Blue Triangles emerging

I had so much fun playing with the green and gold creations that I just had to try it out in a different colour scheme. This time I used some hand dyed blue fabric and cut it into triangles and fused it to a piece of royal purple felt. I then layered it with bits of metallic glitter, some pieces of colourful metallic icicles (Christmas decorating stock), fuzzy yarns and bits of Angelina. The top layer is aqua organza and then it is free-motion stitched in purple thread and in a blue variegated thread around the triangles and in between them in garnet stitch. I burned a bit of the organza away to allow a few peek-a-boo holes in which I could insert some amethyst seed beads but I didn't distort the fibres as much as I did in the first example.

You will also see a couple of greeting cards that I made using pieces of this fabrication -- unfortunately, the colour is not very true (the cardstock is pure white but it looks pink on my monitor . . .)

Playing with fibre art greeting cards

Today has been a day to play with fabrics and fibres. The piece at the left is a photo taken after I had layered pieces of hand-dyed and stamped fabric, bits of threads, glitter, and angelina on a piece of black felt. I then added a piece of greenish gold organza and secured the layers by stitching around the shapes and between them in garnet stitch with a variegated green-brown thread. The effect was quite beautiful but I decided to try melting a bit of the organza away to see the effect -- it added some more depth and texture and I found that some of the little holes that were created were the perfect spot to add a few tiny beads.

The next photos show two greeting cards that I made using pieces of the fabric that I created and pieced with a beautiful sage green felt. They look quite elegant. The picture of the black card is not very great -- I will try to take a better one so that you can see it better. Please click on the photo so you can see the images in greater detail.

More fibre art bags

These purses are constructed of dupioni silk and/or cotton. The design stitching is done free-motion by machine with the beaded embellishment and trim added by hand. The straps are long enough to wear across your body with the bag resting on your hip -- or you can shorten the strap if you prefer a handbag. These little purses are just the right size to carry your driver's licence, keys, cell phone, glasses and lipstick for those occasions when you don't need to take your whole life with you in a huge bag. The approximate size is 6x8 inches, plus strap.

I have opened a store on Etsy and some of these bags will appear in that store in upcoming weeks. You can visit me there at http://www.etsy.com/category_sub.php?tags=bags_and_purses.hip_bag

General Blank Cards

These are images of some of the latest greeting cards I have made. As you see, some of them are on black cardstock which makes for quite an interesting variety. They are especially great for those occasions when "no gifts" is the request . . . that doesn't mean that you can't send a beautiful original fibre art card!

I am having a bit of trouble manipulating the photos when I have posted so many to one posting -- if you check back in a while I hope to have figured out how to fix this :)

Wonky Spes Bona

This week I attended a workshop by Judy Morningstar and had a wonderful time learning to give character to buildings. For some time I have been giving thought to trying my hand at buildings but I wanted to give them some personality instead of producing them from an architectural perspective, and this was a great starting point. The background of this quilt is poverty pieced, from scraps of blue fabric that were stitched together in a random manner. I took some artistic license with the composition of the structure but those who know it say it is still quite recognizable as the heritage home that houses the offices at Sorrento Centre. I guess that's what this fun style is all about.

After making the house wonky I didn't want to make the edges of the quilt straight, so you can see that it is wonky in all aspects -- it ended up looking a bit like it is sitting on a star -- quite appropriate, I thought :)

Dragonflies on canvas

This small piece is mounted on an 8x10 canvas that I painted with acrylics to mimic the hand-dyed background fabric. The grasses are couched yarns and cords. The small dragonfly is thread painted in metallic silver and the large dragonfly swoops down on wings constructed of cheesecloth and iridescent organza . Further embellishment is provided by hand embroidery with hand-dyed yarn and hand beading.
SOLD

Fun, fanciful fibre-art bags

These bags are fantastic, fun and oh so frivolous -- and such a delight to make! They are approximately 6" wide and 8" high and are quilted with free-motion machine stitching and then embellished with beads. They are my own design which incorporates the handle into the construction of the bag for added security. Made to wear crossing your body, the deep flap is slightly weighted with beads to provide a measure of security without the need for other fastenings. Some have small pockets or loops for keys on the inside. Constructed of cotton and/or silk. The larger music bag has been hand-stamped and more highly embellished with additional stitching and layers of sheer fabrics. It has a leather strap and leather closure. THESE ITEMS ARE SOLD

Dragonflies on the wing

 
This is one of my wall hangings that is entered in the Shuswap Lake Festival of the Arts show in Sorrento. The show runs July 12-20th and I have entered three pieces this year (first time for entering a judged show). This piece is constructed from commercial and purchased hand-dyed fabrics using a curved piecing technique. Bobbin stitching, free motion embroidery, layering of sheer fabrics and beading embellish it. If you click on the image you can see more detail, including the little bites that an insect has taken out of a couple of the reeds. The free motion machine stitched dragonflies on the grasses give an impression of the fragility of these creatures in the world, in contrast with the playful beauty of the large dragonfly with its flashy eyes. SOLD

Dragonfly Dreams

This art quilt is featured in a Treasury on Etsy until February 6/10 http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=111189.

