Progress

Back in the studio this weekend and got all of the quilting done! Yay!

Have to bury all of those loose ends--a tedious job. But it has to be done.

I finally got to the print stripes. I chose a light rose pink thread for the quilting.

I almost forgot that I needed 2 circles for the end pieces of that cylinder. Here's the "quilt sandwich". No fancy stripes here, just the floral print.

And here they are all quilted. Pretty simple, really.

I decided that the striped piece was just a little blah--it was missing something. The stripes weren't cohesive. So I added some decorative stitching on the boundary of each one of the stripes. A featherstitch in yellow for each one. I like it now!

And then, since I was still going for that homey, cottage look, I decided to wash the two pieces before assembling them. The cotton in the top, batting and backing all shrink up just a little, leaving a puckered, wrinkled effect. Not what I go for in my artquilts but perfect for a pillow cover. So this has been washed.

Maybe you can see the puckers a little better here. 

Next step: assembly!

Embellishments: oddities

Sometimes I like to add odd bits to my pieces. Buttons are certainly on my list, but so are hooks and eye closures, rubber gaskets and even chinese fortune cookie fortunes. I have a little stash going of stuff that I think is cool or pretty or striking and when its right, I add it. One of my goals is to go further and more extreme with the embellishments so I'm keeping my mind and eyes open to future embellishing opportunities!


Since a cookie fortune is a rather ephemeral item, I mounted it underneath a sheet of polyvinyl and then did some quilting around it to anchor it into place.


Here are buttons, hooks and eyes and rubber o-rings all in black or red to go with the color theme of this quilt.

Embellishment: beads!

Sometimes a piece just doesn't look finished when I'm done sewing--it cries out for something more. Angelina fiber, beads, buttons, found objects, chinese fortune cookie fortunes--you name it! Here are some of the shiny, glittery pieces that really wanted some sparkly seed beads.

This is one of a 3 piece set titled: "Studies in Orange and Blue". Lots of shiny stuff here. I used seed beads to highlight a curve here and there.








Here's a detail at a higher magnification.


This piece is a long horizontal panel that depicts the different stages of the sun throughout its daily life. I called it "Celestial Vedas." Each sun and its rays are all accented with matching seed beads. Man--this one took me FOREVER to bead and finish but it was worth it.



A detail from one of the last panels.












Another close-up shot.

Wish you were here (in Arizona, that is)

Today I completed the Arizona postcard and sent it off on its merry way to Tohono Chul Park. Good luck, little postcard! Sissy, I hope you like it!

Branding

I was in the final preparation phase today for the Art Stroll tomorrow. I talked to my friend, Cheryl Jones Evans http://www.cherylevans.net/and we seemed to be all set with my table, her display boards etc. etc. As I was chatting with her, it dawned on me that I needed a sign for my display with my name! Duh. Of course, the sign would have to be a quilted hanging--what else. So here is what I put together.


Here's the whole thing. I used several colors of permanent markers to write out the "Celestial Textiles" and the "Elizabeth-Harris.com". I was shooting for several things: #1. my name (!)-- I wanted that to be seen and recognized first and foremost. #2. The fact that my name is actually spelled out as a URL lets people know they can go to there and see more of my works. #3. The title "Celestial Textiles", if googled, will lead to my 2 celestial textiles sites: this blog and my etsy store. So the sign is a sign for the show, some branding of celestial textiles, and references to my websites all in one!


A detail shows the quilting, drawing and gold bias strip for trimming.

And yet another blue strip...

Today I completed another blue strip. That makes 6 down and 4 to go. I really can't wait to sew all of these strips together and make that damn background already. Cut out some more of the seaweed leaflets also. But I am still in a quandary about what animal form to include with the seaweed in my underwater scene. Realistic fish (or other sea life) is not grabbing me as a concept and mermaids are too cutsey-poo. Some other fantastical undersea creature?? I will have to quickly cogitate upon this and come up with a plan.

I also did some work on The Blade Garden. I need to finish that off as I am considering submitting that in some sort of venue.

