The Rhythmic Art of Thread, by Harlem Needle Arts

I was fortunate a couple of weeks ago, to get the chance to go to the Opening Reception of The Rhythmic Art of Thread, by the Harlem Needle Arts group.  The exhibit which is up until January 15, 2016 is at The LeRoy Neiman Art Center in Harlem.  

Here are a few of the pieces by people I know.

These first 3 are by Laura Gadson.

I love this piece...had to hold myself back from buying it.  Hopefully it will still be available after the holidays ....  It is all wool felted,

This piece is made by Lisa Shephard.

These two are by Sherri Shine,  Correction, Sherri is an artist I do not know.  But, I would love to meet her.

Hope you enjoyed the view!  Why don't you try and make a trip to the gallery.  There are many more beautiful pieces on display!

Forgot to share...

I almost forgot to share the quilt we made for the 20th Anniversary of Storytellers in Cloth.  As I mentioned in my last post, this group of women have been getting together once a year to quilt and enjoy one another's company for the last 20 years.  I was invited to join just in time for their 15th anniversary celebration, 5 years ago.

In prep for the 20th Anniversary, they asked all of the 50+ women to make a block that would go into a quilt to commemorate the occasion.  Most were asked to make 6 1/2" blocks, 5 (including myself) were asked to make 18 1/2" blocks to serve as medallion blocks.  We were all given one fat quarter of either blue or yellow fabric and we were allowed to add other blue or yellow fabrics, but nothing else.  The blocks could be embellished, but the embellishment could not protrude more than 1/2".

Well, here was my contribution....  I used my Silhouette Cameo cutter to cut the letters, so much easier.  I love my Cameo...

And here is the entire quilt...  51 - 6 1/2" blocks were submitted, by 46 quilters, plus the 5 medallion blocks.  It is amazing how the piece just shines, considering we all took the design to a different level..

A weekend of bliss...

Run, run, run... Work, family, obligations.  That is my life, and while I love it, it is weekends like these that make it all worthwhile.  Yes, I admit, I love my crazy life, but in the end it is being able to enjoy the pleasures of life that is so great.  Take my vacation to Italy this summer, along the Amalfi Coast.  Oh it was wonderful.  But as great as it was, I still believe spending a weekend with my quilting sisters, doing nothing but quilting, chatting and laughing is even better!  Crazy right?

Think about it... and you just might agree...

I spent 4 days with 62 women, who all love to do the same thing I love, yet who won't care a bit if I sewed all weekend, or just strolled around chatting with everyone, never opening up my machine... Who encourage me to stretch my boundaries, but yet are just as happy if I just sewed squares all weekend.  No demands, no expectations, just be there and allow yourself to fuel your tank anyway it needs to be fed!

On top of all that these women are amazing artists, all at different levels of self awareness, accomplishment and notoriety.  This was the groups 20th year of getting together (I have only been a member for 6 years).  To celebrate we put on a show that we opened to the public.  One viewer who is the president of one of the largest Northeast Guilds made a very valid observation....how often do you get to see a wonderful show, where all the quilters are in attendance and of whom you can asked questions on technique and materials?  I would venture to say never.. That is except for last weekend.  All but one of the 50+ quilts, were made by someone at the retreat/show!

I didn't not take pictures of them all, but I did take pics of some that were new to me or moved in such a way I wanted to share them with you...

Here are pieces made by Yuanita Yaeger...http://www.juanitayeager.com

Here are some quilts by Lola Jenkins. Lola was our featured speaker for the weekend as well.  She is not a member of the group, but we are hoping she decides to come back and join us again.

I think you would agree... Absolutely wonderful.... Now you know why I enjoy getting together with these amazing quilting sisters.... Pure inspiration!

Until next year you quilting sisters....

Renee

Fire Dancer Wins at Quilts Unlimited!

So while my last post was about the show, I forgot to let you know that Fire Dancer was awarded the NQA Ribbon for "Best Use of Color". I was jumping for joy, right along with the dancer in the quilt.

At the reception last month it received wonderful comments from viewers, as did my two other quilts in the main exhibit.  

