Fiber Arts for a Cause Postcards

As promised, here are the 4 fiber art postcards that I came home with from the Houston Quilt Festival. Virginia Spiegel has been spending the last 18 months of her life raising money for the American Cancer Society ... a "little project" that she and her sister Nancy started out in honor of their father. Here's Virginia's FFAC website, for more information:

http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/NewFiles/ACSFundraiser.html


And now for the wonderful little 4" x 6" fiber art postcards ... as you can see, they each speak for themselves. My only problem was coming home with only 4!


Sandy B. Uman's "Breast Cancer Stamp":




Giny Dixon's "Untitled":




Jan Rowan Miller's "Mrs. O'Rourke's Mother":





Anne Copeland's "Bear Totem - Strength":




Must ... have ... more ... fiber art ... postcards! (They're addictive.)

Postcards from my Local Friends!

Here are some belated (or are they just really, really early?) birthday cards from my friends in my Beyond the Borders art quilt group here in Houston. This is so much fun ... receiving ART for your birthday! What could be better?

Liz (aka "Destructo the Magnificent") sent me this cool postcard called "Rust, Mold, & Spores, Oh My!", and it is overlaid with a very irridescent sheer fabric that is hard to see in the photo. It's yummy!

Sara actually gave me this Fabulous Fish while at our last Retreat, and I got to see her making it. Looooove the offset fish and the threadwork, also the hand-dyed fabric.

Nancy started this postcard at the Retreat too, but wouldn't let me have it until it was finished, and I received it at our BTB meeting today. Ohmigosh, "Caribbean Beauty" is truly named! Exquisite applique, threadwork, and painting. (Nancy, you disappeared before I could thank you properly!)

Now, I need to get busy and finish some postcards that are overdue for my friends ... tough to live up to these gals, but it's good to be "pushed". ;^)

Fiber Art Postcards from Remote Friends

In the process of "remote shopping" for those who couldn't attend Houston's International Quilt Festival last week, I received some beautiful fiber art postcards from some "remote" friends ...


"Moonlight Mist" by Beverly Hart has curved piecing and applique, with a judicious use of Angelina fibers and metallic threads ... just breathtaking in person ... I'm afraid you can't appreciate its shimmering beauty in the photo:






"Columbia River Gorge, Oregon" by Peggy Schroder is an intricately threadpainted landscape that almost takes me there. Even the clouds have dimension because of Peggy's delicate quilting stitches:




Beverly and Peggy, I can't thank you enough. These are wonderful gifts from the heart that I will treasure and add to my tiny-but-growing fiber art collection. Some day we will meet in person ... it "must" be!

Study for Unbridled Passion by Denise Havlan

Here's the other gorgeous piece of fiber art that grabbed me by the throat and demanded that I bid on it at the Silent Auction at Houston's Quilt Festival last week. It's a 9x13 study for the larger quilt that Denise Havlan had entered in one of the main Exhibits . The larger quilt is spectacular, but this smaller one is every bit as colorful and exciting. Here is Denise's website www.denisehavlan.com to see some of her other work.

Tribal Head by Scott Murkin

Ohmigosh, I was so excited to have WON this fantastic piece of fiber art by Scott Murkin ( www.scottmurkin.com ), at the IQA Celebrity Mini-Quilt Silent Auction at the Houston Quilt Festival last week! And couldn't wait to share it with you here. It measures 16" x 16", is subtly embellished with natural beads, and speaks for itself. Be sure to click on the image to get a closer view.

Rusted Cotton Print

Well, I thought I'd rust this yard-and-a-half of a sweet little calico white-on-white print that I've had for about a million years, since it was going to rot on my shelf otherwise, so a couple of weeks ago I took it out on the patio, stuck it in a jellyroll pan (I don't think I ever made jellyrolls in my life) with some rusty tin boxes, and poured some vinegar over it. I kept meaning to pick it up and bring it in to wash it, but the longer it stayed there, the yuckkier it got, and the more I kept putting it off.

Finally I got up my nerve and unwound the nasty thing from the now-nearly-disintegrated tin boxes, whacked it a few times against the trunk of the oak tree (nearly scaring the resident squirrel into apoplexy), gingerly carried it into the house between two fingers, and dumped it in the washing machine along with an old beach towel for ballast. One Hot-Dryer-Load later ...
Success!

Ruby Red Birthday Wishes

A gorgeous postcard arrived in yesterday's mail ... a fabulous pieced, embellished, and quilted fiber-art postcard from my friend Elaine. It's so exciting to receive something so special in the "snail-mail". Thank you Elaine!

Earrings

This is what I do at night while "watching" (actually, listening to) TV. I make earrings with some of my favorite beads. (Beads ... Beads ... BEADS! Cannot get enough of BEADS!)

