Rainy Day San Francisco Revisited

I've had a great deal of positive comment on "Rainy Day San Francisco, Monday, October 25, 2010" both from people who saw it in its debut at International Quilt Festival Long Beach last week in "Bridges" the special exhibit from Quilts on the Wall Artists and from those who've seen in the last day or so posted on my web site or on the gallery section of The Quilt Show.  I am really humbled and grateful for this - it seems to have struck a cord with a lot of people and I have been asked about some of the techniques I used.

The scene was taken from a cell phone photo I took on a rainy morning in San Francisco just as we exited the bridge and were about to turn left on the Embarcadero.  I was driving and my husband was yelling at me to put away my phone! Several months later I printed out the photo and traced it on to an acetate sheet, scanned that, blew the scan up to size on my computer, and posterized it to print out a full size paper pattern for the applique, 

 

I find very often that the serendipity of finding just the right fabric for the right purpose makes a quilt. In this case the lowering, rainy, moody sky was all done for me with a gradient printed Mackenna Ryan fabric (I buy all of those I can find!) No fabric paint there ... sorry to dissappoint all of you who congratulated me on my painting skills. Most of the vehicles, buildings and bridge were done in fused raw edge applique' using wonder under with a fabulous gradated gray package of Cherrywood fabrics. I did use some Jacquard Lumiere fabric paint for the lines in the street  and the reflections of the car and truck on the wet street. 

I added some printed digital images found on Google for the street lights (strangely enough there are hundreds of images of San Francisco's Embarcadero street lights ...) and the license plate on the truck. BTW "I'm Sorry" has no special meaning as many have asked. It was just an interesting plate that I thought might promote some conversation.  It did. For the green street sign I made a Photoshop file which I printed on to fabric and edged with paint. That's not hard - but as you can see I had a little trouble with the first try...

So I finish the top and I'm pretty pleased with it ...... until I realize that it is 4 inches too narrow  to fit the size required by Quilts On The Wall - aarrghh! A frantic trip to a local quilt store resulted in that great bold red stripe at the edges.  Actually I realize now that those red stripes have improved the visuals enormously...... so there you are.  Serendipity!

Home from Long Beach

Home late last night from International Quilt Festival Long Beach feeling pretty exhausted but inspired and happily remembering all the wonderful quilts and the friends I connected with while there.

"Bridges" a special exhibit at Festival put together by Quilts on the Wall Fiber Artists was very well received and included my quilt "Rainy Day San Francisco, October 2010". It's great to finally be able to include it on my blog. It was turned in early last spring for the jurying process  and we were asked not to show any of the quilts in the show until after the debut this weekend in Long Beach.

Mine was based on a cell phone photograph I took at an intersection on the Embardcadero last October as we arrived in the city for the San Francisco Fall Antiques Show. it was interesting to interpret the weather conditions of that dreary wet morning in fabric, textile paint, couched yarns and a few digital images using a very limited grisaille pallette with just a minor splash of bright red.

Over the weekend i was often asked the question why "I'm Sorry" was the license plate.  The only answer is that I searched the internet for a plate that would be make the viewer wonder and maybe make up a story to match it.  It worked!

The next stop for Bridges is a quilt show in Pennsylvania and then we hope on to Road to California next January in Ontario. The show will travel for one to two years.  

The vendor side of the long Beach Festival is always a huge magnet - and along with aisle after aisle of the the normal fabric, notions and embellishments there were some interesting new stands. Among them a company selling casual and dress shows made from the colorful mola applique's of central America, a software developer with a program to organize all your quilts and their information on your computer (had to have that one - www.QuiltAlbum.com) and some jewelry pieces made from rolled and stiffened filigree fabric.  A whole stand selling Derwent Intense colored pencils - my new favorite surface design tool and a lady demonstrating everything you can do with them on fabric was another winner.

All that and three great full day classes in three days with Esterita Austin, Pam Holland and Judy Coates Perez! Again it was a great, but exhausting weekend. Can't wait for next year!                                    

A Great News Day!

 I'm sick at home today, but feeling better since the email from IQA saying that "Silk Fantasie A La Diane" was accepted as a finalist in the World of Beauty at international Quilt Festival Houston in late October.

I had such a great experience at Empty Spools in Diane Gaudynski's free motion quilting class and I learned so much from her that I named the resulting quilt after her. It's a sampler done in silk dupioni fabric using a lot of Diane's patterns and techniques, all done in very fine silk thread...lots of silk thread. An expensive little quilt!  It's only 32" X 32".

