Two New Poppy Garden Quilts

I have completed two more art quilts, in preparation for "Art Walk" in Grand Haven, MI.
(Event website here)

These are the two pieces I will be entering in this year's Art Walk:

1. "A Garden for Three Girls" - Three main groupings of flowers: Iris (You'll recognize these as VanGogh's Iris!), tall pink swaying poppies, and tall multicolored flowers created with very textured, satiny hand-dyed fabric. The sky features my newest design, which features free motion quilting of large, flowing swirls. I created this free motion design by drawing on tracing paper, then on clear "Saran Wrap" which turned out to be too difficult to stitch over, given the thickness of the piece. I tried Solvy as well (Water Soluble Stabilizer) but my free motion foot kept dragging on the surface and catching it because the quilt was so thick at this point. I have since purchased several different chalks, disappearing ink, and transfer pens to try out some new design transfer methods : ) I learn a lot with every piece I create! For this piece, I ended up "winging it" - after drawing the design so many times, I was fairly comfortable with quilting it, but I did use some straight pins to mark the tops and bottoms of the swirls before quilting them. I was VERY happy with how the sky turned out overall - it was my first time to include this type of quilting, as well as this type of multicolored sky (colors other than blue and aqua).  I now love the "colorful" sky so much that I want to experiment with even more vibrant sunset colors! (Coming soon!)

"A Garden for Three Girls"
Designed, Created, & Quilted by Heather Davis
September, 2014

2. "Pink Lady" - Named for the single tall pink flower in the background : ) This one features many vivid red poppies, hand-painted with dye, and a "happy, sunny sky!" This quilt was actually completed first, and is the first one to be bound with a twisted fibers for the edging. My mom had a pretty amazing idea to use her Serger to finish off the edges and cut away the excess at the borders all in one step. She mixed and matched the spools of thread to match the colors in the quilt, which gives it a really professional finish. After that, we hand-twisted fibers and couched them down by machine with a zig-zag stitch. I love the textured border that is achieved by using mixed fibers, especially with the inclusion of metallic, hand-dyed or space-dyed, and eyelash style fibers. It appears to have a very "artsy" frame - and is quick, fun, and easy to do! It is definitely a nice switch from traditional style bindings, although I can always remove the fiber and apply binding strips instead for that style as well.

"Pink Lady"
Designed, Created, & Quilted by Heather Davis
(with help from my mom & grandmother!) : )
August, 2014

I am happy to create similar pieces in alternate sizes and colors. I love creating customized art and getting to tailor it to its new owner. Options can include different Poppy colors (red, pink, yellow, blue, purple, black, etc.), inclusion of various specific flowers that might be significant to you (such as flowers from a bridal bouquet, from your own garden, or to represent your birth month, etc.), different types/colors of birds/butterflies, and different moods/colors of sky. Please send me a message to discuss options and pricing.

You may view any of my other pieces for ideas, or Click Here to visit a gallery of ONLY similar style art quilts I have completed in the past - I set up a smaller "Art Quilt Gallery" on Photobucket for this purpose : )

Feel free to Email Me with your ideas/custom requests : )

Textile Collage "GRIDS" with wire framing - how to?

I haven't posted anything in quite awhile, so I just thought I would share a couple of awesome photographs.

I just LOVE the ribbon-embroidered French knots all over this tree - I have really been inspired by stitching and the texture it creates.

and the wall art textile collages on the right - I love how the little bits and pieces are framed in a grid-like pattern. I really want to try this! I wonder what type of wire this artist used to create the "grid" - and how she got the squares and circles shaped so perfectly! If you have any ideas on how to do this, please let me know. All of a sudden all sorts of UFO's (Unfinished Objects), beads, large vintage mother of pearl buttons, vintage trims, lace pieces, and vintage doilies are calling my name! 

So - if ANYBODY out there has any advice at all on what kind of wire to use for this, I would be so grateful! : )  Email me, or leave a comment below!

Textile Art Collage with Wire Border/Frame

Unknown Artist - I'd LOVE to know who this artist is!! They are obviously extremely talented!!

