New Year Project

I made a promise to myself at the beginning of the year that I would make a 6 inch piece of fiber art each week of the year.  We are currently in week 7 of 2016 and I actually HAVE 7 pieces made so far!  WOO HOO!  I am making them anywhere from 6.5 inches to 7 inches, and plan to trim them to a finished 6 inch size.  I have no color plan or any other kind of plan; I simply want to complete 52 pieces this year.  I hope to post them as I finish each one. 
Here is WEEK 1:

In it I used some rusted fabric, and did a weaving with commercial fabric and eyelash yarn.

WEEK 2:

This one is a tissue paper fabric, painted, and with some paintstick added through sequin waste.

WEEK 3:

Made up of torn commercial fabrics and some rusted fabrics around a piece of written fabric.  All the pieces are sewed onto stabilizer.

WEEK 4:

I have several different discharged fabrics in this one, several blacks, browns and a red.

WEEK 5:

Again, rusted fabrics, black and a discharged blue fabric which became turquoise after discharging!

WEEK 6:

I made this one using some of the fabric pieces I had leftover from my black and white piece (Previous post).

WEEK 7:

This piece is made up of silk screened images using metallic paint, a piece of fabric painted using a paper towel roll to paint circles in metallic paint and some fabric painted through a stencil with gold paint. 

Check back for additional weeks' works as the year progresses. 

I am in a "Black and White" phase, and this piece was inspired by a similar piece by my friend, Ann Lorelle.  I have added several elements to expand on her idea, and here is the finished piece.  The fabrics were painted through a 6 inch stencil, cut apart and then sewn back together.  I also included two silk screened images.  Can you find the two images that are different than the stenciled ones? 

I like the way it turned out, and recently make a postcard using my black and white fabrics.  I make postcards and send them out to my fiber artist friends for their birthday.

Messages from the Orient

Several years ago, as part of a "Messages From..." challenge posed by my group Seams Unique, I created my "Messages From the Orient" piece.  The piece had to be 20 x 30 inches in a vertical format.  This is what I came up with, and I really liked the way it came together. 

I included several panels of Sashiko hand stitching, plus charms, coins, even a pair of chopsticks.  I had been collecting oriental fabrics, and had many to choose from.  All the background fabrics were from a panel of upholstery fabric, with grays, beige and white. 

The kimono was from a pattern, made separately.  I did another kimono and put it on a painted canvas for a smaller piece.

I recently had to come up with an idea for a piece to enter into the Fiber Artists of Oklahoma 2015 exhibit, and I was inspired by my oriental fabrics, and a piece done by my friend and fellow artist, Marilyn Seibring.  She had done a piece with three panels hanging from a drapery rod, and it focused on her walks on the beach, with pieces of beach glass, rocks, etc.  I decided to try something similar, using my oriental fabrics.  Here is the finished piece, titled "Messages from the Orient II"

The exhibit is a juried one, so I won't know if I am accepted until sometime in May, but I am pleased with the way the piece turned out.  Here's hoping it gets accepted!  Now that my studio is up and running, I will be blogging more often, as I now have my fabrics and ephemera to play with again!

SAQA Auction Piece

I have participated in the SAQA online auction for the last two years, and have sent in a piece for this years' auction, which begins in September.  My piece is titled Autumn Splendor, is 12 x 12, and made up of commercial fabrics which are torn, and then stitched down.  In the upper right hand corner and lower left hand corner, I have cut 1/4 inch strips of each fabric and woven them together, fused them onto the piece and added small seed beads in the junctions. 

Here is a close-up of the woven area:

You can check out all the wonderful art quilts at www.saqa.com  Click on the "artwork" tab, then select SAQA Benefit Auction 2014 to view the many fabulous pieces for this years' auction.  Money collected goes to further the appreciation and visibility of art quilts world wide. 

I'm IN!!

WOOHOO!!  I have been accepted into this years' Fiberworks exhibit in Oklahoma City.  I entered my 3-D piece, Bird of Paradise.  There were over 150 entries from all over Oklahoma and only about 58 were accepted, so I am thrilled to have my piece in the show.  The exhibit runs from May 16th through June 10th. 

Here is a close-up of the piece:

Fiberworks Exhibit

Fiberworks is a yearly exhibit put on in Oklahoma by the Fiber Artists of Oklahoma. This year the exhibit is in Oklahoma City, next year it will be in Tulsa.  The entries are juried in and include a diverse sampling of every type of fiber art imaginable, including weaving, quilting, crochet, basketry, mixed media, felting, dollmaking, and wearables.  I am entering my 3D piece; this will be my first year participating, so I hope I make the cut.  Wish me luck!

3-D Wall Hanging

My group in Melbourne, SUFA, extends a couple of challenges each year that are included in their yearly exhibit at Boutique 4 Quilters.  The exhibit begins February 1, and runs through the entire month.  I am unable now to exhibit because I have moved away from the region, but I decided to focus on one of the challenges, and boy, was it a challenge!  I picked several pictures I had taken of a Bird of Paradise plant as my inspiration. 

 I began the project with brown fabrics in the background, and quilted them in straight rows about a quarter inch apart on my batting. 

I then began making each leaf separately by fusing two pieces of fabric together and satin stitching around the edge, but I found that I didn't have the dimension in the piece that I envisioned, so I decided to add 24 gauge jewelry wire to each piece under the satin stitching. 

 It took some care so that my machine needle didn't hit the wire, but I was able to guide it easily underneath the stitching using my walking foot.  The wire gave me the ability to form each individual piece the way I wanted to, without making it too stiff.

 I also joined two pieces of fabric in this piece and added the stamen inside it.  The white piece is made by thread painting on a piece of stabilizer and adding the wire around the edge with a small satin stitch. 

 The stems of the leaves were made the same way you would make piping, although I hand stitched the fabric around the cord, rather than making a tube on the machine and turning it.  Many of my tools are still in storage, including my turning tool, and I had lots of time to do the stitching!  Here I am auditioning the pieces on the background before making them permanent.

 This is the finished piece.  I finished it by sewing the backing on three sides before I added the leaf elements, and after the plant was assembled on the background, I inserted a piece of Timtex inside the sleeve to give it stability.  Then I hand stitched the bottom closed.  I like the 3-D effect and may consider doing another project in a similar fashion.