Valley Fiber Life

 

Two or three years ago the talented and lovely Marcia Young started a bit of a blog, Valley Fiber Life, about fiber art and artists in the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts, and I was lucky enough as a just barely expat of the Valley, to be one of her first interviews. Today Valley Fiber Life has several regular contributors and a broad umbrella for articles about great artists near and far, cool fiber-related videos, fantastic book recommendations, and a whole slew of other resources, including a wonderful free guide for offering critiques by art fabric legend Jane Dunnewold, which started me off on this post.

So the next time you need a hit of fiber fabulousness or a little inspiration to shake of your creative block, drop by Valley Fiber Life.

No animals were harmed and no fiber artists (including me) were paid for the production of this post.

Life Rolls Along

My husband always says there aren't as many hours in the day as I think there are. I don't know if that's true--I think the hours just aren't as long as they should be! :-)

I've been working on a commission for a wall hanging. I'm combining traditional applique with shisha mirror embroidery and ralli quilting styles and including motifs that represent everyday life for the family it's going to (as they do in Afghani rugs and embroidery from around the world.

So far I've drafted the pattern: 

 

dyed all the fabric and sorted and sanded the mirrors:

and finished the applique:

Now I'm sewing on the shisha mirrors. Had to check with the client to make sure she wasn't averse to the number 13 since that's how many mirrors my modified design requires.

I've also had a wonderful time teaching Quilting Basics at Heavenly Stitches Quilt Shoppe in Kingsport. By class this Saturday the students will have created all the main corner blocks in this sampler:

(c) Cindi Huss

This Saturday we tackle the middle block and the fan blades.

I have a great, enthusiastic class and we're having a lot of fun. This is the first time I've used this format (two classes each Sat. with a half-hour lunch in between so the class is 10-2:30 for only four weeks) and it seems to be working out well. I'm glad because the older my kids get the harder it is to find eight consecutive weeks free on any given day of the week!

I believe the next classes on offer will be my Finishing School class and Paper Foundation Piecing, so keep your eyes peeled!

The Good, the Bad and the Lovely

Well, time passes swiftly and a lot has happened in the past two months. The highlights are these, though.

The Good: WOOT! The City of Kingsport purchased my "Labyrinth" for their permanent collection. It will adorn the new V.O. Dobbins Community Complex. I hope to attend the opening on Friday and will be recording my artist statement for the cell phone audio tour of the public art later today!

"Labyrinth" (c) Cindi Huss.

The Bad: I accidentally felted the commission I was working on. OY! Forgot about the felting properties of the wool batting I was using. How? How could I forget?! Beats me since wool has become one of my major materials. Perhaps fatigue? Perhaps trying to do too many things at once? Perhaps because it was inside rather than on the surface. Anyhow, I've recovered from my initial shock and dismay and have decided it actually is a good thing because I am working on an even more wonderful version of the piece now. (Pascale, you are not alone. Unfortunately, the product has not been transformed into a coordinating rug.)

The Lovely: I got together with a couple of friends last month and we dyed. For two days! And we're going to do it again on Wednesday. We dyed yarn (for the knitter), leotards, tights, and silk gauze (for the dancewear designer), and I dyed wool prefelt and natural woven wool fabric to be backgrounds for my felt paintings.

Also, about three weeks ago, fellow quilter Pam Morris announced that she was done dyeing and ready to quilt up all her lovely fabric, so she was giving away all her dye supplies. For Free! So I drove over to Burnsville, NC, to pick up many containers of fiber reactive dye powder, many containers of mixed dye (poor thing sprained her shoulder before she could use it all up), a small plastic table, and loads of measuring implements, dye containers, rags, and auxilliary chemicals. I really appreciate it, Pam, and will let you know what we do with it!

Also, I'm about to send a couple of quilts and some fabric off to Timna Tarr of Q Tailored Quilts. I haven't plugged her recently, but Timna is fabulously talented and highly reliable, and her services are reasonably priced. I'll post photos when I get the quilts back.

Model City Art Show

Well, the awards for the Model City Art Show at FunFest were announced at a reception last Sunday while I was on the road from Wisconsin to Iowa, but my piece "Wending Onward" won one of the two presentation awards for the most effective/professional presentation of work.

