The Story of my Folk Art Quilt

July, 2008 our friend Bob Schuelke was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. Bob and his wife Jana had retired to SC after having lived and worked many years in Canada. They spent the Summer in Canada and the Winter in SC. Before the move they had decided that if either of them became seriously ill they would move back to Canada.

They sold their house without having to put it on the market and moved to their condo in Canada. (Just a little note about socialized medicine.) Bob received immediate and wonderful health care during the year of his illness. So much for the naysayers of National Health Care. However, the cancer had spread and he passed away this past July.

I knew I wanted to make something for Jana but really didn't know what. During my visit to my friend Mary Lou Weidman's blog I saw a pillow she had painted for a friend who had lost her husband. The image on the pillow was a guardian angel. Although I had never painted a whole piece on fabric before I decided that I would like to do something like this for my friend Jana.

I started out with the idea to made a male guardian angel pillow about 12 or 14 inches square. My pillow morphed into a 23" wall hanging. As I was searching images, including coloring books, for a folk art looking male, I saw an image of a dog. Light bulbs went off. Jana and Bob had a much loved Shelton Sheep dog named Skeeter. Soon after they moved back to Canada, they had to have Skeeter put to sleep. The light bulb told me I had to put Skeeter in the design as well.

I couldn't find and image that I felt would work so I asked my husband if he would pose for me. Bob always sat in the same chair in his home and that is the way I remember him. I sketched my husband's body but used Bob's features to do his face. I then sketched Skeeter and added him to the design.

There are items in the drawing that pertain to Bob, his heart of gold, his book about economics, the boarder fabric relating to his love of the Southwest. Many of the quotes I chose had meaning, in my mind anyway, as to the love I felt was shared between Jana and Bob and Skeeter.

Jana is visiting SC to help hang a fiber art show by the Thread Heads at the Duke Power facility here in Seneca. I had her and friends Harry and Judy Rapelje over for dinner last night and gave the wall hanging to her. It was very emotional for all of us. I hope that this wall hanging will bring Jana joy, it did me while in the making.

The Making of my Folk Art Piece

I decided that I would use big stitch and echo around the clouds for quilting the bottom half. This thread was hand dyed. I wanted to quilt stars in the top part of the quilt and used silver thread. This thread came on a cardboard with several other threads, don't know who made it. I found it difficult to work with it as it shredded easily. I had a limited amount of this thread and used every little bit.

I wanted the clouds and wings to stand out from the background so did not quilt inside of them. I hope that they do not start to sag. Would like to know how to quilt in the lettering part without distracting from the letters.

This was my first painted folk art piece. I am by no means an expert. I had problems that I would love to work out. I would also like to know more, much more about the technical aspects of this technique. Hopefully I can do that.

The Making of my Folk Art Piece

Bob was a lover of the Southwest. He was also an art collector and loved beautiful things. I chose the boarder fabric for several reason, it has the colors that I associate with the Southwest and I purchased this fabric in Taos, NM on an Elderhostel trip with my husband. Bob and Jana introduced us to Elderhostel.

The piece is yet unquilted. You will notice that I decided to paint the collar a lighter shade of blue.

The Making of my Folk Art Piece

This photo shows almost all the painting done. I intentionally left the collar and button bracket unpainted because I wasn't sure if I would paint it or leave it white. I had not decided, at this point, what I would put on the book.

I still need more quotes to fill the space on the clouds. More research on the Internet.

The Making of my Folk Art Piece

This image shows a close up of the hearts, I explain those in the next post. Bob was very interested in the nations economics and politics. He taught courses at Clemson University Life Long Learning Institute, in Economics. Thus the book about economics.

The Making of my Folk Art Piece

I have finished the background painting and started with painting Bob and Skeeter. I had decided that I would add a heart to Bob's shirt and paint it gold. I always felt that Bob had a heart of gold. Skeeter's heart in his ear just happened. When I was drawing the flip in his ear I noticed that it was in the shape of a heart. Serendipity?