This piece started off as an experiment in techniques and ended up being a wonderful, fanciful exploration of colour and texture. I hand-painted the background fabric in soft blues with a touch of violet and I hand-dyed the border fabric, cheesecloth, and pearl cotton used for some of the bobbin stitching. Commercial sheers create soft swirls that encase iridescent and silver particles and are further embellished with free-motion stitching and hand beading. The yarns used to create the grasses were cast-offs obtained from a spinner in Vancouver. The trails of beads are also stitched by hand.

The wings of the large dragonfly are created with cheesecloth and the smaller dragonflies clinging to the grasses are free-motion embroidered. . . Click on the image to see more detail.  SOLD

Butterfly Whimsy

The inspiration for this wall quilt came from a visit to my Mom's 90 year old friend, Jean, who had just moved into a new seniors' residence that had still not had any decorating done on the walls. The colours in her room and the common areas, predominately greenish-gold and yellow, prompted my use of the soft yellow batik of the background and the butterfly which is a symbol of new life.

The wings are constructed of layers of different colours of organza and tulle. The layers have a margin of light gold cord bobbin-stitched around them about 1/2" from the edge. Glitter and iridescent flakes have been encased between the layers and then the wings have been stitched with metallic thread in a free-motion design. They are then hand-beaded. The butterfly body is made from an upholstery fabric that is rich in texture. The butterfly is sitting on a branch that is embellished with free-motion embroidery and bits of thread. The border is constructed of olive green crushed taffeta which sets it off beautifully.

Just a few weeks before I was going to make a trip to Maple Ridge to take the wall hanging to "Auntie" Jean, that I got the news that she had quietly slipped away from life -- but I know that she would have loved the detail and the symbolism in this piece, and remembered the many times that we worked together on sewing projects when I was growing up. . . Click on the image to see more detail.

Greeting cards

These blank greeting cards measure 5"x7" and come with a matching envelope in a sealed clear poly bag. The fibre art image is adhered in the "frame" of the card. The landscape is created with fabric that has been hand-painted or hand-dyed by the artist as well as some commercial fabric. Free motion stitching and thread-painting enhance the raw edge machine applique. All cards are Kathy's original design and, although there are similarities in the cards, no two are exactly alike.

Sorrento Centre banner

In September 2006 Val Johnstone and I designed and constructed this banner for Sorrento Centre. It made its debut as a processional banner at the Anglican Provincial Synod in Kelowna at the end of September that year and has since graced the wall of the front office at Sorrento Centre. The central image is St. Francis Chapel and the background image is the view from the beach at Sorrento Centre. Curved piecing, applique, free motion stitching.

Blind Bay Landscape

Living on Shuswap Lake since 2004, I never tire of the view from our deck. The above wall hanging depicts the scene that I look at every day -- the trees between our house and the lake, the gorgeous lake itself, and the mountains on the north shore. This quilt was made using fabrics that I hand-painted as well as a couple of commercial fabrics that have been manipulated by washes of colour and the use of watercolour pencils. It was constructed using curved piecing for the background features and raw-edge applique for the trees; it was machine quilted. Created in 2007. . . Click on the image to see more detail.

Dabbling in Fibre Art

This blog is a location to display some of the art quilts I have made over the past couple of years. The image on the left is the wall hanging I created during a course offered at Sorrento Centre in the spring of 2006. Hilary Rice taught a week-long course in inspiration, design and construction techniques for art quilts. It was a wonderful experience that re-ignited my interest in art quilts. This wall hanging is constructed using a curved piecing technique and incorporates encasement of glitter under organza that is further embellished by free motion stitching with metallic threads and then hand-beading. The metallic leaves are cut from a lightweight metal that is then embossed; the leaves are then attached by machine stitching (using an old needle!). Other techniques include encaustic on some fabrics, bobbin stitching, couching and bead trails. The dragonfly in the top right corner was purchased and then painted by Kathy. . . Click on the image to see more detail. (Not for sale)