Cubist adventures

The third lesson in Pamela Allen's class was on cubism.  I made a piece, called Lemonade.  Then I made another piece, using the same colors and placements and cut it apart.  Cubism is hard to do in fabric--I suppose it is hared to do in paint as well.  You can see the first piece, Lemonade that I will probably finish

later, and the cubist attempt.

Some new art quilts

I am taking an online class with Pamela Allen, About Style.  I have learned a lot, both from Pamela and from the other students.  Our first exercise was to choose a work of art, and reinterpret it in fabric, not slavishly copying it, but using the same color palette.  I chose Aaron Bohrod's Venus.  I couldn't figure out why

he named the piece Venus, until Pamela pointed out the tiny white circle in the sky.  I am going to Missouri Fiber Artist Conference this weekend.  We were to bring something for the silent auction, so I finished the piece and will bring it.  The above piece About Style art quilts was Bohrod's, of course.Next we had to use the same palette and create something different.  My second effort isn't finished yet, so it is unnamed.

The last thing we had to do in lesson 1 was to make our own piece. I am very interested in historical themes.  I had done a piece on Beowulf in the last class.  It's kind of strange--I called it the ghost of Beowulf. Along the same lines, I decided to do a piece based on a dolmen, or platform tomb.  I added a figure to it, and named it Watcher at the Portal Tomb.  I'll post pictures about our cubist adventure in the next blog entry.

Gabaldon covers

I have finished making the individual pieces inspired by Diana Gabaldon's books.  I haven't yet decided how to put them on a background.  Since I am a fiber person, I don't want to frame them, instead I am thinking of mounting them on a piece of dark distressed wool.
I used dupioni silk for the background.  I backed the silk pieces with some iron on interfacing, then batting, and finally backing.  I stitched the silk to these layers using gold thread that is usually used for machine quilting. Most of the work is also appliqued in silk, with the exception of A Breath of Snow and Ashes, in which I used a crocheted doilie that I painted white.
I am excited to have the individual 8 blocks done.
The pictures don't show the colors as vibrantly as they are.

Market Day at Stonehenge

I have finished my piece, Market Day at Stonehenge.  It is a triptych, currently hanging in my kitchen.  I used Pamela Allen's techniques of raw edge large stitch applique.  I used some purchased hand dyed fabric, mostly from Wendy Richardson, for the background.  The road is from  sari silk strips.

Olympic patchwork

I was fascinated by the Olympic patchwork created by Mikhail Kusnirovich, the 47-year-old-owner of Bosco di Ciliegi, Russia’s premier sportswear company. I thought it would be fun to make a piece inspired by the jackets.  So here's a picture of the jackets, and my attempt to emulate them. Next time I would choose brighter blues.

Saki for two

I finished my Saki for 2 piece. I made it in a Pamela Allen workshop.   I added green embroidery in the left hand corner in an attempt to suggest the beaded curtains sometimes found in Asian restaurants.  I also embroidered a bento box and soup bowl and spoon on the table.  I used a recycled dark brown silk shirt for the binding.

February 1

I am still working on the St. Louis piece.  All the stitching is done, now I have to finish quilting it, binding, etc.
I am taking a class with Pamela Allen, About Contrast.  In our first lesson we were to make a monochromatic piece. I chose my favorite color, blue.  The mountain in the center is a piece I had leftover from a Roman stripe quilt I did in indigo shades.  I had a few triangles leftover, so I used one for the center mountain.  The piece is made of cottons left over from other projects. It is raw edge, hand stitched applique.

Off the Wall Fridays