Positive Hand Gestures

Based on one of my favorite books, The Power of Positive Thinking by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale

 Designed in Make the Cut software, thread sketched portraits, Tsukineko ink, free motion quilted on Moire fabric.

Five Smooth Stones

 I am not sure how I am quilting this, or even if I am, I may stretch it onto a frame the way it is or use some other method to attach it to a canvas or board. Also not sure if I want to add words. I am liking the simplicity of it the way it is.
The color is off, the background is supposed to be stark white, but I can never get a good shot in here at night no matter how I try.
As soon as I read the challenge for this month, I knew I wanted to do this. I have read this book many many times and it never fails to touch me. I chose to reproduce a painting done by Sara Kent, one of the character's in the book. Everytime I think of this book the description of this painting is always one of the first things to come to my mind. I added the stones to represent the title. they will be sewn on using tulle to hold them..

Not sure if we were supposed to include this, but I thought a description of the books would be nice so others could go look for them and read them if they wished.
(following blurb from Amazon, link to site included)
Five Smooth Stones was written by Ann Fairbairn, and first published in 1966.
It is the story of David Champlin, a black man born into poverty in Depression-era New Orleans who achieves great success and then sacrifices everything to lead his people in the difficult, day-by-day struggle of the civil rights movement. Sara Kent is the beloved and vital white girl who loved David from the moment she first saw him, but they struggled over David's belief that a marriage for them would not be right in the violent world he had to confront. Likening the struggle of black Americans to the “five smooth stones” the biblical David carried against Goliath in lieu of arms, this novel’s range encompasses decades and continents—but that range is insignificant compared with the intimate picture of its hero’s irresistible warmth and inner conflicts. , this epic has become one of the most loved American bestsellers.

I enjoyed this, even as simple as mine is. Thank you Sharon for hosting a challenge that I feel  has rekindled the spark I used to have for creating with fabric!  Sorry I was so long winded! LOL

Challenge #83: A new Cover for your Favorite Book

Host: Sharon Robinson

Due: August 3, 2013

Theme:  The title or subject of your favorite book

Style: This can be a representational quilt that illustrates a person, place or thing from the book,  or an abstraction that captures the emotions and essence of the book.  It can be fiction or non-fictional, serious or humorous.  Imagine the latest edition on bookstore shelves, with your art on the cover!  Your piece can start out the size of a book, or you could do a large piece and assume it would be reduced in scale for the cover art.

Technique:  Any technique you choose

Design Element: Line – Optional.  If this topic seems too wide open to you, try also incorporating the design exercise of using the element of “line” to portray your subject or theme.  There are as many ways to use “line” as there are works of art:  http://tinyurl.com/googlemodernartline

Some ideas that came to mind for me are:  A portrait of Jane Eyre or the girls from Little Women, a landscape of the windswept mores of England…   You could use humor or a pun: A Catcher in a loaf of Rye Bread?

Non-fiction: One of my current favorite books is about Climate Change – so I could do a quilt depicting the melting ice in the Arctic.  I’m also reading about Joseph Albers and his color studies, so I might do a quilt based on his ideas:   http://tinyurl.com/Albersbook

If you don’t really have a favorite book, or are stuck on how to interpret it, just go to Amazon Books and browse the cover art shown, but don’t just copy it – look at how the illustrator chose to interpret  the book.  For example here are many different ideas on “To Kill a Mockingbird” http://tinyurl.com/Mockingbirdcoverart

You could select a favorite book from your childhood, or one you read to your grandchildren:

http://tinyurl.com/childbookillustrations  Again, don’t copy the illustrations, but be inspired by them.  You could do a piece inspired by the style of some of the great childrens’ book illustrators.   http://flavorwire.com/306958/the-20-most-beautiful-childrens-books-of-all-time/5 or http://tinyurl.com/kncf4oe

Abstract art lends itself to book covers easily. It can even make “Ductal Carcinoma in Situ” look interesting!  J   http://tinyurl.com/abstractcovers

A couple more links to book cover ideas:

http://tinyurl.com/bestbooksyear

http://tinyurl.com/googlebookcovers

And some art story quilts, showing how other quilt artists have told stories with their work.  But remember if your piece will be on the cover of a book, keep it simple and eye-catching!

http://tinyurl.com/googlestoryquilts

Don’t get stuck on which book to use, or how to interpret it “correctly.”  This is really just a prompt to get you brainstorming and inspired!   Most of all, have FUN!

