Tranquility Base

Here is my contribution to Lisa's exhibition, Tranquility Base.

The turtles, 6 in all, were made from some organza that Lisa dyed for me.  I stitched them onto the quilt sandwich prior to quilting.  I touched them up with Shiva Paintstiks and did the same with the quilting inside so that they stood out more against the background.  

You can't tell really from the photos, but each little square of the large turtle's backs has a double colonial knot in it which just adds some extra texture and dimension.

I confess that the label was the most difficult part (this is Take 3) but goes well with the most complicated hanging sleeve that I've ever made.  Too bad that no one will be seeing them, but I know they are there.

Thanks to Lisa for giving me the opportunity to take on such a huge project and to actually get it finished!   

Some of the smaller quilts

As you know I had to very quickly pull together extra quilts for the Exhibition to fill in gaps left unexpectedly. Here are some of them based on the Textured Treasures workshop. I will post some based on the Luscious landscapes workshop later.

This is Rita's Odyssey which she did in the class in Tasmania

 

Sally's small Poppies 

 These are from my Bicheno workshop - Sue Smith - Square in a Square

 Julie Robertson - Day in the Life

 Pam O'Hara - Glasgow Roses

 Sue King - Textured Circles

 

Pam King - Transisitions

 Helen Rhodes - nautica Botanica (from the perth workshop)

 Pamela Troode - Poppies for Rememberance

 Marlene Wells - Forest Floor

 

I am so thrilled with these. I think they will make a perfect addition to the exhibition won't they?

Blackbird

DH is holding it up!  I don't have wall space big enough to hang it!  Bad lighting too!

Talisman

I have really been remiss in my blogging. I tried some time back and simply could not work out how to put a photo exactly where I wanted it in the text - and my Flickr site had changed the way the 'share' system worked. I have just worked it out.

These photos are tiny. I have some better ones but just have to find them, but for now in order to get something up I am posting 'as-I-did-it' images from my mobile phone - done before I went to Europe. The quilt is almost finished.




Prints from a great silkscreen Lisa made for me!







Some attempts at free motion embroidery.



This was serious fun - emulating handprints on a wall without the actual blood.



Putting it together



Simple quilting.

Next lot will be from my proper camera and of the final quilting stages. When I find my camera!

Pohutukawa Taonga

I completed my piece in time to exhibit at the Sydney Quilt Show last week.  This is the artist statement:

Pohutukawa Taonga: Gracing the New Zealand coast, pohutukawa flowers and their spectacular blossom are a national taonga (treasure). The stamped Maori words, reminiscent of sheep bale stencils, denote other treasures of my kiwi upbringing: love, family, food, respect, belonging and well-being. (Monoprints, shibori, stamping, beading and hand stitching.)

This piece was different for me both technically and in terms of process.  I tend to work more improvisationally at the design wall rather than planning the design ahead of time.  Also, my preferred MO is freeform piecing so a wholecloth with a shibori panel presented new challenges - there's no "undo" button when you are monoprinting!

As you can see from my work in progress post, I originally monoprinted on white cloth (twice!) but painting to colour in the background didn't seem viable so I did a third monoprint on some of Lisa's turquoise dyed cloth.  Then the bubblewrap printed sea looked all wrong so I did a shibori strip using a bucket as my "pole".

I may still use my preliminary monoprint pieces.  Here's a smaller piece that I have donated to the annual SAQA Benefit Auction.

While I'm at it, I'd like to put in a plug for an exhibition that I'm curating - Beneath the Southern Sky. Entries close on 25 January 2012 so you have plenty of time to work on your piece after you've completed your TT contribution:

Lisa's Monthly Meters!

Working under stress and pressure - an altered book to distract me from the nasty spot my Sweet Pea and I are in and the Monthly Meter that Lisa sent to me!  A marriage made in heaven!

I think the Black Bird might just end up the star of the quilt!

Ta Lisa!

hugz

Sally

Test Quilt

I finally managed to get out of my "frozen" state and have  created something!  This little quilt is roughly 18" x 24'.  I have been worried about my idea of using the fountain that Lisa has in her backyard.  This is my first attempt.  I've learnt a few things not to do and a few things that will work. 

Techniques - soy wax batik, lino printed, rubber stamped, hand painted, hand embroidered and beaded.  Oh, and I used white acrylic paint and a foam roller to soften the background after it was heavily quilted.

I'd love some feed back!