Kandinsky Revisted

I chose Wassily Kandinsky of Bauhaus fame because I really like how he used repetition of geometric shapes in his abstractions, but still had great balance and variety. My piece is based on one of his paintings called Decisive Pink. Comments welcome!

Cynthia

Ala Klee

Several artists came to mind immediately when I read this challenge: Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, Georgia OKeeffe, and Paul Klee. I had just done a tiny calla lily quilt for a memorial service, so I wanted to find another motif/design concept. So I turned to Paul Klee.

Klee's Ancient Sound: Abstract on Black spoke to me of blocks in hand dyed fabric. I used only two cuts of hand dye (purple to green, and gold) plus the black. While the photo doesn't show it, the black is extensively quilted for texture, and there are creases in the greens that add to the effect.

I'm thinking now that I could have added a small piping to outline the blocks (6x6") and highlight the central design. Critiques are welcome! And thanks in advance!

Monet's l'Esterel Mountains

Here is my challenge. I confess I did copy with a few small variations.

I used acrylic paint watered down for the highlights. The tree trunk and grass was thread painted and the leaves were snippets.

I added tulle over the top to make it look more misty.

I am also adding a picture of the original.

Quilter's Window

My attempt at cubism. I was looking around the web and became inspired to give this a try, I especially like the works of Juan Gris and Fernand Leger. Not being a great artist, I couldn't get the hang of drawing things the way they did, so instead I used fused applique, made the picture I wanted, cut it into strips and reassembled to get the look I was after. This is based more on Juan Gris' work (notice the door and the window!) or maybe you don't!
For quilting I simply followed the lines of the shapes, then did a curvy line running around the border to break up all the angles. I am really happy with how this came out and know I am going to be making more .

What Would Mondrian Quilt?

Piet Mondrian immediately came to mind for this challenge. A late-night run to Walmart for supplies (I don't own any solid color fabrics), and the fabric is cheap 65/35 broadcloth for that reason. My machine does NOT like to sew that fabric, hence things tended to get a bit wonky when starting and stopping. How would the artist have done the quilting if he had worked in fabric? My decision was geometric, a simple square spiral, the width of my presser foot. Working with an 8.5x11" size in mind, the actual design is minimal in order to have enough room for quilting. It's straighter than it looks in the picture - but that broadcloth warps out of shape all too easily. Perhaps I will do another, of quality cotton fabric, and in a larger size. Certainly the next time I could be a bit more original in my choice of design. -Marilyn

Fishing Bridge

Easily completed since I had the small pieces of fabric already cut. I wanted to create a picture in the style of the wonderful old master, Claude Monet. When/If I try this method again I will use even smaller pieces so as not to get the stringy effect as seen in this piece. I used a solid piece of fabric for the sky and then took the various colors of fabric and placed them around to construct the picture. I then layered a piece of black tulle over all of this, pinned it down (but not enough since they easily move around when rolled) and quilted like crazy to hold everything together. I thought the frame using a woodgrain fabric worked well.

Mountain Pass (Chamonix and Martigny)

10" x 13"

I had in mind first M.C. Escher, and actually bought some fabric for a tessellated picture, but the fabric wasn't quite right for a real Escher effect, so I googled "landscape artists" and found John Robert Cozens, an18th century English artist. I liked his muted but mostly pale palette, but found it difficult to get my picture pale enough. I used the back side of the fabric for the brown hillside and the sky, but even after that, it was too bright. I finally layered two layers of fine white gauze over everything, with a bit more in the sky for the cloud layer, and did some thread-painting.
My intent was to avoid making too slavish a copy but to create a similar feel. It all came together much faster than anything else I've done!

Stone Spiral

What a fun challenge.

The initial four artist I thought of where - Georgia O'Keaffe, Salvador Dali, Picasso, and Andy Goldsworthy - but weird none were on the list - so I stated scanning art work on the list - none of it spoke to me so I went with my initial artist - Andy Goldsworthy. Here is a web site that has a sampling of his work - http://www.morning-earth.org/ARTISTNATURALISTS/AN_Goldsworthy.html

I like him as an artist - his pallet is mother nature and takes only what is available to him to create sculptures and what not. So I took some pebbles - sorted them by value and composed this piece only with my scraps that were in my sewing room - not quite the same as his work - but fun to do anyway. The pebbles were a bit of challenge - I really wanted them sewn on to the pieces but that wasn't a technical possibility all the time so I glued them then sewed them so you think they are sewn on. The piece itself measures 8 1/2 x 7 - I am attempting to work smaller.

Thanks again for this challenge - I have quite a few more pebbles this might be a gateway for a series of work.

