of both the project and the number of volunteers who contribute their time to this worthy project! 

And last, I had three small quilts, 9" x 12", at the SAQA booth for sale. These did not get to be viewed for long though. One sold before it got to hang on the wall. The next two sold quickly on Opening Night. I was beside myself with excitement that the quilts sold and it has motivated me to make some more that I will offer for sale on my blog.

1BdrmApt

Full House

Nine Houses

You might have to wait to see these though because, sadly I always catch a cold in Houston, and this trip was no different. Fortunately, I made it through three days healthy, and got the cold on my last day. Now, I am trying to rest....which is really hard after Houston because all the creative juices get flowing! like just looking at the exit stairs to the Parking Garage for the George Brown Convention Center.

And, to end on a good note, I leave you with these two photos of my cats. The first is before I leave on a trip, the second is when I return. I suspect that they are happy I spent my first day back with a cold and in bed all day...part of the reattachment process. :)

Cats before my trip..."if we just stay on top of her suitcase, she won't be able to pack it!"

Cats after my trip....

Thanks for stopping by!