DEsigned By Diane Evans

What To Do During A 12-Hour Hospital Wait . . .

2012-02-12T12:24:00.000-05:00

You may remember that our son, Sean, suffered a broken arm (among other injuries) in an accident over a year ago. Two surgeries weren't able to repair it correctly, so we finally found a third doctor in NYC who operated on him four weeks ago (he's doing extremely well as I write this -- we're hoping that the third time was the charm).

Needless to say, husband Fran and I had a looooong period of waiting at the hospital before, during, and after the surgery, so I brought lots of play things with me to occupy the time, including the book, "Zen Mandalas," by Suzanne McNeill; this is an exciting collection of Zentangle®-filled, circular designs by several talented artists, complete with guidelines for creating your own mandelas. Since they're basically round and divided into 5, 6, 8, or 12 equal segments, it's easier to design one if you have a compass, a protractor, and a ruler. I had brought exactly none of these with me, so I followed the suggestion given in the book: I made a snowflake.

I folded a piece of paper into eighths and made a few holes in the folds by tearing away the paper, since I also didn't have scissors. Then I traced the cut areas onto my art paper and used them as guidelines. I followed some of the examples in the book, and the mandala pictured at the top emerged.

Everything that has been said about Zentangles was true for me that day: I felt an amazing sense of well being; the process helped to both calm me and foster my creative spirit; and I experienced a much-needed feeling of timelessness. This was just what the doctor ordered.
Diane

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year!

2011-12-16T19:04:00.000-05:00

I absolutely love Christmas. I know it's because of the wonderful Christmases my mom and dad gave to me while I was growing up. My mother was the consummate baker; she created hundreds of beautiful cookies every year in her tiny kitchen -- our neighbors and relatives eagerly looked forward to the boxes filled with delicious treasures that Mary would take to their homes during the holidays. My dad and I were in charge of picking out the tree from the grocer's lot next door and hauling it back to the house for decorating with hand-made ornaments. I remember helping Mom wrap the presents when I was very young and then taking over the whole job when she convinced me that I was better at making bows than she was (clever woman). I loved doing it, though -- it was my favorite part of our annual preparations.

Over the past few years, I've been continually making decorations to place in every part of our home that space will allow, including the garland on our bannister. Some of these ornaments came from patterns, and others were my own creations.

The balls are styrofoam shapes covered in gingham and dotted Swiss fabric and trimmed in rick rack, ribbon, and buttons.

There are stuffed ornaments in different shapes (heart, stocking, bird, star, and bell) made with more of the dotted Swiss fabric and rick rack and trimmed in gingham.

The mice are egg-shaped styrofoam pieces, cut in half, and covered with felt, then trimmed with button eyes, beaded noses, and curled-wire tails.

The mushrooms are wooden spools and half-spheres, painted and glue together . . .

and it's all accented with a hand-made gingham bow.

There's a warm, comfortable feeling that seems to arrive in our home this time of year, made even more special for me by the presence of all things created by hand.

May this holiday season bring that same warmth to you and to your home.

Diane

A Haiku For Doyle

2011-11-30T11:01:00.001-05:00

Recently, I purchased a most inspiring book by artist Quinn McDonald, entitled "Raw Art Journaling: Making Meaning, Making Art." One of her many ideas to help bring forth the creative juices involves composing a haiku (a Japanese form of poetry consisting of three lines, each of which contains 5, 7, and 5 syllables) and doodling imaginatively around the perimeter of it.

On an unusually warm October day, I sat on the front porch with our dog, Doyle, and this little tribute spilled out in a matter of minutes. (The second line is a phrase borrowed from my dear friend, Ellen.) Adding Zentangles around the poem turned into a meditative endeavor that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Some of you already know that Doyle was diagnosed with lymphoma back in January, and about two weeks ago we said "goodbye" to our beloved friend and constant companion. We have consoled ourselves with the belief that he had a great life while he was here; he brought us boundless joy and unconditional love, and we will be forever grateful that he came into our lives.

And I will miss him more than I can say.

Diane

It's the Bloggers' Quilt Festival!

2011-10-28T16:19:00.000-04:00

"Pieces of Dreams" 57" by 57" ©2008 Diane Evans
Once again, Amy from Amy's Creative Side is sponsoring the semi-annual Bloggers' Quilt Festival, and it promises to be a visual delight, as always. We quilters have the opportunity to view each others' favorite creations and to share one of our own.

This time around, I've chosen "Pieces of Dreams." This is thesecond in a series of medallion-style quilts, using Ricky Tims' method of drawing a motif on apiece of paper that has been folded into eighths and then reflecting that motifeight times to create what is known mathematically as radial symmetry – apattern of design that appeals to my left-brained sense of order.

Hand-dyed fabrics from Joy's Fabrics were used in this quilt; it is both machine-pieced and machine appliquéd, and the original quilting designs were completed with Sulky 40-weight rayon and metallic threads.

The quilt was named for a much-lovedsong written by Michel LeGrand, particularly fitting since the sketch was drawnin the middle of a sleepless night.

Do head on over to Amy's blog and enjoy the treats on display -- how perfect for this time of year!

Diane

Love Letters: Amaryllis

2011-10-22T22:19:00.002-04:00

Once upona time, in a small kingdom far away, a self-professed art quilt blogger wroteabout a terrific new book she had purchased, titled “Appliqué Art,” by StewartMerrett. This book was a visualfeast, with beautiful projects created from sumptuous velvets, silks, and moiréfabrics. The little bloggerpromised herself that she would one day tackle one of these enticing projects,and, finally, after a LONG, LONG time, she did.

Shegathered together a collection of decorator fabrics . . .

and,using instructions from the beautiful book, she designed a letter “E” to placebehind the lovely floral pattern. She used a satin stitch and 40-weight Sulky rayon thread to appliqué thepieces to the velvet background. The piece was then outline-quilted with30-weight rayon . . .

She trimmed itwith a velvet border . . .

andbrought it to her local A.C. Moore shop to have them place it in a gildedframe.

Herhusband (a prince of a man) was so pleased with the little wall quilt that he hung it in a place ofhonor in the castle, which pleased the blogger very much, since it had takenher SO LONG to finish the piece that she was certain it would languish in herpile of QuIPs (“Quilts In Progress”).

The moralof this tale? You can finishanything you set out to do if you have enough determination and a 65%-offcoupon from your local frame shop.

Diane

Has Anybody Seen My Mojo??

2011-10-02T19:37:00.000-04:00

Talented artist and friend JoannaMonroe gave me sage advice the other day, when I bemoaned to her the fact thatmy get-up-and-go probably got up and went somewhere; she suggested that I tryto make something small, such as an art card, so that I would feel as though Iwas creating something instead of simply wishing I were. I turned to one of myZentangle® books by Suzanne McNeill for some inspiration, took out my drawingtools and scissors, and traveled back to kindergarten with my muse in tow.

I drafted a flower shape withleaves and enlarged it on my printer to a size appropriate for filling withtangles.

Using a Micron pen (and a pencilfor shading), I drew some of my favorite designs in each petal. I copied the flower onto white cardstock and cut it out; the leaves were drawn onto green card stock and cut outas well.

I then cut three pieces of whiteand black card stock in graduated sizes, ranging from 4” by 6” to 4.5” by 6.5”,and glued them together to form a bordered background.

I backed a piece of black-and-white dotted fabric withWonder-Under® and ironed it to a larger piece of card stock; after trimming,this was glued to the bordered background.

I assembled the flower and leavesand glued them in place, adding some hand-drawn tendrils to the empty spaces(the flower looked lonely . . .).

Some beads were sewn to adecorative button, and this was glued in place.

My little creation made me smileand seemed to wake up my sleeping muse.

Joanna, you are a wise woman – anda good friend. Thank you.

Diane

"Wind Beneath My Wings" -- Fini!

2011-09-18T18:57:00.000-04:00

What began as a watercolorexercise is now a finished art quilt. Here’s “Wind Beneath My Wings,” all grown up and ready to go out intothe world.

The interior machine quilting wasdone with 40-weight rayon thread; motifs were outlined with 12-weight cottonthread to add presence to the flowers and butterfly wings.

The hand embroidery was inspiredby Laura Wasilowski’s latest book, “Fanciful Stitches, Colorful Quilts,” whichfeatures dozens of examples of wonderful hand stitches that add color andtexture to any fiber art piece (Be sure to check out Laura's terrific blog here).

Iused straight stitches to accent the purple blooms and to create stamens on thecentral flower, and French knots were added in various places throughout thequilt. As a finishing touch, whitebeads were sewn on –- after all, even a butterfly needs a little bling.

The kite-shaped quilt has beensewn onto a quilted blue background and is poised to fly away with itsfabric-knotted tail. It willtravel to various exhibit spaces with other works by fellow artists in ARTAA,our fiber art group, during the coming year.

Thanks for sharing the journey ofthis art quilt with me – you, dear readers, are truly the “Wind Beneath MyWings.”

Diane

Thank you, Amy!

2011-09-11T22:16:00.002-04:00

A huge "thank you" to Amy at Amy's Creative Side for inviting me to be a guest blogger on her site. Amy is responsible for the creation of the Bloggers' Quilt Festival, an on-line sharing of quilts by hundreds of fabric artists, held twice a year on Amy's blog. She continues to work hard to promote and support the on-line quilting community, and I know we're all grateful for her tremendous efforts.

I hope you'll stop by to read our interview here and check out all the wonderful things Amy has to offer. She has a terrific blog -- you'll be glad you visited.

Diane

Peeking Inside My Sketchbook

2011-08-29T15:20:00.001-04:00

Here's a prayer that those of you who share the East Coast with me were able to come through Irene's visit unscathed. She was quite the unwelcome guest, and we've spent the day cleaning up after her mess -- however, we still have our home and our health, and we're grateful.

In between the urges to sew, I've spent time during the past months learning and practicing watercolor and journal techniques, inspired by Alisa Burke's workshops and the encouragement of so many of you, dear readers. Here's a peek:

I loved Alisa's whimsical paisleys, so I tried a few of my own . . .

In this sketch, I tried my hand at shading with watercolor pencils -- I used so much water in one spot that the background paper just melted away, and I had to glue on another piece (the fact that I didn't throw the drawing away shows that I'm learning to embrace imperfection, don't you think?) . . .

Here, I learned how to mix the color chartreuse (it was a bit like cooking: a little of this, a little more of that -- and then remembering what I did so I could repeat it) . . .

I decided to try the watercolor pencils again and had better luck with my Tree of Flowers (I am nothing if not persistent . . .)

The bottom of the page awaits some inspirational journaling -- with luck, that may happen on a future sleepless night.

My thanks to all of you for being there on the other end of my computer . . .

Diane

"Wind Beneath My Wings" Progresses

2011-07-26T15:17:00.002-04:00

A while back, in this post, I shared with you the beginnings of a new art quilt based on a watercolor painting I had done. I've finally had some time to continue playing with it, and it has progressed to the machine- and hand-stitching stages.

I began attaching the pieces, using machine appliqué, starting with the lowest layer of the motifs and working to the uppermost layer. I like using a slightly open, flat zigzag stitch, so the color of the fabric will show through the thread.

Here, the entire right half of the butterfly has been appliquéd; the triangles and decorative stitching stitching around the purple center were embroidered by machine. The black background fabric behind each piece has been cut away for two reasons: (1) to prevent build-up of the layers, and (2) to keep the color of the motifs from being dulled by the presence of black behind them.

