the Madonna Idea

Beautiful Flower, Bountiful Garden (41 x 41)

2010-08-01T11:53:00.003-05:00

Barbara posted the details here.

Pink Madonna--Round 2

2009-07-22T17:41:00.002-05:00

I was able to add my part to the Pink Madonna this week. As luck would have it, I had some pieced blocks and embroidery that I had already done. They worked marvelously for what I was trying to show. In my mind, Our Lady of Guadalupe is a folk art madonna; resplendid in her patchwork clothes so I wanted to further emphasis the bright colors Barbara started with in my round. There will be much hand embroidery and embellishments added so I tried to be sensitive to that when embroidering the ribbon. I have really started to enjoy the word ribbons and feel like this is one piece where I could use them effectively.

So, now it is into the mail to Barbara so she can add her part, the final borders. Then, the handwork begins!

Pink Madonna

2009-07-03T08:06:00.004-05:00

Barbara and I are going to do some Madonna pieces this year where we pass the piece back and forth between us so each can add her own touch to the artwork. The first piece is this one, Pink Madonna.
The central Madonna is a printed fabric that Barbara had. I had given her the embroidered blocks when we met at PIQF 2008 and she added them to the Madonna to sew this arrangement. Now it is my turn to add a few rows of what I want before returning it to Barbara for her next ideas--a bit of a 2 person round robin, I guess. I thought you might like to see our Madonna piece develop as we stitch.

Now, for my part!

Tepeyac (Barbara's quilt)

2007-08-08T20:05:00.001-05:00

Tepeyac
20 x 27

I named this piece "Tepeyac" after the hill where the Virgin of Guadalupe appeared to Juan Diego in 1531 in what is now Mexico City. Tepeyac was the site of the temple of the goddess Tonanzin and it is the current location of the Basilica of the Virgin.

I finished my Madonna quilt today in what must be record time for me. I'm usually a dawdler, but I was inspired by Debra's dedication in completing "Continue" in such a short period of time.

I scrapped the bottom of the bead bowl for this one.
I embroidered over the skull motifs in this fabric, and put sequins over the eyes

Some of the skeleton limbs were beaded. I did a bit of seam embellishment.

A student gave me this beaded lizard bracelet. I knew I wanted to use it in a quilt from the beginning.

This has been a very gratifying project. I found myself thinking about it and planning it even when I wasn't working on it.

"Continue"

2007-08-01T08:44:00.000-05:00

50 x 40 inches

cotton fabrics, lace, trims, charms, transfer

machine pieced and embroidered

Entry in the art gallery show: Perspectives: Any way you look at it

Dedicated to my son, William Hurter

Now it is time to wait & see if it is chosen for the show! It's been a whirlwind experience, to say the least.

Floral Spray (Barbara)

2007-07-31T14:38:00.001-05:00

I have attached my quilt top to two thin layers of flannel for stability, and I'm adding embellishments through all layers. I may add some leaves to distinguish it more clearly from the background, but this is the basic design of the floral spray at the feet of the Virgin.
The little skull beads were on a bracelet I bought in Mexico. I'm slowly incorporating them into little quilts. I really wish I'd bought more. The yellow and blue yo-yos in the picture have been stitched to form petals with a few overcast stitches.
The little angel button is reminiscent of the angel who is often depicted at the Virgin's feet. It, and most of the rose buttons, were in a bag with some cross-stitch pieces I recently got at the thrift store. The ivory satin roses were also a thrift store item. I think they came with some embroidery floss. The pearl buttons are vintage and have been in my stash awhile.

I'm making progress on the embellishment. I'm beading the Virgin's robe and aura. This is the most fun part.

Almost done! (Debra)

2007-07-31T09:11:00.000-05:00

Yesterday's sewing frenzy put my piece well into the "almost finished" category! I am not quilting this piece. It has been heavily interfaced with either machine embroidery stabilizer under the CQ blocks or with Decor Bond in the other areas. It will be firm when it is totally done. I may do a little tack stitch in a few places but it should be ready to go without it.

I did the broderie perse last night. I had not tried any machine applique on my Janome. Boy, what a dream! I can see more of that technique showing up in future work. The floral print was a Tracy Porter print. I used invisible thread for the overcasting. Today I will add a few machine embroidered monarch butterflies in amongst the leaves and flowers.

The bottom corners will be red/orange 4" CQ blocks; unless I find they are too time-consuming to make. The 5" ones in the main section of the piece were about 20 minutes per block.

I am not quite sure what to do at the top. Wes even got into the spirit of pulling fabrics last night as candidates! What do you think should happen at the top? I have until 3:00 tomorrow afternoon to get my CD with the image to the post office for my Aug 1st postmark.

Any suggestions for a name? The theme of the show is Perspectives: Any way you look at it

Sunday's Work (Debra)

2007-07-30T07:46:00.000-05:00

Sunday found me hard at work in the Studio. I foresee another long day of work today. August 1st looms around the corner. I would hate to miss the deadline; especially since I have gotten so "into" this piece. It has been a delight from the very beginning and although, there is plenty to do, it is not a strain doing it. You know how some projects just will never end? This doesn't feel like that kind of project.

I had to laugh at Allie's comment! Yes, Will would love this piece. He was quite fond of skeletons.

My plan is for the little madonna and Will's panels to be loose. Today I will finish embellishing them and close the back. Then, I can sew the sections of the top half together. I started playing with the idea of a table last night. I pulled out all my old doilies (and yes, I auditioned the yellow ones, Barbara, but they were too bright) and actually like the effect. It shows nicer in person. Then, I started playing with adding the lace to the broderie perse panel(s). We'll see how that plays out.

Slow and Steady (Barbara)

2007-07-29T22:45:00.001-05:00

I'm not on a deadline like Debra, but I've got my Virgin positioned and stitched down, and I'm working on the floral spray that will be at her feet. I'm working with my small yo-yo stash, and adding leaves and petals to the backs so that they'll stand out from the background more.
I seem to work on the floor quite a bit, so I get a lot of volunteer design help. Today Louie was my advisor.

Saturday's Results (Debra)

2007-07-29T09:40:00.000-05:00

Yesterday morning I had an idea all scoped out for my design. It, unfortunately, meant making more crazy quilt blocks - like 8 more and some fillers. I was able to get all of that done and size up the cross yesterday. The crazy quilt blocks are 5".

I want the cross to look like it is sitting on a table. I came across this brown piece of fabric while doing pillows last week and had it out on my sewing table. It reminded me of lace so I hope it will give the feeling of a tablecloth or a shawl across a table. I will add some leaf embroidery across the bottom of autumn leaves.

The two sections under the cross will have the Madonna and my son's roadside cross picture as separate pieces that will attach to the cross. On either side of the cross section of the wallhanging I'll have the flowers growing. Butterflies will be embroidered amongst the leaves and flowers, which are going to be my first broderie perse.

This whole piece is very thrilling to work on--it is allowing me to use my encyclopedic head of quilt/sewing techniques to accomplish a goal. I am also venturing more into the machine embroidery as an integral part of the process, which is a place I want my machine embroidery to go.

OK, it's off to the Studio for another day of sewing.

Sewing Begins (Debra)

2007-07-28T09:20:00.001-05:00

I rarely work in the Studio after dinner but last night was an exception. I worked until 10:30 while Wes watched some guy movie on TV. When I turned off the lights I felt I had accomplished a significant amount of work in a short time.

The minute my head hit the pillow the solution to my piece presented itself. Today I'll investigate that idea. My goal is to have all the piecing done today. Embellishing tomorrow and finish up by Monday. Pictures on the CD & in the mail Tuesday--a day before the deadline.

Synchronicity (Barbara's Project)

2007-07-27T18:21:00.001-05:00

It's pure coincidence that Debra and I are both working on Madonnas again. She sent me a note to ask about the Day of the Dead, and I showed her this new Madonna quilt that I've begun on the same topic. I knew I wasn't done with the Madonnas when I finished the fourth in my series, and I'm glad that Debra has another one in her as well.

We started the Madonna series before we got so heavily into crazy quilting, and now I feel well-armed to really embellish the heck out this piece. I think it will be a memorial quilt, but I'm still waiting for it to tell me.

Debra, I really love that Virgin of Guadalupe panel you're using. I should've bought some when I had the chance. I do, however, have a ton left of the one I'm using.

Day of the Dead (Debra)

2007-07-27T08:12:00.000-05:00

Very preliminary work on a Day of the Dead piece for an upcoming juried art show at Union Street Art Gallery in Park Forest, IL. If accepted it will hang with other work exemplifying the theme: Perspective: Any Way You Look at It. My interpretation of the theme deals with Death. This work will be submitted with an earlier work I did about my son Will's death.

The deadline for postmarked CDS is August 1st so I really have to make decisions and move forward quickly with this piece. I envision plenty of handwork and may have to seriously evaluate the time involved in order to get it done.

These Day of the Dead fabrics are from Alexander Henry.

Rose Pictures

2006-09-11T08:13:00.000-05:00

I like the definition the beads around the outside edge give the rose sections. I also think I can use more rose motifs in some other "problem" areas effectively. For once, I like what is happening here!

