The title of this piece is "Tidepool", and it's approximately 12"x15". I layered the quilt sandwich and free-motion quilted the background before attaching the center. I used the patterning of the Batik as a guide for my quilting. 

I layered two dyed, used dryer sheets and some eyelash yarn between water soluble stabilizer sheets and stitched with invisible thread. Soaking briefly in water removes the stabilizer and once it had dried, I added handmade and seed beads.  The center was also attached with invisible thread.

I'll be adding a how-to section to my blog in the near future and will include information about lots of ways to recycle used dryer sheets to use in your fiber art projects, so stay tuned.

Broken Paths

I so hate to waste fabric...almost to a ridiculous degree.

A friend was here for the weekend and showed me a technique for sewing curves. I ended up with two rectangular pieces, and it just seemed a shame not to do something with them. So...I cut them up, joined them back together with colorful scraps, and bound them with something funky. They've got some decorative stitching too, and look great hanging in my kitchen.

Each one is approximately 6"x18".

Jellyfish

8 1/4"x10 3/4"
2007

This little piece was just for fun. It's a single piece of fabric, and the jellyfish, bubbles, etc., are "drawn" on with machine free-motion quilting. To free-motion quilt, the fabric is moved around under the needle as it stitches.

Dinwoody and Dinwoody Too

Ink-jet printing on fabric is a great way to add unusual imagery to a quilt-art piece. It takes a little practice, but basically, any image that can be put into digital form on your PC can be printed on fabric. I don't like the iron-on transfer method, so I use a product called "Bubble Jet Set 2000". Cotton fabric is soaked for 5 minutes in the solution, dried, and then cut to a size that will fit an ink-jet printer (8 1/2" x11" or smaller). Iron the fabric onto the shiny side of a same-size piece of freezer paper and then just run it through the printer. Getting it to feed through smoothly is probably the trickiest part, but it's really pretty easy.

The title Dinwoody refers to a Plains Indian rock art tradition found in a very small region of northwest Wyoming. Dinwoody figures are generally very fantastic looking...human-like, but with strange spirit or animal-like features, and very, very lively looking.

My friend Robin, also a quilter, works in the Anthropology Department at the University of Iowa. I made these two pieces as a birthday gift for her. A couple months later I was at her house and beaded them together. Her husband found a nice, small branch, and we hung the whole piece from that.

My Winter Window

My Winter Window
26"x26"
2008 Wisconsin Quilt Expo entry

I used one of my small block prints as the focal point of this piece. It was machine quilted and embellished with paint, decorative stitching and used dryer sheet fiber.

Spirit

Spirit
16 1/2"x17 3/4"
Honorable Mention
2008 Northeast Iowa Quilt Guild Show
Decorah, Iowa

This small quilt is made of cotton, wool and burlap. It has decorative machine stitching, applique, beadwork, a small amount of embroidery and some fancy fibers (usually used for crochet and knitting). I used two old washers from our toolbox to attach the fibers to. It's also machine quilted.

Untitled Abstract

Untitled Abstract
First Place
Wall Hanging and Table Quilts Division
2008 Fox Valley Technical College Quilt Expo
OshKosh, Wisconsin

Second Place
Art Quilt Category
2008 Northeast Iowa Quilt Guild Show
Decorah, Iowa


This quilt has a little bit of everything...fabric, fiber, paint, ink, embossing powders, embroidery, hand and machine quilting and handmade fabric beads. The center "fiber" is a dryer sheet (after it's been in the dryer, of course!) and both cotton and wool fabrics were also used.

Flames and Fireworks

27 1/2"x33 1/2"
Flames and Fireworks
2007 Wisconsin Quilt Expo entry

I made this larger version of the first "Fireworks" quilt because the original was too small to enter in the Wisconsin Quilt Expo. Personally, I like the first one better!

Fireworks

15"x19"
Fireworks
2006

Anyone who knows me knows I love anything to do with fire! I was trying to think of ways to use fabric and yarn scraps, and ended up making some little bead-like objects that reminded me of firecrackers. Figured I had to think of a way to use them, so I created this piece.

It's got a little bit of everything, including applique, embroidery, handmade fabric beads, and hand and machine quilting.

So what is an art quilt?

I guess to me an art quilt is an original, non-traditional quilt, that features unique materials, design elements and/or techniques, and may be any size or shape. A bit hard to describe in words, and a bit hard to categorize in terms of the more traditional quilt world. But really, I think there's an art to all types of quilting.

My own art quilts are small in size, ranging anywhere from 15"x19" to 26"x30. The designs are my own creation and they contain many elements that are very non-traditional.

I've posted photographs and some brief information about each. I hope you enjoy them.