Passages

For May, the group decided to do a project based on the Quilting Arts reader challenge, "Passages." Here are our results.

Melanie: Since this project was around the anniversary of the Titanic sinking, that was on my mind. I call this first piece "Passage Interrupted." I used walnut ink, scrunched the fabric and let it try to create a distressed parchment look, then printed the pass on to the fabric with my printer. I stitched it to allow the edges to curl up adding to the distressed look. The ocean is made of silk pole shibori. The whitecaps are French knots and white beads.

I did a second piece because I could not get "Secret Passages"out of my mind. I washed some blue and yellow transparent fabric paint over a scrap piece of fabric with some markings on it. I then screened on 3 images of a stone entrance. I quilted a figure into each entryway and added some ravens in flight. A little hand stitching for texture finished it off. 

Hope:  I wanted to make a piece to represent my recent "passage" into retirement. I thought of me on my bicycle riding free. The first piece I made was of the rider cycling through a town. I was not totally happy with it because it seemed too stiff. I made a second piece using a piece of earth oxide dyed fabric for the background. This piece leaves more to the imagination and I am much happier with it. The group pointed out that the rider in the second piece is going downhill. An unconscious metaphor for the sense of freedom I felt with the second piece. So here is my bicycle "series."

Cathey: I took a fairly literal approach to this project and made a doorway. By now everyone knows how I love working with lots of different media. I made an urn using puff paint. I glazed and painted it and sewed it on to the background. The urn is filled with flowers made from a product called "flower soft." Glue, stitching and solvy helped me get the flower soft onto the fabric. The door is made from scrapbooking paper. The stone archway of the door was quilted first, then painted. I added some Golden Pumice Gel to the paint and painted the stones. It really gave them a great texture.  I quilted the background fabric in large rectangles to make it look like blocks of marble. 

Joan: For the first weeks of the challenge, I kept thinking about how I could represent my mom's passing. I could not get it right in my head so I looked up "passage" in the dictionary for a little inspiration. One definition talked about stages. That made me think of cicadas. They have been in the news because this is their year! I used a piece of fabric that I had experimented with. It has paint, bubbles and sunprinting on it. Perfect. I sketched a cicada on the fabric, them enhanced it with markers. I used some crayons to darken the upper body and make the wing stand out. I heard someone say that their cycle is "Sing, Fly, Mate and Die" and had to incorporate that phrase.

Marcia: I had a hard time with this one. I finally decided on the passage of night into day. The 9 dark pieces on the left  represent 9 hours of night. The right side of the piece has 15 pieces of lighter fabric representing 15 hours of daylight. This was the split at the time I made the piece. The fabrics are silk, sari silk waste, velvet, leather, hand dyed cotton and other commercial. I embellished with hand stitching, beads and buttons.  I especially like the little spring rabbit button in the lower right corner.

Sheila Rae: I made this piece from a quilt block symbolizing "safe passage" on the underground railroad. Since that was a story of blacks and slavery, I used African fabrics. The background is a yellow hand dye. All the stitching was done by hand and some of the thread used is fly tying thread. I embellished the piece with shells, hand embroidery and buttons. 

Fire and/or Ice

FIRE and/or ICE was our topic for April.

Pat: Campfire
This campfire has logs made from leather and flames made from silk, sparkly sequin fabric and thread. Some escaped embers float above the fire. They were made from tiny pieces of the sequin fabric. The blue background and the blue "ice cubes" under the fire represent ice.

 

I also brought a more traditional piece I made a while back. It is call "Rings of Fire." The double wedding rings are made of scraps from classes I taught. Colors are perfect for fire and ice and the quilting has a flame motif.

Cathey: I used a lot of sari silk waste in my piece. I love that stuff cause it is silk and in this piece, I love the texture it gives the flames. I also used a new fun spray "Tattered Angels" to spray on a glimmer gold background.

