My Street- Pretoria, An Art Quilt

About two and a half years ago Quilting Arts had a reader challenge that inspired me to do a quilt of my street.  I had just moved to South Africa at the time.  It was spring there, just before rainy season and the plants were all flowering.  Security is a serious issue in South Africa and I could help but remark on the juxtaposition of the heavy security and massive walls with the delicate beauty of Jacarandas and Fever Acacia in bloom looking like they were a part of a beautifully landscaped garden. 

The quilt is 12 1/2 x 16 1/8 x inches  (31.75 x 41 cm.)  The background is a gelatin print on cotton.  I used cottons and silk fabrics and plastic mesh screening. I used several techniques: couching of wool, cotton, polyester & plastic fibers, embroidery, beading, applique and painting with fabric paints.

And Now For a Magic Trick: The Disappearing Nine Patch

Now that I have mastered a simple quilt style  I have decided to move on to something more complicated, the Disappearing Nine Patch.  (Thanks to my friend Beth for mentioning this pattern to me)  A very good tutorial for this quilt style is found here.
This is a small quilt (54 x 54 in) for my little daughter.  I have selected from my stash of Asian fabrics and picked out some Kawaii inspired animal prints from Spoonflower designers and, of course, added one of my designs.  Like Allison mentions in her tutorial, I eyeballed the middle cuts for the nine patch.  I really recommend measuring it---if you look, you can see where some of my seams are off.  I actually quilted this one since it was so small but will hiring someone with a longarm machine when I sew larger blankets.
Spoonflower designs in my quilt:

A. Protea Petals Pink by bloomingwyldeiris
B. Cute Creatures by indescribble
C. Cherry Blossom Bambi Pink Aqua by zesti
D. Super Cute Kawaii by marcelinesmith
E.  Run Bumbi Run by killer_tomato

The next quilt top will likely be for Margaret for all of her help cutting out squares.  I will begin cutting my younger son's material as well.  He is going for a watery theme.

First Quilt Top Complete!

My oldest son has an ancient blanket that he has had since he was a toddler.  This blanket is now threadbear and the binding is coming off.  I spoke with him and he agreed to replace the blanket with a new quilt.  This a big step for him since he doesn't like to get rid of anything.  It is also a big step for me since have never made a traditional quilt.  I decided to do a simple color block design.  I made a 7 1/2 inch square cardboard template and calculated how many squares I would need for a quilt top.  My son went through my fabric stash and picked out his favorite fabrics.  I also let him select 5 fabrics from Spoonflower (who is having a sale this week-2 fat quarters for the price of one!) and added 2 of my own design.  He choose a zoo/safari theme.

Our Spoonflower fabrics are labeled on the picture : A. Jungle Love by Amel24   B.  Animalia by Woo C. Wild Animals by Oksansia D. Ferocious Jungle 2 by Emrick123  E.  Big 5 Dots by Wyldeiris F. Cute Creatures by Indescribble  G.  Big 5 Babies on the Clothesline by Wyldeiris

When I measured the top, bottom and middle of the finished squares to calculate my border, I was very pleased that there was less than an 1/2 inch difference from top to bottom.  I plan on sending the layers out to get quilted--I don't think I am ready for that step yet.

I had big help from my housekeeper, Margaret, who washed and ironed fabric and traced out some of the squares.  I found the videos by Missouri Star Quilt Co very helpful for a beginner like myself.

Quilts from the December / January Quilt Show

The quilts above are the two I finished for the art quilt show. The top one is titled "Sycamore" and the bottom is "Tree of Life."
Sycamores have a bark that does not expand as it grows and so the bark splits open as the tree ages. This was the inspiration for my quilt. The Sycamore quilt is made from layered sheer fabrics in silks, polyesters, cottons and cheesecloth. While it is hard to see in the picture, the side panels are quilted Sycamore leaves. I used a colored pencil to color in the sky in areas where the leafs did not overlap. After layering and apliquing the quilt fabrics, I used a natural sponge to paint layers of textile fabric to simulate lichen. Lastly, I have added a couple of beads as accents.
The second quilt is an exploration of a traditional theme, the tree of life. I painted a commercial stamp with diamond shapes onto cotton I prepared. I then cut out and appliqued the tree onto blue-violet silk. The flowers are sequins and the leaves, hand-painted, cut-out cotton shapes sewn on. I then painted each of the animal shapes with fabric paint and again appliqued them to the silk.

News & New Thread tree Art Quilt

I mentioned a while back I am having a baby. According to the sonogram a few weeks ago, I am having a girl. I have two boys right now and am looking forward to experiencing a girl. We haven't decided on a name yet so suggestions are welcome.
My family will be moving, probably next summer, to the African country of Mali. I understand there to be a vibrant arts tradition in Mali and I am looking forward to exploring it. It will be exciting to share it with you.
Lastly, I have made some updates to my earlier Early Spring art quilt and have nearly completed another. The newer quilt is another thread tree quilt. I still have leaves to add, more rocks in the water and a bit more color in the right tree. I am still trying for the goal of six fiber arts pieces by December. I have two more art quilts in process. The new quilts are not thread tree quilts but different takes on the tree theme. Will I get six pieces done? We shall see.

Thread Tree Art Quilt

I have been working on this art quilt all summer. While that may be hard to believe, given the quilt's small size (aprox 18 x 15 inches), if you have seen my earlier post, you know why. Shown here is another art quilt in my thread tree series, this time depicting a foggy early spring morning in a forest. All of the quilt's elements are hand sewn and quited except the border and then I machine quilted many of the elments again. The background is a commerical batik and I have layered fine tulle to suggest fog and the light green dusting the ground has in early spring. The trees are made from threads as my title suggests and also yarn, archival markers, as well as strips of commerical and handpainted fabric. I am considering additonal quilting over the tulle and also beading small transparent beads to suggest dew.

Seasons Thread Tree Art Quilt

I mentioned in an earlier post working on an art quilt with the thread trees I have been making. I am going to only put up what I can scan because my camera is recharging and I am submitting this quilt to the county fair tomorrow. This will be my first submission! Try to imagine the pictures in the order of Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter and you will have the basic idea. Wish me luck.

Advice from a Tree

This fall I did am edition of hand illustrated books to the beautiful poem Advice From a Tree. I used some of the thread trees on the cover that I mentioned in an earlier post. One of the things I am working on right now is an art quilt called 'Seasons' based on the thread tree idea. I hope to post it here soon.
I am also working on a doll of the night sky with actual lights incorporated in her design. More to come.