Fabrications Show -- More Excitement!

There was even more exciting news after I learned that my quilt, Natural Symphony, was juried into the Bend (OR) show, Fabrications - The Art of Quilting:  they wanted to use images of my quilt in both the poster and the bookmark publicizing the show!   Today I received an email showing both of them:

Poster for the Fabrications show.

       

Even a bookmark!

It makes me very happy to see my quilt used to publicize this show!  The artists' reception is on Fri., Feb. 3, and I hope people aren't tired of seeing my quilt by then.  Here's what else I'm hoping:

• there are no more avalanches on the pass or flooded roads preventing folks from getting to the reception 
• no wild monkeys or crazed cougars attack our car on the way
• bears don't come out of hibernation, wander through Bend, and block access to the gallery
• my family and friends can celebrate at the reception with me!

"Accepted into the show . . ."

There's a new phrase that I'm beginning to love.  It begins "Congratulations!  Your quilt has been accepted into our juried show . . ."

My quilt, "Natural Symphony."

I received notification this afternoon that my quilt, Natural Symphony, was accepted into a new show in Bend, OR called Fabrications -- The Art of Quilting.  But that's not all the exciting news.  Fellow Fabrications members Torrie Gordon and Deb Sorem also heard that lovely phrase today, and they each have a quilt juried into this show:

Torrie's lively, contemporary  quilt, "Water 2," juried into the FABRICATIONS show.

 Deb's exquisitely pieced quilt, "Bolero," juried into the FABRICATIONS show.

Obviously, all three of us are thrilled and practically dancing on clouds as we await the upcoming artists' reception on Feb. 3.  This is a new show and is sponsored by Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, which has made Central Oregon a mecca for quilt enthusiasts with their annual summer quilt show (always on the 2nd Sat. in July), where over 1300 quilts are hung throughout this 1800's style town for one day. 

There are many, many talented quilters in Central Oregon.  Submissions for the Fabrications show numbered over 100, but the venue has space for only 30 quilts.  That's a humbling thought.  Having our quilts selected for this show is an honor, and in our excitement, we haven't lost sight of that.

Fiberexplorations' First Group Exhibit

The Fiberexplorations group is exhibiting the results of their Architecture Challenge at the Ladd & Bush branch of U.S. Bank in downtown Salem, OR through Jan. 30, 2012.  These small art quilts, ranging in size from 11" x 17" to 14" x 20", are based on the architecture of the Ladd & Bush Building, an historic Salem landmark constructed in 1868.

The "Architecture Challenge" quilt exhibit inside  the Ladd & Bush Building.

The quilts are made by [left to right, above]: Lisa Encabo, Erika Close, Joanna Price, Torrie Gordon, Chris Deibel, [the center info panel] Maureen Erhardt, Kathleen Nesvik, and Deb Sorem (shown are her two quilts for this challenge, both featuring an arch).

Center panel showing photos of the building's architectural features (flanked by Chris' quilt on the left, and Maureen's on the right).

The members who participated in this challenge photographed those exterior architectural elements of this building that each found most visually interesting.  The challenge was to then design and construct a small art quilt based on those elements.  While the resulting quilts are very different from each other, they're all the same in one respect:  each is a unique interpretation of its maker.  However, if  you look closely, you might discover the same design inspiration that was used by three of our members!

If you live nearby, the bank welcomes you to visit and see these quilts in person.  The quilts are nicely spaced so they're not crowded together, but that made it challenging to get a good photo that included all the quilts. So here I've broken the exhibit into two smaller, viewable sets:

Quilts by Lisa, Erika, Joanna, Torrie, and Chris.

Quilts by Maureen, Kathleen, and two by Deb.

Thanks to Deb for all the work she did to coordinate this exhibit (including the center panel and photos!).

The Ladd & Bush Building (U.S. Bank) is located in downtown Salem at 360 Commercial St. SE, at the corner of Commercial and State Streets.

This exhibit is dedicated to the memory of Joan Wynn, our tenth member.

Joy of Surface Design

I recently watched my new DVD from Quilting Arts, DIY Surface Design: Printmaking Made Easy with Everyday Objects with Leslie Tucker Jenison.  I loved it!  I especially enjoyed the sections on screenprinting with thickened dyes, gelatin monoprinting, and soy wax resist.  These are techniques I already use; what was unique about Leslie's approach was her use of everyday and found objects.

A great DVD!

I pulled out some of my vintage kitchen utensils with red wooden handle(1930's?) .  I hesitated just for a moment, but realized that getting soy wax on the metal parts wouldn't damage them.  In fact, maybe it will prevent further rusting!  (Note:  Any tools used in surface design should be dedicated to that purpose and never used again for food preparation or eating.  Same goes for this electric skillet -- it's dedicated to melting wax for batik and for encaustic work.)

My vintage kitchen tools for soy wax batik!

I love using soy wax for batik!  It has a very light, pleasant smell, but doesn't give off any harmful fumes so there's no need to ventilate.  It also has a lower melting point than traditional batik wax, so it melts quickly.  The biggest plus, though, is that it's easy to remove when the next step (dyeing the fabric) is completed.

Wax applied to cotton cloth using potato masher.

I stamped several pieces of cotton with wax designs, and my final piece was my favorite.  It was randomly stamped with the bottom tines of the large fork:

Soy wax applied with this large vintage fork.

My other accomplishment was finishing the painting on my glue-resist piece.  I'll let the paint cure another day or so before I wash out the glue.  I'm excited to see the final result!

Painting finished on my blue glue gel resist project.

Spending time on surface design projects is very satisfying to me, almost equal to the sense of abundance I get from using my own surface-designed fabrics in a project.  There's still more to do: deciding what color to dye my soy wax-stamped fabric.

How to start off a new year

Last week I decided to whip up some quick and easy coffee sleeves.  The top and bottom ones were for a friend who, like me, loves these colors.

Three in-progress coffee sleeves.

I got as far as finishing the upper and lower edges of the bottom one, then proceeded to measure it to fit a typical paper coffee cup, when

"Oh no," I cried, as I gave birth to an alien in a snake-filled tree!  

Upside down.

(Oops, sorry!  That old saying just popped up from the recessses of my memory bank.   It's a made-up amalgamation of an imaginary Enquirer-type "news" article some friends and I made up back in the day.)  Hmmm . . . where was I?

Oh, right.  I'd designed my three coffee sleeves upside-down!  I can't think of any way to salvage them, so I'll just start over. That's a good way to start the new year:  jumping in and reworking a design idea that didn't succeed the first time.   Any ideas on how I can use the rejects in another project?