Tricia and Pearl's garden

What a crazy year! In the past month and a half I have a new grand son and my youngest was married in a small ceremony. With Covid we had to completely change my daughters wedding to a small ceremony with only some of our family. Amazingly my son, his wife and our three  grand children were able to make it east for three weeks. I was trying to figure out how to create my garden when they were here. I decided to have my grand daughter, Pearl help me.

I created the background with clouds, grass and machine quilted it. I had several pieces of fabric with fusibles on the back. Pearl picked pieces and created flowers. We ran out of time. I will machine stitch our garden next week and post it with the stitching. It was so wonderful being able to play with fabric with my grand daughter.

Andrea's Garden Quilt

Old Garden Beach Memories

11" x  14

Fabric paint, hand cut stencils, 100% cotton.

Well, here is my Garden quilt, wrinkles and all!

I'm really pleased with the concept and design of this quilt, but absolutely hate the wrinkled background.  I've been trying to use less fusibles in my quilt construction, but that was a big mistake for this particular quilt.  Thursday morning I was going to start it all over again, but then realized I could end up with two unfinished quilts on July 31st., so I just "let it go" and continued to work on this one. 

When I first started to think about this theme, I was planning on making something based on a purple clematis plant in my garden, but when I was not motivated to start I decided that I needed a different approach.  I really don't know what made me think of this, but the idea literally came to me while showering about two weeks ago. I really enjoy designing and making quilts based on something personal.  

My childhood summers were spent in Rockport, a small town on the Massachusetts coast, about an hour north of Boston.  A few times during the summer we would walk to "Old Garden Beach" which was maybe a mile from my family's cottage.  Every house or cottage along the way had some type of garden, big or small.  I think these walks were my first introduction to gardens and specific flowers, especially those that are more commonly found near the ocean, such as beach roses ( Rosa Rugosa ) and hollyhocks. I really wanted to make something that reminded me of those very special childhood memories of hearing ocean waves crashing, salty air and beautiful gardens.

I spent many hours experimenting and agonizing over the "perfect" background.  I tried both paint and hand dyed fabric, but nothing was quite right.  After much frustration, I re-evaluated just what I wanted to emphasize and realized it was the flowers and Old Garden Beach sign ( which I believe was much smaller and more rustic when I was a kid ).  I then gave myself permission to just indicate with white on white, the sky, water, sailboats and grass, in order for the flowers to "pop".  I was really  pleased with both that decision and how it was looking until it started to wrinkle.

The fabric paint used was either applied using hand cut stencils or sponge.  A few french knots were added to attach the flower blossoms.

Old Garden Beach

Rockport, MA.

July, 2020

Field of Poppies

The theme word Garden conjures up all kinds of memories. I think I am getting old because everything seems to be tied to memories now.

I lived on a farm part of my younger years and garden was a source of food. My mother loved flowers, but never really had a flower garden. I remember trips to Natchez and to the Gulf Coast and admiring the beautiful azaleas. When we went to France, we were astonished by the beautiful poppies that grow as wildflowers.

Poppies are always associated with remembering people. They are also easier to quilt than hydrangeas which may be my favorite flowers.

My quilt has poppies I made from a silk scarf. The background fabric is one of the Stonehenge cottons. I painted on it with Inktense Blocks and thread sketched the petals and stems. The large poppy is three dimensional.

Nedra's Garden - Chihulys Paintbrushes

Several years ago there was a Chihuly exhibit at the Botanical Gardens in Atlanta.  Having been a fan for many years, I drove 4 hours to meet a relative to see the exhibit.  The displays were fantastic as I expected!!!  One of them included the gondola filled with glass balls which was fashioned into a stunning quilt by Melissa Sobotka several years ago.   I took many pictures but none of them really did justice to the pieces and their settings - I purchased the book to remember them as they really were!!

The background is composed of a batik print as a base with rectangles of dark batik fused  and then stitched on top.  The glass paintbrushes are made of batiks also which are machine stitched onto the background.   Simple curved stitching using a turquoise rayon thread and glass beads were used to add texture and contrast.  The colors are a bit washed out in the photo -- the stems are greener than they appear  The piece is 11 X 14.  

