Getting Back to Work

I’ve been piddling in my studio lately and not being as productive as I usually like to be, but you have to have down times every once in a while. I have been busy organizing the Dallas Area Fiber Artists Annual Show that will be November 5 – 27 at the ArtCentre of Plano. I am pleased to say that the jury process is complete and three of my pieces were selected for the show. Kimono Jacket, Traditional Batik and Sunflower with a Passion for Color. I'm looking forward to the show and seeing all of our art work hanging all together in this 1920's home that has been refurbished and converted into a gallery and offices.


This past Saturday DAFA participated in NorthPark Celebrates Art in Dallas. It was a productive day, we were able to spread the word about DAFA and entice people to visit us and join! It was also a great day for me to spend with fellow members and get to know them better and talk about our upcoming show and education ideas for the coming year.

I’ve decided I like the way some of my smaller art quilts look on painted canvas, so I painted a few canvases this week to mount two of my angel quilts on. Here is the "Weeping Angel" art quilt that I just mounted.


I love the way the art quilt continues on out into the painted canvas. I had done this process with a couple of other art quilts and a gallery owner encouraged me to continue this technique, telling me that art collectors will see it more as "art" rather than a quilt hanging on the wall.

While I was piddling last week I designed and started a new quilt for the house. There is a dark corner in our family room that needs to lighten up. The wall is “blue suede” and next to the windows going out to our hydrangea flowerbed and a dark stained built-in entertainment center. I want to complement the blues and bring in the beautiful colors of the hydrangeas. Here is a picture background that I put together. I’m going to try out some new surface design techniques to pull in the blues, pinks and greens of the foliage. If you have any ideas of things for me to try, let me know! I’m open to ideas!!!!



Happy Stitching Everyone!

On to Other Things

I finished the binding on the Traditional Batik Quilt and the Pumpkin Quilt yesterday. I was able to get this picture of the batik quilt, and had to wait for the wind to quit kicking up before I could get one of the pumpkin quilt. The batik quilt measures 65" square and the pumpkin quilt is 71"x73".



Since I finished these quilts I have taken time to hand paint on some fabric that I screen printed at my "Dye Party" a few weeks ago. Both of these will be 9"x12" and will go to the SAQA-Texas exhibit at the Houston show.



I'm calling this one "Hugs and Kisses". I hi-jacked this screen from one of the other ladies at the party. I'm going to hand quilt X's and O's on it.



"Feelin' Groovy", my Red, White and Blue Themed quilt. Hand painting this one was fun, going in waves and circles, controlling the paint...very relaxing.

I'm listening to books written by Susan Wiggs right now. Just finished "Lakeside Cottage" and today I started listening to "Table for Five". Listening to books is so relaxing and I'm able to escape to another world while I'm enjoying my art in my studio. Life is good!

Accomplishments

I feel accomplished! I have had a basket in my elfa stand labeled "Quilts to Quilt" and now I can proudly say, it is empty! Yesterday I finished quilting the Traditional Batik quilt and last week I picked up my Pumpkin Quilt from being quilted (I wasn't going to tackle this one on my Bernina, I'm not that industrious). Today I am cutting off the excess batting/backing and cutting the bias binding for both of these quilts. They turned out beautifully and I'm so proud of the piecing, applique and quilting in each one. My friend, Connie Keller, quilted the pumpkin quilt. She does awesome quilting and I'm so blessed by her friendship.
As soon as I get the binding on these quilts I'll post full pictures.

Project for the Week

Ever have a hard time starting a new project because you keep thinking about the projects you haven't completed? My answer - Constantly! So I told myself that this summer I have to complete my "Unfinished Projects" in between the new projects. This way I'm taking care of all the mental and visual road blocks that keep me from having a free mind to create. This week I'm quilting the "Traditional Batik Quilt" that I pieced two years ago. I participated in a Block of the Month with Cabbage Rose in Fort Worth, TX in 2008. We had a choice of traditional or batik fabrics. When the blocks were complete I designed my own quilt instead of using their pattern. I love Flying Geese so I chose this block to join the other traditional blocks together. Yesterday I started quilting and I'll spend today working on it too. I'm stippling the quilt and using coordinating thread colors for each block.

Here's a picture of the quilt top after I finished it two years ago.
I'll post again when I'm finished with the quilting!