DC inspiration: Textile Museum (part 2)

Ok, if you didn't read yesterday's post about the Textile Museum on the campus of George Washington University then start there. I just had too much to share to fit it all in one post! I am going to continue sharing from the the Stories of Migration exhibit and throw a few more things that I got to see.

Mother Tongue and Foreign Language by Shin-hee Chin
this artist has experienced living half of her life in the United States and half of her life in South Korea so this piece is clearly born out of her personal experience. I especially love the use of a garment, a piece of clothing, something you put onto yourself and show to the world, as the medium for the message. I can only imagine that being at home in more than one culture means choosing who to identify as in any given setting.

Navigating a Broken World by Shea Wilkinson
The level of detail on this map is absolutely astounding. The maps themselves are intricately detailed and she has embroidered tiny red dots to represent people groups and their movements. There is a short video on her website where she talks about the piece. My photo is not the best so you should click over there to see it.

I am going to finish up with a piece that wasn't a part of the Migration exhibit but really caught my eye anyway. These sweet little Birds by Ginny Smith (actually part of a quilted book) are so very playful. I like fabric. I like birds. Why don't I try something like this? I think I have always been such a structured person that I always undertake huge capital-letter P projects when perhaps I should just make something smaller and undefined and more freeing. Something for me to ponder! Please look at the other pieces on Ginny's website – I love them all!

DC inspiration: Textile Museum (part 1)

One of the places I was most excited about visiting in Washington, D.C. is pretty much on no one else's must-see list. It is not a monument and although it is a museum I doubt it is all that famous. It was the Textile Museum on the campus of George Washington University. I have long loved fabric and pattern even before I started sewing and quilting. And now that I am a sewer and quilter, well, my interest is even higher.

I had a day to myself while my husband was working (the actual reason behind the trip!) and a stop here was my first destination of the day. I am just going to put it out there that I used a map and got myself there with very little problem. I was rather proud and if you knew my navigational history you would be proud of me too.

At any rate, when I visited they had two big exhibits. One was titled Stories of Migration: Contemporary Artists Interpret Diaspora. Diaspora is when people groups move, or are forced to move, from their homeland to somewhere else. A fitting theme for modern times but also one with huge historic connections, especially considering the impact of slavery on the formation of the United States. There was a huge range of experiences represented by the artists but of course all used textiles in their work. So very inspiring! I will share a few of my favorites.

Blood Line by Alice Beasley
Alice Beasley uses a train metaphor to explore her family's story and experience with slavery. The final train car incorporates images of her relatives and includes an image of herself, looking back over the history through the lens of her cell phone. The level of detail in the work is astounding. I am very curious about this style of illustrating using thread and fabric and have been following some artists on Instagram who are doing work. Ms. Beasley's website features a video on the creation of this particular piece. You can also see other examples of her beautiful work on her site.

Sky Prayers – Memory of Sky by Melody Money 
This piece was created in honor of the people of Tibet. It is quite sizable but the intricate, small details make it even more impressive. Tiny triangles of fabric, tiny hand-sewn beads, and even the quilting itself. Just breath-taking. Melody's website shows a full portfolio, including a whole series of Sky Prayers.

Implosion 4 by Beth Barron
This mandala is made entirely of found band-aids. The band-aids are a symbol of wounding and healing and the piece is about finding one's home within oneself after being lost. This falls into the category of strange, never-before-seen modern art that I always appreciate. And it certainly stretches my mind in terms of what can be stitched and sewn.

I am going to post part 2 of my Textile Museum experience tomorrow. This has already gotten quite long and there are a few more things I just can't resist sharing with you!

I made art: family portrait mini-quilt

So way back in 2014 when my oldest was 6 she came home with an adorable family portrait done in marker on a piece of white cloth. That piece of cloth was stapled to another scrap of gray fabric. I loved everything about it – the stick figures, the eyes carefully done in appropriate shades, and the misspelled "familey" across the top. In my mind I thought it would be so cute if I made it into a hanging quilt square. I clipped it up on the clothesline in my art room and there it has been ever since.

Fast forward to this summer where my husband noticed I had written "Quilt Week" on the calendar. He suggested that perhaps I did not need any new ideas and that I should just go work on the ideas I already have. He was right (of course!) and this project was the result.

So a couple of things I love about this:

1. I experimented with the quilting.
I did concentric rectangles, I outlined squares, and I even followed along with the curving leaf pattern of a particular fabric. It was fun for me to try something different.

