Sunday, November 26, 2017

OUR SHOW 2017

Good Day,

Check out "OUR SHOW 2017", featuring 8 Fabric Artists and 50+ Works of Fabric Art.


Where: Unitarian Universalists of Clearwater Octagon Arts Center, 2470 Nursery Road, Clearwater

When: Dec. 8, 2017 - Jan. 10, 2018.

Times: Tues - Fri - 9 am - 12 Noon; Sun - 10 - 10:30 am & 12 Noon - 1 pm.

This is going to be a tremendous show of a collection of marvelous Fabric Art.
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Sunday, October 1, 2017

Q156 – June 19th – New Quilt

Good Day,

Here is Andy's and my new quilt, June 19th.

June 19th
JS AB - June 2017

Our June 19th from start to finish was a drawing that I made that had been just waiting to be made and completed.



Upon seeing Patchwork Europe 2017’s competition statement this is where and why Andy and I decided to create our fabric art June 19th.

““Trip to the end of the world”: Express yourself freely by representing your end of the world, real or imaginary, charming or paradisiac, serene on an island or in the excitement of a big city …Take us in a creative and boundless journey!”

And yes, our June 19th was judged and chosen as one of the 38 finalists of the Patchwork Europe 2017 collection.

This is the 3rd time that we've attempted to enter this competition which is held in Alsace, France. Andy's GG-Grandparents were from Mulhouse, Alsace, France.

The construction of our “June 19th” quilt entry for “The Trip to The End of The World” competition is a combination of pieced fabrics, our strip-piecing technique and appliqué.

A series of muslin strips were sewn together to create a canvas for the base and foundation of the original drawing of our design. Batik cotton fabric pieces were chosen in a color sequence based on our design and were strip-pieced. The completed strips were then sewn together to create the quilt top.

Free motion quilting design was created and we used a domestic Janome 6300 sewing machine for all sewing and quilting. The quilting was done as an enhancement to our design. Nylon ribbon and buttons have been added to accent the intent of our concept.

Our “June 19th” original quilt design is a concept created of many thoughts. We are both long-term-term survivors, and our end of the world has always been just around the corner. We chose Kaieteur Falls in Guyana, the country where Jim's Father grew up, as the background. The Falls are one of the most powerful waterfalls in the world. Our arm is reaching out with the cascading red ribbon symbolizing the flow of our blood. The clusters of pills are our life-force. June 19 is Andy's birthday. Also June 19th was the final date allowed for entry to the Patchwork Europe 2017 competition.

Here are some images of our work and progress.














Follow our work and updates at both our Quilts SB site and our Quilts SB Facebook page.

To see previously posted quilts, there is a visual grid presentation at the bottom of the Quilts SB page. Move your cursor over any mini-picture found there and click to see an enlargement. Move your cursor to the "Q#" link to see the quilt's details. If the quilt’s title is highlighted in yellow, it has found a home in a collection and is no longer available.

Please let me know if anything on the Blog site does not properly work. I’m always striving to make sure an ease of use.

If you are interested and would like some more information of the available quilts, regarding costs, shipping, and insurance, please get in touch with us Quilts SB, at jsmith58@gmail.com.

Enjoy,

Jim and Andy
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Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Q155 – OPOY – New Quilt

Good Day,

Just over one year ago an incident of extreme horror and sadness occurred in Orlando, a short distance from our home. Many young men and women were heartlessly slaughtered by a lunatic. This happened at the Pulse nightclub.

Andy and I decided to create a fabric art piece in honor of the young people who were shot, lost their lives, and to those who are currently still recovering.

OPOY - JS AB - June 2017

This is a quilt that we just thought we had to do.

We called our new quilt "OPOY", an abbreviation of "Orlando Pulse One Year".

The dimensions are 70" long and 65" wide, and as you may have seen it as we have posted it, it is many strips on strips. Each strip was appliquéd and uniquely quilted to represent the uniqueness of each and every individual.

The titanium grey strips represent all those persons who tragically lost their lives. The colored strips represent the survivors. Our intent is to compact the strips, hopefully, to portray how the individuals may have felt as they were confined within their hour(s) of need and desperation.

All piecing and appliquéing have been completed. All strips were cut with our AccuQuilt Go! Big.  Our quilting process was to pebble the background, small-to-large, moving from the bottom up. Each strip has been geometrically-gridded and individually quilted to represent each person's individuality.

All together we hope that this will provide a sense of loss, bereavement, fear, unity, and strength. OPOY, "Orlando Pulse One Year" is our memory to the Pulse massacre.

We also feel that that idea of a skyline represents the universal community of LGBT individuals. Each stript represents reaching up to best surmount that which societies have for so many years attempted to constrain and ignore.

OPOY is currently on display beginning tomorrow and this upcoming weekend at MQX Quilt Festival – West in Springfield, Illinois at the Crowne Plaza Hotel & Convention Center.

Here are some of our work and progress images.




















Follow our work and updates at both our Quilts SB site and our Quilts SB Facebook page.

To see previously posted quilts, there is a visual grid presentation at the bottom of the Quilts SB page. Move your cursor over any mini-picture found there and click to see an enlargement. Move your cursor to the "Q#" link to see the quilt's details. If the quilt’s title is highlighted in yellow, it has found a home in a collection and is no longer available.

Please let me know if anything on the Blog site does not properly work. I’m always striving to make sure an ease of use.

If you are interested and would like some more information of the available quilts, regarding costs, shipping, and insurance, please get in touch with us Quilts SB, at jsmith58@gmail.com.

Regards,

Jim and Andy
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