Little Bright Eyes

This small quilt (16" x 20") jumped into my mind a few weeks ago.  The front is completely free-motion stitched.  The little saw-whet owl is thread painted and all the pine needles are thread sketching.  The moon is composed of angelina fibers.

After searching for a good background, I came upon my last piece of fabric that I bought from Ellen Anne Eddy six years ago.  And it was perfect.  Then I looked back through my gallery of quilts and realized my favorite work had been done with her fabrics as background.  So I am now watching daily for a new box containing many yards of her fabric.  I feel like a kid waiting for her first bicycle!

I'm on my way to Waverly House Gallery to take this latest work.  I may have to make another for myself because I'm very fond of it.

My First Portrait of a Person

BOB SINGS ( 17" x 18") This was my first experiment in trying to create a portrait of a person. I used a picture of my husband as he was singing that is one of my favorites. My fabric choices didn't turn out so well - he really doesn't have any odd skin conditions - but the picture actually does look like him a lot. So I'll call it a success and prepare to try another one.

NELLIE (10" X 12") Nellie lives next door to me with the Hatch family. She is getting very old so I thought a portrait of her might be welcome. I did a lot of thread-painting on this but it doesn't seem to show up very well. She is a mostly white cat so trying to add some dimension and texture was challenging.

New Work

PRICKLY PODS (26" x 36") I belong to an art quilt group through our local quilt guild. Last month we studied the work of ten fiber artists featured in The Masters. One of them is Caryl Bryer Fallert whose work I've admired for a long time. I enjoy the lovely curves she uses as well as the vibrant colors that appeal greatly to me. So this is my homage to her. I used some of my hand-dyed fabrics as well as some commercial batiks. When the top was done I had a wonderful time thread-painting on the "pods" and free-motion quilting the background. Note: Prickly Pods has been juried into In Full Bloom VI.

I hope this detail shot shows some of the quilting - it is very intense. I also added some golden spirals using 100 dernier silk thread.

DWELLINGS (16" x 20") This work was done for the Fast Friday Fabric Challenge a few months ago. The challenge was to use a monochromatic scheme. This was fun because I layered the front, batting and backing and quilted plain black fabric. Then I used Jacquard Discharge Paste to remove the color from selected areas and painted them various yellow tones. I've enjoyed Jean Auel's Earth Children's series and this piece makes me think of pre-historic peoples and the challenges they faced in finding shelter. Note: A second larger work, "Dwellings: Another Time, Another Place" was juried into the IQF special exhibit Tactile Architecture.

More Fast Friday Fabric Challenge Quilts

CROW TAKES A VACATION (14" x 21"). I posted earlier about the Fast Friday Fabric Challenge internet group. We have a monthly challenge to use a specific technique or color combination and create a quilt within a week. For this month, we were challenged to use complementary colors and begin working in a series.YOUR RHYTHM, MY BLUES (17" x 21"). This challenge was to use analogous colors and to show movement. This piece, along with BROKEN CONNECTIONS was made in an effort to express my feelings in helping a family member deal with the onset of Alzheimer's.

WIND (11.5" x 14"). This challenge was to show motion. I used a piece of "failed" hand-dyed fabric - meaning it didn't retain the vivid colors I prefer. But it created a nice background for this windy day piece.

ROANOKE COTTAGE (9" x 12"). Our challenge was to depict architecture in some fashion as well as to show depth. This was based on a picture of a home I used to own in Springfield, MO. It has a lot of thread-painting for the yard and flower beds.

BROKEN CONNECTIONS (14" x 18"). Our challenge was to use a zinger color and to express emotion.

FLOWERBURST (14" x 18"). We were challenged to make a monochromatic quilt . Mine turned into analogous colors. It had a bright yellow background and I had a suggestion to think about using purple if I made another similar quilt. I pulled out my fabric paints and painted the background with purple paint and it greatly improved the work.

BEACH FIRE (12" square). This month's goal was to use a surface design technique. My piece is painted with water colors, quilted and then I added some beading.

It is not Fast Friday - It is Christmas at the TITs. I am a member of a small art quilt group, the Textile Improvisation Team, aka TITs. We met at Christmas and played dirty Santa and Vivian ended up with my little ferns. This piece was quilted, then discharged with Jacquard Discharge Paste and painted.

Upcoming Gallery Show

The opening of my first ever gallery show is coming up October 3rd at Waverly House in Springfield, Missouri. The following works are a preview of what I will be showing.

COON (18.5" x 28.5") pictures a raccoon foraging in a dry creek bed. The beautiful background fabric in the upper half is a hand-dye I ordered from Dijanne Cevaal in Australia. It added just the right touch to this autumnal scene. The coon is thread-painted.

SAW WHET OWL (21" x 31") evolved after I did some research on owls and learned about this small bird. I thread-painted the owl. After placing the owl and the branches, I decided he should be in a fir tree and spent days free-motion stitching all those needles. I'm in no hurry to repeat this stitching adventure.

MATING SEASON (approx. 18" X 27") is a jolly quilt with lots of color. It was one of those pieces that come together rather quickly because of the joy of working with all the color and shapes. All the frogs are thread-painted.

GUSTAV'S GARDEN II (18" X 22") was inspired by a painting by Gustav Klimt. It was originally intended to be entered as my 2007 Journal Quilt but after I finished it I entered it into the juried section of the International Quilt Festival and it was accepted as a finalist.

STUDS TURTLE (approx. 18" x 26") is another jolly quilt with its turtle, lizard, dragonflies, leaves and flowers. Its background is a piece of my hand-dyed fabric.

SCENTUOUS (33" X 42.5") was inspired by a beautiful hand-dyed cotton sateen from Jeanettes Fabric To Dye For. I couldn't cut it up so used the whole piece as the background for some vines, irises, an out-size marigold and then a thread-painted skunk worked its way into the grass at the bottom.

RAIN FOREST FROLIC (34" X 39") is a piece I made a couple of years ago. I love its colorful dart frogs and the giant beetle. The border fabric is a hand-dye from Ellen Anne Eddy who is one of my quilt heroes.

SOLITUDE (approx. 18" x 24") was also made a couple of years ago using another of Ellen's hand-dyes as a background. It has a peaceful feeling I've enjoyed seeing on my wall.

LATE BLOOMER (49" x 64") has just returned from its journeys as part of the In Full Bloom IV Exhibit of the International Quilt Association. The blooms on the quilt are hand-painted and then thread-painted. I spent a long time working on this piece and had a wonderful critique from Cynthia Morgan that helped me improve the work.