About Brush Rags...

Many followers are not aware that I also paint fabric for quilters looking for something different.  This is a very low key little business as I carefully need to manage the three legs of my quilting passion - quilt artist, quilt teacher and producing Brush Rags hand-painted fabric.  The fabrics are available from me by appointment, at local Guild meetings in Port Elizabeth, where ever I teach and at National Quilt Festivals where my dear friends from our local quilt shop Pied Piper, generously sell my fabric since 2002.   

I'm sure many of you can identify with the frustration of not finding the right fabric for a specific project.   For me personally it was also one of the frustrations of living in a smaller city/town where quilt shops were a luxury in the 1990's!  Online shopping was via the mail order era of the 1990's! 

I was working on my quilt entry for the 1994 SA National Quilt Festival and the deadline was slowly but surely creeping up on me.   To my frustration, I could not find any suitable fabric for the border section of my quilt. After thinking about this for many days, I had the brainwave to paint a piece of fabric which would be the perfect match for my quilt!  I rushed off to buy a nice quality calico, paint brushes, fabric paint and excitedly set up a painting station in my sewing room!  I was ready to paint a masterpiece that would take my quilt to the next level...!   Oh dear, I froze and could not do anything that looked remotely decent.  I had a deadline and the panic struck as I heard the clock ticking...!   After a few attempts, I managed to paint a piece which had all the right colours and effects that I needed (but it wasn't wonderful!)   It did the job and looked right for the project.  From there on I regularly dabbled with fabric paints as I enjoyed the mess I created!  Fabric painting solved my problem of finding suitable fabric for the realistic nature & wildlife quilts I created during that phase.

This piece was similar to the very first piece of fabric I painted for a competition quilt in 1994

I began giving gifts of hand painted fabric to quilting friends until one suggested that I should paint fabric to sell...   As I always love a challenge, I decided to give it a go!   Brush Rags was born in 2001 and I started selling my fabrics at the Dias Quilters' Guild meetings.   The "brush" indicates that the fabric was painted with a brush and the "rags" refers to pieces of fabric.   As painting fabric is so different to the dyeing process, I'm limited with the sizes of fabric which I paint.   Once the paint is applied to the fabric, it must dry undisturbed on the surface onto which it was painted otherwise it smudges!   That is why brush rags are only available in fat quarters as my paint boards are cut to that size.  The other problem is the length of my arms - it is a challenge to handle bigger boards.   The weather has a huge impact on fabric painting - if the atmosphere is very damp, I don't even try to paint as the fat quarters don't dry properly especially if I use salt techniques.  It is the best to dry the fabric in the sun as it dries the paint properly after which it rests in the studio for at least a week before I fix the painted surfaces and start the cleaning process.

I started off by painting simple techniques on a lovely quality of calico, some of the techniques are still part of my regular stock.   Unfortunately most of our textile factories who produced good quality calico have closed down and I had to switch to another fabric.   I chose percale cotton which is available locally.  Although the thread-count is higher than calico, the quality is consistent which is important!   Brush Rags are very suitable for raw edge applique techniques as it does not fray.

Brush Rags - the beginning...

I regularly experiment and try to produce new finishes to make it exciting for me to paint.   I introduced a few new lines this year which seems to be very popular with quilters, the highlight was when Helen Godden from Australia bought some of the fabric at the 2019 National Quilt Festival at Heronbridge and was so kind to make a video clip of the fabric to promote Brush Rags.  I usually paint a range of different finishes in the same colours.   The following swatches are some of the current stock:

4 different finishes in orange, cerise and purple.

Jade, blue and purple

Olive, purple and gold

Rust, gold and navy

Orange, cerise and red

Grey

Earlier in the year I started discharging black cotton fabric which gives very dramatic finishes.  Here are swatches of the latest batch:

A selection of discharged black fabric.

I also started rusting fabric - great fun and lovely results, but so messy and rough on the hands....  I find it difficult to work with gloves as my hands are too clumsy then!

Rust Rags - some over-painted.

The thrill of painting fabric is to see how I can transform an ordinary piece of white fabric into a piece of art...   After the whole process of washing the fabric, cutting into fat quarters, painting every piece, drying, ironing to fix the paint, washing again to get rid of paint residue and salt, ironing with the press and the final folding and packaging of the fat quarters - a labour intensive process but oh so satisfying...!   Some finishes take one or two applications of paint, others take up to 6 - 8 applications to build up the design/colour.   Because the process is so labour intensive, I made the choice to keep it small to enable me to teach quilting, be a quilter and still have a life apart from quilting!   

Price tags...

