What is your PASSION?

I am passionate about the color blue. 
This is a detail of "Blue Immersion," which was selected!

"Blue Cogs" - detail

Yippee! Two of my quilts were accepted into "Shades of Passion," a juried quilt show opening October 2 in Southern California!

Both quilts - "Blue Immersion" and "Blue Cogs" were inspired by the color and texture of the blue fabrics in my stash and my love of intricate quilting designs.

The selected art quilts will grace the circular walls of the grand lobby and staircase of the Poway Center for the Performing Arts in Poway, California. They will also be on sale and available when the show ends October 31.

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What is your passion? That was the question posed to quilt artists earlier this year. Is it a certain color? A person or place? A favorite memory? "Shades of Passion," a show featuring quilts inspired by the passions of the artists, will be on display starting October 10 at the Poway Center for the Performing Arts in northern San Diego County. 

"Shades of Passion" Regional Showcase
Poway Center for the Performing Arts, Poway, California
October 2014

Quilt selected for "1000 Quilt Inspirations"

"Blue Cogs" - detail
Designs around the edges of the quilt were drawn
and painted with fabric and permanent markers 

One of my quilts has been accepted into the upcoming book, "1000 Quilt Inspirations," to be published by Quarry Press in January, 2015. Titled "Blue Cogs," it reminds me of some kind of wacky bobbin-winding machine. Maybe I should have titled it "Blue Bobbins and Thread!" I feel so honored to have a quilt selected by author Sandra Sider, a well-known artist, author and curator in the art quilt world.

"Blue Cogs"
Made with 100 percent cotton commercial and hand dyed fabric, pieced, fused, and
free motion quilted; couching of thicker threads around "cogs"

Dancing in my creative shoes

Fun. Fun. Fun. I feel like I'm dancing in my creative shoes!
I have Pandora set to "Road Trippin' Radio" and it's just right for the wonky cuts and piecing I'm doing right now.

I'll just post this sneak peek at what I'm doing, and then I've got to get back to it while the music is still kicking... Woo-hoo!!

Woof Woof!! Meet "Solly"

"Solly" in fabric, before quilting
(Note: the pink color is displaying much brighter than it actually is)

I've been watching the smiling image of "Solly," a sweet border collie owned by my friend Deanna, come to life on my quilt wall. It's always an adventure (kind of a scary one!) to start on a portrait quilt and wonder what the final product will look like. In this case, the guardian saint of doggie quilts has blessed us with this lovely image!

"Posterizing" the photo

How does something like this come together? I start with a photograph, and digitize it in Photoshop. It has to be "flattened" into a one-dimensional image that can be created in fabric. After many attempts and much angst, the likeness begins to appear.

Creating a pattern

I breathe a sigh of relief and start to make the pattern, by drawing the main lines onto wax paper. I won't bog us down with details here, but you can see it is a delicate process of tracing, drawing, comparing, re-drawing, re-drawing, second-guessing, and finally -- I have a pattern.

 Here are some of the pieces, showing how detailed this process can get!

Now it's time to choose fabrics... What is the right color for his fur? His eyes? Sometimes the color you think something is supposed to be is totally not the right color. Because Solly is black and white, I found that browns did not work in his fur. Black, white and grey were the dominant colors, with a touch of warm caramel for the eyes and three shades of peachy pink for his happy grin.

Choosing fabrics

Left eye

But wait -- we are far from finished! Now it gets even more intense, as I get out the threads and begin making choices, fill the bobbins, oil and clean my trusty Bernina, and contemplate quilting this puppy. (pun intended)

Check back soon as I post progress reports!

ALL THAT JAZZ

I'm having so much fun working on "Jazz One" and "Jazz Two," the first in a series of small musical quilts.

This is how it looked after cutting and placing black strips for the "piano keys."

I started with some purple fabrics I liked and began sewing strips together, adding in the brown tones. The black and white areas reminded me of the keyboard of a piano, so I added the black keys...

So far I've quilted the purple areas but left the "keyboard" open...  I'm thinking of quilting the outline of the white keys ... and maybe adding a little sparkle in the area above the keys.... perhaps quilt some music notes...? hmmm  We will see in my next post! Stay tuned! (hah!)

This is how it looked when I first started putting strips up on the wall, before I started visualizing the piano keys. I showed this to my sister and she said "oh, jazz! It reminds me of jazz music!" That inspired me to explore further, and I'm glad I did! 

Feeling blue means feeling happy!

"Feeling Blue"

I love the color blue. It calms me and centers me. Instead of feeling blue as in feeling "down" -- I like to turn it around. When I feel those "blues" sneaking up on me I start getting out my favorite blue fabrics and diving in. I like to soak my eyes in all the hues of blue, from the deep purple-ish and violet blues to blue jean denim blues, teal blues, sky blues... I love them all...

