Wandering Wool

Reindeer Run

Like most Art Quilters, I wander off into unexplored new territories to try out other techniques or materials sometimes. Lately, I have been exploring wool applique work. This winter, I worked on this small (12" x 18") holiday wall quilt. It is entirely made out of wool. The fun of working with these patterns is that you get to decorate and embellish  your reindeer any way you wish.


I had a lot of fun learning new stitches and trying different types of thread and beads. This charming pattern is by Suz Litsinger

Theme Challenges

Winter's Song

Part of the fun of belonging to small art quilt group is the opportunity to see how others respond to a challenge. In this case, the theme was;  "How Winter Affects You." Winter is probably NOT one of my favorite seasons. But I do still see the beauty and magic of a full moon and the ice crystals that form on trees. 

This is a small,  8.5" x 11" quilt. It was machine free motioned quilted, using cotton, organza, satin and hand embellished. Sold to a private collector.

Beaded Sunrise

It's Good to Experiment

This is another of my experiments with new materials and techniques. The bonding agent was Bo-Nash Fuse It Powder. The overlay was a very fine pale yellow tulle netting. The background fabric pieces, gold threads and yarn embellishment were laid down first. 

The Bo-Nash was then sprinkled lightly over the composition. The tulle then was laid over all. Then the piece was covered with tissue paper and pressed with a hot iron. 

One of the benefits of the powdered Bo-Nash Fuse It was its ability to fuse very porous open materials. I plan to experiment with it and lace. 

Detail of Beaded Sunrise 10" X 10"

Sea Shell Symphony

I am enjoying the satisfaction of completing an eight month commission. Each sea shell was individually designed and hand beaded. Finding the "perfect" fabric for the sea shells, turtle, seahorse and coral was part of the fun. Back ground free motion quilting featured bull whip kelp motifs. Commercial cotton and hand dyed fabrics were used. 48"X 70".

The client was pleased with the coordination with their bedding.

Completed Commission

Sea Shell Commission

Small section of Sea Shells 

Beginning Design for Sea Shells Art Quilt

Early this year I received a commission to design a wall Art Quilt with large sea shells. As I am a ardent sea lover, this was a quilt to stir my creative juices.  The client had specific color coordinating requests. They wanted LARGE sea shells ( a la Velda Newman ), but allowed me to add other sea creatures. I did not want to "paint" the sea shells but rather create each one on my own, with fabric that suggested the sea shells colors and form. 

Above are various Nautilus shells that I designed individually and then hand beaded

 Whimsical star fish were also included in the design

Each sea shell was designed and beaded onto a quilt backing that was then later appliqued on to the finished quilt design.

Sand dollars come in lots of different shapes and colors. These were incorporated into the design and helped to add diversity of shape and color.

Unicorn at A River Runs Through

Gig Harbor Quilt Guild - President's Challenge

A fun challenge from our guild President Barbara Kadden. We were each given a strip of the blue batik "river" fabric and instructed to create a 12" by 24" quilt with no borders. The quilts will be displayed next to each other so that it appears that the river run through each quilt connecting them to each other. I hope to capture a photo of all the quilts to share. 

                                                                Detail of the Unicorn  The quilt measures 12" x 24" . Made of cotton fabrics. I used machine applique, thread painting, beading and swavarski crystals. It is machine quilted with metallic threads. 

Small Experiments

Exploring Salmon

The Challenge of a New Color !

 Salmon or orange is a new color for me. One that I do not generally use other than for accents. I challenged myself to use primarily orange and it's analogous color neighbors from my stash.

Sunrise (20"x15") Cotton with bead embellishments, Free motion quilting

 

       Sunset (20"x15")