New Pictures

2006-09-07T16:25:00.000-05:00

Photographing this piece is challenging. If I get too close to the blocks, the images are blurry. If I get too far away, the details don't show. Please suffer through these with me!

I loved the snowflake effect this Madonna ended up having with the bugle beads. (The image of the Madonna on this is clear in reality.)

I worked on this block today adding more beads, leaves and button clusters. Finally I had to stop! I wanted to keep the lower Madonna more subtle. I may still have some work to do to get this to blend better. And I thought I was done, sigh.

I added some greenery to the blue buttons and rays to the halo, beads to the flower at the bottom. I still have to embellish the Madonna on the right.

These started out as 3 simple buttons and then they became a little garden.

I added pearls to the cross buttons.

I couldn't get a good detail shot here but I added some beads (oomph) to the buttons leading to the lavender rose.

Overall size is 42" x 42"

Do you think I should embellish around the roses in the 2 top squares? I am inclined to leave them alone.

My next step once I have the Madonnas as I want them is to break up the 2 straight lines of trim that divide the middle section. I don't like how I crookedly sewed on one of the trims and I think it could be more interesting with something done to it. I am contemplating a banner saying, "Mary, Queen of Roses" with a small ribbon bouquet or some ribbon roses.

I also plan to machine embroider some kind of stitch along the navy bias tape band so it has some definition (or not). I am not planning to embellish the light blue areas at all (except a sequin fell on there today and looked pretty good but that could take forever. . . .)

Comments are welcome.

WIP Wednesday

2006-08-30T09:59:00.000-05:00

Here are a few photos of the middle madonna flowers I am embellishing. The flowers were made from various pictures of Madonna that I found on the Internet. Several were made from the gown section of one of the pictures. I used the Kaleidoscope software I bought at IQF last year.

Before and After

2006-08-24T08:35:00.000-05:00

BEFORE

All the new pieces are sewn on and the cutouts are ready to be fused. Here are a few detail pictures.

AFTER

I think these cutouts are really cool. I wonder if I will think that after I have sewn them on (with all those curves)??

Winter Madonna Problem Solved

2006-08-23T11:06:00.000-05:00

Finally, I say, finally, I have figured out the problem with my Winter Madonna piece.

I have not liked the white patches. The white background was too stark for the other rich colors. The motif was cut off in some of the blocks. Both just didn't work for me.

With the thought that I might enter the new C&T publishing Fabric Images contest, I took another look at the piece. It's been hiding in a drawer all winter and most of the summer.

It became painfully obvious what to do! I could just cover the offensive white areas with new patches and add new photo images. Off to the computer to make some new madonna and flower images!

I am pleased now! The upper squares will have rose sprays cut from fabric to cover those white patches. I also plan to cut out the computer images and buttonhole stitch them to the blocks (eliminating the white around them).

While this piece may not be contest worthy, it is satisfying to come to a solution!

O Serene Like the Moon, O Resplendent like the Sun

2006-04-15T20:21:00.000-05:00

Here at long last is my Winter Madonna. It was personal challenge to make a predominantly white quilt, and I feel like I learned about contrasting subtle color gradations. Perhaps I've even lowered a bit my resistance to white.

This quilt is hard to photograph because of the white and the monochromatic palette. It shows better in the close-up photos. I coffee stained the original background fabrics, and then layered over them with white lace. I layered handkerchiefs over that. Most of this piece is constructed by machine, except for the buttons and the lace edging.

The title for this quilt comes from the Great Mary Litany, as did the words I incorporated into my Gold Madonna.

I will still have to experiment with methods of hanging this piece. It's pretty stiff since I used peltex and a layer of batting. Perhaps I will use a ribbon to create a hanger. It needs to be hung because lying on the table it has an uncanny resemblance to a pizza.
--Barbara

Barbara's Composition

2006-02-19T10:15:00.000-06:00

I'm designing my Winter Madonna and I've decided to work in circles as well as in white. The central image is transferred onto a round doily and surrounded by a traditional applique design called Cesar's Crown. I've used the challenge fabric in every other section of the crown.

I'm using another traditional applique pattern in the smaller circles called Wheel of Lilies. The Madonna also carries lilies in the central image, and is surrounded by them in one of the smaller ones. Two of the darker circles also have the Wheel of Lilies applique (actually ironed on) but the contrast isn't sharp and I may do those over.

The whole composition is pinned to a pieced background on which I've arrange vintage hankies. One of these is beige, and I may coffee-stain the white ones to increase the contrast.

I've imagined this as a round piece, so I may re-position the hankies and cut the whole thing into a circle. I'll have to back it with Peltex if I go that route.

And here's a piece that I designed at the same time, I've got plans for this one which also involve Madonnas.

Top is Done!

2006-02-07T19:36:00.000-06:00

Here is the pieced top ready for embellishing!

I finished this today and will let it "rest" while I scurry around and make some Lesson Quilts for the training lessons I start on Friday for the about.com position. Having to return to beginning level quilts and think about each step so I can write the directions is an interesting process. I can't believe I have been on "automatic" for so long!

This one I will also have to think about---not exactly sure how I will do the embellishments. Just let me not get carried away!

More Blocks Added

2006-02-07T09:02:00.000-06:00

Here are a few progress photos (and an experiment with writing on photos!)

Almost done with the borders--should measure about 40" square when done

Side border Blocks

Shiny Fabric in the Blocks

Debra's Winter Madonna Takes Shape

2006-02-02T15:36:00.000-06:00

The Winter Madonna is due the middle of March. It has some specific guidelines to follow: use some of the glittery white jersey knit from Barbara and give the piece a wintery feeling.

Winter in Houston is not icy and even though that is the standard fare for most of the country, I chose to concentrate on the winter foliage and the glittery fabrics of the holidays. I wanted the overcast grey sky, silvery nights and the blue mantle of the Madonna juxtaposed against the rich reds, greens and blacks of ballgowns and bedecked homes.

A new source for inspiration was the Dover Publication called Elegant Floral Designs, a collection of permission free designs of black flowers and lace motifs. Each page features captivating flowers in stark black that can be printed any size. I decided to transfer them to fabric and use them like Victorian cutouts. They determined the direction of this piece---a crazy quilt.

I downloaded the images into my photo program and arranged them for sizes. I printed them onto transparency plastic thinking I would do gel medium transfers but that idea proved to be fruitless. So, I used the transparencies as originals and copied the designs directly to fabric with my printer. The images came out great!

This is one of the transparencies pinned to my design wall.

This is one of the printed fabric sheets.

This is the central Madonna figure with a bit of a Art Noveau look.

6 of the Crazy quilt blocks

Closeup View of the Motif in the block

I will do some more crazy quilt blocks for the outside border and mainly machine stitch embellishments before beading the piece.

letter to Mama (about quilt)

2005-12-18T08:47:00.000-06:00

October 15, 1895

Dearest Mama,

I was so pleased to get your letter in the mail this morning. I look so forward to news of you and Papa at home. Some days I wonder how I could have left the East and come to this country called Oklahoma. I guess the promise of a different life with a man I love caused me to pick up my trunk and wave goodbye. But, I do miss you and especially our chats about needlework projects.

I have finished the quilt I mentioned in my last letter. It is so different from the other quilts the ladies make here but I thought it would be a good way to show my love for my new baby boy. I will hang it over his cradle so he can know that he has two mothers who love him. I will explain it to him when he is older. He seems so little to me! Thank you so much for making the long train ride here to help me. The scraps you brought from home are already in the quilt.

I decided to use the brown linen piece for the background. I know you wanted me to have it for a table topper for the living room table but linen is so impractical here on the prairie. I do not have the nice help you have in Boston. The rich brown color is perfect. It is surprising how quickly my white linens discolored here. I love them anyway so I put them in the quilt to preserve them.

Some of my friends found out I was making this special quilt and gave me some pieces to use. It really makes the quilt have so much more meaning. Do you remember Rian, the mayor’s wife? She came by with her cute Schnauzer, Riley, when we were having tea. She is so different from me, Mama! She was throwing out an old quilt. Can you imagine? I begged her for a little piece of the corner. I cut it into a heart for the corner of my quilt. I bought some tiny mother of pearl buttons from the dry goods store when I made the christening gown so I had a few extras to use. The teacher at school, Barbara, gave me a charm I sewed on the heart. She also saw my crazy quilt blocks from that sewing circle in Boston. She encouraged me to use some of the stitches again. She had some metallic thread she shared with me. When you go to town next, would you send me some silver threads, please?

One of the ladies from my stitching bee is very good with crazy quilting too. You should see her work, Mama! The Boston ladies would just swoon over her stitches. She had some pictures of the Virgin Mary and showed me how to glue the pictures to fabric. Her name is Allie and she is so accomplished. I think she will be leading the stitching bee next year. She thought I could probably cut the skirt off my taffeta dress and use strips for the pictures. I saved the buttons and sewed them on the patches too.

My neighbor, Joanne, the one who I read to on Tuesday afternoons gave me a very old piece of beading. She said she saved it from her mother’s ball gown when her mother was at the Governor’s Ball in Virginia. Joanne really wanted me to have the piece. I feel so honored. I am sure it is her way of saving Thank you for reading to her. Her eyes are beginning to fail her and it is a pity since she is young too.

