I haven't been sitting idle all this time...

An older post sitting in draft...

I also made a baby quilt for my nieces third child, a baby girl...Laila Grace.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture.  

In between, I have been working on a peacock quilt, which is have to finish after I finish 2 baby quilts I am making for a cousin who delivered twins prematurely in Dec.  The shower is Feb 1st, so I have to get them finished. 

I can't believe I haven't posted since September!  I have been quite busy sewing, so it seems strange I haven't posted :-).

Here are just a few of the things I have been working on...  I quilted 2 pieces for a friend this fall. I really loved the green and white piece the whole time she was making it.  She has it already, so I can share. Not sure how we'll the quilting shows up, but she loved it.  The other one, I will show after she picks it up.  The quilt didn't really speak to me when she was making it, but as soon as she asked me to quilt it, it started talking real loud.  I had such a great time quilting it, it had such a strong identity. As you know I am not a traditional quilter, but this piece has changed that :-).  

Next I had 2 tuffets to make for my great nieces Christmas presents.  I had seen them at the Mancuso show in Manchester, Maine in August and knew exactly who I had to make it for.  The pattern is by Auntie Anne's Too, in the Wingspan Crafts booth.  I brought the forms at the show, wish I had brought the pattern, but I figures it out.  I also used my embroidery unit for the first time, adding a monogram to the back of the ribbon.

Retreats... Great for the soul... And the creative juices!

So twice a year for the past twelve years I have had the pleasure of spending a long weekend with anywhere from 45 to 55 wonderful woman.  All quilters of course!  This past weekend was no exception.  

How is it, that when you get a group of woman this large together, that the experience is always wonderful?  Our leaders of course!  Originally started by Claire Oehler of the then Country Quilters in Somers, NY, and now organized by Claire and two of her former staff, Nancy Mirman and Noreen Lippolis, these 3 ladies are a class act.  The weekend is organized, full of fun and just plain fantastic.  From the little gift bags they provide, to the activities planned for the weekend, there isn't a detail missed. But I would be remiss if I didn't mention two of their main 'weekend ingredients'.  The setting... Interlaken Inn in Lakeville, CT a wonderful boutique hotel nestled it the CT countryside and Mary Gay Leahy, who always has wonderful fabric treats for us and offers great tips and technique demos throughout the weekend.  It is no wonder we all walk around smiling and laughing, it is a wonder we actually find time to quilt. But quilt we do.  I will let these pictures speak for themselves in that department.

Enjoy the show...

First my works in progress and then some of the works by others...

Now photos from show and tell and as I wonder the three rooms we sew in...

Hope you enjoyed... Until next spring!

Renee

Global quiltsphere...

As I was working on my latest UFO to hopefully get completed this week, I began to realize how thankful I am for the influence of others on my quilt life. 

A year and a half ago, two quilting friends and I went to Quilting By The Lake in Syracuse, NY.  We were signed up for Philippa Naylors Open Studio class. I was so excited, because I had Philippa's book, Quilting In the Limelight, and I just loved her work and how she tackled complicated quilts. I was armed with my sketchbook and my goal was to have her share her technique for completely at least one of them. Oh wait, this post is about global influences....did I mention that Philippa is from the UK and has lived in Saudi Arabia, where she first started quilting :-). 

So Philippa described how she would tackle the three sketches and we decided on one, since the technique for the center was something I had never done before. 

 

Once home, I was thrilled, but other projects got in the way and it sat.  I did work on it just under a year ago, to add the borders and trapunto. Philippa's book is how I learned to perfect my trapunto style. 

Now that the top is quilted, I realized how many other quilters have influenced this piece.  There is Claudia Pfeil, from Germany, who gave me the courage to make my own feathers and not worry if they were correct.  You can see those feather's in this piece.

There is Mandy Applebee Hares, Lisa Stripes, Mary Anne Ciccotelli and Karen McTavish, all from the US, who have influenced and inspired me to perfect my quilting.  No it isn't perfect, but these ladies at different points along the way, all gave me the confidence to take the next step. There is even Donna Chambers, one of those friends that took the trip with me many months ago, who challenged me to up my game in the creation and style of my tops.

Of course, there are others that I have missed, but am I ever thankful for the internet and all these wonderful sharing ladies, who have helped me to progress along this journey we call quilting!

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!

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!

Quilting by the Lake - 2012

So I finally made it to Quilting By the Lake!  I have been wanting to go for the last 5 or 6 years, but neither time or money seemed to work in my favor.  Well this year the stars aligned and I got 2 friends from my art quilters mini group to go with me.  Thank You Donna Chambers and Sandra Parrott!!

