100 Days Project 2018 - Reworked Cloth

Back in May I wrote about my upcoming 100 Days Project.  Well, it's started, and today is day 20.  My project is all about experimenting with adding layers of surface design over the top of my already hand-dyed fabric.  You can read more about how I came up with that project back on the original blog post.

I asked for suggestions for names and hashtags and Linda suggested #100daysoflayers.  I was going to use that (thanks Linda!) but it's already been used on Instagram for a few other things - beautiful things actually, you should go and search that hashtag when you've got a minute.  In the end I spent some quality time with my thesaurus and came up with #100daysofreworkedcloth.  Still a bit clunky, but at least it's all mine - so far.

Day One Fabric, before and after.

Twenty days means I'm one fifth of the way through, but I feel like I'm just getting started.  I've generated 20 new fabrics, but I've also generated many more ideas and questions and leads to follow.

For example, should I try every technique in high flow acrylic inks AND dye to compare the results?  Should I do one technique in multiple colour ways?  There's so many techniques available to me, should I simplify by just sticking to dye and not paint?  What if I used a foam roller rather than a hard brayer to spread the dye paste onto that leaf?

I'm not sure of any of the answers to those questions.  So I'm just continuing, with not much planning at this point, but having a lot of fun.

One thing I'm glad I did, is set up a good note taking process before I began.  I take a photograph of the fabric before I begin and snip a swatch to put in my book.  I make and create, and then once the fabric is finished, I photograph it again and snip another swatch.  In my journal I make extensive notes about what I did, the colours I used etc.

The process falls down sometimes when I forget to take a photo before I start, but I'm getting better at  working ahead a bit and photographing things in batches when the light is good.  At the end of the project I'll have a book full of 100 surface design samples, so I'll have something very concrete and usuable for years to come.

Day 10 Fabric, before and after.

Because I'm only doing one or two pieces a day I can spend some time considering my results more than I would if I had spent a whole day dyeing fifty pieces of fabric.  It's this musing that is leading to all the questions I talked about earlier.  Sometimes the project feels like it could grow exponentially (and out of control!)

I'll check back in when I have a few more favourite fabrics to share, but for now here's day 14 before and after, which I think is my most dramatic change, and day 4, which I think is my weirdest...

Quilty friends and a quick survey

There's this thing that most quilters do.  We get together in groups and we sit and stitch and talk and drink cups of tea and help each other out with patterns and discuss layouts and talk about our families and so on and so on.  You know what we are really doing?  We are building community and providing support.

Some of my favourite quilty friends!

I'm pretty passionate about this side of quilting and I've been thinking about it a lot lately.  I've been invited to speak at the Aotearoa Quilters gathering in Palmerston North on 4th and 5th of August (mark your calendars!) and, whilst no final topic has been chosen, this is one of the ideas I've been mulling over.

So to help me form my ideas and give me some concrete statistics, I put together a little survey.  It would really help me out if you could take a minute to complete these 10 questions for me.  And it really will only take a maximum of two minutes!  I'd prefer to get most of my results from NZ quilters, seeing as this will be most relevant to me, but thank you to those few overseas quilters who I know have already answered!

Create your own user feedback survey

Thanks so much for your time, now go and stitch something and call up that quilty friend of yours and invite them round to stitch too!

SURVEY IS NOW CLOSED - THANKS!

Natural Wonders of the World Quilt Challenge

In April last year, Aotearoa Quilters were invited to take part in an international quilt challenge organised by a group in Japan and including quilters from France.  The idea was to have an overarching theme and 30 sub themes.  There would be 30 quilters from each country participating, each making a 50cm x 50cm quilt interpreting the sub theme they had been given.  The challenge theme was 'Wonders of the World' and the sub themes were places like Aoraki Mount Cook, Great Barrier Reef and the Northern Lights.  In the end there would be 90 quilts, with one from each country for each sub theme.

