Judy Ahlborn - 25 of 25

For my 25th and final post, I have one more piece that I did for Heather's 12 month design class.  For this assignment we were working with photo abstraction.  We had to take a photo and trace only the main lines, omitting the details.  We then added color to the original abstracted drawing.  We could use the same or similar colors as the original photo, or any colors of our choice.  I created my abstraction in Photoshop Elements, printed the entire image to fabric, and free motion stitched the entire piece.

Judy Ahlborn - 24 of 25

This is a piece I did for Heather's 12 month design class.  Our assignment was to make a piece inspired by an artist we wanted to study.  I chose Alphonse Mucha, a Czech Art Nuveau artist who produced many paintings, illustrations, and advertisements.  He often did women with long flowing hair and gowns surrounded by decorative lines and flowers.  I designed this piece of my daughter in Photoshop Elements giving her the hair from one of his paintings.  The design inside the circle came from a kaleidoscope I designed, and the flowers and lines around the circle came from a Dover art book.  The entire piece was printed to one 8.5" x 11" fabric sheet and stitched.  This piece was selected to be in the SAQA Small Visions Big Voice exhibit at Tactile Arts Center in Denver.

Judy Ahlborn - 23 of 25

Continuing on with the Paris theme, I made one more piece from my sister's fabric scraps.  This one and the last one could be hung together as a set.

Judy Ahlborn - 22 of 25

I had enough scraps of the Paris fabric my sister gave me that I decided to create another set of pictures.  This time I used different flowers and a different arrangement for the applique.

Judy Ahlborn - 21 of 25

Here is the second of these Paris pieces that I made from my sister's quilt fabric scraps.  I gave both of these pieces to her for her birthday.  I guess I gave her some of her scraps back.

Judy Ahlborn - 20 of 25

My sister went to Paris last year and bought some fabric to use in a quilt.  She gave me some scraps she had left over from the fabric which I used for the background of this piece.  The Eiffel Tower is part of the background fabric.  I stitched over that with black thread and did a swirl stitch around it.  I added the swirly strips and appliqued the flowers that I cut from another fabric.  The large 'S' swirl on the left was cut out of a textured wallpaper border that I painted.

Judy Ahlborn - 19 of 25

I liked my last piece so well, and it reminded me of the colors of springtime, I decided to make another one representing autumn.  I changed the image in Photoshop Elements by giving her new hair and a different dress.  I had a piece of commercial fabric with the sunflowers that I cut out and used to applique on top.  The background fabric I also already had.  It looks like it was marbled, and it was just the right colors for this piece.

Judy Ahlborn - 18 of 25

Switching gears a little, I created this piece as one of our assignments for Heather's 12 month design class.  The assignment was to create a piece using 3 of our monthly 'reorders'.  The reorders used in the piece are the marbled background fabric, the picture of the girl printed to fabric, and the flowers cut out of a commercial drapery fabric.

Ulla Westermann - Week 20 - Feeling blue



 

This quilt consists of three layers: a pieced background, a layer of lace, and yarn stitched on top. The piece is 14" x 10".

Judy Ahlborn - 17 of 25

This is the 10th of my floral series.  It is the last one I have completed for now.  I'll be switching gears next, but I am not done with these florals and will be doing more later.

Judy Ahlborn - 16 of 25

My ninth piece in this floral series.

Debbie Helser # 20

This encaustic has a hardboard base that I collaged papers on then added many layers of colored wax medium, more paper, a bit of burlap fabric, thread waste and fabric cut outs. I moved the colored wax around with the heat gun to help reveal some of the base layer of papers. It doesn't show up very well in the picture. I didn't plan the composition of this at all; it just evolved and I'm not thrilled with the focal point smack in the middle.

Debbie Helser # 19

I started with a birch board base and used layers of wax medium, collaged papers, cookie cutters and other carving tools, oil paint and pan pastels. I really like the depth the layers of wax allows.

Debbie Helser # 18

This is a little 3 1/2 X 5 inch ditty done on a wood base with the initial colored wax laid down with an iron. After a couple of layers of medium, I carved into the wax then put down some oil paint to darken the carved areas. It was distressed with various tools and more oil paint applied.

