Pacific Blues art quilt, Embroidery, Beading...

Pacific Blues #2, beads added, interviewing others.

Tropical theme #3, adding stitches.

 Last few days I've been beading and embroidering. It makes me feel tribal which is a relaxed sort of organic feeling. I know that word 'organic' gets over used, when I use it here I mean natural, as in occurring in nature. In the quilt world there is such a variety of styles as you all know. Everything from super formal, in which the critiques flash their magnifying glasses and rulers around. The poor quilts in this category have usually been machine quilted within an inch of their lives. Woe is the poor person who would try to get comfort and warmth from such a stiff, scratchy 'quilt'.

Then on the other side of the spectrum are the Gee's Bend type quilts. Made in a much more relaxed atmosphere with the quilter having an inner trust in her own ability to work with her hands using color and design as she likes. These are the quilts that are nurturing and comforting. Kind of like mothers. The best mothers are warm and nurturing, you would seldom find a good mother on the cover of a fashion mag. Not that she couldn't be there, but she doesn't want to be there. She has nothing to prove, she has an inner trust in her own ability and she's doing what she wants. A mother, a woman, like that is the most beautiful woman in the world.

I like the texture of hand stitching, more 'organic'.

Liberated Quiltmaking II & Cultural Fushion great color, design

My blocks, liberated shoo-fly and stars

 I'm working through Liberated Quiltmaking II by Gwen Marston. Next I'll work through Cultural Fushion Quilts by Sujata Shah. In 2013 I did a lot of embroidery on my sewing kits and finished up a couple of art quilts. Lately I've felt the need to branch out into more traditional quilting still keeping  the art aspect, the freedom to use color and design as I wish. So Gwen's book and Sujata's  book are just right for that.

 First off, working through Gwen's book, I made enough wonky log cabin blocks to make a small quilt. Then came liberated  star and shoo fly blocks, next onto flying geese blocks. They'll go into a sampler type quilt, I think.

 I'm going to start pressing seams open, it looks neater and flatter. Sujata suggests doing seams that way. Some quilters advise to press seams to the side. I've done that and the results are not as neat and flat. How do you press your seams?

That's my progress and report for Monday, have a good week!

Two of the best books on the true spirit of quilting...

Santa Clara series #3 quilt & Asian Theme fabrics..

Santa Clara series #3, machine quilted with a walking foot.

Machine quilting back view, #3.

Santa Clara #2, Machine quilted with all purpose foot, washed and dried.

 Last couple of days I have been machine quilting #3 in my Santa Clara series, it's 39" x 22" with a 2" border. I'm using a walking foot which on my machine is slow. When I'm finished quilting and binding it then I'll wash and dry it and see how it compares to my Santa Clara #2, 54" x 17" with no border, that I used the all purpose foot on. I purposefully used the orange colored thread to make the quilting stand out as part of the design whole. The idea of my Santa Clara series was to repeat the diamond like summer colors in Santa Clara, CA.

Visiting one of my favorite fabric stores, for a break, I found these lovely Asian theme fat-quarters. The blue fabric behind them was a blue I had to have, it's made in S. Korea, they put out fabulous fabrics with a rich feel.

This is my Wednesday progress...remember to check in at Fret not Yourself blog to see a lovely New York Beauty in progress.

Have a great day!

Fabric I couldn't resist, Asian theme, the blue fabric is made in S. Korea.

Pacific Blues Quilts ready for Embroidery,Embellishment

My Pacific Blues #1 & #2 are ready for hand embroidery and embellishment, they measure 11" x 11" each. They're both machine quilted, one with a walking foot the other I used a regular all purpose foot, can you see the difference? I'll add hand quilting too with hand embroidery. I like the look of a lot of stitching.
I also got hanging sleeves sewn onto the back of my 'Tropical' series quilts. I'm thinking of entering them in a local quilt show, I like sharing their color!
 Have you tried making anything in a series? How did you like it?

Art Quilt, What is it? Continued....

Line...how do you use line?

Texture...what texture is in your work?

How have you used Shape?

 Art quilts; why and what makes an art quilt, well, arty?
I thought it would be fun to go over the 'big' elements of art. Yes, high school, college art 101 classes come to mind.
Here they are the big seven;
line, form, shape, space, texture, value and color. Art is made of these elements. Do artists use these element definitions as a sort of recipe? No, they're used as an inspiration, a way of filling out an idea. The unique idea within the artist is true art. The 'voice' of the artist.
Around my work space I keep various inspirations, some are words, some objects with an idea connected to them. Artist Rex Ray was showcased in my Art.com 2013 winter catalog.
He is quoted in the catalog as saying, "Just do what you do, and stay true to it." Those words might seem obvious but as an artist that can be the greatest challenge. It's the artists' own 'voice' that makes a unique statement, a statement that stands out from the crowd. So I keep those words where I can see them often.
                                                                                        More thoughts on art quilts to come..
                                                                                        Where do you find inspiration?

Form..in your projects?

Strawberries N' Chocolate 2nd in series & Tropical Punch Art Quilt...

Strawberries N' Chocolate, #2 in a series, sewing kit.

Opened out, with wine colored crushed velvet ties.

Pocket, storage

After putting finishing details on Strawberries N' Chocolate 2 sewing kit, I took final pictures. Working in series once in a while is a good way to practice technique and use up scraps.

Tropical Punch art quilt , another 2nd in a series, came in the mail yesterday from Art Quilting Studio after being published in the summer 2015 issue.They did a good job with the photos. I'm sewing a hanging sleeve on it today.
Another tropical themed quilt, Mimosa #3, is on the runway.
Busy in the workroom!

Tropical Punch art quilt

'Liberated' Star Blocks, great results...

Yesterday I pieced these 'liberated' stars using batik scraps. It was fun putting them together, felt like an experiment. I'm working through Gwen Marston's book, Liberated Quiltmaking II; so far I've put together log cabin blocks, now star blocks and next onto churn dash blocks. She has an easy to understand way of explaining things, based on traditional piecing.
It's amazing how quick these blocks can be pieced together.
I'll keep you posted as I get more 'liberated' blocks done!