2. I used scrap fabric.
I did not buy anything for this project. That doesn't surprise me but that's because I am quite aware of what I have stashed in the art room! At any rate, that's always a good thing.

3. I had fun with the composition.
So choosing colors and balancing a composition is something I am good at naturally. I am sure that my graphic design education from Ferris State University also sharpened my skills as well. So taking those little scraps of fabric and arranging them here and there and building the blocks around the drawing was pure joy for me.

The lesson in all of this is that when you spend time making art art gets made! So obvious but seemingly out of reach for me so often!

pretty pillowcase

I finally got around to sewing a matching pillowcase to go with younger daughter's quilt. I used this pillow sham tutorial on the blog Cora Anne Designs. I've got no complaints about the tutorial but I do wish I had measured my particular pillow. I found the sham to be a bit of a tight fit when all was said and done.

As you can see I got to use up some more squares that didn't make it into the final quilt. I do love the look of things that are quilted! Seems like lately I am not making anything that uses a big solid piece of fabric! Hee.

I trimmed the back pieces so that they would align with the front. But then I craftily reused the pieces I trimmed off to be a part of the back. No waste! I also discovered that making an envelope-style pillowcase is not actually hard. I was under the mistaken impression that it would be tricky but I didn't find it to be so at all. So that bodes well for future home decorating visions!

a series of 6 placemats in black, white, and red

A birthday gift for my mama! Six pretty placemats, each a unique quilt of its own. I had such a good time designing these and arranging the scraps. I am also proud to say I didn't purchase anything but the red thread. I had bought some of the fabric for last year's gift (a fun valentine garland). At that time I was also thinking of making a table runner so I did buy a pretty big length of the heart and flower fabric that has both black and red in it. So when I decided on the placemats instead of the table runner I used that fabric for the backs.

The pattern is from the book Black & White, Bright & Bold: 24 Quilt Projects to Piece & Appliqué by Kim Schaefer. It called for only black and white but you know me, always customizing things – I went with red + black & white instead. And of course I got the book from the library! Hee.

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the quilt is done!

Second daughter's quilt was complete on December 29. I told my mama on Christmas Eve that I thought I would have it done before the end of the year and I did! According to the blog that tells no lies, I first got serious about this quilt back in February. Since first daughter's quilt took more like a year and a half I have been speeding things up. And let us not forget the little thing called having a baby that slowed my progress!

I could document all the things that went wrong or at least not quite right but that might not be quite as nice of a blog post. I am just going to say, every project I sew, I learn things and I practice things and lo and behold I get better at things.

Behind this quilt: a board, 2 clamps, 1 husband on a stool

So here's what I love about this quilt:

My kids!
My second daughter and I designed it together when she was 2. And she did have opinions. My first daughter (age 6) helped me design the squares made of four patches.

The quilting!
I did it all on my regular machine because I still don't get what's going on with the dropping the feed dog business and the other special quilting things you can use (and can I on my machine?!). I only have the one very old machine and I made it work. The wonky straight line quilting, which I did fairly dense turned out great. I love the texture. I did matching threads for each band of color: pink thread on the pink, yellow on the yellow, and so on. But then I had each of the colors "leak" into the next section. And for good measure I tossed a few loose and random lines elsewhere in the quilt. Very fun if I do say myself.

The colors!
I love bright saturated colors and that clearly comes through in this quilt. Hee.

The fabric!
Ok, I love fabric anyway but here's what's special about this quilt: I didn't buy any fabric for it! Everything came from what I already had in my stash. So some of it I had bought myself but I also got scraps from my husband's grandma, my mother-in-law, and my sister-in-law. Plus, a lot of my stash is from a dear family friend (her 98th birthday is coming up next month) and has some vintage appeal. And another friend gave me her leftovers and those are incorporated too. So some of it wasn't what I would have bought myself but all put together in one quilt it is beautiful!

I am proposing that this is going to be the year of the quilt for me. I hope to complete 2 or 3 more. Ok, I will say 3. I have a quilt top that is done so that can count. I am off on a tangent right now whipping up a gift but for the most part I am going to be disciplined and work on one project all the way to completion. No more half projects hanging around after this year is through. I have been attempting to structure my morning so that I get some time in the sewing room every morning before the kiddos are up and so far, so good.

library love: Quilt Me!

I have been striking gold at the library lately. First Design Bloggers at Home (read my review here) and now Quilt Me!: Using Inspirational Fabrics to Create Over 20 Beautiful Quilts by Jane Brocket.

