Twelve by Twelve Bingo !

Today is an momentous day in Twelve by Twelve history.  Let the record show that on 19 October 2013 (New Zealand time), Karen completed a real life game of Twelve by Twelve in that she is the first Twelve to have met every other member of the group.  BINGO!

For her part, Kirsty doubled her Twelve count in just one day!  Here is the smiling duo in Christchurch, New Zealand:

Just this week, Kirsty relocated from Townsville, Australia to Christchurch to join her husband Peter who is working on earthquake reconstruction projects.   The timing was serendipitous as Karen and her husband Ted are currently exploring New Zealand.  Both Kirsty and Karen have limited internet access but, via Facebook, Kirsty reports:

We have had the BEST day with Karen and Ted! I adore them both. They are funny, loving and gracious.

We're feeling the love. Congratulations on making Twelve by Twelve history!

PS:  If you look carefully, you can see Peter and Ted (with the cap) reflected in the background of the photo.

A Toast to the Twelves

This weekend marks the sixth anniversary of the formation of the Twelve by Twelve International Art Quilt Challenge.

On 2 September 2007, Diane sent out an e-mail head "NEW Small Quilt Challenge:Wanna Play?" and, within a couple of days, the first items started appearing on this blog..  We went on to share our project in hundreds of posts and to create 348 works for three series: the Theme series (2007-2009), Colourplay (2009-2011) and the 2012 Series.  Along the way, we wrote a book Twelve by Twelve: The International Art Quilt Challenge and staged an international exhibition tour that continues in 2013:

• see the 2012 series at Northwest Quilting Expo in Portland, USA 19-21 September 2013: and
• the Colorplay Series tours next to AQS Quilt Show, Des Moines, Iowa, USA 2 – 5 October 2013..  

We have met up in person and via Skype and forged enduring friendships. We also developed a heightened awareness of all things "twelve" so this New Zealand pinot noir jumped out at me. 

Here's looking at you Twelves!

Studio hopping

Whenever I look at Deborah's Twelve theme piece Seven Houses, Five Trees I think how fun it would be if I could just skip over the hill and visit one of the Twelves.  Fortunately the internet allows for some virtual studio hopping. After I conducted a chakra-enhancing purge of project piles and paperwork, my studio is once again fit for visitors.  I invite you to take the Serendipity Studio Tour:
I have a view of the ocean while the vista from Helen's studio is more bucolic. The building project, painting and decorating are over and Helen is happily esconced in her new creative space.  Check out Helen's Studio Tour:
Meanwhile, thanks to the magic of video, you can some of the Twelves over to your place anytime. As outlined in Deborah's blog post, this week there is some special pricing on the STITCHED - a collection of 20 online video workshops including Deborah's Branches, Buds and Blossom: A Botanical Collage and Nikki's Mini Treasure Box of Dreams:

Also, Deborah's new Quilting Arts video workshop, Contemporary Fabric Collage: Design, Stitch and Finish, is now available for download! It's just like taking a workshop with Deborah. As she prepared for the shoot, Deborah made long lists about all the tips, suggestions, ideas and directions she wanted to include. Plus, there are lots of visual aids and examples throughout the DVD. The video workshop includes chapters on fabric selection, composition, using sheer fabrics, stitching by machine and by hand, and unique finishing options.

Potholder

Untitled, a photo by Umzavi on Flickr.

The fear of most every art quilter is that our precious artwork be mistaken for a potholder. Looking fear directly in the eye, I've created the potholder look on purpose.

Metamorphosis in My Yard

I made a start at my metamorphosis piece, and it didn't really match was I was hoping for in my head. The computer wouldn't save my work either, so I took that as a sign I was on the wrong track. Sigh.

However, as I was looking through my photos I ran across a metamorphosis softie project from a few years ago. I blogged about the project here. I guess some themes are rather timeless.


First, the caterpillar looks like bird poop. Then it changes to instar stage, which is fat and green. My ruched softie zips into a larger "instar" bag.


The instar is my favorite stage.


From the instar stage the caterpillar becomes a chrysalis. Our chrysalis is a patchwork bag that holds all the smaller components.


Out of the chrysalis emerges a beautiful butterfly. Ours has a little pouch on it's belly that holds a pompom egg so that the process can start all over again.