I auditioned beads at this stage; I liked the white ones and nixed the red ones -- French knots seemed the better way to go, so . . .

. . . I decided to embroider them at this stage, before the backing was attached, so that the knots on the back would be buried within the batting. (Full disclosure: I later learned that the type of knot I make is really an Italian knot because I wind the thread around the needle the wrong way . . .)

I then embroidered the black lines using a back stitch; to keep the stitches even, I placed a piece of masking tape, marked at regular intervals, next to the line I was stitching as a guide. White perle cotton accents were added to the violet flowers at the top.

It's on to the machine quilting at this point -- hope you'll stay tuned!

Diane

A Peek Inside My Sketchbook

2011-06-18T20:47:00.001-04:00

I've been plugging away at my latest quilt, "Wind Beneath My Wings," and the progress is steady and slow, so I don't have any exciting pictures to share yet. In the meantime, I've been playing in my sketchbook and taking a new watercolor class from Alisa Burke -- loving every minute of it. If you're interested, you can join in anytime -- here's the link.

I thought I'd share more of my experiments with you -- some were hits and some were misses, and just being able to put that last part in writing is a big step forward for me, since I usually agonize over the things I've made that didn't please me (and then I throw them out). So here's to the Likes and Dislikes and the learning that came with each of them.

(I folded a piece of tracing paper into eighths, drew a design on one-eighth of the page, and then traced it by reflecting it around a point onto the journal page; it was colored in with paints and markers. There may be a future quilt hiding in here . . .)

(My effort at limiting the palette to two colors -- this was difficult for a person whose motto has always been: "If you can't decide what color to wear, wear 'em all.")

(Filling the page and learning to add depth to the image)

(Just plain having fun)

As always, thanks for sharing this journey with me -- it's really great to know you're out there.

Diane

It's A Spring Cleaning Sale!

2011-06-04T12:40:00.007-04:00

"Masquerade" 20" x 20" © Diane Evans (Private Collection)

Granted, it IS a little late in coming, considering that it's almost summer; however, I seem to be a little late in getting many things off the ground this year. Anyway, I cleaned out all the quilting and design books that I realized I was no longer using, and I thought I'd offer them to you, dear readers, at really great prices. Just click on the page title above, "Books For Sale!", and see if anything strikes your fancy. These books are in great condition -- many look brand new. Browse, and then treat yourself -- there's a "Pay Now" button installed for your convenience on the page.

Diane

The Blogger's Quilt Festival Is On!

2011-05-14T09:39:00.003-04:00

It’s that time of year when Amy of Amy’s Creative Side begins her Blogger’s Quilt Festival. This event is always so much fun – we all have the chance to view each other's favorite pieces and to share the stories behind our creations.

This time around, I'm sharing a special favorite; it's entitled "Autumn In New York," and it makes me happy to think of this art quilt because it's in the collection of a very special family.

There's a tree in our neighborhood that produces spherical pods each fall; it always reminds me of an illustration from a Dr. Seuss story. I have seen paintings where the artist used round daubs of paint to represent leaves, and I wanted to achieve that same effect in fabric.

So I began cutting out circles from scraps of fusible hand-dyed fabrics, and I discovered it was a very meditative process (I was much better at this than when I tried sitting still and chanting "ohm" . . .). I fused the circles to a beautiful piece of fabric from Caryl Fallert's Gradations line for Benartex, and I quilted the whole piece with Madeira and Sulky 40-weight rayon thread.

The entire effect is reminiscent of our view of the Helderberg Mountains as we drive to the apple orchards each October for cider doughnuts (this is making me hungry . . .).

Hope you enjoy the Festival, and, thank you, Amy, for providing us an opportunity to attend this virtual quilt show and enjoy each others' work!

Diane

More "Sketchbook Delight" . . .

2011-05-07T13:58:00.004-04:00

I am continually captivated by the inspiration that has poured forth from Alisa Burke's online class, "Sketchbook Delight." Here's a peek inside my journal:

More fantasy flowers emerged after an evening of play . . .

The watercolor page above was inspired by a haunting ballad titled "When October Goes." Its origin was a set of unfinished lyrics written by renowned lyricist Johnny Mercer and given to Barry Manilow after Mercer's death. Mercer's widow hoped that Manilow could develop these lyrics into a complete song, and he did so in 1984.

Alisa also posted a wonderful tutorial on her blog, showing us how to create butterflies using pages from old books as the foundation. My dear friend and talented artist, Joanna Monroe, had given me a stack of pages from a very old math book (what else??), and if you look very closely, you can see polynomial equations peeking out from behind these creatures . . .

And maybe, just maybe, spring is finally here . . .

Diane

A Tribute To My Father

2011-04-24T21:25:00.003-04:00

On February 21, my dearly beloved dad passed away at the wonderful age of 88. Even so, his passing was quite unexpected; we called him our Energizer Bunny -- he always seemed to bounce back from each new malady that befell him as he grew older. He was very much like the late Will Rogers: He never met a man he didn't like, and everyone who knew him adored him.

We went through the requisite emptying of his apartment at the senior living facility where he spent his last few years, and we brought home many of his things, including several boxes of facial tissue he had stashed away (he was always afraid he'd run out). I became intrigued by a rendering of irises on one of the boxes; because they're such tall flowers, they were drawn winding their way around three sides of the container. So I tried my hand at depicting them the way I thought they should look, using watercolor paints and black and white pens, and this picture poured forth.

I'd like to think that love guided me through the process; I know that love was the inspiration.

We're going to miss you, Dad.

Love,

Diane

"Wind Beneath My Wings"

2011-04-10T21:55:00.002-04:00

Alisa Burke’s fabulous Sketchbook Delight class has inspired me to try designing my latest quilt with the help of watercolors. My usual modus operandi involves scanning a pencil sketch of my design into the computer and then auditioning different color palettes using Photoshop Elements. This time, I drew the design on heavy paper and used Sakura Koi watercolors and a paintbrush – risky business for me, since I was pretty much committed to my color choices each time the brush hit the paper.

The theme for this art quilt came from our two latest challenges in ARTAA, my fiber art group: “Bugs” and “Kites.” In a never-ending effort to complete my projects before the deadlines, I decided to combine the two themes into one.

I had already chosen the background fabric, so I did my best to mimic its color gradation with the paints. White and gold marking pens added the elements that I planned to incorporate with thread.

The cartoon of the design was copied onto acetate, and my trusty overhead projector was used to enlarge the acetate drawing to its full size on newsprint.

Here’s the quilt in progress; I always grow more excited at this stage, because I love the task of choosing the fabric that will do my bidding. I also know that the machine embroidery portion of the show is coming soon, and I’ll share more photos as I travel through that phase. As always, thank you all for joining in the creative journey with me.

Diane

"Coming Out Of The Dark"

2011-03-16T19:27:00.002-04:00

(I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for the many expressions of support, encouragement, and optimism you sent along after my last post. I am blessed to have you in my life.)

Several months ago, Dawn Browning of Bee’s Fiber Art (check out her blog -- she's doing some wonderful things) posted a link to artist Alisa Burke’s blog, and that link has sent me on a soul-enlightening path along my creative journey. I fell in love with Alisa’s incredible artistic expressions, especially her journals. I immediately purchased the Koi Sakura watercolor paint set pictured in her article, gathered up pens and pencils similar to those she used, and sat down to follow her tutorial.

My first attempt at depicting a seashell looked more like the top of a Dairy Queen ice cream cone; it didn’t matter to me – I was hooked on watercolors.

I then took inspiration from a greeting card I had kept, and the results tickled my heart.

Emboldened by my tiny successes, I branched out to try my hand at fantasy flowers, using Alisa's techniques.

And then it was Christmas, and these ornaments came forth in the spirit of the season; a few Zentangles worked their way into the scene as well.

I am now finishing an online class with Alisa, called "Sketchbook Delight," and I am learning SO much and enjoying it tremendously; you can sign up for this class at any time. Do check out her blog; her lessons and her inspiration have truly lit up my life.

Diane

When Life Gives You Lemons . . .

2011-01-30T16:39:00.001-05:00

I always intended that the purpose of this blog would be to share with you my adventures along the journey of art quilting. Lately, though, I've been making more lemonade than anything else, and I wanted to briefly let you know why I haven't been posting or commenting on your blogs as often as I'd like.

This past September, our son, who is a journalist, travelled to South Africa on an assignment; while there, he got into a wrestling match with an all-terrain vehicle, and the ATV came out on top. Sean ended up with a broken arm, six fractured ribs, a broken wrist, and fluid surrounding his lung. He IS, however, alive, and we are unspeakably grateful. He was operated on in South Africa and came back to our home to recuperate; he also needed lung surgery in NYC and seemed to be on the mend.

They say that, if you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans. It turns out that Sean's arm required MORE surgery this past week, because it hadn't knitted at all. He's back upstate with us, and this time the recuperation is slow and extremely painful. We're taking everything one day at a time and hoping he turns a corner soon.

On top of this, we just learned that our beloved dog, Doyle, has lymphoma; it was an especially difficult diagnosis to hear, since he's only seven years old. We don't know how much longer he'll be with us, so we've decided to celebrate his life each day the best we can.

I feel as though I have a wonderful support group with all of you who read and comment on my blog; it is this sense of community that makes it easier for me to share my thoughts with you when life isn't so gentle. Your thoughts, prayers, and advice are more than welcome; please know how grateful I am to you for our continued connection.

Diane

"Try to Remember . . ."

2011-01-06T21:10:00.001-05:00

A year ago, Alyson Stanfield offered the following advice on her Art Biz blog; I read it over recently, and it’s every bit as relevant today:

“You’ve been going at it all year. You do. You try. But then, you look back at that task list and become discouraged. Instead of thinking about what you still want to achieve, focus on acknowledging all you have done. Take time to write down your accomplishments for the past year.”

She offered a list of questions to jump-start your thinking, such as:

(1) How did you promote your art?

(2) Who were the top ten cool or influential people you met?

(3) What did you try that was uncomfortable, but helped you grow?

(4) How did you improve your studio habits?

(5) What was the single best thing that happened to your art career this past year?

She then advised: “Be grateful for the energy you found, the people you came across, and the experiences you learned from . . . Celebrate!”

I found Alyson’s ideas to be eye-opening (the list of questions for 2010 is posted again here); she motivated me to take inventory of my plus-column for the year, and the exercise was a real boost to my self-esteem – another way of reminding me to view the glass as half full.

So here’s to 2011; may it bring us wonderful accomplishments, continued friendships, and unimagined creative artistry. And you, dear readers, are the coolest people I’ve been fortunate to meet.

Diane

(Please share your answer to Question #5 -- it'll make us ALL feel good.)

(Wo)Men Of A Certain Age

2010-12-15T22:10:00.001-05:00

There was an Internet blurb sent around recently that made me smile:

“Be the kind of woman so that, when you wake up in the morning and your feet hit the floor, the devil says, ‘Oh, crap – she’s up.’”

I want very much to be that woman – I really do. I am finding, however, that I have become the woman for whom a good night’s sleep is now a distant memory. I face my bed each evening with a fair amount of dread; it has become my enemy, since I lay awake for long stretches during the night. I blame it on hormones. Come to think of it, I blame MOST of my troubles on hormones these days. I know they’re responsible for my fuzzy thinking, because my doctor told me that the estrogen isn’t running all the way to my brain anymore.

