Precious

This small quilt evolved from my emotions when looking at the scans of a baby at 20 weeks.  The whole story is below.  I created it for the 'Sacred Threads Exhibit ' in Herndon, Virginia, just outside of Washington, DC.  It will be on display July 10 - July 26, 2015.  Hope you have a chance to attend.

Precious

11 3/4" x 35"

Precious, detail

The Story:

In October 2014, I saw scans of a baby at 20 weeks of age. I was totally surprised at the development. The open eyes really caught my attention. What did the baby see? I could not get this image out of my mind. At this time, I was also told that it is a viable birth. Because the parents did not want to know the sex ahead of time, I could not call this little one he or she. I did not want to call the baby an it. I thought the baby very precious. Thus, Precious, became the baby's name.

As the holidays passed, I still thought about the images I had seen. I wanted to share these with others. I had known about Sacred Threads. Upon discovering the show was this year, I emailed the mother of Precious for copies of these images. From these images, a quilt was developed specifically for the Sacred Threads exhibit.

While new technology allows me to print in any color, my design decisions included printing the images in black and white so that they look like photographs.

I chose the color yellow for many reasons. Yellow is the lightest hue of the spectrum. It is also the color of the room where the newborn Precious will sleep. Yellow is considered uplifting, illuminating, full of hope, happiness, cheerfulness and fun. Yellow is considered the best color to create enthusiasm for life. It is said to awaken great confidence and optimism.

The color yellow is also the color of the yolk of an egg, nourishing the growing embryo inside its' shell. Thus, it symbolically nourishes Precious in the womb.

I chose the color purple because it symbolizes spirituality, creativity, dignity and royalty. Purple is also the most powerful visible wavelength of the electromagnetic energy field.

I decided to do a gently gathered border, using a very soft fabric because I thought the baby needed to be cuddled.  This turned out to be trickier than I thought it would be.  However, with knots of gold thread holding it in place, my vision came to life.

I am sure all will agree this child is very Precious. Definitely worth more than gold. Thus, I used gold thread as a symbol of the worth of this spirit filled being.  

Wedding Memory Quilt

Wedding Memory Quilt Pillow Top

I wanted to make a small memory quilt in appreciation of the wedding invitation.  I figured I would just stitched them as a straight top with filler between.  Then when the FFF Challenge came out, I totally changed my thinking.  This Gestalt challenge made a BIG difference in my design = turned it upside down.  I wanted the photos to look as if they were casually dropped on a table.  Of course, they were carefully arranged according to the Gestalt principals of Similarity, Proximity, and Alignment.

The Wedding Ceremony Booklet top is on the top, touching the family, who are now united by the marriage and the couple.  The wedding group photo is on the bottom of everything, because although important, it is subservient to both the couple and the family.  The father-daughter photo is parallel to the couple [they are still close, yet have a very different relationship], but not touching.  I chose this photo of the couple as they were both intently looking at each other.  The small center bottom photo is of the couple lighting the unity candle, another symbol of their pledge of troth.

I had this all laid out 2 months ago when I took it to a guild meeting and someone commented, "Those photos are very antique looking.  Why don't you just tuck a little lace under to complete the look."  Wonderful suggestion.  However, it is not that easy "to tuck a little lace under".  The corners need to be square, matched  and aligned.  I also was unsure of the fusing medium, so when I asked the quiltart group, I found I needed to use Mistyfuse Ultraviolet.  So then I had to wait for the mail.  Then life interrupted.  Now, happily, it is finished.

Alzheimer's Illustrated: From Heartbreak to Hope

During the Houston show in 2008, Diane Petersmarck ran a stay at home challenge [SAHC]. Lois Jarvis provided a piece of her Rust-Tex fabric for each of us. Then, if we used the fabric in one of the quilts, Diane's sister Beth, sent us a piece of her hand dyed silk velvet.

Basically, we all made our little quilts for Ami's Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. I made 5.  I used the Rust-Tex fabric for one; the other four used photos of my face broken up in different ways.  The Rust-Tex quilt and 2 photo quilts were put up for sale during the Houston show of 2009.  I thought maybe the other 2 were not good enough, since they were not put up for sale.  The 2 kept out featured my whole face; I thought maybe that was not acceptable.  At the time I was really disappointed. 

The Changing Face of Alzheimer's 2

Recently, that disappointment turned to elation. I was told those 2 were kept out because Ami was planning a traveling show for 2011. Approximately 100 quilts were kept out as possibilities. 53 quilts were picked out of that batch to be part of the show. One of mine is going to be in this exhibit, "Alzheimer's Illustrated: From Heartbreak to Hope".  I am thrilled and honored to be part of this traveling show which starts in January of 2011.  It is a totally unexpected surprise.  