A few years ago, two friends and I visited exhibitions at the Grahamstown Art Festival and we walked in on artist Daniel Novela talking to students about his work. This man is truly one of the finest artists whose work I have had the privilege to see.  He exhibited extensively overseas to great acclaim and the price tags of his paintings reflected just that - he was successful and his work respected and appreciated by art lovers.  One of the students referred to a specific painting (with quite a steep asking price) and asked him how long it took to paint the specific piece...   Daniel told him about 25 years - the students could not believe what they heard.  He went on to explain that it had taken him 25 years to get to the point where he could paint like that...!   In short, he had put in the hours experimenting, learning and honing his art and at last he was free to paint with finesse, confidence and understanding of his creative medium.   

A friend and I recently discussed pricing of artwork as it can be rather tricky, I think most artists find this to be a huge challenge.   The process of creating a piece of art whether it is textile art, pottery, sculptures etc. is slow and requires skill, lots of patience and experience.   Added to this will of course be the costs of the materials used which artists usually purchase at retail prices...  Often items needed for the process, cannot even be seen in the finished product but it must reflect in the price tag!  For some artwork, even electricity and water consumption must be factored in which will increase the cost of an item which the buying public often are not aware of...!     

The creative process is really addictive, but realistically, what does one do with all of the art pieces?  Obviously it is a good option to sell as it helps to recoup some of the expenses and it can finance the next burst of creativity while some artists make a living by selling their art!  As I've been in a creative limbo or slumber after Siyadala, I decided to make small mandalas to sell at the Dias Shoppe at the 2018 Dias Quilters' Guild annual Spring Show to get out of my limbo!  This provided an ideal opportunity for me to create and sell original pieces for collectors of fibre art.   I must admit, I initially planned to make 6 mandalas and ended up with 10, I was having great fun and wanted to experiment with different colour combinations and once I got going, I could not stop! 

The starting point was size as my focus was on selling, it had to be affordable!   As already mentioned, it is quite difficult to put a price tag on ones work...!   Workmanship, uniqueness of piece, stature of the artist and the concept should all play a role when deciding on value of a piece.   An artist who have honed his/her art/craft for more than 30 years and have won multiple awards for her/his work, should be confident enough to factor expertise into the price tag, a lesson learnt from Daniel Novela.

I made the mandalas in pairs, using colour combinations and the selection of fabric and threads as the common "thread".   Each mandala was individually designed, fused, raw edge appliqued/quilted and certain sections were outlined with couched cording.   All the mandalas were stretched onto artists canvas which was the ideal option for a small piece of fibre art.  All the mandalas were created from cotton and silk.

Herbs & Spice 1                                          Herbs & Spice 2

Lapis Lazuli 1                                             Lapis Lazuli 2   

Tropical Summer 1                                       Tropical Summer 2

Vintage 1                                                            Vintage 2

Vivid 1                                                            Vivid 2

I loved creating these mandalas and I trust it will also give the owners great joy to own a bit of my soul.

Mosaics

Sometimes one word is enough to trigger a whole new design source to explore.  In 2016 while we were processing the teacher applications to teach at the 2017 Siyadala National Quilt Festival, I was bowled over by a workshop submitted by well known South African quilt artist, Paul Schutte.  The concept of the workshop was inspired by the mosaics of Gaudi.  It immediately took me back to the time my son Jopie studied architecture when the two of us loved visiting book stores to find interesting books on the old masters of architecture.   He particularly wanted to show me images of some of the iconic buildings of Antonio Gaudi such as Park Guell, Sagrada Familia, Casa Mila, Casa Batlo to name a few.  I loved paging through these books filled with images of the legacy of this very imaginative and creative soul.  My daughter Elizabeth was fortunate enough to visit Barcelona and she brought me a beautiful mosaic thimble as gift, the detail is very small (and my eyesight bad) but it looks like a mosaic lizard, I presume it was inspired by the mosaic lizard from Park Guell!

Thimble inspired by Gaudi  from Barcelona

Every year, our Transitions group focus on the work on one of the masters of yesteryear to broaden our horizons.  As Gaudi presented himself to me in three different guises already, I decided that this was the year of Antonio Gaudi, an architect by profession, but well remembered for the mosaic work he used to decorate buildings and public spaces.  Mosaics can be so easily interpreted in fibre art and has the potential to open up a whole new design spectrum.

I also came to the realization that lately, my work has become smaller in scale - often with minute pieces of fabric.  Trying my hand at textile mosaics would be a wonderful new challenge to explore.  I also realized that I started using mosaics in my work since 2013, albeit in a more rigid shape (geometric squares and triangles) such as the backdrops for the Glow and Willa quilts as explained in previous posts.

As with this kind of work, I find it easier to start off with designing on paper.  It gives one an idea of scale and proportion and how intricate a design will/can be and as bonus, it creates a pattern to work from.  The primary focus of my first effort would be to create organic spaces within a specific design which could be filled with small fragments of fabric to create a mosaic and secondary to fill the surrounding areas (background) with a pleasing fractured layout in a contrasting monotone colour palette.  The design possibilities are endless, from abstract to pictorial whatever takes your fancy.

