Trying to Get My Groove Back

I have been in such a creative funk for some reason. I think this last school year was so incredibly crazy that my mind went blank when it finished. Trying to push through it and get back to creating. The weather hasn't been helping either. Below average temps, mosquitos the size of small dogs, gloomy days have really taken their toll.

But today dawned warmer and sunnier so I forced myself to get outside and work on a piece I had started a while back. I rust dyed some fabric and thought they would work so perfectly for hawks. I have them all over the place around my house and I could watch them for hours. I first noticed them in my life right before my dad was diagnosed with cancer. All the time leading up until his death, they were around me always. On the day he died, I was driving down the highway to see him and there must have been 24 of them circling and following me to my parents house. Since then I have always associated the hawks with my dads passing. I have had this piece stuck in my head for years and finally am ready to put it into reality.

I started with this smaller piece to see how it would work. I will use it to work out ideas for the bigger piece and it will be my donation to Art now for Autism.




This is the piece I will create for the Rust Tex challenge. I am planning on thread painting the hawks and my fathers face in black thread. Then I will quilt the background and add more details for the clouds as needed. I am happy to have gotten to this point. I just need to push through.



The photo of my dad was taken by my brother in law and I have had a copy of it for a few years. He granted me permission to use it for this piece. What a nice BIL. Thanks John Armentrout! a.k.a troutphoto.

Houston Entry Accepted!

I got the fat envelope on Monday saying my entry was accepted! This was my first try ever entering Houston and I made it in! I am still on cloud nine! Everyone on the Quiltart list is putting their entries up on their blogs. Apparently it is okay to do so. I was hesitant to post it but was told that it was okay. So without further ado, here it is:







The piece is 30" x 50" and a whole cloth piece. I drew out the design using watercolor crayons and water. I created the rocks using puffy paint and acrylic paint. I added details in the water using fabric paint. The trees are couched fibers, hand embroidery and beads. The face was made from the watercolor crayons and dye pens and hand embroidered with thread. The grassy areas were more couched yarns of various colors and weights. The flowers were made from painted cotton face cloths and cut to form petals and then sewn together. The leaves are created from various green batik fabrics fused together and cut into leave shapes, then hand sewn on. I machine quilted around the rocks to add more dimension. The red flowers were silk tangles from Jane Steinberg (Artistic Artifacts sells them).

This piece was from a photo my mother took out of a bus window and it was going to be thrown out. The picture caught a reflection in the glass of a lady on the bus and part of the scenery outside. The idea stuck in my head and I tried many different mediums to make it work - 15 years of trying! I finally tried it in fiber about 3 years ago and was liking how it was turning out until something made me stop. I let it sit for two years and then picked it up again and didn't stop until finished. I was so pleased with how this turned out.

Wish me luck in Houston!