Writing is almost finished. It took more quotes than I had imaged to fill the spaces I wanted.

The Making of my Folk Art Piece

I went to the Internet to find quotes about love and dogs. I found several sites and ran copies off. I was selective in choosing the quotes for my friend. Since I didn't know what I was doing I started with writing the quotes. I did not paint the fabric white, I wrote on the raw fabric.

In this photo I ran out of quotes and started painting the background. I had asked my friend Mary Lou Weidman what paint she used etc. when she worked on her painted pieces. She answered me quickly. She uses Versatex and she recommended a stiff brush. Fortunately I had Versatex and was able to get started.

The Making of my Folk Art Piece

I used PFD fabric as my base and traced from a paper drawing using an ultra-fine pigma pin. I was concerned about the pin making blobs of ink when I paused but it was easier than I had thought. I just had to keep my mind on what I was doing and not pause at the end of a line.

By the way I used my husband as a model to get the body, especially the legs in perspective.

First Folk Art Piece

This is my first attempt at painting a Folk Art quilt. More about this piece tomorrow.

Introducing Judy Heyward

A close-up of some of Judy's beautiful work.

Focus Art Quilt Group recently invited Judy Heyward to join us as a member. Judy and I met several years ago at QSC, Quilter's of SC, our state guild. My first memory of Judy's work came through a quilt she designed and, I think, made for the Charleston Guild as their raffle quilt for a show several years ago. We were at QSC Fall Retreat and I went into one of the class rooms where they had the quilt displayed. It wasn't even quilted yet but I was so taken with the design, the color, everything about the quilt. I asked if they were selling tickets yet and the answer was yes. Unfortunately I didn't win the quilt but for Judy this quilt was a turning point in her quilting career.

Judy recently move from the Charleston, SC area to Hendersonville, NC. That puts her closer to Focuses neck of the woods and we are excited to have her a a new member. Judy is a quilt teacher and a very good one, if you get a chance to take one of her classes, do.

Judy presently has a show at the NC Arboretum in Asheville NC. I haven't been able to get there yet but from the photos on Judy's blog it looks great. You can reach Judy at her web site www.judithheyward.com or read her blog at judithheyward.blogspot.com.

I hope you enjoy the photos of just a little of her work. Welcome to Focus Judy!

Introducing Judy Heyward

Judy showed us the center for a new piece she is starting. Looks like another winner.

Introducing Judy Heyward

This is just a small section of a new piece Judy is working on. We'll watch is move along and I can't wait to see it finished.

Introducing Judy Heyward

"Say It with Flowers" won a blue ribbon at the Asheville, NC quilt show this Fall.

Introducing Judy Heyward

Judy showed us her just finished "Whiter Goest Thou" quilt. Judy designs her quilts from start to finish and does such a wonderful job. She describes herself as a type A personality, though for health reason she's trying to change that, and you can see that coming through in the perfection of design and execution.

Introducing Judy Heyward

Can you believe that this is actually the back of the quilt?

Introducing Judy Heyward

"Ladies of the Night"

Introducing Judy Heyward

A close-up of Judy's "Ladies of the Night". I suggest you click on the photo to see the great quilting done by Judy.

Introducing Judy Heyward

Judy saw a mirror that had a decorated fabric frame in a magazine. She altered their directions to make a sturdier frame and used her own designs to make these beautifully framed mirrors. Of course, Judy's magnificent quilting added to the beauty.

The image you see in the mirror is Judy Simmons taking a photo of the mirrors. I rather liked capturing Judy's image.

Focus Fiber Art Meeting for November

Focus welcomed a new member this month, Judy Heyward. Judy recently moved to our area from the low-county of SC. We are so happy to have her as a member of our group. Judy is truly an amazing quilter/designer and I look forward to sharing some of her work. Because I want to do her work justice I am going to introduce Judy on my next post.