Of course my pictures from Atlanta came out terribly so I've included a link with a slideshow of the exhibit.  You'll see how stunning the Fern Dell Paintbrushes were in their natural beauty.

https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2016/04/28/chihuly-in-the-garden-returns-to-atlanta-slideshow.html#g/364082/12

Alice's Garden Quilt--A Collage of Kaffe's Flowers

When I was straightening up the Elfa drawers that hold my stash, I went through my “purple” drawer.  Tucked into the bottom of it was a piece of sun-printed fabric that didn’t look familiar to me. When did I make this?  Then I remembered that I’d demonstrated sun printing at our MM retreat in Arkansas several years ago.  I went to the blog to look at the pictures I’d posted for that wonderful retreat.  Lo and behold, there I saw a photo of myself working on this exact fabric!  (I've included that photo below.)

I had decided to do a sort of collage of flower cutouts from my Kaffe Fassett fabrics, so next I sorted through that drawer.  Most of his florals are huge, really too big for such a small quilt.  But I found a few that would work.

I cut small sections of my chosen fabrics and applied a fusible product to their backs.  Then I cut around the flower motifs and arranged each on a square of the sun-printed fabric.  I used a fusible product that I have only occasionally used--Steam a Seam--but this proved to be a good choice.  Because it is “repositionable,” you can easily rearrange the appliqué shapes; they stick to the background but aren’t permanently adhered until you iron them down.  I arranged the appliqués such that some of the sun-printed flowers can be seen.

I bound it with more of the sun-printed fabric, and I quilted very simply with echo-quilting around the motifs.

This is the second Garden quilt I made!  My first one was a stringed pieced design, again using florals that were chiefly shades of purple, and it turned out all right, but somehow I wasn’t happy with it.  But it was already made, and so now it has become the back of my quilt.  So as I’ve done before on occasion, mine is a two-sided quilt! Below is the back of my quilt.  If I'd used this one, I'd have named it "String Pieced Garden Flowers."  

And here I am working on that sun-printed fabric:

The Paint Composite!

Another wonderful Reveal for this round. I did expect someone to “Paint” the rainbow, but you never disappoint with interpretations that continue the surprises from creative imaginations.

This composite fell mostly by color so Kathy’s took top center. Then it was easy to border the first row with the two flowers from Gail and Jane. The complimentary colors worked out attractively also. In fact, as I took a second and third look, the colors of the word “color” transitioned effectively into the flowers.

Second row, Judy’s paint brush, in way, points to the house tops of Carolyn’s circle. I grinned when I saw the mask in the middle and immediately thought of paint masks first and said, “Oh no!” My hardware store sold out of those when we could not longer supply N-95 masks. But now, those more appropriate masks are common place and many quilters have stepped up and contributed their talents and sewed them by the thousands.

What a sad state of affairs we are all suffering, illustrated in the bottom row. Stay at home – BUT – take special note of three icons: The bright sun beam in Alice’s quilt, the spring flowers in Andrea’s quilt, and the star on Nedra’s quilt.

Just remember, given time, this too will pass. Stay at home, keep quilting, and thank you for letting me play a small part in the joy of such a creative endeavor.

Randy

Kathy's Paint Quilt

By far and away, "Paint" is my most favorite of all the "Material Mavens" Quilts I've made.  In this, one of the deepest times of trouble in our Country, and throughout the World, there are still beautiful colors to calm us; and with one word, "PAINT" we're able to imagine how beautiful our World will once again become.

I had been asked to make COVID masks, and thus became a "Maker of Masks," a task I'd never even thought about.  After watching several You Tube Videos about "How to make masks," I was fascinated with one of the alternative ways to keep the masks securely in place using something other than elastic.  Using common T-Shirts, I cut up several of my shirts into 2" strips; then.... the magic happens !  You take those strips, end to end, give them a Super Big Stretch, and they elongate into incredibly long, stretchy pieces of fabric that are perfect for easy-to-wear, and comfortable mask straps !

In the process of cutting up my T-shirts, I found one that said, "COLOR,  It's a Pigment of Your Imagination," and I knew right away this was going to be my quilt.  I also knew that somewhere in my Fabric "Stash" there was a remnant that looked like paint splatter … the hunt for that piece of fabric began !

After fusing a woven stabilizer to the back of the T-Shirt fabric, I appliqued that "Fussy Cut" piece onto a black, swirly cotton fabric, and "Free-Motion" quilted the fabrics together using monofilament thread (top and bobbin).  The binding fabric was cut on the bias, then attached to the quilt.

I'm so very grateful for the opportunity to have found the fabric to make this quilt; and am hopeful our World will be healed and consoled as we continue moving through this most challenging of times.   Peace and blessings to all.

