12 By the Dozen

Salmon ladder

2012-02-29T07:27:00.000-08:00

It was really hard to settle on a picture to represent steps. Way too many ideas. In fact two are still on the drawing board and I hope to finish them.

This is based on a picture of a salmon ladder that I took on a trip to Alaska a few years ago. Salmon always swim upstream to spawn. Hatcheries have developed along the coast to aid this process. The eggs from the wild salmon are hatched and the fingerlings are returned back to the ocean at an age where they have more of a chance of survival. Hence the ladder effect with the water flowing from the top to the bottom and the salmon leaping over the barriers to get to the top.

I used a base of indigo fabric from our summer workshop, then drew the "steps" onto freezer paper, ironed it onto fabric, ironed on fusible web, cut it out, and then ironed it onto the blue. Lots of stitching, painting and a little applique finished it off.

A step that I did made me feel a little like David Hockney. I took a picture of the in-process piece with my ipad, popped it into a drawing app, and then played around with the beach and the foliage as I just wasn't getting the composition right. But it was fun to do, and gave me a sense of where I wanted to go with the design.

and this is the original photo.

'Steps - a process'

2012-02-29T06:40:00.000-08:00

‘Steps – a process.’

My original idea was to have different thermofax screens made depicting different types of staircases. I was then going to write words that came to mind on the subject, over the staircase and the whole piece. Circumstances prevented me from doing this.

Instead I started with a piece of muslin over which I printed in green and purple using stencils and found objects. I used green because it symbolizes generosity, renewal, inexperience and purple because it symbolizes spirituality, mystery, transformation and enlightenment. These two colors are appropriate for the theme of this piece.

The techniques used were stitch and painting. I started this piece before our last text’art workshop. Armed with new knowledge about color taught to us by Heather, I combined the green and the purple of the steps to give the wall color. The words on this piece were photocopied onto tissue paper and applied to the piece with a matte medium

Steps - A View from a Venetian Gondola

2012-02-29T05:31:00.004-08:00

Taking pictures of steps all over the world has been my passion. These steps, in particular, were especially interesting because they begin at water level in Venice and the view can only be by gondola.

I especially enjoy taking pictures of steps because of the possibility of "where these steps lead" and imagining stories of those who trod up to their destination.

I used Roxio (similar to Photoshop) program to enhance the main picture. Then printed it on cheesecloth that was prepared with Digital Ground White Matte made by Golden. This product allows for the ink to adhere to most materials that will be sent through an ink jet printer.

My background fabric was painted with Seta Color using the Sky Dye Techniques of Mickey Lawler. I altered another photograph of steps taken in Nice and printed it on organza for the overlay to create the feeling of many steps and of masonry walls.

STEPS - before its too late!!

2012-02-29T04:00:00.000-08:00

Torn between two issues of high profile in the country at the moment, the ANC celebrating 100 years and our Rhino's being mutilated for their horns, I opted for the one that to me is more important. If we do not seriously start taking steps to save our Rhino' s , seeing this in the open will be a thing of the past.

Painted, thermofaxed, fused, stitched and then more paint ..... I have battled to take an accurate picture of the work. In reality the 'grades' of green are more blended and softer. For some reason the blues in the middle fabric are dominant in the photo.

Next Step?

2012-02-29T03:00:00.000-08:00

What is my next step after Galerie Ouest? Who knows? This piece depicts my beloved gallery in the summer, window boxes in full bloom. The image is printed onto cotton, ironed onto freezer paper, then machine quilted. The flowers are hand embroidered and the gallery banners are painted with Tsukineko ink.

Step(ping) Stones Across a River

2012-02-29T02:59:00.002-08:00

I have managed to get my picture up amazingly as we have been without internet for the past week due to the fact that we had a massive electrical storm last week and our server was struck by lightning. I trust this get to you all.

I had fun with this one as I did not want to do an Urban Scene and wanted to do something different. I had some inspiration and had fun with this using painted Tyvek for the boulder/stones and thread painting for the vegetation.

Stairway to Surgery

2012-02-29T01:00:00.000-08:00

I have been waiting to have surgery. The surgeon said it would be 10 weeks before the hysterectomy would take place to remove an ovarion cyst. It has now been 27 weeks. Ironically, I am scheduled to have surgery tomorrow!!! Yippee!
My Stairway to Surgery (depicted with the Canadian Medical Assosiation logo) has been a little rocky and bumpy. I chose to quilt my sometimes flaming mood into the background. I hope to have laproscopic surgery and avoid an incision but I thought the use of the indigo fabric with small stitching lines and the stitiched binding was very fitting.

Steps: The Plateau

2012-02-29T00:01:00.000-08:00

Montreal's Plateau is a now-trendy urban neighbourhood that has been home to a succession of immigrant groups. You would think that Montreal, city of ice and snow, would not embrace outdoor staircases, but in fact they are a signature feature of Montreal architecture. I have been told that when houses were taxed on the basis of their "footprint", building the staircase for a duplex outdoors represented a tax savings as well as a savings on construction costs.

This piece is meant as a companion to the Quebec City piece, made in response to the Street Life challenge. It, too, was based on a photo and was made using a line drawing traced onto water-soluble stabilizer.

A queue!

2012-02-28T13:59:00.001-08:00

How interesting it is to see six posts all queued up for the 29th! Has everyone been able to resist taking a quick peep I wonder?

Linda B

And yet more Exquisite Corpses

2012-02-28T08:09:00.001-08:00

Top piece: Head by Marion Perrault, Torso by Helena Scheffer, Legs by Donna Casa
Middle: Head by Wendy Browne, Torso by Noreen Lavallee, Legs by Colleen Paul
Bottom: Head by Helena Scheffer, Torso by Susanne Strater, Legs by Sarah Robinson

Three more Exquisite Corpses

2012-02-28T08:04:00.002-08:00

Artists from top: Head by Pamela Chasen, Torso by Michele Meredith, Legs by Heather Dubreuil
Middle piece: Head by Heather Dubreuil, Torso by Pamela Chasen, Legs by Michele Meredith
Bottom piece: Head by Michele Meredith, Torso by Heather Dubreuil, Legs by Pamela Chasen

As requested, close-ups of Exquisite Corpses

2012-02-28T07:58:00.002-08:00

The concept was that three artists would work on each piece - without consulting each other - one doing the head, another the torso and the third, the legs. Then the 3 pieces were put together and framed. There were 30 in all. In my last post, I forgot to mention that Hilary and Rosie did a corpse with Dianne, and donated it for a raffle that I organized for animal rescue. The raffle collected $450, and a member of our quilt guild won it, so it was a great result all around. Here is a photo: Head by Rosie Francis, Torso by Dianne Robinson, Legs by Hilary Gooding.

Exquisite Corpse Exhibition at Galerie Ouest

2012-02-27T13:23:00.000-08:00

The gallery closed on January 29, and I moved the final show to our local library for the month of February. The show came down for the last time on Sunday, February 26. I thought I would share the textile pieces created by our Montreal 12 by the Dozen members with you before they become a distant memory. The textile and 3-D pieces were incredibly creative, and photos cannot convey how imaginative and finely crafted they are.

snow

2012-02-24T14:42:00.000-08:00

For Linda F. Looking out the front door this afternoon.

And the next theme is to be decided by .....

2012-02-24T04:22:00.003-08:00

In Hilary's absence she asked me to use 'The Hat' once again to select who will name the theme for the next challenge. And the winner is ...

