Group by Val
I began this project by “webbing” - this is a word association strategy that I used to do with my students when beginning a creative writing task: the whole purpose being to get the old brain thinking in different directions until something sets off an idea.
I followed this with several days of combing through Quilting Arts Magazines, reading articles on making art quilts and tabbing techniques I’d like to try with this and future art quilt projects. I watched the DVD “Jane Davila & Elin Waterston Teach You Art Quilting Basics”, which I would certainly recommend to anyone looking for some basics.I got to thinking about the different groups I’d been associated with over the years and “school” kept cropping up. I was a teacher for 32 years, and still, when I dream - 90% of the time it’s about teaching school. Then I thought about the quilting groups I belong to and found there is great similarity belonging to any group. You have your workers and your drones. You have lots of activity - some productive - some not. You have lots of ideas being tossed about - some brilliant - some not so much. You meet lots of people - some become lifelong friends - others merely passing acquaintances. There are occasions of great celebration and periods of despair. I’m sure you can all relate to the wonderful and not so wonderful things about belonging to a group. Being in the midst of planning a quilt show no doubt had me thinking of all these things as well.
So I set forth - sketching curvy lines on paper and got an “aha” feeling - the lines suggested fish ( a school of fish?) and water. I made templates with freezer paper then chose a color scheme of blue-green, yellow-green, and gold.
I wanted to incorporate a few sheers in my fish to add flashes of color, and added beads to others for more color. These flashes of color represent how the groups I have belonged to have given me great satisfaction and outlets for creativity and fun - they have added great color to my life. I wanted the water near the surface to be lighter in color than the deep water to suggest good ideas and good people “rising to the top” whereas the darker, rocky and coral areas suggest the hard work and troubled times of groups. The bubbles suggest the refreshing feeling of belonging to groups and doing one’s part to keep the group moving forward. The fish swimming in different directions suggest there is not just one way of doing things in a group - that we must be open to new and different ways of looking at issues. The 3 batik fish are “swimming together” - all aiming for the same goal. As I look at this finished piece from a design point of view, I think I prefer it on point (except for the top water fabric, which is directional), but the meaning of the piece is more significant for me when it is displayed as a square.
This piece was fun to do and fun to think about. Now, I think I’ll go fishing!
I followed this with several days of combing through Quilting Arts Magazines, reading articles on making art quilts and tabbing techniques I’d like to try with this and future art quilt projects. I watched the DVD “Jane Davila & Elin Waterston Teach You Art Quilting Basics”, which I would certainly recommend to anyone looking for some basics.I got to thinking about the different groups I’d been associated with over the years and “school” kept cropping up. I was a teacher for 32 years, and still, when I dream - 90% of the time it’s about teaching school. Then I thought about the quilting groups I belong to and found there is great similarity belonging to any group. You have your workers and your drones. You have lots of activity - some productive - some not. You have lots of ideas being tossed about - some brilliant - some not so much. You meet lots of people - some become lifelong friends - others merely passing acquaintances. There are occasions of great celebration and periods of despair. I’m sure you can all relate to the wonderful and not so wonderful things about belonging to a group. Being in the midst of planning a quilt show no doubt had me thinking of all these things as well.
So I set forth - sketching curvy lines on paper and got an “aha” feeling - the lines suggested fish ( a school of fish?) and water. I made templates with freezer paper then chose a color scheme of blue-green, yellow-green, and gold.
I wanted to incorporate a few sheers in my fish to add flashes of color, and added beads to others for more color. These flashes of color represent how the groups I have belonged to have given me great satisfaction and outlets for creativity and fun - they have added great color to my life. I wanted the water near the surface to be lighter in color than the deep water to suggest good ideas and good people “rising to the top” whereas the darker, rocky and coral areas suggest the hard work and troubled times of groups. The bubbles suggest the refreshing feeling of belonging to groups and doing one’s part to keep the group moving forward. The fish swimming in different directions suggest there is not just one way of doing things in a group - that we must be open to new and different ways of looking at issues. The 3 batik fish are “swimming together” - all aiming for the same goal. As I look at this finished piece from a design point of view, I think I prefer it on point (except for the top water fabric, which is directional), but the meaning of the piece is more significant for me when it is displayed as a square.
This piece was fun to do and fun to think about. Now, I think I’ll go fishing!
Group by Kathy
There were a lot of ideas floating around in my head about this new topic 'group' but one idea that I kept coming back to was a still life, and as my friends will know I love pears so what better than a group of them. To solidify the idea, I have been going through boxes of my mom's paintings and pears seem to be a theme in quite a few of her still life works. I opened up my box of fancy fabrics and chose 5 for the pears, pinned them together, ironed on a freezer paper pear shape, heated up my little burning tool and carved around the freezer paper template and there are my pears! Easy! Then I ripped a couple of red strips for borders, placed all on the muslin, covered all with some tulle and quilted through everything! I shouldn't say how easy it was as I know the other gals put a lot more effort into theirs but my philosophy is just getterdone! and I am sticking to that.
