SAQA 2011 Benefit Auction

So I've made three small quilts now, one of which will be my submission to the SAQA 2011 Benefit Auction (http://www.saqa.com/) in September.

The first one is a series of small jewels of fabric I printed with my Oshiwa blocks in gold fabric paint on batiks, which I then embedded into a hand-painted background of black Kona cotton stitched with a double needle in an abstract grid pattern. The jewels are outlined in another batik, sewn in an adaptation of a bound buttonhole, familiar to people who actually sew clothing!

The second one is more simply composed of a double-needle-stitched background with three mini-quiltlets I printed with my Oshiwa blocks appliqued on top. Each of the mini-quiltlets has it's own batting and backing and is finished with muliple-thread satin stitching. On the left side I've attached some of my textured "strings" made of strips of fabrics, sheers, embroidery thread, and other stray bits from my sewing table, all stitched together by machine with an interesting thread. These "strings" here represent the grasslands that these African animals live in.

The third piece features a hexagonal print of a croc framed with a geometric block (both from Oshiwa of course) extensively quilted to make him at home in the nest of scraps of African fabrics I freemotion stitched all around him. I have quite a few African fabrics in my stash, and my scrap bag is still full-----I may have to make more pieces like this!

One of these will go to SAQA very soon...unless I have another idea and make yet another possible donation quilt. So many ideas, so little time! :)

Fabric Shopping in Gabon

I thought you might like to see what a typical fabric shopping trip looks like here in Libreville. It's a great way to spend a couple of hours!! I often go to a neighborhood called "Petit Paris" and look at African fabrics in one or two (or more) of the small shops there. The typical shopper is buying fabric to have clothing made, so the shops sell fabric in six yard chunks. This is more than I'd normally buy for a project, but since I have a group of friends here who are also interested in making quilts from African prints, we trade amongst ourselves, and end up with a slection of one-yard lengths to play with.

So here's a dashboard photo of the street along the way.....don't worry, a friend is driving! And a couple of photos of the fabrics stacked floor to ceiling in the shop. What a great riot of color! It's so hard to choose just a couple of pieces and leave the rest there----they might be gone next time we come shopping! It's true I tend to want to buy everything, but I do manage to leave some of the fabric there for the next person, or the next shopping expedition. :)

I've also included here a photo of some of the signs marking the fabrics that have been chosen as the group fabric for people's weddings or anniversary celebrations. The tradition here and in several other parts of Africa is that invited guests can come to the fabric shop and see which print the bride and groom or the anniversary couple have chosen for all the guests to wear. The guests then buy the fabric and have clothing made out of it, and everyone at the celebration has an outfit that matches! It's a great custom, and makes everyone invited feel part of the event. It also makes for great group photos!

The Purplemeister

I've finally finished a project I started with some friends in Canada! Of course, the deadline passed some time ago, but I couldn't have been in the show anyway, since I'm a bit far away.... Anyway, it's purple. It's not just a little bit purple, it's VERY purple. It started as a color study exchange with some fiber art friends. We pulled colors out of a hat to start, and I got purple. Then when we added a second color, I got red. Yellow was the third and last color I got, and this quilt is the piece that I made from the blocks the other members of the group made for me.

I've inserted a photo of the square blocks I received in the exchange, and and another of the quilt that grew out of the blocks. I've included a detail shot showing one block stamped with an Oshiwa block done by a friend who had been in one of my fabric stamping classes! For now, I'm calling this piece the Purplemeister---it just seemed appropriate somehow.... :)

Reporting in from Libreville, Gabon

After a short break (ok, it's been over a year!) I'm now writing from Libreville, Gabon, where my husband has taken up his posting as Ambassador in the U.S. Embassy here. We arrived in October, and have been happily exploring this extravagantly green country since then. I'm putting in just a couple of photos to give you an idea of our surroundings. One is of the Residence and the other is one of the beautiful sunsets we are priviledged to enjoy almost daily. It's been wonderful to be back in Africa---I love the intense activity of life in the markets, and the vibrancy of the colors here, not to mention the sight of women (and some men) wearing clothes made from the fabulous African prints I just adore! I'm happy to report that I've managed (just) to avoid stopping the car every five seconds to ask if I can take pictures of yet another great outfit on a passerby.....

I'm busy working again, and as proof, I offer a photo of my design wall with some pieces that I'm working on now.

On the left is a black and white collection of fabric I've printed with my Oshiwa blocks, mixed with some commercial black and white prints. I haven't decided yet exactly how I'm going to put this together, but it will have vertical columns with some texture.....

On the right is a hexagon quilt top with a bright mix of fabrics I've printed or over-printed with Oshiwa blocks, assembled with pieces cut from some of my African prints. I'm contemplating borders and some fun quilting.....

In the center are the first two of a series of foot-square pieces I'm making with the idea that one of them will go to the SAQA auction. I printed up way too many pieces of great batiks with gold fabric paint, but working in a series is supposed to be good for artistic growth, so I'm having at it. :)

In the lower part of the center is a pillow-top in the making. I used one of my hexagons with a croc printed on it as a centerpiece, and then I stitched bunches of the scraplets from the hexagon quilt onto interfacing foundations to make the surrounding hexagons. It's pretty shaggy, which makes me happy, and isn't that what creating things is supposed to do?

Fiber Art Postcards for Wendy's Wish Foundation

The Stitchin' Post in Sisters Oregon not only organizes the most fun week of quilting activities I've ever attended, they also support Wendy's Wish Foundation, a Central Oregon non-profit that helps to make cancer screening and services available to those who cannot afford them. This year, I'm again participating in the Stitchin' Post's Wish Upon a Card Project by donating two fiber art postcards I made last month, both featuring fabrics I hand-stamped with Oshiwa blocks. On their way to Oregon are an elephant, with a funky, twisty and hairy fiber string trim, and a giraffe with a fancy fabric-lace frame. It was very fun to create these in support of such a good cause!

Oshiwa Tiles

Spring is definitely here, so I think it's time to post some photos of random colorful items to accompany the flowers starting to pop up in the gardens of Ottawa. To start, here you can see some Oshiwa tiles I've made using my blocks and model magic. The model magic is very easy to use and dries withut cracking or hardening, so you can make all kinds of fun items, paint them, and sew them to your fiber art. The Oshiwa blocks work very well to give texture to the model magic, and can be painted to resemble metal, or anything else. Definitely a fun technique to play with!

The art quilt above is Windhoek Sunset. At the bottom of the quilt you can see another example of an Oshiwa tile painted with gold fabric paint. It looks like metal, but it's very lightweight and is sewn to the quilt. Photo by Annaliese Moyer.

Snow Dyeing is Addictive!

I'm so sorry winter is over! I wish we could have more snow! Why? Snow dyeing. I took a class with Pat Hardie, and just loved it! Now I've snow dyed a bunch more fabrics, and am left lamenting the end of winter! I wonder if we can use the shavings from the ice rinks, or if the chemicals they use would cause problems? More on this later, if I can get a definitive answer...

In the meantime, here are some photos of the fabrics I dyed the first session. On the left is the whole piece, and a detail shot on the right.

I'll post photos of the fabric from the second dyeing orgy later. The detail that results from the snow is incredible---so beautiful it's hard to get a photo to do the fabric justice! Enjoy!