I started with drawing a few curved lines from a random point on the paper, often using the eraser.  The first tentative lines were all erased and I restarted various times - one needs patience to create original work!  Finally I got into the rhythm and the design took me where it needed to go...!  I wanted to incorporate circles in the design somewhere and used my round quilters perspex templates...  But somehow, I lost my mojo!  I stopped using the perspex circles and reverted back to drawing free hand and from thereon it flowed as I stopped thinking about the process with the pencil in hand finding its own path.  I found that the perfect rounds of the perspex templates inhibited my creative process, all I could focus on were the red perspex circles on my paper - it was most interesting to observe that!   After I was satisfied with the main elements of the design, I started filling in the background which was almost more exciting than drawing the abstract lines.... I extended the spaces around the circles of the main design in a circular motion.  The colour palette in the extended circles would be the same as the rest of the background - this would create interest and balance with the bigger size of the curved motifs, but would not detract from the focal design. I was so taken with my design, I immediately started working on a second while I was sitting outside on the stoep, sipping a glass of red wine while Willem lit a fire for our Friday evening "braai"!   For me this was a big breakthrough as it was my first new work since the 2017 Siyadala Festival!  I felt the excitement of being creative building and could not wait to start the project.  I just knew it would work and I could not wait to get into the studio....

These two pictures were designed in two layers and had to be cut in the same way.  The fabric used for the background of the main elements, would form the grout with the fractured bits fused on top forming the mosaic pattern.    Cutting these two pieces took more than a week as some of the pieces were really just fragments and I had to use tweezers to position every little bit.  Every piece was fused onto the backgrounds and raw edge applique doubled up as construction and quilting technique.  The edges of certain sections were sealed with couched cords to add definition and texture.  I used the same fabrics for both pictures and both were blocked on stretched artist canvas to finish it off.

Mosaic #1 - 2018

Mosaic #2 - 2018

I loved creating these two pictures and cannot wait to explore further.  I used a variety of cotton, linen and silk fabrics.   Both pictures are 30.5cm x 40.5cm.  For me, blocking small pieces of textile art on artist canvas adds an interesting and perfect finish as it hangs well, it can also be displayed on an easel.  

Snowflakes etc.

I'm so busy having a good time in the studio, that I forgot to write the blog :-)   The amazing thing is that I once again realized what truly makes me content (apart from a very blessed personal life).  Being creative makes me feel so alive and energetic..., what a joy!

For me, the most important thing for a fibre artist, is the play aspect...   By playing (technically experimenting, but I prefer to call it play as it sounds more like fun), we often stumble upon wonderful ideas.   In our Transitions group, one of our members Brenda Dickeos reintroduced us to the simple paper folding and cutting technique, also known as snowflakes.   It reminded us of our childhood and art classes at primary school - this simple technique provides endless design possibilities for a quilter who enjoys pushing the boudaries.

I used the technique in the Glow quilt as well as the Bag-a-Square workshop where I used the technique to prepare tiles for certain sections.   I so enjoyed the process that I decided to make a table runner for a small side table using this technique.   I prepared 8 tiles, each using different fabrics in  neutral shades.  The continuous thread would be the one tile design. The cut out section was fused to the base of the tile with the use of applique paper, the excess of the base fabric was cut away to match the edges of the tile.

Paper Cut Tile

The next step was to prepare the border section before the tiles were stitched.   Recycled sari silk ribbon was used for this and randomly fused to the sides of the runner and roughly stitched down to the foundation fabric.   

Border section 

After the border section was stitched, the tile section was placed and fused on top of it.   The raw edges were secured with raw edge applique in a matching colour thread, this also doubled up as the quilting.   A lovely ivory shade DMC crochet cotton was couched around the edges of each tile to give it a lovely finish.   This added some texture and definition.   The outer edges of the runner was finished off with couched cords.  

Finished runner (bad colour quality!)

Paper cutting designs is a simple way of creating your own patterns.  The only complicated question is how to stitch the blocks...  I used a washout marker and connected the spaces to try and find a stitching path which will somehow add movement and interest to the block!

In a similar exercise, I cut a bigger block/tile for a cushion cover.  This was more complicated due to the size, but I'm thrilled with the result!   I used a fat quarter (border section) as colour inspiration. 

Paper Cut Cushion Cover 

After completing the stitching, it somehow looked incomplete and flat...   After staring at it for a few days, I realized that the edges around the cut out section and around the teal border, looked "bare", it needed additional work!  Because I thought it would be tricky to navigate couched cords around the edges, I decided to embroider whipped chain stitch around the teal edge and bead around the cut out design.   I had a huge packet of flat, neutral shade wooden beads which were perfect...  It transformed the entire design and I was so happy with the end result.   I used the outer edge of the motif to echo quilt the border.  

