Grandmother's Flower Garden

I prize lots of things but nothing really seemed to punch my get-up-and-make-a-journal-quilt-about-it! That is until I started putting the binding on a bright batik quilt, one so full of color, that I named it "Grandmother's Flower Garden."  This quilt began bringing back so many highly prized memories I have of my grandmother's flower garden.....and that's when I had it.....my ah ha moment....an idea for my highly prized journal quilt. 

Her garden was always a simple one with zinnias and marigolds and canna lilies - oh, just all those old time flowers that re-seed year after year and flourish in the heat of the South. 

So, I found one of my thread sketched fabric cards, printed it on fabric and surrounded this pretty lady in her smart hat with imaginary flowers.  There you have it, my highly prized journal quilt. 

It's a wee one at 7 1/2" x 9".

                                                    Marty



Highly Prized - Grandmother's Flower Garden - a journal quilt



Trees - A Breath of Fresh Air!

I'm in love with Margeeth's winter tree in snow art quilt with wonky edges and it seems she and I have a lot in common - we have no fear of trying out different techniques even if the end result is a tad wonky. I think wonky is a synonym for charm...don't you? So, having said that I decided to piggy-back on her tree with a couple of mine.

This one is simply called "winter tree" - completed in October when the leaves began falling here in Louisiana.  It's available in my Marty In Motion store.

And by November, I was needing a little more sunshine filtering through to lighten the mood!  A winter tree in sunshine emerged from the sewing machine!

A breath of fresh air - thread-painted trees and free-motion quilting.  The copper penny tree and the orange tree are also available  - both are thread-painted fabric art cards.

 Thanks, Margeeth for inspiring me to continue in my quest for a forest full of trees!

Art Quilts for Sale

You will find a link to "Art Quilts for Sale" located on the upper right hand side of this blog. If you have one or more contemporary art quilts that you wish to sell, please write a post about the quilt or quilts on this blog. Be sure to include information that will allow prospective buyers to contact you (or the representative selling your quilt) directly to make the purchase.  Once the quilt has been sold please update the post noting that the quilt has been sold.   

You may write one post about each quilt or include as  many quilts in the post as you like. In addition to Art Quilts you may also promote original Art Quilt Post Cards on this blog however post cards will not be included in the "Art Quilts for Sale" link.

Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or suggestions. Wishing you much success and many creative days ahead!

Chris

Art quilts and musings!

Hello.....I'm Marty of Marty's Fiber Musings. I'm in love with art. But I think art is a mindset...it can be anything we view - whether it's a quilt, stitched cloth, paint on fabric or stretched canvas, sketches on paper or fabric: well, you get the (art) picture! You see, I often quilt, draw, take pictures and muse. That's why I started my blog where I can post about anything I create.

I enjoy being invited to share my work and today it's all about art quilts.....
Please click to enlarge each picture to get the full impact!

"Callie" is free-motion thread-sketched on fabric. I take pictures of my originals and reprint the images on fabric. I like doing it this way to preserve the original. I can then make any number of art quilts by reproducing images and setting them with different border fabrics. You can see more of my thread-sketching on my website.

Here is another way I like to have fun. I surround interesting tidbits of fabric with white, then come back with a patch of color in the binding. They are usually small pieces of art that can be hung in a group or used individually as table toppers. Either way, I find they are great conversation pieces!

A most delicious way to use thread extraordinaire is to take a floral print and enhance it. I used a gold metallic thread to outline the sunflowers and fill the centers with heavy stitching. It worked wonders on this sunflower scrap that was left from another quilt. Add a fun binding and voila, you have an art quilt!

Oh and the holidays! I can keep the Christmas spirit all year long while working on raw-edge applique trees. This little red and black and white one is named "surround sound."







And my favorite background for an art quilt is to collage fabric scraps, then embellish the collage with pretty thread and yarn.


My latest mantra goes something like this - "When life gives you scraps, just sew them together."

art2wear

Hi, my name is Marijke van Welzen, I live in the Netherlands.
I love working with Textiles, I usually make unique garments, using all sorts of fabrics, my sewing machine and Embellisher.I also do some quilting and felting

Here's an example: this is my contribution to the Hoffman Challenge 2010,
a coat which is currently travelling in trunk c throughout the United States.


You can see other work on my website www.art2wear.info
or http://art2wear.kunstzinnig.nl
My next big venture will be on November 7 in Amsterdam, I'm a participant  the "Nationale Kunstdag", I'm the only Textile artist of 80 participants, and quite proud of it. see; www.kunstdagen.nl

Another Judy Joins the Group

Hi! I live in upstate New York and began this phase in my quilting life about seven years ago. (I handquilted a piece for our queen size bed about twenty-five years ago and swore never again!) I have been involved in fiber arts in one way or another most of my life. This is definitely the first time I have accepted the title of artist. You can find more about me and a gallery of my work on my website. I also have a blog, Explorations in Quilting and Life, that I am really enjoying maintaining.

I am a member of SAQA and the Genesee Valley Quilt Club. It was through the Visioning Project of SAQA that I really began to develop as a fabric artist. My greatest accomplishment to date was having one of my quilts accepted into the No Place to Call Home exhibit of SAQA.

Homeless

Art quilts are really my latest means of expressing myself in this world. I have done many things in my lifetime and volunteered in many capacities in various organizations. I find it fascinating that, diverse as these activities are, in many ways, they all tie together. These days I find I am finding more and more time in my days to create quilts and I am totally enjoying being part of the greater world quilting community.

I am really looking forward to participating in this blog in the coming months. Thanks for inviting me!

Hi from Carol B in NH

I am a textile/fiber artist living and creating fabric art in southern New Hampshire. I have recently taken up my needle again after a 13 year hiatus during which I made and taught others to make metal clay jewelry.
Camera in hand, I began to explore my world and then reproduce those photos into fabric art.
With the new direction came fabric dyeing and I am now thoroughly immersed (pun intended) in this world of fiber, color and texture.
I am a member of two art groups, Dunstable Artisans in Massachusetts and the League of NH Craftsmen in New Hampshire, both inspirational and exciting to belong to.

Photo of Yellow Asiatic Lily

My interpretation of the lily in fabric. I  post this as an example of my work. More can be seen and my progress can be followed at my blog.

Welcome to The Art Quilt Blog

This blog was created as a resource for Contemporary Art Quilters. My hope is to bring many together to share ideas, help each other grow, explore and create.  This is a forum open to any Art Quilter that would like to join. Members may show past works, works in progress, link to art quilts for sale, personal websites and blogs.  


I have maintained Internet stores on Etsy for almost three years. I am always getting asked advice about starting a shop and how I promote my wares. Etsy is an easy to use resource but you are responsible for self promotion. I created this blog to give Contemporary Art Quilters a larger voice on the Internet.


I would love to hear feedback and ideas for this site.  Please leave comments here or contact me via e-mail on blog profile page.



I look forward to hearing from you! Chris