"Passing Thru"

So I've had this piece of fabric on my wall for a while and always a conundrum as to what to do with deconstructive screen printed fabric?...but for this piece, I did find a solution. 

 It is very busy but thought I might try printing on top ...running it through an ink jet printer. What do I have to lose. Right?



I found these 2 images in my picture file and thought they might work together as a layered image, so into my photo editing program to manipulate and make adjustments. I printed the layered image on the deconstructive piece of fabric and Voila!

 I love layering photos as it's always a surprise...sometimes good and sometimes not so good but in this case, I think pretty good. I did flip the trestle as perhaps you can see, like it better that way.

 I loved the gold and wanted to pull that in...along with blue. I had more blue deconstructive fabric which worked well. The tree on the side is silk screened onto the fabric and covered with organza to tone it down....but not sure I should keep it there..

 A piece of fabric from my Stonehenge collection seems to work better on the left....

 and the tree works better on top as a frame.

 It was an afterthought to wrap this piece around stretcher bars rather than bind or face the edge. So when quilting it, I used a soil separator cloth, rather than a fabric...on the back. Soil separator cloth is similar to pattern duplicating material only less expensive. I get it at home improvement stores in the plumbing department...used to line large outdoor pipes. So back on track, I needed to add pieces to the edge for wrapping around the bars.

 I assembled the stretcher bars, made sure they were squared up and started pulling the quilt to the back. Using an electric staple gun, I added 1 staple in the middle on each side, turned, added a staple etc. while constantly checking the front.

 This is the way it looked on the side.

 The back was finished with a piece of muslin, silk screened with trees and then picture frame wire added for hanging. This is one of my Haiku pieces.

                                                          I did do some discharge using a screen with writing (a recipe written by my grandmother), also some screened trees and metallic gold decorative couching thread in the ditch which is obvious when you turn the piece a certain way.

SAQA, February 2017

The regional chapter of SAQA met yesterday at the home of Kathy Briggs. Kathy who has been a member for years, recently moved to Asheville and took over the role of regional rep for NC and VA. For those who might not be familiar with SAQA, it stands fot Studio Art Quilt Association. It is an international organization started by the late, great Yvonne Porcella. Yvonne's dream was to have an organization for the purpose of sharing and promoting art quilts. I have been a member for years and can say it is top notch offering lots of opportunities for showing, sharing and selling one's work.

I have some pics to share although, I was not able to post everyones as some were too blurry.

Linda Sexton-Patrick started this group with @ 4 people. Yesterday, we had 13 very enthusiastic and talented gals show up; our group is growing and it's been wonderful fun to see the talent and comraderie between everyone. We had a nice show and tell, a tour of Kathies new home and a look at her many quilts used in the decor of each room. .Lynn showed us a piece made with strips of fabric, appliqued grass on top. This piece was a makeover and Lynn had to do some manipulating to get it to work.

She called it "suturing" the back, we all laughed but all in all, it was a good idea.

Agatha, a new member to our group told us how she used to dislike the color orange but found a new love for it when used in this piece. Well, I should say so...I'm not a fan of orange but it is wonderful and very effective here. Bravo Agatha and welcome to the group!

Paula showed us several quilts...this one was such a fun piece ....some great colors and movement.

Mary Jane brought this along to share. Many of her pieces are inspired by her photographs. Each piece is bordered in silk - this a heavier silk shantung and wrapped around stretcher bars or canvas. The colors are soft and subtle.

Julie showed us this very colorful strip pieced quilt..

and this which is still wanting for a name. I particularly love this style which Julie often uses. I love the primitive bird which is loaded with wonderful hand stitching using all kinds of interesting stitches and floss. Julie says she always has to have something to stitch. The bird sits on a background of hand dyed fabric.

Jenny splits her time between British Columbia and Asheville...we are lucky she chose this area for the other half of her year. She is an incredible artist, had some wonderful things to show but they are entered in a big show in Canada so we held off printing them here...but will get back to them in the future. This piece of silk was hand painted in black, white and grays. It is exquisite and I'm anxious to see it finished.

Now onto our hostess - Kathy. The first thing I noticed was the beautiful granite in her kitchen...and when you see her quilts, you'll think this granite was made just for her. She is a lover of trees - a lady after my own heart.

She had a great studio space...

some great new fabrics

which she is working into this piece. Kathy is a piecer and works with tiny, uneven strips to create incredible backgrounds for pieces like....

this beautiful quilt.....

and this....

and this. I love the colors in this one and of course the trees...

but I think this might be my favorite. What a great day with some very lovely ladies. I went home with such a happy heart and new found inspiration...

PTA - February

We met at the home of Linda Cantrell for our February PTA meeting...no agenda except, talking, laughing, eating and sharing work which is always one of my favorite meetings. This is some fun group and I never fail to come away with a stomach ache from laughing and eating so much along with tons of inspiration.

 We recently had our community quilt day at guild which 4 of us attended. Kate and Lynne brought back some of the quilts they started that day. Kate also made some on her own which she really enjoys doing. One day, I'm going to pin her down to find out how many "philanthropy" quilts she makes each year...a lot, I know.

 Kate used the same pattern as the one used at guild only with different proportions. Each center was a circus theme and the borders all bright colors. Some lucky little child will get this one.

 Lynne shared her finished quilt which was fun and colorful.

 Marene shared her latest projects - beautifully pieced, perfect points...

 She's wanting to incorporate 4 smaller medallions into the larger piece and brought them along for some input -  which I shoulc add... this group has an abundance of.

 And another pattern she is working on...

 some great fabric choices.

 Georgia shared some pillows she is making using decorator fabric samples - a beautiful mixing of prints.

 We all loved the button treatment...

 Georgia will have these for sale in her new booth at the Curbside Market in Hendersonville which for now is open on Thurs and Sat. They will be available with or without pillow forms. What a great idea for those people passing through, dealing with luggage... to have that option.

 Linda had an unusual show and tell ...but we all loved it and thought they might do well in a wet studio. There's a ton of them on a roll and unlike regular paper towels...very sturdy.

Home improvement stores carry them and I'm fixin to get me a box....Til next time.

Community Quilt Day

I love Community Quilt Day in our guild. It's held the first meeting of the year in January. The meeting place changes for this one meeting to accomodate all the tables and machines. Everyone comes ready to sew, sew, sew; there's a lot of comraderie, laughter and great quilts being made. But before we even dive in...we have a quick show and tell.

 This is one of the quilts shown - a darling print and great piecing.

 This beauty had everyone oohing and ahhing. I am so sorry I didn't get names as they went by so fast.

 So the room is quite spacious to fit machines and still walk around to socialize, get coffee or get to an ironing board. The quilts hanging up are right - the raffle quilt and left - the quilts we had to choose from to make today.

 All the quilts are kitted and many wonderful color choices.

 Some hang quilts on a piece of flannel to get placement of blocks...others use the floor.

 Here's Lynne working diligently on a very bright quilt. The stars behind her was Kates quilt. I was the official "iron-er" - a job better suited to me as I'm not the world's best piecer...NOT EVEN CLOSE!

 And Laurie working at another table. When it's time for lunch, the guild treats us to pizza and subs which is a highlight of the day.

 I was tickled "pink/yellow" when I saw this cute little machine on one of the tables.

 This is one of the star quilts we made. The star blocks were already made and in the quilt kit. The sashing which has many pieces was left up to us to put together. It really added a lot of interest.

This was another kit - a more simple quilt kit which made up very cute and colorful.  Quilts were then brought home to be finished. The guild provided batting, backing and binding fabric. A fun and very productive day...will get the count at the next meeting just how many quilts were made.