For our February meeting, we had a fabulous trunk show from one of our talented and prolific members, Stephanie Bennett-Strauss. Enjoy photos of her quilts!
Mountain Art Quilters
Mountain Art Quilters is a group of fifty fabric artists centered in the Sierra Foothills in Northern California. Members meet monthly in Nevada City to share their expertise, inspirations and ideas in producing beautiful works of art utilizing the latest in sewing, quilting, and embellishing techniques. For more information, email mountainartquilters@gmail.com
Monday, February 27, 2023
Monday, February 6, 2023
We started 2023 strong with our first meeting! We introduced 'getting to know you' as a way to learn more about our fellow members. We also drew names for a new name tag exchange.
Our own Michelle Peerson led a thoughtful discussion on Creativity.
Several members had show & tell quilts:
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'Against the Flames' by Robin Hart 26" x 39" |
This was created for the July 2022 reveal. Since it was accepted to the Houston show, we are just now able to share it.
This is a tribute to the wildland firefighters. Robin was so alarmed by the number and severity of the wildland forest fires in 2021, and the ever pervasive smoke in Nevada County throughout the Summer that she thought about all of the firefighters that put themselves on the line to save lives, property and forest. She created this quilt to honor the bravery of those firefighters fighting a forest inferno. Robin created this using the digital surface design by painting in Adobe Photoshop and then she output it on whole cloth and thread painted to enhance the billowing smoke and fire.
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by Sophia Day |
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by Stephanie Bennett Strauss |
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by Tracy Visher |
Wednesday, December 14, 2022
We had our last meeting of the year as a potluck on December 9th. I was not able to attend, but some of our members got some great photos and shared them to our facebook account. Visit
Mountain Art
Quilters | Facebook if you have facebook and see the fun. You can also follow us there!
Friday, October 28, 2022
Yesterday was the last reveal of 2022 and it did not disappoint! We had a full house of members and walls full of beautiful quilts.
Seashells
Remembering Sanibel 20" x 22" by Pat Gillings |
It's all Shells 18" x 37" by Jane Haworth |
Practice seashell painting |
Reflections
Turtle Reflections 38" x 34" by Michelle Peerson |
Evening Reflections 23.5" x 26" by Jan Mitrovich |
As Through the Wishing Glass by Stephanie Bennett Strauss |
Artist Statement. This fits the Challenge by showing a cat looking for his REFLECTION in the mirror. Materials: Cotton & Organza fabric; cotton, polyester, and monofilament thread, cotton/poly batting, Iron-On stiff Interfacing. I chose the Reflections Challenge because it immediately invoked a memory of a greeting card I had seen many years ago, and I thought it would translate well into an Art Quilt. My quilt depicts a Lady’s Vanity dresser with a large mirror, and several beautifying items on the dresser scarf. Nearby is an antique Tiffany shade hung from a Steampunk style floor lamp. This lady’s Tabby cat has jumped up to admire himself in the mirror. The perfume bottles reflect nicely in the mirror, but something Magic has occurred when our feline friend looks for his reflection. He sees himself through a silvery mist, appearing very grand, powerful, sleek, and handsome, indeed. Seeing his Reflection has confirmed for himself that he really is who he thinks he is. He purrs, loudly. This quilt was quite challenging for me. I was trying to do things I had not done before, like using organza, working with vinyl (which did not make it into the final quilt), and an attempt at trapunto. Working to create a dramatic up close perspective was new. Figuring out the geometry of reflections was a trial. I thought about trying out the facing method of finishing, but given a deadline, and the many time-consuming mistakes I’d already made during this learning process, it was a bridge too far. Making this quilt was very rewarding, and I learned quite a lot.
Leaf it to Me
Leaves - Botanical #2 by Lynn Tubbe |
Artist Statement: I decided to challenge myself to try some techniques new for me - curved piecing, as well as pulled printing on organza and seeing if it was possible to paint dryer sheets. What better way to practice - using one of my favorite subjects - leaves. This was my own design, inspired by Joan Dyer's work. Materials: cottons, silk, organza, painted dryer sheets, painted and stamped fabrics. My first attempt at painted fabric ended up with fabric so stiff, i ended up using it for the leaves sewn down after the facing was finished. Next time I will use fabric paint, rather than adding textile medium to craft paint. Steep learning curve.
Hosta 30" x 25" by Jan Petre |
Artist Statement: The design source is a picture of my daughter's hostas in Michigan. Having spent half of my life in Michigan and Connecticut, I was inspired to capture the new leaves emerging from the dormant bulb in the springtime. This was a combination of hand dyed and commercial fabrics, with wool batting; leaf edges were shaded with inks.
Leaf Dance 12" x 18" by Carole Rossi |
Forest Floor 29.5" x 28" by Tracy Visher |
Wild Card - Black & White + 1
Pop Art Tom 22" x 19.5" by Karin Polli |
I am Not a Frog 20" x 30" by Sophia Day |
Where Do Your Dreams Take You? 20" x 30" by Robi Holmen |
Artist Statement: Sophia Day, Holly Miner, Sue Marshall and I decided on a paint chip challenge using dark, medium and light fabrics, circles and black & white. This is my own design, drawn first on paper using a large compass to offset some of the circles. Flying geese imply movement. Materials: cotton solids, ombre dark to light, batik print and black & white cotton. Wool batting is used in this piece with a faced edge. I cut out each piece of the design, added 1/4" seams to everything, then stitched each section one to another. I chuckle to myself seeing it complete, thinking: "What in the world was I thinking". Applique is so much easier.
Circle Party 20" x 30" by Sue Marshall |
Artist Statement: I used mainly black & white plus a color chip to meet a guild challenge also. This was a group challenge, 4 of us decided to do this color challenge, with the added element of circles. I tried to use fabric that I had: batiks, commercial black & white prints, grunge circles and dots. I used curve piecing, improv, did sketch for guiding design. It has FMQing with circles and rulers.
Black & White Fibonacci 20" x 30" by Holly Miner |
Artist Statement: This uses blue, black & white. It features Fibonacci shown 3 ways: circles, spiral and boxes (in the quilting). Materials: cotton fabric, cotton batting, 12 wt Wonderfil spaghetti thread, 100 wt micro quilter thread. I designed in Adobe Illustrator and had a good time figuring out how to make the spiral.
We also had one show & tell for a quilt that is in the Houston Quilt show.
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Letting Go by Jan Reed |