I was able to take part, and although my first pick (Moeraki Boulders) had already been snapped up, I got to choose Fjords.  Although this was meant to be Norwegian fjords, I felt a resonance with that theme because of the fiords (spelt without a j) we have in NZ.

The quilts travelled to Japan first and have toured several different venues there.  Now they are in New Zealand before they head to France, and I hear they will be in the UK as well.  I got a chance to see them in Wellington and was super impressed by the impact they made all together and now I hear they'll be coming to Whangarei - just down the road!

I thought I'd show you some of the process that I went through to get from theme to quilt.

Before I began I did a lot of research, looking at different types of fiords, u shaped valleys, images from fiordland and learning about how fiords are made (glacial activity).

I started by making some thumbnail sketches, you can see them to the left in the photo above.  The most important concepts that I wanted to convey were the impressiveness of the landforms and the sense of awe I had when I visited fiordland and Milford Sound a few years ago.  So I knew the fantastic shapes of the land had to be the focus and I wanted a quiet quality to the quilt too, which I thought I might be able to get through the colours.

Once I had the sketch I wanted, I drew an accurate sized pattern and then I auditioned fabrics from my hand-dyed stash.

When I had the colours I wanted, I pinned them up in an approximation of the final layout on my design wall so I could stand back and get a proper look.  I cut out a freezer paper copy of the pattern and used the pieces as templates.  The hills have a turned under edge, but the little shining edges are raw edge.

I auditioned quite a few fabrics for the sky.  I wanted a sense of light to be coming from behind the hills, so it took me a while to find the right sky and to get a feeling of light and shadow on the water.  I achieved the shadows and the water with layers of silk organza.

Bird life is important to me and a constant feature of my quilts, but I also wanted a bird in this quilt because fiords are a rich habitat, both here and in Norway, with many diverse species making them their home.  I chose a heron in the end, because it's a bird that can be found in both countries.

I also quilted in a couple of 'ghost' herons when I was doing the quilting.  I was thinking about indicating the loss of habitat and decline of species that we face all around the world.  I also like to put something subtle into my quilts that the viewer has to be paying attention to find!

Fiord by Charlotte Scott

So if you are anywhere near Reyburn House in Whangarei between 19 June and the 1st July, I urge you to go and see the show.  It's fascinating to see the different styles of quilting from the different countries and to see the three different interpretations of each theme.  I'm including a photo of the fjord quilt from Japan so you can see what I mean.

Fjord by Kazuko Funabasama

Jenny Bacon Quilt Judge on The NZ Quilt Show

I was lucky enough to attend the recent Aotearoa Quilters education seminar in Wellington, New Zealand, to attend a three day intensive workshop titled ‘Judging at Quilt Shows’.  The tutor was well-known quilter, teacher and quilt judge, Jenny Bacon, who graciously made time during the weekend for an interview with me.

AQ Seminar attendees with Jenny in the middle in blue.

Jenny Bacon has been making quilts since the 1970’s when she took a class with the Embroidery Guild and learned to make a silk pincushion.  

Jenny makes traditional quilts, describing needle-turn applique and hand quilting as favourite techniques, but she also makes art quilts, where she uses traditional techniques in non-traditional ways.  She has won many awards and accolades for both styles of quilts.  

Jenny is also a certified judge with the Quilters Guild of the British Isles and has travelled widely to judge quilt shows, including in the UK and the US, as well as New Zealand and her homeland Australia. Jenny is also an accomplished exhibition curator, being heavily involved in the biennial Golden Textures quilt exhibition.  Jenny lives in Maryborough on the East Coast of Australia.  

Fyvie and Paula practicing their jurying skills on the Wonders of the World International Challenge quilts.

Thanks Jenny!  I learnt so much during the weekend and during the interview, and had a great time to boot!

Maree and I feeling proud with our certificates!

You can find more of Jenny on her website here, on Facebook here, and on Instagram here.

Download this episode (right click and save)