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Art Quilts Extraordinaire

5/30/2016

I entered two quilts into the Art Quilts Extraordinaire exhibit at the Kenai Fine Arts Center. I also have the tree quilt showing, that I made earlier this year, as a part of our guild exhibit in the same exhibition. It opens tomorrow night from 6-8 pm. If you are in the area please come out and see the quilts. The exhibit goes through the month of June.

The center is located at: 816 Cook Ave, Kenai, Alaska 99611

These are the three quilts of mine that will be in the exhibition.

I hope to see you there,
Janelle

2 Comments

Starry Night

3/12/2016

4 Comments

It's been a while since I wrote here. Life has been full of selling our Michigan house, looking for an Alaska house, working at my part time job, being sick, and just general life stuff.

I'm back now being creative. I have a challenge quilt due for the guild here in early April, so I decided to started working on it.

The theme for this small quilt is trees. I was inspired by an early morning scene that was breathtaking. I love the landscape here and all the inspiration that comes from the beauty.

This quilt is still in progress and I haven't decided on a name yet, but that will come in time. I painted the scene on a piece of cotton with textile paints after sketching the basic outline.

Sketch on cotton fabric.

Color samples

Painted sky

Painted trees

After I got the background painted, I added blue tulle to the quilt and stitched around the trees. It adds a bit of shimmer and depth to the sky. I also added the moon that's a combination of white fabric and iridescent cellophane.

Now I'm in the process of adding beads to the sky for stars. I also have plans for the trees. Since the theme of the quilt is trees, I want the trees to stand out. I'll post again when I have more done.

For now have a great weekend,
Janelle

4 Comments

Summer of Color Orange, Orange, Blue

7/15/2015

10 Comments

This is the last week for Summer of Color this year. If you want to see what everyone else has made this week go here.

It has been a lot of fun creating a small quilt for each of these challenges. I'll miss the activity and all the wonderful comments from so many of you. It has been a pretty busy summer for me so I haven't been able to comment on very many of the other artist's posts. Hopefully things will slow down a bit for me the rest of the summer and I can catch up with everyone. All the art posted has been very inspiring. I love seeing what everyone has done and all the other art forms being used.

Now onto my quilt for this week. I used fabric that I had already dyed for this one and used an improvisational piecing technique that involved sewing strips and then cutting them, and sewing them back together again. This time I sewed the top and free motion stitched words and loops for the quilting. It has been challenging to try and make abstract quilts using different techniques each week. Now I can go and use my favorite techniques in larger quilts.

It's not always easy to stitch words, but it is fun to do. I still need to get a matching marker and dot all the i's. The words need to be sewed continuously, so the dots get added later.

I hope that you enjoyed this quilt. I am still adding to my purple and yellow quilt, so I'll have to share that later when it is done.
Have a great summer.
Janelle

10 Comments

Joyful Summer

6/23/2015

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I wanted to share the new art quilt that I just finished with you all. "Joyful Summer" is a wholecloth quilt. I painted it, then thread sketched, quilted, hand stitched the tyvek centers, and then added the beads.

It is reminiscent of a warm summer day watching the sunflowers blow in the breeze.

"Joyful Summer" is 16 1/2" x 16". It is for sale for $162.50. I'll list all the new quilts on the website next week after the show this weekend.

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Art Quilting

4/3/2015

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I made an art quilt using the crayon block that I showed you a couple of weeks ago. I added some of my hand dyed fabric and finished her up earlier this week. This time I used machine free motion stitching to add details. Next time I may use some hand stitching to add even more details, especially to the flowers.

Now I just need a name for her and to add a hanging sleeve to the back.
Enjoy this blessed Easter weekend.
Janelle

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Bonjour

12/8/2014

1 Comment

"Bonjour" is an art quilt made from a mix of reclaimed and new textiles. I used worn garments, old linens and curtains, color catcher sheets, vintage lace and doilies, along with new fabrics and silk sari ribbon that is created from reclaimed silk waste. I love taking textiles that would be thrown away and instead giving them a new life as an art quilt. This piece is 8" x 12 1/2". I is for sale for $103.00. Find it here.

