Circle blocks

My Beyond the Sunset art quilt bee had another challenge as well.  This one was to piece circle in solid colors onto white backgrounds.  Here are three of my circle blocks:

 Circle study #1

 Circle study #2

Circle study #3

Granted the photography is horrid (did you notice?), the colors are way off (the background is a white on white print), but I had to show my work, because I hand appliqued all my circles (the full, the open and the pieced arcs).

The finished quilt turned out fabulous (Thank-you Liz) and sold in our Quilt Guild's auction at our  quilt show this summer.

a challenge

Some time ago, one of my Art Quilt group members gave us a challenge to make a block with design inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's work and color inspired by a lovely floral print that she gave us (but do not use it in the blocks, please!).

Here are most of the blocks made by our crowd:

Aren't they grand?

I'm still waiting to see how they were all put together into a quilt ....

Cows in Chicago = ChiCOWgo

     I enjoy whimsical quilts and I saw a fabulous display of whimsy while attending the International Quilt Festival in Chicago last June.  Here are three quilts from that fun exhibit:

 

Vino Cow by Sandy Thompson 

 

 COWmen Miranda by Sue Cresse

 

Van Gogh’s Cow by Mary MacNeil

     Other quilts that appeared in the exhibit were Purple Cow, the Cow Jumped Over the Moon, and Cowculator (a mathematical genius of a cow, of course!). 

 

     The quilters made their quilts using The Purple Cow pattern from Mary Lou Weidman's and Melanie Bautista McFarland's book Out of the Box with Easy Blocks then added their own whimsical twists for this creative ChiCOWgo quilt exhibit.

Aren't they fun?  

Makes you want to drink a glass of milk....

.... maybe grab a cookie too.

Football?

Do you want to play a little game of football?

Houston Center for Contemporary Craft

My friend Susan Fletcher King will be returning to the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft in June as one of their Artists in Residence.  The artists' studio doors are open and visitors are welcome to pop in for a chat and to see what they are creating.

I can hardly wait to visit Susan there in her new studio.   Be sure to drop by and visit her too.  Tell her that I sent you! 

Hello there!

Where does the time fly too?  I cannot believe so many days, weeks (OK - months!) have passed since my last post.  Do you wonder what I have been up to?

It is rather simple - I've been consumed with many busy days with my Toddler class.  Here are three favorites from this year's fun projects:

Our classroom sukkah was decorated with toddler fruit last fall.

Twelve toddler interpretations of turkeys are from Thanksgiving time.

I love the variety of their vision.  By the way, the upside-down turkey is in the original orientation as chosen by its artist.

Rodeo season includes cow-branding onto bandanas and marble-rolling to create faux-leather cowboy boots.

Canon by Keiko Hasegawa

Every year I am intrigued, amazed and in awe of the quilts created and shown by Japanese quilters.  This year was no exception.  The quilt featured here is titled "Canon" and was made by Keiko Hasegawa.

This quilt was in the exhibit "Prize Winning Quilts from International Quilt Week Yokohama 2011", an exhibit sponsored by the International Quilt Week Executive Committee.  For another close-up of this spectacular quilt, click here.  Scroll down to the photo of a dime being held up to the quilt.  The hexagons are smaller than the dime! 

 Canon

by Keiko Hasegawa

of Ikoma, Nara, Japan

This quilt uses pieced, appliqued and quilted techniques with a design source listed as simply "Hexagon".

Keiko states:  "I've made a series of hexagon quilts.  We had a baby named Canon in 2011 and this is for her.  Listening to music, canons and singing along, I sewed this quilt."




Keiko Hasegawa hails from Ikoma, Nara, Japan.  The city of Ikoma was founded on November 1, 1971.  The Takayama district in the far northern section of the city is known for its bamboo products, including tea whisks, tea utensils, and knitting needles (knitting needles!  I love my bamboo knitting needles!). For more information on the city and its folklore and culture (including the culture of bamboo), click here or try  http://www.city.ikoma.lg.jp/en/