Therefore, I’ve decided to surrender to the sleeplessness by drawing; my reasoning is that, even if I can’t face the morning with renewed energy, I can at least have something artistic to show for the last eight hours.

So I ask all of you out there who are old enough to have received your AARP cards in the mail to let me know if you’re experiencing any of these same sleep issues and if you’ve found a remedy. Especially if the cure involves something artistic – I’ll be excited to hear about it. I’ll look forward to reading your thoughts at 2:00 in the morning.

Diane

Arts At The "X"

2010-12-06T15:52:00.003-05:00

If you live near Westchester, NY, you can jumpstart your holiday shopping (and if you’re like me, you haven’t yet begun) at the Arts Exchange next week. Located in White Plains, ArtsWestchester’s Arts Exchange is sponsoring a Handmade Holiday Exhibition that will feature artwork of local artists and craftspeople. Small works from all mediums will be offered for sale, including ceramics, mosaics, jewelry, fiber arts, painting, watercolor, and more. I am honored to have been invited to participate in this wonderful event, which will run from December 13 through 18; the address is 31 Mamaroneck Avenue, and the exhibit’s hours are 12:00 PM to 8:00 PM each day. Stay out of the crowded malls – come to the show and have a Handcrafted Holiday!

Diane

Tree of Life: Summer

2010-11-19T22:44:00.003-05:00

I’ve decided that I probably didn’t spend enough time in kindergarten, because I’m enjoying my explorations with paints and inks so much lately. I have NEVER believed that I had much artistic ability; this notion was firmly reinforced by my third grade teacher, Miss K., who, I am certain, was at least 7 feet tall (although I never measured her) and never smiled. She told us one day to paint a picture of what we had observed on a recent field trip; since I had seen a field of cattails for the first time, I was excited to begin my drawing.
I painted three, really large cattails that covered most of my piece of paper and proudly showed them to her when she came by my desk. She looked at them and said, with a frown on her face, “Oh, no, dear – that’s not what I wanted – you should have done something more like THIS,” and she pointed to Ronnie’s little masterpiece on the desk next to mine. It was forty years before I touched a paintbrush again – seriously.

So now, thanks to the inspiration of so many of you, I’ve been encouraged to try again, and I’m having the time of my life. Here’s one of my latest experiments -- this design was printed from my photocopier onto pre-treated fabric; following a suggestion from quilt artist Jill Buckley, I coated it with Aloe Vera gel to make the surface smoother. I then colored it in with Tsukineko ink pens and quilted it with Sulky rayon thread, adding French knots for a little texture.

What fun! I even stayed inside the lines. If only Miss K. could see how far I’ve come . . .

Diane

Textile and Fiber Artists United!

2010-11-08T19:02:00.002-05:00

(for sale in my Etsy shop)

I’ve recently joined a terrific on-line organization of talented men and women; it’s titled the Textile And Fiber Art list and is the brainchild of artist and computer wizard Rachel Biel of Paducah, KY. TAFA went live on February 1, 2010, and members include artists, gallery owners, suppliers, and other fiber/textile people. As Rachel states, “Our common connection weaves us together: a love for textiles and fiber art, new and old, traditional and contemporary. Some of us sell them, some of us make them, others collect or design with them. All have an established web presence.”

Our group has recently launched an Etsy team comprised of TAFA members who have Etsy shops. The goals of the TAFA Team include: helping our Etsy sellers reach a larger market and increase sales; encouraging each other to grow and improve our shops, marketing abilities, and product development; and growing and building on TAFA’s inner community to create real relationships within our group.

One of the promotional tools that Rachel is trying out is a blog written by members of the TAFA team. Each of us is invited to submit a post from time to time, and Rachel rotates us into the blog. You can click here to see an article I wrote recently.

Rachel added the video clip – if you have a few minutes (and you don’t mind Barry Manilow), take a look at this lovely video. It made me fall in love all over again – bear in mind, however, that I’m a huge Manilow Maven.

Want to see more or learn how to join TAFA? Just click here. You’ll find the energy is contagious and the members are incredibly talented and supportive. Come join us!

Diane

The Blogger's Quilt Festival Is On!

2010-10-31T17:40:00.002-04:00

My entry is an art quilt that I made last year entitled “Wallflowers: #5.” I’m especially proud of this little quilt, since it was juried into the 2009 National Small Art Quilt Works Exhibition at The Main Street Gallery in Groton, NY, and was subsequently sold by the gallery. It was made with fabrics that were hand-dyed by Judy Robertson, and the piece is machine appliquéd and machine quilted with Sulky rayon threads. I’m always happy when I’m putting flowers in my creations – if they won’t grow in my garden (and they don’t), at least I can put them up on the wall. They don’t need watering, either.

Do visit Amy’s site and take a look at all the fiber artistry on display there – you’ll find it’s a real “treat” (pun intended).

Diane

"Looking For Space"

2010-10-17T22:02:00.000-04:00

Twelve years ago, I made my first set of Flying Geese in a curve; I learned the technique in my very first class at Quilting By The Lake with Caryl Bryer Fallert. I was so proud of those geese -- I held onto them for years, waiting for the right project to come along so I could incorporate the little fellas into an art quilt.

Fast-forward to 2009: my fiber arts group, ARTAA, was invited to present an exhibition at the annual Adirondack Fabric & Fiber Arts Festival, and we chose the theme, “Flight.” My inspiration had arrived -- I couldn’t wait to get started.

The idea of creating a kite-shaped quilt had been percolating in my mind for quite a while, so I worked out a design that would use the Flying Geese pieces and also fit the parameters we had set, which required the finished piece to be 24” wide, with no restriction on length.

I decided to use Caryl’s method of piecing:

1) templates are cut from freezer paper and ironed to the back of the fabric

2) each piece is cut out, leaving a ¼-inch seam allowance

3) the seam allowance is folded over the template and ironed in place with the assistance of spray starch

4) the pieces are joined with a fine zigzag stitch using invisible thread

The tricky part is deciding which pieces will be stitched over their neighbors; you fold the seam allowance to the back on an OVER piece, and you leave the seam allowance sticking outward on an UNDER piece. This method definitely engages both halves of the brain – I found myself trying to think like an engineer.

In a future post, I plan to share the binding technique I came up with for creating a mitered corner that is smaller than 90° -- a REAL test of my construction abilities.

And I’m curious to know: did I win a prize for taking 12 years to complete a wall quilt?? What’s the longest amount of time you’ve ever worked on a piece??? Do share!

Diane

More Happenin' things

2010-10-02T12:41:00.001-04:00

If you live or plan to vacation near Los Alamos, New Mexico, stop by the Fuller Lodge Art Center between October 1 and November 13 to view their “Fall Fiber and Fashion Show”. This exhibit is the art center’s salute to the fall season and features works in all media. Contributing artists were invited to “play with form and function in fiber, or to design, create, and display their own fashions.” The show will feature wall art and sculpture, as well as jewelry, scarves, handbags, and hats.

I feel most fortunate to have had four of my wall quilts juried into this wonderful show; you can see these pieces, along with the works of the other exhibitors, on the art center’s web site here. This promises to be an exhibition of exciting and diverse art – I hope you can visit. I'm unable to see the show myself, so if you go, please be sure to tell me all about it -- my quilts travel to more places than I do . . .

Diane

What's Happenin'?

2010-09-20T23:05:00.002-04:00

I’m very fortunate to be participating in some wonderful fiber art exhibits during the next few months – hope you can drop in and visit.

First up is an exhibit at the Adirondack Fabric & Fiber Arts Festival, which is an annual event at the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake, NY. A number of artists will be showing their skills in such areas as spinning, weaving, knitting, and quilting, and members of ARTAA will be there to discuss a number of techniques in the creation of wall art.

A special themed exhibit by ARTAA members entitled “Flight” will be one of the features of the show, along with other works created by the women of this group, including the piece pictured above. For a sneak peek of some of the pieces on display, check the ARTAA blog here. (I’ll be posting pictures of my entry . . . just as soon as I finish it . . . which will be soon . . . honestly . . .)

Join in this “celebration of traditional and contemporary fiber arts” at the museum on Saturday, September 25, from 10 AM until 5 PM. For more information on the demonstrations and displays during the day, click here.

Diane

Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds

2010-09-14T21:39:00.003-04:00

Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds 11" x 14" Diane Evans 2010

I realized recently, as I was stitching swirls and feathers into a small wall quilt, that my machine quilting reminds me a little of my own hair, the difference being that I have more control over the machine quilting. So when I saw a sketch by artist Traci Bautista in the book, “Creative Time and Space,” by Ricë Freeman-Zachery, I was inspired to create (with Traci’s permission) a small portrait where machine quilting motifs became the subject’s tresses.

Parts of both Lucy’s eye and mouth were drawn with Tsukineko ink pens; the rest of the design was stitched with 40-weight rayon thread. I felt she needed a little bling, so I added French knots, using silver metallic thread. The title came easily, since the silver threads sparkled like diamonds in her hair.

The piece was mounted on fiber core inside a mat board; I couched blue Perle Cotton around the perimeter of the design so that it would show just inside the opening of the mat.

Lucy was a joy to create from start to finish. If only my hair could look like hers . . .

Diane

The Art Is In The Cards

2010-08-20T20:11:00.003-04:00

One of the talented members of ARTAA, Francelise Dawkins, recently demonstrated to the group her method for creating art cards to sell at gallery shows. The results were so dynamic that I decided to try my hand at making them using Francelise’s techniques.

I began with note cards purchased at Target; I chose brightly colored cards with coordinating envelopes, since I thought they would complement the colors in my wall quilts. I printed photos of the quilts onto matte photo paper and sized each one so that approximately one-quarter inch of the card stock would frame the picture. The photos were adhered with rubber cement; each card was then hand-signed, and a label was attached to the back.

The cards have a much nicer look and feel to them than the ones which I had previously printed directly onto card stock; the quilting stitches are much more visible, and the variations in the hand-dyed fabrics show up nicely as well.

These art cards are available for sale at my Etsy shop; please drop by for a visit. And do check out Francelise’s beautiful fiber art here and at her brand new shop, Feenex, located in Saratoga Springs.
And, as always, my thanks for taking this fiber art journey with me.

Diane

I'm a Shop Owner!

2010-08-04T21:54:00.000-04:00

Citrus Grove, 12" x 12", ©Diane Evans

I’ve heard so many people talking about the terrific web site, Etsy, and the wonderful handcrafted items that are available there. So, after some enjoyable exploration and a purchase or two, I decided to open a shop of my own.

My plan is to offer many of my small creations (such as the one pictured above) for sale on the site, and I’m discovering that it’s a fairly easy process to post the items. An added benefit is that I’m learning to use my camera more effectively, since photos of the pieces are such an important element in the presentation. My Sony CyberShot and I are getting along pretty well, and I’ve found that a tri-pod is an invaluable assistant.

Please stop by my shop for a visit; the link is here. And, if you find something you'd like to purchase, I know I'll be sending it to a good home.

Diane

Hearts for Linda

2010-07-18T21:07:00.000-04:00

One of the members of our fiber art group, our dear friend Linda Shea, is leaving New York and moving to sunny California. The group decided that each of us would make a fabric square for her, using “heart” as the theme and creating it in our own individual style. Hopefully, after she settles in to her new home, she will assemble the squares into a quilt of memories of her friends at ARTAA.