Indian Maiden

It has been some time since I did a fabric piece.  But I still remember how...must be like riding a bicycle.  Anyway, my inspiration for this challenge was 'Indian Maiden at Stockade' by Charles Marion Russell painted in 1892 (first image image). 


I've used more of a simplistic cubist method of abstraction of the figure.  The background...is different altogether in that I liked the look of the block figure against this pattern.  In addition, I've tried to give it some foreground/ground using organzas at the bottom.

All comments welcome!  

The Sentinels

The Sentinels was inspired by the painting (above) by George Caitlin. Caitlin painted mostly scenes of Indian life as well as many Indian portraits. I first saw his work in the Renwick Gallery in Washington, DC where there is a large permanent installation  of many of the portraits. I liked the lines and shapes in this particular painting; the embellishments are the decorative stitches around the spheres, in the striped fabric, and on both sides of the blue area. My quilt is approximately 24" x 18".
Ann In Fallbrook, CA

Bison on the Plains

Charles Russell has many paintings depicting bison/buffalo on the western plains.In most cases they are running or stampeding with lots of action.

I tried to think abstractly, and failed yet again (my mind just doesn't work that way).  I copied several abstract pictures from the net and took only those to my studio for ideas.  I went through my scraps of hand-dyed fabrics, finding the three here.  The grass one is colored with crayons by rubbing, which I thought would work for abstract.  But then I found the scrap with the three bison and thread-painted them to give them some color.  And of course it became too realistic to be abstract.  In Russell fashion, I added clouds of dust by using wool roving and hand needle-felting it in place.  A tiny scrap of gold became the lightening that caused the stampede.
Thank you for this fun Fast Friday project.

The Outlaw

I have only a passing interest in Wild West Art, but it is easy to see that Frederic Remington's Bronze "The Outlaw" is the favorite of many. My piece is fused fabric using ideas taken from Pablo Picasso.  I was out the door to go fishing in Idaho - grabbed a bag of scraps, my sketchbook, etc (no sewing machine) and my computer.  After a quick stop at Walmart, I was ready. But by the time I got to Jimmy Smith Lake, I had no internet access.  So, I had to improvise a bit on the cowboy because I couldn't remember what he looked like!  It was a challenge - would have liked a wider array of fabrics.  I used tulle to create shadows on my whole cloth background, but when I tried to fuse the pieces down, I couldn't use a hot enough iron or the tulle would melt. At one point I resorted to glue.

 

My embellishments include hemp for the reins, and small beads to attach all the limbs paper-doll style.  This was a fun challenge, but I see I have a long way to go. I am humbled by the talent in this group, but even it we don't like the challenge, we learn from it.

Fur Traders Descending the Missouri

Hi all - thanks for letting me join the group. I've created my first challenge piece; it's nowhere as amazing as the other recent posts, but I tried new things and learned from it. First, I decided to interpret 'Old West' a little differently. After all, at one point the Ohio territories were the old west. The artist I picked is George Caleb Bingham and the painting, from 1845, is found here. It's worth looking at a variety of versions, because the coloring is subtle, and there's a wide range of colors and values on-line.
This is the fastest quilt I've made - about 2 days / 6 hours. New to me were the machine I stitched the layers together on, a 1955 Singer 401. It's also the first time I've worked with Misty Fuse, and first time trying large free-motion circles. I'm not happy with the fabric I chose for the grey clouds on the right - the value is too dark. I am very happy with the reflections in the water, and with the circles I stitched after I decided I had to mark the top and then sew. So I'm glad I finally committed to making a quilt! - Lisa in Pennsylvania, aka DippyDyes

"Wild" West

Even though he did many paintings of western scenes, when I think of Remington, I think of his bronze sculptures, so I chose “The Outlaw” for inspiration. By use of color, line, and shape, I improvised my own form of “abstraction” in an attempt to capture the energy, drama, and movement of the original work -- just not in a representational way. The overall shape references the sculpture, but the colors and surface design techniques are in keeping with my own artistic point of view.

