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!!

Lola Jenkins comes to Pelham Quilters!

As a TQS (The Quilt Show by Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims) Star Member, I get to watch all the available shows.  To be honest I watch some and not others, all depending on how interesting the subject 'sounds', or if I know the featured quilter.  Well, when I saw the intro for the show featuring Lola Jenkins, I almost didn't watch it.  In fact, I think the show had been available for a couple of months before I did.  Boy,  was I glad I did!

First, Lola was a very entertaining guest on the show.  She is energetic and bubbly, with this interesting voice. Yes, interesting is the only way I know how to describe it :-).  But what really got me was her personal story, how she came to quilting and how she tackled each step along her journey.  It is a very moving story!!  Please watch if you can.

But what got me to reach out to her, was when she said she had a goal of visiting every guild in the country.  So I emailed her and asked if she wanted to visit our small, casual guild in Pelham, NY.  She responded immediately, saying she would LOVE to come and that she was presently scheduled to be in NY in September, 2012.  So we booked her, and boy was that a smart move.

Yesterday, Lola taught her Fantasy Landscape workshop to the Pelham Quilters, or at least 9 of us and 3 guests.  We had a ball.  Lola shared her secrets of looking at fabrics with an eye for the scene we have in our minds, vs what fabric as a whole.  She shared the 1/3's principle of design and guided us to our own, COMPLETED, top of the day.

That is right, everyone in the class completed a landscape top and earlier than we had expected!

Let me share with you some pictures from the day....

First, pictures of the quilts she brought with her as inspiration...

This first piece is from Lola's online Art Deco class.  She uses it as a sample for the class.  It is a whole cloth style quilt, with black thread as the basis of the design and then the fabric is "colored" in with colored pencils and other coloring aids.


Each of the following pieces are done using Lola's collage approach.  I tell you, I will never look at fabric the same again!

It is amazing to see what can be done by clipping pieces of fabric from many different pieces of material and pasting it down!













Here are some of the pieces that were completed in this one day workshop...

Barbara and her Apollo Jazz scene.  To you recognize her sky from one of Lola's quilts.  Funny they had a lot of the same fabrics!

Cheryl's piece with her fire sky...




















Donna's, City meets Africa cityscape...  As always Donna listened to the instructions and thought out of the box.  This was supposed to be a 'fantasy' landscape.  I think she captured the essence of "fantasy".

Doris, one of the doll ladies joined us and did a serene, calming landscape...

 Doris Green and her gorgeous water scene. I love the boys running by the river bank.  Sorry Doris, it is prettier than you think....


















Dorothy's inspiration fabric had these gorgeous fall tree's...



















Jacqueline another of our guest for the day, did a wonderful desert scene...



















I love Lorraine's New England scene with a lighthouse and sail boats...



















Here I am with my second Sister Chat piece or as I will call it, Sister Chat II !


















And a former member of Pelham Quilters, Gwyn, a doll maker and Doris's sister as she adds the last rock surrounding the river.

 Now, the queen of landscape collage, Ms. Sandra herself. Her birds are lovely as usual.  Sandra and Donna would ruin the class curve if this was a real art class :-). 

I love June's farm scene.  It looks like a little bit of Tuscany. 

It was a wonderful day, with a wonderfully group of talented women.

A special THANKS to Lola for traveling all the way from Oklahoma City in her PT Cruiser, with her sister Darlene as her co-pilot!

Mermaids and Merwoman in Black Folklore: A Fibert Art Exhibit

Well I am back from the Artist Reception and our little vacation to Charleston and Savannah.

Oh was it a wonderful experience.  First I want to say Thank You to Torreah "Cookie" Washington, for letting me participate in such a wonderful exhibit, full of magnificent quilts and dolls, made by some very talented artists!  Second, I want to Thank Donna Chambers, who pushed me to get my piece done and submitted by the deadline.

But, I must say, the exhibit was AWESOME!  There were 109 pieces of art, made by over 70 fiber artists.  I took tons of pictures and have them all loaded on Shutterfy.  I will post a few here, but if you are interested in seeing all 82 pics, you can try this link...  http://mermaidexhibit.shutterfly.com/pictures#n_5.  Not sure if it will work, if not, just post a comment with your email address and I will add you to the share site.

Besides the quilts and dolls, there were 18 poets who wrote new, original poems on the same theme for the exhibit.  All the quilts, dolls and poems are included in the book, "Black Mermaids in Vision and Verse", edited and conceived by Torreah "Cookie" Washington.  The book includes both pictures and artist statements of all the quilts and dolls in the show.  This is the first time a compilation of poems, quilts and dolls has ever been published for a gallery exhibit.  And to think, my work is included!!  So exciting :-)....