I have a special passion for feather-stitching, and feather motifs lend themselves so easily to the shape of a heart, so this is the design that became my contribution to Linda’s quilt. To give stability to the fabric square, I fused it to Pellon Shirtailor® interfacing; the design, which had been drawn onto tracing paper, was then transferred to the fabric with the aid of my trusty light box. The piece was then free-motion stitched using Sulky 40-weight rayon threads. I had an embroidery hoop waiting in the wings, in case the fabric showed signs of puckering, but I needn’t have worried – the interfacing did its job beautifully.

Linda, I hope you know that our hearts will be with you always – you are a treasure.

Diane

Christmas in July

2010-07-07T23:09:00.001-04:00

I think that the last time I was this excited after opening up a box was Christmas Day – just look at what I found inside the box that arrived from England this week . . .

I ordered a messenger bag from Tracey Pereira through her blog, and it’s here! I absolutely love it!! The bag is beautifully constructed and is every bit as wonderful as the photo depicted it to be; I plan to use it as a carrier for my laptop.

And the special little surprise tucked into the package was this sheet of hand-dyed pre-cut feathers – these were just too special for words. Tracey said that she remembered how much I love this motif and decided to include these little treasures with my order. My mind is going through a dozen possibilities for giving these gorgeous pieces center stage in a new quilt – this is going to be so much fun.

Do visit Tracey’s blog and check out the other messenger bag designs there. And my heartfelt thanks to you, Tracey – you made my week!

Diane

"Ding, dong, the quilts are done . . .

2010-06-13T14:12:00.005-04:00

Which new quilts?

Commission quilts!

Ding, dong, commission quilts are done!”

Yes, they truly are finished. I’ve received my final payment from Gary, and I will be delivering the pieces to him tout de suite. I've gone back to working on my NUTs (Nagging Unfinished Tasks) and my QuIPs (Quilts In Progress). It feels good to be playing with bright colors again -- I was starting to get withdrawal symptoms from not spending enough time with my friends Fuchsia and Chartreuse.

The machine quilting on “Simple Gifts” was kept, well, simple, to reflect the Shaker style, and I used a neutral thread to enhance the colors of the quilt, rather than contrast with them. And, yes, there are three more quilts just like this one at home.

Creating these wall quilts provided me with great experience and increased wisdom. My thanks go out to all of you who have followed me on this journey and who offered sage advice when I needed it – I do so appreciate your support.

Diane

"How Does Your Garden Grow?"

2010-05-31T23:50:00.002-04:00

"April Love"(4"x6")

I hope the saying “better late than never” applies to this piece, because it was supposed to be my entry for the April postcard challenge theme, “How Does Your Garden Grow?” It’s now almost June, and the garden should be in full bloom; however, my little art piece, much like my
backyard garden, grew v-e-r-r-r-y slowly.

I used a method that Jill Buckley has written about on her blog – I scanned a black-and-white sketch onto pre-treated commercial fabric and then colored in the design with Tsukineko ink pens. I added some machine quilting and French knots, and the edge is satin-stitched with 40-weight rayon thread.

This method brought me back to kindergarten days – I love coloring, and now that I’m a big girl, I can even stay inside the lines (most of the time). I can’t wait to try this again.

Diane

Of Fiber Art and The Bare Necessities

2010-05-24T20:11:00.011-04:00

"Just A Doodle: #12"

Not long ago, I emailed my dear friend and fellow blogger, Jill Buckley, to whine a little. I was lamenting the fact that the routines of life were interfering with my ability to make art quilts as often as I’d like to; I can’t seem to figure out how to get everything else done, like laundry and dishes and cleaning and exercising and grocery shopping and buying underwear (a hateful task), not to mention spending quality time with hubby, who does so many of the mundane tasks around here and who is feeling a bit neglected lately.
“What am I doing wrong?” I asked Jill.

I received a beautiful and thoughtful email in return; Jill wrote:

“I guess you have to ask yourself what YOU want to be doing. Are you happy with the amount of artwork you are currently producing? Why do you create?”

Jill told me that she spent many years working incredibly long hours being excessively productive, and that now she is content “just letting it happen. Did I accomplish much today? No, not really, but I did play a little, and some new ideas are bouncing around in my noggin. One day they will leap out and become something for real.”

So I DID ask myself what I want to be doing, and the answer came back that, although I’d love to be producing more fiber art, this is my life right now, and I need to embrace it. Being a woman of a certain age and having found my passion only recently, I think I’m afraid something will take it all away.

Therefore, starting today, I am adopting The Buckley Mantra: Play each day, one at a time, and celebrate that which emerges. Do something related to fiber art, even if it’s only fondling the fabric. My best stuff will probably happen when I’m relaxed and playful (Jill’s words). Every day that I can stitch or draw or paint is a good day, and I am a lucky girl.

And I have clean underwear.

Diane

I'm Finally Playing With A Full Deck!

2010-05-16T15:34:00.000-04:00

Sylvia Thomas, one of the wonderful people at the American Quilter’s Society office in Paducah, sent me an email a while ago, requesting permission for AQS to use images of two of my latest quilts on their promotional items. I was over the moon, to put it mildly, and last week I received these items in the mail: a deck of playing cards with details of “Pieces of Dreams” on the box and on the backs of the cards, and luggage tags with a detail of “Color My World” on the front. What a thrill!

The cards and tags were offered for sale at the AQS shows in Lancaster and Paducah, and, although the tags are currently sold out, the decks of cards are still available; please contact AQS directly if you’re interested. I’m thinking these will make great stocking stuffers at Christmas, if I can wait that long.

Diane

My Fifteen Minutes of Fame

2010-04-23T18:00:00.010-04:00

Actually, it’s closer to three, but I’m still tickled about it.
A little over a year ago, I joined “Art-N-Soul,” a local organization created by artist and entrepreneur Janet Tanguay, whose purpose is to support and promote area artists in all media. Janet has recently developed a project entitled “Art-N-Soul Inc. TV,” where the experts at Cotton Hill Studios in Colonie, NY, produce a video of an artist in his or her studio and publish it on YouTube. Janet asked me if I felt adventurous enough to be the first artist to be taped, and I was delighted.

It was a great experience from beginning to end; Janet and I prepared questions for the taping; the extremely professional crew from Cotton Hill “scouted” my studio to determine if the location would be suitable; and the taping took about 4 hours.

I’ve included the first 3 minutes of the video above; the complete version can be seen here, if you’ve got a little more time to view it. Janet and the people from Cotton Hill did such a wonderful job of making me feel comfortable throughout the entire process – I can’t thank them enough.

“I’m ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille.”

Diane

Art de Cure -- A Great Cause!

2010-04-13T20:02:00.005-04:00

If you live in the New York Capital District area, and you like great art, and you love supporting a terrific cause, then you’ll want to come to the Art de Cure Gala on Friday evening, April 16, from 6PM to 10 PM. This fantastic multi-media event will be held at The Endocrine Group, Suite 300, of the Washington Center Medical Arts Building, located at 1365 Washington Avenue in Albany. Enjoy an evening of wine tasting, great food, entertainment, and both silent and live art auctions, with proceeds to benefit the American Diabetes Association. The event will also serve to kick off the opening of the Art de Cure Gallery, a permanent space housed at The Endocrine Group, where new art shows will be held three times a year and portions of the proceeds will be donated to the ADA.

Pictured above is “Feather Play II,” shown in one of my earlier posts, which will be part of the silent auction during the gala.

If you're interested in purchasing this piece, with a portion of the sale given to the ADA, just contact me at:

Diane@DEsignedByDianeEvans.com
If you’d like to attend the gala, please call (518) 482-1795 for more information. It promises to be an exciting evening – please join us for the fun!

Diane

The Pen Is Mightier Than The Needle

2010-04-06T21:48:00.000-04:00

I’ve heard it said by People Who Are Experts In These Matters that, if you want to get better at your art, you should learn from the best. For me, that means turning to my library of copyright-free books and sketching.

Several weeks ago, I was sidelined by a sinus infection (nasty little bugger), and the only thing I felt like doing was drawing – I couldn’t even bring myself to sit at the sewing machine for five minutes. So I pulled out two of my favorite design sources: “Floral Patterns,” by Pepin van Roojen, and “4000 Flower & Plant Motifs,” by Graham Leslie McCallum.

I copied motifs and embellished them with my own details and generally tried to make myself feel as though I was producing some art from the snuggly comfort of my bed.

And, by gosh, between blowing my nose and using the neti pot, I had fun. My plan is to turn some of these drawings into postcards – after all, the real fun is in adding the COLOR.

Diane

I've Been Tagged!

2010-03-28T20:31:00.002-04:00

I was fortunate this past week to have been tagged with a blogging award from Diane Wright, whose blog (click here) is wonderful. Thank you, Diane!

Now, here are the rules for this award:

1) Thank the person who gave you this award.

2) Share 7 things about yourself.

3) Pass the award along to 5 bloggers who you have recently discovered and you think are fantastic!

4) Contact the bloggers you’ve picked and let them know about the award.

I’m tagging the following bloggers to be fellow recipients of this award (click on their names to reach their blog):

So, here are Seven Things About Myself:

1) I consider red a neutral color.

2) I love deciphering CryptoQuips (coded phrases) in our daily newspaper.

3) I always wanted to be a rock star; the closest I’ve come is cantoring at my church on weekends.

4) I’m so reluctant to cut into my fabrics that many of them are sun-faded from being on the shelf too long. I am working to overcome this.

5) I backpacked through Europe when I was 21.

6) I am a HUGE fan of “House, M.D.” and “The Good Wife.”

7) I have a T-shirt that says, “Does Anal Retentive Have a Hyphen?” (It was a gift.)

Hope everyone has a terrific week – may the muse be with you.

Diane

The Little Art Quilter That Could: The Construction

2010-03-21T19:37:00.010-04:00

What I've Learned So Far:
1) No matter how hard you try, it is virtually impossible to cut fabric on your cutting mat if the fabric is the EXACT SAME COLOR as the cutting mat.
2) The iron is your best friend.
3) It is entirely possible to pin two pieces of a block together and also pin them to your pants at the same time.
4) Henry Ford knew what he was talking about: It is far more efficient to put things together using an assembly line.

This month has been a time of great learning for me. I decided to make one complete quilt top from my commission before tackling the other three, which are identical to the first. It was one of the great decisions of my life. There were so many bugs to work out and so many mistakes in calculation that, had I cut out all the pieces for all four quilts, I might now be ordering more fabric.

I made a chart (shown below) to determine the amount of fabric I needed by drawing diagrams of the layouts I planned to use for the pieces. This was time-consuming, but immensely valuable. However, I over-ordered the fabric by more than I had hoped, so I now have enough to make two more quilts. If I can just convince the nursing home directors to build two more facilities, I'm all set.

I’m now on track with the remaining three quilts, doing production work. I have even managed to channel Eleanor Burns: I am chain-piecing like a pro, and, when I’m cutting fabric, I throw the excess over my shoulder with carefree abandon.
Shown above is a picture of the completed quilt top; the suggestions that many of you gave to me regarding the best thread to use for piecing were greatly appreciated; I'm finding that the Aurifil 50-weight is moving through the fabric like butter. So, on to the quilting!

Diane

"All You Need Is Love"

2010-03-04T21:51:00.005-05:00

When Colorful Art Girl posted the theme for March’s Postcard Challenge, “Words To Live By,” this idea jumped into the front of my mind and wouldn’t leave until I had completed the piece. I rarely work on a white background, so I thought I’d give it a go – and now I remember why I rarely work on a white background: It’s rather unforgiving of stitching mistakes. However, this is my year of Thinking Outside The Box, so I decided to persevere and ignore the little holes left by ripped-out stitches.