I added the pocket from Wesley’s mother’s dress and a little appliqué from her wedding dress. He is so sentimental to have saved it for me. He knows I cherish these little tidbits of history. Maybe it is his way of helping me adjust to this life that is so different from Boston. He likes it here—he is working on the town’s design so he is happy. He comes home with news of oil in the land near us. I am not sure what we would do with oil but he is sure it would make us rich.

Let’s see. I also used a scrap from the couch in Boston. I still love the leaves on that linen fabric. I had that very old tatted lace from Grandmama and I sewed it down without cutting it. I had a few pieces that I tried to tat too. They are not as good as Grandmama’s piece but I used them anyway. I had some homespun left from my apron and a piece for a smock I didn’t make so I used them for the quilt.

Oh, Mama, you should see how this piece looks! You would be so happy to know I am becoming an accomplished stitcher like you. Those long hours in the parlor practicing my handsewing may become a real nice hobby here in Norman. The ladies do like to get together and sew, have tea and pretend we are back home in the East. Although this is home now, isn’t it?

Give my love to Papa. I will send a picture when Wesley takes me to the capitol in November for the monthly legislative meeting. Oklahoma City has some stores and a nice hotel. He promises I can go with him. He wants a family portrait taken with his new baby boy. I’ll sneak in the quilt too!

Warmest love,

Debra

(As you can see, I took some creative license here! Plus, Blogger didn't accept my handwriting font but you get the drift, I hope!)

Pictures of Our Lady of Unconditional Love

2005-12-18T08:29:00.000-06:00

Our Lady of Unconditional Love
32 x 47 inches
collage quilt with photo transfer, machine embroidery, hand quilting, dyed and distressed linens & laces, various fabrics
October through December 2005
Debra Spincic

Our Lady of Unconditional Love

Main Madonna Photo Transfer with Gel Medium

Smaller Madonna Image with embroidery stitches

Detail of Linens

Heart Detail with buttons and charm

Pocket Detail & Stamped Rose on Taffeta

House of Gold, Pray for Us

2005-12-15T00:15:00.000-06:00

House of Gold Pray for Us
Barbara Curiel
26x16.5

This piece evolved out of a stained silk tunic with elaborate beading that I wanted to find a new life for. I also wanted to make a gold Madonna piece with a lot of beading. The challenge to me in making this quilt was to use recycled elements, but to mask their origin and to integrate them into the piece as a whole.

I attached the beaded silk to a flannel foundation and added elements, including New York Beauty squares pieced from old brocade and metallic printed cotton, and some antique lace. The whole piece was beaded and sequined by hand. It was then sewn to Peltex, and the “roof” is Peltex covered with brocade. I had to think through the construction of the roof and the binding, and ended up attaching the roof and then applying a single-layer binding.

I added phrases taken from the Great Mary Litany, one of the most beautiful pieces of liturgical poetry, with machine embroidery around the edges. The phrases I used are from a series of poetic images which describe the Madonna in architectural terms: Tower of David, Palace of Ivory, House of Gold, Ark of the Covenant, Gate of Heaven, Temple of the Divinity, Throne of the Eternal King, Sanctuary of the Holy Spirit, Keeper of the portal. The whole prayer is beautiful, but these images expressed what I was trying to articulate with my work: that Mary is a refuge and a pillar of lasting strength.

Repeating Images

2005-12-05T08:04:00.000-06:00

As I have mentioned before, everything I sew begins with the
Trickle Down Theory. I try some technique out somewhere on something that I plan to use again on some more important project.

Saturday night was a night to experiment. I have an upcoming deadline for the ARTImage Challenge. One of my ideas was to use a new program called Kaleidoscope Kreator 2.0 to design the images for the piece. The ARTImage Challenge piece this month is by the dutch artist, M.C. Escher and it involves repeated background motifs in black and white. My new kaleidoscope software does a great job of capturing images to repeat. For the Escher piece I want to use Victorian women's images. At the tailend of saving those images, I decided to experiment with some Virgin images.

Hours later, I was still entralled. I can definitely see that my Spring Madonna piece will use some of these images. Just a few for your viewing pleasure:

Choosing Images

2005-11-25T19:37:00.000-06:00

I got to the stage with my Gold Madonna where I had to choose an image to put in the middle of all that beading. I have been concerned about copyright issues with some of the images I've looked at because, although most are more than 100 years old, the photographs of the images are not, and may be copyright protected. I decided to look at photographing images I have in my house and using these in my projects.

The first image is my photo of my Virgin of Guadalupe statue, one of those mass-produced popular statues, I bought her at a stall near the border in Tijuana. She has a bit of the Barbie doll look to her, but I changed the photo from color to sepia, and I think this has some possibilities. The second image is a photo of a small plaque I bought when I was pregnant with my daughter. It's a reproduction of an unidentified icon, and it has a lot a personal meaning to me.

It occurred to me Debra, that with your virgin collection, you've got a lot of images around you. Have you thought of using any of those?

Barbara

Almost Ready for Quilting

2005-11-17T16:43:00.000-06:00

My original intent with this wallhanging was to use the paisley border that came on the bottom of this linen fabric. Once the wallhanging was constructed, the border seemed too much. Likewise, I thought about using 2 striped fabrics that I had bought for the project. They didn't have any specialness about them either. So, 3 of the border choices were abandoned. I am going to have a top thin border but it is folded under the bottom rose fabric. I haven't cut it yet.

I thought that I would embellish this piece heavily too. Once the lace fragments (many of them are hand crochetted or tatted) were sewn on, I liked them enough by themselves that I doubt I will do much more embellishing, except to add some buttons in key spots.

I have enjoyed the machine stitching as embellishments. The linen has been a bit of a challenge. It wants to stretch out of shape. But, I like the way the brown gives the lace importance and makes the whole piece look very old fashioned.

Once I attach the borders, I will begin the handquilting. The stitches on my test sample sunk into the linen due to the coarseness of the fabric but I think I will still be able to get the impression that I love with handquilting.

The overall piece is about 45 x 35 inches. This doily was teadyed because it turned out to be "too white" for the composition.

rubberstamped rose on taffeta for the border

I have wanted to make something that was reminiscent of an old fashioned dress with apron or lace blouse. I think this recalls that feeling. I envision Mary wearing something like this wallhanging--like a pioneer woman's prairie ensemble.

Our Lady of the Flowers (9x11)

2005-11-15T11:39:00.000-06:00

I took the plunge a bought a new sewing machine also. Debra is such an inspiration in all things artistic that I couldn't resist. That, and my 30 year old Viking bit the dust. This is a test piece that I made to try out some of the features on my new machine. It's fun having so many possibilities at my disposal. Barbara

Stitching up Madonna

2005-11-10T12:17:00.000-06:00

Examples of the Madonna blocks that I plan to inset into my background piece. I am going to cut a "window" in the background and have these units behind each window.

Having fun trying out the new decorative stiches on my machine. I am leaving plenty of space for beading & even an additional row of stitches. Stitches are on taffeta with the raw edge showing against the edge of the image. ~~~Debra

Our Lady of the Trees

2005-11-07T19:44:00.000-06:00

This turned out to be a fun and fulfilling project. I'm still working on the laborious hand work on my Gold Madonna, but this one was spontaneous and I really like the looks of it. My experience is that these accidental compositions are some of the best ones. The question then is, how do we as artists create the conditions for these happy accidents? Perhaps the key is to mess around with our materials a lot so that new things can jump out at us.

I solved the binding issue on this piece by doing a blanket stitch with pearl cotton by hand all around the edge. Then I slip stitched that brocade strip to the back on one side so that it extends over the edge. I'm liking the looks of these unfinished edges. One of my challenges is to not automatically turn every edge under. The larger photo makes it look wavy-edged, but I just need to block it more.

This is a small piece, 11x21. It's really the perfect size for a devotional item that one person will use for meditation.
--Barbara

Fall Preliminary Madonna

2005-11-05T09:16:00.000-06:00

The Main Structure

Detail of Section with Unconditional Love

Main Madonna

I plan to cut the bottom paisleys and add the roses as applique in the quilt's body

The Best of the Bunch!

2005-11-01T16:47:00.000-06:00

Isn't she beautiful?

Hanging Madonna Out to Dry

2005-11-01T13:20:00.000-06:00

On my personal blog today, I mentioned that part of the creative process that is difficult for me is experimenting.

But

I did just that this morning with the transfers.

I feel like I have made enough to tackle the large one that I plan to be the central portion of my upcoming fall piece. And, you know what, if it bombs, I can make another one---what a novel thought for me!

Here a few tips that I learned:

Make sure the transparency is the right one for your printer. My inkjet printer uses a transparency with a smooth and a rough side. The rough side is the one that accepts and releases the ink.
The images with more contrast show better. Some ink colors give off more color than others even though the transfers are consistent.
When applying the transfer medium, put on a consistent layer. It doesn't have to be very thick but it does have to be even.
When applying the transfer medium, any that goes over the edge of the image has to be dealt with in the piecing or appliquing part so keep that in mind. Don't waste alot on the outside margin. By the same token, make sure the edges are well covered so your whole image transfers.
Let the images dry before "testing" them with your finger!
If the image is not coming out on the edge, repress with your spoon or credit card until the medium releases smoothly.
Be sure and reverse any writing. It has been bugging me for weeks that people said it was possible. Today I found out how to do it-----it is an option on the printing layout.

