A Flower Basket Quilt: Batik & Wool
A flower basket quilt design filled with colorful flower dot shapes made from embellished appliqué batik and hand-dyed wool. Journal Entry: September 18, 2020. Well, I missed a goal of finishing my second flower basket quilt by the International Dot Day, September 15. A day of celebrating creativity, courage and collaboration seemed like the perfect target for introducing my latest Pretty Pots flower basket design Panier de Points (translation: Basket of Dots). Instead of rushing the project, I let my energies concentrate on enjoying the process. I love finishing with hand appliqué, embroidery and adding embellishment the most. Handwork feeds my spirit, calms my soul and…
Batik Quilt Fabric with Wool to Dye For
It’s all about the quilt’s fabric chosen for this flower basket: batiks and wool in a quilt design inspired by Banyan Batiks’ Dot Necessities. Journal Entry: August 30, 2020. The fabric I used in my latest Pretty Pots flower basket design for Organically GrammaTM, Panier de Points (translation: Basket of Dots) is the focus of this quilt. I had a Make-Me-Now moment when Karen Gibbs, Design Director for Northcott’s Banyan Batiks, showed me Color Me Banyan Dot Necessities, a Banyan Batiks Studio collection. The wheels started turning as my imagination conjured up the image of a project—batiks…and wool…in a Pretty Pot, of course! Why Batik and Wool?…
Flower Basket Quilts Inspired by Nature
Journal Entry: August 9, 2020. Gardens & Trails is first of the Pretty Pot flower basket quilts in a series I’m designing for *Organically GrammaTM. Embellished appliqué, wool blended with quilted cotton. My renewed interest in flower basket quilts is largely inspired by two things. The first is a project my youngest grandson Evan and I undertook to practice our photography skills. The second influencer is the incredible artistic viewpoint expressed in the nature studies my friend Heidi Egerman creates. I am inspired to create a fiber translation of almost every nature photograph she posts. Finding Inspiration from the Natural Beauty of…
Quilt Designs Inspired by Monet’s Garden: Monet’s Lilies #1 and #2
Journal Entry: March 15, 2020. The inspiration for my Monet wall hanging and bed-size quilts came from an interesting series of events related to Claude Monet’s garden. It started from a long phone conversation with my youngest granddaughter Lily, who had visited Monet’s home in Giverny, Normandy, France with her mom during a summer vacation. Claude Monet is my absolute favorite of the famous Impressionist painters. Lily provided a wonderfully detailed description of her experience: the gentle beauty of the gardens, colorful flowers and lily ponds, and Monet’s personal collection of paintings. During our chat I mentioned how much I admired…
Animal Quilt: Appliqué Doggie Faces in Fabric
Journal Entry: December 16, 2014. Another Boxer puppy joined our extended family this summer. Daisy represents the latest of a long line of Boxer loyalty. My oldest son received his first boxer, named Lady Bug, when he was four. After he married, and before our oldest granddaughter was born, my son and his wife brought Calvin into the family. It was sad when Calvin passed a few years back. We were anticipating the arrival of the next Boxer. What does a fiber artist do to celebrate a new family member? What else? Using Daisy’s sweet little face as a model…
Upcycling: Make It Green
Follow my blog with Bloglovin Journal Entry: January 25, 2013. I’ve been hearing more about “upcycling”, relating it to clothing, the latest catchword for recycling used clothing or repurposing into another form. I’m guessing that some of the hype is related to the trend toward wearing vintage clothes, added to an emphasis on reusing items we typically throw away. With this purpose in mind I decided to try making an art quilt that is predominately made of recycled materials. One of my daughter-in-laws posted an idea for a wall hanger on her Facebook page that she found on Pinterest. When…