Everything is fused, especially the words, which were printed on fabric and cut out using tweezers to hold them (I was determined).

I was tickled with the result; I’d love to expand the idea to a larger piece and add embellishments to it – beads or hand embroidery, maybe. I’m finding these postcards to be wonderful springboards to new and different projects.

Visit here if you’d like to join the challenge! And, as always, thank you for being out there -- it's wonderful to feel connected to such a fabulous group of kindred souls.

Diane

"Things We Love"

2010-02-25T12:43:00.003-05:00

This was the theme for February’s Postcard Challenge by Leah Cottam at Colorful Art Girl, and it really was a bit of a challenge for me to choose just one thing that I love. So I followed the first thought that came into my head and selected free-motion feathers.

The design is adapted from one of Mary Nordeng’s motifs in her book, "Extreme Makeover: Feather Edition" (I just LOVE this book), and I added some of my own touches to it. I knew I had chosen the right subject when I realized how much fun I was having while quilting it. What a great prompt for the month of Valentines, Leah!

My husband is in the kitchen this morning, and the aroma of chocolate biscotti and pasta fagioli is filling the house. Talk about things we love . . .
Life doesn’t get any better than this.

(Guess who’ll be getting the Valentine card . . .)

Diane

"Another Opening, Another Show"

2010-02-22T12:21:00.004-05:00

Has cabin fever set in? Are you looking for something to do after the Olympics are over? Could you use something new and colorful to adorn your walls? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, then come to a beautiful fiber art show in Saratoga. Seventeen artists, including many of the members of the Adirondack Regional Textile Artists Alliance, will be displaying their works at the Spring Street Gallery located (where else??) on Spring Street in Saratoga. Three of my pieces will be for sale at this venue, including “Aspenglow” (pictured above), and the ladies of ARTAA will also be selling beautiful note cards depicting their fiber art.

The show is titled "Under Cover", and the artists’ reception is Thursday, February 25, from 6 PM to 8 PM – won’t you join us for an evening of great refreshments and exciting art?

Diane

Feather Play II

2010-02-11T23:04:00.000-05:00

In an effort to stick to those pesky New Year’s resolutions I made, I decided to try thinking outside the box again. I didn’t go too far outside this time – just a little experimentation with color. I had purchased this fabric a while ago; fashion experts would probably call this shade Soft Taupe or Wild Mushroom – I just know that it isn’t represented by one of the letters in ROY G BIV, and that it intrigued me.

I modified one of the designs from Mary Nordeng’s book, “Extreme Makeover: Feather Edition,” and once again filled the feathers with different micro-stippling patterns. I played with the thread colors, using 40-weight rayons in a gradation of blues and purples.

When I had finished, the piece looked like it needed a frame, so I took it to my local cross-stitch shop, where the owner, Cathy, does an outstanding job of matting and framing all types of needlework.

The piece is now hanging in our hallway, but it’s headed out to a show very soon. I must admit that I was not as comfortable playing with colors that are not in my usual palette, but I learned from the doing, and that was good for me. And I do have more of this fabric . . .

Diane

The Postcard Challenge

2010-02-03T14:04:00.004-05:00

"On The First Day Of Christmas"

4" x 6"

ColorfulArtGirl from California has begun a monthly postcard challenge through her blog; she wrote to tell me about it when she read about my own personal postcard journey. I love the idea of having a prompt to jumpstart the creativity, so here goes:

The Inspiration Words for January were “bird” and “yellow” – and my mind immediately went to A Partridge in a Pear Tree (it was still close to Christmas, you see . . .). Long ago, I had purchased a fabulous book titled “Appliqué Art,” by Stewart Merrett; in it, this incredibly talented artist demonstrates how he has transformed silks and velvets into quilted masterpieces. I immediately began collecting all sorts of specialty fabrics, including velvets, satins, and upholstery silks, and I planned to try every project in his book.

I adapted one of his designs for a pear and added my own tiny partridge to the composition. She seemed to need some ornamentation when I was finished, so I added a feathered crown (I’m fairly certain that partridges don’t really look like this, so I ask your indulgence). The materials are velvets and suedes, and the picture doesn’t really do them justice – the piece glistens as you view it from different angles. The satin stitching (yes, I abandoned my usual flat zigzag stitch) is done with 40-weight rayon thread to add to the sheen.

This was a lot of fun – I can’t wait to try it again. Be sure to visit here if you'd like to join in the challenge.

Diane

Remembering the Days Before Snow . . .

2010-01-24T19:59:00.015-05:00

"Autumn in New York"

I love finding geometry in nature. There’s a tree in our neighborhood that produces spherical pods each fall; it always reminds me of an illustration from a Dr. Seuss story. I have seen paintings where the artist used round daubs of paint to represent leaves, and I wanted to achieve that same effect in fabric.

So I began cutting out circles from scraps of fusible-backed hand-dyed fabrics -- it’s a very meditative process, I discovered. I fused them onto a beautiful piece of fabric from Caryl Fallert’s Gradations line for Benartex, and I quilted the whole piece with Madeira and Sulky 40-weight rayon thread.

The entire effect is reminiscent of our view of the Helderberg Mountains as we drive to the apple orchards each October for cider doughnuts (gosh, this is making me hungry!).

This piece will be on display, along with other works from the members of ARTAA (my fiber art group) at an upcoming show titled “Under Cover” at the Spring Street Gallery in Saratoga Springs, NY. Please stay tuned for more information about the show in future posts.

Have a most creative week!

Diane

A January "Anything But White" Sale!

2010-01-16T12:21:00.008-05:00

Quilt artist Frieda Anderson is offering a terrific special during the month of January: With every order of $20 or more, she’s including 48 (yup – 48!) 5” pre-cut hand-dyed fabric squares.

And just look at the colors! The fabric shown at the top of the photo is the one-yard piece of Lime/Purple that I ordered, and these are just half of the squares she sent along as my gift! And she tied it all together with a gorgeous strip of more fabric, shown at left. I’m in Hand-Dyed Heaven! Visit her web site and take advantage of this fantastic, colorful offer.

And a very Happy Birthday to my “twin sister” Marilyn Rock – be sure to take a peek at her blog for more visual delights. Have a wonderful day, Marilyn!

Diane

"It Was a Very Good Year"

2010-01-12T19:47:00.027-05:00

I seem to be quoting Old Blue Eyes a lot lately . . .

My thanks to all of you who took the time to leave some great advice on my pre-Christmas blog post. You reminded me of the important things to remember during the holiday season: letting go a bit, focusing on family and friends, remembering to breathe in and out. Sometimes we just need to hear someone else tell us what we know to be true.

It really has been a very good year, and it was made even better by some recent exciting news: one of my quilts, "Dizzy," was accepted by Lark Books to be included in their upcoming publication, "500 Art Quilts," due out in the spring of 2010. What a thrill! I am so honored to have this little art quilt selected by juror Karey Bresenhan for inclusion in this collection.

Thanks you all for sharing in my joyful news -- and here's to a most creative 2010.

Diane

You CAN Teach An Old Dog . . .

2010-01-03T21:03:00.004-05:00

Obviously, I’m learning many new things as I travel through my corporate commission experience. Here’s a picture of one of the color boards that was given to me so I could coordinate the quilt colors with the furnishings of the nursing home. As many of you most likely already know, colors of home decorating fabrics are difficult to find in the quilting world. Even when I had decided to use Kaufman’s Kona cotton, with over 250 colors available, I found I couldn’t match some of the shades in the upholstery fabrics or in the Formica© countertops as well as I had hoped. I did my best, and the directors were pleased with the choices I made, but it was time-consuming and more difficult than I had imagined, especially since I was working with those itty bitty squares of color in the catalogs.

And then, because of the long period of time between my presentation and my receipt of the check for the second installment, I discovered that Kaufman had discontinued one of the colors (your groan goes here). A bit of scrambling ensued, and I located it through eQuilter, bless them.

So here are the fabrics, all washed and ironed; I plan to starch them as I use them to make the cutting and piecing process more accurate (I've read that, if you starch fabric and then store it for too long, you run the risk of the fabric attracting silverfish – has anyone had that problem? Please let me know!).

As always, thanks for taking this journey along with me – it’s a lot more fun with company.

Diane

Postcards With An Edge

2009-12-20T14:01:00.019-05:00

"Garden Party I"
In the spring of 2006, I challenged my self to make one small art quilt each week. My goal for each piece was to try a new technique or to experiment with new design elements. I named the collection "The Notebook Series," both for the size of each piece (8" by 10") and the idea that each one told a story of my inspiration for that week. You can see some of these pieces on this page of my web site.

The project lasted about 6 months, and I concluded recently that one of the reasons for its demise was that I had chosen a relatively large size within which to work (that's my story, and I'm sticking to it . . .). So, I've decided to revisit the idea of weekly art quilts, but to limit the size of each one to 4" by 6". This smaller format should be more conducive to starting a design, knowing that I'm more likely to complete it in a few hours. Also, I'll have a finished piece that I can use in several ways -- to give as a gift, to trade with another artist, or to sell at quilt shows in which my art group, ARTAA, participates (sounds good on paper . . .).

Here is the first of what I hope will be many Postcards With An Edge. The elements are fused, the piece is machine quilted and embellished with French knots, and I printed a fabric address label for the back (do not adjust your computer -- the printing is a little wavy, but I plan to get better at this).

So, in addition to my resolution to Live Outside The Box, I also plan to Make More Art in 2010.

Here's to a New Year filled with creativity, happiness, and good health for all of us.

Diane

"It's That Time of Year . . .

2009-12-14T12:59:00.007-05:00

. . . when the world falls in love . . .", sings Frank Sinatra from my radio, except I can't seem to get into a very loving mood right about now. The Annual December Stress Level has reached amber, and I'm getting a little crabby. A good friend of mine told me to let some things go, so I tried to eliminate eating, but I became even crabbier.

I do want to thank all of you who wrote such lovely comments on my last post; I did not thank you through individual emails, as I would have liked to do, so I guess I did let something go last week. I just don't like the way I feel when I can't do everything that I feel I should. I don't bake Christmas cookies anymore, and somehow the time that I think I'm saving has been filled up with something else -- I haven't figured out what that is, though.

Okay, enough grousing. Let me tell you instead of how grateful I am for family, friends, and health, and for the wonderful connections that I've been fortunate to build with all of you. Your kind words of support and encouragement lift my spirits constantly, and I look forward to reading your comments, as well as your blogs, each day. Bless you.

And if anyone has any tips on Surviving The Next Twelve Days, please let me know.

Diane

Outside The Comfort Zone: The Holiday Version

2009-12-06T12:59:00.008-05:00

In looking through Mary Nordeng's book, Extreme Makeover: Feather Edition, I came upon a page of sketches with a lattice design that reminded me of holiday ornaments nestled against each other. I thought it might be fun to make a Christmas card featuring one of these ornament shapes, and I started playing again (this "play" thing is addictive, isn't it?).

After drawing the design and tracing it onto green background fabric, I sandwiched a layer of batting between the green fabric, a piece of Pellon Craft Décor (a stiff fusible interfacing), and the backing fabric. I then stitched the design, using Sulky rayon and Madeira metallic threads. I attached a hanging loop to the back, and since the piece is 5" by 7", it could also be displayed on a tabletop plate holder.

