Yesterday was our 2nd reveal day of the year.  It's always a visual delight!

Try an Abstract

'Foothill Fog' by Sophia Day
16" x 19.5"

This is an abstract of a photo of the fog in the valley in front of my house.  I used curved piecing, commercial fabrics, blue tulle and wavy straight-line quilting.  The original quilt was relatively easy to complete, but it needed something else.  I thought a misty tree in the foreground might help.  I tried printing a tree on lutradur and burning it to get wisps.  That didn't work, and the lutradur was not transparent enough to just print the tree on it and overlay the quilt.  I tried painting the outline of a tree on the quilt, but that just ruined the bottom and I had to redo.  I finally decided to print the tree on fabric and impro piece it into the quilt with the fog running through it.  I learned a lot about what didn't work.  I'm eager to continue experimenting to try to find the perfect solution.

'Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones, But the Words You Sent May Kill Me'
by Tracy Visher, 16.5" x 30"

This quilt qualifies as abstract, by default, as it is non-representational. It is created of shapes, that, while they work together, they do not look literally like anything recognizable in the world.  This was inspired by a painful fallout with a decades long friend who sought to express a difficult time in their life solely through electronic written word, rather than a face-to-face meeting where our history might have assisted with the resolution of issues. I used linen, fused and non-fused commercial cotton fabrics, embroidery pearl cotton thread, hammered copper wire, millinery lace, labels printed on cotton, cotton/poly thread and 80/20 cotton-wool batting.  I wanted a way to express how the emails and text messages I received, and the words therein, created a visual memory that I find much harder to recover from, than had words been spoken out loud. As a very visual person, the electronic memories have left statements in the ether that are not resolved in any way. A personal interaction, while difficult, allows you to see facial expressions and hear voice inflection that carry the remainder of “the story”. I found the abstract format to lend itself much better to the emotions of the exchange than I felt I could have done w a representational image. The floating “stones” inside the copper wire depict the accusations and the fact that they are “caged” in my memory.

'Aqua Motion' by Carole Rossi
19" x 46"

It has helped me to think of abstraction as a continuum, with representational or realistic images on one end and purely non-objective images on the other end, where the image is coming from "the art itself" - it's about color, design and the shape.  That's what I wanted to do with this piece, but in a more orderly fashion than with my earlier improvisational pieces.  I created a drawing, thinking of shape & design flow.  I used a variety of commercial cottons - solids and batiks, quilters 100% dream cotton batting and I machine quilted with mettler's 40 weight poly-sheen threads, using simple straight lines.  I challenged myself to create a completely non-representational image, but not with improvisational piecing.  Rather, I drew a design and created a pattern which I pieced.  This is more laborious than improvisational piecing, but I think it is helping me make abstracted designs which are more balanced and have a better flow.  The circles are appliqued.  I wanted to depict joyful movement throughout the piece, while also managing to play within one color range.

'Morning Rays' by Jan Mitrovich
21" x 31"

Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world (Wikipedia).  My inspiration was an article in Art Quilters magazine showing how paper can be stitched to enhance an art quilt.  I used a piece of floral paper as the inspiration for a color palette, then tore various papers and added stitching and fabrics to add texture and variety to create a garden feel. I used scrapbook paper, image tranfer to fabric, brown paper, heavy art paper, black batting, velvet, tulle, wool roving.  All fabrics except the batting and maroon dot print are hand dyed.  This was definitely an off the cuff project.  I first played with tearing and stitching paper to various fabrics and experimented with transferring images onto fabric.  I then pulled out my hand dyed fabrics, created a color plan, then attached and adhered as the spirit moved me.  I decide early on to leave the edges raw to create an organic feel.  The final touch was to add the tulle and roving to the upper left corner to emphasize the sun rays.  The challenges were adjusting the machine tension for stitching on paper and balancing texture, color and design.

'Ghana Village' by Ann Sanderson
25"x19"

I created an abstract design from these very inspiring African fabrics.  I used fabrics from Ghana Africa and some of my fabrics that I printed and a few commercial fabrics.  I also used embroidery and beads.

'8-seconds' by Janene Powell
3'x5'

This is an abstract of a rodeo horse.  I used paint, colors and neon thread, silk, fabric and net.  I used items I had not used before.  

'Sunrise in the Woods' by Marylee Drake
36" x 44"

This is an abstract of the view I imagine I see when I squint my eyes at sunrise through the trees.  I love the colors of sunrise and sunset.  I used thickened dye on cotton using stencils and multi-colored dye.  This piece was started with scraping thickened dye, using stencils, then compressions with rollers and a final paint of dyes over the whole piece.  

From a Song or Poem

'Oh Moon of My Delight' by Elisabeth Baratta

The inspiration is from Omar Khayyam's 'Man Talking to the Moon'.  

Ah, moon of my delight, who know'st no wane

The moon of heaven is rising once again

How oft hereafter rising shall she look

Through this same garden after me - in vain

This was created with cotton and faced with tulle.  My husband collected Rubaiyats his whole life and this was inspired by one of the illustrations.  

