Quilt Con Comes to Austin

Wow, things are heating up here in Austin! I can't believe Quilt Con is just around the corner. In case you are wondering, Quilt Con is the first international quilt show for modern quilts hosted by Heather Grant of Austin Modern Quilt Guild. I think it is awesome that Austin was able to get in on the action. It is a fun town that is very amenable to showcasing art and modern movements. When I first heard the show would be held here, I was quite intrigued and had to do some studying on what exactly constituted a modern quilt. They are in fact neither art nor traditionally based but tend to be more utilitarian in nature and encompass a whole new palette of  

their own. Modern quilters employ alot of white and varying shades of gray in their work along with a predominantly solid array of fabrics which lend a very fresh and modernistic look. They may be pieced or appliqued and seem to focus on the use of negative space and minimalist design. I love working with negative space but minimalist design is quite a challenge for me and even more so, the use of solid colors as opposed to prints or tone on tones. Still, I had to try my hand at this new method of creating quilts. Time Travel is my response to the modern quilt movement. I am thrilled that it has been juried into the first ever international modern quilt guild show! How fun! Quilt Con will be held at the Austin Convention Center located at 500 East Cesar Chavez Street, Austin, Texas 78701 on Thursday, February 21st through Sunday, the 24th from 10-6 p.m. I will be helping to white glove on Thursday. On Sunday, you can find me at the Mistyfuse booth with Iris Karp. I understand she has a few new products you will not want to miss out on! Time Travel was created with Mistyfuse and my favorite Goddess Sheets. If you are in the area, please stop in and say hello. We would love to see you!

Kick Off Your Heels with Peacock High Heels

I'm back. Been playing in the studio these last couple of weeks decorating a pair of 5 inch high heels. Have to say, I had never done this before and now I am wondering why not?!!!! What a blast and I love the way they turned out. Late last year, Sue Bleiweiss and Jamie Fingal contacted me to ask if I might be interested in making a pair of shoes for Kick Off Your Heels fundraiser to benefit the Barbra Streisand Women's Heart Center at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, California. What a great cause! I have been wanting to try this for some time so I was

  happy to be on board. These shoes started off as a black pair of patent leather, designer 5 inch heels by Jessica Simpson. I really wanted them to be wearable so comfort was a big issue in deciding which shoes to start off with plus I loved the cutout of the inner arch. I next began by lightly scuffing the shoes with a super fine 400 grit piece of sandpaper to make them amenable for painting. They were painted with white textile paint by ProChem. This stage was definitely not the fun part as it took several coats of paint to cover the black entirely.

Once done, I pencilled in my design. Next, I gave them a wash of Celestial Alchemy interference paint by Stewart Gill. The idea here was to get a very light background color. In retrospect, I should have waited for this stage to pencil in my design as it was somewhat difficult to see once  the wash was applied. Next came the fun part; the decorative painting. I used a very fine brush and started painting the feathers with Silks Acrylic Glaze in a delicious array of colors including Ginger Peach, Rich Cobalt, Boysenberry, Mallard Green and Pretty Peridot. Wow, just naming those colors makes my mouth water. 

Once the feathers were completely painted, I continued with the peacock's head, crown and back in a variety of Stewart Gill and Setacolor paints. Next, the underside arches of the sole were painted a Venetian Gold color and the heels were embellished with a deep cobalt blue glitter applied with Modge Podge. I have to say, I was reticent about the glitter as it tends to come off and make a mess but this method worked beautifully! Finally, I decided I needed to add a little bit of my own 3 dimensional aspect to these shoes but in a subtle way. After all, I still wanted them to be wearable. Hence a fringed feather was painted and attached to the outside of the top of the heel to complete the shoes. They were then sprayed with several coats of clear gloss protective finish.

I love the way these turned out and can't wait to try my hand at a more casual pair of shoes. How fun! I am hoping these shoes will find their Cinderella. Please take a moment to chime in and offer comments. I would love to hear from you! To find out more about how you can help with this cause, please visit http://KickOffYourHeelsFundraiser.blogspot.com/ .