Focus Fiber Art Meeting for November

Martine House has started a new "Offering". These are truly amazing pieces of art work as well as jewelry. This is the necklace that will held in an amazing piece of art work. Check Martine's web site WWW.housefiber.com for photos of her "Offerings".

Focus Fiber Art Meeting for November

This is the beginning of Martines new offering.

Focus Fiber Art Meeting for November

Martine has started a new "offering". I wish you could see this in person they are truly amazing. I will continue to follow her progress and post later.

Focus Fiber Art Meeting for November

Marge Edie has been working on a new quilt from a weaving pattern. She seems to be very unsure as to how to continue with this piece. Last month when she brought it to Focus the consensus of the group was that the back was very, very interesting. This would be a very large leap for Marge if she decides to go in that direction. It will be interesting to follow the progress to see how Marge decides to go with this piece.

Focus Fiber Art Meeting for November

Here Marge shows a quilt she made from one of her old weaving designs. It is wonderful when you can see the whole piece.

Focus Fiber Art Meeting for November

It is so interesting to me that eleven quilters can come together and none of our work looks like the others. We use totally different techniques, choices of color pallet and designs.

Judy Simmons is our guru of printing techniques, as in computer printing. Actually not just computer printing but various printing techniques as well. Judy experiments a lot, a trait I wish I possessed. I don't think I have meet anyone who loves fabric as much as Judy. She recently went to a fabric store where she went in her words "dumpster diving". Judy found some great fabric to experiment with and experiment she did. I wish I had taken photos of her samples because they were so interesting.

Another thing Judy does that I fine a great idea, but never do, is make a sample book of her experiments. That way she knows what she did to get what she got. I know you understand that last sentence.

If you haven't done so already I would recommend you read Judys blog "Windy Hill Happenings". The address is on my favorites list. Judy is one of the most sharing quilters I've ever met and shares a lot of information on her blog.

Focus Fiber Art Meeting for November

Diana Pickens is our resident stripe expert. Diana experiments with strips and comes up with some amazing patterns. She brought this piece to the last Focus meeting and the group encouraged her to make this piece larger so she could enter it into a show. Diana has decided to take off one of the strips to make it square and add to the piece. By the way this photo does not show the whole quilt.

The center block is shown in the next post.

Focus Fiber Art Meeting for November

This is the center block of the quilt Diana's working on. Click to get a larger photo and you will see, not only the center stripe but the soft changes in the black fabrics Diana chose.

Focus Fiber Art Meeting for November

Veronica Moriarty continues to work on her boat piece. The boats are fabulous. The group gave Veronica a few suggestions on making the water more realistic. Can't wait for Veronica to get this part done and see what she does with her quilting.

Last posting on my exhibit

My friend Judy Rapelje took a few photos at the opening and sent them to me today. Hope you don't mind just one more post about the show.

Last posting on my exhibit

Another photo of people viewing the exhibit

Opening Reception at The Arts Company

The opening of my show "Wall Art" was held last night at The Arts Company in Seneca, SC. I arrived a little after the opening time and found the gallery quite packed. I didn't expect people to be arriving right at the opening time.

I was quite nervous for some reason. Perhaps I just didn't know what to expect. Everyone was very kind with their remarks about the whole body of work.

My husband was in charge of taking photos for me and very dutifully changed the batteries in the camera before we left. After about six or seven photos the camera quit working. Today he found that one of the batteries was bad. I was happy to have the following photos, I hope you enjoy.

Opening Reception at The Arts Company

Just a few of the crowd that attended opening night.

Opening Reception at The Arts Company

Warren always has a little bit of Bluegrass music during the openings. These groups are always well received.

Opening Reception at The Arts Company

Viewing the art.

Opening Reception at The Arts Company

Some of the crow at the opening. Warren has a great inventory of jewelry, pottery, glass and wood gift items.

