Five Squares

This quilt was completed recently after a slow start of working with some discharged and hand-dyed fabrics without a plan or format in mind. After adding some batik fabrics, I assembled some blocks.












I cut the blocks into triangles and reorganized them into the 5 center squares.















I wanted to see if the overall composition would be more interesting if I substituted more of the discharged fabric in the center.










But I decided to stay with the design of all 5 similar blocks. The finished piece is approximately 52" square.

It was quilted on the long-arm machine with a gold/green variegated thread in a random design of interlocking squares.

Two Juried Quilt Exhibitions

Jet Trails #4 was accepted by juror Charlotte Bird into Studio Channel Islands Art Center's "Focus on Fiber II -- Small Quilt Open" exhibition. The show is on the campus of Cal State University Channel Islands from May 16th through July 4th.


This piece is approximately 12" square.








Detail of Jet Trails #4



This recently completed quilt, Broken Squares, is 56" x 48". It features discharged and hand-dyed fabrics, along with some batik and commerical cotton fabrics.

Broken Squares was selected by juror Sandra Sider for SAQA's 2009 "Musings" exhibit to be at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids, MI, this summer. The show runs from June 19th through August 30th, and some of the work will be featured on the Museum's website, www.ford.utexas.edu/museum/aboutmus.asp.






Detail of Broken Squares.

The quilting on the hand-dyed fabric was done with 12-wt variegated cotton thread.

Home from the Barn

Barb and I finished our two weeks at Nancy Crow's Barn and drove home Saturday.
These are the last of the pictures from our trip...


This is the motif Barb ended up using at the end of week 1. She used it in a wonderful small composition made with all small units.










This is our friend, Petra, captured as she was getting ready to make a presentation to the group. Petra curated the exhibition of over 50 quilts for the "Nancy Crow Works from 1988 - 2008" show at Carnegie Mellon University Center in Pittsburgh last summer.













The last composition I worked on was an assignment in going from "less" to "more". I like the colors and format in this piece and hope I can make it again with some variations.

















And this is my last attempt at getting a good picture of Harry the LabraDoodle. He watched Barb and I pack to leave for home, along with his owners pack to leave on a vacation. And I think he knew he wasn't going to get to go too --- I know it's hard to tell, but I think he looked a bit sad....

Week 2 at the Barn

This is the start of trying out sketches of my compound motif. I put the different sizes of the blocks together so I could see what type of patterns might be formed.







This is the first composition using the compound motif in process on my work space.


For the second composition, I used hand-dyed fabrics. This composition uses different sizes of the motif as well as parts of the motif.









The composition is changing and growing and hasn't been finalized yet. It'll live on my design wall at home while I decide what other changes to make to it.

More from Week 1 at the Barn

Many of the students in our class made presentations on their work. This is Anne Parker, who has been in a few other classes with me. She originates from Portland, OR, but is currently living in Vietnam. She's at the Barn for three weeks of classes this year. We loved all the different silk and linen outfits she wore each day.









Liz Anderson showed us some pieces she started last year that are now quilted and finished. The quilting was done on a long-arm machine with a multi-colored pastel thread.











This is part of our class, gathering to look at a student's work.







John created another wonderful bouquet for the start of our 2nd week of class.

Can you see the can at the bottom left of the picture? It's attached to a stick and has metal washers on strings tied to it. When twirled, it makes enough racket that both the upstairs and downstairs classes know that dinner is ready to be served!

Friends at the Barn

Joyce Martelli, who is from Rochester and also in our local groups, worked on creating a large strip set for a "wild" piece she has planned.








Leslie Bixel is from California, and she did lots of recutting and resizing of her blocks.











Liz Cocuzzi is also from our home area and she was at the next work station beside me. You can see the exaggerated version of her motif in the piece to the far left, along with some of the work she did during the week.








And these are friends Petra, who I met at my first class at the Barn, and Leslie Riley, who I have been in several classes with.

Motifs

Our assignments for our Sets and Variables class are based on working with motifs. I started with a T shape and decided to make the top bar of the T be half of the square.






We made small compositions from our motifs using high contrast fabrics.





I tried changing the proportions of the shapes in my T and tried making the compositions with warm and cold colors in both bold and muted values.


Then it was time to try a different motif, and I practiced with making different sizes of it.

At the Barn in Ohio

Nancy's husband, John, always creates wonderful fresh flower arrangements from the flowers and shrubs on the farm. This is the entrance to the dining area, and you can see our chef, Margaret Wolf, sitting in the background. The printed menu you see for Tuesday is typical of the wonderful food Margaret prepares for us.






I caught Barb intently sewing a binding onto one of her quilts during one of our free times to work in the Barn.
Barb and I are enjoying staying with her cousins in Granville, which is a lovely town about 25 minutes from the Barn. Harry, the LabraDoodle, is always happy to have someone to help him play with his favorite stuffed duck.










Barb's cousin, Mike, is getting ready to grill some fresh fish and veggies out on the grill -- It was very, very tasty!

Crow Timberframe Barn

Barb and I drove to the Columbus, OH, area on Easter Sunday to participate in Nancy Crow's class on Sets and Variables. This is the timberframe barn which holds the quilting classes upstairs and the fabric dyeing classes downstairs.

The grounds are always lovely, but especially pretty with all the spring blooms.



This is the view from the barn towards the house. There are lots of daffodils and other spring flowers blossoming.





This is the "other" barn, used to store the farm implements.










And this is Greta, who has been on the farm for many years. She's usually nearby the barn to keep track of all the people coming and going.

There are lots of opportunities to walk around the farm which has more than 100 acres. This pond is a lovely relaxing spot just a short walk from the classrooms.

The fish in the pond are quick to come to see any visitors, as they are used to being fed by the many students who walk out to the pond.

Packing for Nancy Crow's

Tomorrow Barb Seils and I are driving to Nancy Crow's Timberframe Barn near Columbus, OH, for two weeks of classes. The goal of packing is to take all the fabric you might need, but not so much that it won't fit into your vehicle!

The first two boxes are commercial cottons.





And the second two boxes have the hand-dyed cottons.











And one more box for black, white, and prints that might be used for creating texture.

Of course, we also pack irons, ironing boards, sewing machines, mats, a step stool, quilts for Show & Tell, and various sewing supplies.








I think Barb will be happy to see that even with all my "stuff" loaded in the Yukon, we still have almost half of the space left for her "stuff"!!