Quilting Arts Gifts

Quilting Arts Gifts 

Okay, technically, this is old news, but my wonderful tote bag is featured in this issue of Quilting Arts gifts! It came out in September. I absolutely love this issue, in addition to having my work published in it. It is so full of so many wonderful ideas. I am totally inspired! If you haven't picked up a copy yet, do it! I will have 8 pieces in Houston this year. An amazing accomplishment considering that you can only enter 2 pieces in the judged show. The IQA quilt show starts in about 15 days, so I will be counting down. For now, #8 is my tote bag in the Quilting Arts booth! Stop by and see! I made this tote bag with my original batik fabrics, from the same fabric line that Michael Miller bought from me at the Houston Quilt Market last year. Sadly, there is no news about when this line will be printed. They have had the designs for a year now and nothing has happened. Kathy Miller told me that I will be contacted when they decide to print it, but for me, it's like waiting for the phone to ring...not much fun and it leaves me feeling like the bacteria on the back of a flea....minuscule. So really, the GIFT, for me is the validation of having my work published. Thank you Pokey Bolton and Quilting Arts! Only one thing to do, forge forward, keep creating, and laugh, often and loudly!

Publications

Publications 

I am so happy that my quilt, Self-Portrait '08 was selected to be in this quarter's Journal of The International Quilt Association!! This quilt had won 2nd place last year in the judged show, Quilts, A World of Beauty in the Small Art Quilt category. I am happy my little quilt won a prize last year, and happy that they selected this category to feature in their journal, and happy that I share the page with my friend, Laura Wasilowski who had a delightful little winner herself called Housing Development #7. The quilt is finally home again from it's tour of IQA shows from Chicago and Long Beach. Tune in tomorrow for my other news!

Felt Purse

Felt Purse 

I got this kit from ArtGirlz last year at the Houston Quilt Show and gave it to my daughter, then 7, for Christmas. I think it was a bit too much for her even though she loves the idea of sewing. So it sat, and sat and sat, waiting and waiting. Then came the unfortunate opportunity. Daughter had to go into the hospital for surgery and spend the night. My anxiety was reaching a peak, even though it was a routine procedure, it is still scary, and I anticipated a difficult recovery for her (and it was). Meanwhile, the purse helped me. I sat and stitched while she was in surgery and the time flew by. And it was a ready to go project, so I didn't have to think much about what supplies to bring, needle, thread, and scissors, maybe a thimble. Oh, yeah, and let's not forget the glasses! And the added benefit, was the gift to her of a cute little purse for her to play with when we went home. Love it! The front side has the flowers, the back side shows the zipper pull and hearts. If you get a chance, visit ArtGirlz here. It's hard to pass up their wonderfully creative projects and supplies! (No affiliation.)

Showing Soon

Showing Soon 

at the Fayetteville Museum of Art, NC Sept 11 to Nov 1 Art Quilts TRANSITIONS Doors Across Austin 36" x 52" I am so excited that my quilt will be traveling to another venue, and it will be a fundraiser for Operation Kid Comfort. Bring a donation and you don't have to pay the admission fee! Love it!

Planned Obsolescence

Planned Obsolescence 

35" x 38"

This quilt was inspired by The Story of Stuff.com. I saw this video and was completely overwhelmed and outraged. If you have time to watch the long video (20 minutes), I highly encourage it. Part of this story deals with the intentionality of making things that will not hold up over time. "They" did this on purpose to stimulate the economy. I feel so angry because it just seems so wasteful. I want to buy quality objects that will last a long time. And, where do all the broken consumer items go? Landfills here and overseas. This quilt shows a new neighborhood, built all in a row, on top of piles of stuff, things that are intentionally obsolete. This quilt is a batik etching. This means that the white part of the quilt was covered completely in a layer of wax. I put the waxed cloth on top of my drawing, and then etched the design into the wax with sharp and tiny tools. Then I dyed it, and boiled out the wax. The top half is made from some new batiks I have designed. The solids are hand dyes. And except for the numb fingers from hours of etching, the top went together relatively quickly and easy. The quilting was another story. I had a lot of difficulty making decisions about how to quilt this, what lines to use. Ultimately, I chose to leave the quilting motifs as simple as possible so that it wouldn't compete with the detailed drawing of the trash heap.