I hope to try making these in different color combinations -- a goal for Christmas, 2010, if I want to keep my sanity this month . . .

As I was writing these last two posts, I remembered a student in one of my math classes from many years ago. "Phoebe" was every teacher's dream student: She was hard-working, polite, and intelligent, and she loved participating in class discussions. She also happened to dress in a style that could best be described as Emo: dark clothing, dye-streaked hair, black boots. One day, she volunteered a wonderfully innovative solution to a difficult problem on the board. I became really excited (we math teachers live for such moments) and I said, "Wow, Phoebe -- you're really thinking outside the box!" And she said, "Mrs. Evans, I live outside the box."

So one of my goals for 2010 is to do more living outside the box, and I'll remember Phoebe every time I do.

Diane

Stepping Outside the Comfort Zone

2009-11-29T20:24:00.011-05:00

Feather Play I

(16" x 16")

Inspiration for this little art quilt came from several terrific sources. During a workshop in May, quilt artist Sharon Schamber encouraged me to include more texture in my quilting by adding small scale stitches to the larger motifs. And quilt artist and fellow blogger Jill Buckley posted a lovely piece of work to her site that helped push me in the right direction. I asked Jill's permission to adopt her idea and blog about it.

I then referenced Mary Nordeng's Extreme Makeover: Feather Edition, a gem of a book which I purchased from Kim Brunner's web site, and I adapted one of Mary's sketches for my design. I auditioned a number of different micro-stippling patterns inside the feathers; in the end, I decided to use just one pattern repeated in each feather.

I used my lightbox to transfer the design to the fabric; then I pulled out the 30-weight and 40-weight rayon threads and began stitching.

I had so much fun playing with this technique, but it did take me some time to complete the piece because I work so s-l-o-w-l-y. I wouldn't want you to hear the sound of my machine as I quilt -- a friend who took a class with me told me that she thought I could probably hand-quilt faster than I was machine-quilting. Watching me stitch is as exciting as watching grass grow. But I do find that quilting is meditative for me -- works better than sitting in the lotus position and chanting "ohm."

So, I say "thank you" to Jill for her inspiration and to all of you who follow my blog and send along great words of support -- you lift my spirits.

Diane

The Little Art Quilter That Could: The Presentation

2009-11-23T13:16:00.009-05:00

"Simple Gifts"

I am now officially into Phase II of my commission for four art quilts, and I will be documenting my journey for the SAQA Visioning Project. If you're a member of SAQA, you can follow the progress of all the participants here; I'm so excited about this venture that I wanted to share it on my blog, as well.

Since the quilts are to be hung in Shaker-style residences, I submitted five different drawings of Amish-themed quilts, from which the contractors chose the Monkey Wrench design, pictured above. They gave me the color palette, and I put together my presentation board, pictured below, with a Photoshop-designed image of the quilt, fabric swatches, and samples of quilting motifs attached.

The design has been approved, and the fabrics have been ordered. I chose Kaufman's Kona cotton solids because I felt they would coordinate well with the upholstery and carpet patterns already in the homes.

The quilt tops will be pieced, of course, and I'm auditioning different threads to find a strong one that will create the least amount of bulk in the seam allowance. What's your favorite thread for piecing? I'd welcome your input.

Thank you for sharing in this journey with me -- it should be an exciting ride!

Diane

An Early Holiday Present . . .

2009-11-18T19:43:00.011-05:00

. . . from me to me! (And don't I deserve it?!) I found a shop on Etsy.com, called Dye Candy, through a link posted by Jackie at Canton Village Quilt Works. The owner, Chris Daly, sells some amazing hand-dyed fabrics, and I absolutely couldn't resist this gradation called Autumn Colorways. An idea for a quilt has been percolating in my brain for a while now, and these colors should be just perfect in the design.

And what a treat to receive the package! It really was an early Christmas present. Chris sent along a card with this beautiful photograph attached to the front and a hand-written note inside, as well as two lollipops for my sweet tooth (how did she ever know?).

I always wash my hand-dyeds just in case there are any residual dyes left behind, but I needn't have worried with these -- Chris does an amazing job with her rinsing process, and these fabrics were totally colorfast.

Visit her shop when you get the chance -- you won't be disappointed.

That Little Voice Inside . . .

2009-11-08T11:27:00.008-05:00

On the relatively few days of beautiful summer weather this year, I would pick out a cherished quilting book and retreat to the backyard hammock. One of my all-time favorites is Judy Dales' "Curves in Motion," a superbly written and illustrated collection of techniques and projects accompanied by photos of Judy's amazing quilts (visit her web-site here). I was fortunate to have taken a week-long workshop from this talented artist, and her generous spirit, meticulous attention to detail, and unique wit are alive on every page of her book.

Much of what Judy has written about is inspirational, and several passages resonate with me as I strive to become better at creating art quilts:

"Judging your efforts too early in the design process is inappropriate and counter-productive, but it is something that we all tend to do," she writes. "It is almost as if there is a little judgmental person inside us who is supercritical and constantly ridicules our efforts. This little person has an important function in real life, which is to warn us of danger and help us make decisions that keep us safe. . . However, when you are trying to be creative, it is important to ignore all those annoying warnings. . . Tell your little judgmental person to go sit in the corner while you work. . . Keep him quiet for now so that you can work without inhibitions and worry, and capture a spirit of playfulness and adventure."

Great advice, isn't it? So, off I go to practice what Judy preaches, although it isn't easy for me to refrain from critiquing myself as I create. Please share with me any advice you have about training yourself to work freely -- what techniques work for you?

And may you always capture your sense of play as you continually enter your world of creativity.

Diane

And the Winners Are:

2009-11-01T19:47:00.016-05:00

Thank you all so much for participating in my little give-away. It was heartwarming to receive such kind and supportive messages. I printed out all your lovely comments, folded them, and placed them into a bag from which my Top Administrative Assistant chose two names. And the winners are:

Concetta and Geralyn!

Congratulations, ladies! If you'll each send your address to Diane@DEsignedByDianeEvans.com, I'll send out your notecards lickety-split.

A post-script to one of my previous entries: On my post entitled The Creative Process: The Zig and The Zag, Janet wrote:

Diane, do you use a stabilizer on the back when you do your appliqué?

And how do you wash your quilts?

Janet

I always use a stabilizer when I appliqué; I prefer Pellon Fusible Shirtailor in either the light or medium weight, and I iron it onto both the appliqué pieces and the background fabric. After the appliqué piece is sewn, I cut away the background behind the appliqué to keep the background color from shadowing through and to reduce bulk. You can read more about this part of the process by clicking here.

Since my quilts are meant to hang on the wall, I never wash them. However, I always pre-wash the hand-dyed fabrics that I use, so that if the iron decides to spit during pressing, there won't be any chance of bleeding colors. Other than that, the only time I go near the washing machine is to wash clothes -- and I'm certain that my husband is taking in laundry from the neighbors, because I can't believe that two people are this dirty . . .

Again, my thanks to all of you for reading my blog -- your support and encouragement mean so much to me.

Diane

Jackie's Wonderful Give-Away!

2009-10-29T15:55:00.004-04:00

There's a great give-away offered by Jackie at Canton Village Quilt Works. Check it out here!

The Creative Process: The Zig and The Zag

2009-10-26T18:36:00.011-04:00

It’s appliqué time!

A quilt show judge once commented on one of my entries that my satin stitch wasn’t dense enough. The irony of that critique lies in the fact that I wasn’t trying to create a satin stitch – I prefer the method of appliqué that quilt artists Jane Sassaman and Sue Nickels refer to as an open or flat zigzag stitch. The stitch length is slightly longer than that of a satin stitch (I use a setting of 0.5 on my Bernina artista© 185), and it allows the fabric color to show through the thread. The line of stitching has a softer edge, and the thread and fabric appear to co-exist nicely, regardless of their contrast to each other. It’s simply a matter of preference; satin stitching is lovely and gives a different appearance than what I choose for my work.

So here’s a sample of my flat zigzag appliqué; I vary the stitch width from 3.5 (along the straight-aways) to 2.0 (tapering to the points). I’ve used Madeira and Sulky 40-weight rayon threads in the needle and 50-weight or 60-weight polyester in the bobbin to reduce the bulk on the back side of the work.

I pull the thread ends to the back, tie them off, and weave them into the stitching. I learned the hard way that, if I omit this step, those threads have a nasty way of shadowing through to the front side, as if I’d scattered colored vermicelli all over the quilt – not a pretty sight . . .

A reminder: please check my last post – there’s still time to enter the latest Blog Give-Away! And thank you for following me – I appreciate the support!

Diane

It's Give-Away Time!

2009-10-19T18:39:00.011-04:00

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year . . .”

Yes, retailers are starting to remind us that that special season is almost here, the season when we begin to celebrate, as Dave Barry says, such time-honored traditions as trying to find a parking space at the mall. So, to begin the festivities, I thought I’d offer a Give-Away!

You could win the set of 5 note cards shown above. Pictured on the front of each matte-finish card is a photo of a quilt from my Ornamental series; the inside of the card is blank, and each comes with its own envelope. You can wrap them up and give them to a quilt-lover on your gift list, or you can keep them for your very own (no one needs to know . . .). If you’d like the chance to win all five, just leave a comment on this post or at Diane@DEsignedByDianeEvans.com by Friday, October 30, and my team of assistants (consisting of my husband, Fran) will pick two names in a random drawing. Please be sure to leave an e-mail address so I can contact you if you’re one of the winners.

And, in case your name isn’t chosen and you like these cards enough to purchase them, you can find them for sale on my website OR at the Second Annual Holiday and Gift Extravaganza at the Broadway Art Center in Albany. The details are at right in the Upcoming Shows section.

Good luck, and thanks in advance for joining in!

My Entry: Bloggers' Quilt Festival

2009-10-10T13:18:00.003-04:00

It’s an oldie, but a goodie: this is “Dizzy,” and some of you may remember seeing this quilt in a previous blog post. This art quilt especially tickles me because it was born out of frustration with a different design that simply was not working for me. I had pieces all cut out and sewn, and no matter what I did with them, they just wouldn’t play well together. So I sent some of them home (to the Orphaned basket) and went back to the drawing board, and “Dizzy” finally emerged.

The quilt is paper-pieced and appliquéd, with free-motion and guided machine quilting; I used 12-weight Aurifil cottons, Sulky 40-weight rayons, and metallic threads in the quilting. At a recent exhibit, a gentleman stopped to tell me that he thought this quilt should be “illegal” because it mesmerized him as he looked at it. I took that as a compliment, although I’m not quite certain if he meant it that way.

Enjoy the Festival, and, thank you, Amy, for providing all of us an opportunity to view each other’s work!

Diane

"To Bead or Not To Bead . . ."

2009-10-05T23:13:00.008-04:00

. . . that is the question.” When it comes to embellishing an art quilt, I feel that beads are like prunes: Are four enough? Are six too many? I don't seem to know where to begin and when to stop.

Lately, I've been engaging in an audition of the various sizes and colors of beads in my collection, pinning or taping them to the quilt top (as in the photo above) and trying to decide if they enhance the composition or if they're simply a gaudy distraction.

At this point, I am usually reminded of the line from the movie “Sabrina” (do rent the Harrison Ford/Julia Ormond version – it's my favorite), where the title character says to the obscenely wealthy Linus Larrabee, “You know, Linus, more isn't always better; sometimes, it's just more.”