Interesting enough, even though I added some shading to "On Pointe" to highlight the fact that she was casting a shadow on the floor, with the bright lights of the gallery, only I knew the shading was there.  Guess that piece comes back into the studio when she comes home for a bit of a touch up.... 😌.

5 Quilts on Display - Quilts Unlimited at View Arts Center

So this is the weekend!

I will have 5 quilts on view in Old Forge, NY at View Arts Center starting this weekend! 3 quilts...
The Lady to Watch, Fire Dancer, Let's Here it for The Girls will all be in the main exhibit, Quilts Unlimited.

The other 2, On Pointe and Pathways will be at part of the Fiber Art Northeast exhibit at View Arts as well.

 

 

Opening Reception is Friday, Oct 9th from 5-7pm. Then on Saturday, Oct 10th, join in for a day of quilts with a lecture by Jane Davila, luncheon and multiple exhibits at View Art Center.

Information can be found here under upcoming exhibitions.

I will be there for the opening weekend festivities. Hope you get a chance to join us!

Renee

On Pointe

I must say, I could picture this piece in my eye before I ever put pencil to paper. I could see the quilting, the crystals... The whole quilt.  Then of course, I had to figure it out and execute...lol. Isn't it a pain when reality, gets in the way!

But I must say, having the vision so clear in my minds eye, make it easier to do... All except for the skirt.  I didn't know the best way to give it the 3D effect I seem to be going for I my pieces lately.  But I figure it out...  What do you think?

The piece is made from Robert Kaifman's Radiance fabric line, all except for the legs.  Radiance is a silk, cotton blend.  It is so easy to work with and such a joy to quilt, that I love working with it. Plus, how often do you get to work with washable silk?  I used Derwent Inktense pencils, to add the coloring/shading on/around the legs, as well as a bit on the floor for a shadowing effect.

Hope you like it... #radiancesilk #superiorthreads #kimonosilkbysuperior #inktense #berninausa #bernina830 

My latest piece

I have been so busy lately...  summer is family time and we spent all but 10 days in July on the road.  From my son-in-laws family lake house in Fiddle Lake, Pa, to Puerto Rico for my husband's fathers family reunion, with a little vacation time added on to the end, to a week in Vegas for work.  It is a wonder I found anytime to quilt, but I did.

I actually was able to finish a piece I started at the CQQ Retreat in April.  She doesn't have a name yet, but she is 95% complete.  I may add a few dimensional while flowers falling off the overpass and I still need to do a label (nut I need a name first)...  but other than that she is done.  I even did some tinting on her to add shadows and depth in her back and arms.

What do you think?

Oh...  looking at the picture I realized I never added her earring!..  ok, so maybe 94% complete :-).

Enjoy!

Life... why must it always get in the way...

So, I know most are probably thinking I stopped blogging, but honestly that is not my intention.  But it seems I have spent much of the first half of the year on the road and then heads down on deadlines for one show or another.

So I won't bore you with a long update, but I will share some of my work from the past few months.

just pics, no long verbiage for now... but I am hoping to do better going forward.  Yes, I WANT to blog more :-)...

 The result of all of my experimentation on my Silhouette cutter:

Currently on display at View's exhibit "For the Birds" in Old Forge, NY

I have two others that I've finished this year, but can't seem to find a picture of those.

Here is one that I started at retreat in April, but haven't touched since...  guess I need a deadline to get me moving on it :-)

Ok, lunch break is over :-)  Hope you enjoyed!

I couldn't wait!

Well it worked!  See my last post for the background to this statement..

Now I get to move on to the fun part....

Woohoo!

I must say, this was a HUGE learning curve!

Some of you might remember my earlier post here about playing with my Silhouette Cameo cutter.  Well, that was in January, and true this hasn't been a continuous or daily journey, but I must say it has been a journey.