If nothing else, since I finished it yesterday on July 4th, it has an explosive, fireworks feel fitting to the day, hopefully not unsimilar to the explosion of power represented in Remington’s “The Outlaw.”

The piece is 13.5” x 17”. Feedback is welcomed!

Robert Hartley

Wild West Landscape

At first, I wasn't sure what I would do with this challenge. Then I found this painting in the first website listed. I loved the purples and browns, and the lovely sky above the mountains. I found several purple and brown African batiks in my stash, along with other batiks and hand-dyed fabrics. 

My abstract interpretation of the painting is a faux-bargello landscape, and I did some embellishing with some of my favorite matte beads, in purple, bronze, green and brown. (The beads don't show up very well in the photo. )

My quilting echoes the shape of the mountains; the finished piece is about 20" wide, and 21" tall. 

In spite of the fact that the "Wild West" paintings are not among my favorites, I enjoyed this challenge.

Marilyn Foulke

Louisville, KY

An Art Quilt Piece from my collection

Acid Attack 2006

I won this art quilt way back in 2006 during the second Quilt Swap featuring members of the Quiltart list.  I had it hanging in a hallway in our Sacramento house. We moved a year after the swap and it has been hanging in my studio ever since.  I am posting it now because it was made by Jan Johnson who is the leader of this month's challenge.  I wanted to thank her again for the wonderful gift and to let her know it is still on display in my home.

Sylvia

Challenge #82: Masters of the Old Wild West

Theme: Masters of the Old Wild West

Technique: Abstraction

Hosts: Pam Clark, Jan Johnson

Due Date: July 6, 2013

Using the one of the Master Painters of the Old Wild West (Frederick Remington, Charles Russell or any other Old West Artist), select a painting to use as your inspiration, but create a quilt that would be an abstract of this painting. You could use Pablo Picasso's Cubism using cylinders, spheres, cones, triangles, cubes, etc. to depict your Western Painting in abstract style. Use at least one form of embellishment. Be sure to either show the painting you used for inspiration or tell us the title and artist of the painting you selected (providing a link would be fine).

Charles Russell paintings: http://www.charlesmarionrussell.org/

Frederick Remington paintings:

http://fredericremington.org/frederic-remington-master-of-diverse-media-p484.php

or http://tinyurl.com/FFFC-82-1

Background info on Pablo Picasso

http://www.pablopicasso.org/

Picasso's Cubism Period where he used cones, cylinders, spheres to depict the natural world.

Go about 2/3 of the way down the page to the black and whites of bulls and notice the progression from 3 dimensional to just lines made of shapes, but we can still tell that it's a bull.

http://www.pablopicasso.org/picasso-paintings.jsp

Samples of Abstract Art Quilts

http://artquiltsbyjean.com/products-page/abstract-quilts/ or

http://tinyurl.com/FFFC-82-2

There are a great many abstract quilts on this page.

https://www.google.com/search?q=abstract+art+quilts&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=ny22Ub_WBYPErQHCrIEQ&sqi=2&ved=0CDMQsAQ&biw=1600&bih=738 or

http://tinyurl.com/FFFC-82-3

Here is a link showing Cubism art.

https://www.google.com/search?q=cubism&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=tCy3UdKJLoiM0QGjg4HwDw&sqi=2&ved=0CDkQsAQ&biw=1600&bih=738 or

http://tinyurl.com/FFFC-82-4

Here is a link explaining the concept of Cubism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubism

In this link below, Elizabeth Barton's "Edge of Light" uses abstract art to depict a town.

http://elizabethbarton.blogspot.com/2009/04/elements-and-principlesspace-deep-or.html  or http://tinyurl.com/FFFC-82-5

Here's an example of an art quilt by Barbara Strobel Lardon showing how she analyzes the tail of an owl and selects just

the right fabric.

http://bslartquilts.blogspot.com/2013/01/shake-those-tail-feathers.html or http://tinyurl.com/FFFC-82-6

And one final note: have fun with this!

How to label a blog entry - revised!

