CHALLENGE: Collaboration Quilt

Carolyn, from my Art Quilt Group, organized a collaborative slice quilt for members of the group. Here is the panoramic photo that Carolyn took of Bronson Park; she sliced it into 10 pieces, we each picked a slice and our collaboration began.  

I believe all (or most of us) started with such enthusiasm, but then we realized this was much more difficult than first glance.  We began in the Fall of 2014, and played with it (except one member who finished hers within 30 days!).  In February 2015, we received an invite to show our slice quilt at a gallery during our Kalamazoo's monthly Art Hop.  We pulled together and created a work that we are all proud of as shown below:

Here are the individual pieces (in order):

Jackie S.

Jenny G.

Kathy Kerstetter

Ann B.

Diane O.

Jean D.

Carolyn Z.

Sheryl D.

Mary B.

June B.

We were honored when our local Public Radio station, WMUK, came and interviewed us, you can listen to it here:

One Quilt Ten Unique Views of Bronson Park

We ended up with a wonderful Art Hop and all of us are very proud of the final product.  Next week, I will show a close-up of my individual slice and some things to consider if you are going to enter into a collaborative quilt.

Have you ever participated in any collaborative art?  Are you interested in being part of a collaboration?

Remnants

As you may or may not know, I teach at our local community college (and I LOVE my job).  Winter term was probably one of the toughest terms in my ten years at the College. I had almost three new classes to prep and definitely had my hands full.  I woke up most morning at 5:00 am to get a jump on the day and then work late into the evening (can you tell that my blog suffered during this time?).  At the end of the semester, I was exhausted!  I vowed that this summer I was going to take more time to read and create.

Mt favorite place to read at our home is a small balcony that is off of our bedroom; it is over three stories high.  Here is my little heaven:

And the view from above:

 

I love how peaceful this spot is and I feel like I am hiding from the world when I am there.

Do you have a favorite place to slip away to?

Have a wonderful week!  Kathy

CHALLENGE: Erosion

e·ro·sion

əˈrōZHən/

noun

the gradual destruction or diminution of something.

My 12x12 group had the challenge "Fear". I had to think long and hard about fear; I finally decided to focus on erosion.  Erosion can be applied to many areas of our lives...erosion of the beach at Lake Michigan..erosion of your health as you age...erosion of world-wide safety...so many things can gradually destruct creating fear.

My piece is inspired by an Edward Burtynsky photo shown below:

A close-up of my piece is below. After creating the landscape, I used rust to create a tributary-like flow across the piece.  Some seed stitches finished it.

  

Remnents

I found this delightful sewing reality show on British television called The Great British Sewing Bee. I watched the first season via this link: Sewing Bee Season 1 . Season 2 and 3 can be found on YouTube.

I loved this show because of the people.  I used to manage a plant in England and this show brought back memories of the workers.  I believe you, also, will find these contestants every day, lovable people with outstanding skills.  I smiled through much of this first season.

Do you have a favorite sewing show that you watch?

Enjoy!  

Kathy

ART QUILT GROUP: Complementary Color Challenge

expect nothing, appreciate everything...

I count my self very lucky to have a group of textile artists in my town that are as passionate about making things as I am AND I really appreciate this group.

If you have been following my blog, you will remember that my Art Quilt Group had a crayon challenge last year where we would randomly select three crayons out of a box of 64 Crayolas and create a 12 x 12 art quilt using just these three colors.

This year we have chosen to diversify our monthly challenges; for the month of February, our challenge was to use complementary colors.  Below are the results:

First up is Diane being inspired from a class she took from Gwen Marston.  I didn't get a get photo of it, but her binding is yellow halfway around and purple the rest of the way- it was very cool!

This is Doha's; she is off to a great start, but tells us that a big knitting project has been the priority for her this month.

Jackie created this wonderful feather stamp from etching on a Styrofoam plate; I love the movement of the hand stitching.

This piece was created by Jenny; this is her first attempt at beading and I must say she is definitely got the knack for it!

June has taken her hand-dyed indigo fabric and coupled it with burst of orange.  Her binding is sari ribbon and yarn twisted then stitched on.

