quilt challenge-52 cards in a year

Week 22

I chose flowers again for this weeks challenge card.   This time I have experimented with  layering and used buttons to explore the theme.

I began by putting a fine black netting over the back fabric and sewed pockets for each button to go inside.  The yo yo puff I also layered in netting and put more buttons inside the layers.  I then attached the puff to the backing fabric and machine quilted the card together.

I love the richness of this piece and how you get a sneaky little look at the buttons through the netting.

Quilting sketchbooks

A long with my new filing system I have started to set aside time each day to use my sketchbook.  This has been something I have wanted to do for a long time but have never seemed to have got around to it.  I am going to start with my personal journal and make this into my art journal.

After reading The decorated page by Gwen Diehn I have made up 2 wee origami star boxes for layout ideas and processes to try in the journal.  Before each page I draw one slip of paper out from each box.



Each evening before bed I will do the messy wet part I.E. painting,  inking etc.  Then in the morning when it is all dry I do the journalling and drawing part.  I'm finding this is working quite well.

Here are a couple of my pages.

Challenge yourself to become creative with journalling...I would love to hear how it goes.

 

quilt challenge-52 cards in a year

Week 21

I have learnt how to make paper fabric .  A very interesting technique.  I love how this idea supports recycling and still comes out with awesome results.

2 artists that I love are Kelli Perkins  http://ephemeralalchemy.blogspot.com/ and Beryl Taylor  http://www.beryltaylor.com/index.php they use this technique in their work.  I learnt the techniques after viewing a workshop by Beryl and after reading Stitch alchemy by Kelli Perkins.  It involves layering scraps of paper and tissues on fabric and gluing them in place.  Then paint is added and further surface design can be added.  I then add stitch as the final layer.

This piece is a reflection of flowers and leaves.  The background is quilted in a leaf and frong patterns.  The flowers are made from air dry clay and then gold is rubbed on top.

quilt challenge-52 cards in a year

Week 20

This small art work is an exploration of contrasting colour and layering fabric.

It was made from machine quilted cotton fabric,  coloured with shiva paint sticks and stitched together with embroidery floss.  The little koru was made with air dry clay and oil paint sticks rubbed onto it.

I was inspired by the paua shell colours and patterns and the koru/frong on a ponga fern tree.  A beautiful tree found in the bush of New Zealand.

quilt challenge-52 cards in a year

Week 19

This card is an exploration of different colours of thread creating a 3D effect.  I used a very broad colour palette,  working from dark blue to yellow to create the effect of a globe. 

My inspiration was the sun.  From the earth it all looks one colour but when you look at it closer it is so much more.  I used paint sticks to emphasise the shape more.

quilt challenge-52 cards in a year

Week 18

This card in an exploration of the colours of a paua shell.  A beautiful shell found on the coasts of New Zealand.  I also have made a clay pendant from air dry clay.  A wonderful product which is very easy to use,  paint and varnish.

I machine quilted the background and heavily layered paint sticks over the quilted base.  The second rectangle is a piece of hand made fabric.  It is made from scraps of wool roving's and fabrics and the hand embroidered to the back ground.  The clay pendant was sculpted,  had a stamp pressed into it,  then painted and varnished.

I really love this card.  It really captures the essence of a paua shell and reminds me so much of all the many hours spent as a child and adult rock pooling at the beach.

quilt challenge-52 cards in a year

Week 17

I am very behind on my cards, so this week you will get 4 completed ones and next week, 2 so that I am back on track to getting my whole 52 cards completed by the 12 months is up.  I am going to try to not get this behind again.

This week was an exploration of stitch onto already quilted and coloured fabric.

I used cotton fabrics,  threads and paint sticks to do this card. 

I was inspired by a onion cut in half.  I this fruit and veges can hide some very interesting pattens inside to explore.



Quilting folders

I have a file box that I have been filing all my articles,  inspirational pictures and other art work in.  Although this meant I have everything together in one place I find I am not using anything in the box.  It takes to long to find anything so I don't use it.

 I also have quite a few ring binders with notes and things in from my studies I did with City and Guilds in London.  These weren't working either as it was a hodgepodge of ideas and took a lot of sifting through.

 

While reading Lyric Kinard's new book Art+Quilt   http://www.lyrickinard.com/  I had a brain wave on how to sort all my creative filing out.  In her book she talks about making a sample file of design practice and quilting samples.  I thought I could do that  and add to that very easily.  She also has a  card design game to help get the creative juices flowing.  This got me thinking about how I could set up my filing system to support this idea.....hmmmmmmmmm  this possibilities.......

So I pulled out all my files and began to sort through them.  I found that a lot of stuff I had kept I didn't want any more.  I have put those in a folder and I will give these to the local guild or second hand shop.  The rest I have sorted into these categories  Subject/topic,  techniques/methods,  finished patterns,  drawings and collages,  notes ( taken from books or observations) and samples (of new experimentation or techniques).  I have made sub files inside some folders IE.  Subject-animals,  architecture,  cultural etc.

