How It's Made

June is jumpin', but I'm working hard to keep up.  Of course the exhibit at the museum continues through the summer.  I went up yesterday to meet my cousin and her friend who came down from Calhoun to see the show.  We had a nice lunch and visit.

The Columbus Artists' Guild show is in full swing.  It opened June 8th and continues through the 22nd at the Illges Gallery at Columbus State University.  My piece didn't get any awards this year, but it's nice to have work in an art show. 

The East Cobb Quilt Guild show is going on through Sunday.  I entered two pieces and received an Honorable Mention for one of them ("Black Hills September").  My friend, Linda and I, along with our husbands (can you believe that?) will go up tomorrow afternoon, see the show, and bring our quilts home. 

I made two new pieces for the museum exhibit.  I put the photos that I worked from in my May 5th post.  Here is one of the finished pieces.

It's called "Best Friends Forever" and is based on a photo by Robin Camp.  This is me and my youngest granddaughter, Sarah.  Does this quilt make my butt look big?

I used the technique I've used before with the trees and background where I cut up zillions of tiny pieces of fabric and place them, piece by piece.  I took pictures as I was working on this one, so I thought I'd give you a glimpse into the mind of a very disturbed individual. 

This is the original photo that I was working with.  I cropped it, enlarged it and printed it on my printer, then taped the pages together.  It's about 30 x 32 inches.

Next, I did a line drawing of the main elements.  Sorry, it doesn't show up very well in the photo.

The next step is to draw a rough outline on a piece of muslin of where the colors change.  This will be the base of the quilt.  I write the value (light, medium, dark) and color of each area on the muslin.  Then, the fun part begins.  I choose fabrics from among my mountain of scraps.  Prints work fine, but stripes or plaids are not so good.  I iron a fusible (I use Lite Steam-a-Seam II) to the back of the fabrics.  I then peel the backing paper off the back side (this is VERY important--peel before you cut) and begin cutting the fabrics into small, odd-shaped and varying pieces.  The pieces are usually no larger than a dime--some are smaller. 

I use 4 or 5 different fabrics for each value.  The values might be light light green, light green, light medium green, medium green, dark medium green, dark green, and dark dark green.  So, you'll have 4 or 5 fabrics of all those values.  You get the idea. I find paper plates to be useful in keeping the different values separate.

Now the really crazy part.  I place the pieces on the muslin one at a time with a pair of tweezers.  I try not to put pieces of the same fabrics next to each other--that's why it's good to have 4 or 5 different fabrics for each value.  Even though it's very tedious, it gives you a great depth of color.

 You can see the effect here of all the bits.  I usually iron the pieces down a little as I go because they can't be trusted to stay in place on their own.  In a pinch, you can still pull them off if you need to, or you can cover them with more bits if an area just doesn't look like you want it to.  You don't want to have too many layers, but this is a pretty forgiving technique, so you can usually fix most mistakes. 

After the bits are in place, but before the tree trunks are put down, I put a layer or two of tulle over the bits and stitch with some invisible thread just to hold everything down.  In this case, I used two layers of gray tulle over the area above the road because I wanted the colors to be more muted to help add to the illusion of depth.  You can still put some bits on top of the tulle if you need to, but you need to always use a press cloth if you're ironing over the tulle--otherwise, it melts.

A little closer view.

I used some larger pieces in the road, then put small bits down for fallen leaves. 

I "built" the figures on a teflon sheet and fused them together.  They are put together in a more conventional way. 

The figures are placed on the background and I'm ready for thread work.  At this time, I iron a piece of stabilizer to the back of the piece to help keep it from distorting when I do the thread work and quilting.  I want to make sure I stitch through any of the bits that are not covered by tulle.

   I use a small zigzag stitch and a matching lightweight thread (Superior Bottom Line) to go over all the raw edges (not the bits, but all the larger pieces in the road and the figures).  I do some thread painting to highlight (example-hair and tree trunks).

A detail shot of the tree trunks and leaves.

Now it's ready to be layered with batting and backing and quilted.  Then, I'll square it up and either face it or bind it.  I like to face the edges because it looks more like a piece of art that way, so I'm doing that more and more.  I'm also leaving off borders for the same reason.

I didn't take as many photos as I should have to illustrate this technique, but I hope you can follow along.  It's not a method that a lot of people would want to do, but I like it and it's actually kind of relaxing to play with all the tiny bits.  



