Mini quilt for a conference auction

Last year when I went to the SAQA Conference in my local area, I made a small quilt for the traditional conference auction. The Spotlight Auction features 6x8 textile art pieces which are auctioned off to benefit the organization. It's quite fun to see all the variations on a small artwork that show up during this display.

This year's conference is a virtual one, but the auction is still happening - it will just be 100% online. I decided I had time to make a small piece before the deadline. I started it last week but it's taken me over a week to finish, as I just couldn't decide on the design. I knew I wanted a labyrinth motif, but I started with an embroidered idea -- nope, didn't work -- then cut shapes out of two different fabrics, neither of which was just right. I finally found the right fabric, applied the motif, had a fusible glue accident that took an evening to fix, then had to decide what stitching to add, and found it needed a little something to finish it up. I have a pile of plastic florets that come off of sewing pins that wear out (yes, I save everything) and found that three white ones worked nicely as stars. 

It's finally finished! I'm calling it Night Walk, and it will be making its way to the SAQA auction shortly. It's nice to have a different kind of sewing challenge sometimes, to give you another sewing experience. I hope someone will end up liking this small piece enough to bid for it. I certainly enjoyed seeing it come together. 

Weekend Review: Contemporary Quilts: Design, Surface & Stitch

 

Contemporary Quilts: Design, Surface & Stitch / Sandra Meech
London: Batsford, c2003.
128 p.

Somehow as September approaches, it always feels like Back To School Time no matter how long it's been since school was a part of my life! And so I'm really into learning new things at this time of year, even more so than usual. I've found a few titles that will add to my knowledge of textile arts; this is one that I really enjoyed.

This is a wonderful book about design in art quilts. From painterly approaches to developing your concept, to detailing techniques of surface design and stitching, this book goes over so much that is useful to a textile artist. 

There is also a wealth of big, bright and clear photos of quilts by many different artists with various styles. It's good to see examples of the design concepts, colour theory, techniques and finishing, from many different perspectives. There are over 200 illustrations, so plenty to both inspire and inform you.

There are also 4 "Design Classes", or exercises, for readers to follow to learn how to break out of the basics and add new ideas and practices to their art making. These are straightforward but useful exercises to give a fresh look at how to design your projects. I appreciated the logical layout and clear writing in this book, and found quite a lot to engage me. I learned some new tips through the text, and some new ideas just from looking closely at the examples (many of which also had detail close-ups). 

This is a book to go back to and work through in different areas. Two of the design exercises in particular, on composition and colour, are ones that I'll be trying out as I think they'll really add to my development as a textile artist. I'm glad I came across this book, and have already got my hands on another of Sandra Meech's titles. Looking forward to more by this author. 

Stepping Stones: an art quilt

One of my other sewing hobbies is making art quilts, although I really am a beginner in this area. However, I mentioned last month that I'd started a little 12x12 quilt based on the materials I picked up at the SAQA Conference in Toronto. 

And I've finished it! Finished and hung within a month, it's a record for me ;) I wanted to get this done to hang it up in the staff art exhibit at my library, which I've called The Creative Library. I manage the art program so when there was a gap in the schedule I knew it would the perfect time to highlight the many creative coworkers that I have. There are photographs, digital collages, old-school collage, paintings, cross-stitch, and my textile pieces - so far! 

I am really pleased with this little piece, which I'm calling Stepping Stones. It was made with fabric picked up at the Community Stitch table at the Pathways to Possibilities conference, and it looks rather stepping stone-like. Also it's another stepping stone in my learning journey. I put the fabrics together fairly quickly, and added some embellishment, but I was a bit stuck on how to finish it. After looking up varied techniques, I decided to create a binding with butted ends (I can't get the hang of neat mitreing). I used this tutorial almost exactly. I think that it worked very well, and would definitely use this style of binding again on a small quilt.

I used my own fabric for the binding and the backing, but everything else was from the community table.

Backing with a split sleeve and a little hook 
to hang it as well (a pop tab)

 I really enjoyed how this worked out, and it's now up on the wall to share with my own community! And to balance it all out, I hung one of my older small pieces above it. Nice to have them out for viewing. 

Pathways to Possibility: a SAQA conference

 

Last weekend I was at a textile art conference in Toronto, with the wonderful organization SAQA. I've been a member for a couple of years, but am very much a rank beginner in this area. But I couldn't NOT go to a conference so close to me! 

It was an inspiring weekend, where I met so many creative people and learned so much from the speakers, who were all sharing such different elements of creative textile work. I didn't actually take many photos, too busy listening and talking ;) But I did get a nice photo of the small piece I made for the auction that is one of the SAQA fundraisers. 

And with the artist Nancy Turbitt, who bought my piece! 

