Fast Friday Fabric Challenge #94: The Call for Entry

An early start this week – enjoy!

Fast Friday Fabric Challenge #94: June 27, 2014

Challenge Hostess:   Karen Markley

Title:                     The Call for Entry

Theme:                Any Call for Entry not yet passed

Technique:         Any called for in the Call

Due date:            Saturday, July 5^th at noon EST

We’ve all seen them – the Call for Entry.   Some have acted on them and some have not.  Most of us are intimidated by them; we want to enter, but we think on it until the deadline has passed.  Or, we start and it isn’t going the way we like, so we abandon it.

Many artists work instinctively – a one-shot deal – starting with an idea and working on it until it is done.  Good or bad.  But, the best thing to do is a little planning – no surprises – a mockup of ideas that tells us what the finished product will be.

So, that said – I have listed several resources of current calls.  Pick one – make a small piece in the format of the Call – square, rectangular, portrait or landscape.  Don’t focus on technique as much as on the design – make notes on possible embellishments, techniques that might enhance the finished product, but don’t necessarily do them.  Once done and posted, consider seriously moving forward and making that finished product for entry.

References:

To get an idea how one artist starts working on a new piece, see the process employed by Swiss Artist, Ursula Kern:  http://fileunderfiber.blogspot.com/2011/04/ursula-kern-fabric-collage.html -  

The best list of current calls is on the SAQA website.  You do not have to be a SAQA member to enter many of these calls, but it is worth the price of membership to be able to.  http://www.saqa.com/calendar.php?ID=9 

Cherrywood Fabrics is having a challenge called Wicked, after the Musical – For a $35 entry fee they will provide you with 4 fat quarters of their luscious hand-dyed fabrics to use in your entry. http://cherrywoodfabrics.bigcartel.com/product/wicked-started-kit   or http://tinyurl.com/FFFC94-1

Keepsake Quilting has information on their challenge here: http://www.keepsakequilting.com/productdetail/4152/-------CREATE-A-STRIP-PIECED-KEEPSAKE-CHALLENGE-COLLECTION.htm or  http://tinyurl.com/FFFC94-2

The Hoffman Challenge is one that you may see at quilt shows, with numerous categories: http://www.hoffmanchallenge.com/challenge2014.html

There should be more than enough on these websites to get your head spinning with ideas, but feel  free to search for others.  Make it your goal to enter at least one of these this year.

And one more thing: have fun with this! :)

Purple Sunset

18" x 21"

While late, this was a fast project nonetheless, started Wednesday June 11th, finished Wednesday June 18th.

I had just gotten back on the 10th from two weeks away, and found a packet of purple fat quarters, so I added them to my bag o' fabric which I brought to the guild room for "Open Paint" day Wednesday.  A friend had a photo of a seaside sunset which caught my eye, and I set out to try to recreate that scene.

I rearranged elements a bit, and put the sailboat closer to center rather enlarged -- which then meant that I needed to put in a larger building than the little one I had inserted.  Then the tree at left didn't feel right, and it got overlaid with a larger tree with just a bit of outlining.  The yellow part of the sunset was then overlaid with just a bit of Angelina fiber, and it was done!  I took it the evening after I finished it to the meeting of the Framingham Artists Guild, where it won the "Art of the Month" award!

I look forward to your comments.

French Lilacs

8.5" x 10"
Cotton, seed beads, twine and fusible

I am currently at loose ends with my studio in storage so I needed a project that I could do by hand and this one fit the bill.  Created with a split compliment of purple, green and blue, I just couldn't resist recreating these beautiful lilacs in cloth.  Each flower petal was individually cut in the shape of a 1/2" hexagram and secured with a seed bead - all 275 of them!  I plan on finishing this piece by placing it into a portrait finish once my studio is back up and running again.

Matisse's Rex Begonia

I was fortunate to see a lot of the cut-out works of Matisse in Washington DC with my Mom in about 1977. They had been on my mind again, so in early May I tracked this book down at the public library (ISBN 9783791334738).

Drawing with Scissors book cover

I was thinking that begonias, which I love, could be a good candidate for cutout treatment. I grow other varieties of begonias (there are hundreds), because I always kill Rex Begonias. So I made a quilt!

Rex begonia, from Rhode Island Begonia

I chose the 'Royal' association for purple, and then I used the Pantone app, which is fun, to come up with a split complementary color scheme. It's one I've never consciously worked with, and I'm glad I tried it!
The initial layout was representational - pot at bottom, leaves coming out, and it looked awful. So I pulled the book out and came up with this layout, and the title.
Thanks for looking and for your critiques. - Lisa