Chop, chop

Sometimes an idea just doesn't come together. Not a problem if I'm still in the planning stage but it seems pretty daunting if I've already done a bunch of sewing and assembled my top. Maybe I've even gotten to the embellishment sewing or (gasp!) quilting stage. Now what? Here's what I do and it usually works for me: I chop it up and resew it! Often in some sort of "crazy quilt" configuration or just however it seems to fit. I open myself up to the design possibilities and listen to the piece. Then I embellish, quilt or add elements. Some of my favorite pieces have undergone this process. Here are a few:


Only the floral centers of the blocks are crazy quilted here. The technique adds lots of textural interest. Then I just added strips and borders in matching or contrasting fabrics.


Ohh, I labored over this one. It started out as an exercise in working with a monochromatic color scheme. It was ok, but not great. Then I chopped it, sewed all the resulting pieces together and added the sun. Perfect!


This little beauty resulted from a leftover paper foundation pieced strip that just didn't work on the original piece. So that strip was removed and reassembled into what you see here. Its a jewel of a piece with glittery accents in seed beads, lurex embroidery thread and a bit of Angelina Fibers.
Love serendipity!

Fabric Collage

When people ask me what kind of artist I am, I usually answer "textile artist" rather than "quilter". Its what I put on my business cards, too. The term "quilting" just conjures up too many images of grandma's log cabin bed quilt and thats just not my main focus these days. And when I do make something in a more traditional theme, I still try to shake it up in some way with radical colors, additional techniques or materials. Textile artist covers it much better since most of what I do can more accurately be described as a fabric collage. I just don't use glue to adhere my separate pieces (well, actually, I do sometimes use a gluestick for temporary positioning), I use thread to sew down the pieces. The thread also becomes part of the design, so that's an added bonus. Here are some examples of my fabric collages.


A pretty simple design relying on the punch of bright colors on a black background (I do that a lot). All of the rays were adhered with iron-on adhesive and then the edges were stitched down (raw edge applique.)



Here's my textile stab at the trompe-l'oeil style of painting popular in the late 1800's. This "fool-the-eye" style was often used in a still life composition that included dead game piled up along with the more traditional fruit and flowers of a still life. I call this piece "21st Century American Still Life". American because of the turkey--can't get more American than that. After I finished the "painting" part, I decided it really needed a frame too. I like how it turned out--rather unexpected. I'm waiting for the right venue to exhibit this one.


And here's what makes it 21st century. Hah!



Here's a large passionflower I began in a workshop I took a couple of years ago from the outstanding quilt artist and fabric designer, Jane Sassaman http://www.janesassaman.com/homepage.html. She's all about large scale florals both in her quilts and fabrics so I was definitely spinning off of her energy when I designed this one.

In the zone

Ooh, what a productive day I had! I sewed another blue strip (remember those?), making a total of 4. Only 5 more to go! Whew. Its tedious but if I get one done first thing, then I reward myself with working on something fun. Today's fun was threefold: working on the final stages of a quilt long in the making and starting a fun quick new project. Pictured here is a new piece of my "Inner Landscape" series titled "Sowing the Blade Garden." I have it laid out here with batting and backing. Actual quilting is next and since its a relatively small piece, that should be done soon. I think I'll be doing a lot of contour quilting on this one. Its a rather stark composition, I'll admit but that's the way it had to be. I had it lurking in the back of my studio for over a year but it just didn't want any further embellishments. I'm a firm believer in listening to the piece and letting it tell me what it needs. Yeah, I know I'm personifying here just a bit, but that's the way I frame it to myself when I'm creatively stuck and am trying to solve some sort of problem with a piece in progress.

I also continued brainstorming on my large, upcoming celestial quilt. Made a lot of notes about the different techniques I want to use and how to use them best. Then in the afternoon I started working on my new project for a show coming up in Ohio. I'll post more about those 6 small pieces tomorrow. Just one hint, though. Think: tribal cats. Intrigued?