More Unfinished Business

What is it about quilters/textile artists that we seem to amass so many unfinished projects?  Just about every quilter I have known has a sizable stash of "UFOs" (unfinished objects), and some even take pride in having more UFOs than other quilters.  Are other artists this bad with not completing things?

Anyway, I have not touched the Mardi Gras 8x10s" in the last week.  I picked up another project that I started a year ago: a collage that started with a tea towel.

image and design copyright RPS

The only thing that the tea towel had on it when I dug it out of an auction box lot was the embroidered clover flower and leaf at the bottom (and some stains).  It has come a long way, hasn't it?  I am building up a band of mixed stitches across the surface and I have some other small fancy pieces to add to it. 

image and design copyright RPS

Like many of my collages, I don't have a vision for the end of this piece, I will know it when it looks right.  The important thing is to realize when it is time to stop, I don't want to overdo it.  Maybe this weekend I will do something with the Mardi Gras series...

Picking up Pieces

In 2017, I had a great idea to make an 8 x 10" art quilt each week, an idea that numerous other artists have successfully embarked upon.  My take on the project never made it out of the idea stage.  I would still like to attempt it, though thanks to the multitude of other things I am attempting, I am not going to let it rule my life.  If I get one art quilt done in a week, great, if not, it is due to making other things.  If I get four done in a week, well that would be something.

Earlier this week, I cut up a piece of my Mardi Gras blend dyed fabric and started playing with bits of green, yellow and purple fabric. 

Since it is Thursday, and this is all I have so far, I doubt that even one of these will be done by Sunday, but at least I am moving along with one of my many ideas.  Now, go make something!  That's what I am off to do now.

World War I Poppies - Finished!

Here it is, my own mixed collage interpretation of the World War I poppies:

Image and design copyright RPS

Here is a detail of the letter:

Image and design copyright RPS

The letter is actually a note on a postcard (copied onto fabric) that came with one of those wonderful scrapbooks that I found earlier this year.  There is no doubt that they came from a local family.  The postcard is a double length one:

The sender was apparently training at Camp Sherman in Chillicothe, Ohio.  The card is postmarked August 22, 1918 to a resident of Quaker City, Ohio.  Judging from the message, it was before the devastating influenza outbreak that occurred that year.  I wonder if the sender made it through the epidemic, and if he ever made it overseas.  The message reads:
        "Hello Rodney - How is the pike job coming?  We had some try out on Liberty trucks like they            take through there last Friday.  We will be driving trucks in France within a month from today if          we get over all OK.  We have a dandy pair of driving gloves & we get a Norfolk overcoat at the          port of embarkation wherever that will be we don't know.  But we can get a few shots of good              French wine, ha ha.

World War I Challenge Progress

Sadly, I am missing the entry deadline for this quilt, it is still not finished.  I'm not upset by missing the deadline, I will still finish the quilt and since I am going to be a vendor at the show it was to be entered into, I will have it on display (and for sale) in my booth.  I have a few more things to add to it, but here are a couple of detail images of the quilting and the very cool stamens in the poppies (hand stitched - straight stitches with French knots).  Enjoy!

images and design copyright RPS

This week is quieter than last, so I really have every intention of posting on Thursday... will it be about the finish of this quilt, or something else?

World War I Challenge

Yikes!  It has been a while since I posted here.  I have gotten wrapped up in  the World War I challenge piece that I mentioned previously.  The challenge is a poppy themed quilt, inspired by the poem, "In Flanders Fields."  Here are some in progress images:

First, my initial idea involved rubbings from gravestones in a nearby cemetery.  I only found a metal medallion indicating the grave of a World War I veteran.  In my collection of fabric collage stuff, I found a vintage hanky with some red poppies on it, and a felt tobacco premium flag  (Belgian flag, of course) from the World War I era.  I wanted those two items to be a part of the collage.