I look forward to seeing what you choose Colleen!

Linda B.

Spring in the UK

2012-02-24T01:54:00.003-08:00

Just to make all our Canadian members slightly jealous, here some daffodils I saw last weekend in Wales. It was actually a cold weekend, and snow (sleet?) fell a few hours later, but the woods and hedgerows are carpeted with snowdrops, and crocus are appearing everywhere. Yesterday we had a mild spell -and Mick and I had lunch in the garden!

On-line course, Part 2

2012-02-22T00:01:00.000-08:00

It has steps but it's not my Steps challenge piece.

As promised, here is the second art quilt I made for Liz Barton's on-line course, "Inspired to Design". First, the photo that inspired me, taken from a window at the Musée des Beaux Arts in Montreal, overlooking an alley.

Then, the line drawing based on the photo.
Then, the "value study". I tried to place the area with the highest value contrast at the focal point, the chairs.
Finally, the finished piece, measuring 12" x 24".

This one has fused shapes in hand-dyes and commercial cotton, essentially in a complementary blue-and-orange scheme. The shapes are outline-stitched-and-quilted with matching thread, and a heavier thread is used to "draw in" the chairs, windows and railings. I lengthened the piece, top and bottom, by about 2". There's not much quilting on it, but then again it's going to be mounted on a canvas so that will flatten it out.

I'm reasonably pleased with it, and hope to do more in this series. I would have started a third one (the class doesn't close until Saturday) but alas, I will be busy preparing tax documents for the family for the next few days.

Steps Teaser

2012-02-20T13:43:00.001-08:00

This collaged photocopy is a byproduct from the photo series used as transfers in my Steps piece. I had to transform the gas station sign into a full moon to bring romance to the hockey rink, but that is the beauty of collage!

Stepping Up?

2012-02-20T06:41:00.001-08:00

Hope I'm not stepping on any toes, but just checking to see if your are stepping up to the Challenge that ends in just over a week?

Are you taking steps to finish? Do you need to quicken your step?

I am high stepping it this week to finish up. I have so enjoyed the step-by-step process.

You have all raised my skills another step and I can't wait to see the unveiling on Feb. 29 - perfectly coordinated with Leap Day - our extra step for the year!

On-line course

2012-02-15T16:12:00.000-08:00

I have been taking a wonderful on-line course with Liz Barton, through quiltuniversity.com, called "Inspired to Design". I have just finished an art quilt based on work done for the course, and wanted to share the process with you. Above is a photo taken in Brooklyn last year, and below is the image translated into a line drawing.

We were encouraged to make value studies, filling in the shapes with dark, medium and light values, and to organize our fabrics by value. In the fourth and last week, Liz explained how she realizes her design in fabric. I used some of her techniques, but not others, and produced this version below, measuring 16" x 21", using hand-dyes.
I'm pleased with the result, and have already started on another project. The "virtual classroom" is open for another ten days or so, and I hope to get feedback from the teacher as I go along. One of the features of the course is that you can monitor the progress of all the other students, seeing what images they post, and eavesdropping on their exchanges with the instructor. Liz responded to every comment, usually within just a few hours. Her insights were spot-on, very valuable and instructive. Students came from all over the U.S., Canada and Europe.

I can't say enough good things about the course, and hope to take her class "Working in a Series", planned for May. It has been a lot of work, but I have learned a lot and have what I hope is the beginning of a series here.

A website worth your time

2012-02-12T04:56:00.000-08:00

Here is a website that was recommended by Elizabeth Barton in the quiltuniversity.com class I am taking.

http://www.artbabble.org/video/vermeer-master-light-music-lesson-part-2

It features a very interesting mini-lecture on the construction of a particular Vermeer painting. I haven't explored the rest of the website, but it promises to be an amazing resource that I plan to return to.

street art

2012-02-07T16:14:00.000-08:00

was in manhattan from thurs - sun. my kids and i did a scavenger hunt in soho yesterday. stumbled into a gallery - pop international galleries - and saw the amazing street art of 2ESAE and SKI. their stuff reminded me a lot of michelle's latest works. google them or take a look at this fickr album
http://www.flickr.com/photos/urnewyork/

Experiments with Dyeing

2012-02-02T09:28:00.000-08:00

Dianne recently loaned me a wonderful book about colour, given to her by Hilary. It is the best book on the subject that I have ever read, titled "Colour: a workshop for artists and designers" and written by David Hornung. My own copy is currently on its way to me from Amazon.

Some of the ideas in the book prompted me to try something new with my hand-dyed fabrics. Usually I have been quite happy to do a simple gradation of colour, whether a bright or a neutral. This time, I took some of my surplus brightly-dyed fat quarters and tried to tone them down by dyeing them with a complementary. I used the indigo that I had on hand to work magic on my oranges:

my last drop of eggplant on the yellows:

and the last bit of turkey red on some greens and turquoises:

I was trying to get some interesting shades to use for the on-line course I'm taking through quiltuniversity.com. The course is called "Inspired to Design", with Liz Barton, and it is very absorbing. Classes 1 and 2 were about using photographs, (and music, poems, shapes) to come up with line drawings, and then isolating single elements or manipulating the drawing to come up with something new. Class 3 was about adding value to the design and choosing a palette of hand-dyed fabrics to work with. In the final class, Liz will explain her technique of getting from drawing to a finished fabric piece. Most of my images are urban-themed, so I was looking for a more nuanced palette.

One of the points made in the book is that if you mix a little bit of a single colour into your chosen palette of primaries and secondaries, you will create a more unified palette of colour. Usually this single mixing colour is a neutral, but not always. So in the case of my dyeing experiments, it was the indigo for one batch, the eggplant for the second, and the turkey red for the third. Some of the results were quite unexpected, but on the whole I am happy with the effort.

More Steps

2012-02-01T14:30:00.001-08:00

Steps

2012-02-01T10:24:00.000-08:00

On a trip to Manchester, I found this in the tourist information.

Would love to have seen it but we had a steam train to catch!

Hilary

Additional Work in Street Life Series

2012-01-26T08:59:00.000-08:00

These are two more in the Street Life Series using image transfer. If you set the camera on the setting for cyanotype and make colour laser photocopies you get a grey and pink cast over the transfer#2. Using the vivid colour setting the transfer will have a range and intensity of colour choices depending the number of prints that you take off of each copy#1. These are 12x24 and 10x30. The series subtitle will be In Your Own Back Yard. The photos were taken in the nearby village of Ste Anne de Bellevue and in the east end of Montreal on Mont Royal Street.

2011 Journal quilts

2012-01-18T03:56:00.001-08:00

I've finally finished my 2011 journal quilts for the Contemporary Quilt group here in the UK. This year they all had to be 10 inches square, with circles on the first four, text on the next four, and a button, or buttons, on the final four. My idea this year was to do a series which fitted together at the end of the year, so I cheated rather on the text and button parts, and just used fabrics which had printed text and buttons on them.

Here's what the final set of journals looks like. I did the overall design of interlocking circles at the beginning of the year, picked a set of fabrics, then each month made my predetermined design, adding extra detail with fused fabrics and quilting. My rule (which I relaxed for the final few) was not to look at what I had done on a previous month so that the fabrics were distributed across the whole piece randomly.

I'm quite pleased with the final result, and I loved the technique of joining the curved sections using machine applique from the top, but now I'm faced with the question of whether, and if so, how, should I join them together??

