BlueHeronQuilts

Generation Q

2011-07-11T12:08:00.002-04:00

This is NEW!

http://generationqmagazine.com/

my muse

2011-05-29T22:44:00.002-04:00

He rearranged my tree branches/
Maybe I should have left the eyes red.

it's time again: IBOL!!

2011-03-13T14:26:00.005-04:00

Do you have extra fabric? thread? needles?
Do you want to do something special?

http://ibol.wordpress.com/building-a-bundle/
http://ibol.wordpress.com/what-to-send/
http://ibol.wordpress.com/

MAQF 2011

2011-02-27T12:50:00.028-05:00

Mid_Atlantic QuiltFest was wonderful.
There were two thought provoking exhibitions: one on racism and one on homelessness.
No Place to Call Home can be seen here:
http://kathleenmccabecoronado.com/NoPlaceToCallHome/

My favorite quilt was by Sandy Curran: Paradise Lost:
"http://sandycurran.com/sandycurran.aspx"

I have also been working on a pelican/gulf diaster quilt...maybe next year!

and a close up:

For Sandy:

My firend, Robin Koehler with her quilt "Nouveau Poppy".
http://www.nestlingsbyrobin.blogspot.com/

My new friend, Patty Powers' quilt "the Oath":

On the way home: this flock of geese/swans(?):

I will try to post more photos later.

Art quilts

2011-01-09T14:11:00.003-05:00

2010 was not productive. However I did finish this daffodil quilt.
Tomorrow is supposed to bring 2 days of ice and freezing rain, which makes spring more appealing!
Snow would be okay, but not ICE!

Late entry: 12/27/10 snow and snow dyed fabric

2011-01-09T13:45:00.013-05:00

December after Christmas snows!
It was cold enough that it actually stayed around a couple of days.
And of course I had to do some snow dyeing:

http://blueheronquilts2.blogspot.com/2010/02/more-snowdyeing.html

shows FEB 2010 fabrics.
I did not these the ones in December, and I think it makes a difference. Next time I will prepare the fabrics with soda ash and set them outside overnight to freeze, then dye them the next day.

HAPPY 2011: my word

2011-01-02T13:56:00.003-05:00

My word for the year is GRATITUDE.

Gratefulness yields mindfullness.

Being mindfull yields BALANCE.

Grateful is also GREATFUL.

what about you?

2010-11-14T10:06:00.002-05:00

One Cause, One Wednesday, One Hundred Collages

One Cause – The Fight Against Cancer.

One Wednesday – February 16, 2011.

One Hundred Collages – Created for this event by an all-star team of artists: Natalya Aikens, Pamela Allen, Laura Ann Beehler, Liz Berg, Pokey Bolton, Laura Cater-Woods, Jette Clover, Jane Davila, Jamie Fingal, Gloria Hansen, Leslie Tucker Jenison, Lyric Kinard, Jeanelle McCall, Linda Teddlie Minton, Karen Stiehl Osborn, BJ Parady, Judy Perez, Cynthia St. Charles, Virginia A. Spiegel

The goal – Raise $8,000 for the American Cancer Society in just one day. More details and a preview of artwork: http://bit.ly/ciJ0TN

Fiberart For A Cause has already donated over $205,000 to the American Cancer Society through the generosity of fiber artists and their patrons.

IBOL 2

2010-09-12T15:58:00.005-04:00

Iraqi Bundles of Love II
In August 2009, in Northern Iraq, a Soldier with the 25th Infantry Division set
up a blog and called it Iraqi Bundles of Love, or IBOL for short. He didn’t
ask for nor was he given permission; instead, he set about to receive and
distribute bundles of fabric, yarn, and other sewing, knitting and quilting
supplies across the Salah ad Din, at-Ta’mim / Kirkuk, and Sulaymaniyah
provinces. He thought that maybe a few people would want to help support
counter-insurgency efforts during the all-important period of Ramadan,
which was about to start. If people sent bundles, made according to some
simple instructions he put together and posted to the blog, he promised to
receive them and have them delivered. The goal was to have things in the
mail and arrive in Iraq, in time for delivery during Ramadan.
Word spread like wildfire. Emails, blogs, newsgroups, guild meetings – people shared the link and passed along the contact information, and the boxes flowed in from around the world. Bundles were sent from all across the US, but also from all across Canada, Europe, and as far away as Australia, New Zealand, and Vietnam. Some heavy hitters chimed in with support, from the online fabric store Sew, Mama, Sew! to Karey and crew at quilts.com and the Houston International Quilt Festival.
IBOL Guy, as he called himself, received 3445 bundles, which he ball-parked as being about 30,000 lbs. Ramadan ended, IBOL guy shipped off the last of the bundles for delivery, and then he himself headed home to see his family. IBOL was closed.

