November West Michigan Art Quilt Group Meeting

I am sooooo far behind on some of my blog posts.  I'm trying to play catch up.  This post is about the West Michigan Art Quilt Group meeting that we had way back in November.  I'll do my best to reconstruct everything from my notes, but it's been a little while!  We'll see how I do.  My apologies in advance to my friends for any errors I may (and probably will) make.

First, Kathy brought us all some Tyvek.  She works where they use medical grade Tyvek, and when they get to the end of the roll, they just pitch it.  So, she snagged it for us, and gave us each some.  She challenged us all to use Tyvek in a project for our meeting next month.  We've had that meeting now, and I'll report on that later.

The theme for the month of November was Beads and Bones.

This is Evey's work.  She applied some beads to two fabrics layered together while they were in the embroidery hoop.  She played around a little to see what she could do.  I wish I could be the kind of person who played around a bit like this.  I think I could learn a lot.  I can never get myself to do it though.  I admire Evey and people who can do this!

Here is another fun piece.  From my notes, I can't remember whose this is.  I apologize.  Maybe Evey?  Maybe Jackie?  Like the batiks and beads together!  I like the little beaded part at the bottom.  That was really intriguing for me.

Here is a little close up of it.  I would like to practice my beading more so I could do things like this.

Someone brought this book, Bead Creative Art Quilts, which I thought looked like a very interesting book.  It's going on my "wish" list!

Here is an example page from that book.  See what I mean?  Some pretty neat stuff inside here.

Next up was Jackie.  She worked on putting some "found" objects in a quilt.  (She actually had some bones she wanted to use in a project, but she was afraid that would freak us all out , I think.  LOL)  Most of these leaves are traced onto fabric from leaves she found in the woods.  But you see the leaf on top?  It's a real leaf.  Jackie preserved it in glycerine.  She diluted glycerine in water and soaked the leaf in it.  Then, she layered it between paper towels and sealed it in a plastic bag for several days.  (This is what my notes say.  If I got it wrong, please correct me, Jackie).  She said you can stitch through the leaves after you do this.  Pretty neat.  And I think this piece is just great.  Very organic.

Jackie also brought a quilt top that was a crazy quilt that her mom had found at GOODWILL!  I took a lot of photos of some of the stitching on that quilt.  Pretty neat stitching!

I have one question:  How come I cannot find things like this at Goodwill?????

Jackie also brought a little quilt top that she had made to practice some quilting.  Love how she's practicing her feathers.  This quilt top is so.....Jackie!  Love the color blocking that she does.

Next, Bev brought in a piece she had practiced on.  The purple stuff you see on here is Tyvek.  I think it was coincidence that she had brought something made of Tyvek.  She showed us how she painted it and then heated it with a heat tool.  I am looking forward to playing with this stuff.

You can see the area on the left here, where it's more "stringy" looking....that's where she heated it more.  The other areas that have the "bubble" indents are where she heated it but not as long as she heated the "stringy" part.

She also brought this piece she had been working on.  The squares are muslin that she coated with gel medium and cheesecloth.  She also included some magazine pictures, I think, and painted with Lumiere paints.  She cut it into 2" squares and then put it on this batik fabric and cut it up, after arranging.  Love it.  Seriously, this is so far beyond me!  LOL.

 

In this close-up shot you can see the cheesecloth on one of the squares.

Another close up of some text and paint....

Love this little square, too!

Carolyn brought this piece.  She calls it Restraint.  You have seen the center part of this before, from one of our previous meetings.  (At least I thought I had blogged it, but I cannot seem to find that post now.  Hmmm, maybe you haven't seen it.  Oh well, no matter!)  Now, she has mounted it on a piece of fabric.  I love this black and pink fabric she mounted it on.  She used bleach to discharge that fabric at three different intensities.  Can you see each of the three different intensities?  I love the additions she has made to this piece.  Here, let me show you some of the details....

There are some little square, brass jump rings stitched onto the piece.  And can you see the sort of "primitive big stitching" she has done in teh black and pink fabric as well?

She has stitched some beads on it as well.  Here you can really see the three intensities of discharge she did.

Here is some of the primitive stitching from the back of the piece.  I took this photo to show you how beautiful the hand-dyed embroidery thread was that she was using for that stitching.  I really love it.

Sweet Pea brought her little quilt to show and tell.  She was very proud to have a show and tell to share.

Sheryl brought this piece she had been working on.  These were houses appliqued down and hand quilted.  She said she made these based on some work by Gwen Marston.

I was fascinated by all the buttons and beads she put on this.  They were all very unique.  So, please indulge me while I show you some of them.

I really love how she stitched these down with the four stitches.  Very clever.  So simple, yet I don't ever think of it.

These long, tubular beads were neat.

Some mother-of-pearl buttons.  And the big brown one is pretty unique.

Sheryl also brough these rockin' pot holders she had made as Christmas gifts.  LOVE the colors and modern design!

I would LOVE to get some of these from a friend.  But to be honest, I would have a hard time using them, because I wouldn't want to ruin them.  How about you?

She said she got the inspiration for these from a book called Fresh Quilting by Malka Dubrawski (click on the link to read more about that book).

Next, Lynn showed a piece that she had made to honor Steve Jobs.  Our meeting occurred shortly after his untimely and unfortuante death.  She made the beads for this by wrapping hand-dyed fabric around straws and gluing them around the straws.  She also tied each up with pretty cool fibers.

She printed images and phrases from Steve Jobs on organza (I think that's what it was--maybe it was silk), and sewed it down.

This quote says, "The only way to do great work is to love what you do.  If you haven't found it yet, keep looking.  Don't settle.  As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it."  I buy that.