Image and design copyright RPS

Adding the flag and hanky would be the last steps in the collage, at this point I really needed some poppies.  I free-motion quilted the outlines of the flowers and leaves:

Image and design copyright RPS

Then, I colored the poppies with crayons, and heat set them by ironing.

Image and design copyright RPS

At this point, I wanted to add some detail with hand stitching, so I auditioned the flag and hanky again, changing the planned locations for them.  I didn't want to hand stitch where the extra pieces would cover my hard work.

Image and design copyright RPS

Check back on Thursday to see how the hand stitching and additional quilting turned out.

In One Hour

With peach and blackberry on my mind, as promised I allotted one hour to come up with a base for a fabric collage.  First, I made a very quick selection of fabrics and ironed them:

Next, I cut several sized of strips, and started sewing them together:

Moving on, I kept trimming where needed and sewing pieces to create not one, but two sections of pieced fabric, until they were big enough to be able to get 8 X 10" pieces out of them.

Here's the final result, two collage bases, each 8 1/2 X 10 1/2, in less than one hour. 

All images and designs copyright RPS

Yes, the size is small, but think about finishing things quickly.  If you are pressed for time, look for small projects.  You won't get overwhelmed, and your confidence will grow as you get satisfaction in finishing something in days or a week or two.

Next week, find out how I embellish the two pieces.  I honestly have no finished image in mind right now for these.  I am simply playing with a color palette.

Daily Challenges

Of course, sometimes just getting out of bed is a challenge, let alone realizing a dream, creating a masterpiece or changing the world!  Look to accomplish little things.  I have posted before about daily projects, and I have started several strings of daily projects over the past few years.  I have yet to finish any of them.  As I have said before, if you get bogged down and break a daily sequence, just pick it up again whenever you can.

I am returning to an artist trading card a day project that I made up for myself.  It was supposed to run for one year, 365 cards.   I have been working in it for five years now!  I have finished January through May.  Here are most of the pieces for June and July:

It is June again, so time for me to pick up the project again.  Will I finish the rest of the project this year?  Time will tell.

Last year, I discovered a great website about art journaling, DaisyYellow and a two month challenge out on the site each year - the index-card-a-day challenge.  I started the challenge last year, and did not get very far:

I enjoyed the concept and I love the cards I made.  I lost the self discipline to keep going to the end. Now, I am rolling along with this year's challenge:

I fully intend to pick up and complete last year's remaining index cards (most of them!) after I get through the ones for this year.

Collage with Vintage Textiles

I'll be giving a short demo each day of the upcoming Lebanon, Ohio quilt show on creating a unique fabric collage with vintage fabric and fancy pieces.

This is a finished collage, a very simple composition made from a fancy hankie, a hand dyed damask napkin, vintage ties and some pieces of my "scrap-lace" fabric technique.

Image and design copyright RPS

Over the next couple of weeks,  I will be working on a few more collages to showcase the items I sell at the quilt shows.  I'll post the progress here as they come together leading up to the show on the first weekend of March.  Here's the start I have on the two I will concentrating on:

Image and design copyright RPS

Image and design copyright RPS

Check back Thursday to see my next steps on these.

Quilt Show Announcement

I will be a vendor at the Lebanon (Ohio) Quilt and Fabric Arts Show, March 2-3, 10-5 each day.  Admission is $7, the event benefits the Warren County Historical Society.  It will be held at the Warren County Fairgrounds, 665 North Broadway, Lebanon, OH.  I will have my usual assortment of hand dyed fabrics, embellishing fibers, dyed vintage doilies, damask linens, fancy work and lots and lots of fancy hankies.  I will be giving a demonstration each day on how to use vintage pieces in fabric collage:

Image and design copyright RPS

The Purple Collage, the Finale

Earlier this year, or maybe even last year, I periodically documented the creation of a fabric collage here.  It was finished for entry into the Mutton Hill Quilt Show, and here it is at the show:

Image and design copyright RPS

It was an experiment, not completely successful.  While I made it, I had in mind the paper collages of Kurt Schwitters (scroll down on the link for images of his work).  I think the influence of Schwitters is evident in my collage.  However, it is a bit of a wreck in the technique.  My most significant fault with my purple collage is the trial of sewing a slightly smaller quilt base, allowing the edges of the purple dyed damask napkin hang free.  I will not do that again!  It was hard to quilt near the edges, and I just don't like the floppy edges.  Additionally, the quilting made the whole thing lumpy!  The next collage that I make using a dyed napkin for a sub-base will have a slightly larger quilt base, not smaller.  I would like to try mounting future collages on canvas and stretcher bars, like a painting.  I have heard of other textile artists having good luck with that method, citing that would-be buyers relate to the treatment better. 

Another thing that I like about the collage is the seed stitching I did to create an unobtrusive border.  The stitching was necessary to try and secure the floppy edges, and it added more texture.  Not only is there paper sewn into this piece, but there really are pieces in there that would have been trash!  There are foil chocolate wrappers and plastic mesh produce bag pieces in the mix.  Look around as you go through your day with a vision to find unusual materials to stitch. 

Despite the problems, I really had fun making this and I still love it as a learning experience.  I will hang it somewhere in my house, as it is still a visual delight to me.  I hope to start my next collage this weekend.

Missed Opportunities

I spent the past week working on the paper aspect of my business name, making paper collage cards for the May edition of Zanesville First Friday.  I thought that the cards would be a nice low-cost impulse buy for shoppers, as Mother's Day is quickly approaching.  A very reasonable plan, however, I simply forgot to put them out on my table.  I found them fifteen minutes before the event ended while I was looking for something else in my project bag.  That's OK, I wanted to add a little more drawing detail to some of them, and they are not specifically Mother's Day cards.  Maybe I'll remember to put them out next month!

Sales were improved for me last night, as compared to the past two months.  I think that being out in the hallway, instead of a vacant office helped a bit.  I noticed that many of the people roaming the halls were not looking at anything, they just seemed to be walking the halls.  I wasn't the only vendor who noted that phenomenon.  If you attend a visual arts event, please look around, the artists are there to share what they make.  Even if you don't or can't buy anything (and believe me, I am in the camp that is often not able to buy), at least talk to some of the artists and give some positive comments on their work.  A few good words go a long way.

Return to the Purple Collage

No, I have not forgotten about the purple collage!

Image and design copyright RPS.  Please do not copy or repost

This is just another example of how art simply doesn't happen suddenly.  I had to set this piece aside for awhile to figure out how to proceed with it.  Since I'm not following a pattern or even conventional quilting techniques, I encounter frequent problems, especially many "what-do-I-do next" moments.  I still do not know if this piece will turn out OK in the end.  It is going through an "awkward teenager" phase now and  hope that it will look better with some more embellishing.

I think that I now need to attach the top, still unfinished, to a three layer quilt base that I have made, slightly smaller than the collage top, so that the edges of the collage extend beyond the base.  The base (below) is a lightly quilted and pillowcase bound piece made from plain Kona cotton and a piece of ice dyed flannel that didn't turn out well.  The flannel will be hidden once the collage is attached.

Image copyright RPS.  Please do not copy or repost

I am going to free motion quilt random loopy shapes in the negative spaces of the collage.  I am still pondering how to stitch the edges, since I cannot see where the base edges are if I am quilting the whole thing face up.  What have I gotten myself into?

In between this purple monster and a challenge project, I am working on some free motion quilting examples influenced by two more of my favorite children's book illustrators.  Check back in a couple of days for the results!