We had a foggy, windy, rainy weekend so I was glad that much of the conference was in one place. But we also got to visit a couple of museums that were extremely close by -- the Textile Museum and the Campbell House Museum. Both had great exhibits; the Campbell House is showing Colour with a "U", a collection of textile works by Canadian SAQA artists, until June 3. Definitely recommended! 

And the conference had a Community Stitch project, where you could take and exchange bits of fabric, threads and embellishments. I didn't actually get much stitching done during the conference, but this week after coming home I've been working on putting together a little piece using the bits I gathered up from the Community Stitch table! Just testing things out and seeing what happens :) 

It was a really engaging event and I'm so glad I went. I will most definitely be continuing to primarily make and share my garments at this blog, but now and again you might also see a little bit about the artworks I'm making. 

Weekend Review: Points of View

 

Points of View / Valerie Hearder
Woodinville, WA: Martingale, c2007.
96 p.

Another art quilting book for today's pick - this one is from my local library, and despite it being an older book I'd never really noticed it before. It is a great find! 

The title makes the focus of this book clear; it is all about creating varied landscapes with fabric. But there are a variety of views and ideas here. The first section is all about technique - from choosing fabric to construction and pattern-making tips, paints & other ways to colour your fabric, embellishing it in various ways, and a clear and useful section about finishing and mounting/framing your work.

The second section includes 9 step-by-step, illustrated projects. Each one shows you exactly how to use a certain technique, so that you can get some practice with these ideas before you set out on your own. And the intention that you do go your own way is clear; section three is called "Beyond Patterns", in which there are design and collage guidelines and a gallery of other work. 

I found this book full of neat ideas and useful tips. I'm not much of a pattern follower when it comes to textile art, but I liked how each of the small projects in this book were created as an intentional teaching piece, with many of her design tips and guidelines from the first bit incorporated in each one. Great for learning the technique! 

And the first section is so full of great info. She mentions unusual things, like colouring with regular crayons on to paper and then ironing that as a transfer on to a ground fabric (which has to be synthetic for it to really work). It's a different way of creating a base design, and could be fun for those without huge stockpiles of more expensive paints and dyes. Aside from this kind of surface design there are tips on applique and embellishment which also appeal to me, and the parts about finishing and displaying your pieces are thorough and useful to add to the arsenal, too. 

Although I don't often make landscapes I may try a few samples to experiment with some of these techniques. They are laid out and explained in an easy to follow style, and could be attempted by a beginner. I had fun going through this book, and hope that some of my experiments will work! 

Weekend Review: Art Quilts Unfolding

 

Art Quilts Unfolding: 50 Years of Innovation
Edited by Sandra Sider. Written by Nancy Bavor, Lisa Ellis, and Martha Sielman
Atglen, PA: Schiffer, c2018.
351 p.

It's a new year, and I'm back with some more book reviews! Today's pick is one that I've been poring over and enjoying over the last couple of weeks. This large and lengthy tome is an overview of the field of art quilting from the 60s to recent years. It's produced by SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) -- this group is one of the top in this subject, with tons of resources for members and lots of exhibitions going at all times. 

This book delivers on the promise of the title. It's broken up by decade, from the 60s to the 2010s. Each chapter talks about the state of art quilting and its development in that decade, has a short piece about or by a museum, collector, or organization that was important at that point, and then, of course, the highlight -- there are a bunch of art quilts shown by a wide variety of artists, all in full colour. It's wonderful to see the styles and techniques, and there is such a wide range that you are sure to find some to interest you. There are also a few deeper artist profiles in the chapters as well, for some of the biggest names in the field. 

Because of the size of the book and the range they're covering, the text is by necessity limited. The essays can't each be 10 pages long. However, it provides a great overview for anyone interested in this aspect of the art quilt world, and also lays out numerous artists, organizations, and publications to look into further (this could take you a while!) It's a wonderful survey course for the reader new to this world. 

And it's inspiring for an aspiring art quilter, when you see the huge range of styles, sizes, techniques, themes and so on. There really is room for everyone's art. That said, most of the artists shown are from the USA -- that is where SAQA is based. There are a few from elsewhere -- Canada, Japan, and Denmark for example, and a few other locations sprinkled in too. It's intriguing to see how each artist's background, ie: did they come from fine arts to art quilts, or home sewing to art quilts, shapes the way they create their work. Definitely one that you can look through over and over, and learn a lot along the way. 

Weekend Review: Small Art Quilts

 

Small Art Quilts: Explorations in Paint & Stitch / Deborah O'Hare
Tunbridge Wells, UK: Search Press, c2018.
144 p. 

I really enjoyed this book on making small art quilts! This one is just the right fit for my style of making and my own art quilt preferences. Deborah O'Hare has the kind of style and technique that appeal to me and so I really loved this book. It's at the right level as well, not quite stark beginner but not expert or full time artist, either. 