So I ask you, dear readers, for your thoughts and suggestions. How do you bead? How much is too much? And where, if at all, would you add beads to the composition pictured above? I'm ready for your ideas!

Diane

An Award Most "Fowl" . . .

2009-09-27T20:59:00.029-04:00

. . . and an absolute thrill to receive! I have been honored by talented quilt artist and fellow blogger Jill Buckley with the Zombie Chicken Award, which I will explain by quoting directly from Jill:

"The blogger who receives this award believes in the Tao of the Zombie Chicken-- excellence, grace, and persistence in all situations, even in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. These amazing bloggers regularly produce content so remarkable that their readers would brave a raving pack of Zombie Chickens just to be able to read their inspiring words. As a recipient of this world-renowned award, you now have the task of passing it on to at least 5 other worthy bloggers. Do not risk the wrath of the Zombie Chickens by choosing unwisely or not choosing at all."

I would certainly do battle with a flock of zombie chickens to be able to read Jill's blog (and all you have to do is click here); however, the rules of bestowal state that I must pass the award on to at least 5 other bloggers. So, as difficult as it was to choose, the following blogs (in no particular order) are hereby awarded the Zombie Chicken (drumroll, please):

Quilternity's Place (Terri Cohen)

In My Room (Marilyn Rock)

PMS Designs (Pat Spillane)

Loreen Leedy's Studio

Diane Wright Art Quilts

Joanna Monroe

Fiber Art by Ruth Anne (Ruth Anne Olson)

The Chubby Mummy (Tracey Pereira)

Be sure to check out these great blogs, as well as all the other wonderful sites that are listed under My Favorite Blogs. Isn't it terrific that so many talented artists are sharing their ideas, techniques, and musings with all of us? I feel so fortunate to have connected with these artful spirits who continually inspire and nurture the creativity in me. My thanks to you all.

Pearls of Wisdom

2009-09-23T19:21:00.003-04:00

“Each failure holds a gift, if we can hear the beat of the rhythm that calls us.”

Artist Jeanne Carbonetti believes that the rhythm of creative life is much like that of an oyster as it creates a pearl. In her beautifully illustrated book, “Making Pearls: Living the Creative Life,” she describes the process as having seven stages, each one associated with a color:

1) Waiting: As the oyster cements itself to a stationary object to begin its pearl-making, so do we focus on a beautiful question to inspire us.

2) Opening: We take in new ideas and approaches and then keep or discard them, much as the oyster filters out what it does not need.

3) Closing: A grain of sand lodges in the oyster shell and is protected, so the pearl actually begins as an irritation! We also protect our creation-to-be.

4) Holding: We continue to hold on as the creation proceeds and the “pearl” rolls around to take its final shape.

5) Releasing: The creation leaves its shell, possibly changed somewhat from the original intention; we begin the process of letting go.

6) Emptying: We honor the ending of a creation; the process of letting go is complete.

7) Sitting: This is the final stage of creation, regardless of what the outcome has been. There is no activity; this is the greater pause, the time when we access the larger world by non-doing.

The stages are described in imaginative detail by Ms. Carbonetti and are accompanied by photos of her watercolor paintings, which are almost spiritual in nature. I highly recommend this book to artists of all mediums – it is helping me to better understand my emotions as I struggle through the process of making my own pearls.

The Little Art Quilter That Could . . .

2009-09-16T20:33:00.009-04:00

"I think I can, I think I can . . ."

You might remember that I wrote about a fantastic challenge offered by Lisa Chipetine, the new president of Studio Art Quilt Associates: Members of SAQA were invited to choose an artistic goal and spend one year, under Lisa's mentorship, working to achieve that goal (click here to revisit my original post). My own vision was to obtain a commission for a major piece of work through my web site.

Would you believe that it's already happened?! And I received the first phone call (I swear that I am not making this up) three days after I posted my vision on the SAQA Wiki site!

I will be designing and creating four wall quilts for a nursing home here in the Capital Region of New York. The facility, billed as "revolutionary," consists of a campus of sixteen "green houses," each of which will be home to a dozen residents. The quilts will hang over the fireplaces in the living rooms of the four Shaker-style homes.

I hope you'll stay tuned for future posts -- I'm excited to share my progress with such a wonderful support group as you, dear readers.

So, much like the premise set forth in the book, "The Secret," I sent my vision out into the universe, and the Law of Attraction brought me this tremendous opportunity.

Lisa Chipetine, you are truly a woman of vision!

Thank you, AQS!

2009-09-07T21:45:00.004-04:00

A short while ago, I received a phone call from a representative of American Quilter magazine, asking for permission to use a photo of my quilt, "Color My World," in their ads promoting the 2010 AQS Show in Knoxville. You can imagine how excited I was -- I stumbled my way through an expression of gratitude and sheer delight.

And here it is! The ad appears in the September, 2009, issue of the magazine, and I couldn't be more thrilled!

Continued thanks to all of you who read and comment on my blog -- I truly appreciate our connection.

What To Do When You're Too Pooped To Play In The Studio?

2009-09-02T21:05:00.008-04:00

Well, I revisited one of my first passions: knitting. Quilt artist and fellow blogger Terri Cohen (click here for her wonderful on-line fabric store) renewed my interest when she posted pictures of the beautiful scarves she had knitted; the combinations of yarns which she had chosen transformed the basic chevron stitch into painted masterpieces (you can see some of them here) -- after reading her post, I was instantly hooked.

I purchased my yarns from a cozy little shop called Purl on Sullivan Street near our son's Manhattan apartment (there's a sister store down the street called Purl Patchwork that sells wonderful fabrics). As I was browsing, my eye kept wandering over to one cubicle in particular; it was stuffed with skeins of Koigu Merino wool in all shades of green -- lime, chartreuse, deep forest, apple -- in luscious variegateds and tone-on-tone solids. I chose two different colorways and discovered, as the knitting progressed, that, yes, indeed, it WAS green, all right.

And it was so much fun -- fast, too. I've started a second one in shades of blue (much calmer -- I need calm right now . . .). The pattern is featured in Joelle Hoverson's book, Last Minute Knitted Gifts, and the rhythmic repetition of the stitch makes it the perfect portable project -- great for when you need something to occupy your fingers while your mind wants to be elsewhere.

So my thanks to Terri for such a great idea -- it was just what the doctor ordered.

"Our House Is A Very, Very, Very Fine House . . ."

2009-08-25T20:36:00.008-04:00

" . . . with two cats in the yard.

Life used to be so hard;

Now everything is easy

'Cause of you."

At times it makes me giggle when I realize how often old songs make their way to the forefront of my thoughts as I work on a new piece. Music is one of my muses, and it may be responsible for many of the motifs that emerge in my designs without my being fully aware of its presence. Most of my wall quilts are named after favorite songs of mine.

So I shouldn’t have been surprised when I found myself humming this endearing little tune from 1970 by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young (if you remember this group when there were four of them, you’re a Baby Boomer) as this piece came together in Laura Wasilowski’s class at Quilting By The Lake. Our assignment was to create any form of “scape” we desired (landscape, cityscape, seascape), and Laura showed us numerous examples of whimsical houses, trees, and fields as inspiration. I had the wonderful feeling of a child in kindergarten, having been given total permission to play with colors, shapes, and scissors.

The border is a piece of hand-dyed fabric which had been resist-dyed with a spiral-shaped stamp; I decided to follow the lines of the spirals with free-motion quilting and then fill in the spaces with my own version of “McTavishing” (an alternative to stippling).

There are no cats in the yard, though – I don’t do cats very well . . .

"It's Sum-Sum-Summertime!"

2009-08-16T19:47:00.012-04:00

"Summertime, Summertime"

First, a clarification: The beautiful wall quilts featured in my last post were the creations of Laura Wasilowski, not the work of my hands . . . wish I could say they were.

Here, however, is my version of the first assignment given to us by Laura on the opening day of class at QBL. We all started with identical pieces of Laura's stunning hand-dyed fabric, and we were given the following guidelines:

Cut 2 pieces out of the fabric: one for an area of sky and the other to represent grass or ground.
Add spiky leaves and stems (cut on the bias so they could be curled into shape as they were fused)
Scatter flowers of all colors, shapes, and sizes among the stems; Laura demonstrated myriad examples of fantasy blooms to inspire us.

I added French knots, using Perle Cotton #5 and Laura's hand-dyed #8 embroidery thread, and I machine-quilted the piece with Madeira 30-weight rayon thread.

And the finished design sang, "Summertime, Summertime!", so I borrowed the title of the song by the Jamies and gave the little wall quilt its name.

Check back again -- I'll be posting my homework assignment from Day #2 very soon!

"TW3!"

2009-08-11T14:55:00.002-04:00

In case you’re not old enough to remember (sadly, I am), TW3 was the nickname of an NBC television show from the 1960s titled “That Was The Week That Was.” Looking back, the short-lived series was probably the pre-cursor to “Saturday Night Live” – in other words, it was an idea whose time had not yet arrived. But the title has stayed with me all these years, and it aptly describes my week at Quilting By The Lake.

QBL is an annual two-week convergence of some of the finest quilt artists in the world (visit the QBL web site and you’ll delight at the famous names you’ll see there). There are 2-day, 3-day, and 5-day classes offered, and I was fortunate to have secured a spot in Laura Wasilowski’s weeklong “Fusing Fun/Journal Quilts” workshop.

Her wall quilts are amazing, as you can see from these pictures (click on each one to see the stitching details), and she is an absolute treasure.

She is the self-proclaimed Dean of Corrections at the Chicago School of Fusing, and, after a week of cutting, fusing, embellishing, and learning the school’s fight song, we each received our diplomas (shown above). And we laughed a whole lot.

Be sure to check out Laura’s website; her hand dyed fabrics and threads are a visual treat. And I’ll be posting my finished “assignments” in the next few blogs, so you can decide if I truly earned my diploma.

Summer SUNsation!

2009-08-02T19:21:00.026-04:00

Some wonderful fiber art awaits you at the Broadway Art Center as part of the Colonie Art League's Summer SUNsation Exhibition. Over twenty-five colorful and diverse wall quilts will be on display in the newly constructed BACk Room of the Center, located in the Arcade Building at 488 Broadway in downtown Albany. The show has already opened and extends through October 18th, but be sure to visit early and often, as the pieces in the exhibit may rotate in and out during the ten weeks of the show.

Pictured here are four of my small wall quilts which are included in the exhibit (clockwise from upper left: "Aspenglow," "Deux Danseuses," "Cycles: Harlequin," and "Kodachrome;" click on each image for a closer look). If you can't make it to the Art Center and would like to purchase any of these pieces, please contact me at Diane@DEsignedByDianeEvans.com and I'll send you the details on reserving the quilt of your choice.

I hope you'll be able to see the show in person; in addition to the fiber arts exhibit, dozens of art works in all mediums, including oil paintings, watercolors, and photography, will be on display, and all items may be purchased. And you'll definitely want to visit on August 7th, the evening of Albany's First Friday -- there will be a reception at the Art Center from 5 - 9 PM. Hope to see you there!

"May I Have The Envelope, Please?"

2009-07-15T19:54:00.008-04:00

"Wallflowers: #5"

There’s nothing that quite compares to the feeling of opening that letter from the gallery or the quilt show and finding out that one of your pieces was accepted. I was thrilled to learn that one of my small wall quilts, “Wallflowers: #5,” was juried into the 2009 National Small Art Quilt Works Exhibition at The Main Street Gallery in Groton, NY, a contemporary fine arts venue in a quaint little village located near Ithaca.