"Feeling Blue" detail

"Feeling Blue" detail

"Feeling Blue" detail

"Feeling Blue" is my latest study in blue. I pieced some of my favorite blues together, centered around an abstract black and white strip (another favorite motif). Then I played with several quilting styles on this. You can see the variety in the detail shots. 

There is one panel with two angel fish in it -- see them swimming around?!

Angel Fish swimming on the quilt surface

How itty bitty bits come together

"I don't know how you girls take bits of fabric not big enough to blow my nose on and make beautiful quilts..."  -- quote from my brother

Yeah, I have a funny brother, but his observation isn't that far off.  How do those tiny squares, triangles, and other little pieces of fabric go together to make something beautiful and functional? I took photos along the way to show a peek at the process. . . .

Bits and pieces near the beginning...

The finished product!

Kind of like a zigsaw puzzle

Sewing it together

Ironing seams

More ironing (I actually like ironing now!)

The sides of the pouch, ready to sew together (The brown pieces are for the lining)

Butterfly painted purses

Whoever gets one of these purses 

will be carrying their very own piece of art!

First, I "painted" these butterfly wings for a new quilt -- with marking pens and rubbing alcohol!!!

Then I cut up the bottom wing (which hadn't turned out the way I wanted) to create these original hand-painted purses!

How it began ...

A couple of months ago I tried my hand at painting on fabric - using - surprise - marking pens! Yes! You can use Sharpie permanent markers to create beautiful effects on fabric - in this case, plain white 100% cotton. And shading can be done with a mixture of rubbing alcohol and water! Who would have thought? 

After "drawing" in the color with marking pens, I used a paintbrush dipped in the alcohol solution to dilute and "spread" the color on the edges.

After I created the butterfly wings I decided I didn't like the bottom wing and cut it up to use some of the painted fabric to use in my purses! (I will paint another bottom wing to finish the butterfly quilt...)

Whoever gets one of these purses will be carrying their very own piece of art!

More photos here.

All creatures great and small ...

More animal pouches on their way to Cambria for the art show this weekend! 

Stop by my sister's studio - Patricia Griffin Ceramics - at The Old Schoolhouse on Main Street to check it out! She will be featuring functional art by four unique artists in her studio space! Things will be jumpin!

It's all part of the Cambria Art and Wine Festival this weekend, Jan. 24-26 - where you can stroll through town, dropping in to boutiques and art galleries while enjoying a cup of coffee or delicious beverage of your choice!

Emeralds on the brain

I've been dreaming of these lovely gemstones and wanted to work on something something with gradations of color. Here's a bit of the "playing" stage... more to come soon....

"Emeralds" in the woods

"Square-Cut Emeralds"
34 x 24 inches

Today I finished this "modern quilt" and photographed it in our woodsy back yard. It was inspired by the "Pantone 2013 Color of the Year" Emerald Quilt Challenge, created by Ali at www.asquaredw.com.



I free-cut everything with my rotary cutter (no measuring, no ruler) for a "wonky" effect when the slight curves were pieced together, which reminds me of the Gee's Bend quilts. The blue-green squares represent square-cut emeralds, and the white stripe in the center represents the "sparkle" of the gemstone. I quilted it in one big spiral with my walking foot. I've included pictures of earlier stages of the quilt and the back ...

Quilts quilts quilts quilts quilts

Since this is a brand spanking new blog, I have a lot of white space to fill! And why is there a three year gap in my quilting?

In 2009 I became so ill with a disabling disease that I could no longer quilt. I spent several years bedridden and using a wheelchair to get to doctor and hospital visits. A life-changing surgery in November of 2012 freed me and now I feel like a young kid charging out onto the playground! Being able to walk, sit at my machine, and drive to the fabric store are things I no longer take for granted.

So I'm blowing the dust off the Bernina and jumping in! Life is GOOD!

Take the Steps
54 x 38

Take the Steps, detail

A sampling of quilts

Here are a few of my quilting explorations so far....

• Take the Steps - 2003, Juried into "Sacred Threads" Exhibition, Columbus, OH
• Sarah with Guitar - 2008, private collection
• Lake Quilts - 2004, Exhibited at "Les Femmes Artists" and televised on local NBC affiliate
• Looking at You - 2006 - Juried into "Fragments" Exhibit, Museum of Art, Bakersfield, CA
• Faces - 2007, Juried in "Portraits" Exhibit, Liberty Art Gallery, Yreka, CA
• Dancing Green - 2008, Recycled Challenge, Quilting Arts Magazine, private collection

Sarah with Guitar, detail

Sarah with Guitar
28 x 20

Starry Lake
16 x 12

Moon Lake
16 x 12

Magenta Lake
16 x 14