The Art in Fiber 2013 Show at the Copper Shade Tree Gallery

I am so jazzed to be a part of the Art in Fiber 2013 exhibit at the Copper Shade Tree Gallery. This year's show features work by so many talented artists and was juried by Karey Bresenhan of Quilts Inc. Wow, what an honor! One of the nice things about this venue is that all the work is original and made specifically for this event. This year, I have contributed two pieces, The Gift of the Magi and Plantasia. They are perhaps two of my best pieces yet and I am hoping they find a good home. The Gift of the Magi measures 30.75″ X 38.5” and was inspired from a photograph I took at Mayfield Park in Austin, Texas. It is the third piece in my peacock series and is a wholecloth painted piece embellished with stitch to add definition to the peacock's feathers.

.Plantasia measures 39.25″ X 28.5″was created as a 3 dimensional garden piece. To commemorate the new year, it has 13 large flowers consisting of 5 Calla Lilies, 2 Poppies, 3 playful imaginary flowers and 3 Irises. It also has a Lilac bush and a Tea Rose bush. The flowers extend off the quilt anywhere from a half inch to 5 inches off the surface. They are made with a variety of materials including beads, ribbon and yarn. If you get a chance to visit, I encourage you to stop in and visit the Copper Shade Tree Gallery located at 101 N. Live Oak at Henkel Square Market in Round Top, Texas or visit http://www.coppershadetree.com/wsx_store_selector_detail.php?selector=grouping&selector_id=aif2013 for more information. Thanks for stopping by.

 

Plantasia: Planting 3 Dimensional Fiber Flowers

Hello, it's been a while since I last blogged but I have been spending long days in the studio planting flowers in anticipation of my first piece of the new year. I am so jazzed about how it turned out! Plantasia measures 39.25" X 28.5"and is perhaps the best of my 3 dimensional pieces to date. The background is a hand dyed cotton that has been silk screened, stamped and painted with acrylics to create three large bushes. The first one with orange flowers (left) is situated next to a lilac bush which has tiny clusters of purple flowers made of wired ribbon.

The large bush on the right is a Tea Rose bush with tiny delicate red roses, again, formed from wired ribbon. The mid ground includes 5 Calla Lilies which were created with various layers of materials and stitched to add definition to the petals. The center stalk consists of beads set on a wire such that they stand up and add even more dimension to the flower.

 

Below, the Calla Lillies are two Poppies that are made of felt and machine stitched. I love the way the eye follows the red from the Tea Rose bush to the poppies and back. Adjacent to them are three colorful, 3

dimensional flowers in pink and yellow that stem from my own imagination. These flowers are made in two parts and are stitched together to form a playful flower. Finally, in the right corner are three graceful Irises that are heavily stitched and soft sculpted.

Here again, the eye is drawn from the yellow Callas to the centrally located, playful flowers and onto the Irises with their delicate yellow stamens. The tug and pull of color from one diagonal corner to another creating an "X" pattern helps to strengthen the design. The stems of the flowers are machine wrapped cording or dyed batting. Leaves consist of textured cotton or felt as well as hand dyed or painted cloth. Edges are finished with a facing.

These flowers were created for Open Studios at the International Quilt Festival in Houston, this past fall. I have been developing patterns for the above mentioned flowers along with the Tiger Lillies and other flowers found in "Austin tatious" as part of my 3 Dimensional Soft Sculpted Flower Workshop that I teach. Originally, I had intended to place the flowers in a pretty vase made of fabric such that the whole bouquet along with the vase would be free standing and completely 3 dimensional.

 

And I may at some point revisit that idea but for now, I am happy with the way this piece turned out. I love the play of color and depth that is present. It evokes a very serene feeling and makes me smile when I look at it. I hope that it creates the same happiness for others. Thank you for stopping by and I wish you all a most Happy 2013!!!! 