But that was then. This is now. IBOL Guy has two volunteers, one of whom is ready to receive and distribute boxes. IBOL II is open for business.
IBOL II, like the original IBOL project last year, is intended to be a short-duration project. And like last time, it’s intended to surge fabric and sewing (and knitting!) materials into Salah ad Din, in northern Iraq. The general premise is the same. Willing contributors can send a flat-rate box of sewing / quilting / knitting supplies, all bundled up. Once it’s there, someone will open the box, pull out the fully-contained bundle, and hand it off (with others) for distribution in the SaD area. The stated intent of this operation is to put sewing and quilting and knitting supplies into the hands of two types of recipients: locals who desperately need such things, and local sewing co-ops and other small businesses who have received grants or loans (typically to purchase sewing machines, rent space, etc).
It’s a chance for all of us to go into our stashes — our fabric, our yarn, our needles, our thread — and find some stuff that we’re willing to share with our partners in Iraq. No one expects you to empty your stash —
it’s a chance to give a little.
Here’s the most important thing: Packages need to be in the mail not later than 01 October (that’s a Friday). Do you think you can do that? In the mail, not later than 01 October. That’s just over a month from now.
Want to know more? Stop by the website.
ibol.wordpress.com

ibol.wordpress.com

TOTE TUESDAY FEB 23

2010-02-20T13:16:00.006-05:00

THE FINAL EVENT!!! FEB 23!!

preview:

http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/blog/archives/4265

I'm sponsoring two totes:

Mixed media/bookmaking Tote:
Joggles* Tote
The Artist's Muse: unlock the door to your creativity
Book and Card Kit by Betsy Dillard Stroud
7 Gypsies Binderie Punch and Charger
2-way book
purse kit
6x6 + two8x8 blank board books
index book
wire album
zigzag book kit (2)
rubber stamps
labels, rubbings, tags
charms
gaffer tapepak

Kiss Me I'm Irish, and a Prince!

3yds Mickey Lawler's Skydyes

silk play pak: fibers, roving, cocoons, carrier rods

beads

socks

hand made sketchbook cover with sketchbook, composition bock + pigma pen

I have two totes:

more snowdyeing

2010-02-20T12:22:00.007-05:00

The above was not too exciting from batch one, so I overdyed it in batch two:

There has been discussion about whether to freeze your fabric or not.

I do, but because I am lazy. I put my wet fabric (soaked in soda ash) outside in the containers overnight and let the snow fall on it. (Here in North Carolina we prepare for snow in a big way! Make sure you don't wait until the last minute to go to the store for milk and bread: the shelves will be empty!

The first snowfall was wet and slushy so I just poured my dyes right on to it.

The second snow was lighter so I packed it down and added more on top.

My dye recipe: 1/3- 1 tablespoon of dye in 3-4 oz of warm water. let them come to room temp and pour over the snow. I saturate the top of the snow.

The containers have 2-3 holes in the bottom. The melted dyes drip into another container with another yard of fabric and dyes this piece too. the bonus fabric is just a basic hand-dyed. I haven't frozen the bottom layer. Maybe next time, we should get another snow in three or four years!

Then I let the fabrics sit in the garage over night, or in the laundry room. Then rinse rinse rinse rinse until clear in the sink and 2 cycles in the washer.

these a just a few of the last batch:

from a beige mottled print:

from a fabulous black and white:

from a white on white, both sides:

AGGRAVATION!