Too much medium--the image ran when pressure was applied

Some of the ink colors didn't transfer as well as others

Although the full image didn't transfer, I can use this on a Fantasy postcard so a "goof" is OK!

Close to Perfect!

Working Smaller

2005-10-30T11:16:00.000-06:00

Debra posted to her blog about Leslie Riley's recommendation to work smaller in order to get more feelings of accomplishment. I have been thinking about his as well, as I hand embellish my Gold Madonna. I bought a couple of fat quarters of metallic fabrics, which I casually pinned to my design wall, with some other things I had at hand, and look what popped out! I let it sit there for a week, and then thought to myself, well, sew it together! So this week I did. I'm still beading the gold piece, but I also zipped out this quickie madonna (no, this will not be her name). My big breakthrough is using unfinished edges. I did seam the two larger background pieces of fabric, but the long brown strip and the picture are raw edged. I'm also going to do an experimental binding, as I know that inside corner is a challenge. I bought a wavy-edged rotary blade, and I'm going to improvise the edge. We'll see what comes of this.

--Barbara

Treasure Box

2005-10-23T17:57:00.000-05:00

I'm beading my Madonna quilt, still not quite sure what the final product is going to look like, but I'm moving ahead on pure faith. I've attached the surface of the quilt to a piece of flannel, and I'm beading through both layers, adding beads to the original beaded bodice, and to the New York Beauty sections I added. I've designated a space for the Madonna image, but I haven't chosen one yet. Here is a look at how I "organize" my supplies. Everything I'm using goes into a box, and I pull things out as I use them.

I found these cute little bottles to hold beads at the thrift store yesterday. You can't tell their size, but they're about 3" tall.

And here's a glimpse at what I'm doing. I'm making it up as I go along, which is the way I like to work best. --Barbara

Madonna Transfers Again!

2005-10-16T12:03:00.000-05:00

Mommy! Mommy! I did it!

Photos of my transparencies for the Fall Madonna piece!!!!

I will do the transfers to fabric tomorrow. I want them to dry & I have tickets to the Astros game today!

Mucho exciting possibilities with the transfers. Why was I so resistent????? It does help to have the right kind of transparencies. .. .

Plots and twists

2005-10-14T20:16:00.000-05:00

I'm working on my Gold Madonna, designing around that beaded bodice. It's so eye-catching that everything else has to work around it. It occurred to me to add some New York Beauty patches.

I really don't know where I'm headed with this, but I've got a beaded bodice and I'm determined to work smaller than I did last time. I also really want to avoid using other people's patterns, so I decided to draft up my own NYB patches, and this turned out to be a very straightforward process. I found a compass in the kitchen junk drawer, and I used a ruler. I drafted one and then reduced its size and made copies on a photocopy machine.

I didn't make whole blocks, but just the spiky middle section, and I like the way they came out. It looks like I'm going to hand sew all this down, and then embellish. As I was making this up, I remembered that one of the things the Virgin of Guadalupe tells Juan Diego is to build her a temple. That's what I feel like I'm doing.

I have joined the 21st century

2005-10-12T01:53:00.000-05:00

I have added my own blog to the cyber universe. Please check out the link to my new page "Thinking Out Loud."
Barbara

Raw Ingredients

2005-10-09T23:20:00.000-05:00

The wheels of my brain are spinning. I'm thinking about my next Madonna quilt, which I refer to as my Gold Madonna, because I've decided to use gold as my predominant color. Of course some of my best supplies are recycled items from my inherited stash and from my thrift store adventures. Here are some of the goodies I'm working with.

I found this beaded silk East Indian tunic a couple of years ago. The tunic has some grease stains on the front--I'm sure this was someone's party frock, but the beading is fabulous. I think I'll cut off the beaded section and use it as a kind of temple structure over an image. I think I'll use the good parts of the silk as well, probably with interfacing because it's quite thin.

These lace bits are a recent thrift store find, and the circular beaded thingie was a recent score from Big Lots.

And look what I also found the same day I found the lace: a partially-embroidered Virgin Mary. I kind of like her in her partially-constructed state.

This linen and gold thread napkin would be a great canvas for a photo transfer. And I have a whole jar of the gold buttons with lady heads on them in my stash.
So here's what's going into the soup. Let's see how it comes out.
Barbara

Butterflies

2005-10-07T11:33:00.000-05:00

Butterflies transferred to 3M Transfer Sheet

Butterfly Burnished to White Muslin--used Picture This! medium

The Used Transfer--I was able to get almost all the ink off--much more predictable than the paper method

I had to post my butterfly results as soon as I did them! Very cool! And, I like the fact that you can see through the transfer and tell if you have gotten all the ink off.

Now, I need to find transfers that will accept my home printer's ink.

Proof

2005-10-07T11:02:00.000-05:00

The best transfer fully washed

Much better--the fuzziness may be the camera---it is sharper in person

Rubber Stamp of a Leaf

Some of the Elements Pinned in Place

Ready for some serious Handsewing

Transfer Update

2005-10-06T07:09:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I did a little experimenting (emphasis is on little) with the transfers.

I copied the same pictures onto transfer film and they are still wet. There must be a trick here I don't know. . . .so back to the drawing board on that one.

But, what I did discover is that the images transferred light in some areas on the transfer sheets too. So, that clued me in that the image was transferring to the fabric with the transfer medium that I had used. The "thin" spots really did have an image on them but it was just pale. The trick may be to pick darker images. I took those fabrics out again and rewet them. I just kept running my finger over the surface until it wasn't gritty anymore. When I took the pictures, that fuzziness is the paper sticking to the medium. It will come off but apparently it takes some real washing. Except for the one image that was incredibly light to begin with, the "new" images are very crisp and I am using them.

What else? the transfer medium that I slathered on the thickest has the nicest results. The directions say to cover the image until you cannot see it. I believe it now. The medium dries into a rubbery surface with the image copied onto it.
I looked at the Madonna postcards that Barbara sent me and my images are very similiar to the consistency of her postcards. I believe those were made with the transfer paper.

My uneducated guess is this is the same medium.

I am pleased. I do think the transparency will be better because I won't have to keep peeling away paper but I will have to address the drying issue.
Also, I decided to fuse one of the Madonnas (the best & thickest one) to my wallhanging and it did heat up the transfer enough that it bubbled. It is OK now but that is another consideration.

Scientist Debra reporting from the field. . .

Madonna Transfers

2005-10-02T11:34:00.000-05:00

One thing that I have noticed lately about my work is that I seem to have a hierarchy of quilts. I am spending quite a bit of time this year either working on new techniques or refining some old techniques. Subconsciously, quilts are ranked by their importance to my overall scheme of plans.

The Madonna Idea is at the uppermost rung of the hierarchy. Below it is the ARTImage Challenge. Below that are the Fabric Postcards.

The Fabric Postcards are experimenting grounds for future ideas and techniques. This last round featured rubber stamped images. This in itself is not a new technique but it is new in that it worked! I actually got the images to be stable.

For this month's ARTImage Challenge, I wanted to include at least one Madonna with child. The piece will be a memorial to my oldest son who died in 2001. I have a wonderful image of the Madonna holding a red haired Jesus. Will was a redhead and the image reminds me of him. I don't recall where I found it but I know that it was from the '90s when I first started collecting Madonna images.

The image was printed on some heavier paper so I was doubtful that it would transfer well. Special note here: you could fill a thimble with my knowledge of photo transferring.
During the '90s I also became interested in photo transfer and Hobby Lobby had this special transfer medium for white or colored fabrics. When it went on sale, I bought 4 bottles of it. Recently, I decided to try some manual photo transferring again.

I plan to do some photo transferring for my fall Madonna piece so I wanted to experiment on this month's ARTImage Challenge. Do you see how the hierarchy is working?

I printed some images that I have collected on-line to try also. They were printed on regular paper.

Directions (abbreviated):

coat the image with the medium ---on the face of the image---herein lies the trick (I am beginning to think)----the amount of medium is what actually becomes the "piece" that is the transfer
lay it down on the fabric---medium to fabric
press out the bubbles
let dry overnight
wet a sponge and begin to "wipe off" the paper--herein is the next trick---be careful not to wipe off the image too! I think if you have enough of the medium, which has dried into a base, you are OK. If not, the image disappears.
let dry and repeat as needed. The directions suggest twice. I have had to go in 3 times and the last time I just held the transfer under a stream of water. At this point you are trying to get the paper off the transfer image.

Below are my results:

My favorite image and the one that came out the most clear. I think it also looks blurry due to the photo too. It's better in real life. I think I used the heaviest amount of transfer medium on this one.

This was one of the regular paper transfers. I think this is a case of washing off the medium/image with the sponge--a little too vigorous here!

I like this image but you can see that it is not very clear. I like the jagged edge but it's also an indication that the medium didn't cover the whole surface.

The lightest of the transfers; probably due to the lightness of the original.

As you can see, this technique is less than perfect. But, as I look at the decreased images that transferred, it rather reminds me of my relationship with my son. I am not sure I have the courage just yet to explore that idea but I also see some value in how the images manifested themselves.