3D Flowers, Mixed Media Style and Color Your World With Beautiful Fabric

Happy New Year! 2013 is sure to be a fun, creative and prosperous year. So many things going on here in Austin. This month, I have a couple of workshops that I will be teaching, 3Dimensional Flowers, Mixed Media Style and Textiles: Color Your World with Beautiful Fabric. Each is very different and guaranteed to inspire! Learn to dye fabric or add dimension to your work. For more information on my 3D Flowers, Mixed Media Style workshop, please visit http://austinfiberartists.org/workshops-classes-and-play-dates or email taptile@austin.rr.com . For more information on my 6 week textile surface design course, please visit http://www.austintexas.gov/sites/default/files/files/Parks/Dougherty/doughertyspringbrochure2013web.pdf and scroll down to page 16 of the catalogue. To register for this class, please visit http://austintexas.gov/department/dougherty-arts-center . I hope you will have a look and decide to treat yourself to one or maybe both. I look forward to seeing you!

A Few of My Favorite Things From Attached Inc and Havel's Sewing

Finally, with all my holiday shopping completed, I am getting a chance to return to this fun piece that I had put on hold. I have been in an abstract whirlwind as the year winds down, totally unusual for me but sometimes the art just has to come out as it will. This piece is still a work in progress but I thought I might post a mini tutorial about how I used Transdoodle, Mistyfuse and Goddess Sheets to arrive at this point. These are some of my most favorite products and I thought I would share them with you. They make my life so much easier! I first began with a sketch of unusual cogs and enlarged the main pattern to the desired size. Then came the fun part of choosing fabrics. Here, I chose to pull out all the wild and playful fabrics that had managed to make their way into my stash. I proceeded to iron Mistyfuse, a lightweight fusible to the back of my fabrics using a large Goddess Sheet. Mistyfuse is my absolute favorite fusible as it does not gum up the needles when sewing and does not interfere with the hand of the fabric. The Goddess Sheet is my ultimate choice for pressing sheets. If I get fusible on the pressing sheet, it wipes right off with a kitchen scrubber. Easy to clean, gotta love that!   

Once the Mistyfuse was fused to the back of my fabrics, I transferred my design to the right side of the fabric by placing a sheet of Transdoodle, chalk paper on top of the fabric. I then placed my pattern on top of the Transdoodle and with a mechanical pencil (containing no lead), I traced over the design to transfer the chalk image onto my fabric. Basically, just applying pressure allows the image to be transferred. So easy and no need for a light table or fooling around with trying to reverse the image! Once the design was transferred to the fabric, I used my favorite Havel Scissors to cut the design out. This particular pair of scissors happens to be micro serrated and cuts so beautifully. Such a joy to work with! I am hoping that I will have some time over the holidays to finish this project. As usual, deadlines are looming and I would love to eek out one more project before the New Year arrives. Hope you enjoyed this post and I wish you all, Happy Holidays!

Coasters for the Holidays: A Tutorial for Fast, Inexpensive Gifts

 

The holidays are upon us and I have been working on handmade gifts for my friends and family this week. I am so jazzed about the way they turned out! My barometer for success is feeling like I, myself would like to receive these and I would! Yay, it's a success! For only  $31 plus a few supplies from my studio and a quick trip to Home Depot, I have managed to make presents for almost everyone my list. I purchased a case of 100 4X4 tiles and a 32 oz can of Indoor/Outdoor Helmsman Spar Urethane by Minwax. Within 3 days, I was able to make 25 sets of 4 coasters for each person on my list. Each set was made together such that they received the same colors and supplies. I began by first coating the tiles with a thin layer of  Isopropanol aka rubbing alcohol. Now 

 

. before you head out to purchase a big bottle of alcohol, let me say that for 100 tiles, I used approximately 1/4 to 1/3 cup of alcohol. It really does not take much! Next, I added a few drops of ink. Remember the days when we used to mix alcohols with inks to make beautiful works of art? Well, it's the same concept here. I used both acrylic inks by Liquitex as well as Bombay India Inks by Dr. Ph Martin. The alcohol acts as both a carrier for the inks to travel across the tile and a drying agent. I typically used 2-3 colors per tile thus allowing a pleasing blend of colors. You may recall, I said  

it took me 3 days to finish 100 coasters. Well, I didn't mean 3 full days as part of this time was used for drying time along the way. Still, if you wanted to do it in 1 1/2 days, it is totally doable! Meanwhile, once the inks are dry, approximately 2-3 hours, I embellished the tile by stamping designs with gold metallic craft paint that I had in my studio. After the tiles dry (approximately 5-10 minutes), the edges were subsequently painted with a matching color of acrylic craft paint. Allow 20 minutes for edges to dry.

