A little teaser...

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

Hilary

Our next challenge

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

Street Life - Finished!

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)

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.

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

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

Street Life

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

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)

'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

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!

 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

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!