Judy's Paint the canvas

Painted canvas
I kept seeing paint dripping down a canvas so that’s what I made. The yellow and green fabrics are some that I hand dyed with my friend, Ellis Bennett. We did it in her garage in JULY in TEXAS. That tells you how much we wanted to dye fabric! Nobody would do that if they didn’t have a passion for quilting and creating.

The orange, blue, and purple are Cherrywood fabrics. They hand dye their own fabrics and are the ones who have a challenge every year. Last year was the Bob Ross challenge and this year is Diana.

The other part I couldn’t get out of my mind was the paintbrush. I wanted to be able to paint with it. All of these fabrics were in my stash and it was fun to rediscover them and make a paintbrush from them. I just cut out a section that looked like paintbrush hairs from McKenna Ryan’s line called “At Home In The Woods”. I had a little piece of gray that looked like metal and then the handle is a piece that I purchased from the Waco quilt guild president when she moved to Arizona back in 1995.

The paint was cut from a fun fabric called “Effervescence” designed by Amelia Caruso for Robert Kaufman. Sometimes it is so hard to use a fabric because you want to save it for just the right project. I’ve decided that now is the right time. This week I have cut into it 2 times and I still have some to use on other projects. I sewed squares of the right colors together and fused Bosal knit interfacing on the back to prevent it from fraying too much and to give it body so that it would paint nicely.

I sewed a vinyl sleeve to hold the paintbrush and paint. Enjoy.

Carolyn: "Can't Paint the Town Red"

My quilt reflects the Covid-19 Pandemic that we are currently facing with our quarantine and stay-at-home orders.  It features a circle representing the world-wide contagion with countries all over the world.  The coronavirus moves all around the globe, signaling the seriousness of this 2020 pandemic.  A blue mask reminds us of those caring for the infected and the urgency to wear a mask when we go outside to help contain the virus.  Only one of the homes is infected with the virus.  Can you tell which one?

I used a new Spring fabric by Kaffe Fassett for the background to communicate the world-wide goal of “flattening the curve.” The globe is purple reminding us of the hope for a vaccine.  Green grass signals an eventual return to a new “normal.”  The virus particles are fussy cut from another new Kaffe fabric, which resembles the coronavirus.  The same fabric is also used for the back and binding.  Each house is “painted” vivid red, but because each is unique, individual polka dot fabric tops each roof and door.  That is, except for the unfortunate, infected household.

The entire quilt is made with raw-edge fusing.  I tried a new thread for me – Wonderfil Invisifil 100 wt. with a #60 needle in tiny stitches for the entire quilt, except for the Ricky Tims 40 wt. polyester green thread for the grass.

This whimsical quilt reminds me to honor those who battle this virus, to stay hopeful, to do my part by staying at home, and to look forward to a brighter day. 

Andrea's Paint quilt

 Emerging Daffodils

12" x 12" 

screen printed and stencilled on cotton using 

transparent fabric paint

Up until last week I had a very different design idea worked out for my "Paint" quilt.  Although I liked the design, I was not motivated to even start it.  It was when I realized that I needed to create a piece that reflected, in some small way, just what is happening in the world now, that I came up with a new design.  Wash Your Hands; Social Distancing; Wear A Mask; Stay Home are a few of the phrases we are hearing everyday now, or at least in Massachusetts.

While staying home I have been appreciating watching my daffodils emerge in my little back garden, which I can see from my kitchen window.  The process of nature returning is about the only thing that seems "normal" now.  This was my inspiration.  It is a whole cloth quilt with all the imagery created using hand cut stencils and transparent fabric paint.  The background is screen printed with a "montage" of a few of my favorite images, mostly having to do with travel.  I intended the background to be a bit more "faded" than it is, as it represents the fading of life as I have known it.

"Where flowers bloom, so does hope"

Lady Bird Johnson

Some of the stencils that I used for the imagery.

Nedra's Paint - Paint the Town Red

The theme is incorporated in two ways for this challenge using paint as the inspiration and a method.

No matter how much I pondered, my mind always came back to the "Paint the Town Red " phrase.  So what better town to do so in than Las Vegas as I and a friend did when I turned 50!!!  

 I wanted to use obvious landmarks from Vegas for the skyline at the time of a warm southwestern sunset. The background is a combination of commercial and personal hand died fabric.  The landmarks are from some of the newer Vegas hotels, New York, New York, The Wynn, Luxor, Paris and Bellagio.  They are fused on and it is machine quilted.   Fingernail polish and fabric paint was used to create the drips.        