Ocean Colors Palette - A new Journal / Photo Album Cover

I was asked to create a cover for a photo album, sized 8" x 8" square. Instead of using my regular silk sari ribbon style textile art for the cover, I decided to get creative and try something new. In preparation for this project, I had rummaged through all of my fabrics and built up a huge pile of batiks in the "blue/green/teal" colorway. Because I just couldn't choose, I decided to use about 15 of my favorites!
Here is the resulting design:

This journal cover is embellished with tiny shell beads, swavorski crystals, and beaded elastic bands around the spine - plus, a few of my favorite fibers. If you look at a close-up photo of the far right-hand side of the cover, there is a little metal tag which reads "love" nestled among some of my favorite beads:



Art Quilt: "French Country Cottage Window Box"

This is a new art quilt for my friend Linda in Australia. She requested a quilt to hang in her guest bedroom, which is decorated in stylish black and red with scrollwork linens and "French" accessories. When she mentioned that she'd love it to have a "French" feel, I knew this was a project I'd love to work on! I've always been drawn to the language and imagery of France, for both its natural beauty and the connection it has to my own heritage. Linda helped push me artistically with this piece, encouraging me to try a new style and feel, and to use an image which featured an angled background. I hadn't incorporated any architectural elements into my landscape quilts before this piece, and it was a delightful challenge! It is always a GOOD thing to try new things and expand my repertoire of fiber art skills : )

"French Country Cottage Window"

Imagery selected by: Linda Ellis

Constructed & Quilted by: Heather J. Reid

June, 2011

The finished piece measures 31" tall by 27" wide, and features a "French Country Cottage Window" filled with red flowers and trailing foliage. Fussy-cut leaves, flowers, and birds, all cut individually from commercially printed fabrics, are layered to create the scene. I selected Stonehenge "Cement" for the background wall, as it seemed perfect for the pale gray bricks in the background. I also used other Stonehenge fabrics for window, as the texture of these prints reminded me of distressed, peeling paint. Once the composition was complete, I outline stitched every single piece in place, then embellished with additional thread-sketching and decorative embroidery. I particularly loved stitching the little curly green tendrils of the trailing vines! Fabric dye markers and fabric paints were used to add highlights and shadows. Also, I used additional layers of batting to help create a very three-dimensional effect with the window and shutters, so these are raised on the surface of the quilt.

Last, I tried a new construction element - a double border edging. I read some tutorials and looked at several books to learn how to create this type of edging, and it wasn't nearly as difficult as I would have thought! I guess the words "Mitered Corners" sound more scary than they really are! : ) The effect it gives is definitely worth the trouble - the ivy overlapping the bottom and side inner borders creates a new level of depth in this piece. I'm very pleased with how it turned out!! : )

Foliage overlaps the bottom inner borders of the quilt, creating new dimension:

Fussy-cut leaves and flowers, all cut out by hand and stitched individually onto the surface of the quilt, then embellished with additional overstitching.

Also, you can see the stippling work on the inner border of the quilt, in variegated thread:

Lantern cut from a black batik, then masked and painted with luminous white fabric paint for a "shimmering" glass effect:

Little feathered friends come to visit the cottage! : )

Orange & Yellow "OWL" Composition Book Cover

Last night I completed a little gift for my middle daughter - she LOVES orange and yellow, and she absolutely LOVES anything featuring owls. : ) I know she's going to be thrilled!!

This is a standard composition notebook cover (so it is easily refillable), with five special fabrics - three on the front, the lining, and the pockets which the notebook slips into. I chose some vivid orange and yellow batiks, and decided to feature this sweet multi-colored owl print fabric - it was just too adorable!! : )

It's all tied up with a pretty little satin ribbon with owls printed on it - seemed to be the perfect finishing touch!

A couple of things I did differently from my "usual" quilted notebook covers:
The spine is a fancy fabric trim sewn vertically along the halfway point between the two sides. Makes a nice finished look on the "bound" edge of the notebook when closed. (Just have to have something like this that matches the color of your fabrics!! Mental note...find more wide fabric trims...)

Also - this time instead of wrapping fibers and couching them down, I used some special orange metallic ric-rac, some yellow and gold braided trim, and some very fancy ribbon-embroidered trim along the wavy edges of the fabric seamlines.

I can't wait for my daughter to see this!! : )  I'm making several of these to have personalized gifts on hand, and for listing on etsy - it's really fun to coordinate the fabrics and trims - instant gratification type projects : )

If you'd like a personalized notebook cover featuring YOUR favorite colors, theme, or size of notebook - just contact me at heather3stars@yahoo.com - I'm always happy to help : )

~ Enjoy!! ~

Betsy Tacy Tib - Childrens' Books as Inspiration

Art Quilt inspired by "Betsy-Tacy and Tib"
Children's Book by Maud Hart Lovelace

I'm finding more and more that childrens' books offer the BEST inspiration - don't we all have those few special books which hold a huge amount of sentimental value?  We can remember snuggling up with someone we love, spending hours listening and gazing, being captivated and mesmerized by the possibilities of imagination...having different worlds revealed to us with the simple opening of a book - enveloping us more and more with the turn of each page - teaching us morals, culture, history, and so much more... ("Read to your children or grandchildren!!!")

