Journal Quilts 2006 - Welcome Home

They arrived beautifully packed this past week. Thank you Houston!! The pieces look amazing to me. I haven't seen them in a long time. Looking at them now, I see a remarkable progression in the quality of my journal quilt work over the last three years. My technique and creativity has evolved!

For anyone who hasn't seen them, here they are along with the month in 2006 they were made and a description of each.

February - 'Starbirth' is based on Judy Dales' curves technique. Two blocks were designed in a finished size of 4.25" x 5.5". Two blocks of each design were then pieced. The identically-shaped blocks are opposite each other on the diagonal. Polydown batting has been used, and the piece is finished with appliqued circles edged with beads.

March - This piece is a representation of a light pole from a personal photograph altered in Photoshop. The piece has a portion of the altered photo printed on fabric in it and incorporates raw-edge applique, Angelina fibers, Shiva Paintstiks and beading. (The purple/ maroon tentacles in the background represent branches of a tree that stood behind the light pole.)

April - This piece began as an exploration of how to create diagonal lines in fabric that meet along a seam. For embellishment, ribbons in a 'v' shape weighted by washers decorated with crystals and complementary beading have been added.

May - This piece is a completely fused top. The experiment in it was the binding which is variegated between the two principal colors of the journal quilt top.

June - This piece is based on the 'French-braided Quilts' technique. There wasn't enough 'braiding' made out of the selected fabrics to cover an entire journal quilt top, so the design was altered to use what was available. The overall image is reminiscent of a Japanese kimono.

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Visiting The Hague and Amsterdam (Netherlands), and Paris!

Since late March, I've been planning an international solo trip that included meeting up with friends. The planning is what makes a trip an adventure, and it was definitely fabulous -- now that it is in the rearview mirror -- so to speak. During my two weeks abroad, the sights visited included the: Mauritshuis, a lovely art museum (The Hague, Netherlands) Binnenhof (The Hague, Netherlands) Delft (Netherlands) Kasteel de Haar, a castle (Haarzuilens, Netherlands) Museum Speelklok (Utrecht, Netherlands) Walking Tour of Amsterdam (Netherlands) Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam, Netherlands) Van Gogh Museum (Amsterdam, Netherlands) Dutch Resistance Museum (Amsterdam, Netherlands) De Oude and Nieuwe Kerks aka old and new churches (Amsterdam, Netherlands) Anne Frank House (Amsterdam, Netherlands) Sainte Chapelle/Conciergerie (Paris, France) Giverny - Monet's residence at one time (outside Paris) Versailles (outside Paris) Musee d'Orsay/VR Event titled 1874 Impressionists First Exhibition

New Project in Progress

I'm working on a new project with multiple layers and shapes of different colored organzas. It is an interpretation of lighting on an ice rink...from a show I recently saw. There is a lot more stitching to do, but I like how its coming along. I'm learning organzas are not easy to work with especially when you layer them and have overlaid edges. The fabric also tends to ravel easily. This post also linked to http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com .

Concertina Dazzle Days

If you don't know what a Concertina Sketchbook is, it is folded paper (back and forth) that looks like the bellows of an accordion when done. Concertinas can be home-made or purchased, and they are fun to work in. The photos above are of three continuous two-page spreads from my own Concertina (the one on the right - the latest). The mark-making was done with Sharpie markers, Posca pens, Micron pens and Sakura PenTouch markers. All the shapes and color choices in the images above were spontaneous as well as the details. There was no plan. What I like about these is that each two-page spread collaborates with the next one and so on (as the designs spill over from one spread to the next). As new ones are created, they add to the wonderful visual feast. One of the things I love doing with these also -- is to crop sections and digitally mirror them to form symmetrical designs. The results are occasionally delightful. In fact, this one was made from such a process and has a n

Cay Denise

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