First I must say that Martha Shiff, the moderator of the Silhouette Cameo facebook group is a goddess.  Her patience and her support have been wonderful to me and many others.  I must also say, I have used my cameo successfully for quite a few large solid images, with no problem at all.  You have seen some of these in my dancer art quilts.  But I decided in January to use the Cameo to cut out a very detailed, small circle that I had sketched.  So first I had to learn how to get clean images into the cutter that were drawn with pencil, with eraser lines, that didn't translate into cut lines when creating a cut file.  Then of course, I wanted many circles interconnected, so it is was about compound images and point editing...  my head was exploding...

Next I had to learn how to treat the fabric, so that very thin segments with curves and points could be cut with clean and sharp edges.  Along with that how to treat the mat, so that the fabric stuck enough, so those thin pieces wouldn't come up when the machine rollers rolled often them, back and forth, several times.  Of course, there were the cut settings.... blades settings, cut speed, etc...  Whew!

Well here are just a couple of the images that were the result of many hours of testing...  I won't show you the two before this one.. lol... it was truly a birds nest!.

These pieces are only 10" across, so the average circle in these photos is about 4" in diameter, with all the cut outs, making some of the pieces only 1/8" thick. 

I am writing this as the Cameo is cutting what I hope to be my final cut.  I really want to use in my next art quilt (I hope it works, as I don't have any more of this particular batik... I failed the first 2 cuts!)  It has been cutting for about 40 minutes now...  Keep you fingers crossed!

An interesting discussion.....

Tonight's guild meeting, led to a very interesting discussion and some deep thought on my part. 

What is good enough?  Does it matter if your points don't match, that your seams are more like jug handles than a 4 way intersection?  Who cares if you cross over lines in your machine quilting, or if you just zoom across the top to get it finished....  is 'done' better than 'good.?

Is design more important than technique?  If a piece looks good from across the room, isn't that all that counts?  Does it matter if your stitch length varies greatly across the piece?  Do you need to quilt evenly across the quilt? Would it get a passing mark from the 'quilt police'?

What is a 'fiber artist' or a 'quilting professional'?  When do you graduate from a quilter or crafter to an 'artist' or a 'professional'?  If it is on your business card, does that make it so?  Or if you get paid for a quilt or a speaking/teacher slot, does that make you a professional?  What about if you publish patterns, yet someone else makes even the sample from beginning to end...  are you a fiber artist or quilting professional, or a pattern maker?  Does getting paid to write an article on quilting make you a professional quilter or professional writer, or should you have to actually have made an award winning quilt.. or what?

Interesting questions....  most of which the answer is subjective, for others the answers don't really matter, as there is no regulatory body in the quilting industry.  And I think you could ask many award winning quilters and get very different answers.

What do you think?
Renee

What was I ever thinking...

I don't know about you, but I tend to get these 'great' quilting ideas, just as I am about to fall asleep.  So of course, it somehow materializes in my dreams.  A couple of weeks ago, you saw the circular sketch I posted and how I wanted to turn that into for my next project.  Well, it showed up in my dream as a brightly colored quilt on a dark background, in varying sizes.  Well of course, I woke up thinking, well I know what I am going to do for the next FANE (FiberArts North East) challange!

Well that piece has gone under some metamorphosis, not because I didn't like the design of the circle, but because I couldn't get it into my Silhouette Cameo cutter clean enough to make clean cuts.  Next I tired creating one large piece with many circles connected, all at the same size, but there were two problems that I bumped into that quickly changed my mind.  First all the circles the same size was boring, and second, at 3" in diameter, the detail was way too small to show like I wanted it to.  So instead, I started recreating my sketch at almost the same level of detail in the Cameo software itself.  Nope, still too small, but the good thing when working digitally you can stretch the object to any size you want.  So I spend hours creating these different circular designs, only to realize, that most of the detail was going to be too small to cut and even more so, to show the see through effect I was going for....  so after about another 15 hours or so of playing around in the software, I did a test cut on paper.

Ughhh, while most will work out nicely, some areas are still way too small.  Here's to hoping I can enlarge them quickly without loosing the integrity of the piece.  I already know that one part won't work at the size I have, because the paper ripped right up when I tried to remove it from the cameo mat...  the pieces were just too thinly cut!