Debbie Helser # 17

This is an encuastic with a base of a small quilt that had been free motion quilted in a class. I "dry-brushed" color onto it after putting a thin layer of wax medium down. Seems that there is potential for this technique using a quilted base. 

Ulla Westermann - Week 19

The background for this piece is crazy quilted. On top of that is a knitted lace pattern. I like the interaction between the colors in the crazy quilt and the lace pattern but felt the piece needed something else. So I added what my daughter called the dinosaur head. This piece is 14" x 10".

Judy Ahlborn - 15 of 25

Another piece from my floral series.

Ulla Westermann - Week 18 - Spirals

I used one of my dyed fabrics as a background. I added different colored yarns to create the spirals and then quilted the empty space with a spiral pattern. This piece is 14" x 10".

Debbie Helser # 16

Another encaustic. The base was a pastel painting. Layers of wax, some of it laid over a stencil. A rusty found object was wired on with a tiny prayer flag with hand embroidery.

Judy Ahlborn - 14 of 25

Here is the seventh in my series of flowers.  This is one of my more favorite arrangements.

Debbie Helser # 15

This encaustic has a pastel painting as a base. It is a painting I did one day when I was extremely angry with the work situation I'd just left. It wasn't a great pastel painting but it WAS angry-looking. It has many layers of wax with the wax applied over things for texture and a drawing copied only silk organza. There are some words copied onto tissue paper along the right side that don't show in this photo. I've had alot of fun this weekend, learning more about encaustic.

Debbie Helser # 14

This is another encaustic that started with a watercolor painting of the flower. I added some textured paper and then many layers of wax paint. I tried throwing some sea salt on this before the paper went down and the paper wouldn't stick. It's possible the wax won't stick to the salt but it did before. The last thing I did was rub burnt umber oil paint over most of the surface. I was trying to see how a brightly colored watercolor would look compared to the one last week that was toned.  It was too bright for me, hence the burnt umber.

Debbie Helser # 13

Another encaustic with many layers of wax that I heated to move the wax around and something of a partial face appeared. I went back with a heated pen and wax to accent the face. At some point I threw some coarse sea salt on it for texture and added a bit of silk dipped in wax. Then I put some amber shellac on it and lit that on fire.

Eight of 12 - Eileen King

I've had some silk fusion items sitting on a shelf and learned a new way to present them in a mosaic fusion class.  For a first piece, I'm pleased with the outcome and now I have ideas for future quilts.  Eileen King

Debbie Helser # 12

Another encaustic. I waxed a piece of fabric that had been printed by deconstructed silk screening. I added a bit of white cheesecloth then some orange and blue wax paint. I painted a piece cut out from a crocheted doily with an all purpose ink, waxed that down then glued a washer coated with copper and VerDay patina on top. I like the look of the deconstructed silk screen print as a base but this is just not quite working for me and I'm not sure why.

Debbie Helser #11

A little encaustic, 6 X 6. I layered wax paint onto a board then blasted it with a heat gun to move the wax around. I then carved out some areas with various tools. There is an embellishment made out of Model Magic that had been stamped. I wanted to see if it would hold up to the heated wax. It did! This was fun and the results are serendipitous.

Judy Ahlborn - 13 of 25

Continuing on with my series.  The background of this one is actually the back of the fabric.  The front has a lot of gold glitter.  I liked the back better.  I think it looks like a watercolor painting.

Debbie Helser #10

I'm back! I've lost track of weeks but know this is # 10 for me; I will try to catch up. I got my feet wet in encaustic at the Taos retreat last month. I am now set up to play and this is the first piece I completed at home. I started with an old water color painting I did years ago then added wax, lace, a bit of cheesecloth, some text from an old letter. I tried spraying a walnut ink over a lace doily and found out that walnut paint and wax do not mix. Lesson learned and, because of the medium, it can become a feature rather than a flaw.

Ulla Westermann - Week 17 - After the fire

On a hike last weekend I walked through an area that had burned last year. I liked the contrast of the burnt black trees and the green new growth. For the background I used a fabric I had dyed in Heather's class. On top of that is black netting. The trees are created by stitching down dark gray yarn. The piece is 14" x 10".

Nancy Swanton #6 of 12

Oh my Goth!

