Deborah's Journal

Time Lapse Fun

2012-01-28T17:25:00.000-05:00

Last week, I spent almost four hours painting a bunch of fabric! Some will be used in my art quilts, some will be included in kits for upcoming workshops. I thought it would be fun to do a time lapse video of my morning. Check it out.

Painting on Fabric from Deborah Boschert on Vimeo.

I loved using the Gelli Printing Plate. Wow. I only scratched the surface of the possibilities of that tool. (Luckily I didn't actually scratch the surface. That would be bad.) I also used some more Stencil Girl stencils -- some with the Gelli plate. That awesome background music is written and performed by my very talented cousin Ben Streeter. Check out more of his work here.

Some of this same style of surface design and painting is included in my STITCHED workshop. The workshop also includes sections on design, construction and stitching. Super fun. (And did you hear that STITCHED has been extended? Now you'll have access to 20 workshops all the way through 2012 for only $89.)

I am really enjoying playing with video production. More of that in the future, for sure. What would you like to see?

Tiny Details

2012-01-26T17:52:00.001-05:00

Here' a little peek at part of that large project I mentioned in the past post. I decided I needed to add stones to the bottom part of the quilt. I love stones...

I used them in this small quilt, Here He Stayed.

Also in this detail from Construction: Concrete and Stone.

I wanted my stones to have some interesting pattern. I chose this stencil from MaryBeth Shaw, Stencil Girl! It's called damask.

This step also allowed me to tie in some colors from the rest of the quilt -- I needed more of that rusty orange and more blue. Here you can see I've sponged some of the stencil, then I flipped it over and brayered across it to create a second negative print.

See the positive and the negative? I knew I would be cutting up the fabric into much smaller shapes, so I didn't need a full clean image from the whole stencil.

Three little pebbles to start!

Check out the amazing selection of patterns at StencilGirl Products. Really, there are so many possibilities. I think this tiny bit of pattern really adds an interesting bit of detail to my stones.

Clear Steps

2012-01-23T23:01:00.001-05:00

I began working on a large new art quilt this week. It's been stirring around in my brain for weeks and weeks. I had ideas but nothing seemed right. I was feeling so much doubt and frustration and I hadn't even touched a single piece of fabric.

And then I just started and everything became clear. I chose an unexpected combination of fabrics and and began fusing and cutting and composing.

After the background was set, I knew where to go next. Each step became clear as I approached it.

Here's a peek. I was stitching an arch over the top of the composition. You've noticed I do that quite regularly now?

There are still several more steps before completion. I'm not kidding myself and thinking I'll continue on this easy, obvious path of clarity. The quilt will probably turn its back on me a bit before it's done. That's ok. I know how to return to the pondering and patient stages of creating art.

A New Year

2012-01-20T15:20:00.002-05:00

Today is my 42nd birthday. I love having my birthday in late January. When everyone is pondering new year's resolutions and rushing to wrap up Christmas celebrations, I let the holidays come to a slow, appropriate end and I wait for my birthday to think about my hopes and dreams for the coming year.

With that in mind, here are some of the art-related things I hope to accomplish in 2012 (and the first three weeks of 2013).

Compile a comprehensive inventory of completed art quilts.
Set up a proper space for photographing quilts.
Maintain a reasonable level of anxiety and stress. (Don't let it bubble over.)
Complete five quilts for the new 12x12 project "2012 Series."
Complete a quilt for a juried show I've been invited to enter.
Arrange my time and priorities to say "yes" as opportunities present themselves.
Finalize Layered Landscape Collage workshop for real life and online.
Make two to four additional “large” works.
Enter two to four juried art quilt shows that are meaningful to me.
Update blog and/or website.
Compile comprehensive list of shows, publications, etc.
Write a simple useful bio.
Write a simple useful artist statement.
Don’t get distracted by fiddly crafty projects that don’t truly inspire proper time and attention.

I think having a written list will help. Posting it here makes me more accountable, I suppose.
As I read over this list, it seems a bit clinical. It's clear and practical and reasonable, but it lacks spirit, I think. That's the stuff that is hard to put into words and even harder to measure. So, maybe I'll just say...

Embrace spirit.

Changing

2012-01-13T07:00:00.000-05:00

As I've been working on this art quilt for the next 12x12 challenge: Metamorphosis, I'm finding so many small and large examples of metamorphosis along the way. The quilt is changing. My ideas are changing. I am changing.

Earlier in the week, I puttered around with the design. Here's a detail of my progress.

Here's a wide shot.

I wasn't happy. Much too fiddly. Too realistic -- and yet totally unrealistic. Too many fabrics -- and yet not enough fabrics to really show each stage in the life cycle of the allium. Too crowded.

So I just pinned all those stray pieces in place for now. Maybe I'll return to it later. (Maybe not.)

Back to the drawing board -- or sketch book. I still like the concept of the cycles of life of the allium plant. Maybe something more like this...

But first, I slapped some scraps onto a spare square of felt as a bit of a warm up and refresher. I'm looking forward to adding some hand and machine stitching to this little ditty.

I stamped more fabric. I used the same color scheme and concept, but I started over.

I am liking this new more composition much better. Here's a detail.

Little Houses

2012-01-11T20:12:00.001-05:00

Just one last holiday project that I haven't yet shared...

I made several of these sweet little white felt houses embroidered with trees and wreathes.

I sent one to each of the Frayed Edges... Sarah, Kate and Kathy. My dear Maine friends who still support and inspire me in so many ways.

Several went to family members. I did keep one for myself, but it's not stitched up yet... just cut out and embroidered.

Each house also has a little battery operated tea light.

Aren't they fun and a bit magical?

I actually was inspired by an image on Pinterest!

Listen to my Chat with Ricë!

2012-01-06T19:40:00.002-05:00

I had a lovely time talking about art quilting with Ricë last week. She recorded me for her podcast and now you can listen in. Check it out here. Just imagine our big smiles as in this picture from the International Quilt Festival in 2008.

We talked mostly about the 12x12 International Art Quilt Challenge and about how our project is uniquely individual and yet collaborative.

Ricë is an excellent interviewer -- she makes it feel like a real conversation, because of course, it is! I know this because I have listened to nearly every single one of her podcasts. (I see there are 77 episodes at the moment.) If you are the podcast type, you should certainly subscribe on iTunes (or wherever you organize your podcast library). Just search "Notes from the Voodoo Lounge" or Ricë Freeman-Zachery. Her podcasts are easy to listen to, thought provoking, insightful, just-the-right-length-of-time, and inspiring!

I am thrilled to be included! I also did a Q&A with Ricë for CreateMixedMedia. You can check that out here.

STITCHED is up and running!

2012-01-05T20:43:00.002-05:00

The amazing STITCHED online video workshop collection opened on January 1! It's so fun to see students perusing the workshops, commenting and sharing photos of their projects.

I've been checking in with the folks who have joined my workshop. Here's a fun quote from a student who is from Slovenia, I believe. (How fun is that? Totally international! Another amazing benefit of online communication.)

Right now I even don’t know where to start I am so exited I am. I need to try all stuff here and place this in my hand and just play, and play and play some more.

My friend Kate joined too. She says...

I’m so glad you got me in to this overwhelming craft-o-rama. I’m giving myself 24 more hours to make a plan then I’m diving in.

Did I mention there are give-aways every month? This month is a cute little Janome sewing machine. Doesn't Alma look so happy to give it away!?

In one of my workshop videos, I show lots of options for freezer paper stencils like this one.

Can you see it incorporated in the finished project?

Anyway, come join STITCHED so you can get in on the fun, explore the "craft-o-rama," win a sewing machine, create a freezer paper stencil and play and play and play!

Boro Continuing

2012-01-03T10:35:00.001-05:00

I've been stitching a bit on my reclaimed/boro scarf. Not too much since I was working on some holiday projects, but it was nice to return to this project in between.

I added this square from a sweater I cut up. I had intended to turn an oversized men's sweater from the Goodwill into a cute asymmetrical cardigan. I was not successful, but the sweater was so soft and I like the color, so maybe this tiny square is the only good that will come of it.

Melly has taken her Rockstar Boro in beautifully detailed and artful direction. I've stayed very basic and simple. That's what is working for me in this project. No design decisions, just keep stitching. Just feel the fabric.

I would like to wear this scarf someday, so I need to think logically about the length. Here it is tied just once. This might work as a simple neck warmer.

It's pretty short. Too short to fold in half and loop the ends through the fold. Maybe it's too wide also. It looks more like a shawl here.

Yes, I think it needs to be just a bit longer and just a bit narrower. That's about all I can manage at the moment as far as creative decision making. And maybe adding another green sweater square or two.

Chartreuse Revisted

2012-01-02T07:00:00.000-05:00

I finally finished this small art quilt that lingered about in various piles throughout my studio for months! In fact, I originally started it for the Chartreuse challenge as part of the 12x12 ColorPlay Series in April.

Meandering Home

Originally I thought the composition had some problems and I didn't think I'd have time to finish the hand stitching before the Chartreuse deadline. (So, this is my official chartreuse 12x12 instead.) But over the next several months, I added some new bits here and there and took my time with all those loopy vines.

Yellow and green monoprinted fabric made in a workshop long ago. Also sun printed fern fabric created in a workshop long ago.

I love this line of zig zag stitching that echos the zig zag in the monoprint... but it's nearly invisible since I did it was white thread. Sometimes I have a hard time finding the balance between enough contrast to make an impact but still have subtlety. Some overcast blue stitching on the fused green binding on the bottom. The top edge has a yellow fused binding and the sides have a satin stitched finish. I love mixing interesting edge treatments.

Here's a serious close up -- French knots, tiny sheer houses and layers of fabric and stitching.

Sketching and Fabric Selection

2011-12-28T22:41:00.000-05:00

I set aside one day last week to work in the studio. I deliberately crossed several holiday preparation tasks off my list the day before. I was working on a few crafty projects in the weeks leading up to Christmas, but I wanted to make time for some deeper creative development. Plus, I have deadlines approaching.

I began by doing some sketching for the first quilt in the 2012 Series of the 12x12 group. The theme is metamorphosis. I'm ruminating on the cycle of plants -- from bulbs under the earth, to buds, full flowers and wilted stalks.

I've been gathering inspirational images on Pinterest. It's fantastic for this task! Take a look at my Plant Life Cycle board if you wish. I took my lap top down to the studio and scrolled through the images as I began sketching.

I made some notes in the beautiful journal that Nikki gave me. Plus a thumb nail size rectangle in the same proportions as the new 20x12 size requirement. Making notes (rather than sketching images) is a big part of my initial design process. I like to have a list of techniques or motifs that I want to include in the piece. Sometimes I try to make a "mind map" of themes and ideas that could be incorporated -- even if they would be very subtle.

Then I did do some actual sketching. You can see it on the right in the image above. Mostly I'm thinking about proportions and composition as I sketch. Two bulbs here... three bulbs here... one stalk leaning left.... one stalk leaning right. Deliberately empty space here... shapes overlapping there. That kind of thing. I'm not thinking too much about the precise shapes of each element when I sketch.

Then I began to gather fabrics. I pulled out some solid fabrics, knowing that I'll be adding some personalized surface design with paint.

I'm trying to think about contrast and give myself some options. I don't want the "flowers" to bleed into the background too much. I won't use all those purples, but I was a bit surprised by all the dotty purple patterns I had in my stash. I've got lots of options.

I actually got the background of the quilt pretty-much set -- it's not yet fused, but it's ready. I won't share an image of that since part of the fun of the 12x12 group is our reveal day. It's February 12 for Metamorphosis.

It was a productive day in the studio. I think I had about 4 or 5 hours of good work. (Kids come home from school at 3 pm, so my day is still shorter than a regular work day.) I was reminded that the process takes time. Five hours seems like a long time to basically slap four fabrics together to create a background. But so many small decisions go into the process.

Which four fabrics? What proportions? Cut edges or torn edges? Surface design in what color and pattern? Paint or ink? Fused or pieced? A little less or a little more?

It was a good day. I'm looking forward to getting back to work on this piece. Are you surprised that I chose mostly greens and purples?!

12 Days of Christmas Swap

2011-12-27T14:13:00.000-05:00

Today is the day that participants will open my little giftie! It's a pin cushion!

I made several pin cushions over the course of two or three days -- sometimes it's fun to crank out a fun little sewing assembly-line project. The participants are crafty bloggers of all types, not necessarily quilters, but who doesn't need a pin cushion now and then? Especially if it's cute!