Group by Colleen
When Judy said, “group or groups”, I thought YUCK! Group or groups; what the hell …
And so my mind started to think about fruit, vegetables, pets, fish …
Sometime around 2:12 a.m. – viola! Group. Aha, Ten Fold.
Then I realized that I don’t know everyone that well and couldn’t point any idiosyncrasies to them. However, I could easily do Geri, Linda, me, Judy, Norma … I was half way there.
I also accomplished my goal for doing this – I had fun and I tried two new things. I had never used dryer lint or feathers before and my ability to glue and embellish has certainly been limited. Hopefully, no one is offended by their caricature.
So this is it – splats in a bag.
.
And so my mind started to think about fruit, vegetables, pets, fish …
Sometime around 2:12 a.m. – viola! Group. Aha, Ten Fold.
Then I realized that I don’t know everyone that well and couldn’t point any idiosyncrasies to them. However, I could easily do Geri, Linda, me, Judy, Norma … I was half way there.
I also accomplished my goal for doing this – I had fun and I tried two new things. I had never used dryer lint or feathers before and my ability to glue and embellish has certainly been limited. Hopefully, no one is offended by their caricature.
So this is it – splats in a bag.
.
Group by Linda
Group or groups brought to mind a series of doors. Each door would represent a member of the Tenfold group. As time conspired it became apparent that 10 doors – 9 on the front plus one on the back – would be WAY too many, especially considering that the project was due on May 30 and it was now 4:00 PM on May 29. But one could be done.
Once decided, it was a fairly quick project. After all I already had drawn out 9 doors, just needed to pick one. First pieced the background to represent grass and sky, next added the door and frame. The little tree added some depth, along with a flick of paint to produce a bit of shading. The completed door scene was sewn to the night sky. The silver fluff was created by cutting up some metallic silver fabric. I then used BoNash to glue in position. The metallic ribbon - aren’t all women drawn to something with a little glitz and glimmer? – draws the viewer into the open door and it seemed unnecessary to add a border. Added just a little quilting around the meteor shower and the door to enhance depth.
Perhaps the one door will eventually morph into the bigger project, but for now it is done and now I can rest…
Once decided, it was a fairly quick project. After all I already had drawn out 9 doors, just needed to pick one. First pieced the background to represent grass and sky, next added the door and frame. The little tree added some depth, along with a flick of paint to produce a bit of shading. The completed door scene was sewn to the night sky. The silver fluff was created by cutting up some metallic silver fabric. I then used BoNash to glue in position. The metallic ribbon - aren’t all women drawn to something with a little glitz and glimmer? – draws the viewer into the open door and it seemed unnecessary to add a border. Added just a little quilting around the meteor shower and the door to enhance depth.
Perhaps the one door will eventually morph into the bigger project, but for now it is done and now I can rest…
Group by Lois
Reflecting on the “Group” theme had me thinking about our little group. On first impressions we are a homogeneous group of Caucasian women “of a certain age”. Then I started thinking of Quilters that I know and Quilters that I have seen at quilt shows, other guilds and on Internet sites. At first glance the vast majority of Quilters in North America are Caucasian women “of a certain age”. I would bet that 98% of us meet two out of three of those criteria.
While I was imagining all those groups across the continent I had this vision of herds of women all migrating to quilt shops and shows. This naturally brought to mind other vast migrating herds. I was in the Serengeti a couple of years ago during the spring migration. We saw herds of zebra and wildebeest that covered the plains as far as the eye could see. While traveling through the herd you would frequently see little groups of zebra that were separated from their neighbours. If you stopped to study this group you could see that they were all a little bit different from each other. They were different sizes and shapes, colours varied (not much as they seemed quite conventional) and all the stripes were different. But there was a bond of some kind that held them together.
Those differences are also apparent when you stop to look at any group. We, in the 10-fold group may have similar characteristics but I’m looking forward to getting to know the individuals.
I had the idea to make a zebra quilt but I wasn’t sure what technique I could use. I was thinking about taking a picture in to a shop when I came across some photo transfer paper and thought I might as well give it a try on my home computer. The photo printed well but I was not happy with the transfer to the fabric. The black was a bit faded and there were a couple of spots that the transfer didn’t work at all. So I decided it was probably time to learn to do some thread painting. I’m pleased with the result and am already envisioning some more projects using these techniques.
While I was imagining all those groups across the continent I had this vision of herds of women all migrating to quilt shops and shows. This naturally brought to mind other vast migrating herds. I was in the Serengeti a couple of years ago during the spring migration. We saw herds of zebra and wildebeest that covered the plains as far as the eye could see. While traveling through the herd you would frequently see little groups of zebra that were separated from their neighbours. If you stopped to study this group you could see that they were all a little bit different from each other. They were different sizes and shapes, colours varied (not much as they seemed quite conventional) and all the stripes were different. But there was a bond of some kind that held them together.