A little me time!

2012-01-14T21:01:00.000-08:00

I had the dyes out as I needed some colours for my own personal challenge and before I tucked them away for another day I took some time out to splash some colour around ..... quite yummy , have nothing specific in mind, but they will be used down the line.

This is half of a longer piece

These next two are fat quarter size.

If I am honest with myself I am probably using distractions as I am still between two with my 'steps' piece. .... animal ...political ?????? Need to make a decision. Take steps !

Steps: Just Teasin'

2012-01-14T17:37:00.000-08:00

David Hockney, art and iPads

2012-01-13T23:50:00.000-08:00

For those of you interested in art and artists and how they might be adapting to the modern world here's an interview with David Hockney and how excited he is with his iPad as an art tool.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16545771

Hilary

A question

2012-01-12T14:59:00.001-08:00

As I mentioned in a comment on Heather's post, I've been asked to look at a group website, and I was wondering if I could get some opinions from you all.

When you go to the web site of a small quilting group - what are you interested in? What is the information you would like to get from the site - in short, why did you go to the site in the first place? Having got to the site, what would you like to know about the group and what would you like to see? Any comments would be most welcome.

On another matter, I'm still nowhere with my 'Steps'. The one photo I had in my mind as being a suitable source of inspiration turns out to be a view of a staircase, but looking up - and no steps are visible at all. Back to the drawing board for me!

Steps

2012-01-09T23:57:00.000-08:00

Aagh! that's two of you who have finished your steps. How cruel that I had an idea and a window of opportunity that turned out to be only long enough to make the trial piece. I am now bogged down in a mire of other things I must do... Well done Heather and Colleen.

Here's a taster of what I'm working with.

Hilary

Decisions, decisions...

2012-01-08T06:30:00.001-08:00

My website is badly in need of an overhaul. I have outsourced the design and maintenance of the site, and because there is always a charge for adding and deleting information, images, etc., I don't do a good job of keeping it up to date.

I think I have two choices, and I would appreciate your advice on the matter.

Option #1: Go to an on-line site that will give me a template for doing my own website. The advantage of this is that I get to keep my domain name. The disadvantage is that there will be a steep learning curve for me. Because I would want it to be bilingual, I would be limited to the few templates that allow for this. (I understand the WordPress is one of them.)

Option #2: I start my own blog. My son says that blogs are livelier, more immediate than websites. On the plus side, I am somewhat familiar with the blog format. Also, I could include little galleries of my work, as we do for past challenges. I am pretty sure I could do at least a weekly posting. Downside: I will have to reprint my business cards.

If I choose Option #2, I could pay a small annual fee to retain ownership of my domain name. (Who else would want it? A pornographer?) When you are asked to list your website on submissions, etc., is a blog site as readily accepted?

I hope some of you will weigh in with your experiences and advise me.

P.S. I'm not on Facebook and would prefer not to be, if that is even a factor in the decision.

Artisit's statements

2012-01-07T09:36:00.000-08:00

Someone came across this on the internet, and I couldn't stop laughing at the outcome.

http://www.playdamage.org/market-o-matic/

How to write a meaningless artist's statement that someone might almost take seriously.

How I Spent my Christmas Vacation

2012-01-03T07:29:00.000-08:00

I offered to make a cuddle quilt for my daughter and boyfriend, and had a great time making it with the help of my 2 girls. We set up a "sweatshop" and they cut strips and I sewed. They ironed and I quilted. Kathryn wanted it long and narrow for her huge couch, so it ended up being 128" x 75"! Fortunately it was a breeze to quilt on my new Handiquilter Sweet 16. Kathryn even made the binding which I applied by machine. The whole thing was finished in 2 days.

A light bulb moment

2012-01-03T01:05:00.000-08:00

How often these flashes come when you are least expecting them! I was slowly coming to this morning in that dreamy time when you are neither really awake or asleep and I now have my steps - trouble is I have two. How greedy is that?! And better still - I have a window of opportunity before the next lot of fabric arrives from Makower.

This is going to be a big year for Britain what with the Olympics and the Queens Diamond Jubilee and Makower have come up with some patriotic fabrics in red, white and blue - naturally. And the pressure will be on because the projects have to be presented at the big trade show here in the UK in February. Situation normal then!

Off to do a couple of trials - will it be summer or winter...?

Hilary

And on Earth, Peace....

2011-12-26T09:37:00.000-08:00

Above is an image of my Christmas card for this year, sent as a post card to perhaps two dozen family and friends. The angel is from a photo taken at a Montreal cemetery, transferred with TAP onto painted cotton and finished with some stamping and stenciling. Backed with Timtex and paper, then zigzag finished.

Christmas dinner is just a memory now, and a fridge full of leftovers. We were lucky enough to have our four children here, two with boyfriends in tow. We know we won't always be blessed with a full table for the holiday dinner, so we are grateful for it now. Our niece announced her engagement as the family gathered, which made it very special.

Warm wishes to all of you and your families for a festive holiday season.

Happy Christmas

2011-12-25T11:59:00.000-08:00

The turkey has been eaten, too much wine has been drunk, and we've just finished opening our Christmas presents. All our immediate family is here, for the first time in six years, and we have more family arriving tomorrow. Happy Christmas to you all, I'm thinking of you all on this lovely evening. Here's hoping you all have a wonderful 2012 with lots of joy and creativity.

Happy Christmas day, Chanukah and all

2011-12-25T06:02:00.000-08:00

dear friends
sitting in ottawa watching the snow gently fall is how i always imagined the perfect christmas day. martin (my husband) is working at the hospital and tikvah (my younger daughter) and i are frying latkes and getting ready for our 6th night of chanukah.
a beautiful , cherished holiday time to you all and wishing you all a blessed 2012. belonging to this group is one of the blessings i give thanks for at this time
love to you all
pam

Xmas Greetings from Durban, SA

2011-12-23T22:58:00.000-08:00

Season's Greetings to all and your families.

May you be blessed with joy, laughter and health in 2012.

Triaxial weaving

2011-12-22T09:25:00.000-08:00

It's amazing where a challenge can take you! I spent this afternoon playing with triaxial weaving, using papers -

I've blogged about this technique, including links, in case you are sufficiently interested and have time between the mince pies and the carols.

Linda B.

Lucy and Chloe: Model dogs

2011-12-17T15:28:00.000-08:00

I have just received the photos of my dogs modeling organic cotton handknit sweaters. Here is the link for the sweaters, but I just have to share my beautiful dogs. And now you can see the original Lucy who was featured in the Street Life piece, New Girl on the Street.
http://www.ziaandtiahandknits.com

Secrets and Codes Part 2

2011-12-15T09:46:00.000-08:00

OK here is the finished piece - front and back (without the sleeve or label to spoil the lovely backing fabric - thanks, Rosie). It measure 34" x 36" - quite manageable. I am happy to say it lies absolutely flat after a bit of easing to get rid of the excess around the edges created by quilting the Braille 'dominoes'.

Front

Back

Thanks for the compliments.

Hilary

Secrets and Codes

2011-12-11T23:52:00.001-08:00

I have been working away at a quilt for an exhibition at the end of February - but the proposal had to be in by the end of November so there was a clash between Street Life and this quilt. Thankfully, by the skin of my teeth, I got both done. When will I ever learn not to leave things till the last minute?!