Oh well...  I see more hours at the computer in my horizion..  But not tonight...  Sweet dreams everyone!

Renee

Art can be humbling...

I was in a business meeting for work last Thursday, when I received an email telling me I had won 'Best Innovative Style Quilt' for Let's Here it for the Girls at the Mancuso, NJ Quilt Fest.  As you can imagine I was ecstatic.  I was sitting in Chicago, but couldn't wait for the weekend, so that I could see my quilt hanging in all it's glory in New Jersey.

Well, I am happy I had those 3 days to bask in my glory.  As always, the show had some phenomenal quilts hanging.  My notification email for the award had said that the judges felt that the competition was extremely tough.  But as I walked the show floor, I was amazed at the talented quilts and the big name quilters who I had gone up against...  oh my.  I didn't even rush to find my quilt.  I decided to take my time and appreciate all the other work, because surely they had made a mistake and I had maybe received Honorable Mention.

One of the reasons I like this show is that the quilts are usually so varied, and this year was no different.  Artsy quilts hung next to traditional, big next to small, hand next to machine...  In all, the workmanship spoke for itself.  These artists put their heart and soul into these pieces... surely, mine won't look as good, or as professional.  I quilt at night, after work, after dinner, after all the other things have been taken care of.  I quilt for me, not for judges...  I experiment with all different types of techniques and yes, sometimes, I say to myself, it is 'good enough', knowing it isn't perfect.

It is funny how all these thoughts rushed through my mind as I walked the floor.  Almost as if I was preparing myself to be disappointed.  And then I saw it.  My quilt...  my ladies, on the dance floor for all to see.  And YES, there was my ribbon as well..  BLUE for first place in a particular category.  As always, I watched the people as they approached.  Almost as expected, their eyes seemed to gravitate to the other 2 pieces handing next to it....  see I was right, it didn't deserve that ribbon....  then all of a sudden, they turned around...  they stopped and looked and took out their cameras.  They noticed the finely tuned bodies of the dancers, the realistic effect of them in front of the back-drop as a result of the trapunto, the 3D flowers that had been scattered across the stage in accolades.  They chatted amongst themselves and read the description and the quilters name.  At that point, I felt it was alright to step forward, to comment that I was the quilter.  They congratulate me and ask questions about the piece. As they walk away, I breath.  Ok, that wasn't so bad.  I survived, I belong....

No this isn't the first time I have won a BLUE ribbon, and no it isn't the first time the competition was tough, but it always seems to amaze me, that others enjoy looking at something that I created, and for that I am humbled.  I quilt because I enjoy it.  It brings me peace.  I think it is wonderful that others get some joy from merely looking at it as well.

For that, I say Thank You!

Renee

Playing with my Silhouette Cameo cutter

I tend to doodle a lot.  Some doodles are just that.  Others are more complete.  Some stay on the scrap paper, others get done over and over again.  Some get added to my sketch pad, others go in the garbage.

But this one doodle has been intriguing.  It has made it from the back of an evelope, to a piece of paper, to my sketch pad, to being done again in ink, to being scanned, to being cut on my Cameo.  I am not quite sure it is ready for prime time yet, but I do think I know where I am going with it.  Can't share it just yet, but when it is ready, I'll let you know.

In the meantime...  here are some shots of that innocent doodle along the way...

This is the fist sketch (cleaned up with a lot of eraser) done on the back of an envelope

Next I traced it into my sketchpad...

 

The Cameo didn't like the glare from the lead in the picture, nor the thickness of the lines.  I kept getting a double cutting line, so to eliminate it, I had to color in the positive space with a permanent marker.

  At this point I was ready to take another picture and import it into the Cameo.  I had already spent over 8 hours trying to get a good clean trace of the circle medallion.  Luckily, there were no issues with the trace this time, so I sent it to the Cameo and prayed....  and it WORKED!...

Neck I have to size it.  This is about 5" and for my idea to work, I don't want it bigger than 4".  But now at least I know what to do.  Oh yeah, I am going to eliminate those tiny inner circles.  My goal is to cut about 20 of these out of felt, and it will never cut those tiny circles cleanly....

