embossed paper and fabric flowers

 Task 3 Ricky Chestnut

As a dyer, stitcher and picture taker I will send three pictures of work I have done. The little finch is buried in a MONOCHROMATIC sea of green, in my back yard. 

My kaleidoscope stars are a hand stitched study in COMPLEMENTARY colours.

And I have a sample of analogous colours from yellow to red of my hand dyed cotton. This was from a 12 step colour wheel I made. 

Aquatic Symmetries

~23" x 20"

For this challenge, I combined #62 from Wendy Wetzel, "Notan" and Pam Harris's #43,  "Under the Sea" -- and while combining those would give me  the wonderful title "No Tan Under the Sea", I decided not to inflict that on you!

Notan involves the use of pieces cut from one side and "reflected" on the other, and I realized as soon as I got started that picking a batik was a fortunate choice!  I started with the vertical line of reflection from a piece of the batik, then made a curved cut that would cover a missing piece of the background fabric.  It then seemed only logical to add a few more cut-outs in those lines -- and I could put in scraps of the blue behind those shapes!

And because they seemed to need it, I used fabric paint for the eyes of the fishes.

It's been a wonderful run for the Fast Friday Fabric Challenge.  I thank you all for participating!

Another Annual Resolution!

I loved looking at past challenges. This quilt was inspired by Challenges #77 Touchy-Feely  and #55 Dance and Movement.

Tried a new technique with threads from a book, Stitch Draw  by Rosie James. 

It was designed and cut in Make the Cut software. Materials include net, trims,and threads.

I did two versions ..which one do you like better?

Challenge 100: What Have I Missed?

Challenge 100, December 26, 2014

Challenge Hostess: Tobi Hoffman and 49 others

Title:  What have I missed?

Theme:  Finding the best of the past challenges

Technique:  Any

Due date:  January 3, 2015 – or whenever you finish!

The Fast Friday Fabric Challenge started back in September 2006, and our final challenge presents a time for a retrospective.  There is no member who has done and posted every challenge, so for this one hundredth challenge, I ask everyone to look back through the previous 99, and select a theme from one challenge and a technique from another – or combine themes and techniques from several of them, as many as you want, and whatever parts from any of the challenges that you want.  We all have learned to use various aspects that have enhanced our work, both for these challenges and for other projects, and I hope it has been an enjoyable and profitable experience.

Feel free also to look through all that has been posted – but be warned that this is eye candy that consists of 1820 published posts (including this one, of course).  100 are the challenges themselves, and 5 are “how to post” instructions, but that leaves 1715 pieces of art!  While you’re at it, feel free to add critiques for those that catch your eye.

And while this may be the final challenge, if you ever feel to come back for something further to do, this one is always open for you!

Resources:

http://tinyurl.com/FFFC-100 - the link to all the challenges.  Because most of the challenges themselves contain links, and because it would make no sense to do so, I am not including any other links.

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

Orchard

10¼" x 22½"

Earlier this fall I had gotten scraps of that tree fabric in brown and green from my quilt guild, and was so delighted to be able to make use of them here!  An orchard combines the sense of order of planted trees with the individual way that each of the trees grow.  It makes me think of the fresh outdoor air and the anticipation of the harvest at the season's end.  And the wider than normal proportions of this piece (I don't choose the dimensions so much as the picture does!) makes me long to go outside in early spring and just spread my arms wide and take a deep, deep breath.

I welcome your comments.

Next Step

"The Kiss" thus far. I've pieced background using Jaffe Fassett's shot cottons. I plan to quilt the silhouette and put over the background. Thinking I might add lighter circles to mimic cartoony imagery in pic. 

This is certainly a challenge. I'm on a path to finish it up. 

Have a few challenges in my mind right now. Like having that diversion. Sketching. Thinking

I've been awake since 3:30 AM. Almost ready for bed!

I have learned:

1.  $1900 to rebuild transmission. Ugh. Seriously. Ugh 

2.  Printers + ink. Another ugh.

3.  Must pass on Elizabeth Barton's master  Class in art quilting. A year long commitment and the price tag prohibit. 

4.  I love Amy's Vegetable Lasagne mm

5.  I need more vacation days.   

WIP...The Kiss

.

I pulled this print on organza out last week. It's about 2 years old. Michael and Jenn  married in June, 2012. This ipic is of them at the wedding. I manipulated the it in befunky.com into a cartoony image. 

The squares are 2" sewn with Kaffe Fassett's shot cottons. 

I plan to add circles to the squares with the lighter color fabric to mimic the dots on the print. 

I am loving the way this is moving along. 

Julie, of Red-Dog Enterprises printed the image for me. 