Mary also used a Styrofoam plate, but stamped with bleach to get the effect of a stone rubbing.  It really stunning!

Lastly, this is mine.  I decided to do a modern quilt; I am pleased with the outcome.

In March, we are working with usual materials...the material we are using are netting bags that hold fruits and vegetables in the grocery store.

CHALLENGE: The Sea

The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach - waiting for a gift from the sea.

~Anne Morrow Lindbergh

My 12x12 group's last challenge was the sea, here is my piece:

 My piece for 'The Sea' is my interpretation of sea foam. I hooped water soluble stabilizer and heavily thread painted the large foamy pieces.  

This is what the piece looked like when I put the needlework onto the quilted base before I began the handwork.

The final piece.

 And most important, Jack, my adviser and coach in everything I make.

We have new members and their work is FABULOUS!  See all of "The Sea" challenges at: http://upforachallengeartquilts.blogspot.com/

CHALLENGE: Structure

The space within becomes the reality of the building.

~Frank Lloyd Wright

My 12 x 12 groups's challenge for this quarter was "Structure".  "Structure" can mean many things; for me, from my nerdy engineering side, I thought first of building structures. 

 I went to Google, looking for structures and the photo below spoke to me.

Below is a photo of my piece in process; it is tough to see all of the layers.  I pieced fabric, sewed additional lines, rubbed  metallic wax on it, covered it with tulle, and then added the two circular appliques.  I knew I needed to add one more layer of stronger supports, but was not sure how I would layer them on.  

 I took a photo of the work-in-process and printed out six copies; I took a white colored pencil and began experimenting with how the final layer would look. Finally, I could add the velvet thread to finish it! 

I wanted this work to be dark and steely, but thought that one pop of color was needed, so a citrine colored velvet puff was added.  Below is my finished piece, entitled, "Industrial Pop".  Enjoy!

Giveaway Winner!

Below is the comment that was drawn out of the hat to win the hand-dyed fabric- Congratulations!  Please email me your address (artndlfb@gmail.com) and I will mail you your goodies!

ruebarbSeptember 15, 2014 at 6:26 PM

Your ornament tradition makes me smile. I am sure that there are many of us who have tried this tradition and failed to keep it up as life changed through the years. I made similar ornaments throughout the years for my kids, and a few select others. I enjoyed the making as much, if not more than, the recipients enjoyed the gift. My kids, now grown, have their boxes of handmade ornaments from me, and some made by their own hands to use on their own trees. Now, with a grandchild, I need to dust off the old ideas, add some new one..........thanks for sharing your tradition.

DESIGN: Taking My Art with Me! and Giveaway

Being creative is not a hobby; it is a way of life.

I love making art quilts, but what I love even more is using my art quilts in wearables. I have used two of my 12" x 12" art quilts to adorn my iPads.

This is a challenge quilt for the theme incandescence. You can read about how I made it here.

This second challenge quilt is for the theme Celestial. You can read about how I made it here.

For both of these art quilts, I created custom iPad skins for the outside from a photo of the quilt. I love how both the outer skin matches the wallpaper.   

With the same photo of the quilt, I went to Spoonflower and created custom fabric.  If you have not read about Spoonflower, you can read more about it here. With my custom fabric, I made a heavily quilted mini quilt for the outer case and another mini quilt for the inside of the case.  I adhered the two mini quilts together to create a strong and durable case.

Below are the insides of the iPad cases.  The key to making these tablet cases are two-fold:

1. Both mini quilts must be heavily quilted.
2. I use wax on the outside to help the fabric weather anything it could encounter.
   

When iPads first came out, I made a case for my first generation iPad  , I still use it today and it has very little wear on it (the photos below were taken after I had been using the case for about two years); you can read about it here. 

Thanks for reading my blog today.  Leave me a comment and I will pick a person to win these three fat quarters that I hand-dyed (2- cotton, 1-velvet). Check my blog Tuesday at 5 pm (EST) for the winner!

I have another blog posting today about Quilting Arts Holiday 2014.  I talk about my love affair with homemade ornaments.  Though most of the ornaments I show on the post are for my pre-art quilting years, I wrote the post more so to talk about our holiday traditions.