Lisa
In Cloudy Seattle

Challenge 11

Challenge #11 – Friday, 27 July 2007

Challenge # 11 hostess: Cynthia Morgan

Theme: In the Style of the Masters

Find one of your favorites on these lists of famous artists or schools of art and create a small piece in the style of that artist or school of art. You could copy or adapt a specific piece of art, but it may be more rewarding to do something original using the style.

http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/

http://library.thinkquest.org/J001159/artstyle.htm


Design Principle – Variety and Emphasis (Focal Point)

Sources and examples:

The Quilter’s Book of Design by Ann Johnston, Chapter 3

http://www.brigantine.atlnet.org/GigapaletteGALLERY/websites/ARTiculationFinal/MainPages/VarietyandEmphasisMain.htm

http://char.txa.cornell.edu/language/principl/rhythm/rhythm.htm

http://awesomeartists.com/ART/mTheABCsOfArtEmphasis.htm


Variety – Adding elements that are similar, but different from each other can add interest without disrupting the unity of the whole. Ways to achieve variety: change line direction, change size, change color, change color value, change color intensity, change degree of complexity, change texture, change placement.
Focal Point – Creating one area in the design that captures the viewer’s first glance and sets the direction that the eye will follow throughout the viewing of the design. A focal point will emphasize a specific part of the design, which should contribute to the meaning of the whole design.
Variety creates Focal Points – If one of the variations of the chosen element is in high contrast to the rest of the piece, it can create a focal point for the composition

The Destiny of Flower Children

The Destiny of Flower Children

Burlap and Velor

So, I am a few months late!

I am working to get caught up on past challenges but did meet the time limit. I created this quilt in one night, but it took 2 days to add the binding.

13" wide x 16" tall

Fabrics: burlap and velor for the challenge of working with something you haven't used before, and 100% cotton quilters cottons.

While I must say this isn't the greatest quilt I have ever made, I do like the color, I am pleased with my machine quilting, and I had fun making it! That is the point right? Fun.

There are some things I would change, like my binding is not the greatest (binding is my greatest weakness), and I cut off part of a circle when I added the binding (on the bottom right- I know you are going to look now).

It was a good exercise and it felt good to lock myself in my sewing room for a while and just create!

Waterfall

31.5" x 13.5"

I scoured AC Moore for my purchased item, and a bag of "Iridescent Decorating Shred" cost $4.99, so was just under the limit -- not that I used all of it! It looks like Easter basket grass, except white/clear/silver, probably meant for wedding decoration. Adding the shred was the last step. I made a very thin mat of calypso blue Angelina and used that to partly couch the shred, which, by the way, is awful stuff to work with, and if this ever goes anywhere, it will have to be ve-e-e-ry carefully packed! I used some holographic film thread to hold it together.

The ducks came from a photo I got in New Zealand, a wonderful zoom shot that was only apparent as such when I could see it on the computer. You could actually see a drop of water dripping off the duck's bill! I did a little touch-up with a blue-metallic pen to adjust the ripples at the base of the waterfall, and a little bit of gold to highlight the ducks.

Africa Inspirations

This is my quilt for Challenge #10. About a year ago, I made a little quilt using some shark's teeth from an old necklace that I'd had for years. I loved the way that the quilt turned out, but had no more shark's teeth, so then I went on a mission buying shark teeth on e-bay! Who knew they came in such varieties? These are a long, ivory variety--don't ask me what kind of shark they are from! I also have some little shiny black ones that I intend to use someday.

This photo does not do justice to my little quilt! The idea here was to portray a day at the beach, where no one wants to enter the water. I used tissue paper, angelina fibers, heated and distorted chiffon, and text from an old book. That blackish blob is also chiffon but like the angelina, it just doesn't photograph well. The edge is finished with decorative yarn. I will probably add some beads and other doodads to give it more personality. Maybe you would all like to come to CA to see and appreciate it in person - LOL!

Ann In Walnut, CA

Coffee Cups

14" x 9"

My intention was to create a quilt with a sketch like quality, with the window screening to depict crosshatching.

I began by tracing a sketch onto white fabric, layered it, and free-motioned the outlines in black thread. The screening was difficult to mark, so I laid it on top of the quilt while cutting, so I could use the outline quilting as a guide. I painted the lightest shade of screening with white fabric paint. The screening is edge stitched down with free-motion ziz-zag.

I’m debating if and how to finish this. I think I might have liked it better if I had used some color in it. Maybe I could add a wash of paint. The quilting and appliqué caused some puckering, but not so much that I couldn’t fix it with more quilting.