I was inspired by this pin cushion that's been on my "crafty inspiration" board on Pinterest for quite some time. I originally envisioned some kind of woven wool for the top, but I really wanted to use something I had on hand -- denim! I choose three different quilty prints for the bottom of the pin cushions and made coordinating felt rosettes as a decoration on the top. The rosette's are made using Betz White's genius tutorial. (I made them with regular craft felt and slightly smaller.) They all have a coordinating ribbon loops and three little matching pins.

The first two gifts were delightful. Lorelei's been blogging about them. A lovely way to continue the celebration of this blessed season.

White House Tour!

2011-12-22T23:39:00.000-05:00

We had a beautiful time touring the White House yesterday.

We dressed up!

It was exciting to discover that pictures were allowed. I took lots -- some of these are not great, but I hope you enjoy a peek. (If you watched the holiday special about the White House on HGTV, you saw it all. Honestly, it looks just like it looked on that show. But, it certainly was amazing to actually be there.)

Here is the entry hall. Yes, it was crowded. But, it didn't feel uncomfortable or chaotic. Wreaths and garlands everywhere!

Large paper sculpted poinsettias hung alternately with the wreaths along the windows.

Just past the entry hall was a open area all decorated in paper and felt.

This tree has felt loop chains and whimsical felt ornaments.

Giant felt Bo!

Giant Bo made out of black and white trash bags in the Library. Georgia O'Keefe landscape over the fireplace.

Tiny Bo made out of buttons.

The State Dining Room with Lincoln's beautiful portrait. Beautiful Christmas decorations in red and green, very full, festive and traditional.

The East Room with Washington's portrait -- the one that Dolly Madison insisted be removed before the White House was burned in the War of 1812. Lots of natural garlands, pine cones, magnolia leaves, moss covered boulders with fresh paperwhites peeking through.

The Blue Room with the tree decorated with military medals and ribbons. Jeff and I enjoyed finding some of the medals he has received and also some that his father received.

Back to the State Dining Room... the stunning gingerbread house. (Gingerbread covered in white chocolate, I believe.) The detail was quite impressive.

Cute trees made out of cookies and marzipan.

The theme of all the decoration was "Shine. Give. Share." Lovely.

This was my favorite little vignette -- beautiful crystal (probably plastic, but still...) star and snowflake ornaments trailing down from the evergreen garland. It smelled good too!

Family picture with the Seal of the President of the United States.

Several families had the picture taken here and everyone waited so patiently and graciously offered to take pictures for each other. There was a great feeling of holiday spirit.

Self portrait at the White House. Can you see me in the mirror with my blue cell phone case?

I hope your home is filled with festive details and you're celebrating that happy feeling that comes with spending time with people you love!

One More Day...

2011-12-19T07:00:00.000-05:00

to sign up for STITCHED and have a chance to win one of 10 packages of inspiring materials and tools that could be used in my workshop "Branches, Buds and Blossoms: a Botanical Fabric Collage." You must sign up through a link on my blog by December 20 to get one of the packages. (I had so much fun gathering stuff and getting everything color-coordinated.)

I must say, the STITCHED site is filling up with amazing videos, photos and inspiration from all 20 artists. We've all been working hard to get everything set for the January 1 opening day of workshops! See the entire list of artists and workshops on Alma's blog! Easy registration also on Alma's site.

Another peek at my project...

Christmas is coming...

2011-12-18T15:48:00.001-05:00

and several little packages have arrived!

I signed up for a "12 days of Christmas" gift swap on Lorelei Eurto's blog and I'm gathering all the gifts in this old clementine crate.

Lorelei is a jewelry designer with a great mixed-media, arty, contemporary style that I just love, so when she posted this opportunity I thought it would be super fun to join in! There are 12 swappers and we each made a smallish gifty item, wrapped it up with our assigned number and sent a package to each other the other swappers. We'll open one each day from Christmas to Epiphany on January 6. So fun.

I can't tell you what I made since the other swappers might be reading. I'll be happy to share later -- plus show you what I received.

This and That

2011-12-16T09:11:00.003-05:00

Like Melly, I'm stilling stitching on my boro project. I did a little (intentionally) sloppy blanket stitch in green along one side. Next I need to actually put the scarf on and think about whether it's nearing the right weight and length.

I met my friend Lucy in Old Town Alexandria yesterday. We started our day together with a mocha and a latte and everything else that followed was equally delightful.

We went to the Army Navy game last weekend. It was really fun. President Obama was there! Here you can see him doing the coin toss on the big screen and in the crowd of people on the field below.

It's the first time I've ever been in the same "room" with a sitting President and it was pretty thrilling.

F-18 flyover immediately before the game -- and Jeff's hand. He was so excited!

Navy won the game and we were reminded how much we are enjoying being a part of the Naval Academy community.

A tiny sneak peak at a project I finished earlier in the month.

STITCHED Teaser and Give-Away!

2011-12-12T13:00:00.000-05:00

Don't forget to register for STITCHED! Here's a teaser video I created for my workshop. Enjoy!
Who doesn't love fabric, paint, stitching and collage!?

What is STITCHED ?! It's an online collection of 20 video workshops by 20 talented fabric artists. Students have access to all 20 workshops from January through June! Each workshop includes several video segments, pdf supplementary materials, a discussion board with the instructor and opportunity to share and interact with other students. And you can participate any time day or night any day of the week. It's a great deal at only $89! Full list of workshops and registration info is here.

I'm so excited to share this project that I've compiled a package of inspiring items that could be used in the workshop (or in any collage project)! Each package includes a color coordinated collection of goodies including a vintage hankie, a few pieces of fabric, cheese cloth, sheer ribbon, embroidery floss, one of my very favorite embroidery needles and a spouncer (my favorite tool for stenciling)! I had tons of fun gathering all these inspiring items.

I'll send a package to the first 10 people who register for STITCHED through the links here on my blog by December 20. (Gotta get your shopping done before Christmas Day, right?) That link will take you to Alma's blog which includes all the info about STITCHED plus a registration button.

If you've already registered for STITCHED through my blog, thanks so much -- you'll get one of the packages, of course! Through the magic of technology, the STITCHED coordinator (the amazing Alma Stoller), will send send me the names and addresses of those who register through me. And I'll send out the kits straight away so you'll have them in time for the workshops kick off on January 1!

Catching Up...

2011-12-11T22:49:00.001-05:00

I've been finishing up various small pieces that have been languishing about it my studio for months, maybe even years. Some just needed a bit of hand stitching and embellishments. Here is Patina and Crocus, 12.5 x 10 inches.

It's a very close companion to my Rusty 12x12 piece which was titled Garden Gate. Sometimes when I have particularly enjoyed working on a piece and I still have all the fabrics piled up on my work surface, I'll repeat the general color scheme and composition to create a second piece. It's especially nice to have this piece since all the 12x12 works are out in the world and I won't see them again for awhile.

Here's a detail with all my beloved elements... the square sequins, the layers of sheer fabrics and the hand stitching.

I am pleased with that spray of teal French knots. I find it a bit tricky to make it look as if they tightly clustered then dispersing, but I think it works here. That off white piece of fabric behind the crocus was rust dyed with my arty friends in Dallas.

I finished up a couple of other smallish pieces recently. I'll share those later this week. In the meantime, Patina and Crocus is in my Etsy shop.

Stitching with Melly

2011-12-05T11:15:00.001-05:00

Melly is working on an amazing project she is calling her Rockstar Boro Jacket. She's blogging every day during December and inviting others to work on similar projects and share their ideas and stitching.

I love to stitch... so I could certainly add a little lap project to my pile. In the spirit of "boro," using reclaimed fabric to repair and/or create something new, I chose to begin with this polo shirt. My husband bought it earlier this year and loved it. He's picky about color, fit, length, shape, style, etc and this shirt fit all his requirements. Then it got splattered with some kind of grease. He tried to clean it -- he's usually very adept at laundry and the like. But, he had no luck. In fact, it actually got bleached out in a spot. You can see the offensive area to the right of the buttons.

He was really bummed. Seriously. There was a bit of moaning and groaning when he shuffled through the remaining shirts in our closet. Knowing the powers of e-commerce, I was able to find one online and ordered it straight-away. It came a few days later and we was quite surprised and pleased. Just simple, right? Order a new shirt. But, it was a sweet little series of events that tells a story about how well we know each other and how simple it can be to make each other happy.

So rather than just throw away the stained shirt, I put it in my stash of unexpected fabrics to use in fabric collage, or whatever. Then Melly's boro project came along. The shirt seemed perfect. I've been lusting after interesting hand-made, upcycled and re-fashioned scarves lately. So, I am creating something scarf-like. I began by cutting the shirt into strips about 7 inches wide then I put them right-sides together and started stitching.

I'm thinking the scarf needs those two layers for some body. Other than that, I don't have any plans really. I'll need to add more than just the fabric from the polo shirt to get to a reasonable length. But for now, just stitching the pieces together. I'm not sure I'll stitch or blog every day during December. I'm not even sure I'll finish the scarf before winter has come and gone. But, that's not really the point, right?

Oh... and I didn't cut away the stained area. It will make the scarf more interesting.

STITCHED Workshop

2011-12-01T00:38:00.000-05:00

I'm so excited to tell you about my STITCHED workshop!

Click here to view more details

Branches, Buds and Blossoms: A Botanical Fabric Collage

Join me in exploring botanical shapes, textures and patterns! I’ll share my process for creating a collage incorporating fabric, machine and hand stitching, and a variety of unexpected materials and techniques. You’ll choose your own fabrics, compose an original design and experiment with layers of detail. I’ll teach ways to add personal design to your fabrics with painted patterns. We’ll use simple construction techniques, then enhance your collage with a variety of unusual materials and interesting embellishments. Plus, I’ll share tons of fun embroidery stitches to add more detail.

What is STITCHED?

STITCHED is a collection of 20 online video workshops by 20 talented fabric artists. (That's right, I'm just ONE of the instructors for STITCHED.)

What are the other workshops?

There are workshops on fabric flower making, creating journals and other books, needle turn applique, handbags, and many more mixed media projects involving fabric and stitching! Click here to read about all 20 workshops.

How is STITCHED set up:

By registering for STITCHED you have access to all the STITCHED workshops. You are able to pick and choose which ones you want to dive into first. The workshops are available to you any time you wish, until STITCHED closes on June 1, 2012 10pm EST. Once you are invited to the private STITCHED site, you are free to view and work on any workshop you want any time of the day, any day of the week. (I can't wait to take some of the workshops myself!)

Registration Information:

Early registration starts December 1st 2011. Today!
STITCHED workshops will open January 1st to June 1st 2012.
Registration is only $89.
Click here to register. You'll be taken to a site hosted by the wonderful Alma Stoller who is coordinating STITCHED. You'll find more info and a registration button there.

Edited on December 12 to add...

I just announced a give-away for the first 10 students who register for STITCHED through my blog. Check out this post for more information.

Here are a few more images of my fabric collage! I can't even tell you how excited I am to share this project through this amazing workshop collection.

Houston Goodies

2011-11-28T18:33:00.001-05:00

I cleaned up my studio a bit today and put away some of the goodies that came home with me from International Quilt Festival in Houston.

Marcia Derse is always on my list! I picked up the five fat quarters in the lower left. Plus, I always love seeing her and chatting about her fantastic fabric. I first met Marcia when I was stunned by her beautiful booth at Festival in 2006.

I picked up four wooden stamps -- in the upper left. I've already used the camel and the leaves! Several of the other twelves were raving about Oakshott cottons, so I picked up a red/gray stripe and an orange/red stripe. I also got a grab-bag stack of hand dyed fabrics in the upper right. I'm going to have a massive day of surface design and add something to every piece.

But wait... there's more! A tiny lotus charm from Lilly Pilly Designs in the gold bag. They had tons of really beautiful pieces and the gals in the booth were so friendly and enthusiastic. (That always make me more eager to buy stuff!) Two hanks of hand-dyed perle cotton from Artfabrik where Laura and Frieda always greet me with big smiles. Five tubes of beads that I had some plans for ... but I'm not sure I can remember exactly what they were. Lastly, I was sucked in by this bundle of selvedges and off-cuts of felted wool. Perfect for fabric collages.

I've been spending lots of time editing my videos for the workshop I'll be teaching at STITCHED! Alma will be announcing the details for all 20 video workshops on Thursday, December 1 and registration will be open! I can't wait to tell you more!