I have written up the story of this quilt on a blog attached to my website. No, I am not about to start blogging but I thought this might be one way of keeping a record of the trials and tribulations of my quilt making. Here's a detail which includes bar codes, my QR code and Braille.

You can read the rest of the story here: http://hilarygooding.weebly.com/blog.html

Hilary

Draw a stickman

2011-12-06T11:32:00.000-08:00

OK, this is not strictly relevant to our work - but I loved it. Give it a go.

Draw a Stickman

www.drawastickman.com

Draw a stickman and watch him come to life!

Street Life Series

2011-12-04T17:28:00.001-08:00

" Through the Looking Glass I "

This was the first of the series for our steetlife challenge. It sold together with the companion piece Through the Looking Glass II ,at a gallery space that was rented for the month of December by 13 local Hudson artists. It is a very nicely lit space and will hopefully be of use to all the Hudson artists until the building sells. The first photo was taken from the side to show the wrap around images.

Diagonale (4)

2011-12-03T17:03:00.000-08:00

Michele and I visited the Diagonale show yesterday, and were very impressed with the almost 200 pieces on display. Seeing them in the large, well-lit gallery allowed us to appreciate their variety, complexity and nuance.

Pam attended the silent auction today, and said there were hundreds of people there, though only 20 - 30% of the pieces were actually sold. I am thrilled to report that both of mine were sold, and also Pam's piece with the yellow star.

It was fun to participate. I find that the event is something of a peek into another dimension of fibre art.

Blog badge

2011-12-03T15:46:00.001-08:00

I'm sure that we had a blog badge, but Michele's previous post made me wonder what I'd done with it, so if you want a link on your blog/website try this if you are comfy with editing your template:

<br /><div align="left"><a href="http://12bythedozen.blogspot.com//" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-zf0RMuvcPKI/Ttqzr6Q8q9I/AAAAAAAADpc/9KgM0zKw7NY/w698-h148-k/12bythedozen.jpg" /></a></div><br />

The image is in my Google+ albums which may be a problem, but I won't know until/unless someone wants to try it!

Linda B

Occasional jottings: Reminder to self

2011-12-02T18:46:00.000-08:00

Occasional jottings: Reminder to self: 29 WAYS TO STAY CREATIVE from TO-FU on Vimeo

Hope you can view this. If not you can see it at the website of Linda B. Think it is great!

Addendum to Street Life

2011-12-01T04:30:00.000-08:00

Wanted to share these images with you, collages done by Claudette Castonguay. I bought these in the form of gift cards at the Museum of Contemporary Art here in Montreal, some years ago. If you study them closely, you can see that she has blocked in the major shapes with paint, and then added tiny photos of windows, doors, Persian carpets, etc. often repeating a single image. She has also introduced whimsical drawings of chairs, bikes, etc. as well as printed material: sheet music, menus etc. I find them very lively and very beautiful.

They are titled "Madrigali", "La Ruelle" and "Allegrossimo"

Next Theme: Steps

2011-11-30T21:25:00.000-08:00

STEPS is the theme for our next challenge that will be due February 29 (you have an extra day as this is a leap year...hmmm...could that be tied into this next theme?) Tee Hee Enjoy!

Street Life

2011-11-30T16:21:00.001-08:00

‘Street life’ or ‘Life on the street.’

I drive my daughter to school every morning and we cross a very busy intersection (Plamondon and Cote des Neiges) where there is a crossing guard and many children. Most mornings we chat about what we see. The changing seasons are very visible at this intersection - either the mounds of snow or piles of leaves. We often comment on the attire of those crossing the road and discuss how their clothing and paraphernalia (snow boards, skate boards, hockey sticks, roller blades etc) relate to the seasons. In our opinion, autumn (or fall) wins the trophy! The season starts with a few unremarkable brownish leaves and ends with an enormous collection of every shade of autumn you can imagine. One morning this past autumn, when the leaves were at their best and many of the children began to wear their warm, brightly colored jackets, my daughter said, ‘Mommy, why don’t you sew this for ‘Street life?’ That did it!

Techniques are appliqué on steam a seam for the people , the sign, the building and windows. For the autumn leaves I ‘sliced’ bits of silk and bonded them to the background with steam a seam and bo-nash. I did not cover these silk bits with tulle or anything similar because I kind of don’t mind if bits of the silk ‘flutters’ around much like the leaves. If they eventually all disappear off this piece, that will be part of what we see at this very interesting intersection. One of my favorite South African artists (no, not William Kentridge …) is Jan Van der Merwe http://www.art.co.za/janvandermerwe/ . He works in rust which also changes its composition over time. I used this rationale when deciding not to ‘trap’ my leaves down.

I had fun with this piece – it was quite a ‘leap’ out of my usual style.

The Street Life Challenge

2011-11-30T07:01:00.001-08:00

Am I allowed to be pleased with the title I chose for this challenge? I'm certainly amazed, fascinated and enthralled by the results. So many different interpretations, each with with their own feel - wonderful!

Street Life

2011-11-30T06:07:00.001-08:00

Racoons are a common occurance in our neighbourhood. The racoons are thread painted, the garbage can is done with Paintstiks and the eyes are Swarovski crystals. Great topic!

Lucy: New Girl on the Street

2011-11-30T05:40:00.001-08:00

Lucy, a 6-year-old pug, is the newest member of our 4-legged family, joining Chloe the retriever mix and Loki the chihuahua, all rescued dogs. We have had her for 2 months and she is so lovable and adorable that everyone wants to leave the house with her concealed under their coat. Anyway, 2 months ago, Mary Pal gave a workshop at our guild on her brilliant technique of cheesecloth portraiture. In the class we created a portrait of a woman. I then went on to create my portrait of Lucy using Mary's method. This portrait is made simply of cheesecloth and glue, laid down onto an ultrasuede background. You will be able to see Lucy again in the Exquisite Corpse exhibition at Galerie Ouest in January, when she will serve as the head of one of the "corpses". This will be the final exhibition at the gallery, which will be closing at the end of January 2012 after 4 wonderful years. I will post photos of the show on the blog in January...

Through the Screen Door

2011-11-30T05:32:00.001-08:00

Living in Texas, "Street Life" immediately conjured up images of insects that are teeming in the out-of-doors. I originally started out with trying to depict ant trails that are found everywhere but I did not achieve the effect I had in mind. Then I thought about other bugs that are plentiful here: the June or Corn beetle, the Love bugs (beetles), Ladybugs, just to name a few. The composition idea came from an exercise in one of my art books. I took "creative license" in drawing my own beetles. It is whole cloth painted with Color Hue dyes over a screen. I added details with my pigma and Fabrico pens. I outlined the bugs with black thread and quilted it with invisible thread.

Street Life East African Style

2011-11-30T04:24:00.001-08:00

Street Life in East Africa is dusty, hectic, colourful, noisy and fantastic! At a guess I would say that a third of business takes place around the pavements and streets. You can buy just about anything. Bananas are one of the staple foods of the people in the area. They come in all shapes, sizes and colours and are eaten in various ways. This street vendor is typical of what you will come across and the one common factor amongst them all is the smile.

Whole cloth, fused and painted. I stitched the background first and then went in with the fabric oil pastels and pens.