I used a serious amount of stitching at the edges to create a quilted frame. This allows the design to continue all the way to the edge while still creating a visual "stop."

Congratulations to all the other winners:

Margaret Helvey (best in show)
Nancy D. Bilbro (second)
Tony Henson (third)
John Hilton, Rebecca Dunham, Diane Nelson, and JoAnn Wilkerson Lyle (awards of excellence)
Lily Horton and John Denner (student awards)
Thelma Wyatt (the other presentation award)
JoAnn Wilkerson Lyle again (Celebrate Kingsport award)

Roving II also is in this show, and here is its premier online showing as seen in the gallery:

Details aren't up on my website yet, but the background is a piece of fabric I dyed stretched on a frame over cotton duck, and the trees are a separate piece applied to the background. The main tree is needle felted and the other trees are created dimensionally with the quilting.


This is similar to the piece that appeared in the April 2010 Quilting Arts mag, but I wanted to try this presentation with something small so I could decide whether it works before committing to a larger piece.

The show, run by the Kingsport Art Guild, will hang through July 28, 2010, in the Main Art Gallery at the Renaissance Center, 1200 E. Center St. in Kingsport.

3132 Green Mixing Bowl

Well, I managed to make it to one meeting of the Kingsport Art Guild's June paint out, but it was one productive session. Found a great green mixing bowl (stock or booth number 3132) in the front window in great lighting with a table and chair just the right size to set up my felting. And here's the result:


This is the first time I tried "painting" with felt from life. Didn't know if the process would be fast enough or if it would be nerve-wracking, but it was very meditative and satisfying in the end. The only thing I'd have done differently was lifting the piece from the foam more often--the foam nearly became part of the final work!

It's hanging right now at a small exhibit of work from the paint out entitled Textures and Treasures at the Main Art Center in the Downtown Kingsport Association Building at the corner of Main and Shelby Streets.

Wazzup?

Well, it's summer and there is no such thing as routine for the next two months (and the one month behind us). That means there is no such thing as regularly getting work done, so I'm fitting in what I can when I can and joyfully enjoying my children, too.

When I'm waiting during dance or instrument lessons I'm usually sketching or stitching samplers for Sharon's commission. It took me a while, but I finally figured out that if I do my "draft" on muslin I don't have to rip it out if I don't like the color--I can just change the color and then stitch on the actual piece. So, for instance, here's a little piece I did last week.


I like the shape, but refined how to make the intersections less awkward as I went and tried out some other color combos along the edge.


Now I'm adding this motif to the final product--and I'll have a little mini "study" quilt to sell at some point as well. Muuuuuch better than ripping out stitches!

Had the blocks done for this.


My oldest, who likes things just so and symetrical, finds its asymetry annoying, but my youngest thinks it's swell.

It was to be a king-sized quilt for my bed, but hubby wants another "Almost Amish" quilt, so figured I'd had enough fun with these blocks and put them together.

I am very pleased with the result, particularly as I managed a horizontal rather than a vertical orientation for the first time in, I think, ever. I kept meaning to do a horizontal piece yet it would morph partway through and come out as an exaggeratedly tall and slender piece.

I am using the last two chapters of C.S. Lewis's The Last Battle to inspire the quilting and provide the title: "Further Up and Further In."

I have a couple of other thing in the queue, but Sharon's commission is my top priority this summer, so everything else is more of a back-burner project. She gets to be the first to see that piece, though, so no sneak previews here except the sort that you see above.

Acrylics on Fiber

Artists Deb Lacativa posted a letter she received from a Golden representative re: acrylic on fabric--UV resistance, sealing, various applications, and heat setting, among others. This is a treasure trove of information all in on place. I'm adding it here (my journal) so I remember it--hope you find it helpful, too.

BTW, Deb does exuberant work--check out her website.

Freebie

OK. It's not shiny or precious or fancy, but it is practical, useful, and best of all, FREE!

Advice!

For years I've heard even accomplished quilters fret and stress over the quilting phase of their work. And this anxiety seems to strike traditional and art quilters alike. Intellectually I can understand it--they've just spent something between hours and years on finishing a beautiful top and don't want to ruin it.