Day in DC

2011-11-26T21:39:00.001-05:00

We visited another Smithsonian today! But first, a stop in Chinatown.

Lunch at Tony Chen's where both kids tried the tea and only one liked it. (Surprisingly, it was Benjamin.)

Claire especially enjoyed the PuuPuu platter. Lots of yummies!

Water?!

These pictures are taken with my new iPhone. I think they're ok for snapshots.

My fortune was the one about patience. (A handful of patience is worth more than a bushel of brains.) So true. Benjamin's was true too -- The star of riches is shining on you. The neighbor paid him $20 for helping to bag leaves this morning.

Actually... it says "The star of riches *in* shining on you." Which is not as bad a typo as Claire's fortune, "Handsome is that handsome dose." What?

Then we went on to the Smithsonian American Art Museum where we saw several wonderful exhibits including bronze sculptures by Paul Manship.

The painting behind Jeff and Benjamin is titled, Father and Son. So of course...

I took a few pictures of textiles. I like this one with the quote above.

We had a cool moment when we looked at works by Kara Walker in one exhibit. Benjamin studied her in his art class over the last month and made a silhouette-inspired project that is hanging on the bulletin board in our kitchen. (A person balancing on one arm on top of a flag pole; a flag with smiley faces and peace signs and a tank shooting people.)

Edited to add: I asked Benjamin about the tank. I know boys like to draw battle scenes, but it makes me a bit uncomfortable. He said that his art teacher said he wasn't allowed to draw guns and bullets. He said, "Those are not bullets coming out of the tank, they are loaves of bread." Well, ok then.

Then we saw her again since she was included in The Black List portrait collection. We even watched a short video of her talking about her experience as a artist. That's what it's all about, right?! Going out in the world and making connection with other experiences!

DC is a great town. I am so thankful to live close by and to enjoy with my family.

More Than A Week...

2011-11-22T23:20:00.001-05:00

since my last post?! How did that happen? There was that flurry of pictures and excitment following my trip to Houston and then I just fell back into all the every day stuff that must be done -- and does not make for interesting blog posts.

I did take this picture of Lincoln on our leaf-covered deck. So handsome!

I've also been working on my STITCHED workshop. I've been learning so much about iMovie. There is tons of potential for online learning with videos, photo sharing and virtual classrooms. I am very excited to be exploring all the possibilities!

Gifts!

2011-11-13T13:37:00.001-05:00

After finishing the Colorplay Series with the 12x12 group, many of us figured it was time to celebrate with gifts! Karen's husband, Ted is a glass artist and he made each of the Twelves a stunning glass dish inspired by one of her 12x12 quilts. Apparently these plates have been exchanged in secret over the past several months. No one wanted to spoil the surprise for anyone who had not yet received hers. I was SURPRISED and delighted when mine arrived several weeks ago.

It's inspired by my chartreuse 12x12 quilt titled Approaching Departure pictured below the plate.

I just love the idea of similar compositions, inspirations and designs interpreted in different media. I treasure this very generous and inspired gift! Thank you Karen and Ted.

You can see lots more of the plates on our 12x12 blog. They've been popping up throughout the week.

Make It University

2011-11-11T18:39:00.001-05:00

I am so happy that my name was drawn out of the fishbowl to participate in the Make It University Sketchbook Challenge workshop in Houston last week! Even more happy when Tonya's name was also drawn!

We rotated to four mini-workshops taught by different artists from The Sketchbook Challenge. Judi Hurwitt taught "stacked journaling."

Here's the page I created. What I Learned: I love handwriting as a graphic element. (I knew that already, but I really enjoyed Judi's take on it.)

Jane LaFazio taught sketching from everyday objects.

I sketched my camera. Surprisingly, not too bad. What I Learned: I might like drawing more than I thought I did.

Jamie Fingal walked us through creating little house images on shipping tags with sharpies and watercolors.

Here's Tonya's house and my house. What I Learned: I should play around more with images on paper and adding color.

Leslie Jenison taught us gelatin printing using the Gelli Arts plate and tons of random stuff she has in her collection.

Here are some of my finished cards and bits of fabric. What I Learned: I really should order one of those Gelli Plates. (By the way, tons of great ideas and tutorials on the Gelli Arts blog!)

All the students got a cool tote bag filled with goodies. Honestly, I haven't even unpacked all my treasures from Houston, but I will soon. I came home with inspiration in all its forms!

Time with the Twelves

2011-11-10T07:00:00.000-05:00

I enjoyed every moment of my time with the other Twelves in Houston and missed Helen, Kirsty and Francoise so very much!

Each and every one of them are exactly who I imagined them to be! There was not a single moment of awkwardness. I felt a bit weepy when I first strolled into our exhibit and I could see Kristin, Brenda, Diane and Karen rising to greet me on Thursday morning. There were many more hugs exchanged throughout the weekend...

...and glasses raised to toast our time together!

That's a margarita with a sangria swirl at Ninfas. Wow... one of the best drinks ever!

Walking from the convention center to our hotel. The area around the convention center has changed so much in the last five years. It's really nice!

Gathering in the hotel lobby after dinner.

Gerrie reading aloud Facebook comments and emails from the missing Twelves.

We thought we might attend Gala on the Green, but tickets were sold out. We went out for Italian together instead and didn't spend a single moment wondering what we might be missing with the crowds of quilters eating bbq and dancing.

We gathered from breakfast every morning. Gerrie smiles so easily!

I have more pictures of various Twelves talking with their hands, looking serious, laughing, hugging, taking pictures, and milling about our exhibit. But, the pictures aren't that great and not really very interesting. To really tell our story in pictures, I would need a much better camera and more patience. But, then I would have spent more time behind the camera rather than in the moment with my friends.

12x12 Exhibit in Houston

2011-11-09T07:26:00.002-05:00

Seeing all of the 12x12 quilts at the International Quilt Festival in Houston this past weekend was such a THRILL!

Many of the other twelves have blogged about the event over the past few days. We're all still filled with such joy and excitement.

I think this is my first shot of the twelves. Brenda, Karen and Diane arrived on Wednesday evening and Kristin and I arrived on Thursday morning, so we were the first to see our space -- and each other!

We had several materials on our table which drew visitors in and helped us explain our four-year-long project.

The mosaics looked great on the felt panels that Terry and Gerrie designed and constructed. The spacing between the mosaics made for easy viewing by lots of folks. The artists statements were read by a surprising number of people.

We took lots of photos!

Nikki and Kristin smiling!

We all spent time strolling through the exhibit answering questions and giving improptu presentations. People love listening to Brenda talk about the project. She's so enthusiastic -- and her accent is so lovely!

At the end of each day, all nine of us (plus paper images of Helen, Kirsty and Francoise) gathered in the exhibit space to sign books and talk with viewers. Quite often they wanted us to pose for a picture. Those green ribbons say "See My Quilt in Special Exhibits."

Of course, we were all delighted to be together for this event, but I think it was also a big added bonus for the people who viewed the exhibit. They could ask questions, get additional insight and suggestions about doing a similar challenge. Plus, I think everyone could sense how much we enjoy each other. We are truly wonderful friends and we honor the experience of creating art together.

Here is the Blue/Brown/Sage theme from the colors I chose. After studying the quilts in online images for the past four years, it was fantastic to see them "in the cloth."

Houston Open Studio Prep

2011-11-02T08:36:00.000-04:00

I'll be spending some time in the Quilting Arts Open Studio at Quilt Festival in Houston.

Deborah Boschert :: Open Studio :: Friday, November 4 from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm

Under the giant Make It University sign in the vendor hall

I wanted to prepare a project that would be easy and enjoyable to work on, but also provide good opportunity for explaining my process and chatting with folks about fabric collage. (I had so much fun working on my sheer silhouettes last year.) But I didn't want to mess with packing paint, washing out brushes and waiting for stuff to dry.

So I put together "Layered Landscape Collages." Then I wrote a "formula" with 11 easy parts.

Here is one completed collage.

There are five others in various stages of completion. I put a little tag on each one listing which parts of the formula had been included.

Here are the rest of my supplies for my Open Studio time: handouts with the 11 part formula, embroidery floss, needles, scissors and a selection of sheer fabrics and unusual fabrics to show options for additional design elements.

Stop by and say hi!

Costumes!

2011-11-01T19:01:00.001-04:00

Claire and Benjamin both looked completely awesome in their Halloween get-ups this year! Plus, they were both really excited to wear them and enjoy the festivities. We had a fun night.

Claire dressed as Katniss from The Hunger Games, a book trilogy that she and I both enjoyed very much. People who have read the book recognized her immediately... which was pretty cool.

Katniss hunts with a bow and arrow and wears her hair in a braid.

She wears a pin with a "mockingjay" on it during her battles. Claire made the t-shirt using a freezer paper stencil of the mockingjay logo from the book.

Claire actually made the bow herself!

She added a sheath for her arrows before she went trick-or-treating.

Benjamin decided to go as a ninja. I believe this decision was inspired when he remembered his awesome foam nunchuks from a tae-kwon-do class he took in Texas.

We found a video tutorial online for creating the ninja hood. Just slip a t-shirt over your head, put your face through the neck and tie the sleeves behind your head. Then fold the neck up over your mouth and nose. Genius!

Here's an action shot.

Before he went trick-or-treating, Benjamin remembered the cool dragon pendant that Jeff brought him from his trip to Japan.

I lovelovelove costumes made from a bunch of clothes and other stuff we already have!

Claire and Benjamin sort candy together every year. Can you believe that loot?

Next step: sorting out what we don't need and giving it to the church to pass along to the food pantry.

Halloween Party

2011-10-31T10:27:00.000-04:00

We had a fun little Halloween party last night!

Cookie decoration station all set up. (You'll notice that the sprinkles are actually Christmas-themed. This did not bother the kids in the least.)

Claire and her friend (in an awesome duct tape costume) enjoyed decorating.

Notice the trail of blood (heart shaped red hots).

How cute are those pretzel "ears?"

This was part of dinner for the evening. (mozzarella balls, olives, almonds, apple)

Hot dog mummy!

Chocolate milk ghosts! Which I've been making for years. See this post from 2005.

Cookies decorated by the boys...

I listened to the boys completely falling over themselves in laughter and giggles while they were decorating (and mixing up gross stuff in their drinks).

Everyone seemed to have a fun time!

Announcing...

2011-10-27T11:02:00.001-04:00

I am thrilled to be one of the instructors for this exciting new online video workshop collection. Seriously, so very very very excited! It's going to be a truly amazing project. I know you're going to love it.

I've been friends with Alma for years. I think we did a fabric exchange way way way back in the day before blogging and Facebook. (Can you imagine?!)

Watch Alma's blog for news about the project. Soon, she'll be announcing the other instructor/artists. (I got a sneak peek. What an amazingly talented and varied bunch of women who love creating with fabric!)

She'll also be announcing info about the workshops we will be teaching. (I might sneak out some details about my workshop soon.)

Plus, coming soon will be information about registration and what is included. (Videos, pdf patterns, photo sharing, message boards, inspiration, bonuses and more!)

Stay tuned!

In the meantime, I've got to get back to shooting video, taking still shots, finding some fun background music, writing up supply lists and thinking of every-single-detail I want to be able to offer as part of my workshop.

Winner!

2011-10-25T08:50:00.000-04:00

I used a random number generator to pick a winner of Diane's dvd. It threw out number 11 -- that Loralei! Congratulations! I hope you'll share with all of us what you create with tips and ideas from Diane.

Remember: you can order the dvd through Diane's website.

Diane's Awesome DVD!

2011-10-19T07:00:00.000-04:00

My friend Diane Doran recorded a dvd with the folks from Quilting Arts TV. I'm thrilled to be giving one away for her. Just comment on this post anytime between now and Monday, October 24. I'll pick a winner and Diane will send you a dvd!

Diane creates absolutely stunning work using digital collage. The dvd includes tons of informative and inspiring step-by-steps skills. She shares lots of Photoshop Elements tricks but also talks about color, value, contrast, printing and finishing options. You'll also get to hear her talk about some of her beautiful quilts.

You can order the dvd through Diane's website. Or if you must have it NOW NOW NOW, you can download it directly from Interweave.

I've been reading Diane's blog for years. I think she was in on the early days of the Artful Quilters Webring. When we moved to Maryland, she quickly put me in touch with some great fiber groups and other art quilters. I'm so happy to share her new work here on my blog and to get to hang out with her regularly!

