Eureka!

My final Four in Art Quilt is called 'Eureka!'. It is intended to be an illuminated letter illustrating a 'eureka moment' or a moment of illumination. More details can be found on my blog, Rainbow Hare.

Illuminating Hillsides Simone Gautier Bradford

Illuminating Hillsides 2017

Simone Gautier Bradford

Just a little bit of mad piecing with burlap, linen, 

foil upholstery fabric and quilting cotton.

Quilting with glow in the dark thread. 

Glowing thread. 

Eclipse • November 2017

Eclipse, 12" square

November 2017

This is the final post, the final quilt of our five-year-long art quilt group, Four-in-Art.  I chose to use the recent North American eclipse as my subject, given that our challenge this quarter was "Illumination."

See more at my blog OccasionalPieceQuilt, or OPQuilt.com, for short.

And just as a reminder...

source

SCRAPBOOK

Our theme this quarter, "illumination", offered so many options and interpretations.  And yet I chose the literal one, the dictionary definition:  (a) spiritual or intellectual enlightenment, (b) a lighting-up.  In part, I think, I did so because this marks the end of my time with this very special group, Four-in-Art.  It has been a great ride with so many talented, visionary, creative women and although I will miss them all, it is time for me to wander new paths.

But enough of that, for now.  "Illumination" is probably the best-ever ending theme for me because it was what drew me to the art quilt side of quilting - just feeling there was more inside to show itself, to explore, to light up.  And for this reveal I chose to revisit all my submissions to this group, hence SCRAPBOOK.  It is a look back and each one reminded me of my life - where I was, what else I was working on, what motivated me.

When I settled on this simple design, my plan was reasonable, simple with attention to handwork detail.  However, the printer had other thoughts.  And after fighting with it for 2 days, I relented and resorted to "printable fabric, sew on".  Easy peasy, right?!  Nope, box # had possessed paper which refused to release from the backside of the "printed picture".  AND box #2 was similarly possessed.  Intellectual enlightenment, in this case, resulted in "riding the horse in the direction he was going".  Print and sew directly onto the top.  Stiff and inflexible became the operating terms of my days.

But aren't the pictures of past efforts fun?!  It was a week-long trip down memory lane.

I debated using black-corner posts, but opted for non-distraction.  The stiff corners were going to curl and bend regardless. 

When it came time for backing, my stash yielded the perfect piece (no idea where else I might have ever used this!).

This, too, provides memories --of all those people (and admittedly male for some reason) who called me "Betty Boop" in my past life.

Elizabeth is the muse who started this thing, Four-in-Art, and her friendship means the world to me now.  She has shared with me, and so many others, both spiritual and intellectual enlightenment and every time we talk there is a "lighting up" when we say goodbye.

Rachel, our current leader, has been along for the ride all the way and she is my "mom hero".  I am in awe of all her skills and her relentless "joie de vie".

My sincere thanks to all our other current, and past, group members, for their inspirational quilts and creativity and their support of my submissions.  I look forward to following the "new group" and their journey.

So until we meet again!

Illumination: No 4 in the 'Light' series

My quilt is about illumination in both the physical and metaphorical sense.  I thought of the light coming from cathedral windows, and dancing on stonework, and of the colour and gold used in illuminated texts.  In both of these contexts is the possibility for intellectual or spiritual illumination.

The materials and techniques I used reflect all these different strands.  You can read more on my blog!

Four-In-Art Q4: Light: Ilumination

Illumination

My mind immediately went in two directions when I saw the challenge for this quarter.  The first was the way the sky was illuminated just after sunset, almost like a reverse rainbow.  And I could have done that and probably been pretty happy with it.  But what I really wanted to do was make an illuminated letter.  Medieval style.


Enter the William Morris R

I searched online for an illuminated R that I liked that was copy right free.  I came across the image below.

It is one in a series of letters that William Morris of England designed in the 1800s.  You should read about him.  He apparently started the Arts and Crafts movement in England.  He was also very interested in illuminated medieval style lettering and printing.

The quilt itself is reverse applique, and to describe all the time and the technique I will devote a maker post to this quilt in the next couple of days.

The gold is a lame, the rest are quilting cottons.  The black is a batik.  The whole thing is quilted with Superior's invisible poly on top and black Aurifil on the bottom.

 Just a fun birdhouse print on the back.  Great for hiding stitches.....  A label is coming, I promise.  The batting is actually a fusible fleece.  I'll go into detail in my maker post. 

Finished size: 14"x 15"
You can directly visit my blog *here*

Illuminating Sunlight

My quilted project for the 4th quarter reveal is titled Illuminating Sunlight. You can read more about the inspiration for this project on my blog HERE.