Together we attended Session II and took Philippa Naylor's Studio Workshop.  We were closed out of both of her classes for session 1, so a word to the wise....  if you see a class given by Philippa in your area, jump on it quickly!!

Well, I couldn't have been happier. First, Philippa is a wonderful person and an equally wonderful teacher.  She has such a sunny personality and such quick wit.  But boy, can she work a room.  Her teaching style allowed her to address everyone's questions in a timely manner, while still leaving enough time for you to progress your projects and for her to give numerous demos on things the students requested or topics she thought were appropriate for the class.  What a great style.  This is definitely NOT an independent studio!!  Especially since the projects we worked on were so varied in nature.  Folks took advantage of the fact that Philippa started in the fashion design business.  So while many of us worked on quilts, others worked on pants, jackets, dresses and such.

My goal for the 3 day studio workshop was to learn how to transform my sketches into full size patterns and then turn the pattern into a quilt.  Well, my mission was accomplished.  We started by looking over photos of my quilts, so she could get a feel for my style.  Then we looked over some of my sketches.  We discussed the various techniques she would use to make each of the quilts I had sketched and decided on one that would give me the opportunity to learn a technique I had not used before.

This is the original sketch @ 12" x 18".  Sorry it is a little light, but the pencil lines aren't showing up very well.  I just wanted to give you a clue of what I walked in to the workshop with :-).....

This is the quilt in progress on the design board @ 40" x 60"  (I tried taking a picture of the full size pattern, before I started placing fabric, but that was even lighter than my sketch in the picture :-(.

This is a picture of the center partially completed, without the applique or side 4" panels :

And here is a picture of Philippa and I in front of the quilt as we wound up the 3 days : 





Unfortunately, I have deadlines on other pieces that I need to meet before I can pick this quilt back up.  But, I am anxious to get back to it.  I have side borders that need to be added to complete the top.  We discussed how it will be quilted, including trapunto and embellishments.  Oh yes and hopefully with the tips I learned from Philippa, I won't cut through my quilt top when cutting away the batting around the trapunto.  But guess what ....  yep, she taught me a trick for that too!!!




I'll share photos of some of the other pieces folks worked on later in the week.  Including the gorgeous piece Donna is working on.
  WooHoo!!

Until next time, Cheers :-) !!

As promised... pics are here.

So I have received pics from my friend of the final quilt.  Unfortunately, the ceiling fan was blowing so it is not a full face on photo.

I really enjoyed working with the Quilter's Dream Wool batting.  It gave my feather's such a wonderful look.  I quilted with Aurifil 50wt cotton for the entire quilt, which is unusual for me.  But I wanted to be authentic to her mother's style.  Plus, it worked so smoothly in my machine, which is rare for the 830 these days.  I am pleased to say, I marked nothing on this quilt :-), including the stems!  So I guess my feathers are finally getting there.

Of course, the quilt brought tears to her eyes, especially as she read the dedication on the label.  Here is a picture of the two of us, once she composed herself :-)...

She truly is my longest and bestest!! 

Much Love....

CQ Retreat Fall 2011

Well, it has been a busy month and I had a lot going on, so I guess I am going to have to start posting more regularly again :-)....  I finished the clown quilt that I started during Hurricane Irene, I have finished a top I started over a year ago at Mary Anne Ciccotelli's 3D workshop and I am almost finished quilting a piece I started at this falls retreat....  but I will share all of those in separate posts, hopefully within the next week :-).

Today's post is about the CQ Fall 2011 Retreat two weeks ago at Interlaken Inn, in Lakeville, Ct.  As always we had a ball, just laughing, eating and quilting away!  A little smaller group this year than normal, only 48 of us, but still a wonderful time was had by all.  Somehow I forgot to take pictures of quilts in progress until Sunday, so sorry if I missed sharing some of the masterpieces of the weekend.

This is Claire Oehler on the left, the former owner of the Country Quilter, our hostess and her daughter, Jane Davila on the right...  both all smiles for the camera.

Here is Nancy Mirman, another of our hostesses for the weekend.  She is very talented and has her own pattern line for quilted clothing, bags and accessories.  Nancy is working on a paper pieced star from the new book she and Claire have just released!  Those of us at retreat were fortunate to be able to order a copy and they will be signed by both Claire and Nancy...  WooHoo!!!