Suggestions are welcome.

Up the Lazy River

Since I don't have the energy to make a new one and Cherie and Ricky said to go for it - I am using the first one I made for Challenge #7 this month. After I got it finished a friend said "You should do something out of the ordinary so I put it aside and made something else.

The background was painted on Tyvek with various paints. The sand is covered with tea dyed cheese cloth and there is a layer of organza over the water.

I quilted the sky, mountains, sand, and water first which made a bubble out of the trees. To flatten it out a bit I cut across the trees and inserted some upholstery trim which I dyed green. When I pulled the bottom part up and sewed it to the trim I liked it better. To me, that made my painted trees look like a reflection in the water.

The bird, fish, and turtle were all in my stash of stuff and the rocks are from a broken necklace my kids gave me many years ago.

The size is 19-1/4" x 17-1/2".

Tokens

This was a great challenge. My first hit was washers, those round metal things with holes in them... from the hardware store. I spent $3.25 on those (but didn't use them all). Then I was off to Target for some stuff and saw bamboo skewers, $1 for 100. But I had them at home....

The background is a brown mottled fabric over batting. I started with yard woven sort of over/under the skewers, adding a washer when I felt like it. It took on a rather Asian character, the washers reminding me of Chinese coins.

Minimal quilting, just to hold the top two skewers and the ends of the rest of them (and yes, a Bernina's zigzag is wide enough to jump the skewer and not break the needle!). The back is just a facing, hand stitched in place. The sleeve is actually a space between the batting and backing, pretty clever, eh?

Critiques of course, are welcome. (And thanks, Marilyn, for brainstorming names!

Wendy in Flagstaff

Sol's Glory

19"x17"

I tried a few things on this quilt I have not done
before. I started with tissue paper sundyeing for the background of the sky and water, used a combination of polyfill and dryer lint for clouds and used organdy overlays on both sky and water and mountains. I used expanding paint, micro beads, mica dust, tiny seashells and polished pebbles for the sandy beach, and a sheet of mica from some angel wing mica I found in the hills of North Dakota.

This was really up my alley as I love trying things not normaly used with fabric quilts. I would appreciate any comments and or critiques...
Cherie

Day at the Beach...Challenge 10

I started working on this around 11 this morning and just finished it now, a few minutes shy of 2AM. It just grabbed hold of me and wouldn't let go. I knew what I was going to make as soon as I read the challenge Friday, just needed to gather the materials.
I used..Angelina, batting, and tulle for the surf, a tiny straw basket and straw hat, little bitty sea shells, a hair net, teeny pebbles from the beach, and wooden beads for the "floats". I am pretty sure that tomorrow I am going to sew some clothesline around the edges as the binding instead of the green that's there.

Challenge 10

Theme ~ Project Runway Challenge
Elements ~ Technique-based Exercise

Challenge Host ~ Rhonda

Starts ~ June 22nd, 2007
Please post your quilts by ~ June 30th, 2007

This month, we're going back to the original inspiration for Gena to have started this group. That's right! A Project Runway style challenge!

Your mission is to use one thing on your quilt that is NOT from a fabric store. Hardware store, grocery store, dollar store, whatever.... (I'm flashing on the ironing board covers and shower curtains and candy necklaces from the original PR show) and your limit is $5.00.

You have one week to design, shop, and complete the quilt. Make it work!The $5.00 applies to your specifically purchased non-traditional element only. You don't have to count fabrics you already have and batting and backing. Your element can be fabric such as napkins from the grocery, bandanas from the Dollar Tree, whatever, or it can be a non-fabric item such as hardware, paper, silk flowers, whatever.

The sky is the limit on this one. Dig deep for that creativity!

Challenge 9

Made of paper towel and alcohol inks.

Discharge experiement

This quilt was created by discharging brown Kona fabric with bleach. The tree was then raw edge appliqued on the background.

Discharge From Black

So this is my attempt for Challenge #9. I used solid black Kona fabric. All of the shapes are freezer paper stencils. The large flower misted with bleach, while the spirals were painted with bleach. I thread-painted the flower and free-form quilted the background. Now that I see the quilt in a photo, I realize that it needs a bit more and was thinking of adding some beadwork to the upper right corner, and maybe to the spirals as well. Any suggestions?