Postcards

Postcards 

I ordered postcards last week from Overnight Prints and they have finally arrived. For a mere $5, you can get 25 postcards with your choice of 1 side only or 2 sides. Most of these are one side only. The top left is two sided, and the back side is in the next photo. Left to right starting at the top, Little Fish in a Big City (at Quilt National), Building UP (IQF Houston), Center Row A Few of My Favorite Things (Edges, at IQF), Falling Through the Cracks (IQF), and Duck and Cover (A Sense of Humor, SAQA, at IQF) Bottom Row Red Legged Bird with a Tale to Tell (Tactile Architecture, IQF) I like the postcards on the white background better. Without an exception, they all came out darker than my monitor (which was calibrated). This was a bit disappointing, but the quality of the cards was really nice and the price was exceptional. Just wish I could learn to manipulate my files better to get a more predictable and accurate color representation of my art.

First Batch, Half a Dozen Houses

First Batch, Half a Dozen Houses 

 Please accept my apologies in advance for this snapshot. I think I need to learn something new for these shiny surfaces... So, this is my first group. The quilts range in size from 3 1/2 " x 5" to 9" x 10" unframed. I have finished the edges in a variety of ways, satin stitch, fuse and wrap, and last, with facings. I like them all! A bright and cheerful group to start! Three of these have hand embroidery. And all have my original hand batiks and hand dyes. As for the framing....3 are framed in bright IKEA frames, one is framed in a small glass frame, one (the pink and blue one) is fabric wrapped around a canvas and painted (see previous post), and the last one (the largest) will use a hanging tube and a wooden slat. And, all have been signed (via sewing machine) by the artist, that's me!! Hopefully, this next week I will take individual photos (better than this one), and set prices, and decide on a venue to sell, either through a seperate blog, or maybe create an etsy shop. I will have to get back to you on that! Enjoy!

Little House #1

Little House #1 

quilt is 4.5" x 5.5" with frame 8" x 10" I have been inspired by Lisa Call's affordable art, and so I am making some small pieces for sale and experimenting with finishing techniques. The pink fabric is wrapped around a canvas and stapled to the back. I then painted the white dots and red stripes on the edges. This is the first in the series. I have 6 almost done and will be posting new photos soon. Then I just need to determine a price. It was strange working with such a small size, but so incredibly fun! I could try out a lot of different color combinations and quickly. Yum!

More Sewing

More Sewing 

What I've been up to....having tons of fun making more clothes for my daughter. I made two more versions of this dress. The first dress has pockets and a longer ruffle. I like the round pockets and the longer ruffle, but I think this might have been cuter to put the pockets lower, perhaps on the yellow ruffle? Also, I tried using a bias binding around the neck and sleeves (kindly suggested to me by a reader), and it worked wonderfully! This next one is another variation of the same pattern, but I made it into a shirt. I loved the pink flower print. So I took some of my fabric (the green checkerboard) and made a decorative pocket with a poppy coming out of it. If you look carefully, you will see that I just made a poppy similar to the print for the applique. I love applique! I also used my hand-dyes for the poppy. Enjoy the closeup! I also added a short ruffle at the bottom of the shirt from my coordinating green wavy stripe (from my stash of hand batiks). Last, I made a skirt to go with the shirt above. Sadly, it looked horrible together. The ruffle style of the skirt was just too full and the colors didn't quite work. I would have been really sad, except that my daughter had two lovely shirts in her closet already that went with the skirt! Now when does that ever happen?? The pink in this skirt is one of my hand-dyes. Last, was a cute red on red short sleeve shirt, but it was so UNcomfortable, and the goal was to make clothes that she could move in. I tried an alteration, but made the sleeves too tight. This one will get a re-design with some surface design on the front and new sleeves. I will post the original and the revision in another post. Thanks for reading!

International Quilt Festival, Long Beach

International Quilt Festival, Long Beach

It's happening NOW! Pacific Coast Fiber Artists and Friends present "Edges" a 21-piece collection of art quilts. Curated by Jamie Fingal and Leslie Jenison and sponsored by Quilting Arts/Interweave. This special exhibit will debut at the International Quilt Festival in Long Beach, CA - July 23-26th at the Long Beach Convention Center. Sadly, I am not there. I will have to settle for the vicarious experience of reading about it. And that was when my good friend, Leslie Jenison, emailed me this photo and told me that my quilt, A Few of My Favorite Things, is in the show catalog! Now that's a bit of good cheer!