Almost Done!!!

I took the day off work to give myself a five-day weekend, with the holiday tomorrow. I made it into the studio early in the morning (my best time), and by early evening I had the quilting done and the binding sewed on my journal quilt. The only thing I have left to do is sewing on the beads, which will be the finishing touch. And I can't show you a picture- arrgh!!

I've learned some things with this piece, and even had some serendipity at the end that enhanced it even more. Definitely not planned, but it added to the effect I was trying for. I may make a couple more on this theme, Shannon has already requested one with some minor changes.

I ordered my supplies for batiking this morning- tjantings, brushes, and a couple colors of dye that I've been wanting from Dharma. I was going to order the hard pillar soy wax that Rayna Gillman recommended from Pro-Chem- but I about died when the cost of shipping two pounds from Massachusetts was more than double the cost of the wax itself. So I googled soy wax, and found a candle supply company in Denver that also had the pillar soy wax. Not only were my shipping charges considerably less, but the price of the wax was better too- I got ten pounds for $13!! Compare that to Pro-Chem, who wanted $8 for two pounds. So I will be on pins and needles waiting for it all to arrive so I can experiment and play some more.

I took my camera with me when Sadie and I walked tonight. I never know what I will find on the river trail. Tonight we found thistles, tons of them. We may not be able to grow a lot of things in the desert, but we grow great big thistles. On one part of the trail, they were on both sides of the walk, and taller than me.



We saw them at every stage- early flowers,



wide open, (sorry it's a little fuzzy)



exploded, having sent lot of seeds out to make more thistles,



and finally, totally dry. I really like the look of these- and apologize again for the fuzziness.



We also saw lots of the summer snow- cotton from the cottonwood trees.



The wild sunflowers are just starting to appear.



I've had a fondness for flowering weeds ever since I used them as a theme for my 2006 journal quilts, my best (I think). Now I'm wondering if I can use these images in a batik--

Sadie is now thoroughly pooped, I'm tired. But a good day nonetheless!

Crunch Time . . .

I have been working on a piece- my journal quilt piece, which I can't show pictures of. The background is assembled, mostly what I have left to do is the quilting. While I do understand the rationale behind the 'no pictures' rule, it is hard to not show the progress!

We are off to our wildlife rehabber friend Patti's home tonight, for a barbeque. Last I heard, she had a young bear- if he's still there, hopefully I can get pictures. And it's also the annual Llama Fest at the Hari Krishna temple, so I'm sure we'll hit that before we head for Patti's!!

Next week is a holiday weekend for Utah- the 24th is Pioneer Day, and I'm taking the 23rd off work too to make it a 5 day weekend. I'm starting the quilting this morning, but my goal is to have it completely done, bound, photographed, and the entry submitted by July 28. The deadline is August, I'm hoping to not be dealing with it the night of the 31st!!

Hope your weekend is fun, I'm off to the studio--

Updates. . .

I don't have pictures yet, but I have made progress on the landscape for PIF. I have the mountains fused to the sky, did machine embroidery until my bobbin ran out, and then did some hand embroidery over that so I could see if it would give me the effect I want. So far, I am happy. And, I am happy to finally have a use for my Tsukineko inks and fabric markers, they were part of the process too! So maybe later tonight I will have enough done for a picture.

Sharon B. has posted the concept and colors for the March TIF challenge. I like the concept, paying attention to the details. The color palette I'm not so sure about, it looks pretty dark to me. So the jury is out as to whether I'll use it or not. It looks like a fall palette to me, wonder if that is because Sharon is in Australia, where fall is on its way? Me, I am ready for spring greens and yellows!

As for the concept, initially my mind went right to the many closeup photos I've taken since I got my Canon digital. I love the macro feature! I like nature images, and have plenty of my own to choose from. Then I cruised around the webring, reading some other posts on the March challenge. One got me thinking in another direction. Details, when I worked as a mental health therapist, it was all about the details. The unspoken information, eye contact (or lack thereof), body language- all that played into how I viewed the client and our work. How I would translate that into a visual image, I have no idea at this point- but it is something to ponder while I'm stitching on the PIF piece.

And, Karey Bresenhan announced on the Quiltart list that there will be a journal quilt exhibit this year. It will have a theme (Elements- Fire, Air, Water, Earth), and will be juried so they can control the size of the exhibit. So I googled elements, and came up with some interesting sites and information. I also found several quizzes to help you determine which element you are. Mostly, I come up as Earth. Interestingly, I also learned that Jung's personality theories are based on the early philosophers' ideas about the elements, which in turn influenced other theories of personality- like the Meyers-Briggs. I have plenty of time for this one, but it would be fun to come up an image that integrated both my love of nature, and something related to my 'other' profession.

Off to church, and then to stitch!

Journal Quilt 2007

I'd thought I sent it off to Houston without taking a picture of the finished quilt. Imagine my surprise last night- I was backing up my photo files to an external hard drive I just got, and came across a picture of my completed Journal Quilt! I can't believe I forgot about taking it!!

Anyway, here it is, along with my statement. The clear picture taken in Houston is courtesy of my friend Suzanne, who had a quilt juried into the show.




Beverly J. Hart
Spanish Fork, UT
USA

‘Lifelines’

Creative Quilting techniques used: solvent transfer using Citra-solv (p. 16); Shiva paintstiks over a rubbing plate (p. 201); photos changed to grayscale, and inkjet printed on fabric (p. 179).

