Trout Rising

 I know...this is a really bad thing to do...I think. Back a million years ago, in October 2010, the challenge was to use metallic stuff, and or unusual items in our quilts.  I started this...actually working on it during my chemo treatments and Just didn't finish it in time.  I swore I would get it done and I've been catching up on UFOs and I wanted to share this with you.

This is my piece "Trout Rising", showing a trout after it has jumped to catch a caddis fly for dinner.

I machine quilted it with sliver thread, then put layers of over-laid sheers, some with metallic flecks. I gathered the sheers manipulating them by hand.

The trout is painted cotton (painted with Lumiere fabric paints) the dots are washers I've stained with Adirondack Alcohol inks, with a black sequin and a black bead on top.
After assembling it, I then machine quilted once again using a funny bluey-silvery-greyey metallic thread.

Size is 15.5" x 12.5"

Challenge #48, Pam Clark

I posted the picture of this quilt, entitled, Metallic Hearts, some time ago, but couldn't find my instructions on how to post to the blog.

This quilt was inspired by a class I took from Linda Schmit (California quilt artist). It was a study in surface embellishment. Each heart used a different technique, but all the techniques used metallic threads or paints or foils. It also includes reverse applique, use of heavy metallic threads in the bobbin, etc. I learned a lot from doing it. I have my chiaroscuro project almost done. Congratulations to those of you who have finished Challenge #49. They are spectacular.

Raven Quilt

This is my quilt for the #48 challenge using metal.

My family likes ravens and their antics. I imagined a raven collecting shiny metal things to decorate its nest (made of fabric "sticks"). I added a yellow water bottle because many years ago a raven stole my son's water bottle at a picnic area.

Anne in Walnut, CA

Pewter Pitcher

This is a depiction of a pewter wine pitcher that was a wedding present to me and my husband 37 years ago. The pitcher and the marriage have endured a few bumps and bruises along the way. However, we are still going strong. How is that for optimism? The hand appliqued grapes and the hand background quilting are my excuse for completing the challenge very late. Thanks for a great challenge.

Black and Gold Blooms

Here is the updated post... I finished, and thanks so much for those who gave input!

The first photos of each piece are not great (color and focus- color is still not perfect, but close), but show what started with. I was a bit distracted last week with beautiful weather for sunprinting, and played with lots of black paint (and a little color, too). I wanted to use one of the sunprints with some gold metallic ribbon and sheer fabric that I had.

The first piece above is the one I had planned to make, but by mistake I grabbed the wrong sunprint and ended up with the lower one with the more delicate foliage and flowers. The first one is nearly as I saw it in my mind... I added more stitching in the angelina butterfly upper right- with gold metallic and some black thread. I also hand stitched the ribbon down so it wasn't so "poofy", but not flat to the piece. The flower centers are halves of snap closures for necklaces, the letters on the side are aged gold looking metal charms (the red dots in the before pic are pin heads).

This is the piece I started with... I grabbed the narrower, more delicate sunprint by mistake and didn't realize what I had done until I was quilting with the gold metallic thread. I was going to just do the one piece, but the original one kept wanting to be done, and I had enough of the gold sheer for a second one. The lower piece has a in a narrower ribbon to go with the finer detail of the sunprint. The ribbon on this one is also lightly hand stitched into place. I added the letters for DREAM along the side because I feel the sunprint has a bit of a dreamy look to it. Since I had a sparkly butterfly in the first piece, I kept thinking about adding one to this one, but the angelina was too much. I pulled out my bead collection and used gold tone metallic butterfly beads- two tiny ones and one small one.

Thanks again for the input, it really helped me to follow my original idea to the finish. I guess I am falling back to my floral design roots... Just pretty bunches of flowers tied with ribbons.... Even though the colors are not what I have used most of the time in the past, I feel pretty great about getting not only one, but 2 pieces done for this challenge. Both are about 12" high.

Now to see if I can get myself working on some of the challenges I have missed out on..... :)

Copper/Brass Quilt and Copper Stand

I haven't been very productive lately, but here's a little quilt I made as part of a series several years ago, using copper mesh and brass mesh, along with copper rivets and copper beads.

I also made the stand, using 1/4 inch copper plumbing tubing.

Can you tell I love copper?

Marilyn Foulke

Louisville, KY

Lace

Lace, 10" x 10"

I am not sure where I got the idea for making lace the metal, I know it seems incongruous. In real life, there is a lot of shimmer and shine.

This started as a plain piece of army green fabric; really ugly. The different colors in the background were made with fabric paints on stamps, rubbing fabric crayons over lace, and imprinting a piece of lace by painting it then using it for a print. That is the true black pattern on the right side.

