MOUNTAIN ART QUILTERS

So far, March has been a busy art filled month and will continue until the near the very end.  The Mountain Art Quilters (an offshoot Pod of SAQA - Studio Art Quilt Association), had a members only meeting where we were able to view Group A of SAQA'S Traveling Trunk Show.

By the time you get to the end of this post you'll want to see them for yourself.  Our group will be hosting a public display of these pieces on March 29th in Asheville....more details will be posted soon.  You'll want to mark your calendar if you are in this area because at the same location you'll be able to visit "Seasons of Green".  A contemporary art quilt exhibit presented by 19 members of the Mountain Art Quilters group of which I will have a piece on display.

Each of the 58 miniature masterpieces utilize a variety of materials, textures, and techniques. They are 10" x 7" and mounted on a black backing measuring 12" x 9".

I was delighted to see this stunning Ginkgo Leaf piece by Linda McLaughlin, a blog buddy who creates the most amazing hand stitched art.  Check out her work here.

To wet your appetite....the following are samples of the mini pieces in this trunk show....credits provided, click to enlarge.

 

 

Again....watch for my post with details where to see two great contemporary art quilt shows.  (Or email me for details if you can't wait!!)

FIBER JUNKIES MARCH MEETING - PART 2

Our show and tell was a little sparse this month.....but Denny as usual had been hard at work.....sandwiching 14 tops that had been shared with us in previous months.

 She quilted two.....this one was done on 3 different machines.....standard home machine, mid-arm (Sweet Sixteen) and her newest mid-arm with movable head....sorry I didn't catch the name of the model.

 I love a good scrap quilt.....and was so impressed with her quilting.....choosing to quilt the pattern, rather than an all over-motif.

 Quilt back.

 This month's focus was lino block carving.  We met at Judy's.....and as always she had all the supplies on hand and organized.  

 Besides having a variety of precut lino to use (from Dick Blick), and blocks of 'easy carve' (feels like soft eraser material), Denny added some interesting dense Styrofoam that required only a pencil or stylist to mark.

I had watched numerous you-tube tutorials before hand and came away with a few tips to guide me.  (1.) soften the lino (covered with a towel and warm iron) to make carving easier.  (2.) to prevent the material from moving around too much use a special metal tray with a back wall and a overlap on the front that secures it to a table.  I tried to find an example to post a photo for you, but it evaded me. AND..... since I didn't have one, I brought a small short lipped cookie sheet and a small terry towel to put it on (as seen above).  It worked fine and helped to keep my fingers away from holding onto to the top as I carved.

 I worked with a very narrow cutting blade fitted on this Speedball cutting tool.   Just to get a feel of what I was doing, I started with small straight lines. 

 After feeling like I had some control, I transferred a design I'd drawn with the aid of transfer paper and did this piece.  I knew only the smooth areas would print....but had hoped it would still be interesting.  For my first attempt it was too daunting to carve any more than what you see.  (A mistake on my part!!)

 Thick print ink was applied to Plexiglas with a hard roller....when distributed nicely, it was rolled onto the lino.

......it was covered with a cloth previously printed with dyed shaving cream...and burnished with the back of a large spoon to transfer the ink/design.

And again and again......the images only got worse.....  Next time I will carve the background instead!  I was aware it takes practice to get good prints.....oh ya....so true.

This is one of Denny's Styrofoam blocks that carved like butter.

And the print....isn't it nice? 

Judy marked this with just a stylist..... 

The print is Denny's as she had done one too.....printed twice...black and red inks.  Those that worked with this material found that it started to disintegrate, leaving debris when printed on fabric.

As usual, a fun and productive day was had by all.....of course I have dozens more photos....but you get the idea so I'll stop with these.  Why not grab one or more of your fiber buddies and make a day of it carving your own designs?

FIBER JUNKIES MARCH MEETING - PART 1

This month was a very special meeting......

As usual we started off with coffee/goodies/gossip and show and tell.  Gen shared these wonderful layered painted and stamped papers she created on deli-paper.  She's smitten with creating journals and all paper art. Given her talents....the end results are always special.

DRUM ROLL ----  We celebrated Gen's 90th birthday.  I've said so often, we all want to be like Gen when we grow up.  She is skilled at most any sewing/craft category.  She can still probably run circles around all of us....always cheerful, generous, and a great friend!

9 candles - one for each decade....we should all be so fortunate!

 Even though our group was and always will be capped at 6 members....we decided early on to only celebrate BIG birthdays...those that end in 0.  This being a really, really big 0, we pulled out the stops with some gift giving.  Denny made a gift bag from one of her complex cloth creations. 

 ......and filled it with this awesome collection of gel pens......it even had a section of refills for the pens.  Gen was over the moon with this useful gift!

 Knowing Gen's love of paper, Kate gave her an exquisite journal...filled with lovely paper and the most beautiful cover made from handmade paper embedded with flowers.

Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo of each gift....but do want to share what I had made for her by Shutterfly. Gen loves puzzles.....so I had a 520 piece jigsaw puzzle made from a photo taken at Val's 70th birthday (center with blue sweater).  A bittersweet memory because Val passed away at the end of January, but we all agree it was the perfect photo. 

