Under the surface 2

Used a photograph of pebbles in a riverbed in sunlight for this piece - the stones looked very much like quartz pebbles and I have tried to capture their texture in this piece. Similar techniques to first piece -the background of white Pima cotton was dyed and overdyed then discharged and dye painted ( with unthickened dye) over the top. Used some wax aquarelle sticks as well to try to get the texture correct then stitched the quilting lines on after. Whilst I am happy that I have created more a feeling of depth in the piece - I have lost some of the luminous feel of the first piece. I will keep trying! but I am off to Veldhoven this evening so this piece must get posted before the end of the month.

Leaves # 2

 

My second quilt focus on printed leaves. It's a piece of African fabric I bought from Magie.

I quilted the background leaves and applique the tree with leaves.

 

Shoshi



Ophelia Submerged

To me, water remains full of mystery. Water is not just a liquid; it is mist, cloud, tea and tears. There is the flow of water, the colours, the way it creates reflections, its symbolism. Water remains inspiring and a symbol to me of intuition and creativity

The image Ophelia Submerged, shot by my friend Jason Tice of Geoectomy Photography, grabbed my imagination immediately, but it took time before I could find a medium that I could work with. I hope her sorrow and mystery come through.

I printed her using bubblejet set, then quilted her. 

 

Bamboo No. 2

For the second in my "Bamboo" Series, I chose to work with the bamboo stalks.  The straight lines of the stalks intersected by the bands to which the leaves were attached makes for an interesting graphic effect.  I enjoyed working with the different colored fabrics to achieve a sense of depth.  The yellow "sun" in the background is in anticipation of our approaching Arizona summer.

Instruction Sheet

Instruction Sheet

For this second piece, I have succeeded in keeping to the set of fabric I chose in January. The background is randomly placed pieces of the palest fabric, fused down onto cotton wadding and free motion quilted. The words “cut, sew and quilt” were drawn on the deep orange, cut out, fused down and outlined with random zig-zag.

I have used the letters from VOYAGE on the left edge to demonstrate the three words, two for each action. So the V and O are cut and just fused, the Y and A are fused and sewn with invisible thread and the G and E are fused, sewn down and quilted with echo quilting. Not so easy to see on the photo but you can see on the real thing!

It is sitting happily next to the first quilt on my design wall and now onto the next. However I have fractured my pelvis in a skiing accident so am somewhat incapacitated at the moment. That should teach me, and at my age too!!

Indian Textiles

Here is my next quilt in the series inspired by Ethnic Textiles. This time it is India

There is something about seeing a pile of textiles in a a market that I love. Carpets in Morocco, Kelims in Turkey and bits of textiles in India. I seem to have a large collection of these photos.

I wanted to make my quilt look like a pile of textiles which proved to be quite a challenge. I padded each row.

I have used screen printing, block printing and stencilling to make the individual "quilts".
The cowrie shells and buttons are screen printed. I added a little hand stitching.

Here is one of the photos I took in a shop in India

I want to try to make a much larger version of this for the Contempoary Quilt Group Challenge - Horizon, to be displayed at Festival of Quilts in August

Gillian

I

I 

At the pond

Here is my second quilt with the theme trees. This time blossom trees next to a pond - hoping that spring will come at last :-). At the moment I am taking an online class with Katie PM and decided to use the first assignment for this group as well. Because it is a class piece there were requirements which otherwise I would not have used. For instance on top of the 6 colors of the background all colors of the 3 (12 step) color wheels had to be used. More colors than I would normally have used. All colors are hand dyed. To attach the snippets of fabric which are the blossoms I attached each one with a seed bead. The other option would have been to cover them with tulle and stitch through that, but that would have had an effect on the color.

'MIRAGE'

 

 

I have decided to use my Indigo fabrics as my series for this year. Some I have acquired, others I dyed myself during one of Magie Relph's classes.

 

 The background fabric was folded and secured with paper clips before dying. The result was a linear, watery, reflecting effect. I fused and machine appliqued the suns and the moons. The piece was bisected with a vegetable dyed fabric to represent the desert. I embroidered the out line of the Tuareg and camels then painted them with acrylic paint.  The sun rays were quilted using rayon thread.

 

Though the piece is predominately blue it is interesting how 'hot' it seems!   The small figures and the large eclipses emphasizes the vastness and loneliness of the desert.

 

The Tuareg are known as the 'blue men'. The indigo from the robes they wear impregnates their skin making it blue black.

 

 

 

 

 

 



The Wedding Guests

As a new member to the group I am excited about a series of new work. I have decided to take the theme 'People, Places and Patterns'. It is quite a big theme to tackle but I want to concentrate on featuring the people that I meet on my travels and adventures alongside the traditional patterns in the fabrics or architecture that pertain to those places.

The first piece that I have done is called 'The Wedding Guests'. I was in Goa and was accidentally invited into a wedding celebration in a temple.  The bride and groom were just getting their photographs taken. Then the mother of the bride and groom were invited into the picture. It is a serious business having your picture taken in India and this is reflected in the piece that I have done. Or perhaps it was not such a happy arranged marriage - who knows! The block printing down the side of the piece is a tradition throughout India and of course there is a sprinkling of sequins and glitz on the surface of the little quilt.

Wave inspired by Hokusai

I have finally decided on my theme for the next year. I hope I can make it work. I will be working with water, in all it's many forms.

This first piece is inspired by the Japanese woodcut print of the wave. I used Procion H dyes to paint the cotton cloth. This is something new I have learnt this year, and I find it exciting to be able to directly apply the colour, instead of having to appleque or embroider it on.

Here is the piece before embroidery.

I then accented it with emboroidery and quilting. It took longer than planned, but I think I am happy with the results. I do need to learn new ways of finishing the piece.

Detail of the finished piece.
Now on the the next one.