Another peek!

2011-10-17T16:06:00.001-04:00

I've been working a new project -- totally new in many ways! And yet quite familiar in other ways. I'm feeling s--t--r--e--t--c--h--e--d!

Family

2011-10-13T08:00:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, the kids and I went to Minnesota for a family wedding. It was so wonderful to spend time with my parents, my aunts and uncles, cousins and their kids and lots of other folks. Here is Claire teaching my Aunt Pat a game on the iTouch.

And here is my Uncle Dick teaching Benjamin the same card tricks he taught me when I was a kid.

Benjamin and his second cousin Jake... they had a great time together.

We took a lovely walk in a city park area that included this maze/labyrinth. The kids loved running around.

Benjamin got a kick out of decorating the brides' car!

I didn't take any photos at the wedding or the reception. I guess I was just enjoying the festivities.

I especially enjoyed spending time with my cousins Sara and Kari. When I was little, they seemed so much older than me. Now that we are all mothers and sharing the decade that is the "forties," we have lots in common and many experiences, ideas, struggles and celebrations to share.

Here we are when they came to visit us this past spring -- plus my mom and Kari's partner Mary! Happy smiles.

Peek

2011-10-10T22:34:00.000-04:00

I've been working on a few projects that I am not ready to share on the blog yet. Here's a peek at some work with a freezer paper stencil.

My friend Cathy said I should make some thermofax screens if I'm repeating little shapes like this. Hmmm. I use a freezer paper stencil four or five times and then it's mostly worn out and I'm ready to alter the image a bit anyway. But, I can imagine possibilities.

ColorPlay Stats

2011-10-02T15:20:00.002-04:00

At the end of the theme series, I did a statistical analysis of the techniques I used in the first 12 theme quilts. You can see it on my blog here.

I thought it would be interesting to use the same "categories" and track the results from my ColorPlay mosaic.

Original Categories
Hand embroidery: 11
Stamped Circles: 7
Sequin Waste as a stencil: 0
"Traditional binding" (meaning a separate piece of fabric somehow encasing the edge): 6
Words: (or handwriting) 5
Free motion quilting: 8
My beloved landscape compositions: 2
My beloved shrine compositions: 4ish
Beads or other three dimensional embellishments: 8
Surprisingly least used color: purple
Surprisingly most used color: yellow
Use of sheer fabrics: 5
Paint: 9

New Categories
Botanical shapes: 9
Square sequins: 5
The Arch: 8

I'm not sure if there is anything surprising here. I do like lists and statistics and comparisons, so maybe it's just for the fun of it.

Over the course of the 12x12 project (more than four years!), I have focused my personal style. So, it's expected that I would be using the same techniques and motifs in most of my work. Apparently hand embroidery is the strongest expression of my voice. I love sheer fabrics, so I am somewhat surprised that I only used them in 5 of my pieces. Though I used free motion quilting in 8 of my quilts, I don't think it offered anything really significant design-wise in very many of those pieces. That is something I would like to do better. I guess I got tired of sequin waste.

I've heard art experts suggest that you should just keep using techniques and images until they no longer inspire you. I'm sure to keep doing most of these things -- I've got lots more inspiration to follow!

My Quilt Is In The Current Group...

2011-09-28T08:38:00.001-04:00

of the SAQA Auction.

Today (Wednesday, September 28) all the art quilts on pages 3a and 3b will be priced at $350 beginning at 2 pm EST. Tomorrow they will go down to $250. There are some beautiful and unique quilts in this grouping! Even if you are not bidding, check them out. You'll be inspired and amazed at what can be done with fabric and stitching.

One More Orange Quilt

2011-09-21T18:47:00.000-04:00

Here's another quilt I made for the 12x12 orange theme. It's called Overflowing.

After I finished it, I felt like I hadn't used enough orange. So, I made the hibiscus for the official 12x12 orange mosaic. I like them both. They're very different, don't you think? I wrote more about the process, inspiration and materials on the 12x12 blog. Check it out. There are some detail shots there too.

MLK Memorial

2011-09-17T20:43:00.000-04:00

After days and days of rain last week (and only barely recovered from Irene the week before), both the kids soccer games were cancelled last Saturday. So, we ventured into DC to see the new MLK memorial.

Below, you can see the quote on one side of the memorial, "out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope." (And the Washington Monument in the distance.)

Then you can see here, how the stone with the MLK sculpture appears to have slid out of the mountain section at the entrance. I really like how this emphasizes that quote.

There are several quotes throughout the memorial grounds. Here's one of my favorites.

The quote on the other side of the figure has been the subject of controversy.

I don't feel particularly strongly about the misquoting of that set of words, but I do find the controversy interesting and a good subject for study and contemplation. There are other controversies about the memorial, most notably the $800,000 in fees charged by the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation for the use of King's image and words on the memorial. I might not feel strongly about the quote, but I do feel strongly about those fees. I think it's awful.

Another controversy... of all the quotes engraved throughout the memorial, which would you MOST expect to see? It's not there.

I am sure there was controversy about the Lincoln Memorial when it was built. They ran out of money building the Washington Monument and stopped construction for years. It might be interesting to study the history of the various memorials and monuments at the mall. Mostly, I just truly hope that the new MLK Memorial becomes a place where people of all ages from all over the world and might come and see Martin's strong, determined, hopeful face and read his wise words and feel called to action.

Winner Winner

2011-09-16T18:05:00.002-04:00

Remember the give-away from last week... this inspiring new collection of art quilts and quilters titled "Masters: Art Quilts Vol. 2."

The Random Number Generator kicked out number 38...

and that was Connie!

If you didn't win, you could easily place an order! I know you won't be sorry.

SAQA Auction Donation

2011-09-13T09:26:00.000-04:00

The SAQA Auction kicked off yesterday! I am honored to have a piece in the group of art quilts that will become available on September 26. Mine is titled Purple with Lotus.

Here's what I wrote for a detailed statement.

This fiber collage incorporates several of my favorite motifs and techniques including hand embroidery, original surface designed fabrics, sheer overlay and edge treatments. The lotus image adds a translucent layer over the main composition creating additional texture and tones. It is created with tulle and free motion stitching. The composition is a balance of order and linear elements mixed with free form stitches and the unfolding petals of the lotus. The design extends to the edge of the art quilt. Three sides have a fused binding with stitches and fabric over small sections. The fourth side has a zig zagged edge.

I am still exploring the idea of sheer silhouettes created with tulle or other translucent fabrics. (I wrote about this technique for Quilting Arts In Stitches Vol. 2.) I can totally imagine picking more flowers and more color ways and creating a collection.

I hope you'll check out the quilts in the SAQA auction this year. It's a great way to support fiber artists and an excellent organization.

The auction works in a pretty unique way...

On the first day of each section's auction, the price for each piece in that section is $750. The next day (at 2:00 Eastern), the price drops to $550. The third day, it drops to $350, then $250, then $150, and finally $75.

The first section will begin September 12th at 2:00 PM Eastern.
The second section will begin September 19th at 2:00 PM Eastern.
The third section will begin September 26th at 2:00 PM Eastern. (This is where you'll find Purple with Lotus and many other great quilts.)

Manoa Falls Hike

2011-09-12T10:32:00.000-04:00

I'm still catching up on many pictures and wonderful adventures in Hawaii. The hikes were my favorite part of the trip.

We saw some wild chickens in the rain forest.

The kids loved that!

Manoa Falls was an easy 1.5 mile hike to an amazing waterfall.

Lovely trees, ferns, leaves and shadows.

Benjamin created several imaginary ninja challenges along our hike -- rock climbing, stream jumping, bamboo sword fighting, climbing through mazes of vines...

So spare, simple and beautiful.

Isn't this branchy archway so fun?!

The beautiful falls...

We took a side trail further up the mountain beyond the falls. We ran into a young man with a back pack and asked him how far it was to the next overlook. He said he'd been hiking since 10 am and then he disappeared on down the trail. It was 4:30 pm, so clearly we were going to have to turn around at some point rather than continue up the trail. We ran into another couple who said there was a huge banyan tree just a bit further up the trail. They turned around there. So we continued through a huge swath of bamboo clattering in the wind, then came upon the banyan.

Then we turned around. Got one more quick snapshot at the falls and continued back down the trail.

I'm sad that I didn't get any snap shots of the shave ice we enjoyed at the little snack bar/restaurant just beyond the parking lot, or the guy who worked behind the counter who had a Lost tattoo, shirt and hat. Or the amazing collection of orchids that were sitting in every corner.

Maine Landscapes

2011-09-09T09:03:00.003-04:00

I'm getting ready to work on a new small art quilt --- a landscape, I think. I'm taking inspiration from these images from my trip to Maine.
Remember the green bridge?
This is a path at Sarah's new home.
I love Maine's coastline!
This may be my favorite... with the grasses in the foreground.
No, wait. Maybe this is my favorite (though it's more about he sky and the sunset than the landscape).
Another angle of the green bridge.

Inspiring Give-away!

2011-09-08T06:10:00.005-04:00

When seeking inspiration, I love to look at the work of other art quilters. I am amazed by what artists have created with fabric and stitching. It really is a wide-open, masterful, exciting part of the world of fine art.

This new book is a perfect example!

Masters: Art Quilts, Vol. 2 is published by Lark and edited by Martha Sielman who is Executive Direction of SAQA. A couple of months ago, Martha and I had a great conversation about publishing books about art quilting with Lark. (They also published our book Twelve by Twelve: The International Art Quilt Challenge.) I know Martha is eager for everyone to enjoy the works of the 40 artists profiled in the book. Here's your chance!

I'm privileged to give away a copy through the massive blog-hop give-away sponsored by Lark. Check out the full list here. It's almost over... just one more day. (Brenda will offer a book on her blog tomorrow.)

Just leave a comment on this post and tell me who your favorite art quilt "master" is. I'll leave comments open for one week and draw a winning name at random on Sept 15.

Chewing on the idea of drawing

2011-09-06T13:05:00.009-04:00

I gave a presentation at the Quilters Guild of Dallas last week. My program was titled "Twelve by Twelve: Inspirations and Adventures from the Art Quilt Challenge." I showed each of my 24 quilts for the themes in our 12x12 challenge. I also showed quilts from each of the other artists in the project. There were a few great questions after my program. I am still lingering over one question and my answer to it. A woman said something like, "I noticed that none of your quilts include realistic images. They are all rather abstract. Why?"

I took a second to think about my answer and then I said, "Because I can't draw."

Ug. I wish I hadn't said that. I did go on to explain that I am really enamored with the shape of things and the way lines play with each other. And I left it at that.

I wish I had extrapolated a little. So, I'm blogging my thoughts instead. I'll include this post in my continuing collection of "ideas to chew on."

I really do love playing with shapes. I love the shape of a house.

I also love rectangles and their many variations.
I like to play with the relationship of one shape with another. They look different depending on whether they are next to each other or overlapping each other. I'm interested in the edge of the shape -- is it cut, torn, sewn or frayed? If I cut it out, did I use a pattern? A wavy rotary cutter or a dull pair of scissors? Each detail in the process has an effect on the final design of an art quilt.

If I were trying to create an art quilt that looked like something realistic, I couldn't play with those details in the same way. Every decision would be serving the image rather than the fabric or the relationship between the elements in the composition. That's the stuff that's interesting to me.

I also like the idea that each shape can be an individual frame for other details. It can be even more interesting when details spill out of their frame.

Beyond shapes and their edges, I love playing with the colors and textures of fabrics. I'm interested in how a stitched line enhances a composition. Hand stitches say something different than machine stitches.

That said, there are occasions when I want to include something that is a bit more realistic. Then I do some research and lots of sketching. It's not so much that I can't draw, or that I couldn't become better at drawing if I worked at it. It's just that my interest lies in other areas. I think some artists, myself included, feel like we have to apologize for our lack of skills in a particular area. But, we shouldn't. I'm reminding myself of that today.

My personal style and the techniques, shapes and symbols I use regularly are things I've discovered over several years of cutting, stitching, fusing, layering, painting and just exploring! I think I'll keep at it.

Orange Reveal Day!

2011-09-01T10:22:00.000-04:00

Here is my orange quilt for the last of the colorplay challenges on our 12x12 blog. It's called Hibiscus and is obviously inspired by our trip to Hawaii.
Read a bit more about this quilt and check out the orange quilts from the other 11 art quilters on our blog.