Street Life

2011-11-30T01:03:00.001-08:00

This was a wonderful theme, and I worry I haven't done justice to it, especially after seeing everyone else's work. I had lots of ideas, but very little time, which was my own fault. I was determined to use a street scene from Castle Donington now I have moved back here, and the perfect occasion arose in October when the annual Wakes were held. This was originally a 'hiring' fair for those seeking work and/or workers, but is now an annual fun fair held in the main street of our village. I took many photos on the last night of the fair, but the weather was bad and most of the rides were packing up. None of my photos inspired me, but I still wanted to try and show the contrast between the 17th century buildings and the modern rides and lights. I decided to try an abstract version of the houses, and add the lights and colours with thread. I then managed to scupper myself by leaving the glow-in-dark threads which I had planned to use at a meeting the day before this had to be finished. The 'houses' were pieced using simple 'no-ruler' strips, and the 'lights' free-machined.

Occupy Montreal

2011-11-30T00:20:00.000-08:00

As in many cities around the world, we had our own "occupy" site downtown. Lots of tents, people and general good will. It just seemed a perfect topic at the time for street life. (Mine was well under way before the snow arrived - it would have certainly had a different look that day!) Having just taken courses with Noriko Endo and Katie Pasquini-Masopust at Houston, and Karen Goetzinger here at home, I felt that I was able to put to good use some of the things that I had learned. Notably the trees à la Noriko. A little transparency with the buildings - hopefully those squares look like lights on. A little better eye for composition but please don't tell me about the crossed lines in the middle - a pruning error when squaring up! A fun topic and I still have more ideas to try from it. Thanks Linda.

Street Life: Quebec City

2011-11-30T00:01:00.000-08:00

This challenge was a very welcome opportunity for me to work with an architectural subject. I love cities! The piece looks simple enough but there were many steps and decisions and, yes, mistakes along the way.

Four weeks ago I went to Quebec City. I printed out some of my photos taken there and made a collage with them. Working with a photocopy of the collage, I outlined the major shapes with a marker, and then traced this line drawing to a water-soluble stabilizer, which I then spray-basted to a square of gray, hand-dyed cotton. With black, 40-weight thread, I machine-stitched the line drawing onto the cotton, backed with white Timtex.

Colourful buildings are one of the distinctive features of the Old Town, so I considered applying paint to the roof shapes to correspond to the original photos. I had a photocopy made of the stitched cloth so I could preview the effect, but in the end I decided on a monochromatic palette. I may make a more colourful version in the future. I used TAP to introduce the photographic images, but they were so high-contrast that they detracted from the couple walking in the foreground, so I scratched some of the TAP off the cloth. The original collage included some beautiful stone walls, but again I opted for simplicity and decided against duplicating the texture in stitch.

There was some scorching of the cotton when I applied the TAP, and I can only guess that there may have been some residue of soda ash, basting spray or stabilizer that caused this. Also, I must remember in the future to make my sketch a little less than 12" a side, as I like to have a narrow border of the painted canvas mount showing. By making the sketch 12" square, I had to trim the edges a little too close to the photo images.

Street Life

2011-11-30T00:00:00.000-08:00

How ironic that my own challenge title caused me more problems than any previous one I've done! It seemed that each time I came close to a resolution something inside me complicated the original idea to a point where it became unmake-able and probably unreadable if completed.
I suspect that I was guilty of trying too hard because, in the end, it was a personal response that led to this piece which was completed within twenty-four hours of my first response.
A recent trip into Manchester lasted longer than intended and I got caught up in the evening rush hour as the already busy streets filled with workers making their way home. I used to love the buzz of the city but this time I was struck by the isolation of the individuals in the crowd and my own increasing discomfort at being propelled by the momentum of the rush hour.

The border fabric was chosen to represent my discomfort and the photograph was Colour mapped in Gimp to match the fabric as closely as I could. The photograph was then bondawebbed, slashed and attached to the backing fabric.

In the end I enjoyed putting this piece together and thanks must go to Michele for suggesting an offshoot from a previous piece!

You see life on the streets

2011-11-29T23:07:00.001-08:00

Thanks for the theme, Linda B. As some of you already know my first (wicked) thought was a rat disappearing into a drain pipe! But I had foolishly promised to try a new technique this time and I would have reverted to my usual style. My second idea was to try out the collage effect that Heather and Michele are so successful at - I have loads of images of doors and architecture from France to play with. But it was the third idea that kept niggling and developing in the back of my mind. So here it is. The skill level is zero and there are loads more things I 'could' have done had I had the time - and who's fault is that? Anyway, it was fun and I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

And yes, Dianne, it was someone with a bag - but you couldn't see the bag in that little clip - good guess!

The figures were sketched, scanned and printed onto old fashioned typist's copy paper and only the main lines stitched through the paper. Then, with paper removed, the blocks of coloured fabric were fused in position and the rest of the lines stitched free-hand. The border is first satin stitched then four colourful yarns twisted and attached with the serpentine stitch (the multi stitch meandering one).

Now I can't wait to see what you all have come up with.

Hilary

Street Life

2011-11-29T22:59:00.000-08:00

This is my piece which I have given an African theme. The graffitti means "come" in Zulu and I have used Shwe Shwe fabric for the dress the flower seller is wearing. This is a very South African 100% cotton which is used extensively in the quilting medium and also is an extremely popular garment fabric. We have come a long way with this fabric and you can read all about the history of this if you google the name. We had a wonderful show of this at the Birmingham Festival.

Looking forward to seeing eveyone's interpretation - its always exciting to see what everyone has done.

Course

2011-11-22T06:33:00.000-08:00

These are some of the exercises that we did on Karen's course. Each person's is very different which made the class all that more interesting.

This one was meant to show the effect of colour placement and how colours affect each other. The pink and orange are very bright and don't show well in the picture, but you get a sense of size of the centre squares - they are all equal, but don't look it.

I've wanted to play with trees for a while, and we were given a series of words and told to choose one and portray it. This is growth.

More colour exercise. The top left is an assembly of different pieces to show how to make transparency. The other 3 were meant to show the effect of colours on other colours. I think some of the effects have been lost in the photographs.....the best one is the diagonal slash - it looks different with the different backgrounds but it's the same colour in both.

Another Teaser!

2011-11-20T20:04:00.001-08:00

Just to make me feel I am getting there ...... my teaser! Need to shut myself in the room and get down to it!

Happy news

2011-11-20T16:07:00.000-08:00

I am happy to report that both Heather and I will be showing work from our previous posts in a juried exhibition at Stewart Hall Gallery in Pointe Claire. This is a show called The New Collection 2012 and will include drawing, painting, photography, and mixed media. The annual exhibition is showing this year from November 26 to January 22nd with the vernissage on Sunday November 27th at 2pm. The works then go into a rental collection(also for sale) available for the year from the rental and sales service on the second floor library. One of my blue Day in the Life Series will show and two of Heather's Tuscany Series . We are both very pleased to participate in this show.

Colour and Design

2011-11-20T05:33:00.000-08:00

Our Text'Art group (minus Pam, plus Katherine who didn't get in the picture unfortunately) met for 2 days with Karen Goetzinger, a textile artist from Ottawa. She led us through all sorts of exercises on colour and design with the intention of improving our understanding how both work. It was rewarding and fun. And much appreciated. It will hopefully allow us to better critique our own work, and perhaps give us a more knowledgeable eye to look at others'.

Thanks also to Helena for letting us use her wonderful gallery space. For those of you who don't know us: l to r Helena, Colleen, Dianne, Heather, Michele.

A little teaser...

2011-11-20T03:26:00.001-08:00

Here's a tiny snippet from my Street Life. Doesn't the fabric look rough close-up?!