If you would like to shop Lois' Rust-Tex store, click here

http://www.rust-tex.com/

If you would like some of Beth's wonderful fabric, click here.
http://quiltersstitchtogether.com/index.html

For a short time, all of the chosen quilts may be seen here
http://www.alzquilts.org/exhibit.html

PS.  I really wish I had used someone elses' face.  I'm already tired of looking at 'me'.

Flower Child

original photo of Morgandy (taken by her Father)

I finally finished this FFFC quilt I've been working on for two weeks. I had the concept before my week at the surface design workshop. I actually made a background for it while I was there. Therefore, it should have gone very quickly. Well almost. There were a few bumps in the road.

Although I had a photo I was planning on using. I wanted it bigger than the printout from the 8.5"x11" size that is my printer capability. To get around this, I thought I would rotate the photo. When I tried this in Picasa, I lost large hunks of the photo. I went into Paint, added some blank edges all around. Then back to Picasa to rotate it. This worked GREAT. Then I was able to trim to size. Therefore I printed the largest possible image of Morgandy on the same size paper.

Morgandy rotated after adding borders all around.

Sorry I could not show the borders added.

Apparently the file type is not compatible to this system.

Original rotated and cropped photo after some added paint.

You will notice the original photo has some hidden body parts. I painted over the photo to add those parts. At my first try, I painted the shoes with a 'shiny black' paint.  It looked more blue than black.  It took 3 coats of paint to cover that up.

This is the background that I made specifically for this quilt.

Satisfied, I tried the cut out against my intended background. Nope! That did not work. I went through my stash and found some flowered fabric I really thought would work. Nope. That was not it either. Then my small group came to the rescue. Peggy suggested I use bites of both, yet turn over the flowered fabric because it was so bright. [I love bright, gaudy and glitz.] That worked much better and became my finished background.  Thanks Peggy.  I couldn't have done it without your input.

Problems quilting were major tension problems. Of course when the machine is giving me tension problems, I also tense up. Finally I just did it. I decided to quilt around each flower petal so that it would really look like a blanket of flowers.

After the binding was on, I hated the binding. I thought the black would frame the quilt and the black jumper would pick it up. No. It was overpowering. Off with the binding. Next I faced it. That was rather quick except for the hours of picking out the batting from the micro stitching I like to use.

'Flower Child', 12" x 17.5"

detail showing dimensional flowers

'Flower Child' detail

In the end I am pleased with it. When the facing was stitched I added the intended dimensional flowers.

It is a Mother's Day gift for Morgandy's Mom. I think she will like it. At least I am happy with the outcome. I'm finishing a bit close to the gift giving deadline, but I did make it.

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

The finished quilt: "Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder"

I have finally finished this FFF challenge 27 which was due December 6. The challenge was to depict something either really really close up OR really far far away. I chose close close up. We were encouraged to follow our chosen theme as well as use a variety of values.

Although I had the center done and quilted on time, the quilt finishing was a challenge. I decided to make mitered borders. I ripped them out so many times I had to get more material. Finally I glued them in place and stitched on top. I hate to say 'never again', but it is so far down on my list of things to do I think I would have to dig down a few feet to find it. Then I did the machine work for the facing. The hand sewing was so painful that I only did a little at a time. With Mom's 93 birthday on April 16, fast approaching, I had a goal to meet. Hope to mail it tomorrow.

Background.
My dear cousin Tom had arranged for my Mom to meet her latest Great Grand child. He also took a few photos. This one caught my attention because of the look between my Mom and this toddler. Mom was tied to a wheel chair because her left side was paralyzed after a stroke almost one year ago. My sister Mary was actually holding the baby on Mom's lap. However, through the magic of 'paint' and hours and hours of work, I cut out Mary's hand. Then I faded the photo so only the 'GOOD' stuffed showed. Not the greatest editing job. However, one thing that is so rewarding about making things for my Mom, she LOVES everything I make or do for her. Can't beat that for pay back.

For the puzzle lovers, a different cut.

The Changing Face of Alzheimer's

Ami Simms' mother is one of 5.2 million Americans with Alzheimer's disease. Ami began the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative because she thinks it is possible to make a difference, one quilt at a time. This is an all volunteer organization. Ami and her staff volunteer their time and energy and quilts. Quilts are donated from people all over the world; although most are from the USA. If you would like more information about donating and\or buying a quilt, please click on the link below.

