Ornaments and New Works

I spent about a month before the holidays making small quilted and beaded artworks with hangers that I call “ornaments” but most of them are too large to actually hang on a Christmas tree. I layer fabric with heavyweight stablizer like Timtex and use a gluestick to secure them. I quilt them, satin stitch or couch yarn around the edges, then embellish them with beads, yarn, etc. They are rather time-consuming to create and I don't really make much on them for the materials and time put into them, but people do buy them and seem to enjoy hanging them year round. Some of them are still hanging in River's Mist Gallery in Stevensville and in The Artist's Shop in Missoula. The prices on them range from $22 to $30. Here are some more:

Here are a couple of pieces that I made this fall. The first one was a project using pearl cotton and embroidery floss to make buttonhole stitches around circular objects like washers, plastic loops, pony beads, and whatever else you might find. I suspended them from the top of the quilt and called it “A Hoop That Never Ends” which is from a song in the Disney movie, Pocahontas and I believe refers to the circle of life.

The piece below, "Fade to Dark", started with the ombre fabric that fades from light orange/red to almost black. I love the textures and lines of this piece and I feel that the quilting was rather successful. This piece really glows when it is hanging on the wall. It has been in two galleries and the lighting really made it stand out. There is quite a bit of stamping using Lumiere fabric paint and a stamp I made myself. The beads are mostly dyed bone, but there is also a stone donut in the top left corner with a cascade of fiber strands dangling from it. The red strips in the area of criss-cross strips is a faux suede. I used a double flange around the inside of the binding which I think is quite effective for the piece. I have been using a lot of flanges, which are actually just unfilled piping, around the edges of my pieces. They are easy to do and add another shot of color to the "frame".


I found out yesterday that my piece, “Tapestry Strutting”  (see my August 26, 2011 post for a picture) will be shown at the AQS Lancaster quilt show. They chose 202 quilts for the judged show and they have $44,000 in prize money. They are expecting at least 20,000 people so it is good exposure for my work. I was very happy to get that "fat" envelope in the mail. I thought it was somewhat of a risk to choose this piece because it is so different, but I think the color and the quilting are very effective. I have enjoyed living with it on my walls at home. Wish me luck---I'd love to get published in American Quilter magazine with all the winners again! [“Red Sky” won 3rd place at AQS Des Moines a couple of years ago so it was in the magazine]

Holiday Ornaments

It seems like I move from one deadline to another all year long. It would be nice to have a month where I'm not working on something for some future deadline! It seems like I don't have time to just play around with stuff in my studio as I am too busy creating things to sell and enter in various shows. This year I am going to try to trim down my commitments to those that are potentially most valuable to me and see if I can find the time to experiment with some things that interest me like using photos in my work, doing more with cutouts and unusually shaped pieces, and possible more painting on fabric. If I would just stop committing to shows and galleries maybe I would have time---probably not going to happen!

The past month I have been making ornaments that are quilted and beaded. I layered fabric with heavyweight Pellon stabilizer (or Timtex). The fabrics I'm using are some of those great pictorial pieces I buy and never use in my art quilts, but they have some wonderful images on them like owls, animals, trees, etc. It has been really fun to match fabrics and beads together to make tiny little works of art. I have sold quite a few at a couple of galleries and on my own and there are more at Art City in Hamilton and River's Mist Gallery in Stevensville (317 Main St.).

Some of the cutest ones I made used fabric from Selvedge Studio in Missoula (509 S. Higgins). They have some wonderfully whimsical fabrics that worked great for the ornaments. The owls on the grey background and the birds are from Selvedge Studio. The sun and moon ornaments are double-sided and were a little more time-consuming to bead and stitch. That is an older fabric that I had in my stash. Not sure where I got the other owl fabric with the darker background. It was fun to go through my stash and find little images to use and then match beads to them. I did get a little carried away with some of the beading!

The fabrics are attached using glue stick and I used satin stitching and various quilt designs to secure them. I satin stitched the edges all the way around and then did the beading. I tried to do extra securing stitches for all the dangles and hanging loops. I've sold these from anywhere between $12 and $20 and have really enjoyed making them. Now I need to get myself to STOP (I'm obsessed!) so I can move on to this month's Tarts project and possibly creating a piece for a show opening in January utilizing photo(s).

