Let's make the world more beautiful…together…
Artists from the Surface Art Association are featured in the Art Exhibit currently at the Hillcrest Center for the Arts through September 25, 2017.
The Center is at 403 West Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks, California. Cloth Journey can be found in the Galleria.
Call 805-381-2747 for additional information including hours. ConejoArts.org
I am so excited to have 12 pieces hanging in this show – all available for purchase.
It’s the biggest fundraiser of the year and it begins September 15, 2017. This year, my donation is a quilt that you’ve seen here before – entitled After the Rain.
Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc. (SAQA) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote the art quilt through education, exhibitions, professional development, documentation, and publications.
Note: For the past year I have been part of the 2016 Journal Project. In alternate months we have been given a theme and made a 12 inch by 12 inch quilt that was inspired by the theme.
Today was “REVEAL” day for the first quilt of 2017. This month’s theme is Fantasy. Here is my take….
Almost every year for the past 5 decades we have driven up the Pacific Coast Highway en route to a favorite vacation spot in Marin County.
What we quickly realized is that the drive is a vacation in itself; an opportunity to unwind, kick back and to enjoy all the natural beauty that this state is famous for.
Rolling green hills to the east as we drive up the coast…and the boisterous Pacific in all its magnificence to the west.
In recent years, that beauty has been hampered by lack of rain. This drought, of course, has had serious consequences for the state – not the least is the agricultural fallout. Anyone and everyone who loves to garden or has a lawn to care for has been affected severely with restrictions and penalties.
For that matter, anyone who loves to shower or to brush their teeth has had disruptions of their morning routines. (not to worry – we still shower – it’s just shorter. And the most disciplined take pains to recycle the shower water).
So here is my fantasy of the California hills, after the rains come back and wash away the memories of drought.
I post this every couple of years because 1) it is such a special memory and 2) I am VERY sure that others share similar stories from their childhood.
I’d have a tough time getting to sleep the night before but when morning came I was wide awake and giddy with anticipation. Labour Day !!! It was always a big day in Windsor, Ontario where I grew up – what with Windsor being the automotive capitol of Canada. The unions were strong and what they did always had rippling repercussions throughout the city.
On this day there was always a huge parade down Ouellette Avenue to start things off in the morning. Brass bands, one after the other, and marchers – Labour’s finest – proclaiming proudly their local’s credentials. Even my Dad took part on occasion – being an active member of the American Federation of Musicians local 566 – established in 1911.
So we’d all get up, get dressed – forget about breakfast for me – I had far too many butterflies to swallow a thing! Then we’d walk a few blocks to the big intersection of Giles and Ouellette – where the Cenotaph proudly stood, find a prime viewing spot and eagerly wait for flag bearers to appear. If we kids needed a better view we took turns on our Dad’s shoulders. At 6 foot 5 he had a perfect vantage point.
The parade was fun but that was not the main attraction for me on Labour day…the best was yet to come. Fireman’s Field Day and Carnival!
Immediately after the sounds of the last band faded we quickly headed home, got in our Oldsmobile and drove to Jackson Park. The Carnival – oh I must have sawdust in my veins – how I loved that Carnival. From Labour Day and for the week after – the carnival held me in its thrall. The crowds milling about – who would be there? Chances were we’d run into a bunch of people that we knew. The sounds of the rides, the shrill calls of the guys who wanted to sell you 3 tosses at the bowling pins, the sing song of the vendor with his awesome display of pink cotton candy – all beckoned.
The rides. It was a love/hate relationship – especially with the Ferris Wheel. It held a fascination for me and I loved being at the top and seeing all the way across town. But, you see, in those days I also had a bit of a fear of heights so there was always an edge of danger lurking.
The Carnival always came through and delivered on its promise of fun and excitement. Later I found out that the reason we called it Firemen’s Field Day is that it was sponsored by Windsor Firefighters.
Okay, so far we have a parade, a carnival, wonderful family day – but that’s not all that made this day so special my friends. This was the official last day of summer – next day – school! Now, bear with me. I know that for a lot of you that wasn’t exactly what you wanted to be looking forward to the next day but I was one of the kids who loved school. New pencils sharpened and ready – just could hardly wait to start the new school year.
So Happy Labour Day (or Labor Day) my dear friends and readers. I hope you have even a fraction of the fun that I remember on Labour Day and make some of your own memories. And whether you start school tomorrow or return to work and embark on some entirely new adventure I hope it will energize and delight you.
Late last year I was VERY fortunate to notice that an online class was scheduled to begin in January that seemed perfect and timely for my resolution to improve my work in 2016.
One of my most admired art quilters is teaching it (Elizabeth Barton) and the Class Title: A Master Class in Design for Art Quilters – speaks directly to my own need to ‘polish’ my design skills and to explore alternatives.
We are delving into a different design concept each month and in January, Elizabeth had us take a fresh look at our use of value. After presenting a couple of possible designs to work with I settled on the following sketch – a sketch that I based on a photograph that I took after a snowfall in Minnehaha Park, Minneapolis.
My next step was to gather fabric for possible use in this quilt. The instruction was to use a range of at least 5 values of the same color – preferably a color that included an intense dark value such as black or brown or even navy blue. I selected black, various grays and white. I also wanted there to be added interest with texture. Linen helped with that as did some thread work added later.
Some of the fabrics that I made available for this quilt are shown above. I used dark to light gray cotton threads for stitching plus one variegated thread to thread paint a tree trunk and add texture. I included several of my hand dyed fabrics to the mix.
I ‘cleaned up’ my sketch, enlarged it to actual size, printed it out and created my templates.
In choosing my values for color placement I had to pay attention to how the color value would affect perception of depth and distance. I also wanted to maintain the lonely, slightly haunted mood of the original photo. AND to keep the overall image simple and uncomplicated.