Nancy Swanton #5 of 12 Great Balls of Fire

Judy Ahlborn - 12 of 25

The next in my floral series.  Even though the arrangement of this one is very similar to the last one, I am amazed at how much different it looks with this background.

#12 Jo Noble Abstract 3

The final in a triptych. I like their look together. I will do more in the future using a larger canvas and also different colors. Jo Noble

#11 Jo Noble Abstract 2

More playing with burning, tearing, stamping, painted, fraying, etc. I am really liking doing these. Very free. Jo Noble

#8 Jo Noble Embellishment

The black background is VERY distressed using the Mexican pleating method. then I used some silk leaves that I had and I painted them with metals colors. The piece measures 8"x10". Jo Noble

Judy Ahlborn - 11 of 25

The next one in my floral series.  I'm calling the series 'Floral Splendor'.  This is the fourth piece.

Judy Ahlborn - 10 of 25

This is the third piece in my floral series.  I used the same techniques and same original fabric.  I think the yellow background gives it a whole different look.

I call this "Spider Flower"
I am trying to incorporate leftovers hanging around my studio. Hopefully they will get a new life when I add something to them and make them stand lone quilts. I took the background block and appliqued the tendrils, covered it with a piece of tulle, added decorative stitching, and lastly a big button in the center.

Ulla Westermann - Week 14 + 15 + 16

Journey through the color circle

Week 14: The grass is always greener ...

Week 15: ...lost...

Week 16: ...and found!

Blue is home base. The greener grass on the other side looks more promising and so the journey begins. In the beginning, close to blue, the shapes are circles, but as we get further away, the shapes get crazier. When we get closer to blue again, the shapes calm down again. Some of the shapes are fused and stitched on, some of them are created by cutting away the top layer and showing the fabric underneath, and some are crocheted. All three pieces are 14" x 10".

Judy Ahlborn - 9 of 25

This is the second in my floral series I am working on using the same fabric source for the flowers.  The background on this one is the same as the first one so they could be hung as a set.  The next pieces will all have different backgrounds and different flower arrangements.

Nancy Swanton #4 of 12

#3 of 12

Eureka Patterns--Week 12 Laura Shea

Here are eight of the different individual dodecahedra that make up the twelve on the Eureka (combination) form. Next I plan to finish the last four individual beads. Then on to a series of twelve Eureka's with only one pattern of dodecahedra each in its own color scheme.
Laura Shea

Eureka Patterns--Week 11 Laura Shea

All twelve of the dodecahedra are finished. I found I had reversed colors on one of the patterns so essentially there are only 11 separate color patterns. Not willing at this point to go back in to fix the problem. Not sure if I can dredge up another two-color pattern.
Laura Shea

Judy Ahlborn - 8 of 25

The next series of pictures that I will be posting will be florals like the one above.  The flowers that I used for my previous posts with the diamond backgrounds came from a beautiful piece of fabric of which I must have bought two yards.  These flowers came from the same piece of fabric.  The flower arrangements and background fabrics will be different for each piece in the series.

#9 by Jo Noble

Slashing, burning, fringing, jagged free motion, stamping. It's all here in this 8 x 10 piece. I wanted to explore shape, color and texture along with paint and this is what happened. Am I in love with it? Well, it's kinda growing on me. It's hard to just glance at without getting rather lost in it. I will be doing more of these just to get patterning out of the way and let impulse take over. This was good for me.

#10 Slashing by Jo Noble

I have been fascinated with slashing for a long time. I found Fay Maxwell's video on Talking Threads and dove in! This piece is 8 x 10 and has beading along with the slashing on the right side. I will do two more in the same color scheme using more precision. FYI slashing was very popular on Henry VIII clothing. I had no idea!

Jo Noble

Seven of 12 -Eileen King

This is the first in a series of three small quilts.  I have a beautiful fabric with lovely flowers that has been sitting on my shelf for a long time.  I wanted to honor the beauty of this fabric by using them in this series.  I cut out the flowers, fused them to the background, and embellished each flower with thread painting and a few French knots to help it pop.  I outlined each flower in black thread with a small satin stitch and then stippled the background with a variegated thread.

I was inspired to do small pieces like these from the work that Judy Ahlborn has done with her birds, butterflies, cats, and other subjects.  Thank you, Judy!  - Eileen King