Hilary

Our next challenge

2011-11-18T00:41:00.001-08:00

I used my virtual hat - http://www.harmonyhollow.net/hat.shtmland the person to choose the next theme is Venetta! Have fun.

Street Life - Finished!

2011-11-17T12:48:00.001-08:00

Having thunk until I wore my brain out inspiration hit when I went into Manchester to do a bit of shopping and got caught up in the rush hour. It's a long time since that happened to me, I used to love the buzz of the city but quite prefer the buzz of the sewing machine these days!

I had to make sure that I'd finished by this weekend as next week I'm going to Grasmere in our Lake District from Monday to Friday with a dozen other quilters to be led in a workshop by Gillian Travis who is just such a natural teacher. I've been to Glenthorne with Gillian before on a 'Retreat' so I know what to expect. The place is warm and welcoming and as you might expect very peaceful. The food is good, and there is the opportunity to have wine with dinner which I hadn't expected. My only problem is that the freshly made cakes with afternoon tea take some walking off, but that's OK as Gillian insists that everyone takes a break in the afternoon!

Diagonale (3)

2011-11-17T07:51:00.000-08:00

A few days ago, Pam and I learned that our pieces had been accepted into the Diagonale fund-raising auction. I waited until today to post the news because the organization's website has just now added a link to an on-line gallery, showing all 172 entries. You can visit it by going to
www.artdiagonale.org
and clicking on the red words, "Cliquez ici pour voir les images."

The images are divided into three pages, arranged alphabetically by artist. If you hover over the thumbnail, you can read the name of the artist, but if you click on the thumbnail, you can get more information, like the title, as well as a larger image.

The work submitted gives you some indication of the aesthetic of this group, which is certainly not that of your typical quilting guild. I'd say the work Pam and I submitted represents just about the most conventional approach in the gallery. I find it intriguing to see what's being done in the young, francophone sector of the city, especially as this group is partially supported by public funds.

2011-11-17T07:22:00.000-08:00

I am happy to report that I have finished mine! Yay! This subject was quite a challenge and of course it had to have an African theme! I am so looking forward to seeing what everyone has done.

Creative challenge

2011-11-11T06:18:00.001-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J59n8FsoRLE&feature=player_embedded#%21

Street Life

2011-11-11T02:24:00.001-08:00

Yippee - I now have a direction to follow. It has taken it's time developing but I made a couple of samples yesterday and I am happy with my plan. Plan A and B are still in reserve just in case, Plan C has been ditched, Plan D is the one!

I wish I could give you a naughty clue - maybe when I get started...

How's everyone else getting on? I know that one or two are already finished - lucky you.

Hilary

Together in Houston

2011-11-09T05:43:00.000-08:00

Dianne, Helena and Venetta met for the first time last week in Houston. Venetta treated us to an amazing Texas style picnic lunch at the Quilt Festival - thank you, Venetta. It was delicious and a wonderful way to spend the time getting to know each other.

Standing at the back are Venetta, me and Helena. Seated at the table are Ellen (who nearly joined the group at the beginning), Dianne, Marion (who sadly left the group) and Jean (who has just spearheaded another online group). This is their brand new blog: http://www.voyagearttextiles.blogspot.com/

I wonder when we will next meet up? I still have hopes that one day the group will meet up at the Festival of Quilts in the UK - well, I can dream...

Hilary

Diagonale (2)

2011-11-06T08:42:00.000-08:00

'Le papillon' was inspired by a poem written in French by Pavel Friedmann in 1942 the year in which he was deported to Thesienstadt concentration camp. Two years later he was deported to Auschwitz where he died. Following are a few lines from the poem translated into English:
The Butterfly
The last, the very last
So richly, brightly, dazzling yellow.
............
...........
That butterfly was the last one.
Butterflies don't live in here, in the ghetto.

I used photographs of children taken in Theresienstadt concentration camp which I photocopied and then used gel medium to make them into the background. I then used yellow tulle for the butterfly which I stitched and then appliqued over the images. I mounted it over an 8" square canvas board.

The second one 'etoile jaune,' follows on the theme of the first. The jacket and star were machine appliqued onto a raw edged 8 X 8" background onto which I had machine stitched barbed wire fencing. I then glued it onto an 8" square fabric board

I had the pleasure of taking Heather's and my submissions to the gallery to hand in. There is an exciting exhibition on of Barbara Wisnoski's work. She was sitting there and sewing n an old singer treadle machine. I had the pleasure of meeting her and chatting with her. I also saw a room piled high with entries!!

We'll keep you posted!

Diagonale

2011-11-04T15:26:00.000-07:00

Pam and I have each entered two pieces into a fundraising auction for Diagonale, a Montreal-based organization for the promotion of textile art. It is a juried event, and they have a very particular aesthetic: very urban, rather conceptual. Neither Pam nor I is a member, but I am somewhat intrigued by them as they are actually a major, francophone, tax-funded group here in Montreal.

Each piece is to be no more than 8 x 8, excluding framing. If accepted, they will be auctioned on December 3 for a minimum of $100 each. The theme is "Jaune".

My first piece is titled "Simple Pleasures". It uses a line drawing I produced in a workshop, when given 30 seconds and required to use my non-dominant hand. Have always liked the drawing, and thought it might be used to illustrate the playful, childlike quality of yellow. It is mounted on a 9 x 9 pre-stretched canvas covered with hand-dyed blue cotton.

The second piece is titled "Insomnia". It was stitched onto Timtex and black felt, and mounted on a 6 x 6 pre-stretched canvas which cannot be seen behind the edges of the piece.

Pleased with myself for getting them both completed with a tight deadline. Will now wait and see whether they're accepted. All pieces juried in will be displayed on their website,
www.artdiagonale.org so you can follow along if you, too, are intrigued.

I'm stumped!

2011-11-04T03:09:00.000-07:00

What an irony - I chose this challenge subject and I can't think of a thing to do with it! Lots of ideas have passed through my frazzled brain but none have stuck - could be a midnight oil job at this rate!

New Studio

2011-11-03T03:51:00.000-07:00

The new studio in England is finally sorted, so here a few images. It's quite a large room (by English standards) with french windows opening onto the front garden. After many trips to Ikea and do-it-yourself stores we finally have it the way I wanted. In one corner is the desk, with Mac in pride of place. Another corner contains my two sewing machines at right angles to each other. The third corner contains a nice gas fire - put in when we expected this room to become a sitting room or dining room, and the door to the hall occupies the 4th corner. In the middle of the room is the piece-de-resistance - the large worksurface when I can cut, design or do what ever I want! It's high, but my plastic drawer units containing fabric and tools fit underneath it very neatly, and in the very middle I can store waddings, well out-of-sight. An Ikea unit between the desk and the door contains threads, books, paints, dyes and silk screens (the latter hidden in the blue boxes). This still needs a bit more sorting - there are still a number of books in my old room that I want to bring over. I'm extremely pleased with the whole set-up, though I have yet to work out how to get a design wall in. Possibly a stand alone one between the HQ16 and the fireplace?

We're having the rest of the garden landscaped at the moment as well - hence the man pushing a wheel barrow that you can see through the window. Now I just need to start my Street Life piece (oh, and finish sorting out the rest of our belongings). I've been photographing the local Wakes and I think I have my subject!