Those differences are also apparent when you stop to look at any group. We, in the 10-fold group may have similar characteristics but I’m looking forward to getting to know the individuals.
I had the idea to make a zebra quilt but I wasn’t sure what technique I could use. I was thinking about taking a picture in to a shop when I came across some photo transfer paper and thought I might as well give it a try on my home computer. The photo printed well but I was not happy with the transfer to the fabric. The black was a bit faded and there were a couple of spots that the transfer didn’t work at all. So I decided it was probably time to learn to do some thread painting. I’m pleased with the result and am already envisioning some more projects using these techniques.
Group by Judy
When I sat down to think about what I might do for this project, the first thought I had was “Why on earth did I suggest this topic when I have absolutely NO ideas!??” Hopefully I learned a valuable lesson & won’t be so quick to jump in another time!!
After I settled down, I found that I really DIDN’T have a clue, so Googled “Wiktionary”, hoping to find inspiration. Among many definitions for “group”, I found that the word is derived from the Italian “gruppe” which means “knot” and also from French “groupe” which means “cluster.” Now, there’s something I might work with, I thought.
I checked my quilting books and internet sites looking for a block which might interpret a knot and in my quilting calendar on June 11th was a block entitled “True lover’s knot”. So now I at least had a starting point.
As I continued to think about “group”, the impression of groups of colour kept creeping into my mind, so I decided to incorporate some interpretation of the colour wheel into my lover’s knot.
To construct this block I created 3 long colour strips – red, blue and yellow and tried to use a variety of fabrics to achieve gradations of the colours. Because of my challenge to work entirely from my stash, you will find a bit of lace, a piece of silk, some microfibre and several squares of ultrasuede. From these long strips I then cut the required pieces to construct the block, so you will note the red and yellow strips looping through the centre of the block and the blue strip around the outside edge.
In keeping with the “knot” idea, I finished the piece with rows of French knots instead of quilting.
I have ended up being quite happy with this block, both the idea and the execution, with the exception of a couple of finishing goofs. Had I thought ahead, I would have made the blue outer strip ¼” or ½” wider to allow for binding. Since I didn’t do that & wanted to keep the outer strip as close as possible to the same width as the others, I kind of cheated by stitching the binding to the back, turning it to the front & trying to just catch the edge of the blue with my hand stitches. Thus comes the second problem………………the fabric I felt was appropriate for the binding was from my scraps and I only had a little bit of it, so it is pieced many times and, therefore, Murphy’s law said that a seam would end up at the mitered corner!! Wouldn’t ya know it?? Anyway, you can be sure that, at that stage I wasn’t about to redo my blue strip or remove my binding and look for another fabric. It is what it is! But, the truth is that I would be happier if it was well finished!
After I settled down, I found that I really DIDN’T have a clue, so Googled “Wiktionary”, hoping to find inspiration. Among many definitions for “group”, I found that the word is derived from the Italian “gruppe” which means “knot” and also from French “groupe” which means “cluster.” Now, there’s something I might work with, I thought.
I checked my quilting books and internet sites looking for a block which might interpret a knot and in my quilting calendar on June 11th was a block entitled “True lover’s knot”. So now I at least had a starting point.
As I continued to think about “group”, the impression of groups of colour kept creeping into my mind, so I decided to incorporate some interpretation of the colour wheel into my lover’s knot.
To construct this block I created 3 long colour strips – red, blue and yellow and tried to use a variety of fabrics to achieve gradations of the colours. Because of my challenge to work entirely from my stash, you will find a bit of lace, a piece of silk, some microfibre and several squares of ultrasuede. From these long strips I then cut the required pieces to construct the block, so you will note the red and yellow strips looping through the centre of the block and the blue strip around the outside edge.
In keeping with the “knot” idea, I finished the piece with rows of French knots instead of quilting.
I have ended up being quite happy with this block, both the idea and the execution, with the exception of a couple of finishing goofs. Had I thought ahead, I would have made the blue outer strip ¼” or ½” wider to allow for binding. Since I didn’t do that & wanted to keep the outer strip as close as possible to the same width as the others, I kind of cheated by stitching the binding to the back, turning it to the front & trying to just catch the edge of the blue with my hand stitches. Thus comes the second problem………………the fabric I felt was appropriate for the binding was from my scraps and I only had a little bit of it, so it is pieced many times and, therefore, Murphy’s law said that a seam would end up at the mitered corner!! Wouldn’t ya know it?? Anyway, you can be sure that, at that stage I wasn’t about to redo my blue strip or remove my binding and look for another fabric. It is what it is! But, the truth is that I would be happier if it was well finished!