Erika Close awarded 1st Place ribbon at Ore. State Fair 2013

1st place ribbon for "Industrial Nature"

Fiberexplorations member Erika Close took home a first place ribbon at this year's Oregon State Fair for her quilt, Industrial Nature (also shown in this post from the Sisters' Outdoor Quilt Show).  Erika's quilt was categorized in the Professional division.

"Industrial Nature" by Erika Close

Detail of leaves and quilting

Erika began this quilt in a workshop by Jean Wells.  Rather than using a traditional binding, she used the portrait finish technique that Jean teaches.  In this method, the quilt is finished, then mounted on a larger quilted piece that works as a frame. 

Quilt entries at this year's fair were up from 150 last year to 220 this year, according to Salem's Statesman Journal newspaper.  Volunteer committees have taken charge of this quilt competition, as well as other "creative living" contests.

Congratulations, Erika!

Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show 2013

I thoroughly enjoyed this year's quilt show in Sisters.  The weather was perfect (not as hot as it usually is) and all the quilts I wanted to see were close together, within 2-3 blocks of where I was staying.  Where was that?  Just two blocks from the Stitchin' Post!  My son's girlfriend, Brandi, offered her apartment, so my daughter and I stayed there for two nights.  The 2nd night, Brandi went out of town to visit a friend, and since she needed someone to bunny-sit her rabbit, E.B., we were able to do that for her.  But I digress . . .

I met Fiberexplorations friends Torrie and Deb on Sat. morning and we started the show with a special exhibit from the Portland book and quilt group, Cover to Cover.  Their theme this year was from the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret.  Here are three of those quilts:

"Connectivity" by Dianne Kane, Camas WA.

I'm glad I caught Dianne's quilt in the morning with the sun coming through it.  Isn't that beautiful?
And the next one features circular motifs attached together with real gears.
[9/16/13 UPDATE:  Thanks to Dianne Kane for providing more info on these three quilts!]

"Suspended in Time" by Dianne Kane, Camas WA.

And one of my favorite quilts from the show . . .

by Judith Phelps, Battle Ground WA

You may have missed why the above quilt is so spectacular.  Go back and click on it a few times to enlarge it.  Do you see it now?  All of the scenes are ENTIRELY thread-painted!  No markers, pens, pencils, paints, dyes, etc. were used, not even on the shading.  It's done entirely with threads ranging from white, plus many shades of gray, to black.  Simply amazing!

Next, in the outdoor courtyard/deli of Clearwater Gallery, we saw quilts made by students of Jean Wells, using her improvisational style of quiltmaking, inlcuding pieces from two Fiberexplorations' members:

"Under the Canopy of Autumn" by Deb Sorem.

and this one by Erika Close (title to be added).

At that time of the morning, a layer of shadows fell across these quilts from the trellis above.  When I returned later in the afternoon to re-photograph them,  the sun was behind the fence they were hung on, putting them in complete shade.  Oh well, just IMAGINE that their colors were more vibrant!  For example, here's a detail shot of Erika's taken in the morning, in a section where the trellis shadow didn't fall:

Detail of Erika's quilt.

On the other side of Clearwater Gallery, just after we ran into Erika, we found our Fiberexplorations' challenge quilt. 

Fiberexplorations "Painted Canvas" challenge quilt (with morning shadows!)

The four of us posed  for a photo, not realizing that we stood in the same order as our quilts, all four of which just happened to be in the middle row!

L to R: Torrie, Joanna (me), and Erika, Deb

The quilt show organizers thoughtfully arranged another quilt by Deb to hang next to our group's challenge quilt.  As Deb explained previously, "I took my granddaughters' names and worked them into kaleidoscopes. The traditional Grandmother's Flower Garden pattern was a favorite of mine, and my mother made one for me as a wedding present.  I repeated the shape of the hexagons in this contemporary version."

"Grandmother's Secret Flower Garden" by Deb Sorem.

To see it in more detail, click on this link for the Dec. 2, 2012 post about this quilt.

Thanks for visiting!  Comments are ALWAYS appreciated.

