Quilted Silk Giclee

Earlier posts addressed my 4Q 2013  oil painting on canvas of a regal red lion. I loved the result which was targeted for anothers ownership. but  since I own the rights to the image, I decided to experiment with having Studio West ( a fine art printer) in Anthem Arizona, to put smaller  12" x 12" images on both cotton and then silk.  Earlier this year I posted a quilted cotton giclee. Now...FINALLY, I have quilted the  silk version. I love the look of silk anyway you can get it, but definitely when quilted.  First a small  quilted comparison of the same area within the piece (both  photos taken at the same time under the same light )  .. first on cotton, then silk.   Both are photographed here under strong light  which slightly overpowered the actual color intensity but know the color richness on both unquilted giclee is equally rich.

silk wins for sheen

This one is ready to travel with me to my teaching session III class at Empty Spools Seminars (Mar 14-19).The photo areas shown above are the upper right corners of each quilt.

                                           (c) copywritten image
I very much enjoy documenting quilts on a label originally generated in powerpoint. I save a soft copy of each result in my  Mac folder called  just "labels."
          This is added after quilting... in this case because this is a small piece ( not a good plan for a larger quilt) ... I added a second backing on which I could before attaching it to the back, machine stitch the label.  Finally I machine stitched the backing to the very outer quilt edge.
Double click on image for a enlarged view,

Some Serious STRIP Fusing

I need every available minute to work on 3 pieces 1 with a 4-1 Due Date, 2 with May 1 due date.  Have 2 of the 3 tops done, 1 w/ quilting in progress.. But I NEED to get the third TOP finished. Some have seen this piece in progress a couple weeks back. The top area of background and hearts were in place though not stitched and the lower part with loose pieces of green 'hills' and fabric beneath in audition mode.

Not shown ( yawner if so) stitched down the black radial lines and ribbons, plus hearts.  Then the hot red/orange sun and  green hills...   NOW... finishing the very bottom using some stripes of fused atop fused fabric strips out of these  fun fabrics

After estimating area to be covered, I decided an 8 1/2"  x 10 1/2"   piece of each fabric could be prepped for later 'strip fusing.'  A piece of paper backed fusible web  ( appx 8 x 10.. ie slightly smaller than fabric) placed atop back side of fabric, then fused with iron on cotton setting.

'Trimmed excess away and removed paper.  Ideally... one might want to remove the paper first.. then cut away fabric without fusible web.  It's easier to get a clean edge this way BUT if you are using fabrics that are light..say.. yellow ... it's hard to see where the edge of the fusible is, so with some fusible webs...you can get away with the method shown here.  

 Once paper is removed.. the entire surface is usable in fusing. I chose to rotary cut 1 3/4" strips ( i.e 4 strips plus a wee bit leftover out of each of these 8 x 10' fabrics.

Atop a teflon sheet, strips are overlapped by 1/8 to 1/4 inch... one overlay at a time and fused in place.

4 sets of four were created then all 4 were fused together to make one strip-fused patchwork

Once all four sections were together, I placed an freezer paper template atop it and cut fabric to match the top curve... later the bottom edge .

I saw here an opportunity to subdue the impact of the black and white grid.  I definitely like the grid fabric but also decided I might break the area up by overlaying a small strip of fusing leftover from the purple circle fabric. 

 I like that small addition and am now ready to connect this segment to the bottom of the green hill arch above.

YAHOO... the top is in one piece.  I will with monofilament do a small appliqué stitch to permanently secure fused edges before the quilting process. 

I'm liking this piece.. destined for auction in support of Libby Lehman's medical costs.I'll post details of the auction when I know them.  For this, I am not the organizer but an enthusiastic contributor for Libby. 

I think for this piece , I'll be departing from my more common knife edge finish  and instead add 1/4 inch binding in a fabric style that would suit Libby's approach to finishing. 

Are You Kidding Me? Christmas???

My Wanabe Friendship Group agreed to create one Christmas block each month based on The Quilters Newsletter  FREE Web Extra Christmas Album pattern.  This just looked like too much fun and required no fabric purchase beyond maybe a background fabric.

The patterns are there for the taking.. go to

http://www.quiltersnewsletter.com/issues/My_Christmas_Album

I loved the freshness of the green and white polka dots so thats my background. I have the 3 of the blocks done so far.  These are just plain fun and festive. This represents blocks for the first 3 months of 2014.  I work one month ahead so at the February meeting I can show the Mar block ( the poinsettias) and pass out the free pattern.

 Our March challenge... I followed the pattern pieces but had to play with fabric choices as the original   WEB sample fabric choices weren't working for me.  :-(

 Our February challenge

  Our January challenge

Honoring Work and Learning

Leah Estrin was in my 2 day Painted Quilt Art Class at Road To Ca last month.  Leah took a different approach than many... spending most of her learning time truly experimenting/learning the medium of ink without pushing herself to walk out with a finished painting That time investment truly paid off for her as Leah really learned alot about  painting with inks on fabric.  She then went home and in the privacy of home studio, created this painting of a child Leah had photographed in her world travels.
Yet to be quilted... but what fun the quilting process will be.

Leah also created  her version of a color wheel she can use to select for future.  There are 45 bottled inks in the line. Leah has most of them shown here.

Have a Heart for Libby

What else would you want to do on Valentine's DAY.   ;-)

   This is a quilt in planning for sure but I'm loving where the design is heading.  Now to start getting some things really attached to the background before I do more on the lower green part of the piece. I still have some  fabric auditioning going on at the bottom. .

   This piece will eventually be among 30 x 30" pieces made by 30+  well heeled art quilters from around the world, all collaborating for a fundraiser auction in honor of and in support of the rising medical costs for the incredible Libby Lehman.   I hope you will be at the 2014 International Quilt Festival in Houston ( end of Oct/early November) and "BID."

YES... I know this isn't exactly what you might think I'd do....    but this is an out of my own box challenge. I'm feelin' happy so far

Happy Day to All

Wishing you all a great day.   Buy some fabric.....   Have some chocolate! :-)    Life is Good!

Patty's Birds

I LOVE it when I get shareable photos of finished/quilted pieces  that were started in one of my classes... this one from Road To California last month!!!    Patty Latourell wasted no time painting or quilting her cardinal piece shown below.  Way to go Patty!

 female close up