Embroidery and beading detail.

Happy stitching, hope you have time to play!

Being a quilt teacher...

I love teaching quilt related workshops, it makes me feel alive and gives me great pleasure to see how my efforts can influence the work of students.   With teaching though, comes other challenges and irritations - the dreaded situation where classes are "borrowed" by other teachers without permission.  I call this poaching or pirating, the word just not really matter as it remains unethical.  I know that I'm not the only teacher affected, it happens all over the world and not just with quilting.  Although I always share new work on this blog, this practice has been bugging me for such a long time and I felt that I needed to get this boulder out of my shoe.  No matter how often we discuss the matter at teacher forums, poaching of workshops is alive and well!   You might feel that there is nothing new, you are correct...  The thing is, when I recognize motifs almost a carbon copy of those which I drew with my own pencil, struggling to create a variety to best teach what I want to, in another teachers' sample, then I think it is time to speak up...!

I started teaching a variety of quilt related workshops in 1988.  The focus of my first teaching efforts were traditional patchwork and applique techniques, mainly from patterns available in the public domain (as just about all the quilt teachers were doing at the time).

I joined a quilters Guild for the first time in 1989 and never looked back.   Being part of the quilting family, has also brought much needed perspective in my responsibilities, vision and future as a quilt teacher in South Africa.   One of the first topics of discussion after I joined the Guild, was the issue of copyright of quilting patterns - it really made me think!   I started to feel uneasy using patterns from the public domain or books/magazines as I did not want to take money from students for work which was not entirely my own.   At this stage (about 1989) I tentatively started designing patterns for patchwork quilts as well as candle-wicking patterns for cushions and quilts for my students.   I really struggled, but persevered with the enthusiastic encouragement of my students in King William's Town.   I knew that if I wanted to be successful as a quilt teacher, I had to put in the time and effort to create and teach my own body of work.  I slowly developed my own style of quilting, firstly with Ndebele styled geometric quilts followed by the realistic themed quilts with the focus on the flora, fauna & bird life of South Africa and even historical buildings.    After that phase, I progressed to art quilts which really touched my soul.  Again the transition was difficult, but soon I lost my angst and started to enjoy the process wherever it took me. Most of my freestyle workshops were developed from quilts which I made.  I might identify an interesting aspect or technique from a quilt and develop that further into a workshop.

The very first art quilt workshop which I taught, was a direct result from my very first attempt at making an art quilt, Transformation - Glow Beyond the Scorched Edge 2010.   Making the quilt, was a process beyond difficult as I battled to let go of my very regimented way of working into a completely unplanned way into unknown territory (for me!).   This quilt is a relatively small piece, but the time, effort and skill spent on it was enormous - I had to delve very deep.   The process and success of the quilt set me free of my self imposed boundaries and brought the purest form of creative happiness and freedom.  The starting point of this quilt was to choose a shape and develop that into an art piece.  Somehow my chosen square of the main panel developed into a multi paneled wall hanging with different textures and elements.   

Transformation - Glow Beyond the Scorched Edge 2010

Won BEST ON SHOW ART QUILTS at the 2011 National Quilt Festival in Stellenbosch, South Africa

After the initial battle to get started, I developed this quilt into a very successful workshop Explore Machine Stitching & More 2010 which I taught at the 2011 National Quilt Festival in Stellenbosch.  I changed the square shape of the quilt to circles for the workshop, all drawn without any geometry tools.  The aim of the workshop was to create a study in free form and to break every quilting rule!  I always try to teach students as much as possible to give them value for money.  I included a mixture of interesting techniques in the course for the benefit of the students, this definitely has been one of my most successful and fun workshops to date.

Explore Machine Stitching & More 2011

The circle as focal shape and embellished it with a variety of hand and machine stitching/embroidery and beading.

My second major art quilt was GLOW 2012.    Making this quilt was a huge challenge as I wanted to incorporate many different elements and colours.    I battled to create unity in this quilt as the elements which I used was very diverse.  The centre mosaic panel, was originally a solid piece of fabric and it made the quilt look very flat and uninteresting.   After weeks of being frustrated, I decided to give the panel a fractured look by covering the solid piece with small squares in the same colour range creating a mosaic look - it immediately transformed the panel and created the effect which I was desperately seeking.

Glow 2012

Made for 2013 Kaleidoscope National Quilt Festival in Bloemfontein, South Africa 

Won 1st Prize Masters Freestyle Category.

Two workshops developed from GLOW - Freestyle Ways 2012 and Bag-a-Square 2012.  

The centre mosaic panel of GLOW inspired the  background of Freestyle Ways as well as the upper section of the bag of the Bag-a-Square workshop.  The fused small mosaic squares of fabric were set in a colourwash format for both workshops.  