I loved the variety of images here; she talks about each one and the different choices she made for each, and then shares many of the techniques she's used, like stenciling and applique (for a gorgeous rabbit and moon piece) or using machine and hand embroidery together. There are also lots of different ways to finish the edges of a project included, and it felt like there was so much I could take away from this one. 

The book starts out with a discussion of basic materials needed, then moves on to a discussion of preparing ground cloth -- a lot of painting, and examples of different ways to paint cloth for different effects. Also some discussion of other surface design ideas like stamping or stencilling. And then a solid look at stitching and the many ways it can be used to add to your design. And she talks about using whole cloth, or strips or patchwork to create the ground, and has examples of each in bright, colourful photos. 

This is a deceptively short book; there is an awful lot in it and a newish beginner might be very inspired by it. But as a, let's say 'advanced beginner' I find it perfect for my needs. Lots of great ideas for every step of an art quilt, in small size so you can try things out quickly and without too much work put in to make you anxious about something working or not. 

The book ends with two projects showing how to incorporate many of the techniques throughout. If you like to follow a pattern then these will be great for you - each step is explained with close details photos as well, and there are templates for the figures in the projects at the end. If you don't want to make the same pattern you will still find the instructions helpful to be able to imagine using these ideas in your own work. This is one of my favourite art quilting books I've picked up through my library this year - it's definitely going on my 'to-buy' list so I can keep it forever ;) 

If this sounds interesting to you, be sure to pop over to the author's blog where she shares more info on what's included inside plus some gorgeous closeups of the interior pictures. I think you'll love it too!

Weekend Review: Art Quilts Made Easy

 

Art Quilts Made Easy / Susan Kruszynski
Mount Joy, PA : Landauer Publishing, ©2022
144 p.

This is a new book by an accomplished art quilter; she states at the beginning of the book that her style is collage landscape quilts, and that's what she is teaching here. This book includes some basic technique intruction, with lots of images to illustrate, and also 12 patterns that you can follow to get the hang of this technique and style for yourself. 

I thought it was nicely put together. Well organized and thorough in its choice of topic. Bright with lots of clear, large photos. If you are interested in this kind of quilting you will be delighted with this book. If your style or interests lie elsewhere, I think you may still be interested in reading through this book, both because it is lovely to look through, and because there is always some new idea that comes from any book - at least I think so! 

I am not a big landscape person, at least in my own designs, but I still found this book a solid read with lots of great technique tips that can be used in your own way. Plus it's full of inspiring images - she makes a lot of small art quilts, which is my own preference, and I found that I was examining all of her images closely to see how she'd finished and edged her pieces. She is down to earth and includes tons of great info on creating your own quilts. She starts with very useful information on how to plan and map out a quilt, shares design rules, guidelines and basic tools, and also includes tips on finishing and framing your work, whether that's just binding or mounting to canvas. 

She is clearly an expert in this area, and she's also a teacher, which comes through in her easily understandable directions and instruction here. Anyone, even if just starting out, would easily be able to follow the steps she lays out. So definitely an interesting one to read through and examine. If your preferences are for landscapes and the collage technique, it's a must have for you. 

Textile Side Projects

I took a little detour from my garment sewing this week (even though I have a skirt nearly done...) because I was struck with the desire to work on an art quilt. I have been experimenting with various ideas for the past few years, although I haven't made even a fraction of the ideas I've considered.

But this week I was looking at some of the patchwork circles I made last year, and felt the need to work on them again. This is a project that uses up both scraps of cotton from various sources, and my own dressmaking offcuts. I start by cutting a circle from medium weight fusible interfacing, then lay strips of cotton in one colourway across the circle and fuse down. I then cut the larger circle into rings and shift them around to make various combos.

This week I was playing with spreading out the rings into different arrangements. As I was doing so with a red circle, I realized that a fabric I had sitting on the giveaway pile would make a great background for the red rings. It was a cotton that I picked up somewhere but didn't like the print -- large, irregular profiles of some kind of statue. But the print was widely spaced and the background was great. So I cut up bits of the green and yellow fabric and stitched them into a block that singes the eye when paired with the red fabrics. I really love it.

I've made a few little tester strips and have been trying out different quilting ideas but haven't got any further yet. I'm hoping to have this little one (12x12), tentatively named In Orbit, done this month.

On the weekend, we went down to the 2021 Grand National Fibre Arts show currently exhibited at the Woodstock Museum, and seeing those pieces in such a variety of styles, with so many techniques and ideas on display, has inspired me to finish something instead of stalling and putting projects aside (common for me...) I hope to be able to share more about this one with you all soon! 

Do any of my readers make textile art projects as well as sewing our own garments? Or do you lean toward fibre arts like needle felting or rug hooking, or anything at all like that? I find it really enjoyable to do both and move back and forth between them, although wardrobe projects have really been taking precedence for a while. But variety is creatively satisfying!