 

I also brought a piece from our "time" challenge. I finished Life is Framed by Time with added text and mounted it on a clipboard.

 

 

Joan: I found yet another fun, free app on my ipad. Actually I found two. One lets you paint flames with your finger, the other lets you create snowflakes on a background. I used the snowflake app to create the background of my piece and did some fussy cutting of a painted pole shibori fabric to create the flames.



I also brought a couple of other pieces I recently finished. This one was created from some cotton and organza fabrics I marbled. The organza is overlayed on the cotton. For added interest, I cut away some sections of the organza.

 



This last piece is a landscape made with Earth Oxide painted fabric, silk, synthetic and upholstery fabrics. The bottom 2 sections are upholstery fabric. I used both sides of the fabric then added gold and copper Shiva paintstick highlights to unify them. The Earth Oxides give a soft, earthy color to fabric that is difficult to achieve with other types of paint or dye.

 

 

Hope: Firedancers

When we chose the inspiration for this month, I immediately thought of "fire dancers." I used some of my hand dyed parfait fabric for the background and some ice dyed fabric for the binding. I quilted in flames so the silhouettes are dancing in fire.

 

Last week I was inspired by the new issue of Quilting Arts to try a couple of the techniques in the article on the cup of cappuccino. I created a composition from newspapers and a teacup. I tried painting with tsukineko inks but found it difficult to control the level of color and texture so added water colored pencil and  water soluable crayons to the mix to get closer to what I wanted. I bought some metallic colored pencils but was disappointed that the result did not seem much different from other colored pencils.  I also tried the technique with colored newspaper and gel medium transfer but that did not work for me at all so I abandoned that all together. So.... mixed reviews but always fun to try something new.

 

 

 

Melanie: Forest Fire
I love to create batiked fabric from soy wax mixed with procion mx dyes. The result often looks like a forest of trees. In this piece the batik fabric is used for the background; silk and sari silk pieces make the flames. The entire piece was then covered with red tulle.

Marica: I used silk and a lot of beading to create my fire. I love how the raw edges and threads left uncut create texture and errant threads of flame. There is blue at the base of the fire because the hottest fire burns blue.

 



Sheila Rae: Demerol Dreams 
My dad was a cop. When I was young, he sometimes took me with him on calls. When I was three, he took me to the site of a church on fire. I never forgot that powerful image and I often dream of it - especially if I take pain pills. The center of the piece is a church. The flames were created from fussy cut flame fabric. Religious icons and other ephemera are hand stitched on to the church. I found some birds, painted them black and sewed them into the flames. I seem to remember birds on the scene that night. In the lower left corner is a car representing me waiting for my father in the car, watching the fire.

I was asked to bring a piece I created a while back. It is called "A Tear in the Fabric of Space." I stated with a large piece of wool and asked a friend to literally shoot it full of holes. When I got it back, I washed it. This felted the wool, creating lots of texture around the holes. I then placed the wool over very shiny fabric and sparkly organza. This fabric along with the many beads and sequins represent space and stars.

 

Painted Mandala Challenge

At our February meeting, Pat Ferguson had us create some painted, folded mandalas. We then decided to take inspiration from these for our March challenge. Here are a couple of examples of the painted mandalas:



Sheila Rae: I created a mandala design from vintage pineapple and 9 patch quilt blocks I found at a vintage shop. I embellished the piece with old bone café curtain rings in varying sizes and lots of hand stitching. The title of the piece is "Test Pattern." Anyone around and watching TV in the
50's & 60's will understand the title.

 

Sheila Rae also brought 2 other pieces for show & tell. This first one uses ephemera and images from Cathology and the Virgin Mary. It also celebrates the hand work of women who came before. It may be hard to appreciate from the picture, the incredible amount of handwork including stitching and beading that Sheila has put into this piece. It is something that should be examined in person. Our group spent a good 20-30 minutes taking it all in.