Unless I really perfect this technique, I doubt that I will use it for the fall Madonna piece. It is just a little too unpredictable. I tend to be impatient with experiments. I want predictable results!

I have been pretty successful with photo transferring directly from the computer but with 4 bottles of this Transfer Medium I would like to at least use it up!

Any suggestions???
~~~Debra

From Barbara to Me!

2005-09-28T09:21:00.000-05:00

Anticipation is fun! Barbara wrote me that she had sent a package of supplies that might be inspirational for my fall Madonna piece. When Hurricane Rita interrupted mail service, I put the message out of my mind. Yesterday's mail arrived!

Barbara's package was filled with all kinds of cool, funky things that I can surely use. I can see that we would be horrible shopping partners going home mad at the end of the excursion. We have very similiar taste! I can see us racing to get to the table first so we could grab up all the goodies. Or, maybe I am just speaking of myself! *wink*

I love everything that arrived. Now I am thinking that I must have it all and make the piece much bigger than I planned at first. Just another example of how my projects get out of control!

Barbara sent some interesting paper beads (did you make them??). I've seen the directions for them for years but never tried them--one of those "one of these days" projects. They are very cool! In case you are not familiar with paper beads: long skinny triangular strips of paper (usually magazine pages), rolled onto something tubular (these are very small so maybe a knitting needle?) like a straw, dabbed with clear glue and set to dry. The color variations can be quite lovely. Another great recycling idea too! They can be made any which way and still come out fab!

The buttons are unique too---especially the little checked cross ones. You can see them in the photo. They are my favorites along with the robin egg speckled blue ones and the heavy wooden ones. Vintage rules!

I also feel special to have one of Rachel's crocheted doilies. I bet she will be thrilled to have it adorn a Madonna piece.

Thank you so much, Barbara! please tell us where you got some of these great supplies. I did see the hospice thrift store tag on the glittery white piece (I may save it for the winter Madonna--she is going to be all glittery.)& I believe I recognize the yo-yos from your current piece. Now I remember why I never hooked onto that technique! My companion to those yo-yos---handpieced hexagons. I'll get them done one of these days.

Tell me. What can I send to you? Now that your La Ofrenda is done maybe you have a thought or two about the fall piece?? Inquiring minds want to know. . . .

La Ofrenda (42x43)

2005-09-26T12:21:00.000-05:00

I feel like I've been making this quilt for my whole life, but now it's done! I sometimes get a very ambivalent feeling about finishing a quilt, and this one has particularly been hard to finish, perhaps because I wanted it to turn out so well. I really like the colors, but I'm sure I'll think of things I'll wish I'd done differently in terms of composition. But anyway, here she is. "La Ofrenda"

And there I am--reflected in my work, so to speak--that's a real hand mirror I put in the middle of this quilt.

I have more detailed photos with explanations in my webshots album. You can use the link on the right to view my photos. I'm ready for the next quilt in this series.--Barbara

Read a good book lately?

2005-09-20T14:05:00.000-05:00

In one of Rian's emails to me, she asked if I had read the Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. I've seen it everywhere and when it hit the popular bookshelves I was busy thinking about some other things. So, I had to confess that I hadn't read it. . . or much of anything lately, really.

So, with my upcoming trip to Nashville I decided to visit the bookstore and buy the paperback edition of the Da Vinci Code. In case you don't know, it is not in paperback & the original edition costs about $25/hardback. There is a new edition with pictures and it is in the $27 range. I fiddled around with it and asked some questions of the helpful clerk. I have trouble making decisions sometimes.

I really didn't want to lug a hardback on the plane with me (& I didn't want to spend $25) so she suggested I read the first of Brown's books that introduces Robert Langdon as the Symbologist in the story; that book is Angels & Demons.

Since I am not a Catholic everything in the book was news to me. I couldn't tell you the facts from the fiction. I do think that besides following the storyline, I did learn some religious thought and some art history. The book is like a whirlwind tour through Rome and the Vatican City via art and symbols. It seemed an added bonus to me.

I don't know what the Da Vinci Code is about but I have an idea. While I thought Brown got a little long winded towards the end, I did enjoy the book, even if some of it was a bit contrived. I just reminded myself that it was a fictional book.

On another note
While visiting the Rau Collection exhibit this weekend at the Tennessee State Museum, I encountered an interesting piece that showed St. Veronica holding a cloth with the image of Jesus' face on it.

Prior to beginning this study of the Madonna, I would have looked at this Classic painting and gone on about my visit. Now, it gave me reason to pause. The legend is interesting but the arrangement of the painting was also interesting! Here is St. Veronica holding a piece of fabric like she is getting ready to hang it on the clothesline. What a great way to show a Madonna piece. . . . . hmm, something to think about. . . .

Ideas do crop up everywhere, don't they? Where do you find inspiration??

Power of Suggestions

2005-09-13T08:18:00.000-05:00

I am mulling over in my mind Rian's comment about Mary as a common mother here on earth.

During the times that I have been thinking about my fall piece, I have not been thinking of Mary quite in those terms. When I think of Earth Mother, I think of materials from the earth; shells, rocks, leaves, twigs, linen, cotton, paper--those things that come from the earth and give something "an earthy quality" about them.

I just figured that was what it all meant so when Rian, who was only reading my information (we have not talked about this), perceived what I was trying to say in a new light, I found that immensely interesting.

Barbara has also mentioned that she has some things to send me "now that she has seen my supplies". Here is another example of wonder to me. How will Barbara interpret my idea through pictures with her own supplies?

Isn't it wonderful that we can have this kind of interaction without even talking to one another? that someone can read a comment and influence thinking in a whole new way? that someone can see some pictures and know what to contribute?

I do like Rian's idea of interpreting Mary as a common mother here on earth. I wonder how I will do that?? hmmm. more food for thought.

Mary, Earth Mother

2005-09-11T20:23:00.000-05:00

Before Hurricane Katrina hit and changed some of my quilting priorities, I was ready to begin work on my fall Madonna quilt. I have been looking at the pile of supplies accumulating in my studio and decided that it was time to share my ideas for them with you.

Barbara and I agreed that we would base our 4 individual projects on the 4 seasons. With Fall close at hand, I have decided to portray Mary as an Earth Mother. I want to use humble supplies that I think befitting a woman who I view as "walking amongst the people", as I think Mary does on a daily basis. I want to show Mary as a gentle woman, happy with her child in even the most simple of adornments.

All summer I have been collecting supplies from my trips to the thrift stores. With a keen eye, I have come across what I hope will be some gracious trimmings and fabric for the Earth Mother. I also want to include mementos from friends.

My plan is to use a simple design but embellish it with some crazy quilting, beading, linens, crochetted items, old jewelry and some ribbons. I plan to use some primitive transfers so that Mary's image has an aged, old look. I do not use a lot of muted colors in my normal quilts but I do like the patina of aged work. There is something very gratifying in rescuing linens, laces and buttons for such a project. I plan to explore & express my thoughts with these "new to me" items.

This is a beautiful piece of linen. I love the paisley design and the roses above. For me, this is the defining piece of my Earth Mother.

Here are some of the supporting fabrics. They include an abstract designed rayon piece, some palm leaf cottons. a geometric, and roses. I have also collected some "aged" doilies and a beautiful rich brown tissue faille.

I bought a mixed box of old laces and linens on eBay and plan to incorporate them along with some folk hearts that Rian gave me. I have a pile of junk jewelry, leis from Hawaii, and some great beads, crosses and hearts. Buttons, ribbons and other trinkets will follow suit.

I plan to rubber stamp and stencil words for this quilt. I have not decided upon the words yet but I want them to reflect the relationship that Mary has with those who believe in her power. I plan to put the words on ribbons, tapes and sew them into the main grid of the design.

Here is another fabric that epitomizes how I envision Mary in my Fall quilt.

Please join me and Barbara as we begin planning and working on our Fall Madonna pieces. Our Reveal Deadline is the middle of November. We'll post progress pictures as we make some progress! ~~~Debra

Hurricane Katrina Relief

2005-09-05T19:44:00.000-05:00

Debra has an entry in her blog on August 31 about one of the several efforts to make quilts for people displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Of course people also need donations of cash and food and water that many of us are making as well, but these quilts are not only for bodily comfort, but are also for emotional and spiritual support. We want the victims know that we recognize their terrible loses. Over the weekend I made these two simple quilts. This one is a stripy made from some left over pieced sections and augmented with coordinating fabrics.

The second quilt is a "shoebox" quilt. I made the top some time ago from leftover blocks. It was hanging in my closet, because it was long and skinny, and I thought I'd add to the sides as time went by. Well this was a perfect cot/ twin sized quilt, so I layered it along with the pink quilt.

I used flannel instead of batting (I recycle old sheets) and so they only needed basic quilting. I bound them by turning the backing to the front edges and topstitching.

These quilts are also for the makers. We need to feel that we can do something meaningful in the face of such overwhelming devastation. I'm sure I'll make more of these.