Part 2 coming up next.......

PHOTO INSPIRED

My brother, his wife, and their grown children love the outdoors, especially the beach...whether that be in their home state of Oregon or their winter retreats in Mexico.  

A photo taken of their shadows as they strolled Sea Side Beach in Oregon inspired (with creative license) this wall art piece, recently gifted to them for their wedding anniversary.

'THEOBALDS AT SEASIDE BEACH' - 19" X 24"

Linking to:  Nina-Marie's Off The Wall Friday and Sarah's Whoop Whoop Friday.

DETERMINATION

Well....I'm not sure this is much better than the initial choices I was considering....but the top is finished, about 21" square.

Of course it needs to be squared, sandwiched and then the task of deciding on a quilting motif.....vertical or horizontal straight lines are my current thoughts.  

Stay tuned.......

INDECISION

Sometimes, despite how much fabric there is in your stash, nothing is right......  Listen to the quilt when it says, 'it's time to move on'.......but for a subborn quilter....that simply may not be possible!!!

ON A ROLL WITH NOTEBOOK COVERS

This wraps up the week of book cover making.....check out the previous posts to see more if you missed them.

Top two are indigo dyed wool.  Because this wool was high quality dress goods, it didn't felt....thus the edges unraveled easily.  Working with it in a larger format composition notebook allowed for adding a batik lining without becoming too bulky.

The three smaller ones are silk noil, mono-printed with acrylic paints and batik lined.

Each utilizes Ultra-suede scraps for the spines and closures......I knew I was saving them for something!

I've had numerous inquiries about purchasing these notebooks.....yes, they are for sale.  Email me using the link on the right side bar for details.

Linking to:  Nina-Marie's Off The Wall Friday and Sarah's Whoop Whoop Friday.

BLUEGRASS FUN

We look forward to the annual Bluegrass First Class Festival held in Asheville, NC every February.  We've been attending ever since we moved to the mountains in 2006 and have worked our way up to reserved first row seating.  A true treat for anyone attending any live music event.

 A mixture of new groups and ones that have played this venue every year come to entertain.  Besides not having to travel far for us to attend, the small showroom makes this long weekend intimate and so enjoyable.  The only negative that continues from year to year is the unpredictable February weather which impacts us since we travel back and forth from home.

However, it's totally worth the tense travel time on I40 getting to see my all time favorite group....The Seldom Scene which has been going strong since 1971.

One of the newcomers to Bluegrass is Carolina Blue.....and they are a local group from Bevard, NC.  We saw them several years ago and oh my...they took the house down this time.  New groups can take awhile to find their voice.....and they sure have!

Besides loving their music, I'm totally enamored with their new album cover....wondering if any of you followers recognize what it's portraying??  Shout out if you do.....I noticed it immediately.

 This is an event like no other since it's held indoors...most bluegrass festivals are outdoors.  Everywhere and I mean everywhere in this large hotel complex you'll find pickin' and singing.  There's even a small stage set up just off the hotel's lobby.

 Doors to hotel rooms are often left open for folks to jump in with their instruments for impromptu playing.  In fact the hallways are often so crowded with folks standing to peer into these rooms, it can be difficult to pass through.  All good!!!

I love how the organizers help perpetuate new generations of Bluegrass musicians....they invited this 6 year old boy on stage during one of the short breaks to play his fiddle.  Heartwarming!!

Next year will be the 25th anniversary of this festival......we can't wait.

CONTINUING ON.....ECO-PRINTED NOTEBOOK COVERS

My adventures into notebook cover making continues........

I returned home from my recent Arizona 'girlfriend' art camp with numerous eco-printed wool pieces.  Funny how strongly they were calling me to be turned into book covers.

It was a bit more challenging to work with this denser material.  Not surprising, I found it so much easier to create in a larger format, rather than the 

4 1/2" x 3 1/4" mini books.

Some of my large collection of Ultra-suede scraps I've been hoarding for years were utilized for the spines, flap trim, and tie closures.  Hummm.....am I done yet? Perhaps not.....now my indigo-dyed wool fabrics are waving at me.

FELT-WOOL MINI-NOTEBOOK COVERS

My wet felting wool supplies are now packed up as I shift my attention to making notebook covers.

Here's a look at one of the newest bowls that will be added to my inventory for sale.  My generous SIL gave me a nice collection of sea glass she'd gathered in her younger days along the shores of Lake Michigan where she grew up.  I've found them to be the perfect accent for these organic vessels.

The recent dive into making mini-notebook covers led me to eyeing a stack of felted wool fabrics that had been altered during the many Fiber Junkies play days.  This one features painted pine needle impressions.  The spine was made from an ice-dyed piece of bamboo/rayon felt.

This winter the FJ's worked with paint quite a lot.....printing fabrics with all sorts of tools and techniques.  As is often the case, I work with felted wool....which can be challenging due to the texture of the material. The marbled appearance of two of them was derived from a shaving cream printing session we had a couple of months ago.

Next I'll be digging into my stash of eco-printed felted wool....hoping I can find some pieces suitable for covers!