The Show is Over

The Grand National Quilt Show 2013, "Local Colour" has come to a close.
The exhibition ran for 9 weeks and I was absolutely thrilled to have my work included. 

"Going to Seed" is now back home and up on my wall. 

I have placed a link to the full catalogue on my side bar if you are interested in seeing the other works that made up this fabulous show.  (check out page 5 to see what the Curator had to say about my piece)

a huge THANK YOU! to the organizing committee,  judges, volunteers and sponsors......these show can't happen with out them.

Going to Seed......continued

This is what I did to the pieces of wool to get a subtle, gradated look. I simply used some fabric paint and a sponge. I applied a darker shade of colour at what would be closest to the center and worked out to a lighter shade. I did this before cutting any of it into the final shapes.

Below, are some closeup shots to show details of the stitching. In order to keep the piece looking slightly darker and deeper at the center, I used progressively darker threads from center out with all of those tiny seed stitches.  Yes, it was a LOT of hand stitching but together with the paint, it definitely gave it the desired effect.

 those little raised, wool circles are about a 1/4" across in size and were cut using a paper holepunch

I created templates from paper wherever I needed to be able to apply elements, to ensure they all ended up in the same spot on each of the pieces.

Only the background and binding on this quilt is machine stitched, everything else is done entirely by hand...............sure is a good thing I enjoy hand stitching  :-)

"Going to Seed" - a few details

 "Going to Seed" is the quilt I designed and created to enter into this year's Grand National Quilt show. The show has a different theme each time and this year, it was "Local Colour" instead of depicting a local landmark, landscape or culture, I decided to"USE" local colour

This is the Artist Statement accompanying the piece:

We often overlook the beauty of a bloom as it fades-- no longer fresh, vibrant and full of energy-- but nurture that which has “Gone to Seed” to be rewarded with new emerging and exciting possibilities. The transformation is complete. This quilt is made up almost entirely of “local colour”, unwanted and discarded items, their beauty and usefulness gone, banished to the thrift store.

It all pretty much began with a few cotton remnants and a wool coat I found at a rummage sale. A few more cast off garments went into the mix along with some discarded belts and costume jewelry.

I dyed the fabric to create that inky night sky background, the rest of the colour pallete was dictated by the things I found, a terrific apple green jacket, a deep plum skirt, as well as a light blue, cream and tan plaid one.

here you can see what the elements actually are

and a look at the quilting in the background.

next time I'll show you what I did to that wonderful wool coat to get that gradated look along with a few more details.
 
It's Friday so I am linking up to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Fridays   featuring lots of inspiring artists to visit.

Grand National Quilt show 2013

Yesterday, the Grand National Quilt show "Local Colour" held it's opening reception at Homer Watson Gallery in Kitchener, ON. This is one of the few shows that I enter and was delighted to have been able to attend.

this photo was snagged from the Homer Watson Gallery's Facebook page

Have you ever worked on a piece for so long that you are no longer seeing the visual impact you once thought the work had?  That happened to me on this one, after spending hours and hours with this right under my nose, meticulously hand stitching wool to cotton, I suddenly was no longer certain it had visual appeal. Well, when I walked into the Gallery and with fresh eyes, saw this piece so beautifully displayed, I realized that it did indeed have the impact and presence I was striving for.

This piece is titled "Going to Seed". The Grand National Quilt show attracts works from some of the very best Canadian textile artists right across the country, it is a fabulous feeling to see your work hang among them so I am especially thrilled that Going to Seed received an honourable mention.

The show runs until June 23rd, if you are in the region, I hope you will take it in.....there are 3 rooms whose walls are filled with incredibly inspiring works.

Over the next few posts I will show how this piece evolved, it is made up almost entirely from items garnered at rummage sales and thrift shops. Until then, here are a couple of detail shots