ROUND AND ROUND IT GOES

OK, here's the next round. The center block is Ellen's wonky squares, then Lenni got a hold of it and you just can always tell when she's touched something. Lenni always does something unexpected, with fabrics you may even call just ugly. Somehow she makes the uglies come together into a beautiful swan. I happen to like these fabrics though. Then Malki made the last round, "Circles," starting at the red border. So I've been staring at this again and again. Then I take myself away and take short glances, just to see something new. When those two things didn't work I just despaired. I always like to make something nice for others, but this is my next door neighbor and when no ideas were coming I thought what a shame it would be that I couldn't pull this quilt out of it's shell for Ellen. It needs order, it's just all over the place, crazy! THEN, IT HIT ME! Crazy. What do I do when I'm a little crazy? Flashes of Andy Warhol dancers went through my head. Walk like an Egyptian. You'll have to tune in to see where I'm headed as I'm not completely sure myself. I have an image, but again the insecurities come in. I can't see it through, where am I gonna get the dancers from because I can't draw. Blah blah. Then I remember what Ellen always tells me - JUST DO IT!

I visited this fellow blogger and thought this post quite interesting.
Quilting Fitzy: What American Accent do YOU have? I thought it'd be cute to try and pass on.

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Northeast Judging by how you talk you are probably from north Jersey, New York City, Connecticut or Rhode Island. Chances are, if you are from New York City (and not those other places) people would probably be able to tell if they actually heard you speak.
Philadelphia
The Inland North
The Midland
The South
Boston
The West
North Central
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

Well, I cudda toldya that! You know, it's funny, somewhere in my teenaged years I tried to cover up the accent, and did so successfully, to some degree. I mean, you could tell I was from New York, but it wasn't that thick. Then I met my husband in Brooklyn College, and his accent is unabashedly thick. I tried to resist it but I spend so much time with him that it became impossible. I started to question why I wanted to tone it down at all? It seemed less scholarly or businesslike, for sure, but once I was home all day with the kids what do I need to worry about that for? It wasn't until I realized that I thought it made me sound less intelligent, that it started to make sense. My brother does it too - but he spends alot of time in Manhattan. (Uh Oh if he reads this I'm in trouble!) Manhattan has it's own "fake" accent. They try to talk like the newscasters on television, very standard American. Why do I call it fake? Just get them mad and you'll see what I mean! Anyway, back to my accent, I decided that it was OK to just let it all hang out, because my husband is probably the most intelligent person I've ever met (just saying that to make a point) and he has a thick accent, why can't I? There will always be someone who thinks less of me perhaps (especially the Manhattanite snobs) but, I've gotten to the age where I just don't care! There is one bonus to it though - you sound tougher and people are less likely to mess with you!

FLOWERS FROM HOUSTON

{DO CLICK ON THE PICS BELOW TO BETTER APPRECIATE THE QUILTS! }

I've always found it interesting that flowers trancend age, era and culture as a universal beauty. The quilt show in Houston was no exception, and there were many quilts to keep flower lovers happy. This first one is just spectacular. I'm sorry to say that it was the only quilt from which I forgot to take down artist info. If anyone knows who made this do let me know... This next quilt is just funky. I like people who think "out of the box" so to speak. Photo transfers and quotes plus an original arrangement made this quilt a photo-opper. Cynthia Ann Morgan calls it "Deconstructed Flowers"...

Cool gradated blues with warm appliques just popping off the quilt, not to mention excellent craftmanship in Sunset over Keukenhof Garden by Jenny Raymond. Notice how she uses the pink (warm) colored center to draw your eye's attention in? Then it zooms back out again with the design, especially the bias strip design. Pretty cool, huh?...
OK, compared to the others you would probably wonder why I included "Citrus Nobilis" by Susan Purney Mark of Canada. She made this as a result of a textile design class she was taking, using paints, and I just loved the analagous color scheme of orange through green. It made me think I'd like to make something with those colors, with the exception of the blue-green...
This quilt had Swarovski crystals all over it, not to mention exquisite thread painting, just the right colors, and fun mixed in. Linda Taylor quilted it, but the sign next to the quilt only read "Cheri" as the creator of the top. She hand appliqued, and trapuntoed with silk thread. I bought my crystal tool from her booth...
"Paeonia Mascula" by Amira Wishinsky of Israel was simple in beauty and skilled in execution. Nothing not to like!...

