Next Pick!

I just thought I'd throw out the reminder that after we reveal our blue/white/black pieces on March 1, it will be Kristin's turn to define the next Colorplay challenge! 

Got any ideas, Kristin?!?!

Sewing the binding

Look what I found.

I was searching for appropriate embellishments...
It's buried a bit, but you see it? I don't think I'll use it, as it would take my work in an entirely different direction, but it made me smile a bit! (I'm not taking about the lace. Though I don't intend to use that either.)

So much mess....

... for such a little quilt!

I am finished  with my Blue and white and black which as you might guess from the photo above has some Aboriginal influence.Go on then have a sneak preview....

Progress?

I've got a mess on my work table too.
There is more fabric here than I will ever actually use. Which means it will have to be refolded and put back in its proper place. (At least that's the idea. You won't be seeing a picture the laundry basket in the corner of the studio. Ahem.)

I've been looking at bare tree branches. Kind of chaotic and messy... in a natural sort of way.

Blue and White Sneak Peek

Wow! I haven't posted in so long!! I have my Blue/White/Bit of Black almost finished. I just have to add the black. The background is quilted, and here are your sneak peeks. Of course, I am using indigo scraps. And, I love it.

Snowdays - it's always snowing somewhere

So here it is, a mere 10 days from reveal day and I haven't started. What's more my trusty sewing machine is away being repaired after the kneelift cable broke in a marathon quilting effort. What to do?  An intricate piecing project is not on the cards.  Shibori doesn't seem to be happening for me so I'm playing with some freezer paper snowflake stencils. And if you don't feel like getting your scissors and paints out, you can create your very own snowflake online at Snowdays.

PS: Kristin, note the tea cup. It's not exactly Delft, but I have blue and white china too. (And, in case you are concerned, I don't drink tea so tea cups are used for other things.)

Ready...

... to start quilting...

Olympian inspiration

I have been watching the Olympics over the last few days, and am really enjoying the breathtaking views of Vancouver's snowy mountains.

And all I can think of is the blue/white/black challenge!



If I didn't already have my piece under way, I'd be using these mountains as my inspiration!

Read all about us in Down Under Textiles!

Down Under Textiles is an exciting new Australian magazine dedicated to textile arts. Issue #1 is on sale now and includes a profile on the Twelve by Twelve Collaborative Art Quilt Project.

Down Under Textiles is only available from Specialist Retailers including our very own Kirsty at Pompom Rouge! or you can order direct from the publisher by calling  02 9555 9322 or you can use this form (718KB pdf) A$9.95 + $2.75 postage & handling. International postage is extra.

Updated Meeting Matrix

Who will be next to meet up I wonder!

Connections

Yet another bloggy connection has been made. Deborah and I have been following each other's blogs for years. She's actually the one who convinced me to join this group. Now there's another line for Brenda's chart!

I often wonder when I meet someone whom I've gotten to know online if the real person is going to be like I imagined them, or if my imagination is way off base. Gerrie's voice was different than the one in my head (I think I was expecting something huskier, though I don't know why). Terry was quieter than I expected at the time, but pretty much how I imagined her to be. Deborah was exactly as I had imagined her to be -- though she said I was shorter than what she expected.

The fun part though is to find out that yes, through our blogs, we really have come to know each other and, at least from my side, we hit it off well. Lots of talking about our artwork, the book project, our Twelve by Twelve work, our kids, living in different places -- all the good stuff friends talk about. I am so grateful to have met a community of like minded people online and to be able to extend that connection every now and then to my real life. I'm looking forward to even more Twelve by twelve meet-ups in the future.

Started

I decided that I, too, would share some of my process this time.

I started working on my blue, white and a little bit of black piece today. I brazenly "stole" this technique of fabric collage from Teri—just wanted to say that right up front—but my plan is to make it my own by using it a little differently than she has been.

This has been an incredibly busy month so far. I am working like a fiend every day trying to get everyting done for our book, my article, my TV taping preps, and other deadlines. I realized yesterday that it was taking its toll on what I was doing. The last thing I did ended up so taut, so tight, so tense—even for me—that I could just look at it and see how stressed I was. My goal today was to get loose. The above is the result. This is only a start. So far it is blue and white. The little bit of black is yet to come.

Yesterday when I was driving home the sun had come out, the sky was blue and Mt. Hood in all its snowy splendor  rose above the city. It was the perfect blue and white subject as I saw it. This will be my second Mt. Hood Quilt since the start of the year.

Blue and white

I found this fabric in my stash while cleaning my shelves. It's not exactly the blue I want for my quilt, but I like it.

Broken Dishes

I thought it might be nice this time around to share a bit of my process.



After determining that Delft and my other blue pottery was my inspiration, I thought about how best to represent it. There is a traditional quilt block named "Broken Dishes" which came to mind, as did lots of shards of those broken blue and white dishes. Since I always at least try to justify my use of fiber (and more specifically art quilt) as a medium in my work, using a traditional quilt block as my jumping off point made a lot of sense. A mosaic of broken bits complements the block name as well. With those elements in mind, I am off to execute the idea.

Fellow Challengers

"12 Connected" is a new challenge group that is pursuing a challenge process similar to ours, but their size requirement is 11"x17".  They've just revealed their first challenge set on the theme of Sanctuary.

The artwork is lovely -- go take a look!

Around and about

If you're thinking it's been a little quiet here on the blog, you're probably right.  The Twelves are busy working on some important "homework" assignments, writing our BOOK for Lark.  We're having such fun comparing notes and revisiting old posts.  We are looking forward to sharing all of this with you in due course.

In the meantime, the Blue White Black reveal is not until 1 March 2010. If you are interested in seeing some new material, why not check out some of our Friends & Followers including:

• 12 Connected is a new group of fiber artists that have banded together to create a series of twelve 11"x17" art quilts over a two year period.The first theme is "Sanctuary" and they are due to share their completed quilts any day now;
• Art for 12 revealed their fur-themed quilts at the end of 2009 and are now exploring the theme of "Connected".  Their blog is in Dutch but there's a translation widget in the side bar;
• there are all sorts of wonderful mandela quilts over at Art Quilts Around the World, maybe they were channelling Terry's Twelfth of Twelve work;
• Digital to Textile: 8 Views is a new challenge that Karen belongs to. Every two months, after a sumptuous pot luck dinner, one of the group members disseminats a black and white photo to the group. Each artist, using textiles as the primary medium, will create a work using that photo as inspiration. The maximum perimeter is 122 inches.At the dinner held the month following receipt of the photo, they will share our project-in-process and critique each other's work;
• Terri has also joined a new theme challenge group - Fiberactions.  They are working in a 16"x20" format.  Their first theme was "Initiative" and now they are exploring "Communication";
• the 12 by 12 Project are now up to their sixth theme - Chaos.

Chaos is a pretty accurate description of my studio right now so I'm going to go and start tidying up.  I could be some time...