Enjoy a small slideshow of our backyard metamorphosis as well:

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.

Sing Along with the Twelves

Just to get you in the Christmas spirit, I think I'd plant this little song for you to sing to yourself as you go about your holiday sewing chores:

On the 12th day of Christmas, my quilting friend gave to me:

Twelve yards of cotton...

Eleven bags of batting...

Ten Shiva paintstiks...

Nine tins of straight pins...

Eight balls of roving...

Seven pre-wound bobbins...

Six needle threaders...

Five Olfa blades!

Four spools of thread,

Three Ott lights,

Two teflon sheets,

And an idea for Twelve by Twelve!

Sing it loud and sing it proud, sisters!

The 12 Days of...

It's been a fun-filled two years completing 12 challenges together. We're about half way through viewing each artist's collection of quilts. I don't know about you, but I'm really enjoying seeing how all the pieces work together -- the preferred styles and color palettes, the compositions and themes. To keep the party going, we've got another fun series starting on the 12th.



In true graduate yearbook style, we're celebrating by giving out goofy awards. Starting on October 12th we will each post highlighting some of our favorite surprising and silly quilts. We invite our readers to think about what quilts you'd give these awards to and come back to let us know in the comments on those days.

October 12th: Gerrie: Favorite "Also Ran"

October 13th: Helen: The One I Wished I Had Made

October 14th: Kirsten: Separated at Birth

October 15th: Terry: Most Creative Use of Materials

October 16th: Diane: Most Likely to Get Pulled Over By The Quilt Police

October 17th: Françoise: Biggest Stretch of the Theme

October 18th: Kristin: How DID She Do That?

October 19th: Karen: Most Colorful

October 20th: Brenda: I Would Never Have Guessed (Biggest Departure of Style)

October 21st: Terri: Most Humorous

October 22nd: Nikki: Most Bling

October 23rd: Deborah: Most Unexpected

More Mood Music

Here is the first tune that comes to my mind when I think of "12." I'm sure other kids of the 70's will remember it!

12 degrees of separation

I'm so excited. All going well, I will be meeting with Kirsty and her husband Peter in Sydney in just over 24 hours. I've admired Kirsty's quilts from way back (and even based a City & Guilds assignment on her work) so am thrilled to be meeting in "real life". I understand that Karen and Francoise will be catching up in the next few weeks and Helen will be meeting with Diane as part of her forthcoming travel adventure. I'm not sure that this diagram is complete or accurate but it shows my understanding of which Twelves have met or have have plans to meet in person soon. How exciting it would be if we could ALL meet up in one place at the same time!

What's in a name?

Our names are inextricably linked to our identities. Books of baby names were some of the most well-thumbed books in the house when I was growing up (I'm the eldest of six). I've always been intrigued with the meaning and origins of names and have researched the names of the Twelves:

• Brenda (Teutonic/Old Norse) - flaming sword, firebrand;
• Deborah (Hebrew) - bee. Deborah was the Biblical prophetess who summoned Barak to battle against an army of invaders. After the battle she wrote a victory song which is part of the Book of Judges;
• Diane (French variant of Diana) Probably derived from an old Indo-european root root meaning "heavenly, divine", related to dyeus/zeus. Diana was a Roman goddess of the moon, hunting, forests, and childbirth;
• Francoise (French) feminine of Francis meaning "from France" or "free one";
  
• Gerrie (English/German - feminine derivative of Gerald) From a Germanic name meaning "rule of the spear", from the elements ger "spear" and wald "rule". This name was brought to Britain by the Norman. Though it died out in England during the Middle Ages, it remained common in Ireland. It was revived in the English-speaking world in 19th century;
• Helen (English form of the Greek) Light, one who is bright, probably from Greek (helene)
• Karen (Danish, Norwegian) short form of Katherine (Greek) - pure;
  
• Kirsten/Kristin (Scandinavian/German) variant of Christina/Christiana - follower of Christ. This was the name of an early, possibly legendary, saint who was tormented by her pagan father. It was also borne by a 17th-century Swedish queen and patron the arts who gave up her crown in order to become a Roman Catholic;
• Nikki (English dimunitive) - feminine form of Nicholas - mythological Nike was the goddess of victory;
  
• Terry/Terri (English dimunitive) - From the Spanish and Portuguese name Teresa. It was first recorded as Therasia, being borne by the Spanish wife of SaintPaulinus of Nola in the 4th century. The meaning is uncertain, but it could be derived from Greek (theros) "summer", from Greek (therizo) "to harvest", or from the name of the Greek island of Therasia (the western island of Santorini).