Freestyle Ways 2012 - Teaching Sample

Small mosaic squares on background, similar to Glow, embellished with handmade braids.

Bag-a-Square 2012 - Teaching Sample

Paper cut tiles (snowflakes) combined with small mosaic squares - aspects from Glow.

I could relate to the saying that the more you do something, the easier it becomes.   Through the years, I've spent so much time auditioning fabric, designing, cutting, fusing, stitching (machine or hand) just to discard the experiment and restart with renewed energy and ideas as I don't like to give up...  I have invested lots of time and effort exploring to give students a wonderful experience in my workshops and I love the interaction with them.  It truly is a great feeling if I manage to inspire students to take up the challenge of a workshop and see how they flourish, to know that I ignited something in them and share their excitement.   For me it is a wonderful feeling of achievement if I open an email with a photograph of a finished project from a student...

I took the conscious decision to offer new workshops at every National Festival I apply to teach.  Our quilting population in South Africa who regularly attend festivals, is relatively small compared to that of other countries such as the USA, UK, Australia etc.    Since I started teaching at National Festivals, I felt that if I did not continually present new work to keep students interested, my workshops would become stale and students would simply not be interested in my classes.   Most of the workshops begin with a "light bulb" moment when I get an instant idea which I then develop further, sometimes an idea starts from doodling in my sketch book at Guild meetings!   Developing new work, remains a battle, but I never stop trying as the feeling of getting it right far outweighs the laborious path.

 As most of my workshops are intense and jam-packed, I compile notes with step by step images and instructions to assist students to finish their projects at home.  The following notice is printed on each set of notes:

This workshop was designed by Marilyn Pretorius in (year).     These images and patterns are for the use of the workshop student only and are not to be reproduced in any way whatsoever or for use by other teachers for teaching purposes.

Unfortunately some people just don't care about a decent request!  Twice now I had the unfortunate situation that some of my workshops were "poached" by people who attended my workshops...    I'm not going to "name and shame" anybody, I just need to voice my displeasure as it leaves a bad taste in the mouth!  It certainly makes me wonder why quilt teachers attend workshops offered by fellow teachers...?    Quilt teachers in South Africa cannot copyright workshops and we rely on the ethical behavior of students...  Going the legal route is just not possible as it is too expensive and income from teaching quilting cannot cover legal costs.  Teachers who love to "borrow" from other quilt teachers must remember that the quilting community in South Africa is small and word gets round.  To top it off, we have the ever popular social media - students love to post/share their latest achievements and quilts...!   And this is where teachers who poach workshops from other teachers, are exposed...! 

Gifting...

So much has happened since my last post...  I was the Chairlady for the Siyadala - We Create 2017 SA National Quilt Festival which was hosted by our Guild here in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.   It was a huge success, but due to the volume of work, I just did not have the luxury of being creative.   I sometimes think that I have a split personality - I thrive on being creative, but I also have this other side which needs to be stimulated in a more structured way...  I love it when I take charge, ideas flying and making things happen, but the "rush" can be so exhausting...!   After the Festival, I decided I've experienced enough excitement to last me for the rest of my life and retired from all committees - so lovely not to be glued to the computer anymore...!   I also realized I needed a sabbatical to restore my energy by doing different things at a much slower pace.  I again have time for a walk in the mornings and that sets the pace for the day, peaceful and relaxed.   I've also had lots of time for introspection and realized that my creative work happens in cycles of about 10 years...   After all these years of quilting and dabbling with fibre art, I know that I constantly have to shift my goalposts as I cannot do the same thing all the time - I need variety and for me, exploring is the ultimate fix....!  I have started playing in the studio again (pure joy) as being creative puts me in a different zone...  It must be the release of masses amounts of endorphins...  My own "be happy" therapy!   Hopefully I will have new work to share soon...!

Our May Guild meeting had the theme of "Gifting" and it reminded me of a few small quilts which I made as gifts last year and two others which were gifted to me!  I undertook to make small quilts for the 3 International teachers who taught at the 2017 Festival as we always like to give our teachers a handmade gift.   It was a challenge to choose a colour palette as I did not know the favourite colours of the 3 teachers, Jenny Bowker from Australia as well as Ekramy Hanafy and Hany Mahmoud, two Tentmaker teachers from Cairo, Egypt.

As time was limited, I chose to make them small mandalas as I was teaching Design a Mandala at the festival and it was the logical option for me at that stage.  Choosing a palette for Jenny, was a bit easier as she shared her new kitchen with her Facebook friends (I used her lovely new tiles as colour inspiration).   The 3 quilts below were individually designed and made for them and were all about 50cm x 50cm.    All the motifs were fused down and raw edge applique doubled up as construction and free motion quilting method.  Cords were couched onto certain sections to add texture and definition, my only regret was that I did not have enough time to add more detail...   I mainly used my own brush rags fabrics combined with Bali prints, batiks, silk, commercial printed and plain cottons.