Spent a couple days at Julie's house this weekend. Her son was home on break. We all just hung out, knitted, crocheted, mono printed while Robbie worked tirelessly on homework! We watched  movies on Netflix. Such a great respite. Good for the soul. 

Jenn is teaching herself to knit!  She's made a scarf for herself and a hat for Maddi. I am cleaning out and sending her some yarn stash. 

Massage tomorrow. Diana Radley, on e main  St in Batavia is excellent if you thinking about getting or giving a gift to someone. 

 

I have learned:

1.  I miss knitting. Made a skinny scarf this weekend from a skein of yarn. 

2.  This Ferguson, MO. debacle is just a shameful commentary on race relations. 

3.  I want a Dons of Anarchy hoodie. Saw woman wearing one this weekend. 

4.  Mela is a tornado!

5.  Maddi is rolling over, right on target. 

6.  Season finale of " Homeland" season finale was a heartbreaker. 

7. Look up Annie Lennox's version of "I Put a Spell on You".  Great rendition. 

Challenge 99: Ambience

Challenge Hostess: Susan Slesinger

Title: Ambience

Theme: Creating atmosphere

Technique: Use of color to achieve atmosphere/ambiance

Due Date: Dec. 6, 2014

Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary provides five definitions of the noun “atmosphere.”  The fifth definition is pertinent to this challenge:

                        5a “the overall aesthetic effect of a work of art”

                        5b “a dominant emotional aesthetic or emotional effect or appeal”

It defines “ambience” as “a surrounding or pervading atmosphere”

This month’s challenge is to try to create an “atmosphere” or ambience using color to suggest a season, time of day, or mood without making obvious references to it.  You may want to give yourself a “sub” challenge to use a palette which is different to your normal repertoire.  For example, if you usually use bright, bold colors, try using a pastel, soft palette instead.  If you want an analogy for what you are trying to create, think about film scores.  Music is often used to create the scene in a non-verbal manner, such as the shower scene in Hitchcock’s Psycho.  I encourage you to try to listen to some instrumental film music without watching the film.

To get yourself in the mood for creating an atmospheric piece, you might choose to listen to some “classical” music which is trying to set a scene through non-representational means.  If you have access to a streaming music site you will get much better recordings, but if not, these You-tube videos will give you a taste of atmospheric/descriptive music.  (I recommend listening without watching the picture!)

Resources:

Vivaldi The Four Seasons https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRxofEmo3HA

Ligeti’s Atmosphere https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aI0P1NnUFxc  

Penderecki Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima

Examples:

How painters have created ambience:

Marc Chagall

·          Over the Town http://www.wikiart.org/en/marc-chagall/over-the-town-1918

·          Over Vitebsk http://www.ago.net/marc-chagall

JMW Turner watercolors:

 http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2009/jan/13/jmw-turner-watercolours

Willard Leroy Metcalf Winter’s Festival http://art.famsf.org/willard-leroy-metcalf/winters-festival-4753

Joseph Raphael Spring Winds http://art.famsf.org/joseph-raphael/spring-winds-41765

This article from the Chicago Art Institute illustrates how Monet created different atmospheres in his  Stack of Wheat series through subtle changes in color and style. http://www.artic.edu/aic/resources/resource/380

In the quilt world, these are some examples of different ways of expressing ambience:

Barbara Oliver Hartman:  

·          Fallscape  http://www.barbaraoliverhartman.com/individual_quilt_pages/fallscape.htm

·          Ground  http://www.barbaraoliverhartman.com/individual_quilt_pages/ground.htm

·          Ground Work http://www.barbaraoliverhartman.com/individual_quilt_pages/ground_work.htm

Ruth Powers

·          Drifted http://www.ruthpowersartquilts.com/gallery-detail.php?ID=20

·          Konza Prairie Spring http://www.ruthpowersartquilts.com/gallery-detail.php?ID=3

·          In the Bleak Midwinter http://www.ruthpowersartquilts.com/gallery-detail.php?ID=13

Patty Hawkins

·          Colorado Gold http://www.pattyhawkins.com/Pages/Gallery1.html  (part way down page).  Also At Dusk and At Sunrise (nearer bottom of page)

Cat Larrea

·          Frost http://larreac.fineartstudioonline.com/workszoom/1173242

Sue Benner

·          Prairie Wall Series and Walking in Time http://www.suebenner.com/Pages/GalleryRecentWork.html

Get out of your comfort zone and have some fun with this -- even if you have to work small!

Flower Garden

   13" x 20"

I'm generally a vegetable gardener, but that was simply too many letters!  I liked that "flower" had the same number of letters as "garden" so that each flower letter could grow out of a garden letter.  I pulled out various of my floral and leafy fabrics for the letters and put them against a couple brown earthy fabrics. I mount my pieces on foam core, with the fabric wrapped around to the back, actually stitching through the foam core (it's not hard, just use a thin needle!), and used pebble beads to avoid the dimples that otherwise form in the fabric, and regular beads in the upper part.