When you have written your blog entry, add labels by clicking on Labels on the right.  A box will appear, with a crowded scroll box below it showing ALL of the labels that have ever been used.  As you type, the labels that contain what you are typing will appear below the entry box, and you can use the down arrow to select one of them or simply complete the typing.  Click "Done" to finish.

Two labels, and only two labels, should be added to your post.  One is the challenge number -- and it will be on the list, because it will have been used to post the challenge itself.  Enter that, then a comma, and then enter your name.  Because you have used the labels, you do not need to put either of them in the title of the post.

O is for found Objects, or Oh, look what I found!

All the discussion about FFFC has kick-started me to finish this piece, which measures 13" x 10".  Found Objects, including washers, a ring, and oval earrings, were encased under a damask napkin by hand stitching around them.  This was bordered by hand-dyed cotton fabric.

Thank you all for the great discussion.  I think it gave us all that needed push to get things done.

V is for Viktoria

V is for Viktoria

Close up of embroidery

Bits of trim and Jewelry

Since someone else posted a previously completed Alphabet quilt, I will share mine.  A couple of years ago my guild did an Alphabet Soup challenge.  Each artist was given their letter in fabric and had to use it on the front of the quilt.  Quilts were to be 18"x 24".  Each artist got to select their letter from list of remaining letters.  By the time I got to select there were only a few vowels and V left,   I chose V.  

My daughter was named after my grandmother.  I used the German spelling of Viktoria.   My grandmother did wonderful embroidery work.  I have several pieces of her work.  My daughter does lovely cross stitch.  I  immediately had an idea for this piece, I tried to make it look like Victorian crazy patch.  The floral embroidered motifs came from a maternity smock that I had made and worn when expecting my daughter.  For some reason my mother had cut of the motifs and saved them.  I had done the little house cross stitch many years ago and never framed it.  The buttons are vintage and come from my late mother's button box.  As well as the brooches. The lacy trim came from my daughter.  She had pulled all the filly decorations off a lampshade and gave me a box filled with bits of this and that.  I tea dyed the letter V's, they were on a white background.  It was a very satisfying piece to make.

The collection was hung in that year's quilt show.  It also was on display at the HMQS quilt show, and at the Springville art museum's annual quilt show. I can't quite remember what year it was made.  I am not where I can look at the label today.

Q is for Quilt

All this lively discussion in the past week encouraged me to  post this piece which fits the current challenge, although it was made for a different challenge group.  "Q is for Quilt"  and a few other things.  The small yellow quilt hanging off the bottom is a six inch nine patch quilt with 1/4 inch squares.   Other items beginning with Q were added using ATP- a first for me.  The quilting includes cursive lower case q's, too.

Peggi Yacovissi, Wellsboro PA

Road Trip!

"R" is For Road Trip!

This is a collage of several small postcard-style quilts that show a road trip through the Southwest. The background is a city skyline while the border represents the wide open road. Text includes not only the free-form cut letters, but  also the background map behind the two figures. My quilt measures 22" x 21".

Pouring T

21" x 17"

I seldom include letters or words in my pieces, but the challenge called for them, hence, Pouring T, quite literally!  I tried cutting the letters out from fabric, but since I was unwilling to sew all around the edges for each letter, I tried out a technique that came through Joggles.com recently.  They had a video of printing using adhesive foam and pieces of foam core for printing, and since I always have loads of foam core scraps, I gave it a try.  The printing came out a bit light, but I filled in the T's with the same marker I had used for ink, and outlined the H2O steam and felt satisfied with the result.

At first, I was going to crop the kettle, but it wanted to be included in its entirety -- though it didn't want to have a handle!

Thanks, Ann, for a fun challenge.  I welcome any comments.

Fresh Fish!

This piece began with sun dyeing muslin using Dye-na-Flow, cut paper shapes, and plant material [read: weeds!] from my yard. It’s a fun, quick and easy process. A fellow art quilter loaned me a wonderful Fred B. Mullet fish stamp that I applied with black and gold textile paints.

As I worked on the piece, this narrative kept going through my head: Five fancy fish, freely floating, fleetly flitting, and fitly finning from Fiji to France, from Finland to Formosa. Fascinating, friendly…and flagrantly flirting! -- Fresh Fish!
I had notions of somehow including that text via free-motion quilting, but I’m just not that good! Maybe one day.