--Barbara

Stay Tuned!

2005-08-30T08:41:00.000-05:00

I am getting my quilt piece finished for the ARTImage Challenge. While I am handquilting, I am thinking about the next Madonna piece about to be started. Stay tuned for my ideas & photos of supplies. It's beginning to take some real shape.

Join us at the ARTImage Challenge Reveal! It has started this week and some wonderful pieces have been shown. You will enjoy the view!

Yes, I'm STILL beading...

2005-08-28T11:01:00.000-05:00

So I've decided to show you some of the other projects I've been working on lately. I've added these and other photos to my webshots, which you can access through the link on the right.
First, I recently finished a new scrap quilt, and here's a peek:

Scrap quilts really are my favorites. I love seeing how they unfold as you go along.

I've also added a new album to my photos called Recyled Fashion. In it I'm showing a few projects that, in the vein of scrap quilting, are meant to use up things that are more or less at hand, or which give new life to otherwise tired objects. Here's two handbags:

I'v also jumped in on the skirt bandwagon and recyled a skirt of my own, though it's not as fancy as Debra's. Here's my finished skirt.

I show the steps for the skirt in my webshots, as well as comments on all of the projects here, in my photo album.

I know Debra has ideas she'll be showing soon for her next Madonna quilt, and I do too. In the meantime, I'll be beading...
Barbara

Little Miracles

2005-08-22T09:51:00.000-05:00

"Milagritos," literally "little miracles" are charms that people put on a saint's image to show that a favor was granted, often some kind of healing. The charms are frequently body parts: arms, legs, hearts, eyes, whole bodies, or animals or houses or other objects. In this age of electronic commerce, I found mine on Ebay and put them both on the Virgin's robe (like Debra did on her quilt) and also in the inner border.

I'm also showing the whole composition at this point.

I'm going to bead the gold half-square triangles in the inner border, and I'm probably going to add a couple of more things to the doily area.

I used photo transfer to add pictures of my kids. They're my Big Miracles. In my son's picture, he's sporting his summer Mohawk hairdo. In my daughter's picture she's wearing her prom dress.--Barbara

"Her Clothing Appeared Like the Sun"

2005-08-20T10:22:00.000-05:00

I just finished Virgil Elizondo's inspring book, Guadalupe: Mother of the New Creation. It's a combination of a meditation on the Virgin of Guadalupe, and a discussion of the forced Christianization of Mexico after its bloody conquest by Spain in the 1500s. During this period of violent loss by the native peoples of the continent, the Virgin appeared to Juan Diego, an Indian of low social status, and spoke to him as an equal in his own language (Nahuatl). Elizondo provides a new English translation of the Nican Mopohua, the narrative of her apparitions, a poetic and mystical text, and he interprets the native imagery in the account, and in the iconography of the Virgin herself. In one of my favorite passages of the Nican Mopohua, the Virgin asks Juan Diego: “Am I not here, your mother? Are you not under my shadow and my protection? Am I not your source of life? Are you not in the hollow of my mantle where I cross my arms?” (Elizondo, 16)

In the Nican Mopohua the description of the place where the Virgin appears is equally poetic: “When he arrived in her presence, he marveled at her perfect beauty. Her clothing appeared like the sun, and it gave forth rays. And the rock and the cliffs where she was standing… appeared like precious emeralds, appeared like jewels….The mesquites, the cacti, and the weeds and the stems all looked like turquoise; the branches, the foliage, and even the thorns sparkled like gold.” (7)

Elizondo speaks of the Virgin as an egalitarian figure who recognizes the humanity of all of us regardless of status. He says her image …”is her living presence….In her eyes, we find recognition, acceptance, respect and confidence.” (135)

I’m finding that as I create this quilt that I want to render this aura of loving acceptance and of dignity.
--Barbara

Spiritual Bouquet

2005-08-14T11:28:00.000-05:00

I'm adding embellishments, beginning with the bouquet of flowers. The flowers on the home altar remind me of the notion of "spiritual bouquet" which I learned in Catholic school. A "spiritual bouquet" is an offering of prayers or sacrifices that one makes for another person or for an intention. In this case, the flowers, and the whole quilt, are an offering to the virgin for the welfare of my children, whose photos I'm going to incorporate into the quilt. I found that I didn't have nearly as many matching buttons as I'd thought, but I did quite nicely with what I had. I made the large dark red yo-yos, but the others I had put away for about 10 years, and I was glad they finally made themselves useful.

The white buttons were recycled from my aforementioned stash of plaid shirts that are awaiting a new life as a quilt. I love this yellow and red color scheme. I feel like it reminds me of something from my childhood that I can't quite put my finger on.

I freemotion quilted the whole piece before starting the embellishment.--Barbara

Stashing with Dorothy and Rochelle

2005-08-09T21:25:00.000-05:00

Debra's posts about thrift store shopping have made me think a lot about collecting and recycling. Crafters and artists seem to be drawn to collect things we can't always think up a use for. We recognize the potential in all kinds of seemingly mundane things. For example, I now have a collection of cotton plaid shirts which I'm saving for the day when I'll make them into a quilt. I'm also currently making a quilt from discontinued home dec fabric samples, which I had to pry from their display books. Now that I'm at the embellishing stage of my Madonna quilt, I'm looking through my stash of buttons and doo-dads and remembering that I "inherited" some of my best stash from two women, Dorothy and Rochelle, who are now in Crafting Heaven, and who died, as I guess all crafters and artists must, without using up all the things they had collected.

Dorothy was my sister-in-law Diane's mother. I never knew her, but when she died, my brother and Diane had to clear out the house where she had lived, and sewn for decades. Neither Diane nor her sister sew or craft, so Dorothy's' considerable stash meant nothing to them. However, my mother, who although she is not a crafter nor a sewer, but who hates to see anything go to waste, got the chance to rescue a bunch of stuff, which she saved for me, because she knew I'd think of something to do with these odds and ends (eventually). Dorothy's bark cloth drapes are the source for the outer border of my Madonna quilt. I love the way they locate the quilt in a nostalgic moment in the past. These are exactly the kinds of drapes my maternal grandmother and my aunts would've had in the 50s. I also have Dorothy's collection of thimbles: one looks like its Bakelite and another is a souvenir of the 1939 New York World's Fair (those are the two on their sides). I also have several containers of buttons which she had sorted by kind into bouillon bottles. I have a big collection of metal buttons that were Dorothy's, some look like they came from military or police uniforms.

In addition, I have enough bias and hem tape to last me until the end of time.

Rochelle, the other major source for my stash, and her husband Felix were my parent's neighbors. They never had any children, so when Felix died, my parents kept an eye out for Rochelle until she couldn't manage on her own anymore, and a nephew moved her near him. She died soon after the move. When the nephew cleaned out Rochelle's house to move her, again my mother collected a lot of her crafting supplies that otherwise, would've gone into the dumpster. If this arts and crafts thing were an addiction, my mother would be my connection. Although Rochelle had been blind during her later years, she had a considerable collection of crafting books, yarn, beads, and a ton of suit samples, mostly wool, but also silk, and that indestructible polyester, that she'd gotten from a relative who'd worked in a men's store. I've made two wool quilts, and one polyester and corduroy one (for the car) and I still have two large tubs full of fabric. I also have enough fine wool yarn for a sweater, but it's, unfortunately, an orange-red that should be against the law--so that's put away, ripening for some future unimagined use.

I think these broken pearl necklaces were from both of them.

I hope by using Rochelle and Dorothy's supplies, that some part of them gets wrapped up in my work. I love old things. They seem to carry with them the spirit of people who admired them, and the creative impusle that kept them in the artist's stash. --Barbara

Mary with the Broken Fingers

2005-08-08T10:58:00.000-05:00

I've been curious about Mary since I first began noticing her in shops in the mid '90s. As a Presbyterian, we don't mention Mary much in our religious thinkings so I don't have the wonderful lessons and history that other denominations have about her. She has always held a fascination for me. While I lived in Chicago, I was an accomplished thrift store shopper. It was a thrift store mecca with some very fine goods passing through the doors of even the grungiest places. I could spot "creativity" on a dime. Mary would often show up in the Housewares Department--often in pristine condition, sometimes with broken parts. I always opted for the pristine ones & before long I had a growing collection of Mary figurines. You can easily see that my studio is filled with Mary and her presence.

Last week was a gathering week. I had finished the Adoration of Our Lady of Guadalupe & I was not quite ready to begin another project. I knew I had some ideas and deadlines looming but I needed to get out into the world to see what was going on. When I have that kind of urge I often head for the thrift stores or "make my rounds" as I am fond of saying.

Mary appeared to me twice last week while making my rounds. I buzzed into Barnes and Nobles to pick up the latest issue of Quilting Arts for the Yvonne Porcella challenge that Teri is using for her guild. Something told me to stay and browse a minute and there in the bargain section was Mary waiting for me. The book, Mary, Queen of Angels is a small book by Janice T. Connell but it is packed with beautiful, understandable Answers to Universal Questions. It has the format that I love and I am humbled when I take it out to read. Like chocolate, I am savoring every word and carefully unwrapping each morsel of knowledge. Maybe this will be the answer to my questions about Mary.

