Creating A Pattern From A Photo

Our CFAC group (CT. Fiber Arts Collective) is planning a show with a "Harvest" theme in the fall! In trying to come up with a design my son mentioned a photo he'd seen in a National Geographic magazine. The photo showed Southeastern Turkish women harvesting wheat using very rudimentary methods. We were both struck by the photo and I knew it would be the inspiration for a harvest design! I loved the idea that the women were doing this incredibly taxing physical work yet they had embroidery and ribbon on their clothing... a little femininity mixed into the labor!

First I created a draft of the photo; next I took the sketch to Staples and had them enlarge the drawing. When I returned to the studio I created patterns for each figure and painted a background fabric that would give the impression of growing wheat in a very barren and dry countryside. I dyed the blue to emulate the bright blue sky without a single cloud.

I used a fusible webbing for the smaller pieces such as the hands and tools. For the larger pieces I used a glue stick to tack the pieces to the background so they wouldn't flop around while I quilted.

I added some tulle in certain areas of the center panel to create a sense of shadow. The borders were designed to off-set the heaviness of the bundle of wheat. The end results are below!

 

It was a fun project and my fellow artists in the group will create other interesting and unique pieces... stay tuned for more show details.

SAQA Benefit Auction!

           

Sonia Grasvik - "Garden Gal Digs It" *** Pamela Klebaum - "Convergence" *** Kathleen McCabe - "Self Portrait in Orange"  

SAQA Benefit Auction!

AUCTION BEGINS SEPTEMBER 12th 

We've received 309 fantastic artworks, and we're posting them on the website as fast as we can! See the latest here: http://www.saqa.com/news.php?ID=1900

The funds SAQA raises through our annual Benefit Auction are critical to funding all of our exhibitions, publications, and outreach efforts.  Help us to help you by telling everyone about the great artwork up for Auction in September.

How to leaf stamp!

We are all so busy during the week between work and family that I always try to carve out time on a weekend morning to go for a walk with my long time friend Sharon! We covet our quiet time together to let our guards down from the demands of business to catch up on our families and just be free to enjoy a nice walk in the woods! Last weekend I collected some interesting leaves on our walk to bring back to the studio for some leaf printing. I enjoyed the results and call the series "Weekend Walk". Give it a try yourself or if you like the results I have fabric for sale - just let me know if you're interested and we can talk about the rest!

Please note for the best results choose leaves with raised veins or texture!

 

Begin by painting the underside with a fabric paint or silk screen ink.

Flip the leaf paint side down onto your fabric. Press gently with your fingers or use a Brayer to roll across the back of the leaf. Gently lift up the leaf - this is fun right!

Keep going until you feel you have enough leaves for your design. 

Next I wanted to paint the overall piece with a wash of fabric paint. I use Pueblo fabric paints because they behave like water color.

Once I painted the fabric I tossed on some Kosher salt (large crystals) and left it to dry. Below is the final result.... "Weekend Walk Series" has been born! I can't wait to see what I collect on my next weekend walk!

Have fun and let me know if you give it a try!

Combining Needle Felting with Quilting

The piece below is titled "Friday Afternoon" becasue it's a fantasy place my hubby and I would like to be each Friday as the work week winds down.

I love needle felting and I love quilting so combining the two techniques seemed like fun! I wanted to design a piece that worked with perspective and adjusting the basic Attic Window pattern helped create a feeling of looking into the horizon. The fabric I chose is from my hand dyed collection.

I knew I wanted to use needle felting for the bulk of the design and dyed wool roving specifically for this project. I didn't want any seams showing in the needle felting so I first created a border of batting that I could add the roving directly onto without the seam showing.

I'm partial to including aderondack chairs in my desgins beacue they represent unconditonal relaxing to me. I wove flax to create the beach basket and the towels are a piece of fabric I made using flour/water paste.... squiggly lines and spray paint - yah, I was totaly playing with that one!

When it came to quilting I let the design tell me where to stitch.

Fun with Fabric Manipulation

I gathered with my fellow fiber buddies for a day of dyeing fabrics and manipulating the color of fabrics using the discharge method. Everyone had a different approach and the end results were as unique as each of us!

I created a piece using "Softscrub" as the discharge agent and bubble wrap, stencils and old netting - nothing but the best for this project! Once the fabric was cleaned up it kind of appealed to me so I started playing with it. The end results are below.

I call this "Awakening" because it was so much fun to take average found objects and use them differently than their intended use. It truly awakened a spirit of adventure and excitement to keep trying new things and approach projects in a non traditional manner.

Below is a detail of the embroidery I added to highlight the Cali Lily. There are other embellishments of tube beads and iridescent beads from an old necklace my mother gave me (she gave it to me to use in my art... I didn't cut up a necklace she gave as a gift - I felt I should clarify!).

Our First Group Show!

Unitarian Society of Hartford

Presents

“Small Quilts for a

Sacred Space”

A collection of unique art quilts

created by the

Connecticut Fiber Arts Collective

May 22 – June 19 2011

Please join the artists for a reception on

 June 5^th from 12 - 3

http://www.ushartford.com/phototour.html