Ann

Springtime

Okay, so I'm late, and it's not bound yet, but it's done and quilted. This was an experiment using Sharpie pens and alcohol. I drew in some designs with colored Sharpies, then used alcohol - either sprayed on or dripped on. On some layers, I sprinkled salt, which drew the color out of those spots. It's totally colorfast when it dries. Learned that yellow and orange sharpies don't do very well. Freemotion quilted with rayon threads. Size is 8.5x11" and I'd appreciate some suggestions on binding. - Marilyn

Satin Flower

Finished size: ~20" x 20"

This is made from silver-gray satin with a thick layer of batting so that when I thread-painted, it created depth automatically. For the flower, the thread-painting made it too flat, so I made strips of ruffles and hand-sewed them on, then I used Lumiere paint on the edges and on the leaves. And yes, it is not a real rectangle, the curve on the right is the way I chose to make it, or rather how it chose to be, and the left side also slants somewhat in. And at that, it is actually more rectangular than most of my recent work!

Using a single fabric is quite a change for me, since I usually take the patterns and pictures in the fabric to create the picture.

Dawn

Name - Dawn - finished size 15 1/2 by 18

I painted a plain white fabric with acrylics.

So I put another scrap fabric over it and found a really light section of the fabric piece. Not on purpose but interesting how that worked.

I didn't like the proportions so I cut curves and re pieced the fabric - then I added some embroidery thread to highlight details and give it a little more pop.

So I don't find the acrylic paints yielded the bright colors - I'd love to have other ideas for painting fabrics. I guess on this I made the piece work but it wasn't what I had planned.

Lisa - in Sunny Seattle

Squeaking in under the wire!

I finished in time! Barely..lol Anyways, the first photo shows the original white Kona ready and waiting to be transformed. The 2nd photo is my inspiration piece....one of those online "answer a few questions about yourself and we will make a painting that reflects YOU" things. I loved the painting they produced and said that someday I would recreate it for use as a wallhanging. What better time than now?
The 3rd photo is my version, slightly different, but not enough to matter! It is still VERY wet, but it will have white binding, not sure of the quilting yet, I didnt water the paint down too much so it may be hard to quilt, I may just do some tacking here and there,,or maybe not, have to wait and see how it dries.
I used acrylic paints, most for fabric, some not and water. Might do some beading when it is dry, not sure yet. I DO know that in the blue space, bottom left I will be putting my name in Japanese and maybe somewhere to the right the symbol for "hope"...seems to fit the "feel" of the piece.

Beaded Lizard

I used a gelatin monoprint and encrusted beadwork for this challenge; plain white muslin with acrylic paint. I've been reading with interest the posts about this technique. I actually didn't follow the instructions exactly - instead of applying the paint to the gelatin and making the design in the paint, I made the design in the gelatin; applied the paint; and then imprinted the fabric. The blue came out a little bit darker than I wanted but I'm pretty pleased with the results. I also used a small stamp with yellow/gold paint to add a bit more to the design. After the paint dryed, I quilted it and then beaded it. I just zigzagged the edges and mounted it on a fabric covered canvas. I made a few more prints on some additional fabric that I really like and am looking forward to working with. This was a fun technique and I really want to try it the right way next time!!!

Painted Flowers

12 3/4" x 14 7/8"

This was my first attempt at fabric painting. My husband gave me a collection of Jacquard fabric paints two years ago at Christmas. This was my first trial with them. I used several types of paint so I could see what each did.

The fabric I used is quite old—not antique but have had it for at least 15 years. It was left from doing a small quilt. It has a lavender background with flowers outlined in white with gray within the white borders. The white is almost like paint. In fact, I could hear a distinct popping sound every time the machine needle when through it. I did border my quiltlet with it but didn’t have enough for the backing. I used a gray cotton sateen.

I also used many different threads---made by several companies and also different weights and fiber content. Some I would not use again with fabrics as dense of these.

All in all---an interesting challenge.

Sally K. Field

Chains of Love

"Chains of Love Unbroken" was constructed to depict how I'm feeling right now. My mother is dying and I've been on a roller coaster ride the past 5 weeks dealing with this. I found chains in my husband's junkpile here on the farm and attempted (not as successfully as I'd hoped) to make prints of them on a solid piece of black sateen fabric. I stitched around the finished chains in wavering lines with varigated thread to depict the fact that love may waver sometimes but is always there through good and bad. I carried this out to the edge by cutting the borders in wavering lines and then simply zig-zagged around to finish the edges. I free-motion stitched using a varying size zig-zag stitch hearts all over the quilt to show the love I feel for her right now and all the good and bad times included.

Jan Johnson

Never Say Never!

9" x 12"
Bleach Gel Discharged Batik
Machine Quilting with Varigated Thread
Backing is two pieces of black felt


Just before this challenge was issued I was reading Lesley Riley's book Quilted Memories. She covers a number of techniques including subtracting color with bleach. I read and mentally thought "Nah, not for me."

