Sun, Earth, Moon

My June art journal quilt is finished!  (May’s journal quilt is a WIP)

The quilt was inspired by a new art group I have come into contact with called WOTE  (Women on the Edge) – Great name!
They are doing small art quilts with the theme ‘Nature’s Influence’.
I have looked at it from the angle of what influences nature the most, and came up with the Sun, Earth and Moon for the subject matter.  Truth be told:  I thought the theme was ‘Nature’s Inspiration’ so had to make changes half way through to suit   LOL
The technique I have used is from Teesha Moore and she demonstrates it here and I saw it on Judy’s blog.  I have put my own twist on it.  They are little quilted ‘pillows’ and I really loved doing them.  Would love to do some more some time.  For the sun, earth and moon I have used found objects.  I love collecting bits and bobs and have a big container of them.  Call me a bower bird !!   All the fabrics are straight out of the scrap bin and the tree trunk is silk threads couched down with zig zag.  The hand quilting and embellishments are done in perle cotton. 
Last night I kicked something under the coffee table and lo and behold it was the paper bag with my missing braids in it.  Don’t know how it found it’s way under there!!
Black and Cream which I intend jazzing up a black l/sleeve T-Shirt with
Bullion roses on velvet.  They look like they have been hand done.  Surely not??   I bought a small piece which has 6 repeats.  For what?  - Don’t know, just thought it might look nice on something ‘felty’
A piece of blingy stuff.  Looks much snazzier in real life.  Can cut up and use to glam something up?
It is a real treasure trove that shop -  and for Toowoomba people it is at Highfields in the shops opposite The Village Green.
 Lilian is growing into a real little girl now and losing a lot of her babyness.  Here she is with her Mummy.  They are all rugged up for a winter’s day.

April Art Journal Quilt–Finished, June Art Journal Quilt–Started

Yep, I’ve skipped a month. 

Only because an idea came to me quickly for the little June quilt and I was impatient and had to start it straight away.

“Ankh – Life”,  my art journal quilt for April is in memory of our trip to Melbourne and a visit to the Melbourne Museum to see relics of King Tutankhamen's tomb. 

The background of the quilt is painted lutradur (using acrylics) and the gold highlights were made with lumiere paint.   When completely dry it was run through the ink jet printer to print out the hieroglyphics.  The ankh sympbol was appliqued on and highlighted with prismacolour pencils.  It was so much fun to try some new to me techniques and I am loving the whole monthly art journal quilt journey.

Recently, a group of friends and I went for coffee and lunch at Highfields.  We were joined by the lady who recently showed us her tangles, Chris.  (Thanks Chris).

Could this be a zentangle coffee in her honour?

We also discovered a braid shop in the same complex,  and I made a couple of purchases- couldn’t resist.  I was going to put a photo up but I have … um…….misplaced them for the moment.  Next time…..

 

March Journal Quilt–finished

Only 2 months behind now!!

A COCKROACH CHANGED MY LIFE”
IDEA / INSPIRATION:
We were visiting my husband’s sister at the Gold Coast in March when she came out with this random statement.
We were commenting at the dinner table on how lucky they were to get their beautiful home on the Gold Coast and buying at the right time.
Well, she said “A cockroach changed my life”!!
She and her partner were living on a yacht and she was sick of the confined space and the whole atmosphere of marina life.
One morning she made her morning coffee and she was just about to take a sip when she saw the cockroach floating on top.
This was the final straw, and she went that day and began to look for a rental home unit. She found a small one bedroom unit and rented for a while until a unit in a nearby block came up for sale. She bought that, sold it for treble and the rest is history.
TITLE CONCEPT:
Sometimes we don’t know what or who is going to change the course of our life. It was amazing how one small cockroach changed the path of Catherine’s life.
TECHNIQUES:
Fusing, machine appliqué, fabric painting, embroidery.
For impact, I used the juxtaposition of pretty and delicate with creepy crawly ugly.
Finished 5 June 2011
(Size – Approx A4)

February–Going around in Circles

February saw me going around in circles and trying to fulfil duties in all 4 major areas of my life.       
Here it is- “Going around in Circles”.   The four areas divided up by selvedges  are  Home, Office, Play and Family.  The motifs have been printed onto fabric on the ink jet printer using freezer paper behind the fabric.  
It is only about 8” x 10” and looking a bit wonky here in the photo, but I don’t think it looks that wonky in real life.  And, just like me in the month of February,  it is a little frayed around the edges!!

