Poetic Fragments

On April 28th, my Fiber Arts group, FiberArts NorthEast (FANE), hosted an Artist Reception for the Poetic Fragments exhibit at the Gallery at the Mahopac Library.  The exhibit is hanging until the end of May, so if you are in the area, please stop by.  There is no admission and there are almost 30 unique pieces!

This post will just be a series of photos, as I share all the wonderful small works done by the group.  Each piece could be no more that 14" on any side, had to be made of more that one element and was to be inspired by a line in a poem or a song.  The finished pieces were attached to an 18" canvass and displayed on the wall.

My apologies to the few artists whose names I missed....

Summer Kiss by Vivien Zepf

NY State of Mind by Donna Chambers

 A Pest Sense of How Not to Fly by Jane Davila

 A Rally Cry Unites Us  by Christine Wilheim

Arrangement in Grey and Black by Andrea Shedletsky

 Blue Grass  by Nike Cutsumpas

 Butterflies by Maxine Oliver

Circles by Elaine Sullivan

 Enkindled Spring  by Carolyn Drillick

Enlightened by Natalyia Aikens ....  this piece amazed me, because except for the thread and the dark brown building on the left that was felted, the rest is made on recycled plastic bags!!  Yep, you read that right :-)

 Float and Dance by Artist Unknown

 Golden Bugs by Nancy Mirmen

I Hope You Dance by me, Renee Fleuranges-Valdes

I Have a Song to Sing by Fran Osinoff

Seasons  by Artist Unknown

Serenity by Claire Oehler

 The Taven by Linda Long

 Title and Artist Unkown

 To Time by Artist Unknown

Tree Study VI Forest Shadows  by Barbara Sferra

 Tree by Kathy Tahnke

 Variations in Red by Carolyn Spiegel

White Crane Spreads Its Wings by Martha

Zen Garden by Judy Gignesi

A view of the company my piece is in :-)

A New York State of Mind and Forest Shadows, have already sold.  Most of the others are available for purchase via the artists.

2 Ribbons at NSQG World of Quilts 2013 !

It was a good birthday weekend.. As I walked into the show, folks kept congratulating me as Miss Ribbon Winner.  Since I have won ribbons at this show before, I smiled and said thanks and asked them not to tell me which quilt, until I saw for myself.  You see, I have been trying for a place on the wall of all Blue Ribbon 1st place winners.  I have only won Second, Third or Honorable Mentions in the past. 
 
So, you can imagine how ecstatic I was when I saw my first quilt !!! Jungle Paradise took Best Machine Applique at the Norther Star Quilt Guild, World of Quilts Show two weeks ago.  I am so so happy...  The parrot is thread painted, the leaves, tree trunk and lady bugs are appliqued down and the butterflies are attached, so that they are 3D.

Then, to make the day even better, Laundry Day received an Honorable Mention in the Landscape Category. 

WooHoo!!!

Renee

Lisa Shepherd Batik Tote Workshop with the Pelham Quilters

The Pelham Quilters were very fortunate to have Lisa Shepherd of Cultured Expressions and her wonderful batik fabrics from Ghana come and join us for a Tote bag workshop.  I love working with her fabrics, because they are all one of a kind.

The ladies had a wonderful time and we all were able to finish our bags at the workshop.

Here I am with my bag all finished except for the embellishments.

Here are Cheryl, Millie and Donna with their bags.

I will have to add the picture of the entire group later.  These were pics from my cell phone taken the day of the workshop.  The next day, I took a picture of the group with their bags at guild meeting, but it is on my camera which I don't have at this time :-).

Play time ... WooHoo!

So I have been way too busy, both at work and getting some projects done. I will make a couple of quick posts to catch you guys up on my latest quilting adventures.

But I will work backwards as I am pretty happy with my current project.

I joined a fiber arts group, FANE, Fiber Artists of New England. A great group of really talented women who come from all different artistic backgrounds,... Print making, dyeing, architecture, jewelry design, etc....  Their works are all so different, but as a group, they really feed off of and inspire one another.

FANE will have a special exhibit at the Northern Stars Quilt Guild show in May, with Kimono inspired quilts. So I have been busy working on mine.  The pieces will be made of at least 3 segments, a 16" wide body and two sleeves and will drape over poles.

Here are a few pics of mine in progress. Straight line quilting is a first for me :-)....

This is the back.... 

I have used Superior MonoPoly to zigzag over the yarn on the edge of the blue pieces and Superior Art Studio Colors for the blue and yellow straight  stitching with BottomLine in the bobbin.

Hope to get some more quilting in tonight.

NSQG 2013 Challenge

So 2013 is here and that means that Northern Star Quilt Guild has a new challenge.  Although I have been a member for about 5 years, this is the first time I have entered a quilt in the challenge.

I teased you with a corner of it, last month before I submitted it, but I didn't want to post a pic until the challenge quilts were submitted and the votes were cast.  Well they were and they were...

So here it is..

It is a tribute to my mother.  A 3 times breast cancer survivor, I named it "Three Times Stronger".  You have read other posts with quilts made honoring the love I have for my mother.  This was inspired after a follow-up visit to the Oncologist.  My Mom has Alzheimer's as well and she has adapted so smoothly to having lost a breast in her last fight.  A fight she had no idea that she had to incur.  I think it was probably as hard, if not harder for me to make that decision on her behalf and then stay with her in the strange place called the hospital.