Considering Children's Book Illustrators

I’ve mentioned before that I have been sporadically completing the exercises in the Art Quilt Workbook by Jane Davila and Elin Waterston (C&T Publishing, 2007).  One on the things that I appreciate about this book is the short list in each chapter of “artists to study” whose works relate to the lesson in the chapter.  The artists are mostly well-known and easily researched names.  No matter what art medium you are exploring, you cannot get away from looking at the work of other artists and learning from them.  Art history constantly builds on what came before.  College art students often get assignments to copy a painting hanging in a museum to learn multiple techniques.  One word of caution, it is always prudent to respect copyright, artists at any level need to be familiar with copyright laws.  Check your local library for a selection of good resources on copyright, and you could always try to wade through the essential source for copyright, the U.S. Copyright Office  

There are other artists to consider aside from the usual suspects of art history.  At my day job, I spent some time recently shelf reading the children’s books.  I have re-discovered some personal childhood favorite illustrators and found some new ones that are worth study for applying to my own art adventures.  Of course, I cannot insert images of these illustrators’ work here, but I encourage you to investigate them further. 

First, consider the collage illustrations of Lois Ehlert (Lots of Spots, Boo to You, etc.) and Eric Carle (Pancakes, Pancakes, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, etc.).  Ehlert creates images from layers of paper shapes accented with cut-outs and tiny paper bits.  Carle creates his collage illustrations from shapes cut out of painted papers, then adds detail with more paint and crayon lines.  If you want to create representational images from fabric using applique, take a look at these two.  The two small quilts below are what I created for the chapter two and three exercises in The Art Quilt Workbook.  These were done before I rediscovered Ehlert and Carle, but they make my point nicely; I certainly could have had the two illustrators in mind when I made the quilts.  The carrots and squash were created by fusing fabric cut into the desired shapes, then detailed with hand or machine stitching, similar to Ehlert’s and Carle’s techniques with paper.

Images copyright RPS, please do not copy or repost

On a bit of an aside, I highly recommend giving the children in your life a copy of Carle’s Pancakes, Pancakes for the message it contains about what it takes to make something. 

I’ll have something different on Thursday, next week I will look at another illustrator, hopefully with a quilted example that applies what I see in the art.  I’ve got to get busy!

Time Goes By

The three day weekend was not as productive as I had hoped, at least in the way of sewing.  The weather was too nice to stay inside!  I did a good bit of yard work and planning for this year's gardens.  I am pleased to report that my two little woad plants are doing well.  I am embarking on a seed saving venture with these biennials, so maybe in a few years I will be able to get some blue fabric from them.

The only thing I have to share in sewing progress is this:

How about that for extreme couching!  That is a whole bunch of fancy yarn, dyed lace trims and silk sari ribbons, all machine zig-zag couched.  It is a piece of a larger fabric collage.  I hope to have enough of it finished soon to share here, maybe in a month.  I am thinking of making a small piece, 8 X 10" that is just a mass of couched fibers.  It takes a long time to do these rows of couching, but I love the look.

This will be my only post this week.  I have another installment of the art journaling workshop tomorrow, so I'll have something about that next week, some book recommendations and musings on why I have checked out a small stack of children's books from the library, when I don't have children!  Yes, it has something to do with art quilting...

That Purple Collage, Yet Again

If you get anything out of this ongoing series on this fabric collage, it is that art work usually does not happen overnight.  This is one factor in why good art is seemingly pricey.  This particular piece however, I'm not sure would fall into the category of good art, not yet, and maybe not ever!

I decided to add decorative stitching around the edges of the fabric pieces.  The first image below is a detail before I started the hand stitching, the next one is after.

The stitching adds a lot, doesn't it?  This pair of images is also a good illustration of how different lighting affects something.  The first image is in natural light, the second was taken with flash.

My next step is to join the collage to the three layer back, and quilt them together.  I am thinking ahead for once, and trying to decide how much more I should add to this collage.  I could add more fancy yarns:

How about more trim and some doilies?

I am going for a heavily textured creation, though I don't want to completely cover the lovely purple napkin that serves as the base.

Where will it end?  I don't know yet...

Scrapbooks and Ephemera, Part Three

Information on Cornell from: Joseph Cornell/Marcel Duchamp… In Resonance, Menil Foundation, Houston, TX, 1998.