Snow and Ice Dyeing

2011-10-22T05:53:00.000-07:00

I have been given permission to share this article which appeared in the American Quilt back in January by the author, Lisa White Reber. Thank you Lisa.

Here it is: http://www.dippydyes.com/SnowDyeArticle.pdf

Sadly Phil, Patricia and Venetta probably will never the chance to try it out and Lindas B and F and my chances are fairly limited but I know that Dianne has taken the rest of you on this adventure already. Winter is on it's way - we gave in and put the crentral heating on yesterday - so get ready to play again!

Hilary

Collography trials

2011-10-19T03:14:00.000-07:00

Nearly there. Both plates are from Hilary and my lesson. The one on the right, with very little definition, I sealed with Artists Varnish, as we had had problems earlier going straight in with the non-etching paint. This has probably removed some of the definition particularly the indents and is not so successful. The left plate I left as is and went in straight with the paint. I mixed acrylic paint with and extender and a bit of gel medium and painted lightly the plate, removing excess with a dabbing movement and paper towel; I painted the area of the fabric with gel medium and then placed the fabric over the plate which I had placed on a soft pin board; a length of felt was placed over the fabric and then I ran a brayer with as much force as I could over the plate area. The left hand sample is a lot better and will perservere with new plates and more bumps and dents.

Square Unsquare Challenge

2011-10-16T14:59:00.000-07:00

This is the piece that I finished for the unsquare challenge for tomorrow night's Out of the Box meeting in Ottawa, It is composed of cheesecloth and other sheer fabrics embellished together onto batting and felt then stitched onto wire mesh. For display it is attached to a small canvas at the sides and a wire added for hanging . Some stitching through the center helps to hold the desired curve .The talisman hanging from the top is made in honour of my friends first grandson who after a premature birth is recovering from a small surgery but is doing very well in hospital. They look forward to his homecoming. This measures 10 " x 9 "

Square / Unsquare

2011-10-16T08:57:00.000-07:00

Michele and I belong to a group in Ottawa called Out of the Box Fibre Artists. We have been given the challenge of producing a piece no bigger than 12" in any dimension for a show in an Ottawa-area library. The theme of the show is "Unsquare".

I made this piece as something of a follow-up to my Fresh challenge. It also relates to the large "It's All That..." piece I produced last May for the local medical centre. I tried to make the outer edge interesting, and to make the brighter fabrics luminous by setting them next to duller colours. I have always loved Janet Kurjan's piece, "Underwater Reflection", which you can see at www.thefiberconnection.com/janet.html.

The pieced cotton top was bonded to a Timtex stiffener, which was in turn bonded to black felt. The whole thing was stitched in the ditch. and then the edge was satin-stitched. It has been mounted on an 8" x 8" canvas, painted with black gesso, which will not be seen, but will serve to project it out from the wall about an inch. Wanted to avoid that "potholder look". It will be fun to see the other entries when we meet tomorrow evening.

Photo Collage for Fall Show

2011-10-06T14:33:00.000-07:00

These are recently completed collages that will be entries for two local fall art shows .They are both mounted on 24x24 gallery canvas . The first will be in a few days with our local Hudson Artists Association that both Heather are participating in for the second time. I hope my location will be near the lovely Tuscan series that you see in the last posting. The second to be determined by the jury for the Stewart Hall Gallery is due in November .! Wish me luck! Thanks to Heather for all her encouragement during the completion of both of these pieces.

Tuscany series continued

2011-10-06T10:42:00.000-07:00

I think one of the best outcomes of our themes is if I can learn from my challenge piece and go on to produce more in the series. I have made another four 12 x 12's and a larger 24 x 20, not counting the three 5 x 7's I made for the WildCard fundraiser, and not counting the two finished pieces that ended up in the garbage. One of the works was rejected because I misspelled Siena!

These pieces are mounted on stretched canvases, painted with black gesso. I have left a little margin of canvas showing around the edges. The pieces themselves are stitched to black felt and the edges are finished with a short zigzag stitch.

The image transfers were done using photocopies, acetone and tissue paper, which was applied to the painted cloth with matte medium. More painting, stamping and stenciling followed, then a coat of matte medium over all, then stitching, then more paint was applied, sometimes rubbed off with a rag or rubbed into the stitching line to emphasize it.

These will go into the fall show of our local art group, the Hudson Artists, to be held October 14 - 16. (Michele is also showing some of her recent pieces.) The larger piece is going to be my entry to Synthesis 2, a juried SAQA show for the Eastern Canada division.

I have been struggling to achieve a kind of obscurity, mystery, ambiguity, even unease, while still offering the viewer enough contrast to discern the images. A fine line. While they cannot be appreciated from a distance, I hope they will draw the viewer in for a closer look.

Congratulations, Helena!

2011-09-22T11:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Helena's donation to the SAQA auction sold for $350 to a buyer from Tennessee. Of the 100 or so 12-inch-square quilts in her group, only a few had sold at that point. We had a deal that if unsold, I was going to bid on her piece, and she was going to bid on mine, just to save face. Someone beat me to it!

If you'd like to follow the auction action, go to www.saqa.com, click on the auction, and scroll down page 2b to see Helena's beautiful piece, Spontaneous Combustion 2.

Congratulations Venetta

2011-09-20T19:16:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Venetta for her winning quilt in the Cherrywood Challenge Quilts for ovarian cancer.I enjoyed seeing all the quilts online which were a very impressive collection. Will this quilt go on display somewhere now Venetta?

And mine

2011-09-20T16:18:00.000-07:00

Many of us live near the water and Linda's use of the marbled fabric that we made was perfect. Here's where I live and the scarf I now proudly possess. Thanks Linda.

Leaving, Part 2

2011-09-20T06:46:00.001-07:00

Here's a photo taken at our dinner on Sunday, to mark Linda's moving back to the U.K. Aren't we all a jolly bunch? With Linda front and centre, we six are wearing the curly scarves she made for each of us. We are also holding the mini-quilts she gave us. Here is a picture of mine.

At first, we all admired them as little abstract compositions, remarking that she had used fabric painted, stamped, dyed or marbled in our monthly get-togethers, and finished them with an amazing variety and density of machine quilting. We noted the titles, "Heading Home".

Finally, the penny dropped. We saw that Linda had used Google maps to produce six different aerial images of our homes and neighbourhoods complete with roads and railroads, with a little square to represent our actual houses. What a perfect melding of Linda's talent as an art quilter with the Forey background in aeronautics!

Linda, we will miss you more than words can say. Thank you for sharing your warmth and talent with us, and making our little group so lively and so inspirational.

Leaving

2011-09-19T11:58:00.000-07:00

My time in Canada is fast coming to an end - I have less than 2 weeks left. Last night I was honoured to be entertained to dinner by the other members of our Text'Art group, and given the small quiltlets you can see here. Each is just 4 inches square, and they are an exquisite set of jewels! I'm not sure the photo does them justice.

I've also just finished my last pieces of work here in Canada - 2 small 5 x 7 inch pieces for the

Wildcard challenge. They will be sold to help raise money for Le Nichor Wild Bird Rehabilitation Centre.

Time to cast your vote...

2011-09-14T15:48:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder to cast your vote for your favorite or favorites Cherrywood Challenge Quilts for the MD Anderson Ovarian Cancer Quilt Project. You can "like"on Facebook the quilts you vote for. Of the 20 quilts in the competition, there are two from our group...Hilary and myself amongst an outstanding group of talented art quilters! To vote, go to Ovarian Cancer Quilt Project Facebook and then to the Cherrywood Challenge Quilts and vote/"like" away. There will be top three winners recognized and all for awareness and education for Ovarian and Uterine Cancers. The top winners will also be featured in the MD Anderson booth at International Quilt Festival in November! They are all spectacular and we hope you enjoy seeing them all.