Somehow I missed getting a picture of Noreen Lipolis, another one of our hostesses busy quilting, but I did get a shot of her from our Saturday night, Red Carpet themed dinner...

Noreen, is in black on the left.  Sorry Noreen for not getting a better shot.  But thanks to all 3 of you for a wonderful weekend!!  P.S...  no I don't dress up for theme nights..  so I played the roll of Paparazzi and took photos :-)....





And here is Donna Chambers working on her one of her mosaic pieces....

Donna, a goldsmith by trade, is so talented and has her own jewelry line.  Check out her jewelry website for a little quilting inspiration :-) 
This is Donna's mosaic technique.  She will be teaching it to some lucky quilters at The Storytellers Retreat coming up this weekend and at Hartsdale Fabrics this winter in December and January.  Her workshop filled up so fast at Storytellers that I am going to be her assistant.  This shall be fun, can't wait until Friday :-).

Gay sat next to Donna in the Patio room (we love the sunlight and view of the garden during the day).  Gay is part of the gang from The Pelham Quilters guild I belong to.  A bunch of us (Donna, Lorraine, Margaret, Jeanne, Evelyn and I) have been coming to retreat for years.  We even sit in the same seats.

   
Gay worked completely by hand this weekend.  She does stunning hand applique and hand quilting.  We were all so jealous when it was time to pack up.  No machine, etc... to load up!









Here is Lorraine busy at work...

Lorraine was working on Christmas presents for her grandchildren this year. Sitting next to her is Margaret.  Margaret always finds such lovely panels to incorporate into her work.  This year she was working on a Dahlia piece for her sister.

Remember, in my last post I mentioned I had won 2nd place in the Art Quilts category at the ViewArts Show in Old Forge, NY.  Well Marie won 1st place in the Wallhanging category and her lovely piece was used as the cover image for the Exhibit's Program.  Way to go Marie!!  Marie always works on very complicated paper piecing patterns.  Here she is taking the easy way out, doing a 'simple' cat paper piecing pattern....  lol.

On the design wall behind Marie is Ashley's circle quilt, seen here..

Ashley is my long time buddy and retreat roomie.  Can't believe I didn't get a picture of Ashley, but her gorgeous colors will have to represent her :-).

I also didn't get pictures this time of Jeanne or her Mom, Evelyn.  Guess I was so focused on quilting this weekend that my picture taking duties seem to have taken a back seat.  Sorry Jeanne and Evelyn.  I will remember to include you in April for our Spring 2012 retreat!

Well, now let's go next door into the room where we always here the most laughter coming from.  On the design wall right outside our door was Dory Higgin's house piece, made from all striped fabrics.

Actually, Dory sits in our room, but the design walls were all busy when she went to lay out the piece so she slipped next door.

Also in the room next door is Jane Davila.  If you are a quilter you know Jane's name.  She is the a well known quilter, teacher, speaker and author.  She teaches across the globe, has a great quilt pattern line and has written a number of "Sew Simple" quilt pattern books.  Not sure how she will use this pattern, but I believe it is being created using a Jelly Roll....








Barbara comes every year and works on very interesting patterns.  This year, she is turning a photo into a stunning floral piece...

 You can see her pattern on the table in front of her in the first picture.  It is an enlarged version of the photo in the bottom left hand corner of the picture below.  I can't wait to see what it looks like in the spring, at our next retreat!

Here is Jenny intent on laying out a nice blue and white top...  

I believe those are called tumbling blocks.  There was another quilter working on a tumbling block pattern, but I didn't catch a photo of it.



Just like I don't remember whose top this is, I just loved the daisy fabric.  I think it is one of those BQ block patterns...

Love the polka dots fabric as well!

 

Here is my piece.  I stated it in a 3D Workshop with Mary Anne Ciccotelli over a year and a half ago.  The mariners compass as well as the circular flying geese are all 3D, using Mary Anne's folded fabric method.  I completed the circle after the workshop and then it just hung on my design wall, waiting for me to figure out what to do next.  It finally spoke to me a few months ago, so I drafted out the rest and packed it up for retreat.  The side boarder geese are folded as well, using the one seam flying geese method.  They aren't sewn on at this point, but I have finished the top since coming home.  More on that in another post.

Well I hope you enjoyed visiting with me today.  As you can probably tell, we have a great bunch of quilters who retreat with the CQ ladies every 6 months.  It is such an inspiration after a busy summer when I get so little quilting done.  

I hope to bring you up to date on my other projects soon, but until then, Happy Quilting!

Hugs!!