Sunset

2011-08-31T16:32:00.003-04:00

We spent a wonderful late afternoon on the beach during our vacation. Several other beach moments, too... but this one was special. It was our 19th anniversary and we stayed all the way through sunset.

Tasty Hawaii

2011-08-30T09:42:00.000-04:00

I've got so many fun pictures from our trip to Hawaii, it's hard to know how to group them and what I want to document, share and blog about. So, I thought I'd start with an entire post about some of the delicious things we ate!

We had a great time at the Polynesian Cultural Center. I think it was Claire's favorite thing we did... other than play on the beach. The center has seven beautiful "villages" representing different parts of Polynesia. In Tahiti, Jeff loved the samples of coconut bread.

I'm not sure anyone really "loved" the samples of poi, but it was very cool to see it made in the authentic manner.

Our day at the Polynesian Cultural Center ended with a fabulous luau including smoothies in giant pineapple mugs!Here's an afternoon lunch at Haleiwa Joe's.
Followed by shave ice at Aoki's. So many choices!
One night we had ramen at a tiny place on Waikiki's strip. Such a variety of cultures in Hawaii.

Jeff has been to Hawaii for work many times. This is one of his favorite places!
The kids shared a milkshake.

Another of Jeff's favorite places is Wahoo's Fish Tacos. Yum!I'll share a bit more of this and that from our Hawaii trip soon.

Adventures!

2011-08-26T09:13:00.004-04:00

During the last week of summer, we took a wonderful family vacation to Hawaii. Jeff has been to Hawaii many times on business, and he and I went to Hawaii to celebrate my 40th birthday, but the kids had never been. We had an amazing time!

Jeff and the kids even took surf lessons (while I strolled around the Waikiki strip).

They both did awesome! I am so impressed by their fearlessness and eagerness! Benjamin was a natural. The instructors were quite amazed that he was able to stand up all the way on the first wave.

I'm not sure we'll be surfing again anytime soon, but I can imagine Claire or Benjamin paddling around off some shore in the future. Whenever or wherever that is, I hope they remember this day!

Update!

2011-08-21T18:11:00.003-04:00

Gosh! It's been so long since I've blogged. It's been a crazy, busy, exciting, wonderful summer. But it's coming to an end soon. Jeff goes back to teaching tomorrow, Benjamin back to school on Tuesday and Claire on Wednesday. Everyone is ready!

Look at just a few of the goodies I gathered on my trip to NY.
Kristin brought goodies for our little artists retreat in NY: the chocolate with the Hawaiian coffee beans, the gorgeous indigo fabric and the zen gray lotus print all wrapped in the orange ribbon. I bought ribbons and metal iron-on bits at the fabulous M&J Trim. I'm even quite thrilled with the tiny free swatches of green and orange fabrics from a great shop in the garment district. Isn't that hand-dyed purple and green ribbon gorgeous?!

You'll be seeing some of those orange bits in the upcoming 12x12 Orange reveal on September 1.

More Maine

2011-08-10T08:59:00.002-04:00

So many lovely moments during my stay in Maine...

Indigo dying on Sarah's lawn.
Taco lunch with Kate and her kids.
Delicious paninis at Sarah's home.
A visit to the amazing Beattie Chicks Makery!

A nice reminder on a park bench.

Excellent art quilt exhibit at Maine Fiberarts including works by Elizabeth Busch, Susan Carlson, Mary Allen Chaisson and Stephanie Green Levy.
Walking on the beach.
So impressed by Hannah's inspirational energy at Beattie Chick's Girls Art Camp.
A few more travelog pictures later this week.

Frayed Edges Show!

2011-08-08T09:06:00.008-04:00

The primary reason for my visit to Maine was to attend the opening of the Frayed Edges show at the Camden Library. And of course... to see my friends!

It was a great day. Here's Kate, me, Kathy and Sarah in the gallery.
My long landscape quilt, Over and Beyond, was perfectly placed over the display case that held smaller pieces.

Table decor with flowers from Sarah's garden. So lovely.
We decided to create an original collection of quilts especially for this event. We each made a triptych art quilt based on the theme "Letters."
This picture is a little dark, but you can see all four triptychs and each of the artists. Sarah has an excellent blog post showing each triptych and more description of the project here.

Lots of visitors came to enjoy the snacks and the art.
After the artists' reception, we walked over to Kathy's house for mojitos on the deck!

I really feel so very lucky to be in the company of such wonderful artists and delightful friends.

Lunch with Joanne

2011-08-03T08:24:00.009-04:00

Earlier in July, I took a trip to Maine. I think it's my fourth trip back since we moved in 2005. I really love so many things about Maine. Joanne and I were just becoming friends around the time I moved, but we've stayed in touch via blogs and email and my every-so-often visits.

My first stop was lunch at the Sea Dog Brewery with Joanne. She went early to snag us a perfect table on the deck. Here she is looking through my 12x12 Color Play series.

The famous Brunswick Green Bridge was just over our shoulders. I just love this view.

Joanne showed me her entire 12x12 collection. It's quite impressive. She has such a strong personal style and yet the collection shows some growth and development. Over four years, you would expect that, of course!

I also shared some in-progress pieces and Joanne gave me some excellent suggestions. Someone who give excellent critique and is a good friend is a treasure!

Here are more pictures of the green bridge from later in my visit. I walked across the bridge and enjoyed views on both sides.
This is the building which includes the restaurant where we had lunch.

On the opposite side of the bridge is a dam and lots of interesting rocks, water and birds. I thought that line in the rock disappearing down into the water was pretty cool.

Texture, color, line...

More pictures from Maine including the Frayed Edges exhibit at the Camden library coming soon.

More NYC

2011-08-01T08:27:00.007-04:00

We also watched some fun street performers in Battery Park. Benjamin "volunteered" to be jumped over.

Beautiful grand hall at Ellis Island.

One more shot from the top of the Empire State Building.
A guy carrying two lamps on the back of his bicycle cart.
Building decor at Rockefeller Center.

The Lego version...

Atlas in Rockfeller Center.

The Lego version along with Benjamin...

Chairs in China Town.

Afternoon treat at Serendipity. This is the "frozen hot chocolate" made famous in the movie Serendipity, which the kids have never seen.

We saw Cirque de Soleil Zarkana at Radio City Music Hall.
The Big Piano at FAO Schwartz made famous in the movie "Big" which the kids have never seen.

It was a really great trip to one of our great American cities.

Family Trip to NYC

2011-08-01T07:57:00.007-04:00

A quick collection of snaps from our family trip to NYC.

We stayed in NJ and took public transit into the city. We arrived on Monday afternoon and headed straight for the bus stop.

Then to Times Square...
After a delicious dinner at Carmine's, we took a late afternoon tour of the Observatory Deck at the Empire State Building, once again the tallest building in NYC.

We all loved it! The audio tour was excellent, a perfect combination of informative, educational and entertaining. There are about 6 posts around the rim of the deck. They are each numbered and you can choose the portion of the audio tour that matches the post and the view by which you are standing. Then the character points out specific landmarks that you can see and tells you about the neighborhood.

It was a great way to begin our NYC trip since it literally gave us an "overview" of all we could see.

Jeff and the kids splurged on bulk M&Ms at M&M World. Peanut Butter and Pretzel were the favorite flavors.
Benjamin loved the tiny rolling cart at the convenience store where we stopped by buy bottled water.

We took a double decker bus tour which allowed us to drive all through Manhattan. It was a great way to get from here to there which listening to various tour guides tell us about their city.

The next day we headed to Battery Park to board the ferry to see the Statue of Liberty. I was really impressed with this beautiful urban garden and it's dynamic fence.

Long line to the ferry...

Did you know she is striding forward?
Beautiful lines, colors, shapes...

Benjamin loves to "surf" on the subway by not holding on to the bars.
More later!

NYC Artists Retreat

2011-07-31T18:25:00.009-04:00

After our family adventures in NYC, I met up with artist friends Kristin, Robin, Natalya and Vivien at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
We went to see the Alexander McQueen show. You can see lots of images of the astounding show here and follow other links from that page to explore even more.

The Met was super crowded. It felt like quintessential NYC.

There was also a Richard Serra special exhibit of his "drawings." I snapped this picture before the security person scolded me since photos were not allowed in this particular space.
That's Kristin and Natalya's with the back packs. This exhibit generated lots of discussion. Mostly punctuated by lots of question marks and furled brows. Ahem. Robin noted that the security guards in the galleries were more interesting than the art.

A much more exciting gallery here.
Happy happy happy happy happy!
Check out this stupendous floral arrangement at the Met with pops of *orange.*

Then we went fabric shopping at Mood, made famous because Project Runway designers shop here. But, also famous just for it's amazing variety of fabrics.
We also shopped for beads, buttons, ribbon and trims in the garment district and took a snack break where Robin drank something called "yoga bunny detox."

I didn't take too many pictures of the rest of our time spent sharing work, talking about art, making plans, setting goals and getting to know each other. Amazingly, most of us only know each other through years of reading our blogs, but it felt completely natural. There is certainly more to come from this group!

I've been away...

2011-07-25T17:40:00.002-04:00

... seeing lots of amazing people, places and things.

I'm still absorbing it all.

Quilt National Stats

2011-07-14T13:35:00.000-04:00

I got my Quilt National catalog a couple of weeks ago and I've been studying, pondering and enjoying it. I am a member of a small art quilt group and we are planning to discuss the show at our meeting tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to that.

As I was looking through the collection, I thought it might be fun to pull together some random thoughts in the form of statistics. This is what I came up with. These are just categories that popped into my mind because they focus on techniques or materials or concepts that I use in my own work. Nothing is hard and fast here. I'm not making any claims of accuracy. Just my thoughts from flipping through the book.

Total quilts: 85

Countries represented: USA, UK, Australia, Japan, France, Germany, Canada

Artists I know personally: Naomi Adams, Benedicte Caneill and Katie PM,

Artists I kinda or should know personally: Mary Beth Frezon (we almost connected at the Sacred Threads opening), Judy Kirpich (she lives very nearby), Barbara Lange (she's a member of the same small art quilt group I was a member of in Dallas, but she moved to Germany before I moved to Dallas), Dominie Nash (also lives very close)

Quilts that include digital imagery: 12

Quilts that include images of people: 13

Quilts made with old fabrics: 4

Longest side: 108" (54x108)

Shortest side: 13" (13x48)

Seemingly smallest pieces: 18x18" and 27x27"

Other unusual materials: clothing, mesh fruit bags, chocolate wrappers, plastic bags, maxi-pad wrappers, bed sheets, card board, wool blankets, handkerchief, dish towel, copper wire, copper mesh

Primarily pieced (no surface design or other techniques): 15

Whole cloth: 11 (I'm guessing... or going with quilts that probably could have been whole cloth)

Irregular edges: 17

Main focus is dyed fabrics: 7 (the fabric almost stands on it's own)

Quilts with words on them: 8

Insane amount of hand stitching: 11

I could go on and on coming up with crazy categories, but I'll leave it there for now. Was that as interesting to you as it was to me? (I won't be offended or surprised if you say no.)

Vivien blogged her thoughts about the book here. Linda Teddlie Minton's thoughts here.

Gray Reveal

2011-07-14T08:39:00.003-04:00

Here's my art quilt for the Gray Theme in the 12x12 Challenge.

It's titled In Light Of. You can read more about it here.

This is the eleventh of our twelve themes for the color play challenge. Of course, we already completed twelve quilts in our original theme challenge (on which our book is based.) So, that's 23 small art quilts in my collection -- and several more also-rans.

Check out all the gray quilts on the 12x12 blog.

Textile Museum

2011-07-02T08:52:00.000-04:00

I've wanted to visit the Textile Museum ever since we moved to Maryland. We finally made it happen a couple of weeks ago. It was a great outing into the district.

We found a parking place directly in front of the museum. Rock stars!

The Textile Museum is converted from an old house and nestled in a neighborhood of embassies, in fact it's next door to Myanmar. It's smaller than I thought it would be. Just two main exhibit areas: downstairs and upstairs, plus an excellent education room.

Here is Claire studying the "pattern" display. If you click this picture, you will see that it shows the same image created in weaving, patchwork, embroidery and printing. Cool.

Here is Benjamin drawing a pattern on graph paper, theoretically planning a design for a loom.There were also hands on displays of various kinds of looms. Really nice!

