Applying to Roycroft Artisans

Since the November, I have been on the fence as to applying to The Roycrofters-At-Large-Association, Inc. (RALA). From what I understand, RALA is a group of very skilled artisans who help educate and foster the continual growth of the Arts and Crafts Movement.

Why do I want to be in it? (I really struggled with the answer.) I feel that I am in a very unique spot between quilting and fine arts that I can help inspire other people/artisans to grow as well as them inspiring me. I am imagining that I would teach, be taught, continue to grow, and sell my art all in one group! I know that I love to teach and see people grow in a field that I am so passionate about.

So, why was I on the fence? It’s that old, whinny me saying “I’m not good enough – That might not be the right path – It’s too much”. Yesterday, when I saw the deadline to enter as 3/10/21, I really made a conscious decision to just go for it! I might not be accepted on the first attempt, however, I should be able to get good criticism to apply again next year and maybe the year after that! This could be the place that will help me grow in the way that I need to!

The jurying process is April 10 and below are the pieces that I submitted to them. I will keep you posted as to the results, and I can tell you now, that I am so excited to go through this journey!!

Please send me a message of your favorite piece!

Peace –

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It’s in the show!!!

Memory Quilt Complete

This past week I completed the memory quilt that I posted recently. I delivered it yesterday to my friend/customer. She was so happy with it! I was so pleased to be able to do this custom quilt for her.

Power Outage

Yesterday with the high winds and power outage around Western New York (our house being effected as well), I could not do the sewing that I wanted to do on my Papa’s Door quilt.  So I started painting a class that I will be scheduled to do at Carriage Quilt Shop hopefully in April!

The power was off for about 4 hours and this is how far I got.  It will be mounted onto a stretched canvas and some of the flower pedals will hang off adding interest.  This weekend, I will finish painting it and writing the directions.  I will be presenting this to them in a couple of weeks.

I’m very excited to start teaching again!

 

Still Painting Papa’s Door

I just finished the door today.  There are stairs, ground, and bottom of building to paint.  The bumpy knobs on the door I feel turned out the way I wanted them to!  I took a lot of squinting and using the camera on my cell phone to make sure I got it right.  I could not get it like this without the modern tools.

Why squint and use the camera?  When I am painting, I am right on top of each stroke and don’t tend to see the results of my painting from a viewers stand point.  There are many ways to view the art in progress in a “viewers” eye.  Squinting is one (be careful of this, I have a headache and eye pain which will go away with some well deserved rest), cell phone camera, and step back from the art piece about 20 feet.

Hope you enjoy it!

Beginning of Papa’s Door

I’m starting a new quilt which will hopefully accepted into a National Quilt Show (s) this year.

I’ll share the story behind the quilt when I finish.  This blog is to show you my process and my thinking.

Papa’s Door will be a painted whole cloth art quilt.  I started with a traced image as my usual process and added the squares around it to resemble Italian tiles.  The original photo was a plain stucco wall.  To add interest to the quilt, I decided to add the “tile” look.  Frixion pens are my favorite fabric marking tools.  They stay on for as long as you want, thin line is formed, and iron off easily.  I have found that on dark fabric the pen leaves a white line which can be removed with laundry soap quite easily.

 

I started painting the squares (tiles).  It took me two days with a total of about 10 hours to finish painting the tiles.  Very peaceful and relaxing to do!In the bottom right of this photo, you can see that I ironed some of the marks away.  The bottom photo shows more lines being removed.

I am still working on the painting part of the fabric, so I was afraid to iron more of the lines and have my lines disappear!!  YIKES!!!

I don’t know if this technique is out there, but I love doing it!  I would love to read your comments!

The Wedding

A wonderful woman from Texas sent me her parent’s wedding photo to make it into an art quilt.  The following photos are showing it develop from just fabric blocking the colors to the painting process to bring this art alive.

I get nervous every time I do one of these pieces.  What if I pick the wrong color or mess up on the painting or quilting?  Do I have enough knowledge to fix my mistakes?  It’s funny how I make multiple errors on my art and seem to find away to fix it.  Plus, if I come to a point (which happens on many occasions in one piece) that I don’t know what to do or how to do it, I walk away and think about it.  I tend to do the sewing or painting in my head  first until I know it will work.

I don’t see my art as perfect by any means.  It is a growing part and a way for me to express my creativity.  I hope you enjoy seeing this and I would love to see/hear your comments!

Buffalo Scene

I am starting a new adventure of exploring the amazing Buffalo/Niagara Region.  I have lived here my entire life so far and wanted to capture some of it’s past, present, and future views by using my art.  I am enjoying taking trips with my husband to take photos.  We usually have an area we photograph.    This will be my first series which will continue to grow over the years.  I intend to show and sell them at an exhibit next year.

This is the first one I am doing.  It will be called Michigan Street Lift Bridges. I’m not very far on it as of this point, however, by the end of this week, I hope to complete it and move onto my next one!

I would love to hear what you think of my idea and if you have any favorite areas I can visit and take photos at.

Above is my original photo.  Below is my tracing of this photo and starting to put the fabrics in place.

I will be posting the progress of this and everyone I do.  Thank you for reading my blog!

 

Canoe Wallhanging

This is my new art work.  Please click on Canoe Wall hanging to view the listing!

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