I cut all my fabrics and trims out and then stitch them down layer by layer on the foundation fabric and batting. I add the backing and quilt it by adding free-motion stitched designs. I stitched flowers and hearts on this quilt. I used new fabrics with a Paris theme to add interest to the quilt. After the stitching was done I used a faced binding to finish the edges. I added embellishments to the front and a thread chain for hanging to the back.

I also created kits from my stash with similar fabrics, trims, and embellishments. The kits also include the foundation fabric, backing, and batting along with all the step by step instructions. They are $25.00 and can be found here.

I hope that this gives you some ideas for using reclaimed fabrics and if you want to give this a try without finding all the supplies you can use the kit I created just for you.

Have a wonderful week,
Janelle

1 Comment

Winter Woods

12/13/2013

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This quilt was inspired by views of the forest in the northern winters and the cardinals that I see outside of my window during the cold months.

I'm happy to get to play with Jill K. Berry's new stencils. I love her TEXTures series and this TEXTures 2 series is just as fun. At the end of this post I will let you know how you can enter to win a set of the TEXTures 2 stecils.

I wanted to play with these stencils on fabric and see what I could come up with. They work on fabric just as well as any other substrate and added a lot of atmosphere to the piece that I made.

I started with a piece of white cotton that was 44" by 22". I sprayed my fabric with water and applied color with a Derwent Inktense block in iris blue. I used textile medium and more water to spread out the color over the whole piece of fabric.

Then I got out the TEXTures stencils and using the Picasso and Miro stencil I began to spray my fabric through the stencils. I used my homemade ink sprays, a mixture of water and Daler-Rowney FW Acrylic Water-Resistant Artists Ink with a bit of paper glaze to fix the color. I first used my process cyan spray because the color was just a bit different than the blue of my fabric. I wanted to add subtle texture to my background. Then I used my pearlescent black spray to spray through the other stencil. This time I covered much more of the fabric because I wanted to create the feel of underbrush on a forest floor. Since I am making a wall hanging that isn't meant to be washed I didn't worry about using these ink sprays, but I did heat set the fabric after these layers were dry.

Next I wanted to add texture to the black fabric that I was going to use for tree trunks. I sprayed the fabric pieces, through the same two stencils, with a white pearlescent ink spray and a sepia ink spray that I mixed in gold fabric paint as well. These didn't show up well, but I was just trying to add some more subtle texture.

I added a Wonder Under fusible web to the back of both of the black fabric pieces, so that I could fuse the tree trunks to the quilt after I cut them out. I cut out two layers of trees and fused the first layer to the quilt when I had them arranged the way that I wanted them. I used the black with the white spray in the background layer. Then I painted lines on the trees for the bark using fabric paint in white and grays. I also cut out some basic cardinal shapes from red fabric and fused them down too, after the paint was dry.

Next I painted a bit of detail on the cardinals and I painted branches for the trees. After the paint was dry I put a layer of the fusible web over these trees and a layer of white tulle over the top of the fusible web. I ironed these down so that they were all fused. If you try this make sure that you follow the directions and have a pressing sheet between your iron and the fabric. Otherwise you get glue all over your iron that is a pain to clean off. I added the white tulle so that these trees felt a bit misty and further away.

I followed the same process for the foreground trees except I used the black fabric sprayed with the sepia spray and I used paints in shades of browns for the details.

I stitched the cardinals down with some red thread to make sure that the fusible wouldn't come up and it added a nice touch to the quilt. I love the texture that hand stitching gives to a textile piece.

I added snow, with white fabric paint, to the ground and along the edges of the trees in the foreground.

Next I added a batting and backing fabric and used free motion stitching to add bark lines and branches to the foreground trees. I added white stitching to quilt the snowy ground as well. I still have to add a faced binding to finish the quilt, but that is going to take me a bit longer to do. I will share more pictures when I have the binding and the quilt sleeve added.