The current main exhibit is "Green: the color and the cause." It's pretty impressive. (Though I've heard that the previous exhibits, Red and Blue were better.) There is an EXCELLENT online catalog of the show. Click on the Artists tab, then click on the first artist and just scroll through the whole show with the next button. There are just 35 pieces in the show, so it's a fairly quick scroll. The photography is excellent and the artist statements are informative. In some cases, there are links to videos or other sites associated with the artist. It's interesting to have seen the show in person and go back and look at the pieces again in this online format.

I overheard (eavesdropped on) a discussion between a staff person and a viewer. The viewer said she wished she could buy a catalog of the show. The staff person said it's too expensive to print and they felt it went more with the theme of the show to have the catalog online. I think that makes good sense.

There are a few pieces that would be considered art quilts in the show.

Teresa Barkley's Freedom from Hunger: Cabbage and Potatoes seems rather literal to me, in both the theme and the construction and format. It seems more like a traditional quilt. The more I look at it online, the more I like it, but it felt a bit out of place in the exhibit.

Jane Dunnewold's piece Sacred Planet: The Pride of Barbados/Mask/Price of Barbados is digitally printed, dyed, screen printed and stitched. Jane's from Texas and I've met her a few times. I'm not sure it's really "three layers stitched together," but Jane is a powerful presence in the art quilt world and this is a powerful piece.

Linda Gass' Treatment is stunning and greets the viewer at the end of the green hall at the entrance to the exhibit. I am so impressed with the dimension she achieves with her quilting and the masterful use of silk. It's so luminescent!

I loved Maggy Rozycki Hiltner's Hot House Flowers. Her use of reclaimed fabrics, especially from old table cloths and hankies, is inspiring and the embroidery is so subtle and subversive. It's 144 x 18" so the image online doesn't really give you a good close up view. In the piece she questions society's increasing pressure on children to excel and achieve and our decreasing relationship with nature. (With that in mind, I'm taking my kids blueberry picking today. Seriously.)

Claire's favorite piece with by Emily Dvorin titled Verdundant. (A fantastic title!) It was a basket woven with green zip ties. I bought a package of zip ties at the Dollar Store last week...

Benjamin's favorite piece was the 3D woven Fig Leaf by Emily DuBois. He also was drawn to Osmose by Brigitte Amarger. Xray images are sewn into the shape of life size figures and hang from the ceiling. He thought they were kind of odd.

None of us could quite get behind Enmesh by Kristina Estell: beakers made from nylon netting with dead leaves sitting in them. I get it. I appreciate it. I respect it. I just didn't really like it.

My favorite piece was Susan Lentz's Wasted Words: Global Warnings. It's a woven basket with tiny bundles of book pages, buttons and yarn. I saw it from across the room and was drawn to it immediately, so it was a delight to realize it was Susan's work. I saw a solo show of her work a couple of years ago in Texas. She is amazing! I must send her an email and tell her how great she is and how fun it was to see her work in such a prestigious setting.

There is one piece out in the garden, Arbor Lace by Michele Brody. (No pictures were allowed inside, but I snapped several outside.)

A quick stop in the restroom before leaving...

Afternoon noshing at Hello Cupcake.
I could give you a whole review of these cupcakes, but I think it wise to just leave you with the thoughts about the art.

Ideas to chew on...

2011-06-29T09:38:00.007-04:00

I've been thinking that my blog needs more meaty thoughts about creating. I think it would be good for me to write a bit more about my process, my struggles and my moments of delight or success. And maybe good for you too? So, what I've been "chewing" on lately...

Last night I spent some time in the studio working on two pieces: my 12x12 gray piece and another piece that I've been slowly puttering with for over a year. I spent a bunch of time just standing and staring at them. There was a line in the most recent SAQA journal about the actual process of creating art being the very hardest part of the job of being an artist. The marketing, administrative stuff and documentation tasks of an artist are all comparatively easy. I hadn't really thought of it that way. But, it is so true. Creating an art quilt that meets the vision I have in my mind, says what I want it to say, feels how I want it to feel, and is created with appropriate and successfully mastered techniques is hard. That doesn't mean the work is unpleasant, obviously. I actually enjoy it... usually. So, I'm embracing the fact that it is a challenge and walking into that willingly.Last night, I spent a lot of time pondering ways to incorporate free motion stitching into my compositions. More and more, I think of my work as a collage.

Collage:

a technique of composing a work of art by pasting on a single surface various materials not normally associated with one another, as newspaper clippings, parts of photographs, theater tickets, and fragments of an envelope.

an assemblage or occurrence of diverse elements or fragments in unlikely or unexpected juxtaposition

(I think that's a rather inspiring definition!)

I have a regular selection of images, techniques and materials that I include in my fiber collages: hand stitching, sheer fabrics, recycled fabrics, surface design, embellishments and free motion stitching. But, I haven't used much free motion stitching lately and I really want it to re-emerge in my work because it is so integral to the idea that I am creating an art quilt and not just a collage of stuff glued on a single surface.

Yes, I've been using the stitched arch at the top of several of my pieces lately. But, it's not even free motion stitched -- I'm using a regular foot for those lines.I don't want to use all over free motion quilting, rather I want to create a block of stitching that is part of the composition creating an additional shape and layer that relate to the other elements in the collage. I've done this effectively with simple stacks of straight lines, as in the purple lines in my 12x12 Passion piece.

But, I'm tired of the blocks of parallel lines. I want to find new collections of lines and motifs that can say something a little different.

Obviously, I need to pull out the sketch book and just doodle. Standing around staring at the needle and thread is not going to open up any options or ideas. I have to do the work. The hard work.

Sacred Threads Artist Night

2011-06-26T21:36:00.009-04:00

I had such a delightful time at the Sacred Threads Opening and Artists Reception. I was greeted by Donna Desoto and Lisa Ellis.

Donna bought my quilt Encrusted Cairn many years ago. We have never met in person, but she follows my blog and greeted me right away! It was delightful to make a real life connection and to thank her personally for her early support of my art. Lisa Ellis (along with Christine Adams) organized the Sacred Threads show in its first year here in the DC area. Her passion, dedication, and hard work are unmatched. I was so happy to meet her.

The exhibit was breath taking and inspiring on many many levels. I did not have the time or the mental capacity to take it all in. Unlike most quilt shows and art exhibits, the pieces in this collection are specifically related to various spiritual themes. The artist statements that accompany each piece are an integral part of the experience.

Here I am with Refuge Radiant.
Aside from the stunning art and the moving messages behind it, I was delighted to see many friends and meet lots of artists!

Sue Walen is a local artist. She and I are members of several of the same groups.
Alice Magorian and Glenda Richardson are local SAQA members.
I did take some photos of quilts, but I am so eager to get the CD catalog of the show. It will be wonderful to re-view each of the quilts and be able to read each artist statement without the distraction of the excitement of the show opening. Of course, there is no substitute for seeing fiber art in person, so I'll have that memory to go with the images on the CD.

The CD will be available on the Sacred Threads website after the show closes. It would certainly be a worthwhile addition to any library. The quality, depth and variety of the work is quite notable.

I will share just these two pictures of a particular impressive part of the exhibit. It was called Walking in Love and is a fiber art and mixed media installation that you could actually walk through.

A brief introduction sign and guest book...

And just an idea of the scope and power of the piece. It's a spiral of hanging banners. Can you see the person in the center of the spiral?Read more about Lisa Brey's amazing project on the Walking in Love blog. I thought is was especially exciting to see a true installation piece included in the exhibit. Wow! Just imagine what can be done with art quilts!

Then we enjoyed a fantastic dinner. That's Sue Reno on the left.
I've followed Sue's blog and art work for years and it was so fun to meet in person. Sue was one of the juror's of the exhibit and it was fascinating to talk with her about that experience and about other arty things happening in her life.

Then I got to connect with more artists. Here are Vivien Zeph and Benedicte Caneill!
They are friends of friends... and now friends of mine. I'll be seeing them again in July when I meet up with some other artists in NY.

There is something quite powerful about making connections with people who share a passion for creating and for honoring and celebrating our ideas through art.

Of course, if you're in the area...

Sacred Threads

June 22, 2011 - July 4, 2011

Church of the Epiphany, 3301 Hidden Meadow Drive, Herndon, Virginia 20171

Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays: 10am - 5pm

Thursdays: 10am - 8pm

Sundays: 1pm - 4pm

Special Hours on July 4: 1pm - 4pm

Frayed Edges Show

2011-06-24T09:09:00.001-04:00

I'm packing up my quilts today!

art quilts inspired by the theme
"Letters"

Camden Public Library, Jean Picker Room
Camden, Maine
July 1 to 31, 2011
Artists Reception July 9 from 2 to 4 pm

The show will include work by the art quilt group The Frayed Edges made up of Sarah Ann Smith, Kate Cutko, Kathy Daniels and Deborah Boschert.

The piece pictured is Green House Mantra. It is part of a collection of four triptychs premiering at the Camden Library show.

Kristofer's Quilt

2011-06-22T10:32:00.000-04:00

Several months ago I pieced this quilt for my new baby nephew. Then a few months later I finally quilted it. Then I eventually gave it to Kristofer (and his mom and dad) when we visited them at Easter. They requested blue and brown -- and it was a palette I really enjoyed.

In the bottom right panel I stitched his name. Can you see it in the picture above?

I haven't done any machine piecing in a long time. I improvised this "pattern," and it didn't come together as easily as I would have expected.

We all think Kristofer is just the cutest thing ever. He's not a chubby faced Gerber baby, he has his own super cute baby look.
I really enjoyed picking out the fabrics. I think it's a fun mix of patterns and tones.

I loved this scribbly fabric for the back and I tried to make it a bit more interesting with that pieced bar. Very modern, right?

Sacred Threads

2011-06-14T21:02:00.003-04:00

My quilt, Refuge Radiant, is part of the upcoming Sacred Threads art quilt exhibit.

Sacred Threads is an exhibition of quilts exploring themes of spirituality, joy, inspiration, peace/brotherhood, grief and healing.

Sacred Threads
June 22, 2011 - July 4, 2011

Church of the Epiphany
3301 Hidden Meadow Drive, Herndon, VA
Artists Reception: Saturday June 25 from 2 to 5 pm.

Check the Sacred Threads website for details.

I am especially thrilled to attend the artists reception. It's going to be so great to see all the art, meet other artists and revel in the beauty of expressing these themes and ideas in art quilts.

If you're going to be at the reception, please come say "hi!" I'm eager to meet you!

If you've got a quilt at the exhibit, but you won't be there, I'd be happy to take a photo for you. Just let me know.

Green House Mantra

2011-06-12T14:39:00.009-04:00

I am so happy to share this piece with you!

Green House Mantra

triptych: 12x12", 36x26", 12x12"

(Click any of these images for a larger view.) I created this triptych as part of the Frayed Edges show at the Camden Public Library this summer. The Frayed Edges is my small art quilt group (and wonderful friends) that began when I lived in Maine. The theme of our show is "Letters." As a special part of the exhibit, we decided to create triptychs on the theme. Each of the triptychs will include a 12x12" quilt on the sides and a 36" wide central piece. The central pieces can be any height. Mine is 26" tall. There are just four of us in this exhibit. I can't wait to see all the triptychs hanging together.

Yes! I am going to Maine for the opening of the show!

When I began this quilt, I knew I wanted to further explore the landscape/house/shrine motifs I've been working on lately. I am loving strong bands of horizontal fabrics as the background and I thought it would be interesting to carry those bands across the three pieces.

Here is the center piece.
A close up of the house collage including a sheer envelope and just the suggestion of a letter inside.
The collage of fabrics and shapes leading up to the house might represent a porch or doorstep. There could be packages waiting or a message whispered through the windows.
Here is the left side piece. It was a challenge to get everything lined up and make sure that the side pieces would hang on the center line of the triptych, but still match up with the central composition. (Did that make sense? Anyway... lots of measuring.)

To further explore the theme, I thought about letters, words, stories, voices and ideas in books. Tiny books are nestled in the leaves of the tall plants on the side pieces of the triptych. It’s as if the leaves are unfurling a message of growth.

To create these "pages," I fused bits of text from pages of magazines to a very thin off white fabric. You can see the letters through the fabric, but the overlay obscures them enough to make them blend with the leaf shape. Each leaf has a stack of three pages that I stitched down the middle.

I've used many of my favorite images, motifs and techniques in this piece. The sloppy paint stamped circles, the hand stitched wildflowers, the tall stalky plants, the variety of fabrics and unexpected materials, handwriting as a graphic element and the machine stitched arched embracing the whole composition. I love repeating these elements in my work and I love the meditative process of creating them. It's like a mantra.