Opening Reception at The Arts Company

I thought this was an interesting photo my husband took of me. It looks a little like I am the body of a moth.

Opening Reception at The Arts Company

This is some of the group present at the opening.

My Exhibit at The Arts Company

When Warren Carpenter, owner of The Arts Company asked me to do this show I almost said no. One of the reason was that I show my work in this area quit a lot and I didn't feel I could get enough new pieces ready. I had a couple of very productive weeks in the studio and email Warren that I thought I could get a show together.

I finished the last piece on Monday afternoon before hanging the show on Tuesday. When I discussed this show with Warren I told him that I had made two successful quilts that originated from a drawing that I had made in school almost 25 years ago. While I was thinking about the drawing I remembered that I had also made a print of the same image in a printmaking class. That lead me to consider hanging both with the two quilts that were inspired by the drawing. Warren is so easy to work with and he totally agreed that we should hang them.

When I decided to use this pattern I was ready to move on a little from my large brightly colored floras, in other words to break out of my box. "A Touch of Red" resulted in my breaking out. I decided to go from lots of color to only black and white. However, after the quilt was finished I just had to add a touch of red. I've never done any bead work but felt that beads would be a great additions to this piece. It was judged into Houston, Paducah and the members show at Visions 2008. Just recently both this quilt and "Peacockiness" were juried in the book by Lark Publishing Co, "500 Art Quilts". This book is due out in the Spring.

After I finished this quilt I didn't feel that I was through with this image so "Peacockiness" was born. Again I reverted back to my brightly colored fabrics to create the image. I always create my flower and then find a great backing fabric for the piece. I believe that the backing can and does make or break a piece. I couldn't find a piece large enough so I created the back out of several beautiful hand-dyed fabrics purchased from my friend, Marjan Kluepfel. I cut these pieces on the curve and then pieced them together to create the background. I asked my friend Diana Pickens, a wonderful machine quilter, if she would consider collaborating with me on this pieces. She accepted the challenge and it was also juried into Paducah and Houston

Hope you enjoy!

My Exhibit at The Arts Company

I decided to go back to school when I turned forty-two. I had two children in college at the time and a wonderful husband who figured out how to pay for three tuitions in one year. I wanted to go to art school but didn't know if I had and artist within me. I decided that I would take Drawing 101 and if I could keep up, I would add more classes and challenge myself.

This pencil drawing is from that class and the print is from a printmaking class I took later.

My Exhibit at The Arts Company

"Sunshine"
"Sunset"
"Mama's Butterflies"

My Exhibit at The Arts Company

"Luminescent" and "Reflections on Peggys Cove"

"Luminescent" was a turning point for me in my series of large flowers. I felt that I was able to convey,through careful fabric choices, the sun shinning through the rose petals.

"Reflections on Peggys Cove" is a return to creating landscapes. It's been a while since I've worked on a landscape. This particular piece has been used in my classes as a demo for about four or five years. I developed a way to demo the construction of a landscape ahead of my class so that I could show the process quickly. I decided that I would finish this piece for this show and retire it as a demo.

My Exhibit at The Art's Company

This is the wall you see when you enter the gallery at The Art's Company. Warren Carpenter, the owner and I hung my show today. I'm really pleased with the way everything looked together. The opening for the show is Friday night, Nov. 20, from 5:30 to 8:30. As the week progresses I will add more photographs of the exhibit. My husband will be taking photos the night of the opening and I will post those later as well.

This wall shows several of my portraits. The piece to the far left is titled "Nope He's not in There". The photo I worked from was taken by Logan's Mother. She now owns this quilt and allowed me to show it in my exhibit. The two similar quilts are of my granddaughter, Hannah. I made the larger quilt from a photo I took of her at the beach. I made this quilt for my daughter, Lorin and her husband Trent for Christmas several years ago. I missed the quilt so much that I decided to make a "Mini Hannah". The other quilt will get more space to itself later.