I painted the added lace with metallic paints. I also painted through some lace to make a lacy gold pattern. The blue is actually Setacolor opaque , Shimmer Jet Black. Not sure why it is blue, but I think that was a bit of luck for me. I also used that paint for the word, "Lace".

A fishy tale

When I read the challenge I was tossing up between foil and some knitted copper tubing that I had. The copper won, and it had always suggested fish scales to me, hence the mermaid. For these challenges I always have to use only what I already have at home. Luckily I had the sea fabric, and some nice grey batik for the rock. The border foliage is fussy cut from a print I have had for 10 years. The edge treatment is satin stitch with banana fibre couched over the top.
She does have a rather Aloha Barbie character, but let's face it, she probably doesn't have a philosophy degree! When I was researching mermaids I read that if you look in a mermaid's mirror you see your true self. The mirror is angelina fused on with black misty fuse. The hair is stitched with copper metallic madeira black jewel.

Size is 16 by 23

"Creation"

It took quite a while for an idea to gel for this challenge. I often tell students to just doodle, drawing whatever comes to mind. This one was intriguing and felt like creations were springing forth like pollen or seed pods. My quilt measures 9"x9" and was a good size to work out this design. The metal thingies are 1/4" lock washers, whatever that is! They were hanging from a peg at Home Depot and just begged to come home with me.

Coiled Dragon

The Coiled Dragon likes music and does very intricate dances.

I cut a stencil of the dragon shape and screened a "cracked" design over the opening to make the patterning with metallic paint. The dragon details have been further painted and stitched with metallic thread. The floor has red holographic stitching. The edges also have coiled springy bits added.

And somehow I forgot optimistic all together! unless one needs optimism to face communicating with the dragon all together.

Sunrise Seagull

21 1/2" x 16 1/2"

10/18 - Finished! I added quilting lines to the beach to follow the water line, a little bit to the trees, and got it firmly mounted on foam core which helped smooth it all out!
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Sunrise always seems a time of optimism, if you are awake enough to enjoy it! I picked up the material for the tree fairly recently, not sure what I would use it for, but the copper fits this theme, especially since I made the sunrise reflection from other coppery fabrics. I layered fabrics for the sea and sky, with the top full layer being a sparkle organza. The organza puckered as I sewed the seagull on, but in a way, that seems to enhance the image. The pink lines are scraps of tulle to add a sunrise color.

The biggest impediment to posting this sooner was that after I had quilted the lower portion, I found one of the seagull reflection's wings had folded, so I had to undo the quilting to straighten it!

Thanks, Sandy, for a neat challenge! Comments and suggestions welcome.

Autumn Shimmer

19” X 28”

This is a combination of Challenge #47 (Trees) and #48. The Technique New to Me is a faced binding. My Least Favorite Color is blue so I mixed some blue Dye-na Flow with Lumiere Pearl White. I know, not a true blue but feel it works well with the other fall colors. For the Metal part of the challenge, I used metallic paint, thread, and sheers. The Unusual Material/Texture was covering pipe cleaners with free motion stitching to make the trunk and limbs and the use of sheers for the ground. Both were also firsts for me in quilt making. The Optimistic portion would be saving the silk, plaid yo-yo’s that I received in a grab bag in the mid to late 90’s thinking someday they may come in handy. Someday arrived and they look so much better painted!

Thanks Tobi and Sandy for such fun challenges. Comments and critiques are appreciated.

In the beginning

In the beginning I learned how to sew on a treadle machine at my grandmothers house. Since that time it seems most of the really meaningful things in my life have started with a machine that looks like this. When I started my career as a costumer I- worked on an ol industrial machine thaqt looked like a converted treadle. That was in the beginning - - - The machine in the photo is a treadle my son gave me many years ago.

All the metalic threads radiate out to the many aspects of my life from the machine. I have used metalic thread, paint, fabric, and of coourse the machine is metalic colors. It measures 22/16. The edges are finished with metalic gold braid and are all uneven

I highlighted the machine around the edge of the dark fabrics with gold lumier paint and bumped up the other highlights on the machine. - Thanks again for the help!

Pat Havey

Printed Circuit Board Study #1

This piece is an attempt to create what I hope is an obvious representation of a printed circuit board. It started with a black resist over which I applied emerald green Jaquard Dyna Flow paint, To indicate solder spots I used a gold leafing pen. The red 'resistors' are simple fabric beads. If you are curious about why they are placed where they are, it is because there were some really big blobs of resist under them. Wire goes through the fabric beads, but does not show in the photo. In the corners and a couple of other spots there are small holes created with a stitch on my machine which do not show up well because of my choice of thread color. The border is some old commercially printed fabric that represents technology components.