After finishing the final details and taking the photographs, I actually hung Green House Mantra in our entryway.

FDR

2011-06-02T13:00:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, Claire had a soccer game outside of DC. We decided to swing through the national mall area on our way home. It was too late to go to a museum, so we walked through the FDR memorial.

Eleanor's green shoes.
Benjamin and Claire did some climbing...

It was a beautiful day.
We're still facing the same challenges...

Mini monument? Or giant Benjamin?

The visit really did give me a lot to *think* about.

Spice Reveal!

2011-06-01T09:00:00.000-04:00

Today is the reveal of the latest 12x12 Colorplay Challenge: Spice.

Mine is titled Savory Scatter.

You can read more about it on the 12x12 blog. And of course see the eleven other spice quilts!
I was especially delighted to use that tiny bit of embossed metal. I made it in a Dallas Area Fiber Artists workshop in 2009. Check out this blog post where you can see the same bit of metal. Blog history comes full circle!

Zip Line Adventure

2011-05-31T13:18:00.004-04:00

Puttering around on google looking for interesting things to do in our area, I discovered The Adventure Park at Sandy Spring Friends School. It looked amazing and we put in on our calendar for a Memorial Day outing.

Wow...

It was awesome! Here I am on one of many many many zip lines.
You can also see all the bridges and platforms made of ropes/logs/net/swings/tunnels/pegs/ladders/trapezes/etc etc etc! The design, engineering and creativity of the park are quite impressive.

Jeff and I did the Black Storm course together. It was rated "black diamond." Only one course in the park was more difficult.
It was absolutely exhilarating and required as much arm strength, balance and mental resolve as I could muster.

My best friend, Lucy, and her family joined us. Everyone had a great time.
There are courses for every size and skill level, ten courses in all. Our admission gave us three hours in the trees and we each did about three of the courses. I'd love to go back again!

Here is Claire maneuvering over one of the more difficult elements.
You actually have to reach out with your leg and set your foot on those pegs sticking out of the posts which are swinging from the cables above.
Jeff took this photo of me from a higher platform. I did not take the escape route you see marked above me.After, we all drank lots of water, got an ice cream cone and came home completely exhausted.

A Bit About Me!

2011-05-25T11:39:00.004-04:00

I am the featured artist on the Dinner At Eight blog today. Leslie Tucker Jenison and Jamie Fingal curated an art quilt exhibit titled, The Space Between. I am honored that my quilt, Fence and Flourish, will be included.

Over the past several weeks, each of the artists in the exhibit are profiled in a wonderful Q&A format on their blog. It's quite inspiring reading!

Studio Guest

2011-05-21T12:17:00.007-04:00

My friend Helen came to visit last week. Here we are in my studio.
And here we are in Sunday school in 1976. I am in the plaid dress on the left and Helen is in the pink dress in the back row.
Helen is now an Episcopal priest. She is taking a 16 week sabbatical funded by the Lilly Endowment. As part of her sabbatical schedule, she wanted to spend a few days of guided creativity with me. She has long been an enthusiastic supporter of my work and has always encouraged me to explore teaching and sharing my art in unique ways. We had two and a half wonderful days (and some late nights) in the studio.
We painted fabric, created fused collages, explored surface design, tried hand embroidery, used a variety of embellishments and thought about composition and design.
Benjamin ran around taking a few candid pictures.
Here I am contemplating whether to add some embroidered vines or some square sequins on my piece.
Helen tried several techniques that I don't think she thought she would enjoy... and then liked them more than she thought she would. Isn't that was exploration is all about?! We also fixed fresh artichokes which she liked more than she thought she would!
Here are some of Helen's completed pieces. She was very focused and truly took each of these pieces exactly where they needed to go -- all the way to labeling and preparing them to be hung.
I especially love the long piece that was created with fabrics Helen painted on the first day, composed on the second day and quilted and finished on the third day.

Layers

2011-05-21T11:40:00.002-04:00

Here's a peek at a section of a quilt I'm working on. It's for a show at the Camden Library this summer. The Frayed Edges (my small art quilt group in Maine) are exhibiting together. Part of the show will include a set of four triptychs on the theme "letters." This is part of the center panel of my triptych.

I'm thinking about things like envelopes, packages, door steps, walk ways, openings, messages...

Book Give- Away

2011-05-19T08:10:00.007-04:00

My friend, Jenny Doh, is giving away TWELVE copies of our new book, Twelve by Twelve: The International Art Quilt Challenge.

She also included a special feature on Crescendoh with spotlights of each of the twelve of us. Check it out here.

We are so excited that TWELVE more books are going out into the world! All you have to do is leave a comment on this post on Jenny's blog. She'll draw winners on Saturday evening. You do have to have a US or Canada address to win. These books have been provided by Lark, our publisher. We've been so impressed and thankful for their enthusiastic support of our book.

I've talked with lots of people about the book and it's getting great buzz. People say it's very different from most art quilting books. We found a way to tell stories about creating together, yet independently. About inspiring and supporting each other. About successes and less-than-successes. About growing in unexpected ways both artistically and personally.

Remember, you have to go to Jenny's blog to enter the drawing!

..or you could order a book from Barnes and Noble or even from my etsy shop!

Outing in Baltimore

2011-05-16T14:13:00.006-04:00

We ended our Baltimore adventure with lunch at Cross Street Market.
It's an urban market with veggie stalls, flower vendors, cell phone shops and a variety of food options. I had tacos. Benjamin had French toast and Jeff and Claire shared ribs and mac and cheese.
Jeff also bought a hand twisted soft pretzel to enjoy on the way home.

But before that, we visited the American Visionary Art Museum. (I didn't take time to upload my pictures in order or fuss with rearranging them. That doesn't bother you, right?)

It was fantastic. No pictures were allowed inside, but I took plenty outside.

The museum celebrates untrained or self-taught artists. I looked on their website for a description or mission statement. Maybe you really just have to go to see what it's all about.
The outside of the building is covered in fantastic mirrored mosaics. Here's a self-portrait...
The current main exhibit is "What Makes Us Smile." It was really wonderful and quite interesting. You know, there's a notable difference between what makes a smile and what makes us laugh. There was an entire room devoted to farting including a bench covered with whoopie cushions that automatically re-inflated after being sat upon. Guess who loved that?
There were several pieces by Chris Roberts-Antieau who is an extremely prolific applique artist. Her work certainly makes me smile!
The vibe and the style really reminded me of the City Museum in St. Louis and you know how much I love that place, right?
It was a fun day with my little family of four.

Beginning a new quilt...

2011-05-14T09:56:00.004-04:00

I started a new quilt this week. I've been pretty productive lately. I'm motivated and I think I feel summer creeping up on me -- during which I probably won't be creating too much. So I have to make the most of these last few weeks of school time.

I started flipping through my sketchbook looking at various thumbnail compositions and pulling out fabric.
I was really wanting to use this piece of loosely woven cloth in deep purple, rose and off white. I bought it at a beautiful shop full of imported items from Thailand in Wiscassett, Maine. You see it below the white house shape in this photo. I was building my whole palette around that piece.
But, I was having trouble making it play nicely with the other colors, prints and fabrics... so I pulled it out. Much better.
Isn't it funny that the item that feels like the cornerstone of a piece in the beginning --- a fabric, a theme, a shape --- might need to be set aside? You can't get too attached, I guess.

In other studio action, I felt like my floss selection was out-of-balance. Here I'm trying to see what's missing.

Family!

2011-05-13T12:38:00.007-04:00

With so many members of our family in one place for Kristofer's baptism in Phoenix last month, my parents decided to hire a professional photographer to document the event and take some portraits. We are all delighted with the results!
I posted a request for recommendations on Facebook and someone suggested Stacy Kokes. I browsed through her photo galleries and fell in love with her style and way of telling a story though pictures. She was perfect for our family and our event.

This is one of my favorites from the day! How cute is he?!

More cuteness!

I really love this one too. A great portrait of our sweet foursome.My parents were thrilled to spend such a fun weekend with their THREE grands.
We have lots of snapshots too, but sometimes the eye, the light, the style and the clarity of a professional is very much appreciated! Thanks Stacy and thanks Mom and Dad!

Tall Plants...

2011-05-09T10:29:00.002-04:00

When we were in Phoenix over Spring Break, we took a side trip to the botanical gardens. It was a great afternoon. I am especially drawn to tall, stalky shapes and I took pictures of several to add to my inspiration folder.

We don't have plants like this is Maryland!

Baby Nephew!

2011-05-02T09:29:00.002-04:00

The week before Easter a bunch of my extended family gathered in Phoenix for my nephew's baptism. It was our first meeting with baby Kristofer! We think he is just a delight -- and his mom and dad (my sister and brother-in-law) are also most excellent.

Two handsome boys...

Handsome Uncle Jeff. He loves babies.
Sweet Claire totally enjoyed holding and making faces with Kristofer.
Here I am with Kristofer. Doesn't he have the funniest little expressive face?

We also enjoyed time with Grandma and Grandpa, plus cousins who we haven't seen since our wedding (19 years ago)! And lots more family and fun times. I'll share more pictures later, but for now... it's all about Kristofer!

Fence and Flourish

2011-04-25T22:23:00.002-04:00

I finished this large quilt a few weeks ago and I'm thrilled that it was accepted into a special exhibit titled "The Space Between" curated by Jamie Fingal and Leslie Jenison. It's titled Fence and Flourish. It's 36 x 48 inches (as are all the quilts in the exhibit).

When Leslie and Jamie invited me to submit a quilt for this exhibit and announced the theme, we had just moved into our new home here in Maryland. I had a dream about interpreting the theme as the space between our home and the busy road beyond our back fence. It seemed like such an odd, and yet perfectly appropriate, direction to explore. I kept my creative mind open for a new inspiration, but this idea hung on.

All of the elements in the quilt are references to our yard. Some are specific and obvious, others are just tangentially related -- or related only in my mind.

There are birds and plants. There is a swirly swarm that might represent traffic noise. There are pine trees.The fence in the foreground is very much like our side gate. The fence in the background is a lot like our back fence and the trees beyond it were bare when I was creating the quilt. I love the stark lines of the trunks and branches against the sky.

The window is just a sheer painted stencil. Sometimes I'm looking out. Sometimes I'm looking in.

I really am utterly thrilled to be included in this exhibit. Jamie and Leslie did an exhibit with the same format last year, Beneath the Surface. My quilt Spontaneity and Stability was in that collection also. Making these quilts, being accepted, seeing the exhibit and connecting with other artists has been tremendously gratifying both artistically and personally.

The Space Between will be at the International Quilt Festival in Houston in November and so will I! Yeah! I'm looking forward to it already.

Treehouse

2011-04-17T10:11:00.000-04:00

I finished the tree house quilt!

I'm going with the very clever title, "Treehouse."

After seeing the SAQA sponsored special exhibits in Houston, I challenged myself to work toward creating art quilts to enter in SAQA shows. When SAQA announced Sense of Adventure as one of their shows for 2011, I decided to get to work.

When I think of adventure, I remember with great joy and excitement the zip line adventure my family took in Antigua in summer 2009. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to carry cameras on the tour, so I didn't have photos for reference. I turned to google, flickr and other internet sights for inspiration and found an image of a tree house at the very same site where we did the zip lines. I loved the shape and structure of the tree house combined with the lush colors and textures of the rainforest. Though this seems like a deviation from the zip line concept, it was a series of connections along the same idea and I decided to follow it.

I made lots of sketches (which I posted here) and pulled lots of fabric. I did some surface design and looked at more photos for reference. I started by constructing the tree house. I was pleased with how it turned out. It's more realistic than I usually work.
Then I set it in the trees and added the rope bridge. There was not enough contrast between the gray trees and the green background, so I added the white painted edge as if the sun is shining on them. I really love that edge and the long wavy lines of the trees.

I haven't done rocks in a while, so I went back to that beloved shape as the foundation for this piece. They are made from a beautiful black aloha fabric with green ferns. I got it in Hawaii. (Another adventure.)

In the last few steps, I added the sheer leaves and the hand embroidered vines.

