A Second Self - Project Quilting

"A Second Self," 20" x 20", made for Project Quilting, Focus Through the Prism, Challenge 2: Friendship Star, June 2015 in Yellow Springs, Ohio

This is my second entry in the Project Quilting "Focus Through the Prism" challenge. To play along you need to purchase a ROYGBIV hand-dyed bundle of fabric from Cherrywood Fabrics and then at the beginning of the month a traditional quilting block is selected. Participants get to chose which of the seven focus fabrics they want to emphasize for the month, but other fabrics can be added.

All quilts will be made 20" x 20" with the intention of displaying them together in the future.

June's block is "Friendship Star."

I like to work in series. This hasn't really been possible with Project Quilting thus far because it helps to know what's coming up when you start the first project. But since the "Focus Through the Prism" quilts were already all going to be the same size and use the same fabrics, I thought this would be a good opportunity to create a Project Quilting series and have all of my quilts (hopefully seven when I'm finished) look like they belong together.

So I based my design for "A Second Self" off the layout of my first "Focus Through The Prism" challenge quilt, "Monkey Tail."

First (left) I used one large block with black in the center, like I did for "Monkey Tail." But the Monkey Wrench block was a little more complex than the Friendship Star block and I didn't like how the center of the Friendship Star was changed to black.

Second (center) I shrunk down the square so there were four of them and made the corner blocks that met in the center all black. I liked that, but not the asymmetry of the stars.

Third (right) and final, I flipped the upper right and lower left stars so they mirrored the other stars. I liked the symmetry and also the way the blue/purple and blue/green triangles met (next to the black squares).

Construction was just like in "Monkey Tail." I used the Cherrywood Fabric to piece the background then I used fused smaller fabric pieces that were just a shade darker or lighter in color. I used the same border fabric and couched a piece of black yarn, this time in a shape similar to the Celtic symbol for friendship. Then I quilted black quilting lines that echoed the yarn at 1/4" apart.

I used a knife-edge facing to bind the quilt.

For the title, I was inspired by the Isabel Norton quote "In my friend, I find a second self."

More about A Second Self and my Focus Through the Prism Series

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Click on any of the photos to see larger images.

To read more about Project Quilting's Focus Through the Prism, go here.

To see other entries for this challenge, visit the Friendship Star link up.

Northern Ohio Fiber Exhibits

Me and my art quilt "Sunrise Celebration" 

A few weeks ago we went to the Fiber577 exhibit at the 577 Foundation in Perrysburg, Ohio because my art quilt "Sunrise Celebration" was one of the pieces in the show. The 577 Foundation is a riverfront estate that was gifted to the community of Perrysburg, which is just southwest of Toledo.

Along with the main house, which was where the exhibition took place, there are community gardens and a number of little hidden spaces, including the little pergola area that was "yarn bombed" for the exhibit.

You can visit the 577 Foundation anytime, but unfortunately the exhibit was only up for one weekend, so you missed it there, but you can catch most of the pieces at the Angelwood Gallery, in Grand Rapids, Ohio, which is half an hour southwest of Perrysburg. This exhibit will be up at the Angelwood Gallery through July 19.

(If you don't get a chance to see it there, you can see photos of the fiber art on the Fiber577 Facebook page, and you don't have to have a Facebook account to see the photos.)

Check out the giant turtle on the right! 

Grand Rapids is a quaint little town located on the Maumee River. Along with the Angelwood Gallery there are several little shops including the Natural Fiber & Yarn Company.

There are also many interesting looking restaurants. We couldn't try them all, so we chose La Roe's Restaurant, where we were able to sit on the back patio overlooking the canal and the Maumee River and also enjoy the murals painted on the brick walls of the restaurant.

The canal walk was also enjoyable. Along with seeing the canal and the river, there were some little gardens and also garden art. Grand Rapids is definitely a place we'd like to go back to.

"Tiny Lighthouse," "Northern Lights in Miniature," and "Yellow Springs Art Stroll: Fri. June 19, 6-9p

"Tiny Lighthouse," 2" x 3", made by Pam Geisel, May 2015

"Tiny Lighthouse" is a very small art quilt. The background is pieced and the blue and tan strips are only 1/4" tall. 

The lighthouse is raw edge applique and the light part is stitched with gray thread.

More about Tiny Lighthouse.

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"Northern Lights in Miniature", 2" x 3", made by Pam Geisel, May 2015

"Northern Lights in Miniature" is also a tiny art quilt. It has yarn, tulle, and small pieces of fabric sewn on a piece of hand dyed blue fabric.

More about Northern Lights in Miniature.

Both of these pieces are in the biennial "Miniature Show at Would You, Could You In a Frame All of the art in the Miniature Show is 2" x 3" or smaller. The gallery is located at 113 Corry St. in Yellow Springs and is open Tues.-Sat. from 10 am-6 pm. The opening reception is this Fri., June 19 from 6-9 pm. 

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"Ten Stars on Sticks", 12" x 11.5", made by Pam Geisel, June 2015

I will also have a piece in the Village Artisans Lobby Show: “Art That Tells a Story: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words / A Word is Worth a Thousand Pictures.”

My piece is "Ten Stars on Sticks" and is done in my fabric mosaic style with tulle on top to add sparkle, but it's bound like a traditional quilt and not matted. The text is written with a Sharpie marker.

More about Ten Stars on Sticks.

This show runs through July 27. Village Artisans is located across the street from Would You, Could You In a Frame, at 100 Corry St. and will have refreshments from 6-9 pm on Fri., June 19.

Yellow Springs Street Fair this Saturday

I'm busy making bookmarks with hand-dyed fabric for this weekend

The Yellow Springs Street Fair is this Saturday, June 13. We'll be in booth #177 (if you're facing the Little Art Theatre, were to the right).

The Street Fair goes from 9a-5p. If you're coming from out of town, there are two shuttles available with parking: at the Yellow Springs High School if you're coming from I-675 and at Young's Jersey Dairy if you're coming from the north.

"Sunrise Celebration" in Fiber577 this weekend

"Sunrise Celebration" detail

My art quilt "Sunrise Celebration" is included in the 8th annual two-day fiber exhibit "Fiber577" at the 577 Foundation in Perrysburg, Ohio.  The show runs Sat. Jun. 6 from 10a-5p and Sun. Jun. 7 from noon-5p.