Turning out pretty good! Now, time to add the Minwax clear gloss sealer. Here, I added 2 thick coats to the top and sides of the coaster. It was allowed to cure for a minimum of 6 hours or overnight. Next, I took a single sheet of acrylic felt that I had previously purchased from JoAnn's and cut it with a rotary cutter into small squares or rectangles to create a total of 400. I did not measure but simply guestimated size. When the tiles were dry, I hot glued felt squares to the bottom of the coaster in each corner. Wa la, done and gorgeous! I also had a go with using maps and photos of my artwork. For these, I used modge podge to adhere the maps and photos to the tiles. When dry, I noticed the edges of the photos had a difficult time adhering, so I used gel medium with a spatula to ensure that the edges were firmly glued in place. Once dry, they were coated with 2 thick coats of sealer and allowed to dry. Felt bottoms were added to protect the table surface.  

 I love that this was a fast, easy, enjoyable and inexpensive project that can be created alone or with friends and family. And best of all, it kept me away from the stores and crowds of people. Who knew a simple white 4X4 tile could be transformed into a work of functional art.

         

 I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and I wish you a most Happy Holiday season.  

Time Travel

Hello, things are heating up in the studio. The last few weeks I have been working on my entry for Quilt Con, the first international Modern Quilt Show and conference to be presented by the Modern Quilt Guild here in Austin in February 2013. Before I could really get started, I had to familiarize myself with what constituted a modern quilt versus a contemporary quilt, so to speak. Herein lies the answer to a whole new wave of quilters that are emerging with a style of their own. Armed with a pallette consisting largely of solid colored fabrics including gray, these artists are creating classic design elements with bold graphics in mind. Some embrace a minimalist approach while others focus on negative space. Quilts may be pieced or appliqued. They may in fact involve the manipulation of traditional block patterns to accomodate a more modern feel.

In contrast, comtemporary quilt artists tend to embrace traditional design by using contemporary fabrics and color choices. A contemporary pallete is quite different as it employs tone on tone fabrics vs the solid colored Kona cotton pallette that is reminiscent of modern quilters. Contemporary quilt artists also work with a larger array of prints to convey texture. That being said, I found my modern pallette sorely lacking as I tend to stay away from solid colors. As a representational art quilter, blending is a huge part of my work. Even my solid colors are tone on tone or marbelized to allow for easier transition from one fabric to another. So off to my local quilt shop, I went. Time Travel is my response to the new modern quilt movement. This piece measures 19" X 24" and was inspired from a personal challenge to work in a different style than I am normally accustomed to.  I have learned alot from this exercise. First, I found that working with this pallete is harder than you might think! Secondly, the representational artist in me still managed to escape as I found myself thinking of this design as a portal of doorways, each with a new horizon, each representing the past, present and future with connections along the way. Crazy, I know! Sometimes, I find that no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to shake the desire of seeing something realistic in an otherwise abstract piece. I have observed this phenomenon in other artists as well. It’s always funny to see what is most predominant in our work. Lastly, I found this was a great exercise in learning to let go and challenging myself to stretch and grow in new directions. And that is always a good thing! I hope you enjoyed this post and I encourage you to visit some of the artists from Off the Wall Friday hosted by Nina Marie at http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com/ . Thanks for stopping by!