Just after I settled my mind on the rule that quilts should be made out of cotton and that is that Jane liberates me and shows me how she's made quilts out of a wide range of unexpected fabrics and even vintage treasures like embroidered tablecloths and needlepoint pieces. She feels it is better to cut into those items (oh horror!) and give them new life rather than have them rot away forgotten in a cupboard. Good point!

She goes quite in depth explaining how different fabrics behave and what to be aware of if you are quilting with, say, velvet. In a lovely conversational tone she chats about her design decisions, her sewing and quilting methods and how each quilt came to be. Other than the step-be-step directions, I read this thing cover to cover. I found it to be very inspiring and I have fresh eyes and motivation for investigating the stacks of antique linens you always see in shops.

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Quilt is on the machine!

I feel like I am wrestling a bear folding it, rolling it, hugging it, and helping it move forward through the machine but I am very happy to be at this stage of the process.

The blog tells no lies. I started thinking about this quilt in February. Pretty good progress compared to the last one though. We'll see when the final finish turns out to be! Less than a year?

In case you were wondering, fabric draped over chair is for this quilt top (a gift way back in 2012). And read about that sweet piece of poppy printed fabric here. And credit for the lovely vintage aprons goes to my dear great-grandmother, a sewing ancestor.

estate sale enchantment

Last week I happened to notice an ad in the newspaper for an estate sale right in my neighborhood. Oh, how I dearly love an estate sale! Such a treasure hunt. Since the drive wasn't far I decided to go for it despite the fact I would have a 3-year-old and a baby in tow.

Laugh at my ambition if you will, but my 3-year-old actually has some estate sale experience and knows well my rule "no touching, only look with your eyes." The poor babe just got hauled around in his carrier! Luckily, it was a small house and I managed to be a quick shopper.

So the pieces above are either dresser scarves or kitchen towels. That seems to be the size of them. I kind of think they are too pretty to be towels. Anyway, they each have their own design but they do all feature the color red. Can we say quilt inspiration?!

This one was actually a small curtain. I love the fabric design. The best thing about these vintage pieces is the unique feel they will add to any future project. A bit of old is a good thing in my mind.

And of course I still have visions of making a quilt from vintage sheets (check out this one in simple squares and this one in a more complex design for inspiration!) so I snatch them up when the occasion arises. Especially when they are prices at 50¢ each.

 And last but not least, a pretty pink pillowcase.

a quilt back

Not sewn yet but designed, which might have been the trickier part of it anyway.

There is a lot of struggle in pink fabric (bad folds, crooked strips, husband assistance, straight strips, diamonds cut for another quilt) leading up to having that large piece available. Then I realized the large piece wasn't as large as I thought and I had to get creative with the rest of it.

I don't know why it did not occur to me that designing the back was practically like designing a whole new quilt!

progress on the Tangential quilt

I am so very far behind in my quilt class. This is installment one and as I write this I am days away from reading installment four! Yikes. I keep plugging away though. This is the very top strip of the quilt. I chose to do scraps instead of a solid color for some of the triangles. This took longer when I was doing the cutting but I am very happy with how it looks. I am still really excited about this project!

more on the Cascade quilt

A sneak peek of the fabric I chose for the Cascade quilt for my Angled class. I especially like how the patterned fabric for the quilt back pulls everything together. Which is why we bought enough to use for binding and to make a throw pillow!

Amanda at ArtPrize 2014: Women's City Club

This has been one of my favorite venues thus far (I will admit at this writing I haven't been to either the Art Museum or the UICA both of which I expect to be fabulous). I was leery of taking my three-year-old in as I had visions of crashing antiques but they were well-prepared for visitors and had great gallery space set up on the lower level. I am wondering if I am more traditional in my art tastes than I thought!

A few of my favorite photography pieces:

Flight by Tim Priest
Such dramatic beauty.

The Bus Never Stopped by Richard Deming Jr.
So last winter was indeed trying. But this image is beautiful.

Lake of the Clouds Sunrise by Kevin Clifford
I might be partial to this image having vacationed in the Upper Peninsula near this place.


A lovely wood block print:

Woodland Wisdom by Donna Mitchell-Collins
I always love the look of any type of block printing. And of course nature as a theme is always beautiful to me.


And of course anything involving fabric and fiber interests me:

Snow by Gloria McRoberts
So so very beautiful and amazing. She really captured the stillness that envelopes a landscape adrift with snow. I would love to watch how she created this.