12"x26"

Enjoy, and feedback welcomed.

Robert Hartley

S is For Smile

 

Take a smile. Or two.. Or three…

The Daily Smile Countdown!

Beads, buttons, charms, lace, lock washers, sequins, trims, washers, yarns, zipper.

 

Temperance

This quilt is about "Temperance" and is the newest in my series of family history quilts. The photo in the center is of my great-grandmother, Laura Kincaid Seaman Meade. To the left is her father, the "father of Sumner [WA]," who was very pro-temperance. To the right is Laura's second husband - a "hops king" until aphids destroyed that industry. The photo in the top row is of a hops kiln and workers in Sumner. Sumner was a "dry" town, but many residents became rich from hops, from which beer is made. I have no idea how Laura handled this situation.
I have not quilted this top yet. I enjoyed finding lots of antique-ish red prints. I will probably add more quotes. There are also quotes and images about temperance and the hops industry on the back.

A is for Attitude

In March, 2013 Craftsy.com sponsored its first ever quilting cruise. They provided us with four great instructors. Each one taught us a different technique. Pam Holland taught us how to make a quilted alphabet book. This was our first block entitled "A is for Attitude". Pam has written a book entitled "The Adventures of the Amazing Alphabet" and has created a different character for each letter. Her website is www.pamhollanddesignsandproductions.com if you want to check out her quilts, which are amazing. I enjoyed learning the technique of creating a pattern and then tracing it onto my background fabric. You then either color in the areas you want hi-lited with colored pencil or use textile marking pens. You then quilt around everything to make it more pronounced. I would like to make all the letters for my grandchildren, but I think it would take me forever and a day, so this may be my last attempt at letter quilts. The quilt measures 8.5" x 11". I have two granddaughters, Angelica and Alivia so one of them may get this little quilt. Comments are welcome.

C is for Cute

This challenge was just too good to pass up.  I have been working on a technique in Photo Shop called Typographic Portraits.  I am teaching that technique along with others that I incorporate in my computer image quilts next week.  I needed to work on a few more samples and this challenge gave me just the excuse I needed to create another text portrait.

Generally I incorporate a lot of adjectives that describe the person who's portrait I am working on to make up the image.   Because I wanted to use only one or two words for this challenge I chose cute and cousins.  These two are so cute together as they show their love for each other frequently.  As usual I don't have time to finish this piece but wanted to post it as printed on fabric. 

Summing it all up...

The letter I chose is the Greek letter SIGMA. In mathematics, it stands for "summation", and also "series."

It's probably obvious that I did this in a hurry, (Fast Friday), and it was fun. The letters in the quilt, all sigmas, are cut from the yellowed pages of my high school calculus book, now an antique. The text on the pages is about summation and series. I used tulle over the paper cutouts to protect them, and I did a little echo quilting. It is about 14" x 16".

Speaking of series, this might be the beginning of a series for me. My next letter would be DELTA, which stands for "change." 

Thanks for an interesting challenge!

Marilyn Foulke
Louisville, KY

Challenge #81: What's the Word?

Theme: WHAT’S THE WORD?

Host:  Ann Turley, Fallbrook, CA

Due:  June 1, 2013

Create a quilt that illustrates a word and a letter of the alphabet. Think outside the realms of normal with subtlety, whimsy, or emotion.  For example, when you think of the letter “A”, the image most of us see is of an apple. Go beyond that, thinking of nouns, verbs and adjectives. For example, I might want to find an interesting way to portray an arpeggio – a quick succession of musical notes. Or perhaps I may want to find an emotion and a letter match. Think “F” is for fear – how would you work with that imagery? Lastly, add a bit of relevant text to your quilt. This could be a subtle as repeating your chosen letter in the shadows, or as in-your-face as a large block print in a corner.  Maybe a bit of poetry that speaks of your image could be used. Whatever you decide, make it yours and make it personal to you.

