Central Park

Central Park
56" x 53"
or How I Spent My Summer Vacation!

I am posting about my newest creation today!  Another 3D quilt, which is funny because after the last one, I didn't think I would make another one!  It was a labor of love though.  I felt really inspired to create this piece because of the feelings I get of being rejuvenated from hiking in a park.  Nature does it for me every time! Balance, grounded, happy.  And I get the same feelings when I stand in front of this piece.  I am immersed in greens and blues.  It is an evocative piece for me, which I am quite confident is not fully expressed through a tiny photo on a website.  I am still hoping to find a venue where it can be experienced in person and I can hopefully pass on the inspiration to you.

full view of Central Park

3D view of Central Park

wholecloth background fabric, shibori tied before dyeing

I must also admit some frustration with my posting.  I now have 3 computers at home, and none of the monitors show the color the same.  So, there is no way for me to have any idea of how your monitor is displaying the color.  And not dismissing the importance of design and construction, for me the biggest part is about the color.  So, I apologize if the greens look funky to you.  In real life these color are a rich blend of comfort and harmony.

And as you scroll down through the photos, you will get an idea of how the quilt was constructed.  I actually started this piece last spring and worked through the summer.  This was my entry for Quilt National, but it was sadly not selected.  I can tell you that just by having a deadline as a goal really helped me to complete this quilt.  The logistics were overwhelming from time to time, with over 5000 French knots to sew on 500 buildings to make and hand applique on.  The quilting of the background also took an unexpectedly long time, about a month.  It was hard to quilt around all those circles, lots of starts and stops, and threads to bury or clip.  In retrospect, I wish I had quilted it first before adding the circles for the trees. 

blue fabric from buildings made from commercial cottons batiked in stripes, bleach discharged and then overdyed turquoise, navy, periwinkle, and cobalt blue

machine piecing the buildings into their 3D shapes

piles of buildings, will there ever be enough???

stuffing the buildings with cubes of ethafoam

hand dyed silk organza which was cut into circles for the trees

Park layout before quilting and before embroidery of the gardens

selecting threads for the gardens

French knots in the gardens, there are over 5000 French knots.  Click on picture to see a closeup

Closeup of quilting lines by the baseball fields

New Tote for Quilt Festival

New Tote for Quilt Festival
I can't help myself!  I just loved this cover on Quilting Arts Magazine so much!! So much, that I ripped it off the magazine, layered it many times with Mod Podge, and then glued it to a foundation to make the front of this tote bag.  I was inspired by Beach Garden Quilts and what they do with Mod Podge and fabric to make floor mats.  It worked!  And the cover is my quilt, and it is a quilt about me and now it's me on my own tote!! lol! Too much?

And also, how wonderful my Urban Landscapes fabric look made up in this tote.  On the back side I used the 9 dot in a block pattern to make a spacious outer pocket.  I am also getting better with the zippers.  I put a small zippered pocket inside, and I have learned the magic of magnetic button thingies for a closure.  It is almost the size of a shopping tote, and I am hoping it will come in handy at the quilt show.

And, since I am getting some experience with tote bags now, it was kind of fun to change up the pattern a bit!  I love the shape and the double straps!!

Urban Landscape Doll

Urban Landscape Doll
Yesterday, I got this wonderful note from Nancy Roberts, who just happened to be the winner of my fabric giveaway on my blog.  She sent me photos of what she did with some of the fabric, and it is just wonderful!

Hi Kathy-...I won the fat quarters and fabric bag on your blog last August and told you I'd show you when I used some of the fabric in a project. Well I chose one of the fat quarters and made the dress for this donation doll to be given to children in Haitian orphanages and medical clinics. And  her twin brother has a shirt made from selvages. I've published them on my blog if you get a chance to take a look. The Urban Landscape fabric is perfect for her little dress! Many thanks. Best regards, Nancy Roberts

I think she is right.  The dress is super cute, and the selvages look wonderful too! You can visit her blog here.

Meanwhile, stay tuned, I have a lot of blog entries to post this next week.  First, I wanted to show off my new tote bag for the Houston Quilt Festival.  It is my first foray into mixed media and involves a certain magazine cover....

