New month - new challenge

I have been pondering a lot on what to choose as our next theme. There were many suggestions on my pad, but I had to choose one. It is February, and soon Valentines day, and, this may seem rather trite, but our next theme is:

LOVE

Love can be so much more than a Valentin card or present:

- people we love, children, family, our loved ones...
- nature
- film or books
- history
- colour
- fabric and thread
- some beautiful lines and texture
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The list can go on and on. Go in yourself, find what you love, and make something beautiful out of it.

Enjoy, Greta

Escape

At first glance, this was an interesting theme. But when I started working with it, I had problems how to solve it as a quilt. I decided to go abstract, focusing on this:
Escape = an act of breaking free from confinement or control.
We live in a world where, in certain environments, being "out of the box" is not always a good thing.  You have to fit in. So, I've tried to show this by breaking it all down to squares - in rows - with military precision, except for the one escaping and blooming. Because these people are sometimes regarded like    a weed, like a dandelion. They are strong, beautiful, full of colour, they have freed themselves from the rules of the garden and pop up wherever they want!

Holiday

This theme was quite a challenge. There were so many thoughts about this word, many positive and some negative, so my first thought was to make a weave of positive and negative memories, printed words on dark and light fabrics and then weave them together.

The word "Memories" also made me think of all those lovely holidays I and my family spent in Italy every spring for many years , about 35-40 years ago. Trying to interpret this lovely time I painted, with acrylic paint, a seascape with sand, water and sky. The beach is stamped with  irregular circles also  seed beads and some cotton beads and stitching were added in order to attain texture.  Parasols, sun and glitter were fused. The piece is hand quilted with silk and metallic threads.

My intention for this quilt was to make a simplified seascape which should give an impression of a peaceful and lovely time on the beach.

This was the first time I made a wholecloth quilt painted with acrylics.

Material used: Cotton fabrics, acrylic paint, seed beads, cotton beads, silk and metallic threads, cotton and polyester batting.

WORDS

WORDS

When this theme "Leave your mark" was announced I start to think of threads. Threads that I have used and use for sewing knitting, weaving, crocheting etc. and other threads, "threads" that we leave for generations to come, our DNA. Another idea was handwriting, a very personal mark. I left the thread idea and started  to write on fabric. I wrote some sentences on a piece of hand dyed cotton. Sentences that had to do with how to discover and develop our own personal style as artists.

Such as:

- In following what attracts you will develop your style.

- What you like is your strength.

- Keep your weaknesses in proportion.

- If you follow your own strengths your style will emerge.

Some of the words occurring in the handwritten text were chosen  and letters from the chosen words were cut out, fused  and machine quilted on the background fabric.

Material used: Hand  dyed cotton fabrics, polyester and rayon threads, fusible web and a 80/20 polyester/cotton wadding.

 

 

"OMNIPRESENT" - Deborah Wirsu

The concept of something that occurs, or that we do 'every single day' proved a great challenge for me.  At first, so many different ideas raced through my mind - from daily activities or events to concepts such as birth and death, growth and decline, which occur every day, somewhere, sometime.

After discussing this theme with a friend, and tossing around several possibilities, eventually the concept of 'omnipresence' settled in my mind. Omnipresence, to me, represents 'presence everywhere, at all times' - therefore - every single day.

My friend (of the aforementioned discussion) has long wanted me to create a quilt based around the Fu Dogs (Lion Dogs) that guard the entrance to many Asian temples and monasteries, but after weeks of shuffling paper and designs, nothing was falling into place that satisfied me. In the end, after sifting through and seeking inspiration in photos of my Asian travels, I arrived at the idea of using Buddha to represent 'every day', an omnipresent being, rather than for any religious interpretation. Wherever there is a statue or representation of Buddha, there is the suggestion that Buddha is present everywhere - simultaneously all-knowing and all-being.

Somewhere along the design process, I found myself drifting towards Manga style, which is a very unusual direction for me. However, I found that the simplified, cartoon style allowed me to represent the simplicity and tranquillity that I wished for this Buddha.

The traditional 'Om' symbol in the background is used to represent the physical, mental and conscious worlds. For me, as a musician, it also resonates simply as a sound or vibration - a part of one’s being.

The piece is worked in cotton fabrics with raw edge machine appliqué, using satin stitch and free-motion edge stitch. The background is free-motion quilted.The piece measures 15" x 15".

My other quilts can be seen on my blog.

And Above Everything Mother Sun Shines

After evaluation of thoughts (and some other work) for the current theme ‘Every Single Day’ I settled for my inspiration from an old Danish song by a Danish comedian ‘And Above Everything Mother Sun Shines’. Though it is funny a line in the song it has meant much to me since my childhood. When times are tough or the sky is grey I often think of this particular line in the song and it seems to me to be the most true ‘every single day’ experience I know.

My intent for this piece was to show my interpretation of sunlight in contrast to the dark.

This is my third attempt and I decided to try a technique I have tried only once before. I made a wholecloth quilt with heavy batting.

After quilting I painted with acrylics.

Other designs can be seen on my blog.