So wave that flag Mom, you're one strong woman!  

Note that the pink ribbon dress is trapunto'd, as well as ribbon's in the pink half of the quilt.  It was appliqued, constructed and quilted using Superior's Masterpiece Thread, by Alex Anderson.  I wanted a pretty fine 50wt cotton thread and I didn't want the stitching it self or a sheen from the thread to be what jumped off the fabric.  I wanted the quilting to be an integral part of the quilt story.  I also used Superior Vanish, water soluble thread, to trapunto the ribbons.  I use it in top and the bobbin.  This way you don't have to worry about any write spokes popping thru the fabric...  Just a dab of cold water and poof, it is gone.

The challenge was to make a quilt, not more than 80" square, using black, white and one other color.  As you can see, my color was pink.  I didn't win the challenge, but I had a wonderful time making another quilt in honor of my Mom :-).

There were 53 challenge quilts submitted.  19 traditional and 34 contemporary.  All 53 will be on display at the NSQG's 2013 World of Quilts XXXIV Show on May 3rd and 4th, at Kennedy Catholic High School in Somers, NY.

Hope to see you there.  (I will have other quilts in the show as well :-)).

   

New Experiences

I have a few quilting friends who are members of FANE, a Fiber Arts group that meets monthly in Somers, NY.  This month, another friend and I decided to attend one of the meetings, to see if it was something we would like.  I don't know why we questioned it.  We know the groups leader and several members, so we knew they were great people and the type of work they did.

Well we went and knew it was for us.  I have been looking for something to coax me out of my normal quilting realm.  Looking for something to take me to the next level.  The good thing is they are preparing for two upcoming exhibits.  Both with a theme...  I don't normally do themes.  I quilt and name the piece afterwards, I don't know what I am doing or why before I start.  Yes, I have an idea of what the piece will look like, but I am not making it for a reason.

So here was my first challenge.  To choose a line of a poem or song and make a piece no bigger than a 14" square that interpreted the line of the poem / song.  The piece had to consist of more than one element, meaning it could not be one quilted square.  The elements could be joined, but it had to be clear by the viewer that the elements were made independently.  While there are a couple of other design guidelines, that is the jest of it....  interpret a poetic line into a 14" piece of art.  At the next meeting we will mount the pieces on an 18" canvas for a uniform gallery exhibit.

So here is my piece.... I still have to secure the fishing line to the outer frame, but you get the idea :-)...

As I look at it here (it is laying on my applique sheet), I realize I still have a bit of work to do on the hair.

Oh my song line....  "And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance!"  Lee Ann Womack's song "I HOPE YOU DANCE".  This fits my life so perfectly.  I am not one to sit on the side lines, I truly believe in engaging life to it's fullest!

So, I hope you dance!!

Pelham Quilters Round Robin - 2013 Part 2

ooh la la...  do I have a treat for you!

Our 4 center squares have spent the last 2 months in the homes of their first care givers.  And what loving care did they provide!  I think each piece has been lovingly enhanced keeping the center owner in mind.  Remember, at the end of the Round Robin, everyone gets their own top back, with the center lovingly adorned by 3 other quilters.

So with out further delay, here they are:

 





Donna Chambers had the task of adding to Cheryl Heist flower center.  Donna used her mosaic technique to surround the flower and help it blossom.  Although the picture doesn't it show it (thanks to the light hanging down) Donna's fabric choices are off the hook.  She used a vibrant red to back the blue flower and golden touched gold and blue fabric for her touch of 'bling'.  I get this piece next, but I have no idea what I am going to do with it :-(.












I had Donna Chambers top, which as you might remember was an elegant couple dancing in full formal attire.  Donna has developed this mosaic and texture magic technique which adds so much depth to her work.  Donna always uses a lot of fabrics with 'bling' for added life.  In an attempt to keep the movement of the dancers flowing into my round, I added curves and swirls in an applique border that brought in some of Donna's fabrics, but also utilized some of my own golden touched fabrics.  I pulled the pink silk from the dress out to the corners to keep the colors moving.  Doris has Donna's top next.

Doris Green had my piece.  I appliqued 4 female African dancers, clothed in brightly colored fabric.  As always I tend to lean towards applique and Doris balanced the color and applique with a trapezoid border of the same brightly colored fabrics. I love the blue which changes in intensity set as a thin sashing.  Knowing how much I love swirls, Doris used applique swirls to continue the movement in the pieced border.  Cheryl will be enhancing my piece next :-).

Cheryl Hoist had Doris Greens center.  Doris is a piecer, so her center was an intrigue star made from several blue and yellow print fabrics.  Cheryl used a perfectly executed thin piping to delineate the star and then set it on point using a sold blue fabric to give the eye a rest.  The amount of yellow in the piping is just perfect as a bold pop of color.  As they say, just a little bit of yellow goes a long way :-).  Donna gets to add her magic to Doris's top over the next 2 months.




Wish us all luck and come back in April to see what these pieces evolve to next.  I promise it will be explosive!