More stitching, but is it finished?

 I posted the photo below a couple of weeks ago.  The central panel is a linocut made by Dijanne Cevaal, around which I sewed fabric repurposed from an African dress.  I stitched it, photographed and then posted it, thinking I had finished.  Since then, I've been adding more stitching.

The top photo is as it is at the moment.  The question is:  Is it done?

Friday was a "newsy" day

To celebrate Sisters in Cloth's exhibit at Guilford Free Library, we hosted an Open Meeting and invited art quilt friends to share the moment with a big Show and Tell.  Above is Betty Warner explaining a recent challenge while sister Barb Adams looks on.

Crowded around, we were all interested in Cher Hurney's pieces that she brought back from her recent workshop in Santa Fe with Katie Pasquini Masopust.  They were wonderful...and inspiring.

Claire deLombaert brought one of her Kaffe Fasset inspired pieces.  She recently was one of the featured artists at an exhibit at Willoughby Wallace, which included this piece.

Old friend Judy Siccama brought an amazing work, showcasing her incredible sense of color...okay, and precision piecing.

Karen Loprete delighted all (as usual) with her playful, colorful work.

The event was such an overwhelming success that before we left, we all decided it HAD to be annual.

Then the "news"...awaiting our return home was an yahoo announcement from one of our Sisters who was absent from the meeting.  Vivika Hansen DeNegre apologized for her recent absenteeism with a grand announcement:  She has been selected by Quilting Arts to be the new Editor!  We could not be more proud of "our" Vivika!  Quilting Arts will undoubtedly be the better for having her...and we will bear up, missing her input at our meetings, but none the less, very happy for her.

Sentinel

Dijanne Cevaal created this linocut.  She has an amazing series of them.  I bought the central figure from Dijanne this past October before she left Australia for Europe.  At the time I asked her what limitations there were in using the linocut in my own work.  She quickly responded that there were no restrictions..."She is for all the corners of the earth!"

It was very meditative stitching on my own Sentinel every evening.  

Thank you! Dijanne!

One's a Rumor, the rest are Gray

This first photo is the full complement of It's a Rumor.

From the left:  My piece along with the photograph below.  The next three (Ruth Anne Olson, Marie Shepherd and below Martha Wolfe) are the three to whom I gave the rumor.  Next is Barb Adams who received hers from Ruth Anne.  The following top piece is Carol Ludington's who received her rumor from Marie.  Below hers is Robin Wolek's who received her rumor from Barb Adams.  Finally, the series of squares, is Gail Kotowski's.  She also received her rumor from Marie Shepherd.

The next three photographs are the full wall that contains the better part GRAY. Our challenge for this exhibit was that each had to use the color gray.  The ultimate height could be no larger than 48"inches to remain within the mounting wall.  Otherwise, it was wide open.  

 It's an interesting, colorful collection, bookended by the two black, very graphic pieces.  In order:  Yvette Howard, Marie Shepherd, Gail Kotowski, Diane Wright,

 Debbie Bento, Vivika DeNegre, Ruth Anne Olson,


Linda Zimmerman, Robin Wolek, Robin Wolek (again) and finally Barb Adams.

This last photo is GRAY continued on another wall.  Left:  Diane Wright, Barb Adams, Diane Wright and Diane Wright (again).

You can click on each image to enlarge.

The exhibit will be up through December at The Guilford Free Library, Park Street on The Green, Guilford CT. 

It's a Rumor: Last Exhibit of the Year

My art quilt group, Sisters in Cloth, for the last several years has been invited by the Guilford Free Library to exhibit our work.  Every year we work toward a new collection specifically for this venue.  This year we produced two!  Quite a feat for us.

This first one is titled "It's A Rumor".  Inspired by the old children's Telephone Game, we decided that one person would start with a photograph, produce an art quilt inspired by it, then write an artist statement.  It would be the artist statement, not any images, that would then be passed to the next participant, who would, similarly, produce an art quilt and an artist statement.  This artist statement would be the only thing passed along to the next participants, and so on.  This was all to be accomplished in secret and very quickly, just like rumors in the real world.  Each of us had a week to produce, write and pass it on.

This is the Artist Statement that I shared with three others:

It’s a Rumor

In my mind’s eye the “modern” architecture of 1950s America is a nostalgic reference to that of 1750s New England with its spare forms, strong lines and distain for ornamentation. This early architecture said much about the settlers but nothing about the New England landscape; then and now an exuberance of growth and color, especially in autumn. I’ve tried to capture both architecture and landscape in this photograph and art quilt.

(Photograph:  1764 House at Tanner Marsh Road and Clapboard Hill, which WAS NOT shared until today, our reveal date)

Martha Wolfe was one of the three with whom I shared.  Below is a detail of her piece.  You can go to her blog and see a full description of her piece and her process.

Robin Wolek received her Rumor from one of the members that I had passed to.  She in turn produced this piece and the following Artist Statement:   

I received the rumor from Barbara Adams.  The points that she spoke about that resonated with me were colors associated with the Fall season, architecture and stained glass.  I created my piece using some of my favorite fall colors, with deliberate lines and some black to depict lead found in stained glass creations.  I used variegated thread to stitch different patterns, mostly lines that I used to emphasize the presence of architecture in my piece.

Most of the meetings in which the Rumors were passed were taped by member Vivika DeNegre. 

The whole exhibit is a real treat.  It's interesting what some people hear...color, line, dates...and where that takes them in their imaginations.