Playtime with Phil

2011-09-04T05:46:00.000-07:00

As promised, now that I have almost fought my way out of the long grass of 'to-dos' after the Festival of Quilts, here are some of the things we got up in the short 4 days we had together. It was a wonderful mad experience dashing from one thing to the next and without the proper time to follow through on some aspects - but what fun!

Two of the prepared boards

First, preparing the collagraph boards. These two contain corrugated cardboard, sequin waste, string, tissue paper, masking tape, grasses, scrim and rice. Below are the results a couple of days later. The print on the right has a dash of extra colour added.

Individual print offs

Below is a print with two of mine and one of Phil's boards. I will have this framed.

My favourite

Then we tried a bit of spray discharge. I love the work of Clare Plug in New Zealand.

http://clareplug.vc.net.nz/artist/clarplug/Artworks/

We used Domestos household bleach which I thinned a bit (mine in the cupbard was the gel version), put in a spray bottle and then used to spray on black fabric: one piece pole wrapped and the other a scrap that Phil had tied on the back shibori style. I think we retied the fabric for a second spraying because the first try was too open. The success does depend largely on the quality of spray bottle - this one was inclined to splutter large drops along with the misty spray but maybe that is what some people might like. We also sprayed from one angle to try and highlight the folds. We have shared the two pieces.

Pole wrapped - this had marbles trapped between string at odd intervals


Piece on the left is done. The 3D effect is wonderful - that is a flat piece of fabric! The piece on the right is ready to go with those self-cover buttons tied inside.

After this we had a session with my old, very out of date kit of blueprint fabrics (1993?). The top two are with lace laid over and the bottom left has buttons and the bottom right feathers. Had this been a fresh kit the results would have been much, much crisper with more white/blue contrast. I had previously made one with a freezer paper stencil with cut out letters ironed in position. Interestingly the letters were printed out as solid black letters in a Word document and the black ink has increased the resistance to the sunlight.

Blueprint fabric squares

Lastly we tried a bit of foiling using 606 spray fusitive. This is a sister to 505, the basting spray, and is the glue without the paper. It worked with the usual foils that are around but it also worked with gold leaf - the kind I'm told you can buy in Chinese food shops. It didn't work with faux gold leaf that I bought in the local craft shop as it is a sheet and tears rather than disintegrates - if you know what I mean.

Various experiments with 606 and foiling

I wish we had had more time to fine tune this, but it definitely has potential both used through a stencil and as a blast/puff for a misty effect.

Well, that's it folks - hope you enjoyed what we got up to and are inspired to try one or two of these techniques. Blue print packs can still be bought (Dharma have them) but if you are brave the formula is available on line and you can prepare your own fabric (any colour) or clothing, etc.

Hilary

Congrats to Helena

2011-09-03T01:54:00.001-07:00

Congrats to Helena who has two quilts in the O Canada exhibition at Houston. Well done, Helena.

http://tinyurl.com/3s388dk

Helena's quilts are in the bottom row of the little thumbnails, 3rd an 4th from the lef.

Hilary

Cyanotype shadow

2011-09-02T13:04:00.000-07:00

I thought you might like to see the image left on the carrying paper showing the ink that bled through the Lutrador. I love the spidery effect and will use this image at some point in the future. And yes the tall lanky girl with the plaits is me!

Message from Scotland

2011-09-01T07:01:00.000-07:00

Helena has e-mailed me from Scotland. She is unable to post or comment on our blog, but she wants to let everyone know how much she loved seeing all the Fragments pieces. She sends her congratulations to everyone.

Butterfly Effect - Fragments

2011-09-01T00:57:00.000-07:00

Apologies to all - I had every good intention of posting my Fragments piece yesterday sometime. I only arrived back from the UK yesterday morning and then all the wheels fell off and was unable to put up my piece. Anyway here it is now. I decided to make this into a bit of a fairy story incorporating the Butterfly effect / Chaos Theory for a bit of fun!

"Once upon a time there was a beautiful golden butterfly that lived in the Amazon Jungle. It's wings were covered with the most wonderful colours. One day it flapped it's wings and all the colours flew off into the Universe creating Chaos (Chaos Theory)"

Congratulations to all!

2011-08-31T15:48:00.001-07:00

As the one who selected this title of this challenge, I want to congratulate you on submitting such fascinating interpretations of what this word conjurs up for you.
Every challenge from our blog members has brought about tremendous growth in my journey as an artist. I want to thank you all for that.
I so want to reply to each one personally but I am leaving Canada shortly for a few days, and my lack of time prevents this.
Well done to all of you. Thank you in particular for the feedback of my piece (Hil - the 'nose" on the right was part of a map which I have already eradicated). I look forward to doing a part 3 of this series of mine and to incorporate all the valuable feedback.
Best wishes to all of you and good luck for the next challenge! It sounds an exciting one - thanks Linda!

Our next theme

2011-08-31T15:15:00.000-07:00

Thanks for picking me Orah - I hope the mouth is feeling a lot better now.

I used to teach and had terrible trouble naming our children because the names we considered always had associations ..... Now I find the same is true of choosing a theme, could I make something, have I an idea already? So, as with the name choosing I have selected a theme, out of the blue with no association to anything I've made in the past -

Street Life

Fossilized Fly

2011-08-31T12:00:00.000-07:00

I had something completely different in mind for "Fragments" until Hilary wondered if anyone would be using the rusted fabric we made at Dianne's cottage retreat. It was an AHA moment for me, seeing as I had created this wonderful rusted synthetic, somewhat slippery and thick upholstery fabric. The next AHA was caused by a new pair of red shoes I bought from Fly London. The fly logo was my inspiration for the fly fragment. This is the first piece I have made on my new Handiquilter Sweet 16. It stitches like a dream. As this posting day arrives, I will be in Scotland for a wedding, possibly without internet, so I am writing this in advance and hoping that the post will appear as scheduled at the end of the month.

Oops - nearly got it wrong!

2011-08-31T11:43:00.000-07:00

Had it not been for a comment on Facebook* which led to me submitting a 'Friend' request to Linda F. I might have missed this deadline completely - for some reason I thought it was next month!

So to my fragments piece which is the result of a lot of synchronicity. Earlier this year I became the keeper of the family photo albums and was immediately struck by how some of the photographs belied what was happening, sometimes only minutes, before they were taken. Also at this time I was exploring the various filters in GIMP and used the Cyanotype filter to good effect on some of these old family photos.

In August I was at the Festival of Quilts and was struck by the use of small 'fragments' of paper and fabric by post graduate students Fiona Wilson and Nina Davis . So the photographs that told the story of how one family could fragment and re-build itself, were in turn fragmented and re-assembled to make this piece.

The photographs were printed on to Lutrador (This was a first for me, and I must admit to initially being a bit dis-appointed with the result as quite a lot of the ink bled through on to the carrying sheet. Now I quite like the hazy effect this has created. ) before being cut up, laid out very carefully and machine stitched onto the quilt layers. I added a little additional stitching and a traditional binding - to help keep the family together!

*Although I keep a presence on Facebook I've always doubted its value - until today!