 

 

 

 

After we made Earth Oxide cloth, Sheila took a piece home. She thought it looked like an animal skin so she "mounted" it using African inspired fabric and embellishments. Once again, the hand work on this piece is impressive!

 

Cathey: Since we were to be inspired by painted mandalas, I painted a mandala. Or at least a quarter of one. I used fabric paint and several stamps, both hand made by me and commercial. It is not yet quilted but will be soon.

 

 



Pat: I did not make a quilted piece this month but I plan to decoupage my painted mandalas on to a new sketchbook journal.

 

Joan: I loved the fabric we made a few weeks ago using Earth Oxides. The resulting colors are muted and earthy and fit well into my landscape esthetic. In this piece I created a stitched labyrinth. There is a subtle line of light in the fabric. I positioned the labyrinth so that the entrance is highlighted by this light path. I added bits of Angelina fiber to the surrounding area to simulate mica in the rock formations. Using a long stitch length and variegated thread, I quilted along the lines and texture created by the Earth Oxides on the fabric.

 

Marcia: I was inspired by the colors in one of the painted mandalas. I used several fabrics I got on freecycle. The colors, textures and fabric weights were very diverse and fun to work with. I stitched them into a long shape and embellished with beads, trims etc.

 

Melanie: A couple of weeks ago I took a class with Cindy Needham on quilting with antique linens. I have been collecting linens for a while and decided to start small and experiment with a doily. It was round so I decided it fit the theme for the month. For the first time ever, I did a lot of microquilting to set off the design - trapunto like. Now that was crazy! Once it was quilted, I added some color with colored pencils. Not what I usually like to do for my art quilts but sort of sweet and a nice change.

 

 

 

 

 

Buttons

Button(s) was our theme for February. While there were mixed levels of enthusiasm when the theme was chosen, everyone came through with a great piece!

Pat: I thought of every phrase or saying that used the word "button" for example, "all buttoned up," "button your lip," "button hook," etc and made pictograms using words and graphics printed on fabric, embellished with buttons. I was so happy about this project because I have many, many beautiful buttons!

 

Cathey: I did not use real buttons but instead, made my own. I cut circles from Timtex, covered them with batting, then fabric. The colors in the piece were inspired by a piece I saw on the web but I used different shapes and swirls. These colors are definitely outside my comfort zone! After the top was pieced, I stamped it paint to create the open circles to echo the buttons.

 

Joan: I thought I had a good idea and started a project that just did not turn out like my vision. After abandoning that project, I decided on a beetle. I started with a photograph of a beetle and manipulated it on my ipad in a program called "percolator." It is a fun program that creates cool bubble effects from a picture. I printed it on fabric and it served as a guide for the buttons. I have a great button collection with lots of colors. The antennae are not stitched down and have floral wire inside them so can be manipulated. The edge finish is curvy for something a little different and the binding is pieced from different fabrics.

 

 

Hope: All of us in the group love fabric (of course!) and when we can find cool fabric at bargain prices, we are over the moon. Cathey from our group tells us stories of diving into remnant bins and sometimes jokes that she has to call for someone to hold her feet. That mental picture was my inspiration for this piece. My piece is Cathey diving in for prize fabric snippets.  

 

 

Melanie: I actually made 2 pieces. At first I was lukewarm about the project because I do not have a button collection. I have a few silver and gold buttons I was using for closures on some small bags I was making and that is it.

 

In the first piece, I used silver buttons as stars and the face in the middle was made and given to me by my friend, Mary Oliver. Under the face and buttons is Angelina fiber and beyond the Angelina, are crystals.  A piece of silk sari strip waste is stitched along the bottom. I call it "Goddess, Center of the Universe," really meaning we as women are all goddesses.

 

The second piece is an easy button (Staples claim to fame) which I printed on fabric, then painted over with red, white and silver fabric paint. The button is trapuntoed.

 

 

  

 

Marcia: I found a great match between some fabrics I had and some buttons in my collection. The colors are soft and subtle and the buttons blended really well. Even though I am mostly a hand sewer, sewing on all those buttons was work!