But emotionally, I am always eager for the quilting to begin. It's one of my favorite parts of the creation process and I've explored the limits of what works and doesn't over the years, so here are a few tips to make your next quilting project a success. Although the samples are traditional, these are the same principles I use in my art quilts as well.

1. Don't leave your motif floating in a sea of unquilted top

2. Make sure your motif is the right size for the space it fills.

3. Don't forget to fill in the blanks. A fill flattens the background and allows your main motif or the focal point of your art quilt to pop. For example, this:

becomes this:

Neither is terribly complex, but one is much more appealing.

4. Create visual layers by varying the direction and density of your quilting, and allow some motifs to cross the boundaries of your blocks.

5. If you want to emphasize something, quilt it less. If you want to de-emphasize it, quilt it more heavily. You can see how this works in the example above.

Just for fun, take a basic coloring book page . . . and color it as if you were five years old again. Now, if this were your quilt, every place that you colored should be quilted lightly and every place you didn't color should be quilted more heavily.

If you have specific questions, feel free to contact me.

I offer classes that addresses these sorts of issues, including "Designing Great Quilting Schemes" and "Sculpting with the Quilting Stitch." If your guild or group is interested in a class and/or lecture on either topic, I'd love to hear from you.

Cheers, Cindi

Free Stuff Soon!

Don't get all excited--I'm not giving away anything shiny or colorful . . . or green.

However, I'm madly working on a new talk that will partner with a new class and I thought, "You know, there's some information that every quilter needs to have . . . and I have it written down . . . so I think I'll post it."

I had time to think that but not time to post it since I have two talks this week and an article due for Quilting Arts next week. Hopefully this'll remind me to post it the week after that!

So check back then to find out what the heck I'm talking about and to see a few images from my new talk!

New Study

Well, I'm not doing much work this week. Between appointments for me and appointments for the kids and even an appointment for Speedy the leopard gecko . . . and cleaning the house and studio . . . well, I guess that's work in the real sense of the word, and I'm doing a lot of that, but not much of the creative sort.

However, last night while my youngest was at clogging class (another one of those little things that makes life worth living!) I did up a new study for a continuation of my "After the Storm" series:

This'll be a new large-scale work eventually. I'm working out the construction details in my head right now. As usual I'm making up several new techniques 'cause, hey, what's life without a little adventure and tears?!

I finally broke down after years of coveting them and bought a set of 24 Prismacolor artist markers.

If you've ever seen them you know why I waited so long--they are stupid expensive!! And really, how good can a marker really get?! Well, folks, assuming they last longer than the average marker, I am in love with them and am not experiencing any buyer's remorse.

The set has all my favorite lurid colors (as you can see above) and does things no other markers I've ever used can do. Lights can go on top of darks and change what's going on. For example, I added a tan color over my field of grain to fill in the bits of white and darken things up a little. That it did, but it also created the "waving" effect. Which led me to several of the experimental techniques I can't wait to try.

Besides, the case is really, really cool! :-)

Monotype Class

Monday I took a five-hour gelatin Monotype class with artist Kathy Gibian (offered through the Kingsport Art Guild). I had a great time and learned as much from seeing what other folks experimented with as from what I worked with. Monday we worked predominantly with silk screen inks, but yesterday I did some tube watercolor work with the plate as well. (Kathy was kind enough to allow me to take my plate home.) Interesting the different effects one can get--will have to experminet with combining them next time.

Anyhow, here are some of my favorite experiments. Definitely will take a lot of time and practice to perfect (just as with any artform) but am looking forward both to making monotypes for their own sake and incorporating them into my fiber work.

This is why I took the class. I've been wanting to do some work inspired by local industrial sites, most notably Domtar Paper and Eastman Chemical. The first image (silk screen ink) shows the first pull on silk gauze and the second pull on heavy paper. The silk takes the image very well but leaves a lot of ink and some texture for the second pull.

These three are done in watercolor. Used a wash followed by painted pipes for the first pull. Added three strips of paper for a resist, more watercolor, lifted the strips and printed the second pull. Really nice ghost image from the first pull. Added more painted pipes for the third pull, still have a ghost of the first, shadow from the second.