Gail’s Paint Quilt

I can still remember the first time I heard the descriptive term “thread paint”.  I thought ahhh yes that is what I am doing with thread.   Thread painting is what we all do with our art quilts.  Fabric and thread are our paints.  We have finally been recognized as artists without brushes but with needle and thread.  I so embrace this concept and this challenge!  My quilt is a silk panel given to me by Karen Sharp, a talented quilt artist.  I’ve looked at it for months. My familiarity with my Sweet 16 sit down midarm and the many threads Karen gave me inspired this little quilt.  I have reached a level of free motion quilting I only dreamed about.  Thank you Alice and everyone for this opportunity.  I used couching with metallic threads to outline the silk embroidered panel, yarn to embellish the border, and quilting on mySweet 16 for the background.

Jane's Paint Quilt: The Orchid

From Alice:  Jane was unable to post today because she is having a medical procedure done.  She asked me to post the photo of her quilt, which I was happy to do.

About this quilt Jane said:

Paint is a very important part of my work in surface design. I use it in many different ways. 

In this quilt, I painted on silk charmeuse with Pro Fab fabric paint and Inktense blocks. Gail Bradney shared some tips from Andrea Brokenshire. She also gave me the orchid. 

Alice again here:  Jane sent me several other photos that illustrate her process.  

This was the original photo which Jane used for her painted quilt.

More "process photos"

In this photo you can see a bit of a black and white version
of the photo, useful when working with values, and then
the painting in process.

Alice's Quilt: Paint the Town Red!

In thinking about the theme for this quilt, I started wondering about common expressions using the word “paint.”  The first one that jumped into my brain was “paint the town red,” and so I decided to make a quilt that depicted a village of all-red houses.  Immediately I was reminded of the group quilt that Carolyn, Judy, Rita, and I constructed a few years ago that we called “Whimseyville."  Remembering that quilt and the fun we had in working together on it made it extra enjoyable to work on this quilt!

Just as we did with Whimseyville, I made the background first, starting at the top with an assortment of blue fabrics for the sky.  Working down, I added brown and green fabrics for the ground.  I used scraps of already fused fabrics from a bin containing leftovers of other fusing projects.  I fused these background sections onto a square of plain fabric.  I also found the perfect scrap for the sun.

Then I did fusing Wonder Under, onto scraps of red fabrics, and I free-hand cut house shapes and roofs.  I then used a tiny zig-zag stitch to appliqué all of these down onto the background.  I "thread sketched" the rays of the sun. This appliquéing of the houses, sun, and sections of the sky and ground sufficed for the quilting.  

The KEY Composite!

We’ve lived through four major holidays since the last Reveal.   We’ve had Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the celebrations of the New Year, and then we zipped right into the next decade.  It was suddenly time for the KEY reveal. Hang on, more excitement to come in the following months.

As I studied the 7 quilts, trying to decide a layout for the composite, I still had a grin [read that as licking my lips] over Andrea’s unique idea. Rita and I recently visited a local restaurant famous for their Key Lime pie, only to be told, “It’s a summer treat!” What! Had to settle for Deep Dish Dutch Apple with a scoop of homemade vanilla – Weight Watchers can wait a week. Andrea, your quilt started front and center, Karen slipped in nicely next. The three reds, theme and color, attractively dominate the top row. Judy, I carry a map of the backroads of Texas on my motorcycle and depend, heavily, on the map key – clever idea for the theme.   Nedra’s lime green and Andrea’s key lime green complement each other to balance the lower corner.   

Yet again – job well done all,

Randy

2018: Mavens in Houston!

No, this isn't a post of a quilt but rather a great photo from over a year ago of the Material Mavens who were in Houston for the IQA Quilt Festival!  I ran across this on my desktop and felt that it needed sharing! 

From left to right are Teresa, Gail, Jane Carolyn, Alice, and Sara!  Not all the Mavens, but a good many and these very same members got together for dinner last fall.  Just seeing these smiling faces made me happy this morning!

Judy's Map Key

Key

What was I going to do for key? I love old fashioned romantic looking keys and that would make a pretty quilt. Then there is the key to my heart which has lots of compartments filled and filling more each day. Plus, Valentines Day is coming up.

Then I remembered the key on a map. It’s also called a Legend. Geography was my favorite subject because I wanted to travel everywhere and see the world. When we would travel I wanted to be in charge of the map to keep track of where we were and how much further we had to go. What city would be the next one? Where were the rest stops? Were there mountains to climb or rivers to cross? Was there a state or national park with trails to hike? The Key held the secrets of what the symbols meant and what fun it was to find them.