I still have plenty to show you. Next post I'll concentrate on the traditional quilts that just make your jaw drop. Unfortunately, the pictures don't do them justice, but they do inspire!

ROUND ROBIN AND OH THAT FOLIAGE

Before I get to the round robin, here's the close-up of the foliage in that woodland's quilt I showed you in the last post. Some of you asked how the bits of fabric were applied. It looks to me that however they were applied, they are behind a layer of netting, before the quilting was added. If you click on the picture, you can make it out.

As you may recall, this round of the RR is "some form of circles." It took me a while to figure out what to do with it. Going to the quilt show helped alot. It's always good to get your artistic juices flowing with overstimulation of form and color. I came home and there was no stopping me. Here is the before, above. Unlike the last one, it came to me very busy and needed some calm, but also some unity with the original center block. So I started doodling on the nearest scrap of paper, and this is what I came up with (below). OK, now how to implement it? Do I use bias stems and form each corner - but then how do I transfer the design to fabric? If there is one thing I wish I could skip in quilting, it has to be transfering lines to fabric. I have yet to find a method that suits me. I decided that it would be much quicker and more precise to fuse pre-designed shapes in place. Before I began that process, I thought it would be a good idea to select and attach a border (below), and select the colors of the applique. Any black and white fabric would have worked against the calming effect I was looking for, so I chose a mottled grey fabric. Mmm, much better already... OK, I was happy with the scale of this, selected the applique fabrics, and enlarged the design on paper. Now all that's left to do is to trace the design onto the paper-backed fusible. After attaching to the reverse of this beautiful batik that I bought in Houston with the round robin in mind, I cut, peeled, and fused in place. It was great that I was able to cut all of the little circles out of the extra green batik that had fusible on it, as I was becoming very impatient with the length of time this one round was taking me. I suppose I shouldn't complain about that, because if I don't make myself have the patience then I shouldn't be quilting. Come to think of it, I tell myself that alot! If I'm boring you with my details I apologize, it's just that I find I enjoy blogs and quilters who aren't afraid to share their methods. Why should there be a mystery as to how something was done? I wish every quilt in Houston had these details attached! I was thrilled to see the evolution of "Rundy." It made me think that I could do that too someday. So if I can help someone feel less intimidated, by gosh I will! Following are my results...

HELP

Before I kvetch to you let me just tell you about this terrific quilt - WOODLAND BY NORIKO ENDO OF JAPAN. Oh, it seems blogger ate my close up of that terrific foliage. It's made from bits and pieces of fabric - so terrific because now I never have to throw any fabric away, no matter how small. I always hate throwing away even the smallest pieces. I once tried to recycle all of those bits of batting by soaking in hot water for days to no avail. I thought I'd just be left with pillow stuffing but it was just felted batting!

OK now for the kvetching...

It seems I'm quite the fool. Those of you who use blogger know that they've been asking for us to upgrade to their beta through Google crap. Flashes in your face, over and over, your account will have to change by the end of 2006, and when you finally join you have tons of problems. Of course, knowing blogger I am not all that surprised. I thought I'd take the plunge and use flickr, then I tried photobucket, and they are sooooooooooo slow. Please! Any advice?!!! Those of you who used Hello know what I'm talking about - it was so fast! I also downloaded Picasa and hit blog this, then nothing but waiting. OIY!

MARILYN BELFORD

Oh my gosh guys, you must check out Marilyn Belford's website. She's the creator of "Rundy" that I raved about below. She even shows Rundy's creation! Fellow blogger the Calico Cat sent it to me - thank you Aviva!

EYE CANDY

CONTEMPLATION III: OH JUST TO BE BY BONNIE LYN MCCAFFERY. OK, as promised here are some of my favorite quilts from Houston. This quilt - oh this quilt. This quilt started my journey towards art quilting. If I'm not mistaken, it was on the cover of Quilting Arts magazine, only I did not own that copy, but saw it in a picture. I tried to pick it apart and see how the artist managed to make something so lifelike and dreamy, to no avail. Then I moved on, forgot about it, and when I went to Houston there it was!!! I remember saying to myself that I would be happy if I could ever quilt like that. Maybe one day. It was a reminder of how far I've come since I've first viewed that quilt, and how far I still have to go.

