Cut, Piece, Paste

My Immaculate Conception took this photo during a business trip to Tokyo a couple of years ago.

When I needed to find an image suitable for a pieced art quilt workshop, I chose this because of its simplicity.

I pieced the sky from several fabrics and made the arch as an applique. I am auditioning border ideas and hope to have the top nailed down today.


Eventually I hope to add details to the arch and to the trees/temple with quilting. I'm contemplating making the brass ornaments out of one of the many little-used mixed media embellishments in my stash. Tyvek? Foil? Shrinky-dink? Foiled shrinky-dink?

The Road

My class at QBL worked next to that of Fran Skiles. Every so often I'd wander through Fran's area and become transfixed by the processes taking place there. I can't pretend to understand anything they were doing, but I have pretended to make a Fran Skiles inspired collage. Fran doesn't seem to have a website, but please google her name to see some of her work. This design is based on the black and white paper "doodle" posted a several days ago.

Active Procrastination, Part III

Here's one of the pieces of rusted muslin. I'm wondering about how this fabric will behave in a quilt. I read that the rust has to be neutralized and that it is not archival because the fibers just keep rusting. Since I have no idea how to go about neutralizing rust (Rustoleum?), I'm going make something out of this nifty fabric and enjoy it. My work has never been intended to last for centuries, anyway. Here and now, Baby!

Active Procrastination, Part II

His name is Hwemudua after the Adinkra symbol meaning "measuring stick." A tad ironic, don't you think?

Active Procrastination

It's been a busy week in my studio.

I am monitoring fabric that I've put outside to rust. This is a passive activity, so maybe this doesn't count as my being busy. I made a QBL video twice—NOT a passive activity either time (counts double). And I am making the first doll from the book Art Doll Adventure. The doll is less than successful, but I’m learning a lot.

After a morning of concentrated reading, pondering, and composing, I got caught up in my on-line class. While on-line, I visited Amazon and bought a Canon MP970 printer so I can work with photos. It was delivered the very next day (because of luck and a wonderful UPS hub near me, not because I opted for upgraded delivery), so I set it up (hours) and immediately made a poster-sized image for Sheri’s pieced art quilts class (http://www.theartfulquilter.com/) next week. Piecing and pasting together the partial "poster" images took the rest of the day.

Through this all, I have successfully procrastinated doing my homework quilt for Cyndi’s class. It's not that I haven't worked on it. One of the canvases I painted last week was based on the design I’m supposed to use. I'm having issues with my vision for this project, a vision which does not match what I've been able to produce so far. I could quilt this canvas whole-cloth, maybe add some bling. In the meantime, I'll keep moving. I can get a lot accomplished when I’m avoiding something.