Joseph Cornell (1903-1972), having no formal art training, could be considered an outsider artist.  He produced three dimensional mixed media collages that were encased in wooden boxes (usually glass fronted).  During his active years as an artist, he found success in the Dada and Surrealism movements beginning in the 1930s, and collaborated with Marcel Duchamp, among other elite art world associations.  I’ll admit to being strongly influenced not only by Cornell’s collage/assemblage artwork, but also by his vast collections of ephemera.  Check out some of his artwork here and here, and read on.

Cornell amassed quantities of images, printed matter and personal notes on numerous subjects of interest to him: 19^th century advertising, ballet dancers, movie stars, literature, music, etc.  He referred to his subject collections as "dossiers."  Some of this material ended up in his collages, much of it did not, languishing in his home until being preserved as the Joseph Cornell Study Center at the National Museum of American Art (Washington DC).

One of my own Cornell-inspired dossiers

These personal collections assembled by Cornell were generated out of his own interests, probably not with any intent of them becoming a research source.  Cornell kept his ephemera collections relatively organized, but they were not pasted into scrapbooks, as the material was intended for use in collages.  In a way, the excess material and the finished collages themselves were scrapbooks in a different physical form. 

I started amassing my own files of notes, clippings and images before I ever knew of Cornell, but after discovering his collecting methods, I of course kept going.  I keep a limit on things, as I want to have a presentable living area!  Some of the things for which I have my own “dossiers” include: vintage sewing machine advertising, rare horse breeds, Euclid Beach Park, Route 66, and yes, even Joseph Cornell.

Next Tuesday, I’ll connect the dots on how Langstroth and Cornell relate to being more creative.  My next post on Thursday will return to the purple collage.

Getting Sidetracked

Despite what it appears, I have added a few pieces to the collage.  I had intentions to add more in time for this post, but I realized that I have to quilt this thing at some point.  Right now, it is only a top layer, with no batting or backing.

image copyright RPS, please do not repost

The stitching of the three layers to make my collages (technically) into quilts is a struggle for me.  I don't want the quilting to dominate the design and I tend to neglect this crucial step until I have embellished to the point were there is very little chance of me stuffing the mess under the presser foot of the sewing machine.  Not to mention at that point, adding quilting would flatten the fabrics, ribbons, etc. that I attach to come up off of the collage surface.  This piece will be be an experiment in minimal quilting in the currently open areas of purple base fabric, then back to the embellishing.

So, my next plan for this post was to dive into instructions for pillowcase binding, as requested from several customers of mine.  I have not found a piece of backing fabric to suit me, despite tearing through the fabric storage room not only in search of backing, but also on a quest to locate another half finished collage quilt that I want to finish soon.  It has been one of those weeks.  Time for a trip to the local quilt shop...

Books and Pieces

I’m taking a bit of a break on the purple collage… at least a break from it here.  I am continuing to add to it; it will return on this blog in a week.  Thanksgiving is here, and I am using the days off from work to sew and ponder some ideas for the near future.  Here is another collage in the works, a 7X10” little thing, for the 2017 SAQA Trunk Show.

 image and design copyright RPS, 2016.  Please do not repost.

It is loaded with many bits and pieces, but using a limited color palette. 

Another item on my agenda for the next few days is perusing the stack of past Quilt National catalogs that I have loaned from the SEO libraries.  There are eight of the catalogs on my dining room table now, plus the five catalogs that I own.  I am planning on going through them in chronological order, beginning with the earliest.  I want to make some notes on the evolution of the show, and how art quilting itself has changed over the years.  Look for my initial thoughts here on Tuesday. 

On my initial skimming of the earlier QN catalogs, I noticed a number of quilts that were made from many random scraps, resulting in an overwhelming visual overload – there seemed to be a trend to use as many different commercial prints in one quilt as possible.  Unfortunately, I cannot illustrate any of them here.  I’m wondering if the perceived trend came from the rapid growth of the commercial printed fabric industry that was happening at the time.  It appears that quilters were wildly playing with these new “toys” (print fabric lines), without much regard to good design.  Of course, this is just my opinion… I do love the more is more approach to collage, but with some limits (like my little collage above… with three basic colors).