Siyadala #1 for Jenny Bowker

Siyadala # 2 for Ekramy Hanafy

Siyadala # 3 for Hany Mahmoud

We had a wonderful time at the festival with Jenny, Ekramy and Hany and our three international teachers were extremely popular with sold out classes and lectures.   

Ekramy and Hany presented me with a beautiful wall quilt stitched by Hany, how absolutely special and much appreciated.   The participation of the Tentmakers of Cairo in our National Quilt Festival is a memory which I will always treasure and a visit to the Khan Khayamiya – The Market of the Tentmakers in the heart of Old Islamic Cairo is definitely on my wish list!  Hopefully I will be able to twist Willem's arm for a trip up to the north of Africa sometime...!

Ekramy Hanafy, yours truly and Hany Mahmoud with my beautiful gift.  

Photo taken at the Siyadala - We Create 2017 National Quilt Festival at Collegiate Girls' High School, Port Elizabeth.

To top up this lovely gift from Hany and Ekramy, I received a huge surprise at the first Guild meeting after the festival!   After I thanked the festival committee and guild members for all their hard work, support and commitment, I was given a huge parcel!   I had no idea what was in the parcel, but all the faces looking at me from the floor were beaming!  The parcel contained a lovely quilt made especially for me from my very own brush rags fabrics!  I was so gobsmacked and speechless as this was the first quilt ever made for me as a gift!   I was so busy with Siyadala that I did not even pick up any sneaky business going on behind my back!  Guild members were asked to make and donate blocks for this quilt.   So many blocks were handed in that there were enough for both front and back for a reversible quilt!   I believe the quilt was the idea of Angie Franke, the Creative Director of Siyadala.  I felt so blessed as I could feel the love and goodwill from my wonderful quilting friends and co-workers. 

 

Yours truly sitting in front of the beautiful quilt made by members of the Dias Quilters' Guild 

July 2017

JENNY BOWKER:
Congratulations:
The renowned artist added another achievement to her list when she was made an officer in the Order of Australia in Monday’s Queen’s Birthday honours list, which recognises her work on Australia-Middle East cultural relations through the preservation of traditional arts.   

Note:
It was through Jenny that we secured the attendance of Ekramy and Hany at the 2017 Festival!   It was the first appearance of the world renowned Tentmakers of Cairo at a SA National Quilt Festival!    We salute a very special lady and quilting friend!

Spinel

At the moment, I don't have time to quilt which is sad...  I'm very involved in organizing the 2017 South African National Quilt Festival which will be hosted by my home guild, the Dias Quilters' Guild in Port Elizabeth.   Please visit the official festival Facebook page 2017 South African National Quilt Festival, Port Elizabeth and "like" the page...   You can also visit the festival website at http://festival.quiltsouthafrica.co.za for more news.   It will be wonderful to welcome International quilters at Siyadala - We Create NQF 3 - 8 July 2017.

I made three quilts for the Diversity Fibre Art Exhibition in 2015 and the last one I want to share with you, is Spinel.   I seldom work in red, but somehow I started buying shades of red and magenta batik fabrics which works perfectly with silk fabric.   I  had a rough sketch which I wanted to use and decided to use the red for the centre panel with purples on the sides.   I love working with round shapes as the design scope is endless.    The amazing thing is that with some quilts, everything just falls into place very easily.

Spinel consists of 5 panels, placed on a discharged background of blueish grey fabric which toned in very well with the blueish purples which I selected.   To create contrast, I prepared two panels with a mixture of silk, Bali and batik strips placed horizontally.    The stitching down of the strips was functional and I combined it with couching of cotton and silk yarns to create additional texture with the raw edges of the strips.

Rings in various sizes in bright oranges, magentas and pinks were cut for the centre panel using Bali cottons and silks.   These were placed on the centre panel and somehow, it looked great to have some of there spill over the edge of the panel.  Somehow the colouring looked a bit dead on the background...  The rings were already fused and stitched to the background when I promptly slashed some strips out of the background.    I used a darker purple behind it to take away the flatness of the purple, it immediately looked more interesting.  I then decided it lacked texture and added some hand embroidery around the insides of the rings which were filled with another colour.  This seemed to do the trick.  

Spinel 2015 - Centre Panel

Instead of using a ring motif, I decided to use rounds in two sizes for the two outside panels.  These had to be smaller than the rings of the centre panel to force it into a secondary place on the quilt.   The idea was to create variety with many different fabrics for the rounds.   The next step was to prepare backgrounds for these side panels - I decided against a solid piece of fabric as it would look too flat, I needed to avoid the problem I had with the centre panel.  I decided to cut blocks in the colour range I needed and fused it onto the background which immediately did the trick, the blocks on the one panel smaller than the other panel.    I used bigger rounds on the bigger blocks to create interest and variety.   The rounds were positioned and fused onto the background, the last panel was prepared in the same way and decorated with smaller rounds.   The rounds were stitched to the background to secure it. 