Dinner at Eight Artists Celebrate “Rituals” Exhibit in Houston

Welcome, today is my first blogpost for Off the Wall Friday hosted by Nina Marie at http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com/ . I think it is a great way of connecting with other artists and the community. And speaking of community, I am honored to be a part of Dinner at Eight Artists. What a fabulous group of women! This month, we gathered together in Houston to celebrate the new “Rituals” exhibit. Pictured above are Jeannie Palmer Moore, Judy Coates Perez, Barb Forrister, Susan Brubaker Knapp, Rachel Parris, Leslie Tucker Jenison, Jamie Fingal, Gayle Simpson, Loris Bogue, Sue Bleiweiss, Frances Holliday Alford and Lyric Kinard. This photo was taken after our interview with Bonnie Lynn McCaffrey at the International Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas.

  
Microphones for some reason always make me nervous but somehow Bonnie was able to put me at ease with her warm and inviting manner. Not to mention I am one of her biggest fans. I absolutely love her work! Following the interviews, we posed for a group photo. Our sponsor, Havel’s Scissors was there and I got a chance to check out their fabulous products. I will be blogging about this soon but for now, let me say that this exhibit was fantastic and in my mind, our best, yet. Later, that evening, we met up for dinner at yep, you got it, 8. So much fun to catch up with each other and discuss plans for next year. We also received news that Rituals has been invited to exhibit at the Open European Championship in the Netherlands next spring. Yay! How fun! Have to say, sometimes, I am so envious of my quilts and the places they travel. Speaking of travel, I bid you to visit Nina’s blog and some of the other artists featured on Off the Wall Friday. Stop by and leave a comment. We would love to hear from you!

Peacock Series Using Twinkling Waters by Luminarte

I am so delighted to be chosen as a guest artist on Creative Imaginations , Luminarte blog. While in Houston at the International Quilt Festival, I came upon this fabulous booth with the most beautiful paints in every nook and cranny. I knew it was a very very dangerous place for me to be but still I could not help myself, especially when I noticed the sets of Twinkling H20s! You may recall that I have been using these luscious, shimmering waters  in my peacock series. What a fabulous way to impart luminescence to those wonderfully, majestic peacock feathers! Twinkling Water's shimmering watercolors are composed of pigment intense, mica infused watercolors and come in a variety of colors. They can be mixed with one another to provide even more options. Wow! Who knew they had so many colors?! Luminarte has also come up with a line of Silks, Acrylic Glaze paints that are full bodied, creamy, shimmering paints. I knew, I just had to try some. My favorite colors included Boysenberry, Nutmeg, Mallard Green, Rich Cobalt, Sunburst, Ginger Peach, Pretty Peridot and Honey Amber. I will be heading up to the studio, soon to try these out on yet another  peacock piece and will be blogging about them soon! And last but not least, I purchased a Copper Pearl Pen that is a 3dimensional paint. These come in a multitude of colors and are so much fun! I have yet to try the Bare Elements sparkling powders but they look most intriguing! To find out more about their products, please visit  http://creativeimaginations.typepad.com/luminarte_paints/ .

Sunrise Serenade and Primavera

 

The Gift of the Magi

 

Open Studios Sponsored by Craftsy at International Quilt Festival

I am back from Houston and finally getting a chance to blog about it. Wow, what an experience! On Thursday, I had the distinct pleasure of being one of 4 artists to open up for Open Studios sponsored by Craftsy.com at the International Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas. I was scheduled from 10-12 to demonstrate 3Dimensional flowers. I had just created 4 new flower patterns including irises, cala lilies and two new surprise flowers for this event. This year's Open Studios was moved from the vendor section of the show to Main Street near the Food Court. This was a fantastic decision made by Chief Creative Officer, Patricia Chatham Bolton at Quilts, Inc. I have been doing Open Studios for three years and never have I seen so much traffic. What a terrific idea! Yay, Pokey! You're a genius! In 2 hours, I had completely run out of business postcards. Crazy, I know but the traffic was phenomenal!

Open Studios is one of my favorite things at festival. I love seeing friends, meeting new people and sharing my work with others. This year was the best, yet! I did a second session of Open Studios on Friday from 12-2 and the crowds had grown even more. I think people really enjoyed seeing the demo and the new patterns were a hit!

If you missed out on all the fun and are interested in taking a class, please visit http://www.freespiritartstudio.blogspot.com/p/workshops.html for more information.