Quilts in Mancuso Quilt Fest, Palm Springs, CA

It was great fun this morning to receive a flier from the Mancuso Quilt Fest and to find that two of my quilts will be in the show.  They will be in the Special Exhibits section.  "Autumn's Palette"will be with the "Appearances" exhibit from Quilts on the Wall.   "Between Heaven and Earth" is in the "Fiber Perceptions" exhibit with Beyond the Edge Fiber Artists.

"Between Heaven and Earth"

"Autumn's Palette"

 If you happen to be in the Southern California area between October 2nd and October 4th, be sure to take in Quiltfest.  It's sure to be a great show.

Always remember, never fear to experiment.  

Sometimes wonderful things happen.

 © Linda Friedman 2014.  All rights reserved.

Genesis of a Composition

After squaring and trimming any art quilt creation, I never can bear to toss out trimmed elements that may someday have potential.  Often these seem to be mini compositions all by themselves.  Sometimes I use these cut off pieces to audition a quilting pattern.  Sometimes I use them to merely check on tension before starting to quilt the larger piece from which they were cut.  Whether I use them for a purpose or not, I cannot bring myself to toss them.

As I was straightening up the studio this morning, I ran across a stack of these little gems and couldn't help playing with them on the design board.  I rather like how they work together.  Perhaps these will be worked into a whole new composition.

Here are a couple pictures of some pieces that jumped up at me and begged to be incorporated into a new work.

Section of possible composit

Full placement on design board

There is something about this that reminds me of a "modern quilt".  I know, it's a stretch of the imagination.  Be that as it may, I do like all the white that creates a background.

Since my design board is very large and portable, it takes up a lot of freestanding room in the studio so I am going to have to reluctantly remove the pieces and put them away, once again, for another day.  Oh, no!!! Another UFO and it hasn't even begun yet!

Always remember, never fear to experiment.  

Sometimes wonderful things happen.

 © Linda Friedman 2014.  All rights reserved.

 

 

Rainbow Shibori How-To Article

Hoorah!  I just received my copies of the October/November 2014 issue of Quilting Arts Magazine  My article, "Rainbow Shibori" runs from page 30 through page 33.  Hope you have a chance to read it and find this method of applying Rit liquid concentrated dye directly to stitched fabric great fun.

Always remember, never fear to experiment.  

Sometimes wonderful things happen.

 © Linda Friedman 2014.  All rights reserved.

My "Rainbow Shibori Dyeing" Article in Quilting Arts Magazine

Happy Day!!!  I just received my copy of the October/November 2014 issue of Quilting Arts Magazine.  My article on "Rainbow Shibori Dyeing" is noted on the cover and appears on pages  30, 31, 32 and 33.  The editorial staff did a fantastic job of representing the process that I developed.  Many kudos and great thanks are due to everyone on the Quilting Arts Magazine staff!

© Linda Friedman 2014.  All rights reserved

Studio Art Quilt Associates 2014 Benefit Auction is Underway

The annual Studio Art Quilt Associates Benefit Auction is underway and going strong.  For a visual treat and perhaps take this opportunity to add to your art collection, take a moment and visit the beautiful quilted fiber art that is being auctioned. 

This is the piece that I donated to the auction this year.

 

© Linda Friedman 2014.  All rights reserved

"United Forever" - Remembering 9/11 in an art quilt

 United Forever

On this day every year I bring this quilt out of storage to honor the memory of all the precious lives that were lost on 9/11/01.  It was one of my early art quilts and created soon after the attack on the Trade Center.  This quilt may lack sophistication but it brings the day back as if it were today.  Never, ever should we forget-- those lives lost on 9/11, the first responders, the families that lost loved ones, and the men of our armed forces who have given their all for our nation.

© Linda Friedman 2014.  All rights reserved

3-D Fabric Leaf Method #1

Dimensional Fabric Leaf - Method #1

Over time I have experimented with creating dimensional fabric elements to embellish my fiber art works.  Some of these have worked well and made their way into several of my art quilts.  You might want to try this process to add a tactile element to a quilt that teases the eye and begs to be touched.

I started with a blank, white remnant of white cotton blend fabric.  The following pictures show how I added color to that fabric; however, you might wish to start with an already colorful commercial fabric. 

Diluted Setacolor fabric paint was added to dampened fabric with paint brush

Diluted fabric paint was brushed onto the damp fabric

The fabric was folded in half, right sides together after fabric had dried and was heat set

A leaf shape was drawn onto fabric with a chalk marker

A final leaf shape was drawn with the chalk marker

A length of butcher's string was laid over vein line

Supplies used to affix butcher's string

(Note:  Because the Liquid Stitch that I had on hand and become thicken and gloppy, I used a paint brush to apply it to the fabric instead of unsuccessfully trying to squeeze it through the tiny hole in the bottle cap.)

Liquid Stitch was "painted" onto vein line with a stiff brush

Butcher's string was applied to all vein lines

Two layers of fabric were secured with pins

A cutting line was drawn with pencil

The leaf shape was cut out of fabric on cutting line

This is the leaf shape removed from the fabric

The leaf form was stitched along the chalk outlinewith 2" left open for turning

Tips were clipped to remove bulk

A thumb was inserted between layers to begin turning process

A finger starts the turning process by pushing it through  the 2" seam opening

After turning right side out, a bone folder was used to poke out corners

After turning, the leaf form was ironed flat

This is what the leaf figure looks like after it was ironed flat

The 2" opening was closed with hand stitching

Both fabric layers were pinched around butcher's string vein and a needle was inserted

Small stitches were taken along the length of the butcher's string vein

This demonstrates two completed veins

This is the top view of two completed veins

This shows all veins completed (front of leaf form)

This shows the back side of leaf form after veins were stitched

At this point, I felt that the leaf form could benefit from more color than had been achieved with the very thinned down Setacolor fabric paint.  I used a green and an orange Derwent Inkense watercolor blocks to add more color.

Derwent Inktense Color Blocks

Color was floated with application of water applied from an Niji water brush

Completed Leaf Shape

 In the next few days, I hope to carve out time to write up another method for creating dimensional leaf forms.

(Note:  Although I purchase many of my art supplies from Dick Blick Art Materials and from Dharma Trading Company, both of which are referenced in links herein, most of these items are also  widely available on-line from other sources.)

Always remember, never fear to experiment.  

 Sometimes wonderful things happen.

© Linda Friedman 2014.  All rights reserved