For me, a lot of the fun of the challenges is the thinking that precedes the work. (Often way too grand and unrealistic). I started off envisioning a great work about 'conflict minerals and conflict metal', perhaps even using some actual PCB's. I took time to 1) explore where I could find some discarded ones, the dump, 2) explore what are the environments impacted by 'conflict metals', some are rain forests, 3) consider ways that one could represent the PCB on fabric, screen printing, stencils, free hand drawing/painting and dyeing, applique, using actual metals. Considered what I could try out in the time I had available, considered whether this whole of idea of statement pieces about 'conflict minerals' could have legs and even become the basis for a series. (I share this because I wonder if I am the only one who goes off on these flights of imagination about the possibilities of making big statements with our work or am I just one intense woman of a certain age.)

Of course the reality of what can be accomplished in the time allowed combined with the existing skills I have came crashing in. Then I remembered that the challenge was for the piece to be adventurous and optimistic. So I optimistically tried to use a new technique in cheerful colors. Am very happy that I did it and am grateful to Sandy for this terrific challenge.

Leaf Me Alone

This was really fun!!!! For unusual things, I used window screen, copper mesh, lycra fabric and some glittzy stuff plus foil. Believe me when I say "he just happened". I was aiming for a moon and tree with copper leaves. well, Mr Leafy appeared and took over the whole thing.

It was very fun but now I have to clean my studio from dragging out all of my metal treasures and toys etc.

I enjoy your comments.

Carol

Sea Ranch. CA

Let the Sunshine In

I was beginning to think I would have to pass on this one because I couldn't think of an idea. I wasted all of Friday trying to think of something.

Saturday morning I looked up and noticed a metal sun that had been given to me and that set off a spark.

The metal I used was the sunflower, bottle caps are holding the yo-yo flowers, a gold chain is the fence wire and metallic thread was used for the leaves veins and outline and also to top stitch the binding.

It is 24" x 20-3/4"

Luck O' The Irish

When I first read this challenge this image popped into my mind and I have been unable to even consider anything else...LOL

The pot is copper metallic lame, stitched with copper holo thread and has a handle of heavy copper wire. The handles 'anchor' is also metal beads . The 'gold' coins are metal as are the gold leaf 'nuggets'. The rainbow is various sheers.

I can't think of anything more optimistic than a pot of gold at the end of your rainbow :-)

The quilt measures 20" x 23" at the widest points.

Really fun challenge Sandy...thanks for a terrific climax to year four!

Comments and critiques welcomed and greatly appreciated

Cherie

Challenge 48 - Daybreak

I'm posted my piece Daybreak - well really - Daybreak2.

I choose the color pallet of daybreak since a new day is always optimistic. My first piece I did a lovely strata - but when I went to embellish it with metal - nothing was working - I couldn't do metallic thread or washers or what not. I usually only add embellishments if the needs it - if it can stand alone then I don't do it.

So I look some leftover pieces of the first quilt - whipped them together to make like music. Then I figured out how to make music notes with cooper wiring. Perfect example of how establishments make the quilt. Finished size is 16 x 8 inches.

Lisa
In Sunny Seattle

Hazelnut Creme

Well, I finished one! This metals challenge has been fun, even though I didn't actually use metal. I had an empty coffee container on the counter that I had just emptied and thought it looked like a warm metal finish. I dug out the hand painted stash and found a couple that coordinated with the metal color.

After about an hour of playing around with the shapes, I settled on this arrangement. I had an old earring attached to the long rectangle on the left side but it broke during the final stitching. Seems like that was what happened to it's mate originally. There are a couple of paper fasteners along the bottom. They were the only other warm metals I could find for embellishment except for buttons which didn't seem to work. Still looking for the right thing but essentially finished.

Next time I try this I will try the soda can pieces instead of the coffee bag.

Fall is Golden

Simple but hard! I've never tried foiling before and had some difficulty with getting the foil to stick. I finally figured that part out after two days trying! The leaves are foiled and then the veins quilted with gold metallic thread. I used the gold metallic thread to couch the fall colored cording around the leaves to frame them. The small washers on the corners and center sides are really some little plastic things I picked up at Hobby Lobby a couple of years ago. The background is quilted over the lines that were on the fabric. The edge was a problem until I found some small white rick-rack which I then went over with a yellow Sharpie and it amazingly matched the fabric. And, I'm optimistic that we will have a nice, warm, lovely fall with lots of color.