Do you know the meaning of your name and does it fit?

Dove in the Window

I think there's a lot to be said for traditional quilt blocks and their history. I love their names. Some are whimsical, some are pictorial, some are political -- like Burgoyne Surrounded or Whig's Retreat. I like that their makers could include subtle messages through the blocks they chose to use: the most widely known probably being the blocks claimed to be used by slaves to assist in their escape to freedom like Wagon Wheel, Flying Geese and Monkey Wrench.

I felt compelled to try out this block today. It's called "Dove in the Window" and was first published by the Lady's Art Company in 1898. I used fabric from my husband's old BDUs (battle dress uniform). Interpret as you see fit.

Coincidence?!

I am still absorbing all the fantastic chair quilts and I'm so amazed and inspired! I am thrilled that you took my theme and created so many different pieces of art. Be sure to check out the "friends of twelve" listed on the lower right side bar. Both Joanne and Lisa have posted their chair quilts.

I was stunned by the similarities between my chair quilt and Joanne's chair quilt. Joanne is a good friend of mine so maybe we were subconsciously using similar elements and sending each other creative vibes.

Here is a detail of my "She Sits to Dream."
And here is Joanne's chair.Isn't it interesting how we both used a layered collage style? We set those stark chairs on bright fabrics and then we did some hand stitching around the interior border.

Joanne lives in Maine and I live in Texas, but I sure wish we could sit down together in our chairs and share a cuppa and some embroidery!

Thrones

In the process of deciding what touristy things to do while my dad was visiting us in December, he brought up a Hawaiian throne. Did you know that Iolani Palace in Hawai'i was the only royal residence in the United States? It was built by King Kalakaua and was also home to his sister and successor Queen Lili'uokalani who was the last ruling monarch of Hawai'i. Seeing that I now live in Hawai'i and the palace thrones are the only royal seats in America, this seemed like a concept worthy of commemoration.

Once the idea was sparked, I went full steam ahead. I had ideas for a rich layering of bright tropical fabrics. But, after doing "research" (a visit to the palace), we found out that the throne is actually two, and that they are quite traditional and European in appearance (although, if I remember correctly, they are carved from Hawaiian Koa wood). However, since red and gold are the colors of Hawaiian royalty, redwork made more sense to me. Also, Lauhala weaving is a traditional fiber art used to make baskets, hats and mats to sit and sleep on. I got very excited and pulled these elements together to create a formal redwork version of the royal thrones of King Kalakaua and his wife Queen Kapiolani on a background woven lauhala style. I added a hibiscus (the state flower) and two palm fronds in a nod to the tropical.

"The Thrones of King Kalakaua & Queen Kapiolani"

As I was finishing this piece, I was struck with yet another idea I HAD to try. It's actually my official response to this challenge.

On the edge of my seat!

I am really looking forward to seeing all our chair-themed quilts as they appear online from 1 February (US time). Meanwhile, here is one of my experimental interpretations of the theme - Twelve Chairs:

To whet your appetite, you might also like to visit the Today's Title group blog where they explored the theme of "Blue Chair".The momentum behind this blog is to capture that first image in your minds eye that the title sparks off and to show us in what ever way you can. The aim is not to finish a beautiful piece of work but to convey the initial image. It is more important to capture the main points of your image than create a finished piece.

Too Many Chairs

When Deborah announced our theme, I had just bought four new dining room chairs. We also had the eight that have graced our desks and dining room table for many years. In all, it was TOO MANY CHAIRS in my house! After sketching a little, I asked Gerrie if she could make a thermofax screen for me to realize my idea. Here's what I made:




I'm showing it now because I enjoyed making it, but don't like the final outcome. It's busy like I wanted, but I should have made the strips a bit wonkier and cut off more chair parts to achieve the crowded look I had in my head. While I was waiting for the screens though, I came up with two more ideas which I actually think I like better than re-doing this. But you'll have to wait until reveal day to see them. In the mean time, I'm kinda liking my post-screening work surface:

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