I'll be honest and say that at several points along the way, I was really stuck. Eventually, I realized I was not going to be able to finish it in time for the Sense of Adventure deadline. So I let it pass. Then... SAQA extended the deadline. This was a sign to me that I must press on. Which I did. I finished in time to enter. I'm really glad it's done. I'm glad I didn't just fold it up and let it sit even though it was a huge challenge. I was rejected from the show, which is not surprising to me. I don't think I was ever able to fully recover from some of the problems that I came across with this particular quilt. It's not my very very best work in my personal estimation, though there are many things I like about it.

I think I will enter it in Tactile Architecture which is a special exhibit with the International Quilt Association. I've been in Tactile Architecture twice before and it's one of my favorite collections of work. I'd be honored to be included again. I think it's ok to still put it out there even if it's not a complete success. I suspect if everyone showed only the work they deemed to be absolutely fully conceived and executed, we'd see a lot less art.

Chartreuse Reveal

2011-04-13T08:12:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was the latest "reveal" on the 12x12 blog. Gerrie picked Chartreuse as the palette for this round of our ColorPlay series.

Here is my submission. It's called Approaching Departure.

You can read more about it on the 12x12 blog. Plus see the 11 other chartreuse quilts!

I finished this quilt well before the deadline, but I wasn't sure I was pleased with it. I started another chartreuse quilt and worked on it throughout the last few days, but it wasn't really coming together. The more I look at this piece and think about how and why I constructed it, I'm pleased with it and I think it is a good addition to my 12x12 collection and to my continuing development as an artist.

Inspiring

2011-04-04T10:13:00.005-04:00

I had such a wonderful time with the Dallas Area Fiber Artists last week. Really, it was just fantastic.

I taught a workshop titled "Techniques and Truths: Inspired by the 12x12 Art Quilt Challenge." I wanted the participants to get a taste of lots of different experiences including creating art to a theme. At the beginning of the day, we brainstormed several ideas for themes.

Then we went to work exploring various techniques including surface design using handwriting as a graphic element. Here's Jo doing some excellent work.Eventually we got to composing 12x12 art quilts. Here are Mary's in-progress pieces. She was working on the theme "tsunami."

Here is Sherrie working with a beautiful collection of surfaced designed fabrics.
At the DAFA program meeting on Monday evening, all of the women standing at the front of the room shared the pieces they had created in the workshop.
It was absolutely exhilarating and quite humbling to see these thirteen participants share their work and talk about the "nuggets of inspiration" they took away from the workshop. I really love when artists find a way to work independently and yet generate a collaborative spirit. Of course, that has been one of the many experiences I've enjoyed as part of the 12x12 group. I'm eager to share it with others!

12x12 in Dallas!

2011-03-20T13:12:00.001-04:00

I have been packing, planning, ordering books and supplies and getting excited about my upcoming trip to Dallas! I'll be doing a program and workshop for the Dallas Area Fiber Artists. I believe there are still spots available in the workshop. If you are in the Dallas area, I would LOVE to see you. See the DAFA website for more info.

Techniques and Truths: Inspired by 12x12
Saturday, March 26 from 9 am to 4 pm

Taking inspiration from quilts created for 12x12: The International Art Quilt Challenge, we’ll explore various techniques including construction, surface design, embellishment and finishing. Students may create a finished 12x12” art quilt or simply explore the techniques. We’ll also discuss various ideas and “truths” about creating art and living a creative life.

I'm bringing all my "colorplay" challenge pieces. We'll be working on several of the techniques used on these pieces.

On Monday evening, I'll be doing a mini-workshop before the DAFA meeting. We'll be making these illuminated letter ornaments. I just LOVE the easy technique for creating that letter with foil paper. I used this technique on my illumination quilt. (Kits are $4 and will be available for the first 30 participants.)

Illuminated Letter Ornaments Mini-Workshop
Monday, March 28 at 5:30 pm (immediately before the DAFA meeting)

Then I'll be doing a digital slide show for the program portion of the DAFA meeting. I'll also have copies of the book to sell and sign.

Twelve by Twelve: Inspirations and Adventures from the Art Quilt Challenge
Monday, March 28 at 7 pm

The Dallas Area Fiber Artists is a wonderful group. I am honored that they invited me to share my artwork with them. I am thrilled to give a little insight into the amazing experience that I've enjoyed as part of our 12x12 group. If you're in the area, I hope you'll come -- and continue to be involved with other exciting programs and events with DAFA.

In Stitches Give-Away

2011-03-15T08:48:00.003-04:00

Thanks so much for all your wonderful comments on my post on the In Stitches Blog tour. Remember I asked what you do when you are stuck on a challenging project? If you need inspiration, you should check out the comments. So many great ideas. Many of you said you just let the quilt sit and look at it for a while. I've found that if I fold it up and DON'T look at it for awhile, that can help too.

Lindsey from Quilting Arts offered a give-away through my post on the blog tour and I'll be throwing in a fabric ATC. The random number generator picked comment number 23... so that's Lindy! (Email me your address, Lindy. Use the email link on the left side bar.)

Well, maybe.

2011-03-12T16:34:00.000-05:00

Here's a shot of an in-progress quilt sitting on my work table.
I worked on it for hours and hours and hours over the past couple of months. I previewed some sketches in this post.

I was making it to enter into a new exhibit through SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) titled A Sense of Adventure. I was quite inspired by the SAQA exhibit in Houston this past fall and I felt like I should try to step up and enter. Of course, this means creating work that fits the size and theme requirement AND has some value through an artistic eye.

I ran into some bumps in the process and eventually concluded that it had lots of problems. I realized I would not be able to lift the quilt out of its medocrity before the deadline, so I folded it up and began work on a quilt for another deadline.

So it goes.
Then SAQA extended the deadline. Now I have a second chance to revisit it. I think I can look at it a bit differently now. It was helpful to put it aside for awhile.

mini book

2011-03-10T13:41:00.000-05:00

I had so much fun creating this little mini-book! I've got a whole stack for my upcoming workshop in Dallas and also as give-aways with purchase of the new 12x12 book.
I created the little book to fit on an 8.5 x 14 sheet of paper, then embellished with rubber stamps and markers and folded them into the book format.

The needed one more interesting element, so I printed out these quotes about creativity on different colors of paper.

Here's my favorite...

You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have. — Maya Angelou

I zigzagged stitched down the spine to hold the whole thing together, adding the creative quote strip in the middle. It's kind of like a fortune cookie!

Every day I'm discovering new "truths" about being an artist. Today I've reconfirmed that when the mess in the studio gets out of control, loud music helps with the clean up.

Continuing

2011-03-07T06:00:00.002-05:00

Here's another in-progress shot of the quilt I am working on for the "the space between" exhibit. I don't usually create art quilts that are so directly inspired by my surroundings. Then I found myself making a quilt about my back yard. This is rather a surprise to me.

When I needed to add a bit of detail to one area, I decided to stitch a cardinal over the sheer tree shapes.

I really do enjoy watching the birds in our yard. There are more robins this week than there were last week. Surely this means spring is coming. I decided not to stitch a squirrel onto the quilt, though I enjoy them as much as the birds, for sure. I thought it might make it seem like a quilt full of "woodland creatures." That's not really the vibe I'm going for.

In Stitches Blog Tour & Give Away!

2011-03-04T05:00:00.000-05:00

I'm so excited to be one of the stops of the "blog tour" for the latest issue of In Stitches emag!

As a little bonus for the blog tour, I thought I'd share a bit about creating one of the pieces that is featured in my article about creating sheer silhouettes.

Vine Emerging, 16x16"

I was working on a big quilt that was very very challenging. I felt like I was working totally outside of my style and it wasn't going well. I needed to take a break and return to some of my favorite techniques and elements.

I played around with bits on my work table (and out of my trash can) and came up with this basic composition.

It was so refreshing! I even used some of the same fabrics from the challenging quilt. Seeing them in a different setting helped me return to the larger project with new ideas.

After completing the larger project, I returned to the fabric collage. It needed a focal point, so I added the sheer silhouette of the vine and berries. And lots of hand embroidery! My article includes step-by-step instructions for this sheer silhouette technique and images of other fabric collages I created using sheer fabrics.

I posted a few more details about the emag just a few days ago, in this post. Check it out!

Oh Yes! I know you read "give away" the title of this post. The fabulous Lindsey Murray at Quilting Arts is offering some fiber art goodies as part of my post! I'll throw in an original fiber ATC! Just comment on this post and I'll use a random number generator to pick a winner on March 11. Tell me what you do to take a break from a challenging project.

Michelle Allen is up next on the In Stitches Blog Tour!

Lots more great posts along the way on the tour, too!

Sunday (Feb 27): Pokey launches the tour!

Monday (Feb 28): Jane Davila

Tuesday: Lynn Krawczyk( March 1)

Wednesday: Jackie Cardy(March 2)

Thursday: Deb Bates (March 3)

Friday: Deborah Boschert (March 4): That's me!

Saturday: Michelle Allen (March 5)

Sunday: Liz Kettle (March 6)

Monday: Lyric Kinard (March 7)

Tuesday (March 8): A surprise guest on Lindsey’s blog will be the final stop of this tour!

12x12 Reveal Day

2011-03-01T10:22:00.000-05:00

Even in the midst of all the excitement about the release of our book, we're still creating new work. Today is the reveal day for the color palette I chose: BrownSageBlue.

Here is my piece, Spring Suggestion.
Check out our 12x12 blog to see the other 11 quilts pop up throughout the day.

Busy Road

2011-02-28T09:00:00.001-05:00

I'm working on a big quilt for an invitational juried exhibit. The theme is "the space between."

When the theme was first introduced, we were just moving into our new home. We have a lovely back yard full of animals and trees. Behind the trees and the fence is a busy road. It's a "take the good with the bad" situation. I love the yard, but the noise from the traffic is a bit disturbing.

I actually had a dream about working on this quilt. In my dream, I was focusing on "the space between" our house and busy road. Isn't that a surprising and interesting interpretation?! The subconscious dream state is full of potential, I guess. I couldn't ignore the dream, so I started taking some pictures.

Here's a bit of my inspiration. This is the gate in our side yard.

Here is a detail of my in-progress quilt.
I made tons of sketches.
Page after page. Looking at these pictures, it seems like I just kept drawing the same thing over and over, but I think I really was working out some composition challenges.
I think it's really important that the base composition is balanced. Then I can add all kinds of detail and frippery on top.
I'm at the point where I'm adding lots of hand embroidery. I did tons of stitching while watching the Oscars last night. I'm so thankful I had that as a distraction from the incredibly dull broadcast. Also very thankful for the fast forward button on the dvr.

Check Out In Stitches

2011-02-25T13:32:00.000-05:00

I am so excited about the new issue of Quilting Arts In Stitches emag! I'm thrilled to be a contributor... but really the emag is packed with amazing stuff.

You will not find this magazine at book stores or Michaels or Joanns. It's only available as a download from Interweave, the publishers of Quilting Arts and Cloth Paper Scissors (so you know it's fabulous!).

Why do you have to download it?!

Because it is so much more than a magazine. It is full of tons of interactive goodies including slide shows, pop-up bits of info about supplies and special hints, and video demos, interviews and studio tours. (Even the images of the fiber necklaces swing about when you hover over them with your mouse. How fun is that?!)

Honestly, I've never seen anything like it. It's like a perfect combination of magazine, tv show and live presentation.

Just a few of the things I love in the current issue:

Profile of art quilter Marianne Burr including many beautiful pictures of her work and studio.
Lyric Kinard's discussion of resolving design problems using stitching and paint.
Judith Trager insightful live interview about her amazing in-progress triptych.
Even the bios for each contributor are full of wonderful info about their stitching techniques, inspiration and favorite fiber artists. There is so much personality in the bios -- way more than you get on the contributors page in a regular magazine.

Plus, there's my article about creating sheer silhouettes like this one.

The article includes images of several more small fiber collages that I created with this technique.

Ok, let's be honest. It's pricey. The download costs $14.97. That seems like a lot for a "magazine." But, really it's so much more than a magazine. It's like a taste of visiting a gallery, taking a workshop, planning a new project and chatting with other artists -- all in on. Plus, you are supporting artists and art quilting by purchasing In Stitches. I think it's important to encourage the enthusiasm, support and innovation bubbling up in our world of fiber art. In Stitches is taking it to the next level!

Check out the full list of the contents plus lots of helpful Q&A about exactly what you get with the In Stitches download here.

Hold off on a couple of trips to Starbucks or a yard or two of fabric and treat yourself to this cool new publication! I'm guessing it will be as stimulating as a double shot espresso and as inspiring as the latest fabric designs!