My teacher’s critique immediately pointed out my wobbly bench and I plan to correct that. I also plan to add more fine branches to the background and am going to include some hand stitched branches to the mix.
I think this has turned out to be a great example of how color both interprets and projects mood so vividly! I am tempted to do this same scene, at some point, outfitted in its mid summer finery.
I’ve had this on my “To Do” list for years: literally Finally, after some reading, some dyeing experience and creating some suitable space for the project, I accumulated a few supplies and got started.
The term Shibori refers to a technique used to dye fabric. In Japan, the earliest evidence of its use dates all the way back to the 8th Century!
Shibori is a type of resist technique in which the fabric itself is manipulated by sewing or wrapping or folding. When the dye is applied it is unable to reach the areas that have been obstructed by the folds etc. Thus, some very appealing patterns can be generated.
I enjoyed this process so much and was able to try out a variety. I folded, fan-folded, flag-folded, bound with rubber bands or twine. I even applied plexiglass shapes to the ends of my folded cloth on several occasions and bound it all together. This variety of Shibori is called Itajime.
Some bundles of Itajime ready for the dye pot:
It can get a little messy – took me until the next day to get all the blue off my fingers. And yes I did wear rubber gloves. Traditional Shibori uses an Indigo dye that is complicated to use. I achieved my results with a Procion MX dye – the color indigo.
What I loved most? After the fabric bundles had “cured” for many hours, rinsing them off and undoing them for the great reveal! A lot of Shibori is predictable according to the specific technique. But there’s always that serendipity that the individual introduces so that each piece is unique.
Some of my results showing the bundle after it has ‘cured’ in the dye bath; then the fabric that resulted following unfolding and rinsing with tap water.
The colors lightened slightly after washing, drying and pressing. In some cases this added to the definition.
I also threw in a larger piece of fabric “as is” and now have some mottled Indigo fabric in my stash.
All in all, a VERY satisfying afternoon of work!
Several years ago I spent the greater part of October in Pennsylvania, readying my late mother’s home for sale. As you can imagine, this was difficult work both physically and emotionally.
One morning I decided that I needed a day off. I got into Mom’s elderly Oldsmobile and headed out in the general direction of Lake Edinboro, being careful to stick to rural roads.
I was greeted with the most beautiful Autumn displays wherever I looked. As I drove I was also treated to glimpses of rural Pennsylvania that were inspiring and refreshing to the eyes of this California girl.
One shabby old barn in particular caught my attention. My camera got a workout.
I was certain that some of these images would one day find their way into my art
Determine which elements to keep in the photo and which to discard. Convert image to grey scale. Convert photo into an image suitable for making templates for quilt
Assemble fabrics for construction. I decided to use my own hand dyes and was successful with the exception of 2 that I found in my stash of commercial fabric. My goal was to use a lot of saturated brilliant color to offset the aged and washed out look of the barn.
Construct a background – All I needed was some fabric suitable for sky and some greens. Most would end up being covered up.
Make the templates and adhere them to the fabric
Determine the order of sewing down all the elements
Thread Paint the details
Sandwich and quilt the quilt
Finish the Edges
Dealing with Setbacks
Of course I was running late finishing the quilt to meet the submission deadline. So I decided to finish it pillowcase style instead of a traditional binding. Well, I tried, but that didn’t work. The quilting was too dense up to the edges and there was no way this quilt was going to be flat with that kind of a backing and edge treatment.
So I had to remove the pillowcase back and come up with something else. I determined that because the barn itself was shabby and had loose boards (think ‘threads’) all over the place, that a casual zig zag finish would be appropriate.
Of course, in the process of “turning the quilt” I had already clipped the corners. But I decided that was just fine. That little imperfection just added to the theme of this dilapidated barn in the midst of the Autumn beauty.
This quilt is part of this year’s SAQA Art Quilt Auction beginning online September 18, 2015
I thought for sure that I had posted about making prayer flags but not so! Prayer flags have a long tradition and they can be seen in many different configurations. There is no right or wrong way. There is a blog devoted to Prayer Flags at : ThePrayerFlagProject.blogspot.com There you will find tutorials and many examples of how various artists have interpreted and created their own Prayer Flags. (mine are posted in March this year 2015)
I had thought about making and hanging some flags for well over a year and was waiting to be inspired it seems 🙂 A few months ago I was walking down the aisle of a local craft shop and found a package of burlap banner shaped pieces in the clearance section. The first thing that I thought of was that they would be perfect for Prayer Flags. And if I messed up, then the investment was minimal.
There were four of these burlap shapes in front of me looking like this:
each measured 5 1/2 ” by 7 1/2 “
The first thing that I did before anything else was to stay stitch inside all the edges of all the flags to minimize fraying. Burlap frays. I didn’t mind that, It enhanced the rustic look that I was trying to achieve. But I did want to contain the amount. I used black thread and a zig zag stitch and stitched each flag on every side about 1/4 inch in from the edge.
I figured there was no hiding of the stay stitching so I incorporated it into the overall design
You are goiing to need to attach a narrow muslin 
sleeve to the top. Do that now by machine UNLESS you are going to use that top space for your hand stitching later. In which case you will attach the sleeve as the last step with each flag.
Gather your fabrics and threads and design your flags. I used muslin for the inspirational words, and a variety of fabrics: cheesecloth, bits of organza, felt, burlap. Use whatever your design calls for!
I also added a few beads, some ribbon and buttons and hand stitched with embroidery cotton of various sizes.
Details of the Four Flags Below
….a new year beckons
with magical untold tales
embrace each moment…
Guila's Art & Other Assorted Joys 