Wombat Dreaming

This 26 by 56 inch quilt uses hand and machine quilting, embroidery, furroughing, beading, art string, Photoshopped images printed on fabric, thread painting, piping and other techniques.

Bluebirds

This little quilt will be on its way to my Aunt Marie today. We just lost my young cousin Ryan to a massive stroke. He did go for it in his life, but was not given very much time. Forty-something sounds very young to me nowadays.

This is a slightly reconfigured version of a commercial pattern, so not really my design.

Art project #2--Hawaiian petition against annexation

This quilt (40" x 40") is pieced, stenciled with blended paint sticks, hand echo quilted and machine lettered with the 1897 pettition against annexation text submitted by women of Oahu. Completed in about two weeks, it represents some very concerted work each day. Phew!  I intend to enter it into the GVSU Women's Center Art Show.

The text reads:

Petition Against Annexation
To His Excellency WILLIAM McKINLEY, President, and the Senate, of the United States of
America.
GREETINGS:-- WHEREAS, there has been submitted to the Senate of the United States of America a Treaty for the Annexation of the Hawaiian Islands to the said United States of America, for consideration at its regular session in December, A.D. 1897; therefore,
WE, the undersigned, native Hawaiian Women, citizens and residents of the District of Kona Honolulu, Island of Oahu, who are members of the Women’s Hawaiian Patriotic League
of the Hawaiian Islands, and other women who are in sympathy with the said League, earnestly protest against the annexation of the said Hawaiian Islands to the said United States of America in any form or shape.

Kiwi's Nocturne in Beneath the Southern Sky exhibit

What an exciting week! My 40cm by 100cm work called Kiwi's Nocturne: Stargazing through the Veil was accepted into a juried exhibition called Beneath the Southern Sky that will be visiting at least 8 shows/galleries/conventions. Do have a look at the Facebook page for the exhibit for the teaser pictures. The online gallery is coming soon.

I also managed to finish my mother-in-law's quilt (in the picture here) and get that in the mail. It is called Springtime.

Meanwhile, in class I've been busy on the background and stenciling for the next assignments (this time I'm working a Hawaiian theme). I've been stenciling using huge freezer-paper cut in the style of Hawaiian applique quilts. The studio smells like paint sticks.

By the by, I've been using Fuziboo lately (fusible cotton and bamboo batting) and I have had good results.

ART 340 sampler

I'm auditing a textiles course this term (well, the Mondays because I can't go on the Wednesdays) and we've just completed a tiny sampler to practice some embroidery, beading and quilting. I played with some "chicken feet" fill a la Brenda Gael Smith, some big stitching with pearle cotton in the busy border, lots of echo quilting at different intervals, 4 different kinds of applique...

Next we're working on one of two bigger projects so I was busy last night knocking back the color on my background fabrics with some diluted bleach.

Snowman Thread Painting

This Snowman is a thread painting based on a piece of clip art. I worked on this at the recent quilt retreat and now he's on my office door. I like the marled effect on his scarf that came from using white thread in the bobbin and red on top. This technique is intended to be worked in a hoop with just dissolving stablizer, but I like to add in a used dryer sheet for a tiny bit of extra stability.

I want to take you to Rome

A couple years ago, my son said I want to take you to Rome. We did indeed go last summer and I was busy taking pictures of floors in places like Pompeii which inspired this quilt. Not yet done--a couple rows will be added when I get more of the dark batik fabric. I had fun using the green fabric as both a dark and a light in different blocks.