2010-02-13T13:26:00.001-05:00

what I put up with to create art!

2010-02-02T21:02:00.006-05:00

ToteTuesday, a Fiberart For A Cause fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, will be offering themed totes throughout February + March. It’s a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society AND a showcase for everything that is fun and creative about the fiber arts.

http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/blog/

Kiss Me I'm Irish (and a prince!)

will be availble in March: atote, handdyed socks, a journal - skeytchbook and cover, and a yard of Mickey Lawler's Skydyes. CAT NOT INCLUDED!

snow dyeing

2010-02-02T20:24:00.004-05:00

Well, it was really SLUSH dyeing, but still fun!

Here are two good tutorials:

Beth Hartford:
http://quiltersstitchtogether.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-version-of-snow-dye-process.html

and Bunk's Blog

http://bunks.wordpress.com/2009/01/14/snow-dyeing-and-grannyland/

My quilt is going on the Saturn V Rocket!!!

2010-01-10T19:27:00.003-05:00

well not exactly...but my quilt is going to be part of a panel on the Dream Rocket project.

http://www.thedreamrocket.com/

Full panel coming soon...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2009-12-24T16:07:00.001-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28GUU1YbP_E

the Twelve Days of Christmas: Straight No Chaser

Christmas Quilts

2009-12-13T18:42:00.004-05:00

Christmas Show at the Martin County Arts Council:
http://artrageousfibreart.blogspot.com/2009/12/mcac-show.html

Two of my quilts for the show:

Black + white Transformed: discharge

2009-08-27T17:58:00.010-04:00

Black fabrics:
before

and after
discharge with bleach

Happy 4th

2009-07-03T12:08:00.003-04:00

six months to Christmas!

I dyed silk scarves this morning, now to felt them for presents!

2009-06-07T10:28:00.005-04:00

Imagine HOPE: Awareness through Art

Textile artist Hollis Chatelain plays with colors and emotions, inviting us into her dreams.

Yellow, color of drought and advancing desertsBlue, color of dreams of a better life for millions of economic refugees
White, color of death, genocide, and vanishing hopes
Purple, color of peace and spiritual joy
Green, color of hope for migrants and resident aliens
Our world is changing fast
Almost out of control
Revealing its fragility and our own fears
But beyond wars and global warming
Beyond arrogance and injustice
Beyond exploitation and human rights abuse
Beyond blatant wealth and extreme poverty
We believe there is room for hope
If we speak up and reveal the humanity within us
If we rise above racial and religious differences
If we use tolerance and fight selfishness
If we care about our planet and the future of our children
Then we can believe again
Believe in peace and humanity
Believe in a better world
Then we can imagine hope

http://www.imagine-hope.org/

please visit

I had the priviledge of viewing these quilts hanging in Duke Chapel; it was a truly moving, and AWESOME experience.

dye painting

2009-06-07T10:06:00.003-04:00

I took a dye-painting class with Hollis Chatelain

http://www.hollisart.com/about.php

last week at NCQSI.

I worked on my butterfly; way too cool!

next for quilting...then I will get back to the Butterflyabstract!

fly away butterflies...

2009-05-11T20:39:00.005-04:00

still working on butterflies:

the top is my current plan, wings and parts of wings, symbolic I guess, since I'm stretching out of the box, to create not just another butterfly, but not a good scan.

the second is truer colors and clearer pictures of the parts that will be collaged...

also the orientation is 90* different.

so butterflies fly away...

scroll down to April for more

Red and purple

2009-04-25T16:56:00.013-04:00

Wolfpack Red azealeas and purple irises

(that I have moved from NC to PA to OK

and back to NC over the last 20years).

I LOVE these two together!

and yet another one

2009-04-18T11:18:00.001-04:00

this image intrigues me...

another view

2009-04-17T11:45:00.004-04:00

nothing but wing!

Butterflies

2009-04-16T18:35:00.019-04:00

I've been playing with butterflies, or rather photos from last summer,

with the goal of creating a more original and more personal image:

adjusting color:

croppping:

deleting backgrounds:

I'm not sure where I'm going, but it has been fun, and thought-provoking!