I hope that you enjoyed my art quilt tutorial and come back next week to read about my new project.
If you would like a chance to win these stencils go here to find out all the information.
Janelle

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Stardust

11/1/2013

3 Comments

I was really excited to get my hands on these new whimsy and word stencils because I love stencils and I adore Tam and have taken several of her classes. I love her whimsy style and these stencils make it so easy to add a little whimsy to any project.

I decided to make another quilted wall hanging this week. I used the Whimsy Town stencil, the Hearts and Stars stencil and the Believe stencil. I wanted to use the word stardust because who couldn't use a little more stardust in their lives.

Before I started on my quilt I got out a piece of drawing paper and made a quick sketch, so that I could figure out the placement of each element in my design.

Then I started transferring my design to a piece of dark purple fabric that I had dyed in the past. I keep a stash of dyed fabric so that I have it for any project that comes up. I used opaque white paint to stencil on the stars, houses, and the word that I wanted to use. I didn't use the hanging stars and hearts stencil just like it was, but I picked some of the stars out and used them.

After the white paint dried I started painting over all the stars with a mixture of transparent white paint and a little bit of transparent yellow paint. I also painted over the houses with Metamica paints in Moonlight and the hearts in Amourosa and the hill under the houses in Heather Mist. I used more white on the word stardust. I put two coats of paint on every element, so that they would have intense color.

I used Pearl-Ex powders over the word stardust and over the stars. I used macro-pearl on the word and interference gold on the stars. I mix the powders with clear textile medium and paint them on just like the other paints. These powders give an intense shine and add beauty to the quilt.

After all the other elements were painted in, I transferred the sketch of the girl to the fabric from my initial sketch.

I painted in the girl with Metamica paints too. I went with flesh tones for the face, but I had have purple hair to go with the purple theme of this quilt. I gave her a glow with some more Pearl-Ex powder in micro-pearl mixed with textile medium.

The last thing I added before stitching was the words Live Your Dreams in her neck with a Pentel gel roller for fabric. I love adding words to my quilts to inspire me. After the painting was done I heat set the paint and cut and pinned the batting and backing to the front. Then I free motioned quilted around the houses and stars and filled in the background with swirls. I used a dark purple rayon thread to match the fabric. I also used a light purple thread in her hair and some silver in the glow around her head. I used a satin stitch to finish off the edges. Here is the finished quilt, which is 15" X 14".

Here are a couple of close-ups. It is hard to capture all the shine and beauty with my camera, but this quilt does sparkle in the sunshine.

Here is my original sketch which I colored in with Derwent pencils.

I hope that you have a great weekend.
Janelle

3 Comments

Dreaming

10/4/2013

1 Comment

I got to use the new Jane Girls Petite Series stencils this week. I adore Jane and her art and I'm thrilled to get to use these new stencils. I decided to use the front facing stencil to make an art quilt. The stencil allows me to focus on the details and not worry about getting the face drawn just right. I went back in time to my girlhood and explored the world of daydreams. My girl is dreaming about who she could be. Where will you allow your dreams to take you?

Placing the stenciled images on the fabric.

I started with a piece of white cotton that was 16" X 34". I divided the space into a grid and placed the stencil into each one. I lightly drew the lines of the stencil with my Bohin mechanical extra fine marking pencil for fabric. Then I sketched the rest of each girl.

I layered my batting and backing fabric and pin basted it. I used free motion stitching and stitched over select lines of the quilt with cream colored thread to give it some form and to stabilize it for painting.

I used Derwent Inktense blocks and pencils to paint the quilt. I painted in a small area with transparent textile medium and then while it was wet I used the Inktense to apply the color. Then I used more of the textile medium to blend the color. It is possible to get a wide range of colors using this method, from very intense to very light depending on how hard you press the block on the fabric. You can apply a light layer of color or a dark layer of color. On my quilt the color was lighter after it dried than when it was wet. If you want part of the painting to be more intense you can add more color while it is still wet. It is also possible to add more layers of color after it has dried. I went section by section until I had painted the whole quilt. After it had dried I heat set, by ironing with a dry iron each part for a couple of minutes, to make sure that the color was completely set. Each textile medium has instructions on heat setting, so follow the guidelines for the one that you decide to use. There is a great article in Quilting Arts Magazine, issue 64, explaining using the Derwent products on fabric in more detail.