 

 

                                   

"As I See It"

The long-anticipated opening of my solo exhibit at the Southeastern Quilt & Textile Museum finally arrived last Saturday.  It was awesome on so many levels.  First of all, people actually came to see my work.  We had 70+ people to sign the guestbook and there was a steady stream of visitors all day.  I was there from 10 a.m. til 4 p.m.

Family included both my sisters-in-law, two nieces, and 3 great nieces.  Friends from Fayetteville, Columbus, Athens, and Atlanta made the journey to add their support and lots of people from the Carrollton area. 

L to R:  Marybeth Tawfik, JoAnn, and Paula Tanner.  These ladies are part of the SAQA GA/SC Regional group.  Thanks to both of them for their support.

The lady on the left is Joann Dunn, who's with the local writers' group.  I'll be doing an artists' talk for them in July at the museum.  I'm really looking forward to that.

I was very happy with the space and the way I was able to display everything.  I had worried that there wouldn't be enough art to cover the walls, but it worked out perfectly. 

I'm so grateful to the museum and to everyone who helped and everyone who came to see my work.  I hope people will continue to enjoy it, as it will hang through the summer until August 31st.

If you need info on hours or directions to the museum, just check out the website at   www.southeasternquiltmuseum.com

All Over But The Shoutin'

The day finally arrived after months of anticipation.  I went to Carrollton yesterday and hung my exhibit.  It was a long and tiring day, but so worth it.  I had great help from Beverly, Mary, and Jennifer--thank you all.  We worked from 10 a.m. til after 4 p.m.  Of course we took a lunch break and walked up to the square and had some great food at the Corner Cafe.

When we were finally done and all the pieces were hung, I just stood in the middle of this big (20' x 24') room, surrounded by my art.  There hangs 7 years of my life--from my first art quilt (Grand Slam) to my latest (The Lotus Pond).  It was somewhat surreal.  It's as if I have my own private art gallery.  I have never had the opportunity to view so much of my work at one time.  Sure, I've had 2 or 3 pieces in the same show, but they're surrounded by lots of other work and it's usually crowded together so that you can't really concentrate on just one thing.  I made sure there was plenty of "negative" space between each of my quilts so that each one can be seen individually.  I really don't like it when there's so much "stuff" to look at that you can't see anything--at least that's how my brain works.

It was also wonderful to be able to stand so far away from a piece and get a totally new perspective on it--then walk right up to it and see all the details.  To say I'm happy and excited would be an understatement.

I really hope there will be lots of people who will come and share this experience with me.  The show opens on Saturday, June 1st.  The museum will be open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and I will be there all day.  Heck, I may take a cot and move in. 

If you can't make it this Saturday, never fear.  The exhibit will be there through August 31st (also a Saturday).  The museum is located at 306 Bradley Street in Carrollton, GA.  It's just a block off the town square.  The hours are:

 Thursdays and Fridays 12 noon to 6 p.m.
Saturdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Ya'll come on down!
 

Stubborn people do win sometimes

If you read my previous rant, you know I was particularly frustrated with Facebook and my inability to post a copy of my exhibit announcement there.  Well, my wonderful friend and neighbor, Carolyn, told me how to cut/copy and paste--and now I know all about Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V--so there!  I am trainable and my announcement is now on the group page at Facebook.  And, while I was having my meltdown, my daughter posted the announcement I had e-mailed to her on her page, so now it shows up as a link on my page--at least I think it does.  So there--being stubborn can be a good thing.

You can find the information on my solo exhibit, which opens Saturday, June 1st at the following link.
www.southeasternquiltmuseum.com

I will have one piece at the Columbus Artists' Guild Member Show at the Illges Gallery in Columbus, GA, June 8-22nd.  I'm entering "Where The Pavement Ends", as I think it's my best piece, artistically speaking. 

I have two pieces entered in the East Cobb Quilt Guild show, which will be June 14-16th at the Cobb Civic Center in Marietta.  I will enter "Cowgirls Just Wanna Have Fun" and "Black Hills September".

These three pieces will be missing from the museum exhibit until the first of July.  Once they're home from their respective shows, I'll include them.

I thought it might be a good time to post a couple of photos of art pieces you haven't seen here before.

This one is called, "A Boy, A Rock, and A Puddle".  It's based on a photo I took of my youngest grandson, Mitchell, when he was about 2 years old.  He's now 15.  This was the second art quilt I made and there are lots of things I'd do differently if I was starting it today, but it means a lot to me for several reasons. 

