I’m a lover of most things French. It’s hard not to be after living in Montréal, Québec and Paris, France for five years. As a Francophile, I’m a member of Alliance Francaise de Portland, a nonprofit cultural and educational organization offering French classes and social and cultural events. This past Friday, I attended a wine-blending […]
Fresh Fibers Exhibition
I received notice my submission to the Fresh Fibers exhibition at the Sherwood Center for the Arts has been accepted. There will be a gala reception with live music by Jason Okamoto and refreshments on April 14th between 5:00 PM and 8:00 PM. The opening of the exhibition coincides with the Old Time Sherwood Spring […]
An International Fairy Tale: Armadillo’s Song
Jean Shute from Otis Orchards, Washington created this piece. She says, “Armadillo’s Song is a Bolivian fairy tale about an armadillo that dearly wanted to sing. He would listen to the frogs, crickets, and other creatures around the pond simg each night and they in turn would make fun of him knowing he could not […]
“Peeping Goldilocks” by Carol Heist, International Fairy Tale Challenge Quilt
Carol’s title “Peeping Goldilocks” should be the tip-off to the fairy tale she accepted as her challenge piece, “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.” However, Carol’s research shows there is a lot more to the story than most of us know and frankly, it’s fascinating. She writes, “My research about this well-known story revealed that the […]
Last of the Colorhue Silk Dying Experiments!
On the final day of the workshop, we did Thermofax screen printing with Colorhue concentrate in shaving cream. Barbara had a number of screens ready to go, as well as some of her own designs which we could burn into screens. We also had the option to bring our own designs. Once everyone had burned […]
More Colorhue Silk Dying Experiments
Here are two more of the experiments we did with the Colorhue dyes. Optical blending with transparent fabric–we used silk organza. Each person chose three colors, dyed the fabric squares, then layered the fabrics so one was on top, one in the middle, and one on the bottom. Then we reordered them with the middle […]
Shibori Experts–Barbara Setsu Pickett and Michael Pickett
On the last day of the Colorhue Silk Dying workshop Barbara and son Michael brought in some of their pieces. Here is Barbara sharing their work with the class. The texture she and Michael achieve is amazing. I was particularly fascinated by how they create the bubbles in the third photo using marbles as molds. […]
Colorhue Silk Dye–What a Great Product
Last weekend I spent three days with Barbara Setsu Pickett and Michael Pickett at the Oregon College of Art and Craft immersed in dying silk using a product called Colorhue. I was not familiar with it, but after time spent trying numerous techniques, I’m sold on it, enough so, I purchased the ten-bottle set. You […]
The Cottager and His Cat–An Icelandic Fairy Tale
Amy Vetter, the designer and maker of this fairy tale quilt does a wonderful job detailing her creative process step by step through photos and text on her blog. http://amysetcetera.blogspot.com/2015/09/international-fairy-tale-challenge.html I love her title and urge you to read her post and learn how she came up with the name “Social Climbing.” There are a […]
Cat Woman–Another International Fairy Tale Quilt
I’m certain when everyone sees the words “Cat Woman,” they immediately think of her arch enemy Batman and Marvel Comics. Surprisingly, there is a fairy tale featuring another Cat Woman. The reference I found shows the tale originating in Greece, but as I’ve discovered with fairy tales there are variations in cultures and countries worldwide. […]
Richard Box–Embroiderer Extraordinaire
At the Stitches in Bloom Show last week I hung a small piece next to my featured artist piece titled “Z is for Zinnias, C is for Cosmos.” I completed the small piece probably twelve years ago in a workshop given by Richard Box in Oak Harbor, Washington. I thought viewers would find it interesting […]
Views of the Mojave–An artistic collaboration
I had a second article published in the March issue of American Quilter magazine. This piece described a group quilt created by Art Quilts, Etc, a membership circle within Desert Quilters of Nevada. While group quilts are not unusual, this one titled Views of the Mojave, has a unique twist. There are three panels with […]
The Quilters’ Guild Collection
The latest issue of American Quilter magazine features one of my articles on the Quilt Museum and Gallery in York, England on page 52. I visited the museum during my 2015 Food and Fiber Lovers’ Trip through Kathy Brassill of Handcrafted Holidays. Unfortunately, the museum closed not long thereafter as it couldn’t sustain financial viability. […]
My Quilt on a Tote Bag
I never expected to see one of my quilts on a tote bag, but this past weekend at the Stitches in Bloom show at The Oregon Garden two women came into our special exhibit with just that. My colleague, Jeri Oswalt, recognized the quilt on their show tote bags as one of mine. I was […]
Design Time
One of the things I did for the Stitches in Bloom Show at The Oregon Garden was bring a variety of design boards, embellishments, and stitch samples I had completed during my London City and Guilds study for display. I wasn’t sure how the space in the room would be set up, but I wanted […]
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Diana Cleland-Boyle created a quilt based on this well-known fairy tale. She titled it, “Who is Fairest of Them All?” Diana writes, “It is obvious in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs the vanity of the queen and the innocent beauty of Snow White are in conflict. The mirror plays the pivotal role in the […]
Photos Galore!
We had a fabulous response to our STiTCH exhibit at the Stitches in Bloom Quilt Show at The Oregon Garden this past weekend. The positive comments and feedback were gratifying and made all of the hard work organizing and hanging our show worthwhile. I appreciate the Oregon Garden giving us the opportunity to show in […]
Amano Iwato–a Japanese Folk Tale
Janet Hiller of Eugene, Oregon created this piece for the International Fairy Tale Challenge, one of the few that is not representational or pictorial. Here is what she says about her work. “In Japanese mythology Amano Iwato is the story of Amaterasu, the sun goddess, who was driven by the bad behavior of her brother […]
Published in the Oregonian
I’m in the midst of packing artwork and personal items for the Stitches in Bloom quilt show at The Oregon Garden. I leave tomorrow morning to hang and set up my work and the exhibit of my exhibition group STiTCH. I’ve been working toward this since last February when I was asked to be the […]
Z is for Zinnia, C is for Cosmos Photography
I had my latest piece photographed by Kayley Hoddick on Monday. She took many detail shots, too many to include here, but I’ve posted the full image and eight details to show the hand embroidery I did to enhance the flowers and leaves. I also hand-twisted cords for stems on some of the small zinnias. […]
Aladdin and the Magic Lamp
Sally Zehrung created the quilt based on this fairy tale well known to Americans. She writes, “The title is Aladdin and the Magic Lamp. Since I don’t do well with representing people I chose to use the moment that Aladdin first held the lamp in the Cave of Wonders, with the beginning of the genie […]