Mary appeared to me at the Junior Assistance League Thrift Shop in Conroe too. There sitting amongst the cups and crockpots was Mary with two broken but mended fingers. I picked her up & looked at her delicateness. What a shame she has broken fingers, I thought. And I moved to return her to the shelf but she would not go back. And so now, Mary with the Broken Fingers, lives with me on my studio table holding pencils, reminding me that even the broken can be creative again.

Allison, in an email to me, asked me if I felt any special emotions while working on my Adoration of Our Lady of Guadalupe quilt. She is beginning a quilt that will have the figure of Jesus in it. I can say that working on the Adoration was not hard. It kept calling me--maybe Mary was speaking to me, telling me how important it was for me to speak to her. Adoration was the piece that I have been designing in my head for years. Doing and then finishing Adoration liberates me to do more quiltwork about Mary. And, to find out about her and her powers. That is very strong motivation. So, yes, I guess to answer your question, Allison, Mary did speak to me while sewing and she continues to speak to me. ~~~Debra

Oh no, there's a skull in my coffee!

2005-08-06T22:06:00.000-05:00

I thought those corners were too distracting too, so I decided to make a little extra expresso this morning and voilá, the perfect colors. I'm hoping to finish piecing the whole thing tomorrow. --Barbara

The Collaborative Process Works

2005-08-05T16:37:00.000-05:00

Something Debra said has helped me sort out my border dilemma. She observed that the green half-square triangles in one of my earlier versions of the quilt echoed the rays radiating from the Virgin. "Aha!" I said. "This is my way out of the border tangle: find repeating elements that tie the center and the border." So I repeated both colors common to both sections, and the fortuitous half-square triangles/rays. Now I'm excited about how the quilt is shaping up.

I also found another Alexander Henry fabric that I've fallen in love with even though I tend to avoid white. It's a replica of Mexican papel picado: tissue paper cut-outs that can be quite intricate. This is going to be fun to find ways to use.

I'm toying with placing small squares of this fabric in the corners of this quilt. There is a colonial-era stone cross that I saw in central Mexico many years ago with the goddess Cuatlicue in the center standing on skulls. I like tucking in this little reminder of Guadalupe's indigenous foundations, but the white still gives me a twinge when I see it.

I feel much more confident about this quilt. I feel like I've found a direction and I like where it's taking me.--Barbara

Border Options

2005-08-01T21:52:00.000-05:00

I've got the main elements sewn down for this quilt. Everything else will be embellishments added after the quilting. As you can see, I used Rian's suggestion and photographed a burning votive, and I think it came out nicely. I used iron-on phototransfer sheets, so the image is kind of shiny, which I like.

Now that I reached this stage, I realized that I have to decide about borders. This is always the hardest part for me: to choose borders that compliment without overpowering the central section. The quilt feels a little plain without borders, so I want to add something that will make the quilt "pop" more. I plan to extend the flowers from the bouquet onto the border.

The first couple of options are in blues and greens, but the white in the ribbon and in the half-square triangles, I think, are too light.

I also pulled out this really wierd fabric with big photographic images of roses. the colors blend well, and thematically it fits, since one of the miracles of the Virgen of Guadalupe was that she made roses appear in the winter.

I was thinking of piecing some 2" blue squares into a border. One of the fabrics is blue with yellow stars.

This last one is my most recent favorite. The border is a vintage bark cloth. Okay, they were once my sister-in-law's mom's drapes. I like the giant flowers.

So now I need feedback. How do these look to you?--Barbara

Safe Arrival--Time to Wait

2005-08-01T08:41:00.000-05:00

Note in my mailbox from the curator of the Hoffman Challenge that my piece had arrived. And, No, she did not comment that when the box fell on her foot, she broke her toe!

Now all we can do is . . . .Wait! I can do that--I grew up in the Army, whose slogan is "Hurry Up and Wait!" Second nature here. I just hope My Lady is getting to know the other ladies and recognizes Rian's Flamenco! and goes over for a chat. I'm sure she will. . . .:-)

Maybe I should've waited until tomorrow

2005-07-27T19:36:00.000-05:00

Why am I sad? I finished Adoration of Our Lady of Guadalupe today. It would seem that would be occasion to be happy but once again, I feel a sense of loss. She is in the mail winging her way to Santa Ana, CA. If she is chosen for the competition, I will not see her again for about a year (except for the Houston Show in October) Adoration of Our Lady of Guadalupe turned out to be one of the most embellished pieces that I have done. The same sadness came over me as I watched my Lexus drive off into the sunset just last week. Maybe I have had too many good-byes lately.

I will be ecstatic if she is chosen for the traveling show but I will be just as happy if she returns to her happy home. I am possessive about what is mine; ask my son or my husband. I want to keep whom I love close to me. Over the years, the Madonna has figured in my life and I have wanted "to do" something with her image for a long time. Now, I have done it & she is nothing like I thought she would become. I didn't know how she would mature for me; I just went with the energy that I felt.

And as devoted as I was to this piece, I am also fickle! I was out hunting new treasures yesterday. I managed to score some nice broken jewelry full of potential for the next Madonna--one based on the Sea with oodles of seashells.

Please visit my photo album for about 20 detailed pictures. The link is in the sidebar as Debra's pictures. ~~~Debra

(Barbara's) Progress Report

2005-07-21T22:45:00.000-05:00

I've been working in my own idiosyncratic way on my quilt. My preferred approach is to begin with a handful of elements that I like, and then to make decisions on the rest as I go along. For example, when I started "La Ofrenda" I knew I wanted a pieced background, and I wanted to use elements of the dresser-top altar, including real linens. I also wanted to include a cactus, echoing Weston's maguey photograph. I put my cactus in the center of my piece and made it 3-D. The stuffing was tedious, and I'm not sure it looks sufficiently unlike those dancing cactuses from a few years ago, so I'm thinking about that.

When I got through these elements, I had to think about what I wanted to add next. I chose to add a vase of flowers, and I cut my vase from a wonderful Nancy Crow fabric that looks like rattlesnake skin. The virgin of Guadalupe reflects the mixing of both European and Mesoamerican cultures. The snake is a symbol of life in Mesoamerica, and a goddess with a skirt made of serpents, Coatlicue, is one of the native sources for the image of Guadalupe.

I'm thinking about the position of each element I've included so far, and about what I want to include next. I went to the hardware store and bought a piece of flashing, thinking I'd cut out some picture frames for family photos. I also bought a cheap mirror. I'm going to have to decide what flowers will go in the vase.

Detailed Pictures

2005-07-18T21:43:00.000-05:00

Central section----some of the larger areas will have silk flowers attached---milagro like charms are now on her cape.

Middle section---button cross, recycled earrings with medallion, harlequin diamonds with the Hoffman Challenge fabric.

Side section---gem stone cross with silver heart, conchos, beads on ribbon trim.

Side section--glass beads and rhinestone studs, glass crosses.

The Virgin gets Beaded

2005-07-18T21:16:00.000-05:00

No matter how hard I try to do something a different way, I always manage to do it my way. I like arrangements of things; little groupings of stuff that reflect some idea or theme. I have them all over my house & now I have them all over my quilts.

This past year I have been developing a style of quilts that I refer to as "Collage Quilts". They are shapes of fabrics that I sew together as a canvas for photos, beads, buttons, tidbits and trivia. They just pour out of me naturally and until recently I didn't see them as anything significant until I realized that they are very much like the still life arrangements that I have all around me.

My Virgin of Guadalupe piece is one of my collages. Right now I am working on the embellishing. I am trying to develop 3 underlying themes to the piece. I want to show the common cultural images of the Mexican people and I chose fabrics, colors, flowers and some typical trinkets for that purpose. For the adoration the Mexican people show the Virgin of Guadalupe I chose to use golds, silvers, and bright gems. For the western look I chose conchos, turquioses and silvers and sewed some rickracks and beads. I want the folkloric style to be underneath the more glittery adoration.

At present I am over the halfway mark! I am using a good amount of supplies that I have had squirreled away for some future project. Part of me is a little sad because I know that I will not find many of these supplies again. Part of me is thrilled to be adoring the Virgin with my treasures. And as is my style, I love doing the arrangements.

Here are a few detail pictures of my work at present. ~~~Debra

La Ofrenda

2005-07-14T14:49:00.000-05:00

I received my Virgin of Guadalupe fabric from Debra this week, so now I'm working on my piece in earnest. The working title, "La Ofrenda" refers to the home altars in Mexican Catholic homes. My objective is to replicate the altars that women in my family: my mom, my grandmother, my aunts, kept (and keep) on their dresser tops. I'm also including a reference to Edward Weston's 1926 black and white photo "Maguey: Mexico," which is the inspiration for my summer Artimage Challenge piece. A scaled-down maguey plant (it looks an aloe vera) will be a potted plant on the dresser. Yes, this quilt will serve as both my summer Artimage Challenge piece and as my summer Madonna.

So far, I've pieced the top of the back ground and now I'm auditioning fabrics for the dresser top. Here are some that I liked from the many that I considered. If I use the linen towel with the big flowers, I think I'll cut the bottom edge to match the outline of the flowers. I like both the white doily and the small yellow doilies against the pink as they seem to identify the image as an ofrenda. --Barbara

Old Earrings Resurface--You wore those??

2005-07-14T14:08:00.000-05:00

Who would have thought those tacky old earrings would lead a double life embellishing my precious Madonna?

