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Archive for the ‘art quilting’ Category

Pink Lilies

Tuesday, October 29th, 2013
Pink Lilies by Sarah Ann Smith (c) 2013

Pink Lilies by Sarah Ann Smith (c) 2013

It’s done!   I’ll be sharing this quilt on Thursday afternoon at International Quilt Festival (Houston) at the Open Studios from 4-6 and then talking about it more at the Saturday Sampler from 10-Noon.   I hope you’ll be there!   Here’s a detail photo:

Detail of Pink Lilies by Sarah Ann Smith

Detail of Pink Lilies by Sarah Ann Smith

Thanks for the comments to my in-progress post.   Good point, Jan, that having folks fuse their own works way better logistically than me doing a printed photo version–that would have to be for a single class I think, or perhaps as part of a multi-day workshop.   But honestly, I like the idea of folks doing their own thing a lot better–no cookie-cutter-quilting in my classes!

Quilting the Good Life: Pink Lilies, a new art quilt

Saturday, October 26th, 2013

What a concept…I’m making an art quilt!  Not a very large one, but still!   I’ve been wanting to teach a series of workshops called Quilting the Good Life.  Part of it will be Quilting the Garden.  I figured everyone loves flowers, they aren’t as fiddly as getting a face right, and it is easy enough to change the colors to one that suits the student.   And lilies only have six petals, so easy enough to fuse up in a class and get right to quilting–especially compared to something like a dahlia or peony or rose!

Fused applique lily, in progress

Fused applique lily, in progress.  Cropped section of original photo on the left, fused top on the right with only the yellow-green in the centers stitched.

On Saturday at International Quilt Festival I’ll be participating in the Saturday Sampler and talking about Thread-Coloring, how I use thread like a colored pencil to tint or shade the fabrics underneath, to bring the fused applique to life.   I made this piece to help illustrate that demonstraiton, and hope to begin teaching it as a class.

Let me know if you ‘d be interested in a class like that, either in person or on line….would you rather fuse up the lily, or have me supply (for the cost of printing) the photo printed onto cloth which students would then quilt in class.  By quilting a photo (maybe printed by Spoonflower?), we could skip the fusing step (which can take a lot of time) and get straight to learning the thread-coloring bit.  Would that interest anyone?

I’m also thinking about doing some online teaching.  Should I?  I’d love to teach more QUILTING, not just the fusing part but the actual stitching.  And maybe my Edge Finishes / Binding class.   If you could pick which class(es) of mine you’d take online, what would that be?  THANKS!  Feedback is good!

 

 

The International Quilt Festival Silent Auction

Saturday, October 19th, 2013

Be Humble for you are made of Earth, be Noble for you are made of stars.

Sorry about the photo quality!  My donation to this year's IQA silent auction

Sorry about the photo quality! My donation to this year’s IQA silent auction

Sheesh…. you’d think I’d take a PHOTO of one of my quilts before donating it and sending it off!   Yes, Labyrinth is going to be a part of the International Quilt Festival silent auction this year!   Alas, I did NOT take a good photo of it!  At least I will be going to teach at Festival and will swing by and take a better photograph then!

This quilt was for our local Coastal Quilters challenge, 13 x 13 inches, with the theme of Exit.  I figured an entrance and exit are the same, so I made this labyrinth and did bobbin work using Razzle Dazzle on the edges of the “stone.”  The green is one of my hand-dyes, and the background is quilted with two quotes.  The one surrounding the maze is apparently a Syrian proverb, Be Humble for you are made of Earth, be Noble for you are made of stars.  I love that!

The second quote is from one of the China Bayles mystery novels:

I’d already done a bit of both [rest and thinking], enough to realize that the only thing wrong with my life was an overabundance of *good* things.  All I needed to do was search out the center–the thing I wanted most to be, wanted most to have and do–and use it as a compass.

Susan Wittig Albert, character China Bayles, in Rueful Death

 

In the studio

Tuesday, October 15th, 2013

What a concept… I actually am making a small art quilt!   I’ve been slamming busy as usual, and this time it is in the “oh I should make just one more new sample for Quilt Festival/teaching” mode!   On Saturday morning, I’m talking about thread-coloring, so decided to make a new piece, a lily.  Here it is in progress:

Pink lily, in progress

Pink lily, in progress

I’ve managed to quilt the pink, so this afternoon I’ll start in on the foliage.  I’ve used six or seven different pinks/reds.  As you can gather by the reference photo, it is  about 14 x 20 ish, but will be seriously cropped.  The current proportions/composition need fine-tuning, but decided I’d quilt first and chop second (probably at least an inch on all sides, more on the sides).

It is also glorious color time in Maine.  This was the wooded acres behind our house at sunrise this morning:

This morning at 6:35 a.m., lit by the rising sun

This morning at 6:35 a.m., lit by the rising sun

And I’ve got a new chair that doesn’t make my creaky bones ache;  clearly, the cats approve!  I’ve started putting the back cushion down and covering it to avoid them destroying the back cushion by cat-squishing it!

The cats like the new chair...all FOUR of them on the turned-down back cushion!

The cats like the new chair…all FOUR of them on the turned-down back cushion!

And a glorious sunset the other evening…. one of the most glorious in quite a while.

Sunset Friday at the high school in Rockport, Maine...GLORIOUS!

Sunset Friday at the high school in Rockport, Maine…GLORIOUS!

Off to enjoy autumn!

The Eye of the Quilter

Sunday, October 13th, 2013

I’m thrilled to share that I will have all THREE of my photo entries on display at the Eye of the Quilter Exhibit in Houston this year!  Since I don’t want to spoil the surprise, I won’t share THOSE three photos until Quilt Festival opens, but I will share a couple of my entries from past years.  I just love seeing the photos, and this time I totally think that my Queen Anne’s Lace photo from this year needs to become a quilt!   Last year, I only got one photo in, but it’s a keeper:

I navigate the world by ice cream stores.  When I taught at Vermont Quilt Festival, of COURSE I made the pilgrimage to the original Ben and Jerry's (twice!).  The theme this year was "Favorite Things."  Ahem!

I navigate the world by ice cream stores. When I taught at Vermont Quilt Festival, of COURSE I made the pilgrimage to the original Ben and Jerry’s (twice!). The theme this year was “Favorite Things.” Ahem!

To go back to the beginning…..

Circles Collage was one of my first entries accepted to Eye of the Quilter.   Look at all that design potential!

Circles Collage was one of my first entries accepted to Eye of the Quilter. Look at all that design potential!

In 2011, I had three accepted with the theme of Friendship:

Pigwidgeon on top of Yeti.  'Widgeon was just a puppy, and he loved his big dumb dog!

Pigwidgeon on top of Yeti. ‘Widgeon was just a puppy, and he loved his big dumb dog!

And 2011 was the year Mama finally joined her Mama.  The bottom right photo is the last I took of her.

Say Hi to Gramma is a collage honoring my mom, who died that year.  The photo in the bottom center is our last Mother's Day together.

Say Hi to Gramma is a collage honoring my mom, who died that year. The photo in the bottom center is our last Mother’s Day together.

My Frayed Edges friends are another source of joy in life:

The Frayed Edges, Summer 2011

The Frayed Edges, Summer 2011