I have recently discovered "Betsy-Tacy and Tib," after receiving a request via etsy to create a custom art quilt featuring an illustration from one of the books in the series. The woman who requested this piece has a particular fondess for these sweet stories. : )  They were published between 1940 and 1955, and were written by Maud Hart Lovelace. They follow the adventures of Betsy Ray (a character based on the author herself) and her friends and family, and they take place in the very late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many of the incidents in the books actually happened to Lovelace, and the other characters are based on the author's actual friends and family. The illustrations in the book are absolutely charming!!

Here is the illustration which my artwork was based on:

I was particularly inspired by this illustration for a couple of reasons. First, because the image of three little girls reminded me of my own three daughters - and second, because I love to include large trees in my "illustrated" type art quilts - somehow trees often make their way into childrens' stories (The Little Prince's Baobab trees, for example) and sometimes are even the *center* of the story...ie "The Giving Tree."

As additional inspiration, the owner of this piece also provided me with a quote she chose from one of the books when she originally asked me to create this piece:

"It was June, and the world smelled of roses.

The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside."

Here are some photos of how the project turned out - it was delightful to get to work on!! : )

I chose a frame for this piece that looked both "vintage" and "girly" - and which complements the color of the tree. I left the glass off of the frame, so that the detailed texture can be seen more clearly.

Here is one close-up shot - I added some lace to the bodice of one's dress, and did a lot of overstitching - plus added a few more flowers and ground foliage

than shown in the original illustration.

Here is a closeup shot of the foliage at the bottom of the tree -

it is difficult to tell from the above photos,

but each individual fern was cut out and placed with tweezers!! : )

This piece, measuring only 8" x 10", was created using 35+ different fabrics and fibers, either chopped up or fussy cut - plus at least 15 different colors of thread. It was really fun to get to choose the fabrics for their dresses - I shopped at several places to find some "period" style fabrics, with prints in a small enough scale. I found some "reproduction vintage prints" which I really think added to the overall feel of the scene - I think these prints give it a sense of time. 

(Plus, it was just plain fun for me to get to shop around and pick them out ; )

In researching the Betsy-Tacy books for this piece, I found out that there is an active "Betsy-Tacy Society!"  They were so helpful and gracious, and replied immediately to my questions via email from their website:

http://www.betsy-tacysociety.org/

~~~~~~~

 

Here is a link to view another Betsy-Tacy quilt, with really awesome work!

by "The Curious Quilter":

 

http://thecuriousquilter.wordpress.com/2012/11/20/gretchens-other-quilt-the-betsy-tacy-quilt/

~~~~~~~

Here is a link to my etsy store, in case someone

would like for me to create a similar piece,

or a piece inspired by a different children's book:

www.etsy.com/shop/StitchyTreasures

If you're unable to view that link, please feel free to email me at:  heather3stars@yahoo.com

I'm always delighted to create custom items - especially those which will be treasured for sentimental reasons - it's my favorite sort of project to get to work on : )

~ Thank you for looking! ~

California Mountain Garden Art Quilt

This last weekend I completed a project I've been working on for MONTHS!

This is a 32" tall x 60" wide piece called "California Mountain Garden Art Quilt."

This piece is based on a photograph of a woman's personal garden - with gorgeous apple trees, ferns, lush foliage and flower gardens - and an amazing stone path trailing through it all. I fell in love with the original photograph, and was so pleased to get to work on a piece of this size - created all in one huge piece!

This qult features a combination of pieced together fabrics, fussy cut commercial print fabrics, and some of my own floral designs printed on fabric - plus "confetti fabric." I built this quilt up in layers by section, and did lots of stitching and overstitching - and used several different fibers for the background trees, plus some Angelia fibers for sparkle and a "sunlit" effect over the entire quilt that is not really captured by these photographs.

Here is one of the original photograph from which I worked - taken by Lynn Shannon of her personal garden. Additional photographs of the garden areas in full bloom were also supplied by Lynn; I superimposed and combined several images to create the final piece.

It was an absolute delight to get to translate her photograph into a huge fiber arts piece - it is my hope that every time she looks at this art quilt, it "feels" like looking at her own garden in full bloom! 

Also - I hope my respect for all of her hard work and artistic vision to create such an amazing garden is conveyed in this art quilt. : )

California Mountain Garden Art Quilt

by Heather J. Reid

32" tall x 60" wide

Original Photography & Inspiration by Lynn Shannon

May, 2011

Ground cover & florals with overstitching:

Pieced together floral fabrics & fussy cut fabrics with quilting and thread painting:

Apple tree with white fussy cut blossoms (all cut individually) with confetti background:

Ground Cover at the base of the Apple Trees - fussy cut ferns:

A snapshot of the back of the quilt on the lower left corner - lots of stitching!!

~ ENJOY!! ~