Harvest

Care less for your harvest than for how it is shared and 

your life will have meaning and your heart will have peace. 

Kent Nerburn

I am part of an art quilt group that is part of my quilting guild;  each month we are given a topic and we create a mini quit using different techniques for the following month.The topic for my October/November Art Quilt Group is 'Harvest'. I created this  free-standing mini wheat filed that is made from an old butter-yellow linen business suit (I'm cleaning closets!). 

I pulled cross grain threads, tied wire to sets of 8 strands and then wrapped the straight of grain threads to create the stalk. The wheat was free-motion quilted on silk and then wired pulled through the back. 

I finished by placing wire around the bottom to help it stand up on its own.  Can you tell I had fun?

Do you belong to some type of art quilt group?  How do they inspire you?

On a whim...

Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.

-Roger Caras

It is a lazy weekend at our house before my husband . Yesterday, I decided to hang in my studio and made this brooch. I wanted something fun and funky...do you think I made my goal?

I used one of my favorite materials and also tried a something new. One of my favorite things to use is The Caron Collection Wildflowers Embroidery Thread; I probably have about 50 different colors. I call it my 'go to' thread because it is always the first collection of thread that I will 'audition' when I am beginning a project. I love both their color palette and the thread weight/texture.

The something new that I used was the Floriani's Stitch and Shape Double Sided Fusible Stabilizer. I believe that it is mainly to make vessel-type objects, but I found it terrific to make the pin. It it light-weight, but stiff and I liked how I could form the petals, once it was sewn. This stabilizer is definitely on my use again list!

Have you ever made something on impulse?

Quilting Arts Magazine

You are today where your thoughts have brought you; 


you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.

~James Allen

I am very excited! I have an article published in the current issue of Quilting Arts Magazine (Oct/Nov 2010). When I received my copy and I think my heart skipped a beat when I saw my artwork in print.

The article is on page 64 (not that I have that memorized or anything!) and is about using scraps in needle-felting to make a felted stash of fabric.  Here is a link for more information that was not in the printed publication:

Kathy's Quilting Arts Extra

Below is one of my favorite things to make with my felting stash- a felted heart card.

Have you ever needle felted?  What did you make?

Building Challenge

Architecture begins where engineering ends.

Walter Gropius

What I worked on this weekend...  I belong to an Art Quilt group that meets monthly.  Each month we pick a topic and create a related  art quilt.  Past topics have included- roses, birds, circles, sky and fruit.  This month our topic is 'buildings'.  


In the past, I have always made journal-sized quilts, but this month I decided to venture in a new direction.  I have canvases of various sizes so I decided to make mini quilts to attached to them.


I like my building in process, but the bicycle needs more work.  I think it is the background of the bicycle that doesn't work. 

What do you think the bicycle needs?

Beryl Taylor at Valley Ridge Art Studio

It is the supreme art of the of the teacher to awaken
joy in creative expression and knowledge.
-Albert Einstein.

What did I work on this past weekend? Above is the top portion of a wall-hanging that I began at a workshop taught by Beryl Taylor at Valley Ridge Art Studio in Wisconsin. It is one of those projects that I totally get lost in and before you know it the day has whizzed by!

My hubby, Mark, came along to Wisconsin with me and we had a fabulous time. We stayed about 30 minutes from the studio in a town that looked like it was transported from the UK. We stayed at a B&B that was above the pub.

Loved Beryl's workshop on putting... metal into fiber art. Valley Ridge was fabulous and am looking to take another workshop there next summer.

Kathy Engen Malkasian, the owner of Valley Ridge and her husband have created something special there!

When was the last time you got lost in a project? What was it?

Home

“Home is the place where it feels right to walk around without shoes”

My local quilt guild, Log cabin Quilters, had a quilt challenge a couple of years ago- "What Michigan Means to Me" Above is my entry which is made of felted wool, machine embroidery, beads, sequins, and glitter (love, love glitter!). It has a diameter of approximately 54".

Above is an antique Ford truck. Growing up, when we would visit my Uncle Al's family (my mom's brother), he typically had one of these trucks in his garage that he was refurbishing. His trucks were often purple- very, very cool looking! In honor of this memory, I embroidered 'Uncle Al's Service' on the side of the door.

I grew up on the east side of Grand Rapids, behind our home there were a small secluded lake, Hidden Lake. My brothers, sisters, and I would spend hours playing by the lake and the adjoining woods. Priceless memories!

The waves have glitter on them (Did I tell you I love glitter?). The three fish are sequined and beaded and hang off the bough.

Michigan is known for its wonderful cherries. So, of course this quilt needed a cherry tree with my husband's and my initials carved on it! The tree also has our state bird, a robin, perched on a branch.

The cherries are small felted wool balls with red wire spirals attached. The leaves have glitter on them (Are you seeing a theme here?)

One of the best places to vacation in the entire world is Mackinac Island. When my husband and I first married, each June we would attend the Lilac Festival on the island and participate in the 8-mile walk around the circumference of the island. The Mackinac Bridge is the largest suspension bridge in the world that connects lower and upper Michigan.

Another wonderful Michigan festival is the Tulip Festival in Holland, MI. Each spring, the city is adorned with blooming tulips everywhere! The Klompen dancers dressed in traditional Dutch dress washing the streets adds to joy of the feastival. When I was in high school, I would go to the festival with one of my good friends. I cherish thr pictures to this day....

The last part of the quilt that I will share (though there skiing and lighthouse scenes also) is of home. The quote that is embroidered around it says, "Home is where the heart is and Michigan is our home" Need I say more?

Have you ever participated in a challenge? What do you create?

Friendship

"May there always be work for your hands to do, may your purse always hold a coin or two. May the sun always shine on your windowpane, may a rainbow be certain to follow each rain. May the hand of a friend always be near you, may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you."

- Irish Blessing

As I began to learn applique, I attended our Guild's weekly small group that focused on applique. At some point, the group decided to do a Friendship Quilt exchange...I was ecstatic! I always wanted to be part of an exchange- hip, hip, hurray!

The exchange lasted for 12 months. There were 10 members; some of the 10 members traded with everyone each month, others only traded with part of the group each month. At the end of the trade, I created two lap-sized quilts; one has blocks from January to June and the other is July to December. I will always treasure the memories affiliated with these quilts.

Below are sections of the quilts closer up:

Below are some of my favorite blocks that I made. It is interesting that this was part of the Applique Group exchange and most of mine are paper-pieced. I LOVE paper-piecing! Do you like to paper-piece?

Have you ever been in a Friendship Quilt exchange? Did you enjoy it? Did you finish the quilt?