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The Printed Fabric Bee – June Edition

July 1st, 2014

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Another month has come and gone and we have a new collection of fabrics printed by the members of the bee for June’s Queen Bee, Susan Purney Mark. She chose an industrial theme with neutral colors.

Here is my piece for Susan:

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Here is how I created this. I started with a piece of hand-dyed gray fabric. I looked through my thermofax screens for a particular screen which I made a while ago and looks like steel girders, but I couldn’t find it. I did find my screen of stacked chairs that I had used for my Twelve by Twelve chair quilt. You can see it here. This is the screen smudged with black paint.

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I got really messy with the black paint and I even spilled half a bottle.

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Here is the first layer.

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Next, I found a stencil with random squares that looked like it could be a good counter point to the thermofax screen.

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I found some LiquiTex white paint which I mixed with some textile medium.

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I just hit the stencil with a paint sponge in random swipes.

Here is the 6-inch piece which will be part of the giveaway. I am really happy with how this turned out.

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To have a chance to win this collection, you can comment on Susan’s blog (link is at the top) or leave a comment on the Printed Fabric Bee blog or FB Page.

Sacred Threads in Seattle

June 29th, 2014

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Mr C and I spent a nice couple of days in Seattle, enjoying some art and good food. I feel creatively and spiritually fulfilled. We went to two museums, I will post about them tomorrow. Tonight, I will share some photos from the Sacred Threads show. The above pieces are by Vikki Pignatelli. She founded  the Sacred Threads exhibit. Her work is exquisite with loads of curved piecing and beautiful quilting. Here is a tree.

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A detail shot shows the beautiful workmanship.

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Here is my Aspen Quilt, looking dwarfed next to the wedding of Adam and Eve.

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Here is some other interesting work. I thought I took photos of the names, but can’t find them.

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This piece is by Wen Redmond.

 

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And this piece was by Ginny Greaves.

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A added benefit for Mr C and I was getting to see two volumes of the St. John’s Bible.

The Saint John’s Bible is the first completely handwritten and illuminated Bible to have been commissioned by a Benedictine Abbey since the invention of the printing press.

Beginning in 1970, master calligrapher Donald Jackson expressed in media interviews his lifelong dream of creating an illuminated Bible. Following a Saint John’s-sponsored calligraphy presentation at the Newberry Library in Chicago in 1995, Jackson discussed a handwritten Bible with Fr. Eric Hollas, OSB, former executive director of the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library at Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota. Between 1996 and 1997, Saint John’s explored the feasibility of the Bible project, Jackson created first samples, and theologians developed the illumination schema. The Saint John’s Bible was officially commissioned in 1998 and funding opportunities were launched. The public was introduced to the project in 1999 and production was completed in 2011, with the final word penned in May 2011 and touch-up work completed by December 2011.

The Epiphany Parish, where the Sacred Threads exhibit was held has two copies of two of the volumes: The Gospel and Acts and The Prophets. I love the art work in these books. The actual pages are kept at St John’s and copies of the pages were printed so that they could be shared around the world. There are also coffee table size reprints. I came home and ordered the Psalms edition.

Here are some photos of some of the pages:

 

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Some of you may know that I have a soft place in my heart for religious art. So this was a real treat.

We so enjoyed meeting the women at Epiphany Parish. They were so lovely and fun to hang out with for the time we were there. Many thanks to them for hosting this exhibit.

 

Wordless Wednesday

June 25th, 2014

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Portland in Full Bloom

June 24th, 2014

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This morning, we hiked up to the Rose Garden. So happy we did because I think it is at it’s peak, right now. Here are some photos I took today.

 

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We saw lots of purpleish roses today. There was one that was like a dark burgundy, but the photo did not turn out.

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We even got to see the Rose Queen getting photographed in the garden.

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And this Shakespeare quote.

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Really a beautiful place in June.

I finished quilting the blue Picasso woman. She is ready for facings.

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In other exciting news, I had 3 pieces selected for The American Art Company’s Twelfth Northwest Contemporary Quilt Invitational. The gallery is in Tacoma. I have always wanted to enter this show, but never had a heads up as to when they were taking submissions. I found out that a friend had entered so on a whim, I contacted them and even though it was past the deadline, she looked at my work and chose 3 pieces to be in the show – Kelp Dance, and my two big aspen pieces. I am really happy that I took the chance and sent that e-mail.

A Little Postcard Diversion

June 16th, 2014

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One of our friends from Trinity, who lives in the South tower of The Westover hosted a cocktail party in our honor on Friday evening. I decided to make a little postcard thank you for her. She loves flowers and has a lot of begonias on her deck.

I had some rainbow dyed silk scraps and first cut little petals for the flower and fused them.

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Then I made leaves and a background and fused everything in place.

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I hadn’t done free motion quilting for a while so it was fun to do some on this little piece.

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I had to make a run to the studio to find my postcard backs. After gluing the stitched piece to the postcard back and zig zag stitching the edge. I put a stamp on it an mailed it. I always like to have the recipients have the surprise of getting this delivered in the mail.

Making the postcard and catching up on my SDA work have filled my day.