The Arty Chair

When I saw this chair on the Stitchin' Post's blog, I knew I'd have to share it.  In her "intuitive quilting" style, shop owner/educator/author/designer Jean Wells gave this chair a very fresh update that says Spring to me:

Jean's new chair.

Visit  the Stitchin' Post's blog to read about this project and see the in-progress photos.  I admire this kind of outside-the-box thinking..  What other unexpected ways could you use strip-piecing to to create a more inspired living space?  (I have lots of left-over pieced sections from my wall quilt Natural Symphony, but where to use them??)

Since I'm on the subject of colorful and interesting furnishings, here's the couch I'd love to have:

My dream loveseat.

I labeled the photo Hampton 2 Patchwork Sofa, but didn't save the source.  Guess I'll have to dream about making it myself.

"Crosscurrents" Workshop with Rosalie Dace: Day One

I feel so fortunate to be taking the 5-day Crosscurrents design workshop with S. African art quilter, Rosalie Dace.  What an incredible teacher!  The workshop is at the Stitchin' Post in Sisters, OR.  In the weeks leading up to this workshop, our assignment was to pay special attention to the shapes x and +, which have intersecting lines, and collect images of these shapes.

My design wall: Day one

Day One was all about PLAYING, EXPERIMENTING,
and trying out different ways of designing with intersecting lines. Tomorrow we'll begin our actual design compositions, but Day One was all about exploring.


   
 Rosalie brought a wonderful selection of images that featured intersecting lines.  I sketched a few ideas from them, but went back to a previous little sketch in my design journal.  Here's how it looks now that I've interpreted it in fabric:

My first piece.  (Ignore the dark line on the right; I don't have a photo-editing program on this laptop!)

Exploring that idea further, I had a good start on my next piece.   Then Rosalie came around and asked the magical question   " . . . what if . . .?"  She gave me that extra little push that I needed, resulting in this piece:

Designing in layers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I knew about "what if . . .?" but now realize I hadn't been asking it enough when designing art quilts.



 I began one more composition before quitting time.  It's not finished yet, but here's where I left off:

3rd design, still in progress.

I'm very excited for Day 2!  And something special happens Thursday evening -- Jean Wells, who's also in this class, has invited all of us to her house for dinner that evening.  Then at 8pm, it's time for Oregon Art Beat's season premiere (Ore. Public Broadcasting); one of the two featured stories is the one about Jean, filmed this past July!  I was privileged to be at the filming as one of her "students" working through the critique process.  It will be so much fun to see the results of that day's filming, done in the classroom and at her home studio!

Surprise: an award!

Torrie and I went to the artists' reception for Salem Art Association's show, Bits & Pieces: Intuitive Quilts from the NW and Beyond this past Fri. night, since we both had quilts juried into this show.  It was a really fun time -- people were friendly, the energy was high.  Several times I overheard comments such as "finally, quilts are being accepted as fine art."
We were there for about an hour and a half when someone pointed out to me that the tag on my quilt said "Merit Award."    I don't know how I missed that, but it was true!  When the awards were announced, my name was the first one called.  It was a huge thrill, happily shared with several friends and family members.  (Thanks to those who came out that night!)  We had planned to go out for dinner afterward to celebrate my first juried show.  As it turned out,  there was even more to celebrate!

Merit Award:  my "Natural Symphony"quilt.

 There were three other Merit Awards presented.  Two went to Jean Wells for her two quilts below:
 

Merit Award:  "Coffee Country" by Jean Wells.

Merit Award: "Steppin Out" by Jean Wells

 In my excitement, I've forgotten the recipient of the 4th Merit Award.  (That, plus other details, I'll add later after I've returned from seeing the show again.)

The award for Best of Show went to Salem's Kay Worthington, whom I met for the first time that night.  (I'll add a photo of her award-winning quilt later . . . my camera's batteries died early in the show!)

LOVED this one!  (title/maker to be added)

Another entry by Kay Worthington.

The color RED was well-represented at this show.  (Title/maker to be added)

 The show will be up until Oct. 15 at Salem's Bush Barn Art Center.

It's almost showtime!