Wild Card:  Flowers

'Flower Power #2' by Michelle Pearson
18" x 33"

This is a 2nd flower quilt in a series made for my colorful breakfast room. I used cotton fabric and Steam-a-Seam Lite 2.    This is the first time I quilted the main piece before adding the vase and flowers. Making the flowers was really fun.  

'Moonlit Flowers' by Elisabeth Baratta

These are flowers in a Midnight Garden.  I used all cotton fabric.  The flowers are made out of kaleidoscopes.     

'When Georgia Met Jackson' by Lynn Tubbe
23" x 23"

 O’Keeffe’s carefully crafted flowers do battle with Pollock’s paint throwing Inspiration for quilt/Source of design.  This piece was made for the SAQA Regional call for entry “Art Movements in Fiber”. I used handprinted and commercial cottons, painter’s drop cloth acrylic paints.  I had a very hard time choosing ONE art movement, so I combined two of the most renowned, but wildly different, 20th century modern artists. 

'It's Not Pink, It's Fuchsia' by Tracy Visher
20" x 22"

This is clearly a flower blossom.  On a trip to Tahoe with my nephew, I was fascinated when I happened to pass by this fuchsia plant. I loved how the shadows and folds of the white petals seemed to hold nature’s secrets.  I used Prochem liquid acrylic, Linen, poly satin fabric, rat tail cord, fused commercial cotton fabrics, fused batik fabrics, embroidery pearl cotton thread, iridescent organza, velvet, dupioni silk, Inktense pencils, cotton/poly thread and 80/20 cotton-wool batting.  I always enjoy putting unexpected things you find when you view my quilts up close. The text fabric for the shadows in the white petals gave me that. I also fused irri. organza over linen for texture you could still see. I painted the wet linen background, then sprinkled rock salt over it to give some interesting texture once dry.

'Field of Surprises' by Carole Rossi
33" x 38"

The dominant feature of this quilt is flowers – some crazy and some more realistic!   Hence, it fits the Wild Card Theme.  I used my own hand-dyed fabrics, commercial fabrics, piece of dyed white wool from colleague Linda Waddle; Inktense pencils, Textile Medium, rayon threads (40 weight Mettler Poly-Sheen) and cotton threads (Superior King Tut), Quilter’s Dream Cotton Batting. I challenged myself to create a piece with surreal floral images, inspired by artists such as Salvador Dali who sometimes transformed flowers into surreal creations.  My piece contains realistic & fantastical floral images, placed randomly in vases in a field.  The vases are oddly shaped.  I hoped to create joyful reactions & to make people smile!  I challenged myself to use my Derwent Inktense pencils to paint the sunflowers.  Now I can’t get enough of Inktense pencils. 

'Take Peace' by Pat Gillings
26" x 26"

 The source of the quilt was a picture taken by me at the Crystal Hermitage Gardens in the Ananda Village (Buddhist retreat) The pictures were manipulated in a computer program and assemble in grid. Printed by Spoonflower. The title comes from a plaque in Oregon that says “There is no peace in the future that is not present in the present moment so TAKE PEACE. 

 We had a fabulous June Meeting.  Our own Elizabeth Baratta did a demonstration on inset circles and showed us a fabulous trunk show of her quilts.

 

We had show and tell from several of our members.

We'd like to welcome new member Mariah Bath:

And a hearty welcome to new member Mary Stori:

Marylee Drake showed a quilt that she has been working on for a while:

The next showing of our traveling show this year will be at PIQF in July.

 We had a fun and informational presentation by our members Tracy Visher, Shelli Friedman, Kat Madison and Jan Mitrovich, entitled "Burn, Baby Burn". 

Several of our members will be entering their quilts in the Monterey Artichoke Festival. We wish them luck.  The challenge for the festival is to use fabric they provide in the quilt.

by Michelle Peerson

by Lynda Lasich

by Elizabeth Baratta

by Bonnie Ellering

We create a 'traveling show' every year to display in local quilt shows.  These are photos from the display this past weekend at the Pine Tree Quilt Guild annual show in Grass Valley.  If you missed the display there, you can see it at the Reno Quilt Show in June and at PIQF in July.

Several of our members also entered quilts to be judged.  Robin Hart won a blue ribbon and
Best of Show for an Art Quilt and Jan Reed won a blue ribbon. 

 We had our first reveal of the year and of course, the quilts did not disappoint.

Memory or Childhood Memory

Moroccan Kasbah by Ann Sanderson
36" x 36"

Artist Statement:  I made this piece after traveling to Moracco.  We visited several kasbahs and found the fortresses so interesting.  I used cotton cloth, painted and machine quilted.  I was challenged with using paint (acrylic) on cloth and was also challenged with perspective.

