Pixie Strip Giveaway

RJR Fabrics has “GRACEiously” made 3 Grace Pixie Strips up for grabs. All you have to do is Like my Facebook Fan Page and comment #rjrgrace

Thanks RJR Fabrics and thanks to all for liking my page!

Grace

My latest fabric line, Grace is now shipping and should be in your local quilt stores any day! 

I love to bridge the gap between traditional and modern aesthetics. Some of the elements found in the collection are based on a traditional design concept but have a more carefree style. My nieces, Emma Grace and Grace Evelyn served as my muses for this playful design collection.

Grace consists of eight prints in two colorways, Bermuda and Caribbean. In addition to yardage, RJR Fabrics has made Grace available as Fat Quarter Bundles, Pixie Strips, and Patty Cakes.

I hope you enjoy working with my new line.

Sand Sculpting Championship

I recently got back from a visit to Florida. While down there, I came upon the week long American Sand Sculpting Championship at Ft. Myers Beach. It was my first time at a sand championship and since it rained heavily the night before I wasn’t sure what to expect. Fortunately, rain is not a problem for sand sculptures. I was amazed at the beauty and complexity of the works created by these talented artists. Here are some of my favorites.

"Rising Star"
Fred Mallet

Untitled
Amazin' (Walter) McDonald

Sculptors Preparing Sand for the Teams Competition. 
Each artist receives water and 20,000 pounds of sand to work with; 
teams of two get 40,000 pounds.

"La Fee des Etuiles" (The Star's Fairy)
Melineige Beauregard

"Cookies 'n Milk"
Bill Dow

alt_quilts

alt_quilts, a contemporary art quilt exhibit, is underway at the American Folk Art Museum in New York City. Sabrina Gschwandtner, Luke Haynes and Stephen Sollins draw inspiration from traditional quilts for their more modern approach to the quilt as an art form. Interestingly, each artist uses collected materials in the construction of their art.

Sabrina Gschwandtner creates her quilt inspired works from what on close inspection turns out to be 16mm film. She is mindful of the content of the film she uses in her pieces, some of which is deaccessioned film she aquired from the Fashion Institute of Technology.  These films are from the 1950’s – 1980’s and are primarily documentaries of women engaging in activities pertaining to the textile arts, such as sewing and weaving. Gschwandtner uses her Bernina to stitch together her film, then cuts her “fabric” and assembles her “blocks”. The pieces are displayed on framed light boxes, which make them vibrant and immediately attract the viewer.

Film Board of Canada, 2010
SABRINA GSCHWANDTNER

Film Board of Canada, detail
SABRINA GSCHWANDTNER

Much like the original quilt makers, Luke Haynes creates his quilts from fabric scraps. He subscribes to the notion of “constructing usable objects from unusable cloth”.  Who doesn’t love that notion? He acquires fabric from Goodwill thrift shops, then deconstructs the clothing and incorporates the pieces into his art using a long arm machine to do so.

It’s no surprise that Hayes is inspired by tumbling blocks, as his works are three-dimensional and filled with illusion. He uses a technique known as anamorphic perspective; a technique, where by arraigning shapes, color, and value creates depth depending on the angle the piece is being viewed from.

Check out this quilt. From the angle in this first photo, the image reveals a flat quilt on a "bed".

(The American Context #4) Benjamin Franklin
LUKE HAYNES

But from this angle it appears as if the figure, Benjamin Franklin is sitting upon the bed, very cool…

(The American Context #4) Benjamin Franklin
LUKE HAYNES

Stephen Sollins works up his art quilts from scraps of paper. He is intrigued by the patterns found on the envelopes, papers and Tyvek that protect ones daily mail. Sollins has developed his own system of piecing. He creates seam allowances made of tabs then glues his shapes together.

Fascinated by the near perfect symmetry of Mary Smith's quilt (shown below), from the Civil War era, Sollins used it as inspiration for his paper version of a log cabin. Sollins titled his quilt “Return to Sender” which may be a reference to the original quilt, and is associated with a tragic story. The original quilt was part of Mary Jane Smith’s trousseau. Miss Smith, lived in Queens, NY and was engaged to a soldier she met at Fort Totten. Her betrothed returned from the Civil War only to succumb to pneumonia the day of the wedding. Mary Jane never married and her quilt was never used.

Log Cabin Quilt, Barn Raising Variation

Mary Jane Smith 1833 - 1869

Mary Morrell Smith 1798 - 1869

Untitled (Return to Sender After Mary Jane Smith 1865)

STEPHEN SOLLINS

Untitled (Return to Sender After Mary Jane Smith, 1865), Detail
STEPHEN SOLLINS, 

The show is curated by quilt specialist Stacy Hollander and will be on display through January 5, 2014. What’s next for the American Folk Art Museum? Folk Couture, Fashion and Folk Art. “An exhibition of original couture by thirteen renowned fashion designers. Inspired by works of art from the collection of the American Folk Art Museum". Sounds interesting, I’ll keep you posted.

Grace - Bermuda Palette

In a recent post, I showed you the Caribbean color story for my latest fabric line, Grace. Here’s Grace in the Bermuda palette. I went to Bermuda a number of years ago and the wonderful pastel colors of the island made a lasting impression on me.

As soon as I received the new fabrics, I decided to make a couple of pillows before jumping into a quilt. I used Jay Bird Quilt’s Jawbreaker and Candy Dish pillow patterns. Julie Herman not only designs pillows but also great quilts, and her Hex N More ruler made the project a breeze.  I can’t wait to try out her new Sidekick ruler.

 

A Bit of Local Lore

Living near Washington Irving’s home in Tarrytown and the Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow, is an exciting place to be around Halloween. The area is packed with Halloween themed events and activities. This Year with the new television show, “Sleep Hollow” the hysteria has reached an all time high.

 The famous American author, Washington Irving was born in 1783 and lived in Tarrytown at his home, Sunnyside, an attraction that you can still visit today. Among Irving’s works is “The legend of Sleepy Hollow”.  The short story is about schoolmaster Ichabod Crane, who competes with the town bully for the hand of the daughter of a wealthy farmer. After leaving a party, Ichabod is pursued through Sleepy Hollow by a headless horseman. As Ichabod is about to reach safety, the horseman throws what appears to be his head at the schoolmaster. The following day, Ichabod is missing. Only his horse and the remains of a pumpkin are found. It is up to the reader to decide if he truly encountered the headless horseman or if he was the victim of a cruel prank.

Consequently, Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow have adopted the image of the headless horseman as icons for their towns. The horseman is always headless and holding a pumpkin, unlike the assault rifle which he carries on the new TV show!

So that is a little history about my town. Have a Happy Halloween!

On a separate note, I have started a Facebook page so be sure to check it out and Like Me On Facebook!

Grace, Sneak Preview

Here is a sneak peek at my upcoming line, Grace. Like many of us, I love to travel, not only for the places that I see and the people that I meet, but also for the colors I bring back in my mind and my camera. Pink sandy beaches, pastel colored cottages and clear turquoise waters inspired the Bermuda color palette for my Grace collection. In the islands farther south, the overwhelming blue and teal hues of the sea moved me to design Grace's Caribbean palette as shown below. I hope these colors can take you there as well. 

Grace is scheduled to debut in quilt stores everywhere in December!

I used the Grace, Caribbean colors to make  Clover and Violet's, Jane bag. One of the reasons I love Jennie and Clara's patterns is that their bags lend themselves to a playful use of fabrics!