Peyote Amulet Pouch

This is my first peyote-stitch amulet pouch, approx. 2-1/2" x 3-1/2", with a 26" bead chain. The closure is actually just an exaggerated fringe attached to the back of the pouch, and tossed over the front to keep the bag closed while being worn.

My friends were amused to discover that my "amulet" hidden inside, the first time I wore this piece, was a 40%-off coupon from Hobby Lobby.

Ndebele Lariat

Another Ndebele rope necklace, but this one is made with the tinier triangle beeds, and is 48" long, with sterling silver beadcaps.

Santa Fe Door

I started this piece in an Esterita Austin class a couple of years ago at the Houston International Quilt Festival, and had never finished it. When I was looking for something as a starting point for a "memory keeper" for a party for my parents' 63rd anniversary next week, I remembered it. Once I realized that it just needed to be trimmed down in size and bound, it became the perfect solution. I fitted it with a large pocket on the back to hold the anniversary cards, menu from the dinner, and other memorabilia. It can be either hung or used as a small table topper. It measures 13" x 18".

more fiber art postcards

... and a few more ... soon to be sent off to Virginia's FFAC postcard sale at the Houston Quilt Festival.



"Doppelganger" above left, and "Gothic Redux" above right.



"New Growth" on the left, has a base of hand-painted fabric with copper, leather, and beads. "Liz's Gleanings" on the right, is made with goodies gleaned from my friend Liz's leftovers. (On second thought, I'm keeping that one!)

Fiber Art Postcards for FFAC

Virginia Spiegel ( http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/NewFiles/ACSFundraiser.html ) is sponsoring her last year of Fiber Arts for A Cause at Houston's International Quilt Festival in November, and I've been making postcards to be "sold" (actually, to be given for each $30 tax deductible donation made to the American Cancer Society) during Festival. Here are some of them:




The first one is called "Curiosity", and is hand-painted fabric with painted dryer-sheet overlay.
The second one is "Coffee by the Sea", with a coffee filter and painted/distressed Tyvek, both hand-stitched to the quilt sandwich.



Above are "Don't Even Think About It" and "Copper Bloom", each made with the same piece of hand-painted fabric as a background.



"Alice" is a photo transferred to fabric and mounted on velvet upholstery samples.

A Show of Hands

This little project was made to be a part of Karey Bresenhan's special exhibit at this year's Houston International Quilt Festival ... a three-dimensional hanging installation of "creative HANDS". She's planning for folks to walk through this magical "forest" of one-of-a-kind HANDmade art HANDS hanging from the ceiling--literally HANDS all around--to see the quilts. It sounds wonderful to me and I think visitors to the show will love experiencing it first-HAND! (Karey's puns, not mine, LOL!)

I made this quirky little hand from two things ... a piece of tanned deerhide from a deer that my grandmother had shot many years ago, and a piece of my own scanned and printed pineapple fabric. I wrote a little story about Mamaw on the deerskin side ... mainly about how she had strong hands and a strong heart and mind until the day she died. I still miss her.

Birthday Bracelets

Ohmigosh, the most wonderful birthday bracelets! Ann made this beautiful blue-green-purple "wooly worm" bracelet that goes with just about everything I own, and Patricia made the gorgeous brick-stitched bracelet with cube beads and a raku-bead closure. How lucky am I! Thank you, thank you, Annie and Tricia!

Mokume Gane

Patricia taught us a mokume gane technique (pronounced "mo-koo-may gah-nay") in polymer clay last week, and these copper-and-gold beads were my results. I finally combined them with some porcelain and silver beads, and strung them as a necklace, plus made a couple of pair of earrings. I love this technique, and can't wait to find the time to try it again.

Posies

Birthday Posies from my friend Mary Ann ... what a lovely fiber art card to receive in the mail! Silk flower petals, elegant fabrics, and imaginative stitching ... the Essence of Mary Ann! Here's a picture, but it's so much nicer to be able to pet it.

Monet Bracelet

Sweet Annie, one of the Art Girls, taught me the Square Stitch last week, and even gave me all the beads I needed from her own stash to help me make this Monet Bracelet. This was many, many hours in the making, but well worth the effort, I think. Thank you Annie!

Then I just had to make some little earrings to go with it ... a bit frustrating to work in such a small scale, as they have the same square-stitch base. But well worth it, I think.

(Click on the image to see an enlargement, then click again on the lower right-hand "arrow box" to enlarge it even further.)

Butterflies are free ...

Butterflies are free ... if you have a birthday, and have a talented friend like Susan! This gorgeous little gem of a fiber art postcard arrived in my mail today, but I only found it in the stack this evening. Thank you Susan!

A Birthday Postcard

I had a lovely surprise in the mail today ... a fiber art postcard from Hannah! Here's a picture of both the front and back ... for anyone not familiar with fiber art postcards, they are basically miniature art quilts. This one actually went through the postal system, stamp and all. Thank you so much, Hannah!