Side panels of Spinel.   The smaller rounds almost have the effect of bubbles...!

The next step was to stitch these panels to the background fabric and prepare the borders...   I chose all the colours used in the panels to prepare the borders, carefully placing colours in specific positions to complement the centre section.  Strips were prepared for the top and bottom borders similar to the two strippy panels on the quilt to complement it.   It worked well and I also added some couching to it.   A mixture of the strips and round motifs were used for the side panels to echo the rounds in the borders.

Echo quilting was used for the centre panel with pebbles quilted on the side panels between the round shapes.   Very simple quilting was done on the background of the quilt.  Cords were made using cotton yarn in various colours used in the quilt to seal the edge of the quilt.  I really loved working with these rich jewel colours which I normally don't use.    Spinel is indeed a gemstone found in this incredibel colour range...

Spinel 2015

  

Tranquility

I'm currently doing lots of administrative work regarding quilting and it actually makes one think about how fellow quilters regard creativity.    Some are ardent cyber surfers to keep informed of the latest trends, others prefer books and some find their own way...  A comment which I picked up during the week was of elements used in a specific quilt which was typical of quilts made by another well known quilt artist...  My question is where do we find inspiration?  I am always intrigued by the thought processes of quilt artists, some need to rationalize each and every thought and process of a piece, others just work intuitively without even thinking where they are going.  

I must admit, I don't really like to surf the net and I also don't study the work of others purely because I want my work to reflect my own journey without being influenced by the work of others.  It is the process with which I feel comfortable with...   I don't talk much during the day, but I'm constantly thinking about creative things.  Sometimes a thought will cross my mind, I will maybe make a note or a rough sketch of it, other times I will think of colour combinations and that will be the start of a piece.   I can also visualize ideas and concepts which is a great help.

We all have our favourite colours, mine is seagreen.   Seeing it is like recognizing something deep within my soul...   It has such a soothing effect on me, I suppose that is why I chose the colour for the walls of my studio.

While I worked on the Diversity Fibre Art Exhibition earlier this year, I made a rough sketch for a piece and decided that I would build the piece around some chamois that was given to me by a student.  The rough edges reminded me of dirty foam left on the beach after rough seas.    As the chamois would represent the foam and the sandy beach, I decided to add greens and blues to the palette to create this abstract piece of my memories of the Knysna lagune where I grew up.

This quilt consists of four panels stitched together at the top!  The bottom layer in neutral shades forms the backdrop and was machine quilted.   The second panel is pieced and embellished with couching, hand embroidery and beaded.  This panel was not quilted in the traditional way with batting, but was hand stitched onto commercial felt in a similar colour as the backdrop panel.  A beaded fringe was added to balance the textured top section.    The blue and green tiles on the third panel were appliqued using the raw edge applique technique and the bottom and side edges were sealed with cords.   Additional creative stitching was added to each tile to create texture.  The textured panel at the top was made of chamois, silk, burnt fabric, needle punching, beading and hand embroidery and lies loosely over the third panel.  .

Tranquility 2015

Standing at the lookout point at the top of the Knysna Heads while looking down at the sea going in and out of the lagoon…  My most favourite spot on earth, it grounds me, strips me to my inner core and brings peace within my soul…   The mixture of the green and blue of the water combined with the colour of the sandy beach gives a deep sense of satisfaction, of home and stirs the creative juices deep within…   I completely relate to the following quote:

"It is neither wealth nor splendor, but tranquility and occupation which give you happiness - 

Thomas Jefferson 

Tranquility - Close up detail of the quote by Thomas Jefferson

Tranquility - Close up detail of top section.

I loved the process of making this quilt...   Unfortunately a photograph never does justice to textile art...

Infinity

I enjoyed a fabulous holiday and came home feeling rested, blessed and relaxed, what a precious feeling!  

The Creative Energy 2015 National Quilt Festival is now part of our South African quilting history.   It really was an enjoyable and friendly festival, just the way we love our festivals.  Congratulations to Twigg Hartwig and her very capable committee.   The baton was passed onto the Dias Quilters' Guild for the Siyadala - We Create 2017 National Quilt Festival to be held here in Port Elizabeth with yours truly sitting in the hot seat.

While I was working on designs for the Diversity Fibre Art Exhibition earlier in the year, I saved one design as my quilt entry for the festival!   It was the fourth piece which I made this year.   I kept it for last as it was a mandala and I knew exactly where I wanted to go with it...   I was also running out of steam/time and thought that as the process was familiar, it would help me over the finishing line.

