Center for Maine Craft

Alison and I met at the Center for Maine Craft located in the West Gardiner service plaza to hang the Art Quilts Maine exhibit. The Center is a high-traffic location--anyone travelling past Augusta goes right by, and a steady stream of people are in and out of the service plaza. Many take a break from their travels to enjoy (and maybe purchase) Maine crafts. The exhibit runs through July 31. The collection reappears later this year at Kimball St Studios in Lewiston, for the month of November. 

Quiltinis
Rana O'Connor

Six artists contributed to this collection. In addition to a few wall pieces (you can see my two Chairs on the back wall, for instance) I brought along a box full of Quiltini pins,a smaller item I developed and quickly got addicted to making earlier this year. Each pin is crafted from bits of quilted fabric sealed with a satin stitch. Then the fun begins! Embellishments include beads, glitter, stamps, rhinestones, paint and found objects.

Chairs, Chairs in July

While developing a workshop for an August class at Sewing by the Sea in Trenton, I made several versions of Adirondack chairs. These two proved to be too small to be manageable for students. So fussy! Such tiny pieces! I never throw things away though--even if I never use them again, bits and pieces from old projects are pinned to the design wall as visual reminders, like the trial wine glasses for 'Mom and Aunti Jean Play Gin'. (The ones on the quilt are the second pair, created after the experiments on how to make it look like the glasses had wine in them.) Coincidentally, I had two green squares from an exercise in perspective also pinned to the design wall. Put the two together and 'Voila!' Just loved them! A little thread paint and quilting later, mounted on stretched canvas, and the two are nearly ready to hang at the Center for Maine Craft exhibit that begins July 2, featuring several artists from Art Quilts Maine. Swing by the Center if you are out and about this July--it's in the West Gardiner travel plaza where 295 meets 95, so you pretty much have to go by it if you travel past Augusta. Starbucks, rest rooms and Maine crafts--what a concept!

Old Fort Johnson

What a lovely day we had at Old Fort Johnson near Amsterdam, NY on Saturday! We started the day with quilt historian Kris Driessen, who brought many antique quilts to illustrate her discussion of dating and appraising quilts. She was very informative, talking about various fabrics a historian looks for to help date a quilt, such as double pink, or turkey red, and sharing some little known facts that we New England quilters take for granted. For example, quilts designed for four poster beds are an east coast phenomenon--western families did not have four poster beds, so that unique shape is unknown to them. Likewise, shirting fabrics were commonly brought home as cut-aways from shirt factories and mills found mostly in New England. The best part? Kris allowed us to pass her quilts and tops around to handle and examine the fabrics, note the stitching, admire the rich colors. After a grand picnic on the lawn (it was a gorgeous day and one of the women brought a to-die-for chocolate cake) we reassembled for my trunk show. I brought a baker's dozen art quilts--including the unfinished Honu. Like Kris, I enjoy letting others handle my quilts and discuss details of technique and style choices. We worked our way from Back Bay Winter, completed in 2006, to the present. I brought some of my Quiltini Pins--you can see my post on them here. Once I got started making them I found it hard to stop--I get more ideas as I work. I think I've made nearly 100 so far. They were a hit at the gift store!

Finito!

Friendship, Maine

Done, with a week to spare! Well, except for the label. I printed it out, so it is drying. Oh, and dotting the i's on the quilted names of places in Friendship. All that will have to wait til after the weekend. But this quilt is going with me to Amsterdam (upstate New York, that is!)

I've been invited to be part of a day-long quilt workshop at Old Fort Johnson, titled "From Antique to Art Quilts: Quilting as Artistic Expression." The Fort has a new exhibit, "Pieced in Time: Antique Quilts from Montgomery County" that I am really looking forward to seeing--if I bring white gloves do you think they will let me handle the quilts?

