line and shadow inspiration

My parents were in town visiting this weekend and we went to Powell Gardens just outside KCMO. It's a beautiful place to spend a few hours, but I was surprised by how much garden architecture there was. I love the intersecting lines in the one above.

The shadows in the three below are so crisp and dark. I love how they can confuse the perspective. While we were there, I was imagining how they would change over the course of a day. I would love to see some time-lapse photography of these shadows.

There may be some Powell Garden inspired quilts on the way.

Quilt Appreciation Day!

The third Saturday in March is officially Quilt Appreciation Day. That seems especially fitting on a day like today that is so gray and snowy (at least it is in good old Kansas City). In honor of today, I thought I would share with you my top 5 favorite quilters ever.

1. Mary Anne Jordan. Her quilts are amazing. They are mostly whole cloth quilts that she paints with dye. Not only does she make beautiful work, Mary Anne is a wonderful person and is one of the key people that led me to quilting. She is head of the Textiles program at the University of Kansas and leads textiles trips to Uzbekistan. I got to touch one of her quilts a few years ago when she hired me to sew the binding on.

Tablecloth with Indigo Stains

 95"H x 78"W

COPYRIGHT: ©2004 Mary Anne Jordan

exhibition shot

2. Bean Gilsdorf. I first learned about Bean's quilts when I was in graduate school at KU. I was immediately drawn to the scale of them and her use of imagery. Since then, I have had the chance to see her work in person twice, most recently at the Surface Design Conference last summer in Kansas City. She had a show at Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art. Her work continues to inspire me. 

Into the Ether (2007)

50" w x 68" h

 For Your Amusement (2007)

105" w x 113" h

3. Anna Von Mertens. From her artist statement:  "Displaying my quilts as bed sculptures surfaces inherent meanings: the body, the home, a place of the familiar, a centering point. The stitch patterns diagram various mapping systems--scientific phenomenon, energy dispersion patterns, bird migration routes, computer circuitry, etc.--using the intimate lens of the bed and handstitching to internalize these patterns. Objective information is translated to the subjective, building a world of reference points that create a whole." 

Frida Kahlo's aura, with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird

2009, hand-dyed, hand-stitched cotton, 24 1/4" x 18 1/2"

Installation photo of Pulse 2006 (a group show) at 1708 Gallery in Richmond, VA

4. Jimmy McBride. His quilts are relatively new to me but I am so excited about what he's doing (so are Dwell Magazine and Apartment Therapy). Posing as a space traveling trucker, Jimmy makes quilts based on actual photos of space. All of his fabric comes from thrift stores. He also has a blog where you can see photos of his process. Pretty amazing.

 

R136 in 30 Doradus

77" x 78" hand made and machine quilted

 

 M64

45" x 60" child's quilt

5. Denyse Schmidt.  I secretly want to be Denyse Schmidt when I grow up. Unfortunately, I think I'm already grown up and clearly not her. Denyse designs and makes functional quilts (rather than quilts for the wall). She has an excellent book, designs her own line of fabric, and has three different lines of quilts: Couture quilts (hand quilted by Amish women), Works quilts (machine quilted), and Denyse Schmidt for Sarita Handa (she designs the quilts and they are made in India - this is her most affordable line). I actually like some of the Sarita Handa and Works quilts the best. 

Works Special Edition (Tangerine/Poppy)

Denyse Schmidt for Sarita Handa

What a Dish

Yay for Quilts! 

I will cut you

It's snowing. Again. So I was a bum and came home from my studio earlier than anticipated. Yes, I can walk home so snowy roads aren't really an issue. Yes, my studio has heat. No, I don't really have any excuses. I did bring work home to appease my guilty conscience.

This is my scissors family. The big ones on the left have 6" blades. Those are some pretty serious scissors. I've cut myself numerous times with the rotary cutter. As a side note, I find it fun to say things like "hand me a scissor" or "I'm always losing my scissor" instead of the more common "scissors". Scissor is one of those words that sounds messed up if you say it too many times. Try it. (okay, I'm done entertaining myself now). These were my friends today as I wrapped up some loose ends with my quilt in progress:

I forgot to take in progress photos, mostly because I was on auto pilot for most of this, but today I finished the machine quilting on the top half of the quilt. Then pulled all loose threads to the back, tied them off, and trimmed them. I also squared and trimmed up the edges with first the big daddy scissor then the rotary cutter.

Then I stood and stared at the quilt for a while trying to figure out what to do about the binding. I decided on a binding that is hidden in the back, leaving an edge that you could call "full bleed" if you wanted to.

For example:




These are close ups of quilt corners. The one on top has the "full bleed" binding. Basically the binding is sewn on normally, then folded all the way to the back of the quilt and sewn down so it doesn't show on the front. On the bottom is a more traditional binding. Think of it as a border.

After the binding is sewn to the front of the quilt, I use safety pins to secure it to the back so I can hand sew it down without shifting anything. That way it looks nice and tidy and is perfectly secure.




If you can find a cat to help you, everything will go much smoother and more quickly. Especially if said cat has claws.

For the back of this quilt I used white muslin. In the past I've always dyed fabric to use on the back, but lately I've been really interested in how the machine sewn "drawing" looks by itself. I'm thinking about making a whole cloth quilt that is all drawn by sewing machine.