Here is the piece I submitted...  the Pelham Quilters Round Robin quilt that I did the last round on and then quilted.  I submitted it under all 3 names:  Donna Chambers, Doris Green and myself..

 I posted close ups of the piece in my last post.

Here is a picture of my friends, Donna's submission.  Tell me it isn't awesome :-)...

These two were also done by NY quilters, although the artists were from all over the country.

This piece by Bianca, is exquisite.  It is mostly painted, but look closely at her mermaids tails.  They are real fish scales that she got from the fish market and then cleaned and glued each scale on one by one....

Doesn't it look like her hand is coming right out of the quilt top?  ..

Wow.. is all I can say....
















Look at the fierceness in this mermaids eyes....  don't mess with those souls :-).


I have decided to make an effort to learn how to do faces after this exhibit.  So many of the quilters had such strong emotion in their pieces, all expressed through the facial characteristics.













And I have to share with you some of the dolls that were made.  The details....

I was truly amazed that you can ask 50 artists to submit their work around a single theme and end up with over 100 pieces that were all so different.  Each artist interpreted the theme as individuals and the result was one FABULOUS show.

If you want to see the exhibit for yourself, it is open until October 28th at The City Gallery at Waterfront Park, Charleston, South Carolina.

Hope you get a chance to see it....

I know you will enjoy it!!

Renee

Sneak Peak !!

I have been busy finishing up both my round on the Pelham Quilters 2012 Round Robin top #1 and since I was fortunate enough to be the one who got to keep the top (Thanks Donna and Doris :-) I was anxious to get it quilted.

At our May meeting when I shared my progress with the guild, I had most elements pinned in place, but not all, and nothing from my round was pieced in or appliqued down.  It was just truly a concept.  Since then, with the possibility of it making it into a gallery show, I had to steal all the minutes I could to get it finished.

Well I submitted the photo of the unfinished top and told myself if it was accepted, I would get it done.  If not, I would prioritize some other projects that I have going on...  boy is my studio a mess :-(.  Well it was accepted...WooHoo...  but wait, be careful what you wish for.  I had no idea how or when I would get it done!!  Well for the last two weeks, I had to burn the mid-night oil, cutting sleep to a minimal, but I made it. 

I posted bits and pieces on facebook as I went along, but have refrained from posting the entire quilt.  Why, because I want to drive as many of you as possible to the exhibit.  It will be a wonderful exhibit made up of 50 or so fiber artists who have chosen to take on the challenge of the folklore surrounding the Black Mermaid...  Mamiwata or the Mermaid goddess Yemaya.  There will be over 100 pieces, both quilts and fiber dolls, depicting black mermaids and the folklore which has been passed down over the years from the slave women who were taken from Africa during the slave trade era. 

The exhibit, entitled "Mermaids and Merwomen in Black Folklore: A Fiber Arts Exhibiton"  takes place at The City Gallery, in Charleston, SC.  The exhibit runs from August 28th thru October 28th, with three days of Opening Weekend festivities, September 6th - 9th.  Interestingly enough, the old Afro-Brazilian women celebrate "Boa Morte" on Wednesday, August 15th.  What is Boa Morte or the Sisterhood of Good Death Festival?  It is the celebration of the old ways and cultures, cultures that slaves were forced to denounce when brought to Brazil.  It mixes the Assumption of Mary from the Christian community with the "Good Death"...  those slaves who died free.  Well these women believe in the existence of the Black Mermaids who were the watch guards of the dead souls, those who did not make it across the seas and were thrown overboard by the slave traders.  So, guess where I will be on that day?  In Brazil!  It is as if I was meant to participate in this entire experience!

Won't you join me?  You can find all the details here...  "Mermaids and Merwomen in Black Folklore: A Fiber Arts Exhibiton" .

To tempt your fancy, here are a couple of snippets of my entry, Sirenias, A Pelham Quilters 2012 Round Robin.  The center square was done by Donna Chambers and it was two fish appliqued onto a white sparkling background.

Doris Green added the seaweeds floating around the fish on a light green background.

I then added another round of a darker green batik, with more seaweed, starfish, etc on the bottom and the mermaids on the top. 











Of course like many of my newer quilts, I doesn't have straight borders. But you will have to wait to see the quilt once the exhibit opens to see how it is finished.

Once the exhibit opens I will post a picture of the completed top :-).... 

Did I tempt you ???  I hope so!