 

 

 

 



Our theme for this month was "FRAMED.

Marcia: My granddaughter, Kailyn, made a pencil sketch of an idea for a quilt and asked me to create it. This is the result.  She even selected the colors. This is a very true representation of her drawing.

 

This next piece is one that I started in a class with Esterita Austin. It is a study in depth, shadow etc .  I started with a piece of commercial fabric for the large background and a piece of my ice dyed fabric for the rocks & branch. I then used fabric paint & stitching to add shadow and light. Unusual for me, I machine quilted this piece fairly heavily.  I did some beading in the sky to represent stars and there are some star reflections in the water that play off the beads.

 

I was the one who selected the theme, “framed” for this month. Originally I was thinking of various ways to interpret that theme and did not want to use an actual frame but in the end, I did end up framing 2 pieces.  The first piece is “Mars.” It is made from a piece of the marbled fabric we created a couple of months ago. I added beading and metallic embroidery floss embellishments.

This second piece is “Sand and Water.”  It is a landscape stratification made from silk, sari silk waste,  and  upholstery fabric. Of course, beads and metallic thread were added.

 

Joan: This theme was a natural for me because I often frame my work. This piece is a small seascape. The top section is made from sky-like fabric. The lower section is a photo printed on fabric. I then added sari silk waste with a frayed edge. I love how that edge perfectly represents sea grass.

 

Pat: I have been designing pantographs for Willow Leaf Studios. They are based on my Zentangle quilting and should be ready for April shows. (Pat brought some samples for us to see but they are top secret til the big release. Look for them at Willow Leaf Studios and at quilt shows in the spring).

For the theme this month, I decided to try several methods of framing some of my Zentangle pieces.  I think framing the small ones gives them more importance. For the music piece, I covered a canvas with red fabric, then added the quilt. The inner red is piping. The next black layer is the binding. Then the red fabric covered canvas.  I then edged the canvas in black cord and added the tassels at the join of the trim. You can not see it in the picture, but there is an additional round of trim on the folded over edge of the canvas. This process was very labor intensive and time consuming. I am not sure how often I would use it. I then used a variety of frames to show off some of my tiles.

 

 

Cathey:  As I thought about the theme, I decided that “we are framed by time.”  For the project I photocopied a piece of calendar and printed it on fabric, I used TAP to transfer the pocketwatch image. I wanted the watch image to look distressed so I scraped and roughed it up a bit after transferring. In contrast to my usual style, I  quilted it very simply. I was considering overlaying it with organza printed with a Ben Franklin quote about tie but did not have any organza on hand. Everyone seemed to like it as is.

 

Sheila Rae: Sheila is once again visiting our group. She brought pieces based on a couple of our past themes. 

My first  piece is made from sari silk waste. It started as a wide piece of the silk with open threads in one section. I wove ribbon and thread though the open area. I then added beads and buttons. Several of the buttons are antique, dyed mother-of-pearl. The silk piece is sewn on to felt and enhanced with hand stitching. I really enjoy hand stitching my pieces.

 

The second piece is from the “stamped” theme. I stamped the buttons with tiny dots, then sewed them to the piece with multi-colored threads in a spider-web style. The piece was then hand-stitched with variegated thread.

 

For the month’s theme, I used found metal objects.  “Whatever Happened to Mary?” is made from a vintage metal medal of the Virgin Mary and I framed her with a metal frame. Both metal pieces were found in a junk shop. Star sequins and vintage buttons were added.  The text is hand-stitched. I print out text using my computer & printer and use it as a guide for stitching. The hanger is another piece of “junk” I found. I think it is some sort of lab mixing stick.  As always, it is hand stitched.  I am very interested in religious memorabilia and symbols so this piece was enjoyable to create. The background fabric is printed with stars that glow in the dark. We all went into the windowless bathroom to see the effect. J