Changing Platforms

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Lisa's Mug Rug

Lisa took my free motion quilting class at The Sewing Machine Exchange earlier this month. I love seeing student projects--and this one is terrific--love the design and the fabric with the bird is so great. Look it up! A small project like this is a perfect opportunity to practice new skills. Go quilt!

Today's Project

A friend has a number of embroideries done by her mother. She gave me this one:

And asked me to make her a tote bag. I had these:

Design opportunities presented themselves, like using the waistband for a strap and adding a pocket to the inside.

The finished product, a very usable tote bag, which made my friend happy.

More Trees

This past weekend I took my bag of scraps and various other supplies to Augusta for the bi-monthly Art Quilts Maine meeting. I had been asked to teach my Tree Bits technique to the group. With only a couple of hours, we had time to get the trees from conception to adding tulle. Once the tulle was in place, people could carry their trees home without fear of losing all those tiny scraps! Photos of trees in progress have begun showing up on our Facebook page and in my email. I wanted to share a few here--isn't it wonderful how diverse they are!

Celeste's tree with thread painted branches

Jane made two trees! And created a lakeside scene

Laura's tree casts a lovely shadow on the snow covered ground

Such a fun group to work with--I hope to see many more completed trees soon! 

Stacked Coins Class

Stacked Coins is the name of the quilt pattern we worked on in this one-day beginner's class. A day of rotary cutting, chain piecing, pressing and sewing rows to strips resulted in completed baby sized quilt tops. Everyone went home with instructions on finishing the quilts. A follow up email included links to videos and tutorials on finishing techniques, from basting to binding. I hope everyone remembers to add a label! Joyce sent me a great photo, titled: My First Quilt. She even pieced her binding out of leftover fabrics. Love it!

 

In Conjunction with Dahlov Ipcar

The Portland Public Library recently hosted an exhibit of Dahlov Ipcar children's books. Ipcar would have been 100 this year, and the exhibit featured artwork from some of her best loved stories such as "The Calico Jungle" and "The Biggest Fish in the Sea". In conjunction with the exhibit, I was asked to do a fabric collage workshop in the children's library.

Surprisingly, people of all ages, from 4 to 74 stopped by during the 3-hour workshop and asked if they could participate. It was free flowing and hands on, with each person creating their own image--some abstract, others depicting a realistic scene which they were able to take with them. Here's a fun Big Fish!

In planning for the workshop, I created my own piece, "Stripes and Spots: Ode to Dahlov Ipcar" which we hung on an easel for the day. I love the way the animals play hide and seek with the patterned fabrics. Although the exhibit has ended, Art Quilts Maine still has a collection of pieces on display, also in the children's library. Wander on back!

I don't have a picture of the finished piece, but this is my ode to Dahlov Ipcar in progress.

Mixed Media Mashup

Art Quilts Maine 2017 Challenge, Mixed Media Mashup, is currently on tour in Maine! A dozen quilts developed in response to the challenge statement join another eight small portraits created by AQM artists. The parameters for Mixed Media Mashup were to incorporate two or more visual art media including painting, collage, photography or embellishments in a quilt that measured at least 100" in perimeter.

Several artists participated in the "portrait challenge", working to create a human portrait in a small format. Each portrait had to include a piece of dark red fabric. See if you can find the red fabric in each of the portraits pictured below! (Hint: bottom row center, the red fabric is used for a book cover.)

The exhibit is at Kimball St Studios in Lewiston through mid-November. It moves to the Portland Public Library for December and January. Or catch the show in Farmington this March and April.

Portrait Challenge Art Quilts Maine 2017