Northern Star Quilt Show 2012 - Ribbon time :-)

So as always, the first weekend of May means the Northern Star Quilt Show in Somers, NY. 

This year, besides the normal show entries there was a special dedication to Mrs. Rose, the women the quilting world owes their gratitude to for the show "Infinite Variety:  Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts"  in NYC last March.  The guild had a red and white challenge, that resulted in an exhibit of 95 red & white quilts.  Our exhibit was hung similar to the way Thinc Designs hung the show at the NYC Park Ave Armory, with the quilts suspended and backed by other quilts.  It was a wonderful tribute.  I am just sorry that I missed the presentation by Mr and Mrs Rose and Tom Hennes from Thinc on Saturday.  But it was my birthday and my family had tickets to the Gladys Knight concert, featuring special quest Brian McKnight, at Foxwoods that evening, with dinner and an overnight stay in Connecticut planned.

But thanks to my friends, I didn't have to wonder as to how my quilts did in the show. :-).  Between Facebook posts and text messages, I knew that one of the two quilts I submitted had won a ribbon.  I didn't know which quilt, nor what ribbon until I got back into town late Sunday afternoon and made it to the show.  Yes, Ashante Rhythms won a 3rd Place Ribbon, in the wall art category of  "people, portraits, animals of other recognizable forms"

 It is always nice to win a ribbon, but this year, it was the judges notes on my comment sheet that really made me smile.  My quilt was held over for 'best machine quilting' judging....!!!!  While I totally understand why I didn't win (the quilt that did was exquisite) it was good to know that my quilting is starting to get recognized, not just the visual appeal my pieces have due to the vibrant colors.  I also appreciated the comments underneath the notation....  a few short thread tails on the back...  a skip an area thread not trimmed.... and lint on the back of the quilt.  (Black...  I lost points in the judging because of lint on the piece...  need to be more mindful of that in the future).  But notice the comments...  nothing about equal or un-equal stitch lengths, nothing about the regularity of the quilting, nothing about the density of the quilting...  NOTHING to indicate I needed to improve my machine quilting.  WOW was I excited.  All the comments were on the attention to detail, after you finish a piece.  OMG!!!! I can easily fix those problem :-).  Oh yes, I know that even if I didn't have any of those issue, I still would not have won. Believe me the quilting on the one that did, was absolutely breath taking.  But just to know that for once, the judges did not have a negative thing to say about my machine quilting.  In fact they thought it good enough to be held over for machine quilting judging.  Oh YES, I am happy :-).

Is he finished yet?

Have you ever had a slow talking quilt?  Well this dancer is exactly that.  Don't think he will sweet talk anyone anytime soon :-)....

I have had my latest dancer in the works since late winter.  Yes, I seem to be quite fixated on dancers these days, but I guess like my circle quilts of a few years ago, they are my muse at the moment.  While the center was easy applique from my sketch pad, we went through early spring together deciding on how to work the sashing and boarders.  I threw away a bit of fabric deciding on the sashing color...  blue or yellow, but finally he said blue.  The boarder accent fabric had been my inspiration for the color scheme, but oh my there sat full circles printed too far away from each other for my use.  So I had to improvise by fussy cutting the circles out of their black background fabric, cut them in half and applique them on a different Kona black fabric at a distance that worked for him....  phew!

Then it was how to quilt it in late spring.  The center was easy.  I wanted something that had a primitive look to it and I had to be able to hide some Adrinka symbols in the background.  A couple of hours and the center was done.  But, once again, the sashing became the stumbling block.  So once again, I had to put him down until he spoke to me.

By early summer he was finally quilted, but he needed more.  So I decided to pull out some embellishments I had brought for my last dancer and never used.  He has a silk ribbon skirt, as well as arm and ankle bands made of yarn and beads and a beaded neck piece. Then I added crystals here and there, both in the background to accent the Adrinka symbols, but also in the center of each of the setting squares.  I figured, hey why not...  it adds a sort of pizazz!  :-)


He is quilted entirely in Superior Threads....  Rainbows for the Adrinka symbols, and then either SewFine or Masterpiece for everything else.

How do you like those abs ? :-)

Tonight I finally got around to squaring it up, so I can attach the binding this weekend.  It would be nice to get him finished in time to submit him into the Pennsylvania Quilt Fest, but entries have to postmarked by next Friday, and of course....  I am not sure if he is finished yet....  I think he wants a headdress....  I think he's telling me that no respectable Asante warrior would go into battle without one.



What to do...  what to do....  What do you think?

 Is he finished yet????

In the Spotlight wins Honorable Mention at the Empire Quilter's Show!!