This is one that I made that illustrates the idea, entitled Pea Pod Soup (the words are there, on the right, if you look closely):

Links that may be helpful:

Hexagons, music and text

http://luannkessi.blogspot.com/2012/11/hexagon-text-quiltmore-progress.html

A collection of paper-pieced blocks that get my idea across better that I ever could!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/basildonkitchens/8112518230/

Scroll down to the little heart quilt:

http://www.pjhornbergerfolkartist.com/2013/03/new-textile-art-art-quilts.html

This one could easily illustrate an emotion:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/102618933/framed-guardian-angel-original-outsider?ref=v1_other_1

In my opinion, Susan Shie is amongst the best at adding text to her pieces:

www.turtlemoon.com/gallery/gallery.htm

So have fun, don’t over-think your quilt, just do it!

Joy, Peace

These two quilts, "Joy" and "Peace", are in remembrance of my sister, Joy, who died May 3, 2013. I wrote a lot of memories and thoughts on them, both fronts and backs.

His Eyes Bored Into My Soul

 
I took this picture of an owl when my husband and I were in Alaska a few years ago.  His intense stare has always enthralled me.  I used Photoshop filters to alter the picture of the owl.  I found a yellow fabric in my stash that matched the yellow of his eyes, to help highlight the eyes.  I used browns as the frame so as not to take away the intensity of the eyes. As shown by the close up, the owl is heavily quilted except for the eyes and the beak. I have always wanted to do something with this photo and really enjoyed making this quilt. I have several other ideas for eyes but decided on this one.  I may continue with this theme for a while. I truly enjoyed this challenge!

The Eye of the Beholder

I loved the idea of this challenge but really didn't have the time to put my design into fabric.  But it excited me so much that I felt I could at least do the design work and I will work on creating it in fabric later.

I entered a photo of an eye into PSE 11 I also entered a photo of this cute little baby.  I deleted the background from around the baby and reduced its size in order for it to fit into the pupil of the eye.  I also made the baby a little more opaque than the eye.

I then went to my filters and used the cutout filter in eight layers to create this image.  I'm very happy with the results, wish I had time to work on it now.

Night Vision

15" x 19"

5/9 -- I have renamed this piece "Night Vision" instead of "Night Eye"!
----------- Setting out to do this challenge, I looked up drawing an eye in a "how to" book for the basic shape.  The original picture was in pencil, so there was only dark versus light -- and the dark seemed to prevail in what came together!  The "eyebrow" is from a fabric scrap from a costume project I did this winter, which had a grey floral border on black fabric, used for a 1910's mourning dress, but the curve seemed right for an eyebrow.  The red of the eye came from another costume scrap.  It doesn't show very much, but above the eye I used some navy blue as "eye shadow".  The netting and a bit of thread painting created the shading in the upper part of the eye.

I had tried out a silver sharpie for lines below the eye, but it wasn't right.  Black ink did not cover it, and unfortunately seeped into the white.  I ended up using black foil to cover the silver, and a bit of silver foil to create the reflection of light in the eye.

For a quote, I had this in mind: "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light."  Various translations have the words "healthy", "sound", "unclouded" or "good" instead of "single" so maybe I should try to get that black smudge out!

Comments welcome -- as well as suggestions for a better title!

The Eyes Have It

"The Eyes Have It" is mounted on black felt, then quilted, is 6" x6".

I Only Have Eyes For You

 

The quilt is uses positive /negative images for the eyes and is based on the quote:

 The eyes are the mirror of the soul

Designed in Make the Cut software, cut with an electronic cutter and free motion quilted.

 

Iris

The iris of the eye is named for the Greek goddess Iris who was goddess of the rainbow, so I chose to incorporate the whole of the rainbow as the color of this eye.

This was a fun challenge.  I'm most pleased that I was able to pull all the colors from my scrap bin -- except for the rainbow stripe and black & white background fabrics.

The finished piece is 15" square.  Comments/critiques are welcomed.

Robert Hartley

My Eyes

My eyes are from a Photoshop drawing that I finished over the weekend.  Much of the work I've been doing lately are combinations of freehand line drawings and my altered photographs layered in Photoshop.  One day, maybe some of them will find their way into art quilts.

Challenge 80: The Eyes Have It!

Theme: The Eyes have it.