MAQF 2009

2009-03-01T17:55:00.006-05:00

Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival was a blast!
I didn't take classes for the first time, but was really inspired by the quilts.

Ballet Trio and Mom by Ann E. Ruthsdottir
Brunswick, Maine

Two of mine were also in this special exhibit: Your World in B+W revisited.

tree down

2009-02-22T14:26:00.003-05:00

Pictures from August 2008

there was not even a wind or a storm this day

I'm saving the tree to use as a bench, or sculpture...

2008 quilt collage

2009-02-19T17:28:00.004-05:00

Oriental beauty

2009-02-15T13:56:00.003-05:00

My 2008 AQ challenge quilt.

See more quilts at:
http://artrageousfibreart.blogspot.com/

2009-02-15T13:22:00.002-05:00

A camelia blooming on the bush that had the funky icicles last month!

funky icicles

2009-01-21T17:43:00.009-05:00

sideways, curved icicles!

I have never seen such a thing!

This icicle is almost 12 inches long!

SNOW!

finally!!!

I was working, but I did take a couple of photos!

Don't you love that brillant Carolina blue sky against the snow?

I love the interaction of the sunlight with the icicles.

my helper?

2009-01-04T15:17:00.004-05:00

couldn't resist this one!

Rascal either lays on my WIP, or on top of my machine.

"Of course!," says he.

Starbirth revisited

2009-01-04T14:26:00.006-05:00

Starbirth, Starbright 54"

Starbirth, Starbright 24"

Starbirth, Starbright has two versions, the larger one, pictured below at IQF Houston, (see November 1, 2008), and the original, which was too small to enter in "the Sky's the Limit"

(Double click to enlarge photos.)

I think they are cool side by side!

"The Sky's the Limit" will be touring for two years.

the next stops include:

International Quilt Festival, Chicago April 17-19, 2009

International Quilt Festival Long Beach, CA July 24-26, 2009

I also have two quilts in "My World in Black + White". This is a special traveling exhibit. It will be hanging at Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival in Hampton, VA. 2/26-3/1, 2009

http://www.quiltfest.com/

Lovies for Susan

2008-11-29T10:07:00.010-05:00

This is Susan's quilt.

The girls from Fiberarts council SCal yahoo group* made blocks and I assembled and quilted them.
http://www.fiberartsconnsocal.org/ *

And, of course, my ever-present helper, Rascal. He really, really liked this quilt!

IQF HOUSTON

2008-11-01T20:10:00.002-04:00

Starbright, Starbirth...(the green one)

Hanging in Houston at the International Quilt Festival

Although I did not win a ribbon, I am a winner just because of where it is hanging!

Thanks Carolyn Sower for the pictures.

I'll post some close-ups later.

2008-08-29T21:59:00.002-04:00

More about SOME GAVE ALL:

the Breaking Traditions Exhibit [With One Voice] is to give a voice to all those who stand up and say "I will make a difference".
I made three other quilts prior to this one. One was two small, and one too large, and none honored a particular person or group...then this one popped into my head at the last minute. It is part of a quilt I have had in my head for a couple of years.
The final quilt also has a dog-tag wrapped around the rifle. I found mini dog-tags on eBay, and wasn't sure they would arrive in time, but they did.

2008-08-28T16:51:00.008-04:00

TWO quilts for posting:

SOME GAVE ALL: thank you

for Breaking Traditions: With One Voice
http://www.fibraartysta.com/breakingtraditions.htm

and my 2008 Journal Quilt

The Elements

This year the Journal Quilts in Houston (IQA) were juried. 48 out of 300 were selected.

Of course I am sorry mine was not selected, but it didn't do what I wanted it to.

Each element had a gradation of colors, and I wanted them to move, mingle, and affct the others.

The quilt may not be a loss...I thinking of reworking it, but haven't figured out what to do to it!