This past weekend one of the guilds I belong to, Empire Quilter's, held their bi-annual show:  Urban Inspirations 2011.  I was lucky enough to have two quilts in the show.  In the Spotlight and A Blaze of Glory.  If you remember, these are the same two quilts that were juried into the Mancuso, Virginia Quilt Fest.  Well, In the Spotlight won an Honorable Mention, in the Art Quilts category....  WooHoo!!!

Blaze of Glory was in the Wall Quilts category...

I really chuckled when I read the judges comments, because if you remember I felt kinda bewildered after reading the comments from Va Quilt Fest.  But thankfully, these judges gave both compliments as well as suggestions for improvement,...  like on Blaze, here are two of the comments:  1)  Scale of quilting is perfect for the design of the quilt, and 2) When using flange on a quilt try to make sure it is the same size all around the quilt.  Boy, I couldn't agree more and remember considering taking off the binding when I first finished the piece to try and fix the piping.  Compare those two comments to the comments from the Va show:  1)  Your quilting was all the same size, flattening the otherwise very daring composition., and 2) Like the use of piping.  So I guess as the saying goes, take a judges comments for what they are worth and move on :-).

And that is what I am going to do.  I submitted both of these quilts and a third in another show at the end of April.  I don't know if they will be accepted, but it will be interesting to hear what those judges have to say.

Anyway, for some reason, the colors and quality of my photos from the show aren't great, so I am only going to share those that are half decent.  Enjoy....

I love the beading on this piece.  The bodices on the dresses as is the bottom border are hand beaded!

The center applique figure is a pattern, which the quilter embellished with bead work.

Believe it or not, this was a Kaffe challenge.  All the skirts are made from Kaffe fabric.

I find this peice visually striking and her detail is exquisite!  Too bad I didn't get a close-up so you could appreciate the quilting.  Sorry :-)

This piece reminds me of many of my doodles, that have yet to be turned into a quilt....  oh well ...   The quilting really enhances the effectiveness of this piece.

 

Well hope you enjoyed the show!  I have pictures from two more shows that I have to share...  AQS Lancaster and Quilt Fest NJ.  Since I am traveling, maybe the nights in the hotel room will let me catch up.

Cheers!

Current Work In Progress

This started as a retirement present.  But not anymore.  I like it so much, I am keeping it for myself :-).  But first of course, I have to figure out how to quilt it.

I have had a lot of fun with this piece.  First when researching correct abdomen definition of male ballet dancers for when I quilt it, I found quite a bit of discussion on why modern day male dancers of all types stuff their fronts!  You know for definition below the abs :-).  Second, I have had the fabric I used for the outer boarder for awhile.  It was inspiration for the color palette for the piece.  But when it came time to actually add the boarder, I could not use the fabric as it came off the bolt.  The circles were too big and too far about for my needs.  So instead, I had to fussy cut the circles from their existing black background and with fusible create the new boarder fabric.  I rather like the effect with the half circles circling the top.  Next, I started having fun with how I will embellish the dancer.  He is actually wearing a loincloth underneath the ribbon sheath I have pinned on.  But I know once he is quilted, I will shape the sheath and add additional embellishments.  More fun waiting to happen.

I know I want to do some type of hieroglyphic quilting in the background behind the dancer.  I have a Superior Rainbow that will just blend right into the background, while still adding a punch.  I know from my research, I want to add some definition to the dancers abs, to make him not only look more realistic, but also to provide for even quilting in the center.

The piece measures just under 48" x 60".  It is a lot bigger than I originally envisioned, but I am loving every inch!

Hugs, Renee

My first juried show!

So I mailed off two of my babies today.  In The Spotlight and A Blaze of Glory (yes finally named) were both juried into the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival in Hampton, Va.  This is a first juried show for me.  In the past, I only entered local guild shows.  Yes, I have won a couple of ribbons, but that is not the same.  To be accepted into a show with both national and internationally known quilters.  I am so excited.....  but also nervous.

Just think, I just sent my first two babies out into the world, to a show I have never even attended.  I have no idea what types of quilts are usually shown.  Plus they are walking in all alone....  without me or anyone I know there.  I sure hope someone reads this and goes to the show and tells me how they look :-).

Oh yes, I forgot, I never got around to posting pics of In The Spotlight totally finished.

So here it is...

The center dancer was in my sketch pad for over two years, waiting for me to decide how to use it.  Then a few years ago at the NJ Quilt Fest, I saw this fabric and immediately knew that he had found a home.

