Garden Gate

In working on these color themes, I find I go one of two ways: I can make a small art quilt that is simply about diving deep into the colors, or I can make an art quilt that is about some kind of idea or image and use the colors as the vehicle for the idea.

I suppose, my Yellow Ladder quilt is the only one for our ColorPlay series that is more about the image than the colors, but that's still the initial decision I have to make at the beginning of my process.

Garden Gate

This quilt is about the colors -- and the variety of fabrics. I would never stumble upon this color palette if I were just thumbing through my fabrics in preparation for a new piece. And yet, I am stunned by how much I like it. And by how many fabrics I had to choose from. And by how often it jumps out at me in nature and other day-to-day visuals (now that I am more aware).

I began with a piece of muslin that I rust dyed with a group of fiber artists in Texas. I must have used some kind of rusty grate that created that diamond pattern. Then I pulled from the fabrics I pre-selected and leaned on my shrine-style composition. I wish I could have fit in more of the fabrics. I had lots of interesting options, but I always try to achieve a bit a simplicity and spareness to allow for additional interest with embroidery and embellishments. (Maybe I'll have to make a larger version that would accommodate more fabrics.)

I wish I would have made some different choices up at the very top. I think those two plain teal fabrics at the top are dull and clunky. Maybe some stitching or embellishments would have helped, but I ran out of steam at the end and felt I needed to finish and move on. (Do you know this feeling?)

I've been exploring creating sheer overlay silhouettes with tulle. I chose crocuses for this piece. I really like the contrast of the linear composition with the organic flower shape. My little Y-shaped flowers trail across to emphasis the idea of a garden or a field.


An old rusty key seems so predictable. Maybe too cliche, but I think it works. I also like the contrast of the grittiness with the fancy, metallic fabrics.

I had a tough time coming up with a title, but the key and the lines in the rust-dyed fabric make me think of old gates or fences and the plant images are somewhat like what you might find in a garden. I also like the idea of the different blocks of fabric as plots for growing different things. Maybe fruits and flowers, maybe ideas and inspiration.

A Lasting Impression

As sometimes happens in these Colourplay challenges, within hours of announcement of the challenge palette, I was presented with an inspiration image. A television program touched upon the refurbishment of Sydney Town Hall including its splendid Victorian copper-pressed ceilings.   It made a lasting impression - the colours were in the ballpark and I was intrigued by the decoration.  Then I headed off to New Zealand for a couple of weeks to accompany the Twelve by Twelve exhibition.  I admired many pressed metal ceilings in New Zealand but wasn't sure that I could capture the intricacies of the patterns using my piecing techniques.  Besides I was travelling and did not have access to a sewing machine.

Then in Wellington I came across Yvette Stanton's new book The Right Handed Embroider's Companion (there's a left handed version too).  What serendipity!  I could use this travel time to expand my stitching vocabulary and make my own version of a pressed metal ceiling.

A Lasting Impression by Brenda Gael Smith

I enjoyed the stitching process - the wool felt was like butter!  I stitched the teal centre panel first and appliqued it onto the rusty background using armenian edging stitch, taking the opportunity insert some batting in between the layers at the same time.

It's a departure from my usual style and, in keeping with my embroidery experience level, is a bit naive but I like the penny rug quality. As I worked on this piece, my husband frequently expressed concern that it "isn't a quilt" and that I may be expelled from the group! I don't think there is any danger of that but I do have a back up piece if required.  It started out as writing in flour paste like this:

And ended up like this:

Rusty Harvest

I've made two and a half quilts for this challenge.  This one won't be ready in time but you can read the story of Rusty Harvest on my blog:

 Rusty Harvest - detail

Happy Halloween!

Thought I'd share my little patinaed skeleton to wish you all a happy Halloween/Day of the Dead. I got him in Mexico a couple years ago and love his goofy expression.

Can't wait to see what you have all done and share one of my favorite, all-time, 12 x 12 challenge pieces!

Rusty Patina Painting

Quilted and painted fabric done! Some day I will learn to not wait until the last minute, but for now I am living with the urgent to-do list. Currently it has grown to the point I would like to just hide. Fortunately, my sense of responsibility keeps me going, not to mention the fact that I really love most of the things I get to do. Clean bathrooms and kitchen no longer rank as urgent, so they are left until somebody else in the family picks up the slack. This week has been quilting and Halloween costumes, both things that make my creative heart smile.

This is what my quilt looked like on Wednesday. I really wasn't sure about the color scheme as I was painting the fabric. Nothing looked quite right and I was afraid they would look horrible together. I am happy to say that the colors surprised me! I can't wait for Monday's reveal.

Not quite finished

... but I started quilting today.

A Little Rusty

I keep thinking that I have time on this challenge, and now I realize that I don't so much. I was liking the sawtooth idea that I posted about earlier, but then took a slight rusty/ginger/strawberry/redheaded detour. Yet, as much as I can relate to redheads, I couldn't get that head wrapped around a carrot topped quilt as much as I could get into the points and textures of the first idea.



So, the next step in my process is to pull out fabrics and see what talks to me. I have lots of blue/greens and rusts!! Certainly I can make a 12 x 12 piece out of something in the pile above!




I kind of figured that I would lean towards the above hand dyes and batik fabrics since they are more "art quilt" and would take embellishment well (yes, I'm thinking some embellishment here).




But the fun, contemporary prints and spotty-ness of this selection are the ones raising their hands and shouting "use me!" They take the piece to a more whimsical place, but I like whimsical too. I'm also liking that the dots, spots, and rings of the Kaffee Fasset prints echo, in an abstract way, the grainy texture or rust. Well, they do in my mind anyway...

Rust never sleeps

Living by the ocean with salt-saturated breezes, rust and corrison is inevitable.

Odd Sources of Inspiration

I've completed my Rusty piece but, with a week or two up my sleeve, I'm exploring some other ideas. One of these ideas is tangentally related to this:

Beginning

My family and I climbed to the top of the main tower of the National Episcopal Cathedral last week. The carillon bells were pretty amazing.

There are 53 bronze bells. The smallest weighs 17 pounds and the largest weighs 24,000 pounds. Each bell has a bit of scripture cast on the surface.
I was really inspired by the patina on this bell, the colors and the word "thanksgiving."

So I began gathering fabric.
I had a surprising amount of metallic fabrics as seen in the stack in the back. I don't remember where they came from, but I'm *thankful* to find them.

On the beach

I wonder if there is any way of extracting this beautiful blue-green colour:

PS: These are Portuguese Man o' War aka bluebottles.  They have a nasty sting so I keep out of the water when they are around.

Feeling Rusty

Twelve by Twelve Book Available for Pre-Order

Our 176 page book entitled Twelve by Twelve: The International Art Quilt Challenge is now AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER from suppliers such as Barnes & Noble, Amazon and the Book Depository.

Rusty Leaf

It's spring in Australia so there's no autumn leaves around but some leaves are still rusty.

Rusty Nails

I found some nails wrapped in a diagonal packet left over from the contractors.

I couldn't resist wrapping them in vinegar soaked fabrics.  I think now I will unwrap them and march them along vertically,  or maybe horizontally :)