Of course, the subject is very special.  In addition, this piece was chosen to be included in an exhibit called "Expressions:  The Art Quilt", back in 2005 or 2006 (can't remember the exact date).  The exhibit drew entries from several countries and was curated by Ricky Tims.  I was over the moon to have my work included in the exhibit.  It toured the country for 2 years, ending with a 3 month stay at the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, KY.  That was pretty heady stuff for a newbie art quilter.  Lamar and I even made a trip to Paducah so I could see it hanging in the museum and they were kind enough to take my photo standing beside it.  I'm still not sure where I got the nerve to submit it, but, I guess it's true that you can accomplish a lot as long as you don't know any better.

This one is called "Georgia On My Mind" and is based on a photo by Robin Camp.  It was fairly small--maybe 20 " x 15"--and it's the first art quilt I ever sold, so it doesn't live with me anymore.  It was something of a salute to Georgia O'Keefe, thus the title.  That makes it very appropriate that it now resides in New Mexico with another artist.

Well, I promised more pictures, so there you are.  Hope to see you at one of the events in June.

Ahh, the frustrations of the technologically challenged...

Geez, I thought I was reasonably intelligent, but I guess that ceased to be true along about the year 2000.  I have a fairly good grasp of how to do an online search and how to print photos and business cards that I've designed, and I've got the whole online shopping thing down cold, but somehow, I missed out on the social media phenomenon.

I have a cell phone--not a smart phone--but I don't do texting and if I want to take a photo, I have a regular (digital) camera for that.  I can even download my photos from the camera to the computer and print them or e-mail them to other people. 

I thought I was doing okay, although there are commercials on TV that I don't have a clue as to what is being advertised, but I'm pretty sure it has to do with computers.  This whole "cloud" thing is a total mystery.  And now we come to Facebook.

I had decided that I would not get involved in Facebook because it seemed to me to be a big vacuum cleaner that sucked up your time and kept you from doing anything productive.  I should have known that I couldn't hold out and remain a member of the human race, unless I moved to Borneo and lived in a hut on the beach--actually, that doesn't sound like such a bad thing.

It turns out that in order to communicate with the GA/SC regional group of SAQA, which I'm a member of, I had to set up a Facebook page and become part of that group on Facebook.  I managed to do that and I thought everything was okay until I tried to post the announcement of my exhibit at the SE Quilt Museum.  Not only could none of my 15 friends (mostly family members) see the post, but I couldn't figure out how to get it to the SAQA group page. 

I hate asking other people to help me do things that seem so simple to them and so incredibly baffling to me.  It makes me feel like a total idiot.  After asking for help on the Facebook page and getting several very helpful people telling me what to do--I could not figure it out.  It sounded so easy--just cut/copy and paste the announcement--but I could find nothing that gave me the option to do any of that.  I still don't know what to do.  But, I will find out--I am stubborn/determined and I will find someone to sit down with me and show me--if it's the last thing I ever do.

Some of you tech-savvy people are laughing at me right now--you know who you are--and that's okay.  I'm sure there's something I know how to do that you don't--like making homemade peach preserves that are to die for.

That's my rant for today.  I will post all the info on my exhibit and the other shows I'm participating in during the month of June--with pictures--in the next few days.  Thanks for listening. 

A Busy Time

Have you ever had a time when so many things were happening at once that you seemed frozen in place?  I like to think of myself as very organized, with everything under control, but lately things seem to be slipping out of my hands.  I know it's an illusion because I have all my check lists in place and all the boxes have been marked off, but I think it's the fear that I'll forget something important that has me in a tizzy. 

Of course the fact that I spent all last week battling an awful cold didn't help.  I don't do well with drugs, but it wasn't possible to get through the week without a decongestant and it made me feel as though I was moving in slow motion and everything around me was just a fog.  I think I slept more in the past seven days than I usually do in a month, and that's saying a lot, since sleeping is one of my favorite pastimes.  I know there are people who survive quite nicely on 4-5 hours a night, but I don't function well on less than 8-9 hours. 

On top of all that, June is fast approaching and it will be a crazy month.  My exhibit at the museum opens June 1st.  I have to deliver my piece to the Columbus Artists' Guild Member show on June 2nd, with the opening reception June 8th, and the two entries to the East Cobb Quilt Guild show are due June 9th. 