I'm just a bit later than usual this time!  Comments welcome.

Fall

My word is a simple one, "Fall,"  but it means many things.  Here in the Northeast it is not just a season but it is leaves falling to the ground, cool clear skies, oranges, reds and yellows.  I wanted the word to be both spelled out and integral to the picture.

Ticia

Words

I make a lot of quilts using words, but for meaning more than as artistic elements. This quilt is the opposite. There is no meaning, but I had fun with the letters. Several background fabrics that have words printed on them demanded to be in the quilt.

Supercalifragislisticexpialidocious

Supercalifragislisticexpialidocious, was a favorite childhood song from Mary Poppins.

 At the website, http://www.tagxedo.com/ typed the text, Supercalifragislisticexpialidocious,chose the font, color and shape to create the design. Such Fun!

Challenge 98: Word Play

Challenge Hostess: Tobi Hoffman     

Title: Word Play

Theme: Alphabet Soup, letters as artistic elements

Technique: Any

Due date: Nov. 1, 2014

Do you have a favorite word, one that just tickles your mind, maybe with its sound, maybe its meaning?  Do you remember as a child taking a word and repeating it so many times that it seemed like a nonsense word?  Is there a word that others might apply to you, whether because you use it so often, or just seems the perfect one to describe yourself?  Or maybe you’re a punster, getting joy out of a play on words, or enjoy crossword puzzles, especially the tricky kinds.  The challenge this month is to use words in your quilt to create your picture.  Use color to accentuate the mood.

Resources:

Wordle: http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/8257311/Word_Play created from the initial paragraph by yours truly

“Word Play Quilts” (check out the 16 pictures from the book):

http://tinyurl.com/FFFC98-1 or

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1604680172/ref=as_sl_pd_tf_lc?tag=lazgalqui-20&camp=213381&creative=390973&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=1604680172&adid=19DA8VSB4FNA4NH350P6&&ref-refURL=http%3A%2F%2Flazygalquilting.blogspot.com%2F

 And its author, Tonya Ricucci: http://www.pinterest.com/tonyaricucci/

Quilt Dad: http://www.quiltdad.com/2009/06/happy-free-pieced-words.html

Tammy Johnson, author of “Alphabet Soup: Expressive Quilts with Folk Art Charm” http://tinyurl.com/FFFC98-2 or

http://www.amazon.com/Alphabet-Soup-Expressive-Quilts-Folk-Art/dp/1564776212

and some samples:

http://tinyurl.com/FFFC98-3 or

https://www.google.com/search?q=Tammy+Johnson+art+quilts&rlz=1C1KMZB_enUS587US587&es_sm=122&biw=1171&bih=860&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=lk9JVJqzNo7msATp1IKwDQ&ved=0CDgQsAQ

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

Z Barcode

12¾" x 16"

11/24 -- I updated this a bit by adding black and white beads around the inner edge of the border to emphasize the barcode pattern.  It very much perked up the piece, I think!

Original post

The most natural thing I could think of incorporating a bar code was a zebra, hence, Z Barcode!

I used two widths of black ribbon for the bar code, with a Micron pen to put in the smaller code stripes on the mane, head and legs.  The background is simply a dyed piece from my stash, and bordered with bias tape.  I sewed the basic zebra shape onto black to give it enough outline to stand out against the background, and used what I call the "scribble" stitch on my machine around the edge of the black.

I welcome your comments.

Count your Smiles!

Designed this quilt using a free bar code generator, Make the Cut software and Photoshop Elements Filters.

The top block actually reads Count your Smiles! with a QR scanner.
The center block was created with a spherize filter.
The bottom block was created with a line drawing filter.

The borders have UPC bar codes that spell the text.

Would love suggestions on how to quilt it.

Challenge #97: Barcode Art

Fast Friday Fabric Challenge 97, September 26, 2014

Challenge Hostess: Meena Schaldenbrand

Title: Barcode Inspiration

Theme:  Use of barcodes

Technique: High contrast fun

Due date: October 4, 2014

Barcodes are composed of black and white thick and thin lines on many purchased products. UPC barcodes use strong lines. QR barcodes use geometric shapes.

For challenge # 97, use barcodes to create high contrast fiber art. 

What do bar codes mean?   UPC is short for Universal Product Code, 12-digit barcode which allows retailers to manage sales of a product. UPC codes are valid in the United States and Canada.  EAN codes are a 13-digit barcodes valid in all other countries. 