That's all for today, hope to add more tomorrow.

My Exhibit at The Art's Company

"Mama' Butterflies"

Some of you may remember that I posted this quilt a while back asking for suggestions because the crocheted butterflies disappeared into the background.

I was aware that the problem laid with the value. However, I really wanted to use my Mother's crocheted butterflies on this piece. I had tried adding purple butterflies and again the value was a little to close.

I decided, for sentimental reason, I would use the crocheted butterflies over purple images even with the value problem. Actually in the gallery with great lighting the images show up well. They even project neat shadows. This quilt is a tribute to my Mother.

Below is an image of the whole quilt.

My Exhibit at The Art's Company

"Mama's Butterflies"

My Exhibit at The Art's Company

"Nope, He's Not in There" and "Peacockiness"

One of my son's is an Entomologist at the San Diego Natural History Museum so any time I find an insect that interest me (which is often) I make up a design for a quilt.

This piece is titled "Blue Atlas". I used a photo of an Atlas Moth, the moth was actually collected by my other son, Lee. I was trying to follow the markings on the moth and decided I didn't like what was happening. I didn't like the fabric I had used for the body as well.

Soooo! I started over and used this beautiful blue hand-dyed fabric. I then decided that I would fussy cut pieces out of a printed fabric to make the markings.

I generally make my image and then decide on the background. It was a no-brainer, in my opinion, to use black. I also had some hand-dyed thread in the colors opposite of the color wheel to the blue. I decided to hand quilt the black background with big stitchs using moths motifs.

More on "Peacockiness" in a later post.!

High Fiber Art Group

We had our regular meeting last Thursday at The Loft, a gallery in Seneca, SC. Our experiment for the month was to felt fabric. We could make anything we wanted with the felted fabric. Below are quite a variety of projects.

I'd like to comment on what I'm doing a little in this post as well. I put the last stitch and embellishments on my quilts today in preparations for my exhibit. I have sore fingers and neck and I am so happy to have this project finished.

While I was working this morning my phone rang at about 10:30. It was Warren Carpenter, the owner of The art's Company where my exhibit will hang. I was supposed to be there this morning, not tomorrow morning. Warren was so nice about my misunderstand and we will hang the show tomorrow.

I have lots of plans for things I've been putting off while working on this exhibit. My studio is a horrible mess and I plan to clean and rearrange the room. I need to catch up on some other house things. But as I sit here all the ideas for more quilts keep playing through my mind. I don't think I will be away from my studio as long as I thought I might.

High Fiber Art Group

Barbara Sokol decided to knit a bag to felt for her project. This is one MAMA Bag! I can't wait to see it after she washing it in hot water. I think it is going to make a great bag. It just has to shrink a little or she could use it as a suit case. I'm only kidding Barb.

High Fiber Art Group

Sandra Riswald keeps coming up with the most interesting pieces. When she felted her fabric it reminded her of a log. The result is this piece showing a woodlands scene with insects infesting the log.

High Fiber Art Group

Diane G. is using an apple as the theme for all the projects we are working on in High Fiber. After we finish she will put them together in a quilt. Here is felted this piece. Small holes came appeared in several places. I like that effect.

High Fiber Art Group

Bonnie O made this really useful oven mitt as part of the felted project.

High Fiber Art Group

Bonnie attended the Animal Fiber Fair in Asheville, NC. She bought a scrap bag of really neat pieces. Bonnie is working on this small piece. It was one of the pieces in the bag.

High Fiber Art Group

Bonnie Ouellette found a white wool blazer at a thrift store for $1.00. She decided to dye some of the fabric using jello. This were dyed with sugar-free jello. How cleaver.

High Fiber Art Group

Marge Edie was a weaver in her former life. Last year she decided that she would like to reconnect with the medium and took a class. She is again enrolled in a class and this is a close-up of the design she brought to show.