I appliqued him on using black thread, then added his sarong and head piece.  His wrist and ankles have been embellished with both yarn and ribbons and his wrist also have beads.

 Once he was on, I added a side and bottom boarder that is outlined with Superior Metallic thread.  Using a free motion straight stitch, I added a zigzag edging to the wiggly boarder and connected the two side boards with another shade of Superior Metallics with horizontal thread play.  I couldn't believe it took a couple of hours to do all of the metallic work!

Once together I used Superior Sew Fine and free motion quilted a 'flame' sttich radiating out from the center.  I absolutely love the effect.

This is the first wallhanging that I have completed using a wool blend felt behind the cotton batting.  I love the way it hangs.  Thanks Juanita! :-)

Well now on to the next project...  the Pelham Quilters Round Robin.  I have the second round, which is due March 7th.  I will post pics of this piece in the next week or so.

Cheers!

Quilt Escape - Spring 2010

So I finally got around to going through my photos from retreat last weekend.  I didn't realize I took soo many pictures.  But there was alot of creativity going on in those three rooms.  I must say that the Country Quilter / Flourish staff, did a wonderful job, as usual, making sure that the inspiration was all around us!

So I have sorted and cropped my photos and picked out a bunch I think you will like, but if you indulge me, I will start with what I worked on over the course of the weekend. 

The first was a male dancer inspired by a piece of art work I had seen years ago.  My sketch had sat in my sketchpad, waiting for 2 years.  Then while at Lancaster last month, I saw the fabric that he was waiting for....  a piece of hombre fabric....  yummmmm...

He is appliqued on with a satin stitch using Black Madeira Rayon thread.  Then using Superior's Metallic, I used a straight stitch and created a fuzzy or feathery stitch on his clothing, head dress and the accent fabric. 

I enjoy using a little thread play to add texture to my tops.  Using the metallic thread adds to it's interest.  He isn't finished yet.  I still have to take gold metallic thread and add his arm and neck bands and them some Superior Razzle Dazzle in the bobbin and do some bobbin play on his wrists and ankles.  I will probably do some other thread play in the right hand upper corner, before I sandwhich it up, but that is all I accomplished Friday night / Saturday morning.

Saturday afternoon I took out another sketch I had captured from free clip art.  I enlarged it and using some Dupioni Silk, I made the center of this piece.

I think I am going to love this piece.  If you remember, I have had paisley images dancing around in my head for awhile.  Right now the silk applique pieces are outlined in satin stitch in matching thread (some Madiera and some Isacord).  It amazes me, but I do love the satin stitch on my old Viking Lilly...  I carry the Lilly with me on retreats, because it is light weight and easy to manage, but I must say it is my favorite machine for satin stitch.  The Bernina 830 is very heavy and too fragile to drive around, but I will use it for the bobbin/thread play and of course the quilting.  Quilting on the 830 is a dream.

OK, back to the quilts...  each element will get jewels added to make up the design which calls for small dots on the outside of most of the elements.  I am then thinking of adding ribbons of silk that will overlap onto a mostly purple border.  I haven't chosen the boarder fabric just yet, which is why I didn't get much farther on this piece :-).

On Sunday, I took out a piece I had been working over over the last two retreats.  It was my 'backup' project in case I ran out of stuff to do on previous weekends.  Well, I picked this one up and finally got the center of the quilt together.

I really enjoyed working on a more traditional piece.  The colors are wayyyy off, but I will share more pictures once I get the boarders on...  hopefully before next retreat:-).  This was a give away pattern a few retreats ago, that has been hanging around with me ever since.  It is called Bento Box and was designed by Mary Gay Leahy.  Nice....

That is all I got done this time.  No finished projects.  Although, I did draft out the next round on my 3D Mariners Compass, it wasn't speaking to me enough to actually make it.  So, I put it away this weekend.  But, I did see something at the quilt show in Somers yesterday that gave me an idea.  I sketched one corner last night and I will let it soak in for a few days, while I work on my 15 mo old UFO.  Yes, that is progressing nicely.  I will grab a picture of them both and post sometime later this week.

So I have three posts to do now....  First, the remainder of the photos from the show, then the photos of the retreat from all the other quilters and then my UFO and 3D quilts.

But again tonight I am heading to bed...  so tired.  We went up to RPI today and picked up some of Robert's stuff before he comes home for the summer....

You know, I just realized I have 5 pieces going at once.  This from the girl who was never comfortable with 2 works in progress.  Now 5...  guess I better get busy!!  But first tomorrow night, Pelham Quilters Guild meeting...  oh well, guess posting and quilting will have to wait another day or two :-)