This is my third year in the Journal Quilt project, and I knew I wanted to do something entirely different from my previous quilt pages, which were nature based or abstracts. I played with several ideas, then decided to do a ‘scrapbook’ page that incorporated images of me growing up until now, and documents from both my childhood and adult life. Since my mother had saved every report card I ever got, among other normal childhood documents, I had plenty of material to work with.
I’ve had a rich life, with its share of twists and turns, and wanted the quilt to reflect that. I pieced the background using my hand dyed fabric, then did the text transfers and Shiva paintstik rubbings. I thought long and hard about the quilting, but decided that contour lines, like those on the maps, would be very appropriate. They not only symbolize the changes our life can take when we least expect it, but the ups and downs too. We won’t mention the lines you can see showing on my face in the more recent photos!
I printed out the photos, then fused them to the red backing fabric and edged them with decorative stitching. I made little quilts of each photo, since I wanted them to stand our more than a simple one layer of fabric would. They were sewn by hand onto the quilt. The last touch was the beading, which I didn’t even know it needed until the very end.
The entire process turned out to be some things I hadn’t expected- it invited introspection about where my life has been, and where I want it to go from here. It helped me bring closure to some painful events of the past three years, and to focus more on the future. It may not be art, but it is definitely is a piece of me. I’ve learned new techniques to add to my toolbox, and actually gotten good at some of them! But mostly, I hope my children will value you it as a part of me to be shared with future generations.

I've participated in the Journal Quilt Project for the last three years, and found it to be both therapy and a wonderful learning experience. I'm grateful to Karey Bresenhan for initiating the project, and giving it the kind of exposure in the quilting world only she can do. I've grown as an artist and a quilter, been exposed to other artists' work, and perhaps started thinking "bigger" than I would have without it. Thank you Karey and Quilts Inc!!

More playtime. . .

Despite feeling like I have to devote entirely too many hours each week to the job that supports my fiber habit, I have been applying myself, and seeing some work come to completion. My journal quilt lacks only the sleeve and statement, and that part I think will come easily- it has been simmering on the back burners of my mind since the beginning of the year.

Bentlee spent Friday night with us, and yesterday we did a few more discharge pieces. This time, I was smart and labeled the different black fabrics so I know which one to get for the discharge effect I want. This is two pieces from Egyptian cotton- my favorite fabric, and my least favorite discharged! I did another monoprint with the faux paint tool.



Bentlee did this one, a combination of the faux paint tool and a toothbrush. I think part of it may be a self-portrait!



The next two are Quilter's Only cotton, and I like these the best for discharge. Left on long enough, the dishwasher gel goes almost white in some places, and the rest gets a nice rusty look. Bentlee did the first one with a variety of sponges to apply the gel.



The second I did, using a large sea sponge to apply the gel. The picture doesn't do justice to this one- it truly does look like an galaxy in outer space. I'm going to try adding some sheer elements to it, and see what happens.



The last two were done on Kona cotton, wrapped around a large piece of PVC pipe. The first one I just wrapped and scrunched, tying it off with floss. I think it looks like tree people, something out of Harry Potter!!



The second I gathered with parallel rows of basting stitches, wrapped around the pipe, and then tied with floss. I left the gel on this one quite a bit longer than the previous piece.



And, I played with one of the tissue paper pieces I posted about a few weeks ago. This is the one with the tissue paper still intact. I took the silk organza I dyed last weekend, and cut different size circles. I'm still debating whether to fuse them on as circles, or to make them a little wonky. And, I may decide to quilt first, then apply the circles, then quilt some more! Karoda asked in the last post if I had any plans for the silk and cheesecloth- here's the silk! And the cheesecloth will figure in something- but not this piece, I don't think.




Now to keep the momentum going. If I get the Journal Quilt off in the mail this week, that would be one project completely off my to-do list.

My journal quilt is almost done!!

Despite having another laser procedure on a leg vein Friday, I was able to get some work done. Since I spent most of Saturday relaxing and resting the leg, handwork seemed appropriate- so I got the binding done. Now, the only part left is the last layer, and the parts for those are drying as I write. Lots of work in Photoshop Elements, but I think it will pay off. As usual, I'll post photos after the Houston show opens in November!!

I have had one of the pieces I did earlier this summer with paint and tissue paper pinned on my design wall, just looking at it from time to time. First I've been trying to figure which orientation is best. I've had some ideas for it floating around, so last night I made some red and yellow dye, and did four pieces of silk organza, and four pieces of cheesecloth. One red, two shades of orange, and one yellow. I'm happy to say that I managed to dye and wash the cheesecloth without turning it into a ball of threads. And the colors came out spectacularly! Here's the cheesecloth--



And here's the organza. Obviously, since this is multiple layers of the fabric, the color will be much more subtle with only one layer. I was happy I got some mottling on the orange pieces, although it may be hard to see in the photos.



I'm wanting to get my journal quilt done so I can concentrate on the two pieces for the Surface Design group show in October- I have about six weeks. The size of both is manageable, about a fat quarter. And I do have some ideas. I think I'm a little paranoid, since this will be an 'art' show, not a quilt show. And there are some very talented artists in the Surface Design group. But I know I'd kick myself if I didn't have something ready, so I' counting on that to keep me motivated.

I had a lovely surprise this weekend. DJ got me a bird of paradise plant for Mother's Day, seeing how fascinated I was with them, doing all the postcards and Marly's birthday present. It was a small plant, a cutting. But it has done well sitting by our fireplace facing a south window, and I've enjoyed watching it grow. Well, Friday it bloomed! A small bloom, but a nice foretaste of blooms to come.





I love the colors on this plant, and expect they will get even more spectacular as it matures. And I've no doubt it will find its way onto more art-- Marly wants a triptich of work for their living room, so after the October show I'll get busy again!