Wish me luck!

"The Colors of Life"...still riding high!

I have been so focused these last few months on getting new pieces made for my first solo exhibit, that even Christmas didn't seem as important to me this year...  and for those of you who know me, that is big as I am addicted to everything Christmas.  But having my first SOLO show was MAJOR to me, so first let me thank Julie Saviano, the owner of Etui Fiber Arts for her confidence in my work, that she wanted it to hang all alone!  I have been in other gallery shows before, but never has a body of my work hung all by itself.  I was full of mixed emotions...  what would be the reaction, am I kidding myself to think my work is worthy enough to stand all alone..  I was truly going to be standing NAKED on those walls with no other supporting artists to prop me up?

Well as I noted in my last post, I hung my 10 piece show Tuesday night.  Folks in the knitting classes were complimentary, admiring the work as it went up.  Julie told me that over the next few days many commented on how gorgeous they were.  I was still skeptical.  I wanted to be there and watch peoples faces as they looked at each piece.  I could barely contain myself as I waited for the Opening Reception.  As I drove up to the gallery Friday night, I saw some had beat me there (and yes I was early).  I could see them taking pictures... I realized it was my niece and nephew who had driven up from Virginia to show their support during the opening. OK, I can do this, folks cared enough to come.

As the gallery started filling up, I could see the smiles on their faces and in their eyes.  At first I wasn't sure if it was shock or true enjoyment, but as the comments started coming and folks started asking me questions about the pieces, my inspiration and my process, I knew I would be ok.  They liked my work!  I began to relax and enjoy the evening a bit more.  Again I looked around... there was family and friends and fellow quilters, ok, those I had hoped would attend.  But wait, there was one of my high school teachers (yes from almost 40 years ago) whom I had recently reconnected with on Facebook.  There was a college friend, whom I hadn't seen in over 30 years, another follower of my work on Facebook.  But to my surprise, there were folks who I didn't know, who had heard of the show from social media and pictures people had shared on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter about the show.  Pictures that had intrigued them enough, that they came out on a frigid 10 degree night to see MY work. 

So now, 2 days later, I am still riding the high, still feeling elated with the reception my work received.  Still feeling BLESSED that so many would come to see what started as a stress reliever that has grown to be one of my greatest pleasure givers...  the time I sit with my sketchbook, or gaze at fabric wondering what if, or the time I sit at my machine creating.  I truly enjoy the process.  The good news is, I am on a continual journey...  the more I create, the more I learn, the more I want to do.  That in itself is so fulfilling, to be inspired to learn, play and create.

Ok, enough about me.  I know many of you have asked for pictures from the show, so here they are...

Fire Dancer 2015 (30" x 36")

In The Spotlight 2011 (31" x 28")

Let's Here It For The Girls 2015 (51" x 40")

Sea Glass Pathways 2015 (36" x 30")

 Splat * It is All That! 2014 (18" x 30" each piece... can be hung side by side as well as separately)

Swinging Willows 2015 (53" x 31")

Pathways 2013 (3 separate pieces to create a Kimono shape, center is 19" x 30" folded lengthwise, each sleeve is  12" x 15" folded lengthwise)

 

Knock, I'll Be There For You 2014 (18" x 30")

Paisley Visions 2013 (33" x 33")

 

Sister Chat 2009 (32" x 27")

The rest are pictures from the Opening Reception and views of the gallery.  Hope you enjoy...

The exhibit is up until January 31st.  I hope you get a chance to see it first hand.  I would love the opportunity to walk you through and share my thoughts on each piece and the 'farm to needle' shop that Julie has created in downtown Larchmont, NY.   If you are interested, just let me know and we can try to coordinate a time.

Euti Fiber Arts is located at 2106 Old Post Road, Larchmont, NY.  Hours are Tues/Wed 10am-5pm; Thurs 10am-9pm; Fri/Sat 10am-4pm; Closed Sun/Mon

Hope to see you there!
Renee