Glorious Leaves of Autumn: a challenge quilt

"Glorious Leaves of Autumn", 20.5" x 26.5"

The theme for the Miami Valley Quilters Guild 2011 Challenge was “Glorious.” Each participant received a fat quarter of a yellow-gold cotton and a fat eighth of gold lamé. The rules were:

1. Must use at least half each of the fabrics given

2. Must be a wall-sized quilt, minimum 12” x 12”

3. Can add up to 10 additional fabrics

4. One quarter of the quilt must be pieced

5. Must include at least one 3-dimentional embellishment

Normally I like challenges. Sometimes when you are limited in what you can use or how you have to use it you might be prompted to think "outside of the box" more.

This one really 'challenged' me. I think it was the “one quarter of the quilt must be pieced” which is odd because most of my quilts are more than one quarter pieced. But almost every idea I came up with was mostly appliqué.

Of course I procrastinated on this project until a few days before it was due. Since the weather was changing and the temperatures were getting cooler, I was looking forward to changing colors of the leaves. I found a piece of fabric in my stash that had beautiful autumn leaves and even had some metallic gold printed on it that I thought would go well with the gold lamé fabric. 

I used this fabric with the yellow gold cotton to make some pieced blocks then used a dark brown as a border around the blocks.

I did see in a blog that another member mentioned that it’s easier to work with the lamé if you add stabilizer to it, so I did that and didn’t have any problems. The gold lamé was used as sashing between the blocks and as a thin inner border around the blocks. I couched some brown yarn on top of the lamé.

The yellow gold cotton was used as an additional inner border with corner blocks of dark brown. I used the autumn leaf fabric as the outer border. I added two beads on top of the yarn where the gold lame intersected itself.

There were 49 quilters who took the fabric intending to participate in the challenge but only 12 of us turned in our projects. I guess others found this challenge challenging. I didn’t get photos of all of the other quilts, but here are some of them.

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The quilt on the left is by Maria Elkins and you can read about how she made it on her blog. (The posts start with the newest so scroll to the bottom and read the posts in reverse order.)

“Three Trees” Quilt Dares to be Square

"Three Trees," 12" x 12" x 1"

“Three Trees” is made with three trees on a background made up of six strips of green and blue batik fabrics.  The bottom of the tree trunks and the top of the tree branches end where the fabric strips meet and a blue and green yarn has been couched where the tree trunks meet the ground.

The foliage of the trees has green beads hand sewn on them. The quilt is quilted with several vertical lines that go through the leaves but not the tree trunks.

The quilt is mounted on at 12”x12” wooden frame similar to how canvas is wrapped over a wooden frame.

It was made for the “Dare 2B Square” art show at Village Artisans which runs through the end of October.  All pieces in the show are 12”x12”.

More about Three Trees

Yellow Springs Artist Studio Tour: meet my three guest artists

Photo by Susan Gardner, 2010.

The Yellow Springs Artist Studio Tour is this coming weekend, Sat., Oct. 15 and Sun. Oct. 16, from 10 am-6 pm both days. This is my fourth year participating as a host, and this year I have 3 guest artists. We have 27 artists at 8 locations! 13 of the guests are new to the tour and we also have one host who is new to the tour.

Kate and Dave Chesar are guests at my studio. They make pottery that is a collaborative effort in their home studio in Dayton. Each piece is created by trading and combining their inspirations throughout the throwing, decorating, and glazing process. Carved textures and scenes, slip brushwork, and sculptural elements serve to accentuate the graceful forms of their functional artwork.

J Austin Jennings is also a guest at my studio. She creates a unique treatment of collage application which takes ‘mixed media’ to a new level. Her works stem from earthly themes, and present a playful interaction, both between the metaphoric inferences and within the mixing of mediums, creating a correspondence between the ‘real’ and the ‘imagined.’ Critically acclaimed, her original collage-over-acrylic pieces have won numerous awards, including a featured spot in The Artist’s Magazine’s Year’s Best Art, 2009. 

My third guest is Theresa Mayer. Theresa is captivated by melting rods of glass and turning them into beads. She has discovered that she can express feelings and emotions in the beads she creates. She enjoys seeing that different people see an assortment of things in them.

The tour is a driving tour. Visit the Yellow Springs Artist Studio Tour website for information about the other host and guest artists and to download a map. Maps can also be picked up at the Winds Cafe, Young's Dairy, the Yellow Springs Chamber of Commerce and at the artist's studios the days of the tour.

"Symphonic Sextet"

"Symphonic Sextet", 19" x 16.5"

Sometimes I’m contacted about donating a piece of art for a fund-raising event. Sometimes I say yes and sometimes I say no. This year the Springfield (Ohio) Symphony Orchestra contacted me about a silent auction fund-raising art event they are having to celebrate conductor and musical director Peter Stafford Wilson’s 10th year with the orchestra.

They wanted art that reflects on Peter's tenure with the orchestra. Since I’d just finished my “All That Jazz” quilt series, I said yes. I already had the reference materials and I still had some of the fabric I used. I simplified the layout and included all 6 of the instruments in one quilt.

Detail of the strings on the guitar.

The art will be on display at the first three concerts (Oct. 8, Nov. 12, and Dec. 10) with the silent auction ending at the December concert (which will feature the music of Billy Joel). I had the chance to see some of the other pieces of art that are being donated and there are many wonderful pieces.

In between the art will be displayed at Frame Haven. People can place bids on the silent auction items at the three concerts or also at Frame Haven, located 1300 Goodwin Avenue in Springfield, Ohio.

Detail of the mother-of-pearl chips below the piano.

There will be a small artist reception held in the lobby before the first concert, this Sat., Oct. 8 starting at 7:15 pm. All concerts take place in the Kuss Auditorium at the Clark State Performing Arts Center, 300 South Fountain Ave. in Springfield, Ohio.