The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI)
Raising Awareness & Funding Research Through Art
http://www.alzquilts.org/

Diane Petersmarck organized a 'Stay At Home Challenge' for those of us in quiltart who are not traveling to Houston to see the biggest quilt show of the year. I decided to join this challenge and see how many quilts I could make by the posting deadline. It is fun.

The only rule is that all quilts have to be 9" x 12" or less because of mailing.
I decided this might be a good time to learn a little more about Alzheimer's. My first 4 quilts are trying to express visually how Alzheimer's may affect a person.

The Changing Face of Alzheimer's 1
Number 1 is expressing how a person's perspective is breaking apart into pieces that become unrecognizable.
Width: 7" Length: 9 3\4"


The Changing Face of Alzheimer's 2
Number 2 is expressing how a person may find their mind divided into compartments which have difficulty communicating with each other.
Width: 9" Length: 11 1\4"


The Changing Face of Alzheimer's 3
Number 3 is expressing how a person's mind may just become split up into garbled pieces that can't connect with each other.
Width: 9" Length: 12"


The Changing Face of Alzheimer's 4
Number 4 is expressing how a person's mind may just fade away.
Width: 9" Length: 12"

The Changing Face of Alzheimer's in Blue

Once again I'm trying to do 2 things at once. The FFFC [Fast Friday Fabric Challenge] this month is Color Concept: Monochromatic + perspective. My theme for the year is people, so this is a BIG challenge for me. We were to pick our favorite color [purple for me] and then develop a perspective using our theme.

The first photo shows the paper print of my face; the second shows the fabric print. Quite a color shift. Therefore, instead of purples, I worked with blues in creating my challenge piece. Not yet quilted or finished. Now it is just up for comments. I will quilt and finish it to send to the Alzheimer's quilt sale. I'll post again when it is finished. Just wanted to show the difference in color between paper prints and fabric prints.

Nana

Just finished this 14x14 quilt top. I hope later it will be part of a larger quilt.

The Retrospective Theater

I have been given the OK to show my quilt, The Retrospective Theater. It was recently exhibited in an International exhibit in Hollywood, California. I've heard from many who went that is was a fabulous exhibit. All of the exhibits had accompanying three dimensional settings to add to the theme of the quilts. Each category had it's own special space. The 'Silver Screen' exhibit which my quilt was a part of, had old movie reels, old film strips, and general paraphernalia from old films. The exhibit everyone raved about was the real 'woody' parked on the sand in the 'Surf's Up' exhibit because it brought back so much nostalgia for those of us who remember such things.

I'm just excited to have be shown in such a wonderful, totally juried exhibit of this quality. My quilt will now travel for a year to other International shows of what I consider, the highest caliber.


Explanation of my quilt design.

The category of the 'Silver Screen' caused me to think of academy award winners, memories of old bill boards, dreams of an ideal movie theater with fine dining and entertainment = a gathering place for movie lovers.

What is more Silver Screen than the Academy Awards? My theater only shows academy award winners. At the moment it is a triple slam: the only 3 movies that won the 5 major academy awards.

Of course on Sunday afternoons the Bistro features a photo fashion show; each week different award winning designers are featured.

On weekends, for the late night folks, Theater 1 shows films where the director won the Oscar.

My bill board advertisement expresses my desires for an ideal theater venue. As well as acknowledging and honoring the award winners. It strives to respond to patrons desires in order to have a viable enterprise.

Techniques used: piecing, raw edge, fusing, photo transfer, printing, and painting.

This is a photo of my whole quilt ~42"x60+" hanging on my quilt wall in my dining room. All of the text/advertisement was made up by me to enhance my idea.




Sketch for the 'movie clip'.



Close up of the raw edge movie clip. I made this using pieces of fabric and fusing them to a background to make the picture. Notice how I needed to change the book. Had it all wrong in the first sketch.



Close up of the close up so that you can see more detail about how I made the piece.



This shows how I blocked the quilt. The layout 'lines of yarn' are the dimensions that it should be according to my guide/plan of what I was doing. You will notice some 'shrinkage'.



Blocking corner closeup.




More about the process of making the quilt for those of you are are not totally saturated.

Fabric ironed and pinned to a board. This is my pallet.


Testing fabric contrast for letters.


Fusing material and fabric for letters. After fusing the fabric to the material, I cut out each letter and then ironed it in place.



Fusing the quilt title letters.