I am making some headway--thankfully with rhinestone studs and beads on a thread that I can sew on by machine. Kudos to the person who invented those & the foot attachment to use with them.

I want everyone to know that I can do asymmetrical arrangements but this one just screams, "Balance me!" So, when that message is so loud (& easy) why fight it?? I am feeling more optimistic today!
I can see that I will have numerous days next week handsewing little beads; but, the next couple of days, I am trying to get as much machine work done first.

Don't let the Gold Blind You!

2005-07-13T18:28:00.000-05:00

Here's the progress on the focal point of The Lady!

I thought that gold rickrack was so bold. I am having second thoughts now. I see a lot of sequins in my future. great.

Go Ahead and Cut the Ribbon!

2005-07-13T18:15:00.000-05:00

I am not being bold enough. . . the glitz is not showing. Rats!

This is hard----should I add more? open those reels of ribbon and actually cut them?? Oh, please! really?

I always have trouble at this stage--adding the "stuff". I should have more abandon but I don't have it Yet.

Everything I bought matches the background colors---that wasn't supposed to happen. Sheesh.

Well, check out the flower ideas I have laid out from other parts. I like these!

Are those Flowers Real?

2005-07-11T07:51:00.000-05:00

well, not hardly!

But, the quilting is really good and I wanted to share it! I love the big floral piece. It reminds me of the beautiful flowers that I often see adorning the feet of a Madonna; just perfect to include in my summer piece.

So, if your garden flowers are not as perky as they could be---enjoy the flowers here!

A Sunflower for The Lady!

2005-07-11T07:41:00.000-05:00

The Sunflower

a detail of the quilting from The Lady!

Debra's The Lady!

2005-07-11T07:10:00.000-05:00

I would have to say Hands Down that the Sunflower is my favorite flower. I feel about the average Sunflower much like I feel about the Madonna--I don't know why I like it but I do. So, it is the first flower that I picked for representing the summer Madonna that will be entered in the Hoffman Challenge.

I want my piece to represent the images of Mexico and the passion that the Mexican people feel towards the Virgin of Guadalupe. My fabric choices were based on that impression. I want the piece to show the energy, the love and the cheerfulness that vibrant colors spark within me too.

While I struggled with the first Hoffman Challenge piece I tried and ditched, this piece came together quickly and intuitively. I often debate myself with the question, "Could it be this easy?". I always have to make projects I do harder than they need to be---what's with that? It's not good unless you struggled?? Someone tell me to take a break!

I sent my piece off to be quilted. In some remote part of my brain, I would like to think of myself as a Risktaker but truth be known, I am no Risktaker; at least not in the grand scheme of things. But, I did risk sending my quilt to Deb to be quilted. I totally trust Deb with my quilts but if I am no Risktaker, she is even less of one. She even told me that she prefers to see the finished design first with her quilting. I am a little riskier than that--but I don't like surprise--not in that sense. So, I was surprised when the little piece returned to me and the Quilting was Lovely! Deb really moved out of her comfort zone to quilt My Lady! for me. (And, wrote me to say that this piece was a pain with all the thread color changes too. oops.)

Now The Lady! is waiting for her crown. The final stages are upon us. It is time for embellishing. I've gathered the supplies--felt compelled to run around looking for new doodads and geegaws knowing full well that I had enough in my larder already. But, I had looked at all those beads sooo many times. I just needed some new ones.

This week is dedicated to finishing The Lady! If the first part was easy then this part is tedious & boring. After the first rush of deciding where everything will be placed, it's nothing but handsewing those buggers on. But, The Lady! deserves the attention and as I sit in my studio surrounded by my other Madonnas I can reflect on the thought that this Madonna took 10 years to design in my head and a few weeks to design in life---hmmm, easy? well, maybe not! ~~~Debra

Barbara Digresses and Posts a Digital Bouquet

2005-07-10T10:35:00.000-05:00

I'm waiting for the Alexander Henry fabric to arrive from Debra. She generously offered to send me some, since I couldn't find it locally. I can't wait, but our mail delivery can be slow, so in the meantime, I'm practicing on my new digital camera. Now, technology is not generally my friend. New things appeal to me, but I don't relish the idea of figuring out how they work. I prefer that someone just give me the highpoints. This is where teenagers come in handy, and I have two roaming the halls of my house, eating at all hours, needing rides and playing loud music through their headphones, so occasionally, I can get them to help me with these things, after, of course, the obligatory eye-roll and "Oh, moooom!"

But the digital camera was very easy to figure out. The Canon people have a very nice poster-sized directions sheet that gives you all the quick and dirty info you need to get started. There was no eye-rolling. I started taking pictures right away, and never got confused. Now with my rechargeable batteries and ridiculously large memory card, I feel armed to take pictures of everything around me, especially of the Madonna project.

But in the meantime, I'm practicing on things in my world. Here are some flowers--the white one is from my garden. The Madonna is associated with roses, but in this digital bouquet we have: an oriental poppy and a huge (6-8" across ) pink lily from the local nursery.

Virgin of Guadalupe Fabric

2005-07-05T10:42:00.000-05:00

The fabric that Barbara and I will use on our summer piece. It is from the 2003 Alexander Henry Collection.

Two Women who can Agree

2005-07-02T22:39:00.000-05:00

Barbara & I have been able to format our collaboration in fine style. We are planning to do 4 individual wallhangings centered around the 4 seasons & one general wallhanging that we work on together. Each of us will do our own seasonal piece but we will have a common element that we both use in that piece. Our plan will be to make 9 wallhangings, maintain this blog as a journal and possibly delve into some shared Madonna journals and retablos. We plan to have a public showing when all the pieces are finished sometime during the Summer of 2006.

The summer piece will be our first piece(s) and it is the result of the Hoffman Challenge. I would not even be here if it weren't for a mutual friend of both Barbara and me, Rian (see Rian's Pages in our favorite blog/sidebar). She inspired me to grab that ugly Hoffman fabric and do something with it! My first effort was less than special and so I began playing with some favorite fabrics & the Alexander Henry printed Virgin of Guadalupe to produce what is now my Hoffman Challenge entry.

Once Barbara saw the preliminary piece, she was eager to try some of her Madonna ideas. And with that, the Madonna Idea was born.

My piece is currently winging its way home from the machine quilter, Debra Freese. She has just moved to Kansas but her work is such that I am willing to send my pieces to her to quilt. We talked on the phone & I am expecting The Lady! to arrive by Wednesday. Then, it will be fast and furious embellishing to get her done for the August 1st deadline.

Progress reports and pictures to follow! ~~~Debra

Barbara's Gold Madonna

2005-07-02T09:22:00.000-05:00

Here's another Madonna I made as part of a series of icons that included Frida Kahlo and the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I love this Madonna because she has such a sweet and modern face, and she also is a dead ringer for my cousin Dina. The baby Jesus, on the other hand reminds me of my nephew Nick when he was a baby. He is now a strapping young adult with size 13 feet. I made this icon for my mom, who loves religious art. She took it to get blessed by her parish priest, and keeps it in her room.

One challenge to working with these existing images is to do more than make frames for them, which is what I did here just to get a feel for things. Although I love the gold brocade frame, which I cut from a special piece of fabric given to me by a family friend many years ago, I want to look for ways to say new things about these icons.

Barbara's Madonna Postcards

2005-06-30T10:41:00.000-05:00

Two beautiful postcards made by Barbara for an on-line fabric postcard exchange. Since I was the hostess, I snatched both of them! ~~~Debra

http://community.webshots.com/user/artpostcards

Ready for Lift-off!

2005-06-30T09:37:00.000-05:00

Wow, Debra, you're so fast. It seems we've been working on this project for less than a week, and we already have our own blogspot. This will be so fun!

So here' about me. I'm Barbara Curiel, and I've been quilting for 5 years. I've sewn practically all my life, and I knit and do the typical crafty things, but this quilting thing is my true passion. I see the world through a quilter's eyes. I've been in Debra's artimage challenge where we've made a quilt a month in response to a prompt, and I love the combination of making art with fiber. When it's the best, it feels like playing.

So now we're doing this Madonna Idea as an artistic collaboration. I think we have a great give and take and we give each other great ideas and suggestions. And why the madonna? Well, I'm the catholic of the pair of us, though in that once-a-catholic-always-a-catholic way they tell you about in parochial school. But the vigin is an important image of womanhood and motherhood in western culture. I hope we'll see what else she's telling us.

Welcome to the Madonna Idea!

2005-06-30T07:40:00.000-05:00

The collaboration site for the Madonna Series!

2 fiber artists: Barbara and Debra will be working on a year long series devoted to Madonnas!

We plan to swap ideas, swap fabrics, swap trinkets and make wallhangings, books, ritablos and what-have-yous in homage to one of our favorite icons: The Virgin Madonna. Please join us on our adventure!

I am Debra Spincic, hailing from Lake Conroe, TX --just north of hot, humid Houston! I spend all my time with a needle and thread doing something creative.

I met Barbara through about.com, a quilting forum, where I spend way too much time! Barbara joined an artquilt challenge that I proposed and we quickly discovered that we both liked Madonnas. My recent viewing of my "almost" finished Lady of Guadalupe wallhanging for the Hoffman Challenge prompted us to brainstorm ways that we might further explore the Madonna icon. This will be our journaling site for everything about our collaboration.

~~~Debra