SAQA Benefit Auction Quilts - 309 Little Masterpieces

The SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) Benefit Auction begins September 12th, and the 12"square quilts can be previewed at http://www.saqa.com/news.php?ID=1791.  There will be 309 one foot square works of art available for your collection.  Take a look at them all, but I've added here a few of my favorites.



Lynn Welsch's sun washed  "Acoma Pueblo" takes me back to a visit to
this amazing native American living museum. She's gotten the light absolutely as I remember it. 

Linda Miller's "Striations" has wonderful line and really amazing texture (I've seen it in person!) her technique for the gilded "pebbles" is pretty clever.....

Kathleen Murphy's "Rain in May" - what a superbly graphic composition! The whole thing is so atmospheric...

Nancy Turbitt's "Girasole"
What amazingly whimsical sunflowers. Love the buttons!

I am always enamored with Betty Busby's work and I especially love the armadillo and the use of fabric alone to delineate the cactus.

Pat Gould's "Rockhopper" utterly charms me. He  (she?) has so much character.  I love the contrast between the bird and the stone background.

Sherry Kleinman's "2011 Year of the Rabbit" is done with water soluble crayons and colored pencils on artist canvas.  She's acheived some amazingly realistic fur on the rabbit and great saturated color....








And lastly, my own "Poppy Love" - watercolor pencils, crayons,
needle felting, beads and a three dimensional thread painted butterfly.

I'll post more of these soon..... Save your pennies for the auction in September!

Tree of Life

                                          
While walking the aisles and aisles of hundreds of vendors at International Quilt Festival Houston last October just as I was about to plop exhausted in the nearest chair I was stopped in my tracks, my heart skipped a beat and my 18th century soul swooned. I was staring at the most perfect reproduction of an 18th century chintz medallion quilt built around a totally charming Indian palempore "Tree of Life" panel. On the table in front of me were piles of crisp glazed cotton chintz all reproductions of the 18th century fabrics brought back from India by the Dutch East India Company. 

This fabulous fabric collection was in the Den Haan & Wagenmakers booth manned by two charming Dutch ladies who told me that for more than  25 years Den Haan & Wagenmakers have been  reproducing the 17th and 18th-century indian chintzes which every student of European decorative arts knows revolutionized 18th century clothing and textile styles and European interiors. These fabrics are absolutely faithful copies of the originals, printed in the Netherlands on beautiful quality heavy 100% glazed cotton. They are sold online through their website at      www.dutchquilts.net/  and from their store in Amsterdam.  The store looks so charming It would be worth a special trip!

I made my purchases (in Houston, sadly, not in Amsterdam) which included the Tree of Life panel and a pile of fat quarters of small multicolored floral prints not knowing what I would do with it, but just as surely knowing I had to have it all.... Not an inexpensive purchase, mind you! I also skittered off to the Cherrywood Fabrics stand to buy another pile of their wonderful sueded color saturated hand dyed solids in those great "old" colors that I knew would mix so well with the chintz.

So I've just finished my small quilt with these luscious fabrics. I surrounded the center panel with 4" square in a square blocks which have those great florals as their centers. I free motion quilted the panel following the printed design and added scrolling feathers in the deep burgundy border. It was such a pleasure working with these gorgeous fabrics bringing textile  history a little closer.... 

SAQA Benefit Auction Quilt - "Poppy Love"

Here's my 12 inch square quilt for the SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) Benefit Auction 2011.
"Poppy Love" is a small whole cloth quilt on painters canvas using watercolor pencils, watercolor crayons and Tsukineko inks which were thread painted and free motion quilted.  Embellishments include some needle felting, hand beading and a 3D free motion embroidered butterfly. The watercolor media techniques came from my friend Sherry Kleinman who gave a workshop for Westside Quilters in April.

This year's Auction will begin on Monday, September 12th at 2:00 pm Eastern and conclude on Sunday, October 2 at 2:00 pm Eastern. Price points will again be: $750, $550, $350, $250, $150 and $75. The one foot square quilts already received are now up on the SAQA site  here. The funds raised through the Auction are critical to supporting SAQA's exhibitions, catalogs and outreach programs. Bid early and often!

Bridges from Quilts on the Wall Fiber Artists to Debut at International Quilt Festival Long Beach in July

My quilt Rainy Day San Francisco, Monday October 10, 2010 will be part of Bridges an art quilt exhibit from Quilts on the Wall Fiber Artists debuting at International Quilt Festival Long Beach  at the Long Beach Convention Center July 29-31, 2011.
I'm very honored to be in such exalted company as these other artists.Hope you'll be able to come to Long Beach!