Work by Kathleen and Deb; First blog contest!

Here's a peek at some of the other projects our members are working on:

Kathleen's deconstructed/reconstructed/eco/repurposed/all-purpose bag got plenty of oohs and ahhs, and it's even lined!

Kathleen's bag

While Kathleen was thinking winter (note the snow in the bird scene at the bag's bottom), Deb was still in the moment with autumn leaves:  Do you see how that relates to yesterday's post?  (Clue:  see the photo caption on my Nov. 28 post!)

Deb's "Autumn Leaves"

Let's make that into a little contest, shall we?  It will be my first!  At midnight Thurs., Dec. 8,  I'll randomly draw a name from all who leave a comment with the correct answer to the above question.  To the winner:  one of my lovingly handmade fabric postcards.  Please be sure your email address is accessible from your comment so I can snail-mail your fabric postcard.

Deb's pet portrait in Quilting Arts magazine!

We knew Deb's quilt was special when we revealed our pet portraits last December for the Feeling Petty Quilting Arts 2012 Calendar Challenge.

"In the Moment" by Deb Sorem

 The latest issue of Quilting Arts (Dec. 2011/Jan. 2012) features Deb's colorful quilt as one of six Judges' Choice winners.  Who could resist this happy fellow?  As Deb explained, "One way to reduce stress is to live in the moment, rather than fret about the past or future.  No one does this better than my happy, loveable golden retriever."

Congratulations, Deb!

Architecture Challenge Reveal

I've had formatting problems with this post -- just ignore the weird spacing, etc.!

The Fiberexplorations group met on Monday night to reveal our quilts for the Architecture Challenge.  Most of us still have a bit more work to do before these pieces are completely finished.
Here they are, beginning with Deb's pieces.  Yes, she made two, both featuring arches, which are key elements in architecture (and highly visible on the Ladd and Bush building).   Each quilt holds special, personal meaning to her, not evident to other viewers.

Deb's TWO (!!) pieces, featuring arches

The piece that Chris is constructing was quite unique-- it's wool applique and done by hand:

Wool applique by Chris

She found her inspiration in the center motif of the following architectural element:

Scrollwork freize (?)

Joanna's untitled (and unfinished) purple piece

Torrie and Maureen used the fluted freize as their design inspiration, as did I in my first (unsuccessful) attempt. At least I think that's what this exterior architectural element is called:

Fluted freize (?)

Note the embroidered ribbon Torrie used, along with the faux trapunto she created along the top and bottom:

Torrie's piece, titled "Prism"

Maureen was celebrating her birthday with her family, so we didn't see her that night or get a photo of her piece.   I'll add that soon, as well as a pic of Kathleen's quilt.
Nov. 28 update:   A clearer photo of  Lisa's quilt is below.  It features men's shirting fabrics and zippers, in a Courthouse Square block arrangement.  Coins coated with resin embellish this piece, which brings to mind a gentleman banker in his Brooks Brothers suit, button-down shirt, tie, and well-shined shoes. (Personally, the zippers made me think of two other bank-related items:  a safe-deposit box and a bank vault, both of which are "zipped up" tightly for security and hold coins!)

Lisa's "zipper quilt"

Another update to this post:  I don't have a title for my purple architecture quilt yet, but today a possibility came to mind:  Architexture!  Whaddya think?

Tomorrow night is the big reveal -- the meeting where we share the quilts we've made for the Architecture Challenge.  A few members have shared their quilts-in-progress, but the majority have not, so most of the work will be a surprise.  It's always a thrill to see how each individual interprets the same subject, in this case, the architecture of downtown Salem's Ladd & Bush Bank building.
After struggling for weeks to find a way to incorporate the architectural image I created from a hand-carved stamp, I finally set it aside.  I couldn't find a way to make it work (it was really too large for this project), so I stopped worrying about it and started over.  I looked through my own surface-designed fabrics, my five design journals, and the work I did in Rosalie Dace's workshop.

My five design journals

LAYERS!   TEXTURE!   HOW TO CREATE INTEREST?

I already had many pieces from my surface design experiments.  Surprisingly, many of them were in shades of purple.  Why?  I took an online fabric-painting class through Quilt University about five years ago.  We used transparent Setacolor  paints (diluted 50/50 with water).  I laid the piece below on a large plastic gridded surface -- it was just a handy place to hang the fabric (in the sun) to dry.  Then I received one of those serendipitous surprises -- the grid, even from underneath, had been sun-printed onto my painted fabric, and I now had about 2 yards of it!

Sun-printed purple fabric

I wonder if anyone else discovered this new and extremely appropriate fabric from Moda (below)?  It was an exciting find, and I painted some pieces with a light wash of purple:

Architecture fabric!!!! (mine tinted purple)

The only goal for this weekend is to make this challenge quilt.  I really don't like waiting til the last minute, but it seems that deadline pressure motivates me.  But before I get back to work, here are a few shots of the chosen elements for this piece.  To see all of the finished quilts, check back on Tuesday.  

TEXTURE: Two fabrics, densely stitched.

Detail: sun-printed, screenprinted fabric.

The elements, ready to be assembled and stitched.

And big news:  Beginning the first of the new year, these quilts will be exhibited in the building that was the inspiration for this challenge -- the Ladd & Bush branch of US Bank!  They liked our theme and want to work with us to share it with the community.  Thanks to member Deb Sorem for making that happen!