As the design was already drawn full size, it was a relatively easy start.   I chose jewel colours for this quilt and before I knew where I was, the table was covered with batiks, silks, linen, felt, papers, applique paper, yarns, threads, pencils, the usual big mess!   And don't forget the empty coffee mug... The amazing thing is that I can always find everything under all the clutter!

Creative mess

I loved working on this quilt, maybe because of the colour palette.   The design is in a few layers.   I firstly covered the base cloth with the first layer, adding detail in the second layer and then added a third 3-D layer.   I used a variety of silks for these accents which gave it a rich glow.   Rolled fabric as well as wooden beads in a variety of colours were used to balance the raised 3-D surface elements. All the 3-D motifs were backed onto felt which provided an interesting dimension.  Raw edge applique technique was used throughout and couching a variety of yarns sealed certain edges which added another textured element.   3-D elements were also made with a soldering iron.   The quilt was machine quilted.

Some close-up detail of 3-D elements and couching.

Centre section

The initial choice of colours were cerise/magenta, jade/seagreen, blues and purples.  As the cutting progressed, I realized it needed a zinger to pop the colours!   I tried silks in lime green and watermelon pink which seemed to do the trick as it added the sparkle which was missing.   I repeated the lime colour by stitching additional detail into the border section.

Infinity 2015

Looking at this quilt makes me happy!    I love the simetry, texture and rich colours.  It won a Highly Commended award in the Masters Freestyle Category at the recent 2015 National Quilt Festival as well as a coveted Best Use of Colour.

En-twine-D

I have previously mentioned the Diversity Fibre Art Exhibition which I organized earlier this year.  It was a resounding success and all the work can be viewed on the Diversity Fibre Art Exhibition facebook page. 

 

En-twine-D 2015

The first piece which I made for this exhibition was En-twine-D.  I once again used my sketch book to make various rough sketches and rather liked this one...

Rough Sketch of En-twine-D 2015

I prepared a background of 3cm x 3cm fused squares using a variety of silks and cottons in earthy shades.  Somehow these colours have such a soothing effect on me, maybe because of my deep connection with the earth.   I couched course string to seal the raw edges of the blocks which doubled up as the construction method .   It gave a lovely natural and textured look which I wanted for this piece.

The second aspect of this piece, was planning and making the "pelmet" at the top.   I wrapped discharged black fabric around three dowels.   The next step was to plan the spacing between the dowels.   Fabric beads were made and inserted as spacers between the dowels.  Somehow this construction had to be sewn down onto fabric which in the end was not too difficult!   The spaces on the fabric looked rather empty, so small pieces of fabric was stitched down into the spaces and embellished with natural beads, it provided the necessary interest and also gave a raised surface effect which worked well.

Pelmet section of En-twine-D 2015

The original idea was to make hanging elements which would hang from this pelmet section.  I changed the original idea of round shapes to a combination of half rounds and rounds.   It looked much more interesting and provided an easier way of attaching the top half round to the pelmet section.   The amazing thing was that after attaching the top section of the hanging panel to the pelmet, it immediately changed the quilt into two layers.    I was really pleased that the surface height of the pelmet section and the half round was similar!   At this stage I decided to add more colours and chose purples, cerise and lime greens in various shades.      I used a similar but slightly thinner string to couch around the edges of the different sections of the background.   Fabric beads and 3-D silk leaves were made to embellish the panel.   The silks added a lovely sheen.

Top section of hanging panel

Two more round and another half round completes the hanging panel strung together with a combination of fabric, wooden and metal beads.   As wrapped dowels were used in the pelmet section, I thought it best to repeat it at the bottom with another half round shape hanging from it.

Bottom section of hanging panel

When one works against the clock, every minute counts.  In South Africa we experience electricity supply problems at the moment which results in regular load shedding periods...   With the aid of a LED lamp, the work could proceed....
  

Assembling the hanging panel during electricity load shedding!

It was much easier naming my children or dogs than my quilts!   I don't know why I find it so difficult, but it really is...   With this piece I thought of my inner self, my thought processes, work ethic,the design etc.   Although I'm mostly a creative free spirit, the need also arises for structure, to be in control of the process…   Designing on paper using geometry tools satisfies this need.  After all this thinking and soul searching, I still could not title this piece....!   The piece was pinned to my design wall for a few weeks and while looking at it intently again, it struck me that string was actually used in almost every aspect of this quilt.   It was used to seal the raw edges around the squares of the background, to string the fabric beads on the pelmet while holding it all in place, to seal the raw edges around the round and half round shapes of the hanging panel and also to string all the beads of the hanging panel.   The outer edge of the quilt was also sealed with string....     Entwined came to my mind and using creative license, it became En-twine-D!