The quilt is not a loss: it was fun, I learned and I had to think...

the technique is from Dena Crain's "Darned Quilts" at Quilt University.

http://www.denacrain.com/blog/

http://www.quiltuniversity.com/

Newsworthy quilts

2008-06-27T17:44:00.000-04:00

I recieved my grab bag quilt back!
LOVE IT!
Elizabeth Anne Dawson made my quilt.
http://www.elizabethanne.cc
there will be a CD available to view all the quilts....

My quilt Starbirth Starbright was accepted as one of forty finalists in the Sky's the Limit 2008 in Houston!!!!!!!!!!
It was based on a photo on APOD: http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070924.html
Thanks to the Spitzer Telescope people for permission to use this photo!

I can't post photos of either quilt; sorry!

ALMOST TIME!

2008-06-04T21:39:00.000-04:00

The Grab-bag exchange is coming to a close.

This was the bag of goodies I sent to an unknown art quilter.

My quilt will be headed this way soon!

2008-02-28T13:37:00.000-05:00

SEE THE ARTRAGEOUSFIBREART 2007 results:
http://artrageousfibreart.blogspot.com/

2008-01-03T18:46:00.000-05:00

IAQ

Instant Art Quilt

Ellen Lindner's on-line (and in person) class.

http://www.adventurequilter.com/(Ellen's website)

Here are two that are almost finished:

2007-12-30T18:47:00.000-05:00

FFFC #16 "Fire + ICE"
I haven't done one of these challenges in almost a year.
Fire was a block waiting to be quilted. I left the batting hanging out to symbolize charred ices.
Ice doesn't show up well, it's glittery/icy. I painted mist fuse with pearl-ex paints, added some glitter, fused it to a piece of batk, then quilted with metallic thread. Last I added "cracked ice" to the edge; it's not nearly so green/gold!
OF COURSE, any NCSU Wolfpack fans remember fire + ice as something quit different!
LOL! now there's a quilt!

WOP

2007-11-24T19:25:00.000-05:00

WOP= work inprogress

for Ellen Lindner's online class: instant art quilt

http://www.adventurequilter.com/

2007-11-17T17:57:00.001-05:00

Stay At Home Challenge

2007-11-04T18:45:00.001-05:00

Quiltart participants had a "stay at home challenge" for those of us not going to Houston.

The challenge was to make a Priority Quilt for Alzheimer'sArtQuiltInitiative, using materials available at hand. http://amisimms.com/alartquin.html

Mine is called "feeding frenzy" 9x11.5 made from scraps laying on my cutting table.

Others can be viewed at http://dianedidit.com/stayathome.html.

2007-11-02T20:27:00.000-04:00

Journal Quilts 2007

2007 is the final year of the Journal QuiltPages project, originally proposed by Karey Bresenhan, Director of the International Quilt Festival. It was to be "a free-form exercise in creativity, specifically planned to encourage quilt artists to stretch and grow."

The journal format changed from a monthly 8x11 quilt to one 14x20 quilt.

A Page from my Book:
Journal quilts 2007 – Journal Quilt Project

Katherine McNeese
Williamston, North Carolina
USA

Treehouse

Creative Quilting techniques used:
Phototransfer and threadpainting (p. 23)
Raw edge appliqué (p. 73)
Linda Schmidt’s landscape techniques (p. 91)

This is the view from the treehouse I want to have someday:
A hideaway, a sanctuary, a place for recharging.
It is also about growing,
about what making art means to me,
about my journey.

This quilt proved challenging.
I tried techniques that didn’t work:
layering sheers and printing on Extraorganza to create depth,
painting on Timtex, and painting on the batting,
appliquéing leaves in the foreground, which obstructed the view.

The background is phototransfer of an oak tree, which is then threadpainted to add detail. The nearer branches are raw edge fused, and the branch in the foreground is painted puff paint and painted Lutrador leaves which provides some transparency, as well as the feeling of being up in the tree.
The binding was a problem, but Sarah Ann Smith’s article in Quilting Arts (August/September 2007) reminded me of the idea of a sheer binding. I recycled some of the already printed Extraorganza into a fused sheer binding (p 63).

2007-11-02T20:20:00.000-04:00

I can no longer post to the old BHQ,

so this is the lauch of BHQ2.