I always could end up feeling differently about these quilts that right now for, are too much, visually.  Maybe next week, maybe in two years, maybe never!  We all have different creative visions, and we don’t have to like everything we see.  However, when you see something you love, celebrate it!

Making Progress

Since my last post, I have sewn all the fabric pieces onto my collage-in-progress and I added more couched funky yarns.  Time to step back and evaluate it.  One way to see a work-in-progress a bit differently is to take a picture of it and make your evaluation from the picture.

image copyright RPS, please do not post elsewhere

Right away, I notice that the two dark purple lace pieces are aligned nearly the same way.  I like to have similar elements in a piece turned different ways.  I'm not going to rip one of them out, I will add another dark purple lace later, making sure to place it a perpendicular angle to the first two.  I've probably mentioned before, but it is a good idea to use each design element more than once in a piece.  I need to add one more of each of the purple laces, so this will be easy to fix.

Since I am using several different techniques in this collage, I like to keep switching back and forth in the application of them.  I'm not sewing all the fabric pieces at once, then the couching, etc.  Instead, I sew a couple of fabric pieces, couch a couple lines of yarn, add a lace trim, then back to fabric.  I'm not sure if it matters, but I would think that my back and forth method creates a more layered look.  Well, there's another future project to test my hypothesis...

Back to evaluating a work.  While I have a photo of the piece, I like to view the image in black and white too.  This allows me to see how I'm doing with contrast of value.

image copyright RPS, please do not post elsewhere

Clearly, I need to add some darker shades and some pale tints.  The fabrics, trims and yarns I have selected so far are too alike in value.  The same two lace pieces that are bothering me for the way I placed them are the only dark elements now.  It is important to have strong value contrasts to add more interest to a composition.  The background is a nice middle tone, most of the added pieces are about the same lighter value.  The more I look at this image, I think I might be OK if I add a few more dark pieces.  I have some work to do here!

Collage Project - Machine Couching

One of my specialty items at quilt shows is my small packs of embellishing fibers – assortments of funky yarns cut into manageable lengths for art quilts.  One way to use these funky yarns in a project is to machine couch them onto your quilt surface.

Set your machine for zig zag sewing.  Your stitch length and width will vary with the yarn that you choose.  On my vintage Singer 503A, I use the General Purpose foot.  Any open toe foot for your machine will work here, some machines have a couching foot.  The funky yarns won’t work in a foot that you have to thread with your couching cord.  Check the manual for your machine for specifics.

Place the yarn where you want it on your quilt top.  Here, I’ve pulled back a piece for fabric that is pinned for later sewing, and I am starting the length of yarn so that the end will be hidden under the fabric piece.  

I usually start by sewing a tack stitch, then slowly start zig zag stitching, keeping the yarn centered in the foot.  Watch your fingers!  Don’t try this if you are tired, or have other distractions happening in your sewing room.  I recommend having a toothpick or a chopstick that has been sanded to a point, so that you can safely guide the yarn as it feeds into the foot.  Yes, I learned all this the hard way!

This first yarn I selected is a flat one with a loopy flower at widely spaced intervals.  I decided to sew down several rows next to each other.  This is a good way to build up texture, use lengths of the same yarn, or use several different yarns.

Here, I am sewing a single strand of yarn to create a line that will draw the viewer’s eye around the collage.  I simply turn the fabric slowly as I sew to create a gently curving line.  

If you are using a yarn with loops in it, the loops will get caught in the prongs of the presser foot from time to time.  When that happens, stop, sew in reverse a couple stitches, slip off the loop, and use a toothpick to hold the loop down while sewing forward again.  Or, just cut the offending loop!  The loopy yarn is worth the extra effort, I like the way they look in my collages.

Couching is so easy, and you can do so many creative things with the technique.  Try using other decorative stitches to couch, just be sure the stitch won’t dominate the yarn.