I also am planning to show my entry for Quilt National, that is sadly not going to the show.  This happens to all of us, more frequently than you might expect, but onward is the slogan around here.  And, I am also part of a blog tour for Quiltmaker's 100 blocks.  They have published my block using Urban Landscapes fabric and the magazine will be available November 17.  I will also have a giveaway on my blog for one of the magazines!  And it would not be entirely unreasonable to expect a post about the Houston International Quilt Festival, since I am headed there for the weekend and looking forward to the spectacular quilt viewing, shopping, and hanging out with friends!!

Quilt Market Report

Quilt Market Report
Well, I am back from Quilt Market in Houston.  I only got to stay for one day, but it was a fantastic day! I had lunch with Candice Hoffman, President of Clothworks.  I hung out at the Clothworks booth for a while, visiting with everyone and watching the sale reps do their thing.  It is an amazing process watching the sales reps juggle complicated schedules and still maintain their cool while showing the new lines.  I had assumed it would be harried and rushed, but instead they make it look so effortless and relaxed.  Kudos!

Lunch with Candice Hoffman

Hanging out with Joyce Cronkhite and Brandi Frey.

Across from the Clothworks booth, was Beach Garden Quilts.  I got to meet Lynette and Laura (see photo at the bottom of post).  They have made some really cool stuff with my fabric, Urban Landscapes, that I wanted to share with you.  Right behind my head is an adorable little bag (perfect for a child!).  Under my feet, a highchair mat.  Wish I had one of these when my kids were small!  So wonderful, and so useful!  And I personally love the fabric they chose!  They also made some cool dog leashes, makes me want a dog again!  lol! Check out their website, lots of neato patterns.

Beach Garden Quilts made this super adorable highchair playmate!  Recognize the fabric (Urban Landscapes)!

Beach Garden Quilts made up this cute quilt from Urban Landscapes.  Love it!

There were a few other booths that I liked.  Sorry I didn't get a picture to share, darn it!  Kinkame had the cutest display.  Yoko had cut up tiny shirt patterns from each fabric and hung them from a laundry line.  The effect was charming!

I probably should have spent more time at the other booths at Market, but to be honest, it was a little overwhelming!  And, the quilts were calling me.  I spent the entire afternoon looking at quilt exhibits.  It was so quiet I could hear the traffic on the highway behind the Brown Convention Center.  There were only a handful of us looking at quilts.  It was almost eery the way the security outnumbered the viewers!  Especially since I know how different it will look when the crowds descend upon the show in full force next week!  I enjoyed the quiet, but partly because I knew I will be back next weekend for festival!  To summarize, the quilts are spectacular!  It's a good show this year, many, many great exhibits.  I will try to blog about those next week.  If you get a chance to go, then go!  You will be amazed!

Here we are at the Clothworks cocktail party before I had to leave to go home.  Fabulous group! Fabulous times!

This group know how to party! Miryam, Brandi, Lynette, me, Laura, and Joyce.

Batik Flower

Batik Flower

This little flower is for a group quilt.  It is about 16" square.  I made it from a whole cloth, inspired by a photo of a flower.  More on the group quilt later when we get all the pieces assembled.  As for now, it was just an experiment that I had no idea if it would work or not.  It started as a dark pink fabric.  I batiked the stamens and then bleached.  Then I batiked the petals.  Next step, bleach again.  Last, I carefully dyed the area outside of the flowers green.  More wax to protect the green section; by now the entire piece is covered with a solid layer of wax.  Then I etched the little white scratch marks and bleached just that area.  And I etched the long marks between the outer petals and inner petals and dyed those fuschia.  Finally happy with it, I boiled out the wax.

Next was the quilting, which I am afraid that I got a little carried away with.  After completing the quilting, I added the satin stitch along the stamens.  I liked that a lot!  To finish?  Hand stitching with Laura Wasilowski's hand-dyed threads (here).  If you haven't used her thread before, you should try it.  I love the way it feels, and handles, and it's pretty too!  Lots of colorways to choose from!

Double Exposure for Building UP!

Double Exposure for Building UP!

Yeehaw!  I just got my Award Winning Quilts 2011 Calendar featuring quilts from the International Quilt Association.  My quilt, Building UP, is featured for the month of March.  Happy am I, as March is my birthday month!  Very nice!