This is the local farmer's market site after a rain when there was still a lot of (very still) water on the pavement. My reflections aren't long enough, but for a workshop setting I think it's still pretty cool. (This is silk screen ink.)

And here are a couple details of doors and panels on the old industrial buildings at the farmer's market. I especially like the horizontal ghost lines in the top one, left from cleaning my plate, that evoke grain lines. Top monotype is printed with silk screen inks, bottom with watercolors.

Print on 3mm silk habotai mounted on freezer paper (silk screen ink):

Last, but best, are my two favorites from the two days.Tthe first is silk screen ink worked with brush and sponge and is a landscape of Dart Moor in Devon, England.

The second is a three-part watercolor print. Created the background and lifted a print from it. Added the foreground details except the wires and insulators and lifted this print. Once it was dry I went in with a Pigma pen and added the wires and insulators.

I think what I've learned about the two inking media is that watercolor leaves a really nice, even ghost image while silk screen ink is more workable for foreground detail since it's stiffer.

Christmas in September

Just received a yummy batch of wool from New England Felting Supply. Mmmmmmmmmmm ....... eye candy ....... lovely ....... soft .......decadent!

And more is less with their new (and still limited) wholesale program. 26 colors of Norwegian C-1 batts are discounted $12/pound with a minimum total order of $250 and a retail certificate. Not bad!

I've felt (no pun intended) a little distant from my studio for the past month as I rushed to catch up on all the things I neglected in favor of studio work in July--things like getting my Tennessee driver's license after a year of living here--quick before the Massachusetts one expires on my birthday--Friday! Ah, procrastination.

Fun workshops coming this fall--I'll post them all soon. Meanwhile, consider joining us for ongoing second Monday Indpendent Study classes--$10/session, $30/4 sessions. You bring your project, I provide moral support and guidance when necessary. Please let me know a week ahead if you plan to come. Class size 1-6 students.

Finished Product

Here it is, the final product--"After the Storm II." Color slightly off but close--good enough until I can get a professional photo taken.

You can see the nuno felted trees and bushes and a little of the very dimensional quilted field here. The green field in the background is nubby raw silk, and the background trees are composed of a variety of cotton and silk fabrics.

If your guild is interested in learning any of these techniques, just contact me. I love to share the joy!

American Quilter Magazine

Just got my contributor's copy of the September 2009 issue of American Quilter and my article "Auditioning Your Quilt Design" (page 62) looks great! In the article I explain two methods for auditioning the quilting design on paper before you commit to needle and thread.

Another tip for folks who might still feel a little nervous about committing to needle and thread: Do the first bit of your quilting with water-soluble thread (no, I did not get paid to add this link--Superior Threads is just great to work with).

• If you like it, go over it with regular thread then dissolve the water-soluble thread.
  
  
• If you don't like it, dissolve the water soluble thread, dry the quilt overnight, and try again in the morning.

Either way, it all comes out in the wash--literally!

This avoids tedious ripping and gives you the freedom to experiment with something new and perhaps unusual for you.

Down to the Wire

After the Storm II

Working like a maniac to all hours to finish this in time to have it framed to hang next Thursday. Not time for a long post, but thought I'd keep documenting the process.

Have created "speed nuno" for the trees (on silk) and bushes (on kona cotton). There'll be more dark bushes in front of the trees on the right as well, but haven't cut the felt yet. Also, field'll be a little less tilted (but only a little).

Had originally planned a straight edge for the field (my traditional roots are showing) but found the curved edge evoked the sense of motion I needed. I passed several fields like this in the Midwest last summer and snapped one photo from the window of the car to remind me I wanted to make this.


This work isn't based on the photo per se, but rather is a melange of memorable images.

The whole thing will be constructed on canvas wrapped stretcher bars and framed.

___________________

Later . . .
___________________

Final composition more or less, but the angle of the field is just a tad too flat. Pay no attention to the white bit--it's the paper placeholder for the field, not actually part of the quilt.

I have a tree!

Just finished my first tree. Well, it's actually more of a bush and will actually be mostly behind everything else, but I figured that made it the best one to start with.

Anything else I need to do will, I hope, become clear as I finish more pieces of the picture. Has been fun for me to realize I needed to invert all my shapes--the trees all needed concave rather than convex curves and pointy bits rather than rounded bits.