Art Journal Quilt Dec/Jan

INLAND TSUNAMI

This little journal quilt began life as “Night Storm”.  We were having a lot of late evening and night storms in November and December and I had decided at the start of my art quilt journey to make my little quilts about events happening around me.  I started it in December before Christmas with just the night sky and the brown earth.
Then…..along came 10 January when the heavens opened up and our region was inundated.  The water raged down the mountains, forging its own course.  Creeks overflowed and all the water raced towards the townships in the Valley like an inland tsunami.  The brown murky water took all in it’s path.  Some people lost their lives, and many people lost their home and all their possessions.  We will never forget 10 January 2011 and the victims of this freak event.
My quilt morphed into a remembrance of this event with it’s dark stormy sky, muddy waters and “debris” (found items).  Thank you to my friend Shirley for some of the found items used here and for helping me with ideas on putting it together.
Now, I am very behind and must start my February quilt.  I have ideas for both February and March and it is April already- Yikes!!!

Art Journal Quilts - October

 
These are the first art journal quilts made by the TQ Art Group for the month of October.  
The rude lady you see in there is actually a brooch (pin) which our member, Kay, picked up at a craft stall in Gatton. (Top Right) This quilt is not completed and she is calling it "My Autumn Years".  
The very beautiful one at the bottom is by Linda Wrench.  She does fabulous felting work.  Linda loves to fossick for gems and is writing a story about her fossicking adventures with each art quilt.  This one is "Garnet"
Kathy Adams is doing her monthly journal quilts on songs she loves from the 70's. (Middle Left)  This one is printed on silk and is called "3 Roses were Bought with You in Mind". 
I don't know the names of all the other quilts, but mine is in the middle "Dream Weavers", Ann J "Boots 'n All" (Top Left)
Glenda T did the one on the bottom right and has used the 'confetti method'.
I think I was the only one to finish the November quilt and that was my "Viva Valentino" piece (here)
We only started with 7 members and now we have interest from about 12 people.  I will post more about my art journal quilting in 2011 when I hope to try different techniques and experiment a little.

Viva Valentino - Art Journal Quilt No 2

The Valentino exhibition inspired me so much I just had to do my November art quilt to commemorate the visit.
Of course it had to include some of Valentino's  signature red.  The dress form is a stylized version of the black velvet vintage Valentino gown worn by Julia Roberts at the 2001 Oscars.  I added some swarovski crystals to it as Valentino was very fond of using crystals on his gowns.  To finish, I quilted the piece (it is only 8 1/2 inches by 9 1/2 inches) in the letter "V".  Once quilted, it was quite serendipitous that the black gown just 'popped out' from the surface of the quilt.  It is very tactile with the two different textures of fabric.
It looks much better in real life.

 
Last night at TQ Art quilt group we met at the studio of Kathy Adams (of Koolkat Quilting).  Kathy took my photograph of a Banksia and altered it in Corel Draw.  When I was happy with the look, she then printed it out onto a silk sheet for me.   It has turned out very painterly and I can't wait to embellish it with some hand stitching and maybe some beads.  Thank you Kathy, it was a lovely evening.

Dream Weavers

A group of ladies from my quilt group have got together and formed an art quilt group.  We started with six ladies, now have 8, and have had 3 more enquiries.  It is going to be so much fun as we discover new techniques and learn from each other.  We meet once a month.

We decided we would start with something small and would do a little art journal quilt each month approx. 8" x 10".  



















This is my first little quilt.  (October).  I have named it "Dream Weavers",  and it interprets a personal story.   I have decided to do a quilt each month which pertains to what has been happening around and in my life for that month.  Some of the ladies are going with a theme for the whole 12 months.  We have no strictly defined rules and are keeping the format quite casual.  We intend to exhibit our small quilts at our exhibition next September under the title "Discovery"


"Dream Weavers" was inspired by the work of Jude Hall.  Jude recently had an article on fabric weaving in the Quilting Arts magazine and that sparked the idea to do a weaving theme.
I have incorporated a spiders web (made from recycled material - some type of acrylicy stuff which comes sometimes attached to the end of a blot of fabric)  and a bead for a spider.  I have done lots and lots of hand quilting and sewed on some little sheer pieces of georgette ribbon samples given to me by Shirley of Shirley's Twisted Threads.


 
The story behind the quilt is of two friends who are always dreaming of a place where they might pursue their creative side with sheer abandon - away from the mundane.  That would be Shirley and Dianne (me) :-)