 

From this I am going to design 7 bags to pull out a slip of paper from. 

1. Time to complete the top
2. Time to complete the quilting
3. Topic or subject
4. Technique or method to explore
5. Material to include in this sample IE coloured pencils, or crayons
6. A principle of design IE unity,  proportion  (in Lyric's book Art+Quilt) http://www.lyrickinard.com/
7. An element of art IE Colour,  line,  shape  (in Lyric's book Art+Quilt)   http://www.lyrickinard.com/

So when I start a experimental sample I can draw a piece of paper from all 7 bags or just a few as a beginning point for a piece of work.

Now all my files are easily assessable and usable.  I can now find it much easier to get information for experimental work and my research for new art work.

Agricultural day over

Agricultural day went well.  The boys both performed to the best of their abilities and we came home with a couple of ribbons.  I spent the day being the queen fairy and face painted for 3 hours!      I had a lot of fun bringing joy to children's faces.   We had lovely weather too which is always a good bonus.  I have now done 13 Agricultural days and it only rained at the first one.  This is nothing short of miraculous in Auckland as we are well known to have all 4 seasons in one day especially in spring.

Spring normally makes me feel like cleaning everything and creating and beginning anew.  This year though I feel just very tired as I still am going to need sometime to fully bounce back after being sick last term.  So what can I do to motivate myself and to get energy to get back into creativity

1. Eat well
2. Take any multi vitamins I think I may need.  Remembering short term use as they are still medicine.
3. Drink plenty of fluids.
4. Pace myself.
5. Get up early
6. Get plenty of sleep
7. Prepare everything for the day before school begins
8. Have a tidy and organised studio..........work in progress.  Nothing depletes energy more than mess
9. Set small projects
10. Read about creative things
11. Catch up on UFOs and my well overdue cards for my challenge
12. Watch a QA television DVD http://www.quiltingarts.com/content/QuiltingArtsTV.aspx
13. Do a QA workshop DVDhttp://www.quiltingarts.com/media/g/qaworkshops/default.aspx
14. Go to a class
15. Teach a class
16. Relax as much as possible

life goes on

I've had such a hectic 8 days that my blogging has been slow in coming.  Sorry!!!  Let me fill you in on my happenings.

This time of the year in rural New Zealand is what we call Agricultural day.  Ours is this Saturday.  Children at our school raise an animal or do a agricultural themed project.  As we are dairy farmers we do calves.  Everyday for 12-16 weeks.  Daily the calf has to be feed (milk and meal) ,  walked around a special course and groomed. 

The children love it......the adults struggle through it.   This is the one time I come very close to bribing children. On top of this the school still send home daily homework,  wants indoor exhibit materials,  helpers to run the day, etc.   So I had very great planning when I scheduled a major children church event for this week.  (I need to check the calendar more .........)   So the last few weeks have been a little stressful and very time starved to say the least.   I have also noticed after being sick I am tiring very easily.

Well hope fully after Saturday I will be back on top of things and routines in our house will get back to normal.

Photography-Recording information

Photography is an great way to record information.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words. 

I use photography to record objects of value that are hard to store  or have been damaged and can't be kept.  i.e.  memorabilia,  art of my children,  the broken wedding present etc.  This following photo is a record of very well worn scripture case.  It was falling to bits and stained and past being kept but I wanted a record of the case that I had made myself in my early teens and used everyday for so many years.  It was like saying goodbye to an old and faithful friend.

I also record important events like every child's first day at a new school.  I take the photos in the same spot to record the growth of each child.

It is a good way record creative work that I have completed.  Like cakes I have made for special people in my life.  Not only does this help recall information about a specific day but it keeps a catalogue of work in case I decide one day to become a full time cake decorator. 



It also helps me to record information for a future project.  I am still lucky enough to be able to use photography at our city's museum and because I have children with me when I make these trips it is the only way to quickly record information.  This following dress caught my eye for its beautiful embroidery.   It is a pattern I would like to develop for a piece of future work.

I doesn't need to be complicated just point and click.  I have been grateful to have recorded this information for my own personal records and interest.



My mother and child quilt

I have finished my mother and child quilt .  I have named it My wee one.  

I knew how I wanted the Mother and baby to be quilted on this piece but really struggled to come up with and idea for the skirt and background. 

I quilted lines around the mother and baby's face,  clothes and hands.  I quilted the wavy hair.

In the skirt I quilted flowers on all the red painted parts and then thought that was enough until it wouldn't all sit flat when I put the quilt together.  So I added circles around the flowers and put an arch filler in in between the circles.

I originally thought spirals would be great in the background but when I placed the design on the back it wasn't enough of a contrast.  So I tried a square geometric design which gave a wonderful contrast. 

I am thrilled with how this art work came out.  I think it really tells the story of the relationship between a mother and child.  Now for my next people quilt..........