Torrie's quilt in ad

Bright and early Sunday morning, Torrie sent me the following link to an article  in Salem's Statesman-Journal about the upcoming Bits & Pieces show.  Near the end, it mentions both of us!

In addition to the Gee's Bend quilts and the quilts juried into the show, there's also an invitational part to the show that we weren't even aware of!  Once again, Jean Wells' name enters the picture -- she was one of the quilt artists invited to be a part of this show.

Torrie, who, unlike me, is always early for everything, reaped the rewards for her promptness.  A close-up shot of  part of her quilt was used in the full-color ad for the Bits & Pieces show (also in Sunday's paper).  Incidently, this detail shot shows some of the surface-designed fabrics from our Fabric Swatch Exchange!)

Our first juried show!

Both Torrie and I were thrilled to each have a quilt juried into the upcoming show, Bits & Pieces: Intuitive Quilts from the Northwest and Beyond.  The show is sponsored by Salem Art Association, and the Call to Artists went out to "established and emerging fiber artists living in OR, WA, northern CA, and ID."

Torrie's "Play Behavior #1"

My new & improved "Natural Symphony"

The show runs from Sep. 9 - Oct. 15 at the Bush Barn Art Center (Salem), with an artists' reception on Fri., Sept. 9, 5-7pm.   (It's open to the public, so please come if you're in town!)  A small selection of quilts from Gee's Bend will enhance this exhibit. What a treat to see them in Salem!

We both entered our quilts from the last Fiberexplorations challenge (Fabric Swatch Exchange).  I changed mine a bit before submitting my entry photos because I  felt that it was missing something  The large green section  seemed too empty to me, so I  brainstormed some design ideas.  All of a sudden, I spotted another (unfinished) project --the piece I presented at a critique group last month when Ore. Art Beat was filming a feature story about Jean Wells.  Of course:  LEAVES!

Leaves, ready for the picking!

They were only pinned in place, so I snatched them up and auditioned them on my current project, turning them this way and that.  With encouragement and feedback from my son and daughter (both college students and both visiting that day), the five leaves found their places on the quilt.   The top layer of each leaf  is made from an earlier session of deconstructed screenprinting; the bottom is black cotton.

Filming of an Oregon Art Beat Episode

Jean Wells during filming for "Oregon Art Beat"

OPB's (Oregon Public Broadcasting) show Oregon Art Beat will feature a story this coming Fall on Jean Wells Keenan:  quilt artist, educator, designer, author, shop owner, founder of the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show, and recent inductee into the Quilters Hall of Fame in Indiana.

I'm in another quilt group with Jean, along with three other Fiberexplorations members.  We call it the ICD (Intuitive Color & Design) group.  Half of the members are from Salem, and half from the Sisters/Bend area.  The group came together after its members took Jean's Intuitive Color & Design class, Levels I and II (each class met monthly at her shop, the Stitchin' Post, in Sisters).   After working together for 10 months, all of us wanted to continue meeting and working together, as did Jean, so we're continuing our exploration of intuitive quilting, along with improving our critiquing skills.

So when Jean got the call about  Oregon Art Beat, she decided to invite the ICD group to participate.  Because teaching is one of the key activities that keeps her inspired and "fills the creative well," as Jean says, it was important to include that as part of her story.   When we met at her shop on July 19 for filming, we each brought an unfinished project to be critiqued.

When it was my turn, I went to my project on the wall and began explaining what I was planning .  In her very skillful way, Jean led the discussion that centered on the elements of design, and others chimed in with remarks and suggestions.  It seemed like a normal ICD group session, as long as I ignored the huge camera lens positioned a mere 6" inches from my face, and the hand-held mike poised above my head.   The 3-person crew included one of my favorite OPB personalities, Katrina Sarson (love her voice!)

Me, during the critique of my piece (Jean looks on)

Jean did a great job, of course, and never missed a beat.  After more than 2 hours of filming, she treated us to lunch while she and the OPB crew moved on to her home studio (with its incredible view of the Cascades). There, they filmed the second part of the story:  We'll have to stay tuned to OPB this Fall to see what transpired!