This one says, "What a computer is to me is the most remarkable tool that we have ever come up with.  It's the equivalent of a bicycle for our minds."

This one says, "Quality is more important than quantity.  One home run is much better than two doubles."

I took this photo to show you the dimension of her beads.

Jane had gone to Houston.  SO JEALOUS!  She took a fantastic class, where she learned to dye and use Habatoi silk, I think, for knitting.  Very cool.  My photos didn't turn out well for that, so I didn't include them.  She also picked up this amazing wood block for block printing.  She got it from Colouricious.

She tried stamping the wood block on fabric using some paint.  Looks pretty good!

She said she practiced first on paper.  Love it.  Sweet Pea was very enthralled by this.  I think it would be really fun to have some wood blocks like this for printing.

She also showed us some Marcia Derse fabrics she had purchased.  These are commercial hand dyes.  They looked pretty lucious to me.  These were very new to me.  How fun.  Jane said it was really hard to choose which ones to buy.  I believe it!

Anna Mae brought this shirt that she embellished with beads.  You know, I'm so amazed that people can take a shirt out of their closet and just embellish it.  My brain just doesn't work that way!  I really wish it did!

I think it was Nelia who brought this piece.  If I got it right, she tried dying a piece of fabric using wax pastels.  She drew some lines, got the fabric wet, wrapped it up, and let it dry all night.  This is what she got from that.  She said she wasn't sure how she'd use it yet.  Pretty result though, don't you think?  Honestly, I can't believe how adventureous these gals are.  I have much to learn from them!

Mary brought this piece, that consisted of beaded medallions.  The teal fabric is one she hand dyed. 

My notes on this one are sketchy, so I'm sorry I cannot write more.  Here are some close up shots of the beaded medallions.  Look at all of her decorate stitching on the light teal fabric, too!

You know Sweet Pea loved this as well.  Simply amazing.

Holly's husband is a microbiologist.  She brought more plastic "trash" from his office for us.  We each got some to take home and play with.  Here's what Sweet Pea chose.

Jane had brought this book called Twelve by Twelve.  She said she went to this exhibit at Houston and it enthralled her.  Twelve artists did twelve challenges (one each month), and they are all here.  It looked like an interesting book.

Here is a sample page out of the book, which showed each artist's response to one month's challenge.  I will be putting this on my "wish list" as well.

Then, as we got ready to go home, everyone noticed the scarf Mary was putting on.  We came to learn that she hand dyed and hand painted it!  Hello!  This is amazing!

Look at the detail in this scarf!  Look at all the little vines and leaves she painted in!

This kind of blew my mind.  She started with a plain white silk scarf and ended up with this.  The talent she has for drawing, color selection, and execution of her idea is just amazing.  Wow.

And Jackie was wearing this lovely scarf she had knitted.  I love the colors in it, and the ruffle design.  It looks sooooo good on her with her coloring, too.

I remember at quilt retreat earlier this fall, she had just started this.  She was up to the dark purple.  We all saw it and said, "What are you knitting?  It looks like baggy boobs."  LOL!  So, we have affectionately come to call this scarf pattern the "baggy boob scarf."  Can you see why?  LOL!  But we all love it!

Hope you enjoyed this summary of our West Michigan Art Quilt Group meeting.  I tell you, these women just continue to inspire and overwhelm me with their talent.  I feel so humbled in their presence.  You notice that I rarely have a show and tell.  Some of that's intimidation.  Some of it is lack of time on my part.  My contribution is generally my admiration and my blog record of the evening.  I hope it's sufficient, ladies!  I will try to do better next year.  No promises.  :-)

I'll be back shortly with a synopsis of our December meeting, so I'll be all caught up.

How are you all coming on your Christmas preparations?  I went to graduation today, which is always sort of emotional for me.  I love watching our students get their hard-earned Ph.D.s and Master's degrees.  Love it.  Then I went out for dinner with a couple of colleagues and share some wine with them.  All three of us were complaining about having a hard time finding the Christmas cheer this year.  We all agreed it feels like a hassle this year.  But just being with them helped give me some Christmas cheer. We laughed a lot.  I shed some tears for Brian.  It helped.

Fellowship.  It's a good thing, as Martha Stewart would say.

Until next time,

Mama Pea

 

Comments

[Terri]

OMG re: that Goodwill quilt! And man, your guild rocks!

[Allie]

Oh my gosh Stephanie. This is a post I will read over and over. These gals amaze me!!!
I think, when you have some time, you're going to be doing the same creative stuff they're doing. Right now, you're overwhelmed with busyness - but give you some time, and I know you're brain will start firing on all creative cylinders. You've got it in you already, it just needs nurturing. Who has time for that right now, lol!
PS - I LOVE Sweet Pea's quilt!

[Caroll D]

OMG, this is an awesome post. You have a group of talented women. I loved seeing what you guys are doing. Like you, I wish I could just sit down and create like that. However, I have to have something to copy, someone to tell me what to do. As I was reading I had comments on each photo. Not enough room here. I will say that Sweet Pea's quilt is adorable (and so is she). Thanks for sharing.

[paperpest]

This is Nancy Eha's site
http://www.beadcreative.com

There are a bunch of videos on youtube of her presenting techniques.

[Deb]

Wow! What a creative post! Very inspiring! I absolutely LOVE the painted scarf! And the ruffled scarf looks like a potato chip scarf pattern that I've seen (but not made yet!). Thanks for your super post!

[Jackie]

Your posts are always chalked full of fun and great pics. I love the diversity you show!

Good Job!