5th quilt

I love the open spaces, green fields with a big blue sky above. But summer is over and the grasses are turning into their pale winter colors. Here is my tribute to that.
Background is made from different ice cube dyed fabrics. The shape of the grass is discharged. This turned out way too subtle so I painted it with a golden Lumiere.

Patchy Road. 
Well here we are - finished at last.  this piece really does have the most hand quilting I have ever done in a single piece.  Having taken the decision to cut back on teaching workshops I was going through some old workshop samples  - UFO's - call them what you will.  The main fabric (Wax print again!) I've had for a long time - and started working with it probably somewhere around 5 years ago.  It had got as far as being a square piece about twice this size.  I love the fabric - generally liked what I had done - but had never got any further.  What was really neat was being able to use our size ruling to give me permission to cut it up!  When I've shown it to a couple of people (Alison being one of them) the immedaite reaction to the patchwork strips was that this was the road/s I am travelling - don't think either of them meant it to be' patchy' - but in the end that 's what I 've decided it is - as my efforts at getting things done is indeed very patchy!  But as Alison said - the blue 'burst' is 'bursting with ideas!'  or words to that effect...

'Juglans'

For many years I have had the fabric and the botanical drawings to make a quilt based on the 'Juglans Regia' or the Walnut Tree but I was well and truely 'blocked'! A friend suggested I enlarge the drawings, which I did and I was inspired. Not wanting to use the materials I had saved I looked into my stash of black, white and red fabrics. I hand appliqued using freezer paper and quilted by hand and by machine. I embellished the piece with glass and metal beads. This is the result, Voyage No.5.

Rather early but my group QUARKE has an exhibition coming up in November and I need to make more quilts!

                                                                             



Just a Little Bit Behind Now!

One of the things I love about travelling in Europe in spring and summer is the poppies. They remind me of my  childhood in the Netherlands when I played in the wheat fields on the farm where we lived. The wheat was laced with bright red poppies and I remember picking them to take home and then being disappointed because the flower wilted the next day. I still love poppies though I have learnt not to pick them- and my photo files contain many wonderful images of poppies that i have taken on my travels. I will stop the car to photograph drifts of poppies. I was in heaven  when I lived in France for a year and poppies were part of my daily walk- I couldn't get enough of them.

It's where I long to be again and so at the moment I am suffused in pieces about poppies and poppy variations. However the size I had been making was too large for  the dimensions for voyageart so I made one the right size- I think it's my favourite yet- but then red and orange are the colours of my soul.

My Jerusalem

In July our national guild celebrated its 20^th Anniversary and that was a good reason to have our annual summer workshops in Jerusalem with teachers from abroad. This is how I had a chance to meet Gillian Travis and have a 2-days workshop called "Jerusalem Townscape". I made my Jerusalem at this workshop and was very happy to experienced new techniques. This is my 4^th milestone in the Voyage journey.

 

Shoshi Rimer

Reiki

Well, it is finally finished. I have never had a piece be this difficult and I am not sure yet if I am happy about it.

The idea came from a Reiki course I did in May, and we talked about the Chakras and their colours. I had been working with squares and triangles in my embroideries and wanted to continue that idea, but in a different way. When I plotted it out on paper (and I really never do this), it seemed to work great and I liked the result. I had this rich deep green rayon velvet that I got for another project that I wanted to use. I also wanted to incorporate the beads and some of my copper foil. So by the end of May, I knew what I wanted to do.

So I had the basic idea. Then the problems started. I wanted the coloured squares to have a metalic sheen to reflect the copper, but didn't know how to create this, and I would need 7 colours. This held me up for a long time, until I got to Vancouver, and thought of ribbon. I managed to find a shiny ribbon in all the colours I needed. Then I just had to figure out how to turn them into tiny 1 inch squares. I sewed the slippery ribbon over cardboard squares, and when I figured out how to do it on the bias, voila, it worked.

So, I basted on the basic gridand and started to attach the squaares onto the velvet. I hadn't wored with velvet for ages, and as a friend says, it creeps. Nothing stayed straight no matter how much I pinned, basted, or anything. So, instead of my very structured piece, I ended up with this. I am happy that I found foil in different colours, and the lurex threads were great.  I think it will grow on me and I am sure that I will be MUCH looser in my next piece.

School is started, and we are working hard on pattern and design. I hope it helps in future work.

Wings

 

At last number 4 is done and this one also has a story:

Our son Alex is taking a "gap" year to work until February and then to travel. Africa is featuring strongly in his plans. Whilst looking at his Madagascar "Lonely Planet" I saw a photograph of baskets. I have always loved African baskets and used to have quite a selection when I still lived in South Africa. So I decided to paint the picture using fabric paints on cotton and then did some free motion sewing. My mother-in-law used to say that you raise your kids and teach them to fly, but you should also allow them to use the wings you gave them. So this quilt is for Alex - fly out into the world, explore, enjoy and please return safely.

 

I Miss The Snow

Most of you don't really know me yet but this is one bit of insight...I was born and reared in Texas but I HATE heat!!! Can barely survive anything over 75F. Thankfully I was rescued 38 years ago by this handsome Minnesota dude. While some Texas traits remain...I am pretty well transplanted in Minnesota. LOVE the winter and LOVE the snow. Temps here this summer broke records and I rarely ventured out of the house (thank heaven for AC in the van!) Weeks in the 90s is when this piece was born.  The title is "I Miss The Snow". I know it is a lot to ask of an art quilt...to bring back vivid enough memories of several feet of snow and temps below freezing to vanquish the oppresive heat...but I had high hopes. And to some extent it does give me hope. At least living in Minnesota (aka the Frozen Tundra) I know winter and cold WILL come eventually. I long for the first nip in the air, the promise that fall brings of the cold, refreshing winter beauty soon to come. So I wait..........

The background is white dupioni silk quilted in a snowflake pattern with silver metallic thread. The snowballs are circles of muslin with layers of scrim, lace, cording, knotted fabric and mulberry cloth hand-stitched onto it. Then the circles were appliqued to the quilt and then painted with White Pearl Lumiere and white acrylic paint. The finishing touch was to stitch some white iridescent beads onto each snowflake. Is it just me or is it getting just a bit chilly in here??????

I MISS THE SNOW

Kelly Hendrickson

I MISS THE SNOW - detail

Minnesota USA



"In Remembrance of Dead Lions"

The Masai are famous the world over for their exotic dress, beaded adornment and for their traditional way of life. There is, however, a negative side to this. Traditionally pastoralists, the Masai own huge numbers of domestic amimals. The human/wildlife conflict has become an increasing problem in Kenya as both fight for precious grazing. Recently, on the outskirts of Nairobi, six lions were killed by Masai in retaliation for the killing, by the lions, of a few of their animals. There are estimated to be only 2,000 lions left in Kenya and they are in danger of becoming extinct in the near future.

I wanted to convey my sadness over this senseless slaughter of these majestic animals. Instead of using bright Masai beads I painted the traditional necklaces. The painted back ground represents the blood shed. Spears were the weapons used to kill the lions. The photograph of one of the dead lions was sourced from a local newspaper and printed onto fabric. The Tartan fabric is traditionally used by the Masai.