Northern Lights Art Quilt

Sometimes an image lodges in my mind and I can't let go of it . . . that is the way it has been with the thoughts of this art quilt depicting the Northern Lights.  Since "the kids" moved to the Yukon a couple of years ago I have become enraptured by the history and the landscape of that beautiful part of the world.

The northern lights can be many colours and shapes . . . they might greens and yellows that swirl and dance, or pinks and purples that envelop the sky, or any combination. I wanted to portray their ethereal quality using soft wisps of wool roving needle felted into a dark sky . . . and so this art quilt was born.

The sky was needle felted onto a base of two layers of black quilt batting that were first felted with midnight blue roving with a touch of violet added to it and then the northern lights were added with wisps of light greens, yellow and a touch of blue, some of which have a bit of gloss to the wool.

The tree line and lower section of the quilt were created using hand dyed fabric that I over-painted with a wash of black and green textile paint to further subdue it. That fabric was backed with fusible web and then I freehand cut the tree line.

The northern lights were free motion stitched in sweeping curves, using invisible thread and the lower section was quilted in a free motion design somewhat representative of a forest.

This art quilt measures 13" x 22.5" (33 x 57 cm) and is backed with black cotton with a hanging sleeve.

I can see that this will be only the first of a series of quilts with a northern lights theme ... in fact, I might have to go and start the next one right now . . .

Sorrento is 100 Years Old

I live near the village of Sorrento which is located about half way between Vancouver and Calgary on the Trans Canada Highway.  This year Sorrento is celebrating it's 100th Anniversary and there are lots of celebrations taking place throughout the year.

The Shuswap Lake Festival of the Arts is an art show and sale that takes place in the village every July.  This year I wanted to create something that would speak to the 100th anniversary, and I decided on an art quilt that would represent a bit of the landscape of the area and have some words that would celebrate 100 years.

I was originally going to do a topographical map of the area but started sketching a slightly aerial view looking down the lake and my hubby was so taken with the sketch that he convinced me I should try this image in fabric.  In this image, Sorrento is located in the foreground of the piece (I chose not to include any buildings or highways ... only the land and the lake which have remained the same for 100 years) and looking further east down the lake you can see Copper Island in the middle and the mouth of Blind Bay on the right side (since it really is a blind bay, you can't see that opening when you are just looking east at lake level ... but I wanted to have it more noticeable since that's where I live!).

The dates, 1912 - 2012 and the name, Sorrento BC, have been stencilled onto the asymmetrical borders using Shiva Paintstiks in two colours to give the letters a bit of character. The texture that has been quilted over the landscape portion has been achieved by writing a little story about Sorrento in free motion quilting.  It is my first attempt at writing free motion so I am sure that future art quilts will show some improvement but I am very pleased with the effect that it creates.  Both the stencilling and the quilted writing were something that was covered in a course I took this spring with Catherine Nicholls ... it was a great workshop and I came away with numerous things that I would like to experiment with.

The heart that is quilted into the top left corner of the quilt is there because Sorrento is known as
"The Heart of the Shuswap".

Daisy a Day

This is a little art quilt that I created as a sample for a class I will be teaching at Pleasant Valley Quilt Shop in Armstrong, BC in April. The main focus of the class will be creating a piece of unique fabric from bits and pieces of fabric, thread, glittery bits and organza and then the participants will use that piece of unique fabric to embellish an art quilt, a purse or a greeting card. It is such a fun "play day" and I thought you might like to see how I translated it into an art quilt.

The centres of the flowers are heavily beaded with additional bead dangles and the dragonfly is adorned with a few tiny seed beads and black sequins for his big eyes ... the wings have been made from Angelina that has been stitched with silver thread.

The grasses blowing in the breeze have been created from organza that has been stitched and then the edges have been left to fray in order to create more wisps.

The stem of the plant has been created by layering two decorative ribbons and yarn and then free motion stitching to give even more texture. The leaves on the plant are made from another piece of unique fabric that I created in green tones.

The background has been stitched in midnight blue thread. The outer edge of the art quilt has been couched with shiny black cord.

This art quilt measures approximately 12" x 20"

Silk Fusion "Turmoil"

This is a piece of silk fusion that I made from gorgeous silk fibres in orange and fuschia. The fibres are used to create a "paper" that can be stitched and embellished just like fabric . . . and in this case I have quilted it onto a base of black cotton so that the free motion stitching creates added texture. It has been further embellished by hand embroidery in some of the sections of the stitching and a drift of clear tangerine beads drifting across the surface.

It is mounted on a 16" x 20" canvas with the edges wrapped with the black cotton so that it will hang like a painting on your wall.

This piece will be entered in the Shuswap Lake Festival of the Arts next month.

Be sure to click on the photos to see more of the details.  SOLD

Finny Fantasy

This wall hanging started out as one of the samples for an upcoming embellishment class but I soon realized it was too large a project for this particular class -- and the theme might not have been the greatest for a bag (which it was to become) . . . but what a wonderful image for the wall! With a bit of creative cutting and re-positioning, the large fish and the smaller fry are heading off in search of who-knows-what. Of course, there's always one who wants to swim against the tide. You might have noticed that the fabrics are the same as those I used to create the fibre art purse in the previous posting . . .

Click on the image to see more of the details that include layering sheers, encasing glitter, layering gold netting and hand beading. It measures approximately 45" wide by 18" high.

Updated July 11, 2009 -- "Finny Fantasy" won a Juror's Choice Award at the Shuswap Lake Festival of the Arts in Sorrento this week.