REBECCA REACHES OUT

The week just keeps getting better and better.  

The Burlington Fibre Arts group (to which I belong) submitted "Rebecca Reaches Out" into the juried Tall Tales Exhibition.  A photo of Rebecca - an orange statue sitting on the Burlington Art Centre lot, and a photo of the Burlington Pier were superimposed onto one another.  The photo was enlarged and cut into 15 slices.  15 of the art group members created their slice using a medium of their choice.  The slices were felted, knitted, quilted, stitched.  Even paper was used.  The slices were mounted on a steel rod with steel washers dividing each slice - very industrial.  Out of 44 submissions, only 18 entries were chosen to be displayed.  Our group submission was one of the 18.  Not only was it chosen, it was given the "Juror's Choice" award!  Congratulations to all the artists that made this huge undertaking a success.  The Tall Tales Exhibition and 35th Anniversary of the Burlington Art Centre will take place between June 22nd and August 25, at the Burlington Art Centre, 1333 Lakeshore Road, Burlington, ON   L7S 1A9.

This is the slice that I submitted.  It was machine pieced, machine quilted and embellished with wool. 

Here are some close-ups:

EDIBLE PHOTO COLLAGE

Besides quilting, I love to bake.  I recently invested in a printer loaded with food colouring filled ink jet cartridges, and some frosting sheets produced by Kopykake, available at Golda's Kitchen.  Downloaded photos to a collage program can be printed directly onto the frosting sheet and applied to the top of any cake.  

Here's a birthday cake for my two nephews:

Here's one for my sister's retirement party:

This one was for a gentleman at work that was leaving:

THREE LITTLE BIRDS

The June Postcard Exchange theme is "Birds".  I exchange with a group of five.  I usually make six so that I can keep one for myself.  I used french knots for the eyes, placing them in slightly different locations, adding character to each bird.

Here's a couple close-ups.

FUN MAIL

I've received a whole bunch more postcards in the past little while.  I call them "fun mail".  They are such great fun to receive.

COLOUR THEME

MY HOMETOWN THEME:

2013 INSIGHTS

Have you ever waited patiently for a phone call, e-mail or text, to tell you some good news?  Well, I have.  Last week I submitted a piece into the 2013 Insights Juried Exhibition and have been waiting to hear back.  Thursday was the day.  I kept checking my e-mail for "the" notification.  It finally came late last evening.  From 337 entries, only 65 were chosen, and my piece "The Masters" was one of the 65 selected!  Hooray for me.

The show will hang in the Art Gallery of the Wellington County Museum from June 20 to September 1, 2013, with the Opening Reception at the Museum on Wednesday, June 19th at 7:00pm.  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Isn't it wonderful to have a creative friends that sends one-of-a-kind birthday cards?  I just love it.  Thank you very much, Linda.  Your artwork is awesome!

HELSON GALLERY EXHIBITION

Wow!  "Green's The Thing" has been accepted into the juried Helson Gallery Exhibition at the Cultural Centre in Halton Hills. The show will begin June 27th and continue through to September 8th, 2013.  I do hope that you will take the time to visit the gallery.

TRADITIONAL PATCHWORK CONTINUES

It's amazing what you can find in your studio when you're looking for something else.  I know that I have a rust-coloured piece of organza somewhere!  Instead I found some bow-tie blocks from Block of the Month a few years ago.  Since my plan for the organza didn't turn out, I took the time to stitch these blocks together.  

I know, all those pastel colours and then the brown in the centre.  What was I thinking??? Not to worry.  I found some brown and coral calico fabric in my stash (yes, it took me a while to come up with it) and used it as the boarder, binding and backing.  You can't see it very well in the photo, but it brings the whole piece together.  

TRADITIONAL PATCHWORK PILLOWS

I love traditional patchwork, but I love fibre art too, so it's difficult to find the time to explore both.  I started a bit of a tidy-up of my studio and came across some old pieces of already machine-quilted blocks, just crying out to be completed.  The blocks were cut to similar size, then I scrounged around in my mother's (now mine) old zipper box and found a couple zippers of the right length.  I added a zipper to one side of two blocks, folded the blocks right sides together, and stitched around the other sides.  I then stuffed them with pillow forms and now have some lovely pillows.  I think that I'll save them for the Halton Hills Quilt Show in October, where they can be sold in the Member's Boutique.

Then again, they do look great on my entry-way bench.

UPHOLSTERY FABRIC

Do you have a lot of friends that keep you in mind when an odd item or two comes their way?  Well, I do.  I have had rusty nuts and bolts, drier lint and upholstery fabric samples given to me in the past few months.  I guess that I ask for it as I try to use unusual things in my art.  

I had to take the day off work so that I could take my car in to the body shop (yes, I was rear-ended the other day - no one hurt).  The appointment took all of two seconds to assess the damage so I had the balance of the day free.  As chance would have it, I was standing in the middle of my messy studio (so where else would I be?) thinking of what I could do, other than clean up.  I found some of those upholstery fabrics and started cutting.  Each piece had this little eyelet thing on the corner and it had to come off.  Over 100 pieces were trimmed down to a uniform 6" square.

Now what to do?  I thought that all those squares should be stitched into a traditional quilt but each piece was stiff and heavy and didn't lend themselves to that use.  Last year my husband asked me to cover an old bench that sits outside our back door every summer.  The cover was well worn and was looking worse with each year.  It was one of those jobs that you get around to eventually.  Well, "eventually" happened today.  I stitched those 6" squares together to create a new bench cover.  I know that some of the fabrics are pretty wild and don't match each other, but I think they look great together!

SNAIL MAIL

We don't get very much snail mail any more.  Even bills are sent electronically, so it's exciting to get real mail.  I'm happy to receive my monthly postcards.  Aren't they great?