Blustery Breeze by Karle deProsse
18" x 28"

Artist Statement:  My teen years were spent in the countryside in Massachusetts where the maple and other colorful deciduous trees were in abundance.  We would rake the leaves, and the wind would scatter them again.  This made for a fun time jumping in the piles as well.  I love autumn leaves and wind.  This inspired me to try to capture the effect of the wind in motion.  I used cotton fabric, metallic & cotton thread, beads, fusible web and solvy.  My design and construction ideas changed in the process of creating this piece.  Originally the leaves were to be fused on.  After cutting them out and sprinkling them over the surface (with fusible web on the back side), I liked how they lifted up a bit.  I changed my concept to only the center seam holding them against the background.  I had to back each leaf with fabric to 'get rid of' the fusible aspect.  Then I realized that I had planned to quilt the leaves after fusing them to create the branching veins.  So, each tiny piece needed to have veins sewn on them before attaching to the background.  Holding tiny pieces was hard.  I pinned them to tear away stabilizer and washable tear-away stabilizer and found Solvy to tear off the best.  The beads represent the chilly breeze.

Art Deco Scramble by Lynda Lasich
39" x 46"

Artist Statement: The silk used in this quilt came from draperies, ties, shirts, sari and hand dyed.  My niece sent me silk valances that she no longer used.  They formed the background.  Since they had been in my stash for several years, it was time to do something with them.  I used all silk fabric, cotton batting and superior thread.  The challenge for me was to create a quilting design used as sashing between blocks.  After seeing an art deco gate, I had my inspiration.  The silk all had interfacing.  

Reflections on Summers Past by Karin Polli
35" x 24"

Artist Statement: This depicts the location where I spent summer vacations as a child.  It is my grandparent's place in Vineland, NJ.  My inspiration was a 1934 picture taken just after my parents purchased the property.  My father and his cousin are sitting on the front steps.  I painted the sky.  I used cotton fabric and hand embroidered the signs.  The figures are painted with tsukineko inks.  I pieced the sun.  The back is commercial fabric.  It depicts 1950's diners across the USA.  My family traveled across the country from LA of SF to Vineland, NJ by car during summers to visit my grandparents.  We stopped and motels and diners along the way.  

Reflections of Hawaii

Pele's Playground by Tracy Visher
17" x 24"

Artist Statement: This is an a-typical look at one of Hawaii's natural wonders.  I didn't want to do a saccharine beach/palm tree scene, and I didn't want to focus on the Lahaina devastation.  Instead, I decided on one of the volcano calderas, mid-eruption.  I sued commercial cottons, batiks, cheese cloth, Angelina fibers and sheet, hand-dyed cheesecloth, cotton and synthetic cording, acrylic paint, painted and stitched silk.  This piece was a BIG engineering challenge.  How to raise the sides of the caldera, how to show the cooling lava's "flow", how to show the texture and fire of the throat.  I used cotton cording to build up the caldera wall.  I used smaller cording first, attaching it to the orange "base layer" fabric, then stitching through the top batik layer, so they ad relief.  I remade the caldera hot lava several times, until it had enough texture and head to read as hot and bubbling.

Flowers

'Morning, Glory by Tracy Visher
12" x 12"

Artist Statement:  I ran across a small piece of wrapping paper I had saved years ago, that depicted some watercolor stylized morning glories.  I used commercial cottons, batiks, tulle, velvet, inktense ink blocks, silk, monofilament thread, fancy fiber, embroidery thread.  I wanted the piece to be 'semi representational'.  I really enjoyed working in such a small space, a new experience!  I also enjoyed creating texture with all of the different fabrics and their finishes and patterns.

Marvelous Marbles

Sometimes I Feel Like I'm Losing My Marbles by Marylee Drake
25" x 29"

Artist Statement:  I used marble fabric that I made last summer for the hair, and the marbles.  Several years ago I took a class from Melissa Averinos and I learned to make faces.  I wanted to make a face using my marble fabric.  It was fun playing with the various design opportunities.  I used hand dyed background batiks, commercial prints and hand marbled fabric.  I did some thread embellishment.  My head sometimes feels like its bursting open with ideas - these are the marbles streaming out of my head and into the bowl.

If Van Gogh Played with Marbles by Lynn Tubbe
6" x 20"

Artist Statement:  A group of us had fun creating marbled fabric.  This was a fun way to use some of it.  I wanted to make a small wall hanging to fit on the side of my kitchen cabinet.  Irises are conveniently tall and thin flowers.  And Van Gogh is forever linked with irises.  In addition to the obvious raw edge fused construction, and cotton fabrics and thread, I used Terial Magic to stiffen and fold the marbled fabrics.  

OOPS! by Shelli Fried
12" x 22"

Artist Statement:  The marbles spilling out of the bag are made from marbled fabric.  I have wanted to use the marbled fabric I created at a Sierra Sisters gathering in 2023 and this was the perfect opportunity.  I used hand-dyed marbled fabric, commercial fabric, super stiff interfacing, acrylic paint, reused produce bag, e6000 glue, batting and superior thread.  I was very pleased that everything for this project came from my stash.  I wanted the marbles to stand out on top of the background and discovered that I had some really stiff interfacing that I had used in a previous piece.  The biggest challenge was hand cutting the marbles and then hand cutting the interfacing to be just slightly smaller.  I painted the edges of the interfacing circles with blue paint before attaching the marbled fabric so the edges would blend in.