Carroots by Toni Johnson Mendina
It's quilting! It's fabric! It's inspiring to me. I need to do some experimental wall hangings of my own. Check out the layers of soil.

Quilt top is finished!

 That's half the battle – right?

I am going to piece the back together with an extra row of pink blocks (mid-quilt design changes you know), a large piece of dark blue that might have once been a curtain, some solid pink, and perhaps some spare blocks in other colors.

I am quilting in straight lines with threads to match the blocks, but shifted slightly. So the pink threads will kind of leak into the yellow band, if you can picture such a thing.

I am thinking I will end up doing a scrappy binding but I haven't settled on that mentally yet.

Amanda at ArtPrize 2014: Cathedral Square

Kind of a self-centered title isn't it? Hee. Like I'm a celebrity or a famous art critic. You do have to admit there is a bit of confidence in even writing a blog though. Or at least a crisis in confidence. As a writer, you do wonder if you have anything worthy to share. Of course, 500+ posts later, I guess I've gotten over that!

At any rate, with a toddler and a baby in tow, my strategy is going to be drive in, hit a "big one" (ArtPrize calls them "exhibition centers" and "showcase venues") and get back out before anyone needs a diaper or a snack. I've done this only once so far but it seemed to be a successful method.

My favorites at Cathedral Square involve fabric – but of course!

I was surprised and delighted to see a magnificent quilt "Random Thoughts" by Elizabeth Brandt who I just wrote about after visiting the Grand Rapids Art Museum. Loved it very very much! I really think I am up for something experimental and abstract like this in the future.

And, a close-up.

I also admired this quilt "Rooflines #15" by Collen Kole as well. There is so much about the piecing and the quilting that I don't even begin to know how to do. And the time. Oh, I cannot imagine the time put into either of these. Even my 3-year-old was a fan.

And another close-up. Must admire the quilting.

The installation "Place in History" caught my eye. As a parent, I appreciated the generous "ok to touch." As a home decorator, I pondered the delightful sense of hidden space created by the hanging fabric panels. As an artist and quilter, I admired the tiny details sewn on each panel. The piece was just interesting to me.

Although I don't have a photo to share, I also want to give a shout out to photographer Megan Sinderson and her lovely portraits of pinecones titled "Passerby". You know I can never get over the surprise and delight to be found in our own backyards time and again!

more on the Tangential quilt

Here's my fabric vision. I love that I have built a bit of a fabric stash so I can just pull out bits and pieces to use. I have always admired scrappy style quilts!

Here's a reminder of the plan. White areas and striped areas will be filled in with scraps instead of solids.

The Tangential quilt is part of my Angled class by Rachel of the blog Stitched in Color.

I signed up for a quilt class!

And bought fabric for the three quilts that I will start during the class. Yep, pretty crazy but I am so darned excited about it that I don't think it's a mistake. It took me a few years to recover from my senior year of college but after that I get a bit nostalgic every fall for going to class and learning new stuff. And being married to a schoolteacher on top of having a school-age child means I kind of always have school on the brain.

All that to say, I decided to go for it even though it defies logic!

The class is called Angled and it is offered through one of my favorite bloggers, Rachel at Stitched in Color. I like her style and I have an obsession with quilts and quilting these days that just won't stop. I've mastered the squares and rectangles (although my actual sewing skills are still and always improving!) so I am thrilled to dive into the angles – such as triangles.

The class is already started so you can't really read this, share my enthusiasm, and sign up. I would recommend following her blog as she has offered classes in the past and I assume there will be more in her future.

I decided to make her "Starbright" quilt during the class, except instead of a white background I am going to be using black. And then I am going to kind of wing it with scraps for the actual stars. Scrap donations accepted anytime. The brighter the better, of course. This one will be for my own family to enjoy.

I also decided to make the "Cascade" quilt for my mama. We had the best time fabric shopping together! We modified the color choices and repeated some of the colors more often. We are preserving the cascading ripples of dark and light, of course. Here's our plan (colored pencils don't exactly match the fabric but you get the idea). My husband jokes I will give it to her for a particular milestone birthday that falls in 5 years!

Then I re-realized that during the course of the class you build a queen-sized quilt bit by bit. So I went fabric shopping again. This will be a summer quilt for my own bed so it is light and bright like sunshine and flowers. The parts I left white on the plan I think I will be filling in with scraps. I haven't quite decided. The parts that are striped will also be scraps.