The CAG show is June 8 - 22nd and I'll be required to work one of those days.  The East Cobb show is June 14-16, so I'll have to be there on the 16th when the show closes to pick up my work.  Then, it's back to Columbus on the 23rd to retrieve that piece.  Whew! 

After that whirlwind, I'll take the three pieces from those shows and hang them at the museum, along with my other work.  July should be a piece of cake.

My biggest problem right now is that I'm not working on anything new.  I have some time, but I can't seem to get started.  Nothing is calling to me and I'm frustrated with myself.  Yesterday, I just wanted to be doing something, so I made 2 trivets from wrapped clothesline.  I've used that method in the past to do bowls/baskets and plates.  I like the process--it's very tactile and addictive.  And, I need the trivets to sit hot things on the table.  But, really, this is not making art--it's killing time.    At least I was in my studio, surrounded by all my "stuff".

One thing I have done lately is to make small pieces from the hand-dyed fabrics I've been creating.  My friend, Maryanne, who's a fabulous framer, gave me the idea to make tiny art quilts from pieces of the fabric, since it looks like abstract art.  She then cut mats for me and I've mounted the quilts on archival foam board.  The smallest one is 3" x 6" and the largest is 8" x 10".  I'm going to offer them for sale at the Columbus show.  I've really enjoyed making them since they're so small, they can be completed quickly and I've always liked instant gratification.  I used both the cotton and the linen dyed fabrics and I'm anxious to see how they look with the mats in place.  Maryanne has them now, so I'll make pictures to post when I get them back.

I promised photos in my last post, so I'm going to show you the pictures I based  my two new pieces on.  The picture of Grandma and Sarah was taken by Robin, my daughter in law.  The lotus is a picture I took last summer.  I'll post the art quilts later.
 

Ahh, Spring--at last!

My world is green--a hundred different and beautiful shades of green.  My late mother in law used to say that the springtime leaves were a "tender" green.  I love that--it's so appropriate.  Everything seems to be in bloom--aahchoo!--but even with all the pollen, it's great to see everything coming to life again.  I wish I were a more dedicated gardener, but I'm just not into it.  I like to work in the yard, planting flowers, but then I'm done.  Weeding, fertilizing, watering--it's all just too time consuming.  I'd rather be in my studio making fiber art (otherwise known as playing).

The art show in Perry was last week.  My "Bonsai" won an honorable mention.  The other two pieces didn't receive any awards.  I didn't get to attend the show--making a trip to deliver and one to pick up the work was about all I wanted to tackle in one week.  It's a long drive (85 miles, one way), but I would've liked to see the whole show.

I'm working on a new piece for the museum exhibit (June 1 - Aug 31).  It's from one of my photos of the lotus pond that's just a few miles from me.  It is incredibly beautiful every summer and I've stopped more than once on the side of the road to try and capture it from every angle.  It's right in front of the Warm Springs Winery and worth watching for if you happen to be in the neighborhood.

The piece has been a challenge and I've spent a lot of time thinking and planning how to portray the scene.  I'll post pictures here once the exhibit opens.  I wanted to save these last two pieces I've done to "debut" at the museum, so only a handful of people have seen them.  I thought there should be something new for the exhibit.

In the meantime, I've been hand-dyeing some silk scarves.  I decided to try the ice-dyeing method on silk to see how it would work.  They are beautiful, but I'm still playing with different techniques to see if I can get as much variation in the colors as I do with the cotton.  I also did some small scraps of linen that a friend gave me.  It really soaks up the color and the weave gives it great dimension.  It also frays around the edges beautifully.  I've got to figure out how to take advantage of that in a piece.

I was contacted by a lady with the Creative Writers Group in Carrollton.  They want to have their July meeting at the museum, with me talking to them about my work, its inspiration, and the story behind it.  Then, they will write about it for their next meeting.  I'm so excited to get the opportunity to introduce a new group of people to art quilting.  I'm sure there are many of them who have a whole different definition of what makes a quilt.  It should be a lot of fun.  Beverly Hammack, who is my contact with the museum, and a good friend, made this connection for me.  She's terrific and has really been promoting my exhibit with all kinds of people around Carrollton.  She has been working, along with a group of other very dedicated people for over 14 years to make the museum a reality.

I don't have any photos to share today, but I'll put something together for next time.  Thanks for stopping by.