Quilt Retreat In Door County WI

I went on my second quilt retreat and have a few pictures to share. Ellen P. from Appleton sat next to me for the second yr and she is a garment seamstress and not really a quilter. She made this "Chanel" jacket in my favorite color. The crazy part is that it is for a 6 yr. old niece. I learned about Chanel couturewear and all the details like a quilted lining, chains on the hemline, 2-3 piece sleeves, trims and buttons. I was so into it I have to make one for myself. So the next time I am at Joann Fabrics I will look at tweeds. trims and patterns. I figure it will be putsy but will last a lifetime.

This is a quilt top that will be hugely king size. It is very graphic and eye catching. There are center squares of various jeweltones scattered about. Barb B. from Appleton is making this for a nephew's wedding next yr. I love the results but would never make this because it's too large.

This quilt top caught my attention because I love batiks, it was very graphic and I colo the gradation of color.

I did alot at the retreat and I will show the images next time I blog.

Playing Around

I was paging through a magazine at work and saw a Ray-Ban ad which had a face that was black with a rainbow colored lines that looked to me like a neon lite. I am attracted to all art forms where a face or portrait is viewed. I saw this ad as the opposite of the art I do where I have a colorful background and black "line drawings" in batik. I thought what would it look like to do the same image my way and then the opposite way as in the magazine add? So I was playing around and the photo above is the end result. I was dying to use some of the wonderful brights from the new fabric line by quilter Jan Mullen from Moda Fabrics. And I used my favorite Hoffman batik that's black with hints of blue. The two images are exactly the same except for the placement of color. The left one ended up looking like Haley Berry and that wasn't planned. I call this piece Positive and Negative" since it reminds me of a photograph. I'm surprisedIi only used two fabrics and two threads since I'm the scrappy type!! It became a study of color, line and shape and how positioning color in certain ways changes the whole look of the project. I chose to not embellish this piece because I didn't think it needed it.

Michigan Quilt Artist Invitational

The photos I have added today are of the Art of Nature traveling art quilt exhibit created by the Michigan Quilt Art Invitational. This is a group of Michigan fiber artists formed by Mary Andrews and Marti Calhoun 15 years ago. There are 60 quilts in the exhibit all sized 20" x 24" either vertically or horizontally. The artists are juried into the group based on their body of artwork. Each year a theme is chosen such as Italy, space travel/astronomy, south of the border and this exhibits theme of nature. The exhibit travels across the state of Michigan and I wanted it in Upper Michigan besides Marquette since I feel we are occationally overlooked as being part of Michigan! This exhibit, of about 30 pieces, is in Menominee, MI, where I live, at Spies Public Library Gallery. The exhibit is on display until December 30, 2010. If you are in the area check it out during normal library hours and there is no fee to view the display. For more information on Michigan Quilt Art Invitationl go to http://www.maryandrewsartquilts.com/.