Tryptych

I am way behind on my blog posts but I have been busy - working, quilting, singing, attending a workshop, and volunteering.   I will start with our tryptych.   Several months ago I blogged about some of the challenges Shirley, Iris and I have been working on.    For this one, Shirley drew a quick sketch of beach houses by the sea in Suffolk England.  She cut the pattern into 3 pieces, each 6" x 18" and gave one section to each of us.   The only rules were that the major lines needed to be line up with one another, the houses that join should be the same colour, and the piece would be done in a folk art style.    We each completed our section on our own and finished it with narrow black binding.  Here are photos of the finished piece.    The best part was the unveiling and seeing them lined up together.   Mine is the one on the left, Iris' is in the middle and Shirley's is on the right.  As you can see we did not line up perfectly but there is a lovely blend of styles. It is interesting how each of us interpreted the theme.   And now for something completely different - our next challenge is to complete a mosaic piece.   I've already gotten a good start on mine and finding it to be a very relaxing project - a bit like completing a puzzle.

New Quilting Challenges

In my next post I will show you photos of our last quilting challenge - using a grid composition (I have already posted mine).

That project completed, my friends and I got together yesterday to decide on our next challenge.   Shirley had asked us to bring 3 magazines with us.   She proceeded to place them in a bag and asked us to each pick a number.  Then we had to reach into the bag, choose a magazine without looking, turn to the page number that we had chosen and use whatever was on that page for our inspiration.    With much groaning and complaining we complied.   We barely missed a page full of dead birds and another of a sexy pregnant woman.    We did have some interesting subjects - a bearded paper mache man, some impressionist art, a very colourful grasshopper, a beach with a zillion sea gulls, an Egyptian motif......It was coming down to the wire when someone reminded us of the tryptych we had wanted to do and we all jumped ship.  We are so fickle!!

So we set aside the above-mentioned challenge for now and perused the mags and Shirley's photos until we found a picture of beach change houses on the coast of England with great perspective.   We combined several aspects of different photos and Shirley drew a pattern which we cut into 3 sections.   Each of us has to complete our section separately.   The only rules were that the lines had to meet at the edges (ex houses, skyline etc) and that we stick to the chosen colours (but we can decide on the shade, fabric, plain or patterned etc).  We also decided on a folk art style which suited me because I am just starting to work on a commissioned piece representing a location in Mexico which will also be done in a folk art style.   I'll keep you posted.

Here is a list of ideas we have for future challenges:
1.  Through a microscope -  Start with a piece of patterned fabric - Enlarge an small area of the fabric.   Re-create the enlarged section then applique it onto the original fabric and quilt it.  We got this idea from one of Cathy Miller's quilts.

2.  Sketch to music and create an abstract art quilt.

3. Self-Portrait (this got a lot of groans).  I think it would be fun!

3. Take some fabric scraps, glue, scissors, and a stretched canvas outdoors and work live -  'en pleine air' (I got this idea from someone on my online quilting group and adapted it for us - thanks!)

4.  Take a photo of the centre of a flower and create an abstract from it (I like this one).

5.  Find our 'spirit animal' and quilt it!  Or alternately decide what animal we think we are most like and make an art quilt........a sloth???    Really!



Well this should keep us busy for awhile.   Feel free to try these.   Anyone have any more ideas?

Quilt Shops, Quilting Challenges and Challenging Quilts

Last Friday some quilting friends and I went on a road trip to a great quilt shop on the Akwasasne reserve.  I was able to find some background material for my 'Kuan Yin' quilt (which had been at a standstill while I tried a zillion fabrics for background).   I found other great fabric too - all on sale.   We also purchased some fabric for our quilting challenge.   All the way there, my friend and I sat in the back seat looking at photos, trying to come up with one on which to base our challenge.   We narrowed it down to 9 photos and later on that evening, as we waited for the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics to begin on TV, we managed to choose one.   It is an underwater scene with stones, shells, minnows, seaweeds etc.   Should be interesting to see what we come up with.   She is working with black and white and I am using blue-green, blue, and blue violet (I think I have the easier task).   Our friend Iris has decided to join us as well.  She will design a monochromatic quilt.   I'll post the results when we are finished.

When I tried my new background on Kuan Yin, I found that her figure dressed in the palest hues, looked washed out - "too pale" was my son's comment.   So now I need to strengthen her colours.....back to the drawing board.....more cutting and piecing.   I was so worried when I started cutting the piece for the background.  I needed to cut out the figure in the middle because the fabric for her dress was so flimsy and thin that any darker colour behind it would show through and I didn't want to back the dress with another layer of fabric because I have to hand sew through the layers....I also painted the moon that surrounds her with liquid acrylics in a pale gold but the fabric ended up bumpy and no amount of ironing seems to help.   This project is becoming more complicated than I would like it to be.......and my next class is Saturday with not much progress made....Yikes!!   Guess how I'll be spending my week.  Ah well, unlike you folks in the USA and east coast, we have little snow here in Ontario.  Skiing and snow shoeing is difficult -- so I might as well stay in and sew.   I walked out in the woods today but it's getting very slippery.  Don't get me wrong - I'm not complaining.   I saw the pictures on CNN.  Here in Ontario, we have had a holiday from winter extremes this year.....so far.

time to blog

I haven't posted for awhile mostly because I have been working more hours at my paid work this month.  I have also been busy finishing my latest work for the online class I will be instructing and completing the lessons for the same.   I am happy to say that the piece is completed - just the sleeve and info tag to complete on the back.   I'll be keeping this one under wraps for awhile.

I got together with a quilting friend last week and we watched a couple of quilting videos - one from Katie Pasquini Masopust and the other was the work of Leni Levenson Wiener.   Both were very inspiring.

 This week I also started a new piece - an orange lily - and am presently agonizing on how to present it - the background, surroundings, framing etc.   I tried a different technique of fusing the lily pieces onto the  muslin  background then cutting out just the flower and trying it on various backgrounds.                                          

 

Here is the beginning of my lily before I cut around it and placed it on several different backgrounds searching for just the right one.   I plan for it to be framed inside a small square with a larger frame surrounding it just the opposite of my last piece 'Grapevine' where the leaves continued over the frame.  I want the colour to jump out from behind the frame.   My problem is visualizing the background and surrounding frame.  I tried the rules of colour, I used my own intuitive eye for colour - still no luck.  I know the right fabric is out there somewhere - and probably in my stash.    Does anyone else go through this kind of creative agony when designing a piece?

My quilting friend and I have made ourselves a challenge.  Choosing a colour scheme out of a hat, we will choose colours, and complete a piece using the same photo as inspiration but with our different colour schemes.   I got 'analogous' and she has  'achromatic'.   It will be fun to see what we come up with.  Oh, and each of us will give the other one of the colours she has to use.   Lots to do......and I haven't forgotten 'Kuan Yin" - still in the planning stages.

I have to say that my heart is breaking for the people of Haiti and I just hope that they will get the help they need over the next few months.   I have seen and heard so many heartbreaking stories and stories of bravery. Their plight is never far from my mind.   I feel so fortunate to live in Canada in a solid home with food to eat and the opportunities to foster my creativity.    I hope everyone who can, will think about contributing to the organizations who are in Haiti caring for its people who already had more than their share of suffering.

Black and White Challenge

Recently I took part in a challenge with my online quilting group to create a piece in black and white with a punch of colour.   This is the result.   It's called Down the Road to Fundy Shore and it is 12" x 14".   Click on the photo to see a close up.