Here's a close-up. Many of the quilts in Houston use heat fused crystals as embellishments, which I was really happy about because while I love the look of beading, I love the increased sparkle of the crystals, and even more, how much easier they are to affix. For some reason, I like hand work and even hand applique, but the idea of sewing all those beads is just not appealing to me. So, of course, I bought a kit of crystals with the special heat tool!

GULLS IN THE HEAT HAZE BY INGE MARDAL & STEEN HOUGS. This quilt is just magnificent. I don't know if she used paint because I kept telling myself I'd come back to all of my favorite quilts to analyze them, only I didn't have time to see all of the quilts! How sad is that to fly all the way there and not to fully appreciate your favorites! Anyway, I just thought this was magnificent, and as you can see doesn't even look like a quilt!

Close-up just in case you thought I was trying to trick you - it really is a quilt!

RUNDY BY MARILYN BELFORD. I saw this quilt in a magazine last winter and was mezmerized by it. She has used no paint in this quilt. All shading and details are fabric and thread. I don't need to tell you how happy I was to see it in person. While it may be true that one needs to see a painting in real life to fully appreciate the art, how much more true is that for a quilt, with all of the textures and softness. A bunch of people were gathered around this quilt but I dutifully waited my turn to take this picture. One person commented that his eyes were a little creepy, and he did seem to stare at me wherever I went!

Close-up.

Closer-up. See, fabrics and no paint! I'll be posting more, but I just wanted to show you the ones that really turned me on. It seems I'm drawn to pictoral quilts, although always love the traditional ones. I had a major conversation with hubbie the other night as to which direction I am going with my quilting. Am I serious or hobbyist? Art quilter or traditional? I don't have specific answers yet which is so frustrating, but he did help me to see that I have definite likes (pictoral quilts) and dislikes (crazy quilting). It's a real departure in my life. I'm a planner who likes definite, defined goals, and here I am swimming in a free for all art world. Can I sink or swim, or do I just get out of the pool and do something else? Fundamentally, that is what this blog is about!

HOUSTON QUILT FESTIVAL

Guess where I went this weekend?

Those of you who were there know what this is!

HOUSTON I'm sorry, I don't mean to start on a negative note but what the heck? I thought this had to be one of the ugliest buildings I have ever seen. It housed the most beautiful quilts I've ever seen though. When some of my quilting buddies told me they were going to Houston for the Quilt show, I was sooo jeaulous. I mean, you can have all of the money, looks, brains, whatever and I'll be happy for you, but, you're going to a quilt show and not me? No way! So, last minute, hubby and I made the plans and we went! This place is so huge I didn't even have the chance to see everything, or buy everything, that I wanted. I'd never been to Texas before, so it was quite an adventure, but I really didn't get to see much as the weather was bad, and we came in and left in a whirlwind. Next time I have to plan to venture into and around the city. Y'all have amazing neighborhoods with all the amenities, and all car friendly! After commenting on how friendly everyone is in Houston, a gentleman proudly told me that Texas is known as the friendship state, and that any true Texan takes that reputation quite seriously, or he's not a true Texan, except for those in Dallas. Yep, that's really what he said! Anyway, Houston, I love ya!

My hotel on the other hand, was designed really well. I thought this was so cool - It's a panel of broken glass in the elevator, covered, of course, with smooth glass, and reached from floor to ceiling.

And check out this chandelier in the lobby. Is it not the coolest?

Here's a close-up. In any other building it might look like an eyesore, but because this place was so huge and it receded into the ceiling, you really don't notice it unless you look. Brilliant!
It's true what they say, Texans like everything B-I-G!!!
I have to go over all the quilt pics and artists to see which is worth sharing with you, so bare with me! More to come!

But I will show you this. Round robin before it came to me...

Round robin after. So much better! Now I have to work on that black white and green one, although with all the inspiration from the Quilt show I'd much rather be doing something artsy. Stay tuned!