Here are some images of the ornaments. The pictures are not of the best quality, but you can get an idea of how fun they are!

Thanksgiving and Christmas

So, I'm finally getting back to my blog after a "brief" intermission.  On Thanksgiving Day my mother was put on a Life Flight plane and flown from Missoula, Montana to Houston, Texas for emergency surgery to repair her aorta. My dad went with her, my brother went on Thanksgiving day, and I followed the next day.  The surgery to replace a section of her aortic arch went very well (had a world-reknown topnotch surgeon!) and there were only a couple of days of high level stress!  Aside from some minor issues with med reactions, she has been steadily recovering, is back home now, and is doing very well.  There were a few stressful days for my parents when they weren't sure whether they would be able to get on a plane to fly home because her picture I.D. was wandering around somewhere in the UPS "overnight express" system--and my mom was more than ready to get out of the hospital and back to Montana!.  Luckily they had enough documentation to get through security and made it home.

I got home just in time to hang some of my work at The Beaded Pony here in Stevensville and to be there for the opening reception on First Friday.  There were a good number of people through to view my work, and I even sold a piece which was very exciting.  It was one of my favorite pieces called "Copper Leaves Dancing" and I know the buyer will enjoy it in their home as I have enjoyed it in mine!  I really appreciate the opportunity to show my work even if there aren't many/any sales, but it is nice to sell something once in a while!  I also sold a small piece at the Stevensville Art & Sculpture Society (SASS) holiday art show, and the ornament I made for the Art City gallery in Stevensville recently sold.     

There is a new gallery in Stevensville called "River's Mist" on Main Street and I have contacted the owner and will be showing my work there as a featured artist for the month of May, 2010.  This is a really lovely gallery with a great mix of quality artwork, and I am pleased that the owner has agreed to display my work.  I look forward to creating some new pieces to show in this great space.

I just finished the piece that I showed pictures of in my September 13 post (in progress) and it turned out really nice.  I like the quilting and beading, but am still trying to convince myself that it is enough.  It is always a debate with myself as to whether or not I am done embellishing a piece or if it needs something more.  I haven't put the sleeve or label on yet so there's still time!!   When I have the pieced photographed I will post the finished work.

I also finished a couple of pieces for my recent TARTS (Textile Arts) class on using fusible web as surface design on quilts.  One pieces uses foil on the web to create webby-looking metallic color and I did some 3-dimensional design  on this piece.  Originally I was going to cut up the quilted piece to make some ornaments out of it, but ended up twisting strips and attaching them to the base so they arc up over the piece.  Hard to explain, but I will get a picture of it and post it here.  It is in black, white, and purple.  The other piece uses Pearl Ex Powder to color Misty Fuse (just shake a 1/2 tsp in a baggie with the piece of Misty Fuse) and then I adhered it and quilted it to a quilt.  The powder I had was a bronzey/coppery color and very pretty over the black fabric that I put it on.  I quilted a feather medallion centerpiece on it and it creates a very pretty relief and has a nice sheen to it.  Once again, when I get a good picture of it I will post it for you! 

I apologize for not having any pictures at this time, but I will get them soon!  I'm sure you are all as busy as I am this time of year, and having a seven year old there are much more fun things to do this time of year than messing around with digital photos on the computer!  

My son and I have been having a good time making beaded snowflakes.  I took him to The Beaded Pony for one of their short workshops and he learned how to create them.  We bought some extra wire forms and have been busy making many different patterns and designs.  It is fun to see what different beads do and how different combinations look.  There are as many possibilities for bead design as there are real snowflake patterns!   We have talked ourselves into parting with some of them for gifts, but are keeping our most favorites of course.  They will be this year's addition to our Christmas ornaments.  I have made something new for the tree every year since Michael was born, and in recent years he has helped.  

I wish you the very, merriest Christmas and a truly Happy New Year!  May you be blessed with good health, happiness, and financial security.  Create, imagine, or dream every day.  It is good for your soul.  It has done mine wonders!!