Barcode explanations:
http://www.barcodeart.com/artwork/collages/diagram/index.html

QR codes (Quick Response codes) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_code

Quilts:

http://livelovequilt.blogspot.com/2012/07/qr-barcode-quilt.html

http://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=QR%20bar%20codes

Other Art Examples:

Barcode Gallery:  http://www.cnet.com/news/barcode-gallery-qr-codes-become-wall-art/#

Turning them into art: Scott Blake
http://theinspirationgrid.com/barcode-art-by-scott-blake/
http://www.barcodeart.com/artwork/collages/index.html
http://www.barcodeart.com/artwork/videos/index.html
http://www.barcodeart.com/artwork/index.html

12 Coolest Works of Barcode Art by Grace Murano
http://www.oddee.com/item_96851.aspx

Art in Aisle 5: Barcodes Enter Expressionist Period

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303823104576391973120779678
or http://tinyurl.com/FFFC97-1

Variations on barcodes: http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/barcode-art
http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/funky-barcodes-spice-up-packaging-ii

Art barcode graffiti
https://www.google.com/search?q=bar+code+art&es_sm=93&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=2FETVKXvCs2uyASCsoHIDg&ved=0CEYQsAQ&biw=1120&bih=578#tbm=isch&q=art%20barcode%20graffiti&revid=2125053464&imgdii=_
or http://tinyurl.com/FFFC97-2 

Barcode "Clock"
http://www.barcodeart.com/artwork/clocks/barcode/index.html

Free download of decorative font

http://www.1001fonts.com/barcode-font-font.html

A Fast Friday Fabric challenge based on the barcode http://meenaschaldenbrand.blogspot.com/2013/12/just-when-caterpillar-thought-world-was.html  or http://tinyurl.com/FFFC97-3

And one more thing -- have fun with this!

National Honey Month

This is not done yet, as you may be able to tell..lol

I have no less than THREE other pieces started for the challenge but kept changing my mind. First was Elephant Appreciation Week, then Good Neighbor Week, then Bathtub Race Day before finally settling on this one to complete.  I am posting the WIP photo because I feel a bit guilty that as hostess this month I haven't posted anything yet!

Originally this was going to be the honeycomb quilt hanging from a thin branch with some bees on it. But it has taken on a life of its own.  The honeycomb was drawn on a yellow mottled batik, then colored in with colored pencils, and then "honey" was painted on with acrylics, I fused it to batting, then fused that to more fabric so it is very stiff, hemmed the edges (using pliers,,,used the extra heavy fusible...sigh) stuck wire through the top hem so I could hang it and stitched the bottom edges together to make the shape I wanted.

Nailed the branch to a 2x4, THEN decided to make b/w checks on that with acrylics. The honey jar is an empty one I had here and the honey is painted canvas I put inside it. That will have a label when done also.

The bees are painted canvas, pipe cleaners and trimmed pompoms, still need to make wings and antennae, they won't all be on the honeycomb, I plan on having one on the branch and maybe one on the honey jar or "flying" under the comb, not sure yet,

I will post a photo when this is complete, but did want to share something with you now :-)

Update: I have been able to squeeze enough time out to finish one bee! Have great hope that the rest will be done before the next challenge :-) Here is a photo of the complete bee, I have since painted along the outer edges so it is black and not the light color that you see here.

Suicide Prevention Week

12/30/14  I decided to get this piece truly finished before the end of the year.  I strengthened the text, and put the quote on a separate piece of fabric as a tombstone,  I used a pillowcase backing with a hanging sleeve, and a black fringe on the bottom.  I trimmed the drapery and put Fray Check on the edges, and decided not to actually sew it down but let it flare a bit.

_____________________________


Size: approx. 24" x 18"

About the time I posted this challenge, I saw an article in the editorial page from someone who had been stopped from suicide, and it mentioned National Suicide Prevention Week.  Sept. 10th is World Suicide Prevention Day, and the national week is the week including that date (though the article gave a later date for the week).  The recent death of Robin Williams immediately came to mind.

I took a photo of him that I found on-line, photo-shopped it, keeping his eyes blue but changing everything else to grayscale, and printed it on white linen.  I used wood grain fabric for the coffin, and wrote it the words.  I added the rose, done with foil, in part because the words weren't quite centered in the space, but it does seem to balance the picture.

The quote, ironically, is Williams' own words.  Who knew he was struggling so much in his private life?

Normally I would mount this on foam core, wrapping the edges evenly, but I am not completely happy with this piece.  I welcome any suggestions.

The Optimist

Positive Thinking Day is Sept 13. 

The Optimist is about improving life with a positive attitude.

Materials:   Light bulb, cloud with rain beads, ladder, and thumbs up charms. Key. Doily.

Technique: Designed in Make the Cut software, printed on fabric. 3D Attic window.