The gallery’s web site gives this description of the annual event:

"Small contemporary art quilts are meant to hang on the wall. This quilt form functions like a canvas, and the color and texture of the fabric are like the paint, allowing for free expression. In keeping with the spirit of the art quilt, the exhibition's range of style, technique and content are diverse.

"Thirty-four fiber artists from across the United States have been selected by jurors Eugenia Barnes, professional quilt maker, teacher, lecturer, and appraiser (Marcellus, NY), and Roger Smith, painter, sculptor, educator, and Director of The Main Street Gallery."

As you can imagine, I feel honored to have one of my pieces included in this venue with the works of many wonderful fiber artists, and I’m hoping to take the trip westward to view the exhibit in person.

Thank you, as always, for reading my blog and for your wonderfully supportive comments – you never fail to lift my spirits.

The Dancing Tree

2009-07-15T19:09:00.004-04:00

Isn't this postcard an absolute delight?! It's designed and made by art quilter Frieda Anderson, and I purchased it through her web site. I'm so excited to own an original "wall quilt" from this very talented artist (she also writes a terrific blog).

She has used hand-dyed cotton for the background and hand-dyed silk charmeuse behind the tree. The piece is embellished with delicate machine quilting and hand-worked French knots, and it positively shimmers in the light.

Frieda wrote a lovely note on the back of the card, saying that she hoped The Dancing Tree would "swirl around your studio and bring you joy." It has indeed done that, and more -- it has brought me inspiration, and I'm anxious to try some of her techniques on a piece of my own.

I continue to meet the most incredibly talented people along my art-quilting journey -- I can't wait to see what (or who) is around the corner.

What's Your Personal Vision For Your Art Career?

2009-07-05T17:00:00.013-04:00

Cycles: Masquerade

(private collection)

"Life is a journey; take your dreams along."

One year from now, do you see your art quilts hanging in a gallery or published in a book?

Can you envision yourself as having developed significantly as an artist from where you are today?

These are the questions that helped to introduce members of Studio Art Quilts Associates to the Visioning Project, the brain-child of SAQA's new president, Lisa Chipetine. The program is best described as a public commitment of each participating artist to achieve a specific goal.

Those of us involved in the project have stated our personal visions on the SAQA University Wiki space; some goals are very specific (obtaining gallery representation; curating an exhibit) while others are more developmental (building a cohesive body of work; becoming a known personality through participation in national shows).

My personal goal is to obtain a commission for a large wall quilt through my website. Lisa is structuring a monthly mentorship program to help us achieve our goals, and she has already offered me numerous suggestions as steps towards making my dream a reality. I'll keep you posted on my progress -- I'm looking forward to the journey.

Please share your own artistic vision with me. Go ahead -- be brave -- put it out there. It's like we say with the New York lottery: "Hey, you never know."

I Confess: I'm Hooked!

2009-06-28T20:59:00.005-04:00

A few years ago, I took a workshop from quilt artist Carol Taylor and learned her techniques for appliquéd patchwork and perfectly couched spirals. She calls the class “Arc-i-Textures” because of the circular nature of the quilting and the variety of elegant fabrics, nubby yarns, and shimmering ribbons used to create it. During the workshop, Carol warned us that making these small wall quilts could become addictive, and she was right: I’ve made over a dozen of them, and, each time I finish one, my mind starts putting together new color combinations for the next one.

I use the word “Cycles” to refer to my own interpretations of this technique, and each one has its own title. The piece pictured above is called “Embers,” and the client who will be receiving it, interior designer Sharon Einbinder of Windows, Walls, and More, chose the colors. It’s inspired me to start another one soon – I guess these little quilts really are like pistachio nuts: you can’t stop at one -- or a dozen.

Thank you for reading and commenting on my blog – I hope your week is filled with inspiration.

A Day To Dye For!

2009-06-22T19:09:00.017-04:00

Here's a recipe for a perfect day:

1) Start with: 6 friends and fellow fiber artists

2) Add: several yummy colors of Procion MX dyes

3) Stir in: 2 dozen (or more) yards of PFD fabric

4) Sprinkle liberally with imagination and spontaneous creativity

5) Bring everything together in the lush, serene acreage surrounding Pat Spillane's home

The result? Yards and yards of colorful fabric and a whole lotta fun (laughter is a natural by-product of the process).

Pat Spillane (read her blog here), Kris Gregson Moss (check out her website), and Patti Turi (an expert with her camera)

Here I am, stirring my "cauldrons" . . .

Karen Sturtevant and one of her creations

We measured and poured, dipped and stirred, sprayed and drizzled; we congratulated ourselves on our successes and learned from our goofs. And we laughed -- a lot.

Barbara Vanselow (she offers amazing hand-made dolls on her website)

I wore my hand-dyed socks (a gift from a friend) just for the occasion.

Here are my results from immersion dyeing a gradation of blues (they were supposed to be shades of periwinkle, but I learned that fuchsia is not a very stable dye color and washes out very easily).

So I have a question for any of my readers who have done some dyeing of their own: I used 2 tablespoons of Cobalt Blue and 3/4 teaspoon of Fuchsia. What combination should I use to get that nice shade of blue-violet?

How Lucky Can You Get??!!

2009-06-18T21:48:00.007-04:00

I am absolutely thrilled! I won the latest giveaway from Terri Cohen's blog, Quilternity's Place, and just look at the prize: Seven (count 'em!) half-yard cuts of the most luscious fabrics I've ever seen! And they're even more beautiful in person. Thank you for offering such a generous gift, Terri -- I was so excited when I found out I'd won that my fingers wouldn't type my thank-you note! If you haven't discovered Terri's blog, you must visit it -- she also runs an on-line fabric shop titled From Here To Quilternity, and both the blog and the web site are feasts for the eyes. And be sure to look up her posts on knitting chevron scarves -- I am now officially hooked, and it's hard to put the needles down.

So now, dear readers, I invite your input -- I have so many ideas of what I would like to create with these magnificent fabrics and I can't decide. They're such eye candy that I'm reluctant to cut into them -- right now, I have them displayed on my table like precious jewels. What would you create??

The Creative Process: The Search For Fabric

2009-06-14T12:51:00.014-04:00

(This is Part III is a series of . . . well, I'm not sure how long this will last, but I hope the end is in sight . . . Please see my posts from 4/24 and 5/24 for the first two parts.)

Choosing the fabrics that will work best in the design is often the most agonizing part of the process for me, most likely because, to borrow a phrase from South African quilt artist Rosalie Dace, I'm very "mingy" with my fabric (a blended word derived from "miserly" and "stingy" -- says it all, doesn't it?), and I hate to recut a shape. Somehow, I'm able to move myself through the "sturm und drang" of the decision making, and it helps to cut out one or two pieces at a time and audition them on the design wall.

The interfacing is ironed to the fabric.

The motif is cut out just inside the dotted line.

All the interfaced motifs are pinned in place on the design wall, and I let them simmer there for a few days. I check on them periodically and make changes until I'm as pleased as my obsessive nature will allow me to be.

When I'm finally ready to sew, everything comes off the wall. Starting with the center area of the background and working from the bottom layer upwards, I glue one shape at a time to the background by applying a thin line of UHU Purple Glue Stick around the perimeter of the motif and putting the piece in place.

A wallpaper seam roller is used to press the glue into submission without distorting the piece. It's ready to be appliquéd.

More to come in Part IV. In the meantime, be sure to check out Marilyn Rock's blog for her latest giveaway -- another beautiful collage is awaiting a new home.

I'm Still Grinning . . .

2009-06-04T22:01:00.016-04:00

SPOILER ALERT!!

This blog post contains nothing about art quilting! It is simply a vehicle for me to share my latest adventure with all of you, one which left me giddy with delight.

Our son, Sean, is a columnist with the New York Daily News, and my Mother's Day gift this year was a two-day visit to the city, where I had the opportunity to watch him at work (interviewing celebrities) and to meet some of New York's glitterati at the same time. On Thursday evening, we attended a cocktail party at the apartment of actress Stephanie March (from "Law and Order: SVU"), where model/actress Brooke Shields was the guest of honor. (I can't believe I'm actually writing this!!)

Stephanie March (and me, grinning wildly)

On Friday, Sean took me as his guest (poor kid) to the Drama League Awards Luncheon at the Marriott Marquis Hotel, where Sir Elton John received the award for Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre. When Sean introduced me as his mother, I believe Sir Elton said, "Your mum? How lovely!" and kissed me on both cheeks (I do remember having the presence of mind to address him as "Sir Elton," but what I may have said after that is a bit of a blur, because I was relatively speechless).

Sir Elton John and Sean

There were so many wonderful actors and actresses there that I found myself spinning my head from one direction to another, much like a kid in a candy store.

Here's David Hyde Pierce (from "Frasier") and me,

grinning wildly . . .

. . . and this is Allison Janney (from "The West Wing" and the movie, "Juno") and me, grinning wildly . . .

. . . and here's Geoffrey Rush (from "Pirates of the Caribbean") -- and me, grinning wi . . . . well, you get the idea.

I shook hands with John Lithgow and told Marcia Gay Harden how much I admired her work (and her dress, which was absolutely gorgeous) and floated through the event in a star-struck haze (and grinning wildly). I never imagined that I would ever know anyone in my life who interviewed the rich and famous for a living, let alone that I'd be related to him.

It had to be the best Mother's Day present ever -- thank you, Sean.

And thanks to all of you who read and comment on my blog, and for indulging me as I've shared my fairy tale adventure with you. I'm always grateful.

Art Quilting As Therapy

2009-05-31T21:07:00.009-04:00

Notebook Series: #11

Last month, I was contacted by Kathy Peterson, a designer, author, and TV host for Lifetime Television. She had discovered my website and extended an invitation for me to be a guest blogger on Craft For Health, a web site devoted to stories of people who use their crafting as therapy in dealing with illness, grief, depression, and many other life-altering situations. I was truly flattered, and I submitted an entry, which was posted on May 18th; I'm reprinting it below.

It’s taken me a long time to discover that the handwork passions I have pursued all of my life are my therapies in disguise. I’ve always felt that there was a frustrated artist lurking below my veneer of high school math teacher. I had complained for years that I was unable to meditate successfully (my mind continually moves around in ridiculous directions), and it took a highly intuitive friend to help me realize that machine quilting is my form of meditation.

I enter a different world when I walk into my studio. The physical aches and pains that accompany six decades of living seem to fade into the background –- I am about to have fun with fabric and thread, and nothing else matters. It is nearly impossible for my mind to wander too far from the project before me; the left half of my brain, which has guided me through 24 years of teaching mathematics, refuses to give up on solving the problem at hand until the right half has played with all the possibilities.

I seem to be in my most meditative state when I am guiding the quilt sandwich through the machine, following the lines of the motifs which I have drawn on the fabric, concentrating on the size of the stitches as I strive for uniformity. Sometimes there is a great deal of un-sewing, but I know this is necessary, because, in the end, I want to experience that rush of joy at seeing my vision come to life in fabric.

There are some profoundly moving entries on the site, written by some incredibly talented artists. Please take a few moments to read their stories -- I guarantee they will touch your heart. There are so many wonderful people to meet along this creative journey, and I believe that I am learning something special from each one of them.

Wishing you a peaceful, joyful week ahead.