Then came the challenge. I read about black being a mixture of colors. The result can be "surprising" according to Leslie. So when I was at my LQS and saw a black batik that looked solid except for some barely discernable brown I decided to buy some yardage. Still hadn't decided what to to but when I saw "Bab-O Gel with Bleach" at the dollar store I figured, "why not?"

Leslie said the bleaching process would take 2-8 minutes. Per her instructions, I clipped about an inch square to test. No results. Hm. I experimented further and put a length in a cookie pan. Covered with gel. It took about two hours, but the result was a lovely tan batik.

I decided my piece would be a process piece. One of my goals for this year is to really learn to do machine quilting. Earlier this month I took a class from Robbi Joy Elkow where she recommended practicing on two pieces of felt. I grabbed a couple pieces of felt, tore off a section of fabric, used small squares of fusible to secure the fabric to the felt, threaded some varigated thread, and started quilting.

The result is a process piece that was a great learning experience. I still have more of the untreated batik (if I photographed it all you would see if black) and some of the treated fabric. I'll look for more Bab-O as well. For a buck a bottle it's a pretty good deal!

Comments are most welcome!

-- Joanna Strohn in Tucson

http://www.dreamrunner.com

Canyon Strata

I started with a half yard of PFD white and added sun paints, full strength, in bold random stripes. The next color was the one I grabbed out of the bucket. Then I repeatedly sprayed with water to let the colors bleed, and covered it with tulle while it dried (not much of an effect). The strips were cut on the perpendicular and offset to sew back together. Finally the quilting was random, shapes that reminded me of the strata of rock at the Grand Canyon (which is almost in my back yard!). I'm not sure I really like this piece. I think I could have done more planning with the quilting, but I do like the bargello appearance (without all the fussy little pieces!). Self faced binding, and photographed on a black background. Comments, of course, are welcome! Thanks!

"A Study in Stripes"

I chose a 1" wide black and white stripe to work with for my original fabric. I wanted to explore the variations of pattern rather than color for this one. Some of the patterns I started with a plan, others I just started sewing stuff together. 100% cotton fabric, machine pieced and quilted in the ditch. The binding is scraps and off-cuts, some on the bias, some not. Various sizes and styles of buttons.

Finished size 17x19, red bandana print fabric backing.

Coyote Hills Marsh

Whole cloth quilt, painted, 13 x 8.5

Inspired by the work of Deidre Adams, I decided to make a whole cloth quilt, quilt first, and then paint with acrylic paints.

Updated 5/30/2007 to answer questions:

I used the photo as a guide to put texture where I thought the grasses might go. All of the quilting and painting was done unmarked.

I used ordinary acrylic paints. I thought from looking at Deidre's quilts that slightly diluted paint would settle where the stitching was, but it didn't work like I expected. If the paint was diluted or if the quilt was damp, the paint tended to distribute itself evenly regardless of stitching. I got the textured look with darker seams by letting the quilt dry completely and then painting over it with lighter brighter colors, a fairly dry bush, and undiluted paint.

An article was done about Deidre Adams and her quilts in the Winter 2006 issue of Quilting Arts. She works very abstractly, and her quilts are full of wonderful texture. Some of her quilting includes crosshatching and overlapping spirals which I have not used before, so I have tried these in this quilt.

Wild-haired Party Girls at Sunset

I started with this piece of tie dyed fabric. I saw shadowy figures in the pattern, so I played that up by painting dresses on the figures and a sunset sky with thickened dye. Then I quilted around the figures and the sun.

Aurora Luna

This was a potato dextrin resist dye painted fabric . I did pin tuck pleats to raise and accentuate the flowing lines. I also did two double rows of pintucking around the moon, then used four layers of batting to stuff the moon so it would pop. After I quilted it, I painted the white of the moon with Pearlex and applied dozens of swarovski crystals in varied colors and sizes for a starry, irridescent sky.

I took the detail picture from the side to try to show the texture of the tucks and the puff of the moon. I wish the sparkle of the holographic thread and crystals would show better...it is really quite effective in person.

I haven't yet finished the edges as I'm debating whether to face it or frame it. Opinions?

As always, I welcome critiques and ideas...Cherie

Second Chance

Julie--You must have been reading my mind. I liquified pictures of some wall hangings months ago and every time I ran across them I thought "I have to do something with these". This challenge gave me the incentive to do more than just think about it.

I printed my liquified basket four times, sewed them together, stippled, doodled, and thread painted.

My fabric is very boring. I wanted something light to do my printing on. I tried a print and it was awful.

Betty Donahue