Host:  Tobi Hoffman

Due Date:  May 4, 2013

When I was growing up, one friend of the family had a drawing by an artist who specialized in scientific illustration.  The picture was maybe 15 inches wide and 10 or 12 inches in height, and quite accurate in detail; at that size, it was a striking piece of art.  A one-time artist roommate of mine once chose a Time Magazine cover of Martin Luther King Jr. as a subject; she painted one eye first, and then moved out from there for a complete portrait, but that eye was still notably the center.  Many writers and sages have used the eye as a metaphor, praised the beauty of a lover’s eyes, talked about it as the window of the soul.  For this challenge, focus your eyes on the Eye, or Eyes, as the subject.  It may be part of the face, or stand by itself, be realistic or not, be a single eye, a pair of eyes, many eyes or pairs of eyes.  For that matter, it may not be even a human eye, but an animal’s, cat or goat or fish.

As an added piece of the challenge, take one of the following quotes (or find any other that you like) for further inspiration:

The eyes are the mirror of the soul.  Yiddish Proverb

The eye is the jewel of the body. Henry David Thoreau

No eyes that have seen beauty ever lose their sight.  Jean Toomer

When life gives you lemons, squirt someone in the eye.  Cathy Guisewite (“Cathy” comic strip)

There is a road from the eye to heart that does not go through the intellect. G. K. Chesterton

The eyes like sentinel occupy the highest place in the body.  Marcus Tulius Cicero

You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.  Mark Twain

The eye sees a thing more clearly in dreams than the imagination awake. Leonardo da Vinci

You never know how you look through other people's eyes.  Ralph Waldo Emerson

An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.  Mahatma Gandhi 

Images of the eye:

Cartoon eyes: http://tinyurl.com/FFFC80-1

Human eyes: http://tinyurl.com/FFFC80-2  

Animal eyes:  http://tinyurl.com/FFFC80-3  

Abstract eye art:  http://tinyurl.com/FFFC80-4

And some specific examples of eyes in quilted art:

Rose Rushbrooke:  http://www.roserushbrooke.com/sheeps-eyes.html

Cindy Bettinger (check out the header on her site and her portraits): http://www.cindybettinger.com/gateway/art-quilting/

Maria Elkins: http://mariaelkins.com/index.php/quilts/

And one further note: have fun with this!

Harrison quilt

Although this quilt is not quilted, I have finished piecing it. I will be having it long-arm quilted. The pattern in this quilt has infinite possibilities. I learned this technique from Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr, while on a Craftsy Quilting Cruise a few weeks ago. It's a very simple technique that requires that you start with a 10 1/2" wide strip of tan fabric and a 1" inch strip of red fabric. You cut off a piece of the tan fabric in a width anywhere from 1.5" to 4.5". You can then cut that piece up into further segments, stitch the red strips onto the cut edges and reassemble the piece, and add it on to the existing strip. You could keep going forever, but I stopped at 80" long and 48" wide. I will be donating this quilt to my family for our Harrison Family Reunion coming up in 2014 to use as a fundraiser raffle quilt. I think the red strips seem to form the letter "H" in different heights, if looked at from the side, so I'm hoping that this will make a good Harrison quilt.

Infinity Spiral

This 7" quilt was supposed to show a dark square spiraling infinitely into a light center. There are actually 5 different yellow fabrics in the center, but they are almost too small to see. It didn't come out as envisioned, but it was fun to make and a surprise to see how it turned out.

Snail Flower

This was a quick piece...started and completed it tonight!

A few years ago, I created a quilt block design based on a pair of snails.  Tonight, I worked with that block in Photoshop flipping it vertically and horizontally a few times, and then printed the image on a cotton fabric sheet.  The snail part of the printed image was enhanced with free-motion thread work.

How does this relate to infinity?  It relates because the design could be continued to infinity and already travels beyond its border.

By the way, the top part of the finished piece reminds me of a flower which is how the piece got its name.

Detroit Skyline

Detail: 

A photo from a cruise on the Detroit River is in the center. I learned how to apply special effects to it  in a software program, Fabric Studio and printed it on fabric. It was hand quilted with silver thread

Here is a second version.This time I did not tile it prior to the special effects.