After the painting was done I used more free motion stitching to make the girls come to life. I used a mix of rayon and cotton threads. I love the shine of the rayon threads.

Next I added metallic paints to highlight certain areas and to add some sparkle. I used Stewart Gill Metamica paint and Lumiere paints by Jacquard. I also mixed Pearl-Ex powders into textile medium and painted that in some areas. I love adding a lot of sparkle and shine to my art, especially when I'm painting a fantasy world. When the paint dried I heat set it according the manufacturer’s directions. I always heat set the paint on my textile creations just in case they are ever washed. I don’t want the paint to wash out and heat setting prevents this.

After all the painting and stitching were done I squared up the quilt. I sewed a satin stitch around the edge to finish off the quilt.

The finished size is 15" X 33".

Metallic paint accents on her tail and bikini top.

Sparkly tiara

Copper in the tree trunks and on her hair

I love that Artistcellar stencils are perfect for all kinds of art. I can use them in my textile art as well as in my art journal.

I hope that I inspired you to go out and make something and to allow your dreams to take you away every now and then.

Janelle

1 Comment

Inspirational Quilt

9/20/2013

0 Comments

I made an inspirational quilt this week. I love adding uplifting words to my art that remind me of the good things in life.

I started with a piece of white cotton fabric with a tight weave so that it is easy to paint.

I painted loose flowers in light purple, let them dry and then heat set the paint. I did the same for the dark purple flowers and the turquoise flowers

I painted inside the dark purple and turquoise flowers with Stewart Gill Metamica paints in Moonlight and Heather Mist and the centers with a silver Lumiere textile paint.

I love how these paints sparkle. They look marvelous in the sunshine.

I stenciled the open area with the Amiens Plan Cathedral stencil with Stewart Gill Metamica paint in Moonlight.

I let that paint dry and then heat set. Heat setting between layers keeps the colors from mixing together when I want them to stay separate.

I colored in the open areas with Derwent Inktense pencils and activated it with textile medium. I left the light purple flowers white. I let that dry and then heat set again.

Next I squared up the dry fabric painting and cut a backing and batting.

I bagged out the quilt to finish the edges. I basted the batting to the wrong side of the backing fabric. Then I placed the right sides of both fabrics together and stitched a narrow seam all the way around except for an opening on the bottom of the quilt.

I trimmed the batting close to the seam lines and cut off the corners at a diagonal.

I turned the quilt the right side out and pressed it. I removed all the basting threads. I pressed in the fabric edges on the opening too. I slip stitched the edges closed.

Next I used free motion stitching to sew with a dark purple thread around my painted flowers and I thread doodled in the open areas.

I sewed around the light purple flowers with a turquoise thread and I thread doodled swirls in the petals.

I wrote words on a piece of tracing paper and cut them out. I used these to figure out the word arrangement.

When I was happy with the arrangement I used a fabric pen to write words on the stenciled side of the quilt.

I used free motion stitching to write over the words in a thick variegated purple thread.

I free motion stitched, with a blue thread that matched the Metamica paint, around the words.

I steam pressed the whole quilt to smooth out the wrinkles.

The finished quilt is 9" X 13".

I hope that you go and make your own inspirational piece of art.

This quilt still needs a name. If you have a suggestion you could leave me a note in the comments.

After I decide how I want to hang this quilt and finish that portion this beauty will be for sale.

Have a creative weekend,
Janelle

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Hands and Harts Blog

Art Quilts Extraordinaire

Starry Night

Summer of Color Orange, Orange, Blue

Joyful Summer

Art Quilting

Bonjour

Winter Woods

Stardust

Dreaming

Inspirational Quilt

Serenity Cabin

Janelle Marks

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