And, on the same day my Fall IQA Journal arrived.  When I joined IQA years ago, I had always hoped to have a quilt in the journal. It is a nice and very validating feeling to see it now.  This issue is featuring small abstract art quilts and Building UP won 1st place in that category last year.  The colors of the print copy of my quilt are perfect, just perfect!  It looks good and has a nice interview about the quilt.  I  love it!

Big tote

Big tote I haven't had much time to work lately, but this last week I played with the batik. I made this flower from a whole cloth. I actually made two, to try out different ideas, but you will have to wait until I quilt the second one before I post it. Meanwhile, I cut this one in half to use for both sides of the tote bag, for a friend in need. It was a special request, one that I was happy to make, especially if it makes her life easier! I love the way the whole cloth design of the flower goes with my fabrics. It was a bit surprising, and lovely!

Quilts=Art=Quilts

Quilts=Art=Quilts

I am thrilled to announce that my quilt, Building UP, will be at the Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center in Auburn, NY for Quilts=Art=Quilts!
The exhibit runs: October 31, 2010 - January 9, 2011.

It is my first time at this venue, and I am honored to be in the esteemed company of so many wonderful artists!

Batik Etching

Batik Etching

I have been meaning to blog about this for quite a while, but hadn't gotten to it yet. So, here it is. How I made Fifty, and Female, and Fearless. It started from a photograph, that I enlarged and simplified into a sketch. Then I taped it to a sliding glass door, and put my yellow fabric on top of the drawing, and sketched with a pencil the outline of the figure. The dark lines are shadows from a tree. That gave me some idea of how much surface area to cover with wax. Then downstairs in the batik studio (some people call it a garage), I put the yellow fabric on a discarded glass door, and began covering it with hot wax applied with a wide paint brush. The real trick is getting the wax to cover the fabric completely, but also in a very uniform layer (okay that part is IMPOSSIBLE), but it is the goal. If your brush strokes overlap, the wax is thicker there, and creates problems later. Then I placed the wax covered cloth on top of the drawing (which is made darker with a black sharpie marker), and painstakingly carve in ALL the lines. It is not too hard to do the straight lines, but carving the curves in wax is difficult. I have tried many different tools for the carving. It needs to be a sharp tool, but you have to be careful not to cut the fabric. Examples include: a screwdriver, a seam ripper, toothpick, bamboo skewer, clay carving tools, and dental tools. It will make your hand cramp, so it is essential to do small portions at a time and take lots of breaks. Then, when I finished the carving, I mixed up some soda ash in some black dye and water, and brushed it on, letting it soak into the cracks that I carved. After batching 8 to 24 hours, you can rinse in cold water to get rid of excess dye, and then boil out the wax. Then I usually wash in hot water with a cycle of Synthrapol, and another with Retayne. Next is the blue background which was made with batik also. I painted stripes of wax, then bleach discharged the fabric, and the overdyed the samples in different colors of blue. I made the central figure a reverse applique, which means I cut the background to fit around the figure. Next they are fused, cut to shape, and then ironed on. Last step is the quilting. I quilted everything except for the letters in the figure, and along all the lines in the background. This last part seemed a bit excessive, but there you are, the process of an art quilter, driven by the relentless muse. Here's a photo of the quilting. You can see the problem I referred to earlier where the white arrow is pointing. This is showing a place where the black etched line went through a thicker section of wax. When you carve the thicker wax, it cracks around your etched line. The dye seeps in and makes a wider, less defined line. For more on batik etching, you can see my first attempt here, and another quilt, here.

Quilting Arts Cover Girl!

Quilting Arts Cover Girl! 

If you haven't seen this on FB yet....My quilt, Fifty, Female, and Fearless is on the cover of Quilting Arts. Fantastic!! And since it is a self portrait....I guess I really am on the cover!! Too cool for words! This quilt is part of an exhibit called Beneath the Surface curated by Jamie Fingal and Leslie Jenison and you will be able to see it at the Houston Quilt Festival in November. And, if you are interested, the book, Beneath the Surface is available at Blurb.com. It has photos of all the quilts in the exhibit and interviews with the artists.