Quilting on the Edge

Monoprints

                       The first photo is a monoprint made on white cotton.  I liked the organic lines, but it needed color.  Tonight I used acrylic paints to paint in different sections and arrived at the second photo.... much better, don't you think?

Quilt featured in LaPorte Herald Argus

heraldargus.com/archives/ha/sections.cgi?prcss=display&id=383329 - 30k - Cached       This site will take you to the article about my quilt "Secrets" that was in our local newspaper, LaPorte Herald Argus in LaPorte, Indiana.   This piece was in the Images exhibit at Lowell, Massachusetts this August, and I was contacted by a reporter from the newspaper about this exhibition. Thanks for looking!  Chris

SAQA Balancing Act Art Quilt Exhibit

Here's the postcard announcing the SAQA Balancing Act Art Quilt Exhibit to be held at the Lawrence Street Gallery in Ferndale, Michigan Sept. 5-28.  Two of my pieces are featured on the postcard, lower left corner and middle top row.  The exhibit is open Wed, Thurs, Sat from 12-5 pm, and Friday from 12-9 pm.  The gallery is also celebrating its' 20th anniversary.  Maybe you can stop in and see what art quilters are doing these days!    Chris

Beauty and The Beast

This is my 12 inch square August art quilt for the SAQA online group.  I had been at a loss for an inspiration, until yesterday when my friend pointed out a most unusual sight.

A small home had a medium sized tree in their front yard whose branches had been topped off, only a few feet above the main trunk. It created a dark, foreboding shape, with angular branches protruding in many directions. From the branches hung potted flowers, suspended from the branches, perhaps about a dozen of them.   This vision struck me as very unusual, I considered the tree itself as menacing and the flowers as beautiful and inviting. The contrast created was so strong to me, I could not forget it.  That afternoon I made this small art quilt which I entitled Beauty and the Beast.  I used rough strong edges for the black "tree", and flowing shapes of pleasing colors to represent beauty.  The quilting lines are jagged over the tree, yet smooth and lyrical over the background and flowing shapes.  After this was all completed, I stood back to take a photo and suddenly saw an animal. Do you see a black animal?  The small projection in the upper right corner is the head of the animal........ he is moving as if going away from you, into the piece.  What is your reaction?  Chris 

Alphabet Quilt for Aidan's First Birthday

Here's what I made for Aidan's first birthday.  He's our third grandson, and his party is tomorrow.  It was so much fun thinking of unusual items to represent each letter of the alphabet.  I made this quilt last winter while we were in Florida, blocks are eight inches square.   I think my favorite blocks are Yarn for "y"  and octopus for "o".  What are yours?  Chris

Sunprinting Fabrics

These are the sunprinted fabrics I made during a class I'm taking.   Counting from the left, pieces 3-5 were overpainted on previous handpainted fabrics, covered with different objects, and dried in the sun. My favorite is the stones, number 5.  The original fabric was a pale grey,

handpainted a long while ago. I first  painted the piece  with a rusty brown color, placed polished stones on the bottom third, then placed it all in the sun to dry. Then I overpainted the brown with black, placed more stones on the top, then into the sun to dry.  I think the shadows and two tone fabric came out really interesting.  The last two pieces were an experiment with wetting a piece of cloth, literally dropping on different fabric paints in globs, wadding the cloth up and squeezing it out, wrapping it in rubberbands, and drying it in the sun until at least the outside was dry.  I also LOVE this piece! Chris

New Creative Thoughts

It seems like I'm getting over my creative block.  I've taken a small mat,about four by six inches, and randomly isolated different areas on some photographs I've taken.  Then I've made line drawings of a few of these isolated sections.  Next, I've added and altered the lines to create some interesting ideas for my new quilt project.  Try it, it's fun and gets the creative juices flowing.   I have one piece that I'm going to pursue, it looks nothing like the original idea.    Chris

Regional Studio Art Quilts Exhibit

These four quilts have been accepted into a regional exhibition for Studio Art Quilt Associates being held at The Lawrence Street Gallery in Ferndale Michigan in September.  From left to right, they are entitled:  Last Look, Spirits of the Southwest, Random Balance, and S.O.S.   I have been a member of SAQA for almost a year, and this is the first juried exhibit of that organization I have entered.    Chris

Creative Block

I'm having a creative block, or at least I think I'm having one.  I am unable to focus on a project, select one to pursue, and am feeling pretty restless.  I have recently finished a couple of quilts and I'm in that restless phase where the next idea is still incubating within and is simply not ready to emerge.  So, I wait.  I'm preparing a few pieces to mail off to shows, working on piecing a traditional quilt, and hand quilting two others that I want to finish before the end of October.  But I WANT to be creating my next piece, I just don't know what it is yet.  This is natural, normal, and expected.  Still, I dislike this part of the creative cycle. I guess I could always create a piece about this experience........................ a large block placed right in front of a doorway to the soul?   I'll keep thinking.......... Chris

Quilts on Exhibit at The Loft in San Pedro California

These two pieces of mine are now on exhibit at The Loft in San Pedro, California.  First is "The Last Pear" exhibited in the Doing Small Things Challenge.  The other is The Everday Woman, exhibited in She Made Her Mark II challenge.  Chris