On Saturday morning, quilt historian Kris Driessen will present an hour and a half lecture on the influence fabric, economics, politics and other factors had on early quilts. I am on after lunch, with a trunk show of about a dozen art quilts. I'll try to tie my discussion in to Kris' a bit, and talk about the tools, fabrics and techniques that influenced the modern quilt revival, and have made art quilts (and a wide variety of other styles) so popular. Should be fun!

Progress?

Friendship, Maine 2013

Deadline looming so I should get going on the major construction bits still to be completed. I think I am finally done fiddling with the photos. Here is the original photo, and the print on fabric, embellished with thread, colored pencil and glitter. For all the time I put into enhancing this photo, I hope the finished piece is dramatic enough without going over the top. I don't think I am in danger of going over the top though--my issue is generally too much attention to details that no one but me ever notices! The flowers are thread-painted. Foliage, chairs, even the water and sky are hand colored with Prismacolor pencils. I added glitter to the water to mimic the effect of sunlight bouncing off the surface--it is blinding in person, standing on the shore squinting at the water--I'd love that effect to come through. If I can get this quilted this weekend, I think I have a shot at finishing the binding, label and hanging sleeve before the June meeting. Onward!

Friendship, Maine photo on fabric

Threadpainting the Day Away

Threadpainted Letters

Memorial Day Weekend was quieter than expected. We cancelled our BBQ because my husband came down with a nasty cold so we were hanging out at home. Which suited me well enough, as it gave me time to make progress on the challenge quilt. Here is a shot of the background.

I probably figured out the most tedious way possible to get words on this background. About half way through I thought, "most people are going to look at this and assume I used an embroidery machine to make the letters." But no. I went super old school. Printed words on tracing paper, cut and arranged them on the background. Held the paper in place with a little spray glue (the same 505 I use to baste my quilts) and outlined each word free motion, then tore away the paper, filled in each letter with variegated thread, then on to the next word. And, because I didn't have enough of the variegated thread I started with, I bought a second, slightly different thread, and randomly changed threads at various points along the way.

My first thought was that I wanted the words to be truly in the background. I layered the quilt with batting and backing before starting the letters. About a third of the way through I decided I'd rather have the letters not sink in so far. So, I separated the batting and backing and pinned it out of the way, pinned a tear away stabilizer behind the quilt top and went back to work, outlining and filing in each word. I would not normally switch techniques like that mid-quilt. I wonder how noticeable it will be in the final analysis? Whether it turns out to be horribly noticeable, neutral, or a brilliant design decision won't matter though. If it is a challenge, I decided I must be unafraid to experiment.

In the spirit of this piece, that started with a title and dimensions and has taken shape as I've gone along, I still have several technical issues to solve before it will be complete. I wish I could say it was going to be magical when it gets done, but this one has its own ideas!

New Work

Friendship, Maine 2013

Life sometimes gets in the way of keeping up with my blog--when time is short, I'd rather be quilting than blogging! Things are hopefully settling down for a bit.

At the Art Quilts Maine meeting in April, I had to submit the title and dimensions of my challenge piece for this year's challenge: "Ocean, Lake, River, a piece inspired by a body of water." We've known what the challenge was since September, but all I knew in April was that my piece would be inspired by this photo. So, I gave it a name and came up with dimensions, and have spent the last month creating the quilt to go with the size and title. Working backwards did add to the challenge! It's not done yet, but it is coming along--hopefully will have it ready to go for the June meeting, when we are to reveal the quilts. Along the way my initial design idea completely morphed, but it is still true to the submitted name. That's what I'm working on. I also think I know how I am going to finally finish Honu--which I will exhibit at Maine Quilts in July, so that's on the back burner.

I've been invited to do a trunk show at Fort Johnson in upstate New York--alongside a display of historic quilts. I am looking forward to that! I plan to bring my quilt pins along in case people want to purchase something that day--I think I'll call them 'Quiltini's'. More classes on the horizon as well, including one in Trenton, about two-an-a-half hours north, but it comes with the offer to stay at the store owner's camp, a little side adventure. I'll send out an announcement as soon as dates are confirmed.

Now back to quilting!