I frequently beat up on myself for working too slowly, but really I'm coming to realize that I can't rush when I'm trying to figure out how to make something work--I need time to stew and ponder. Once I've found a solution I'm happy with I work pretty quickly, but if I rush in before I'm happy, inevitably I'm very unhappy with the final product. It's all part of my creative process, I guess, and fools rush in.

Narrowing it down

Ex-per-men-ta-tio-on, Ex-per-men-ta-tio-o-on, it's makin' me gray!

(you know, like anticipation and Heinz ketchup?)

(and yes, I know there's an "i" in experimentation, but it didn't fit in the song--artistic license and all that!)

Spent the day yesterday closing in on my method and think I'm getting there.

Nope. Not enough shape, too much difference in texture from middle to edges. Do like the distortion the stitching caused and will try to figure out how to make that happen on purpose.

Nope. A little better at evoking a "bushy" feeling, but don't like the lines crossing from one layer to the next.

Nearly there. Need to create a "trunky" bit or some brush at the bottom, though. Think I might create some nuno brush. Has its own texture and color variations and great to sew on since stitches sink down and hide in its depths.

Hopefully color will help, as well, since it will add visual depth and interest to the "trees."

Tomorrow I must begin using the actual materials--no time to procrastinate. Darn it--I think this creating quickly and on a deadline might be good for me! Mom always said things like this build my character and she may be right. Double darn!

One of these days . . .

. . . I might do a quilt that doesn't require me to tackle a construction conundrum (sure would save a lot of time)
. . . but I don't think so.

I need to make trees. Abstracted trees that have the texture and general shape of trees without being either too literal or too cartoonish.

So I started fooling around with scrap batting and remnant wool fleece. Needle felting always is near the top of my mind but wouldn't work at all in the materials (a variety of fabrics, including dyed cotton batting) and at the scale I wanted. And while batting is cake to needle felt, layers of batting are not. So nix that idea.

Got out the SetaSkribs to see about shading with them, but realized quickly that wasn't the solution because they pick up fibers from the batting like mad AND I've finally faced the fact that I'm a purist and would far prefer to create shading with my fiber materials rather than paint or a marker.

That's not a judgment, 'cause loads of folks use paint and ink to tremendous effect, and now that I've said it out loud (-ish), just watch--I'll have to eat my words on my next work. Anyhow, nix on this approach, too.

Well, looked back at my study and began playing with layered batting again, this time without needle felting, and realized I might finally have stumbled on to something good. Really?! I know you're looking at this thinking, "O.K., if you say so, but I don't really see it," but my mind was racing several steps forward and I thought I was on the right track. So . . .

Kept on playing around with batting and muslin and think I'm still heading in the right direction. Will have to fine-tune my method AND figure out the best way to contruct them, but that's the fun part!

I'll be using this variety of fabrics I dyed, including aida cloth, cotton batting, muslin, Kona, and silk gauze. That should be the final ingredient in creating the texture, shading, subtlety and abstraction I'm aiming for.

If I'm really honest with myself, I must admit that these puzzles, though sometimes frustrating in the moment, invigorate me. They stimulate me to push the boundaries of what I think quilting can accomplish. DH had it right when he said that if I ever make a quilt I'm completely happy with it will be one of the saddest days of my life 'cause I'll have to give up quilting for something with more challenge. I'm happy to report that I still finding quilting plenty challenging--and rewarding!

Oh, and by the way, finishing this quilt quickly is now very important because I'll be having a solo exhibit at City Hall in Kingsport, TN, from Aug. 3 to Oct. 1, 2009, and need it to anchor one of the main walls. If you're local or passing through then, stop by! Woot! (It's been a pretty good couple of weeks!)

I love what I do!

It's alchemy.

Magically some barbed needles and inspiration turn this:


Into this:

A painting in fiber.

But then the fun really begins--the quilting brings the whole thing to life:


Until a two dimensional picture becomes a sculpture for the wall:

Labyrinth II (c) 2009 Cindi Huss.

This is the 8" square (approx.) of the quilt that will show through
the matte. It will travel with Meet SAQA's Artists
for a year, then the International Quilt Study Center
will acquire selected work from the exhibit
for its permanent collection.

Life is good!