I imagine you’re already familiar with the work of glass sculptor, Dale Chihuly. He makes extraordinary sheer pieces that seem lighter than air. Many times, he creates elaborate installations in public gardens. I got to see some of his work in St. Petersburg, FL at Chihuly Collection. Here are a few of the pieces we…
I loved making this quilt and I’m VERY happy with the results! I dyed all the fabrics for this quilt, except for one. I love how they go together! (Note: I didn’t dye them specifically to go together. They’re ones I’ve dyed over a couple of years, but because I’m often drawn to the same…
In my last post I showed you the marvelous work of mixed media artist Gio Swaby. While those pieces were done almost entirely with stitch, she has other series in which she uses colorful fabrics. The body language! Again, these are life-sized. Don’t you feel like you know this woman? In her series, New Growth, Swaby honors…
I was really blown away when I saw the work of Gio Swaby, in her “Fresh Up” solo show at the Museum of Fine Art, in St. Petersburg, FL! The introductory text for the exhibit says “Swaby’s work functions as love letters to Black women.” I think that’s it, exactly! Just take a look. Isn’t…
I had some very lovely scraps from a recent quilt, but they were tiny. Too small to piece. So, I cut them into skinny triangles and started gluing them to a muslin base. I LOVED the colors and I also found this rather mindless task to be fun and relaxing. I added skinny “white” strips…
Cathy Williams wanted to serve in the ranks of the all-black Buffalo soldiers, but was not allowed to do so because of her gender. So she disguised herself as a man and joined the army as William Cathay. She served for two years before being found out. Her story was just many of the ones…
I was really happy with the way my latest brown quilt was coming together. It was time to add in some curves. Yes, that was more interesting. Now what? I knew that massing colors together is often effective. So maybe I could add some dark ones near the bottom circle piece. Yes, something along these…
I’ve really been having fun playing with these fabrics. This photo shows my initial fabric audition. Aren’t they great? They’re all dyed by me. I did a little editing and thought I was ready to compose. What now? I tend to arrange fabrics vertically when auditioning, so I decided to stretch a few horizontally. Just…
Have you been following along as I’ve used my “Tetris” skills to put this quilt together? I’m calling it Adrenaline Rush. Adrenaline Rush It was challenging at times, but I’m quite happy with the results. I dyed/printed all the fabrics myself! See full details for this piece. UPDATE: This piece got one more radical change. See…
I recently made this fabric postcard as a “thank you” gift for the outgoing leader of one of my art quilt groups. I think they’re really appropriate for that sort of thing, and YES, you can mail them. (Although I make an envelope, too.) Fabric postcards are super fast and easy. I’ve written a tutorial…