Artimagus the Adorable or Arty for short

By on 1-28-2010 in Original Quilts

Arty is a little dragon who blows bubbles rather than breathing fire and is adorable. The White Knight of Flowers found him sleeping and blowing bubbles under a sunflower hiding from the Black Knight of Shadows. You can read his story below. The arm was scanned from an ad and the little dragon came from a free Dover image from an old storybook. Photoshop allowed me to make them one.

Artimagus the Adorable

This is Arty’s story. Before I had finished the piece he was whispering in my ear, telling me who he was and all about him. If you ever see a sunflower field, stop and watch for the bubbles floating by …. it will be the White Knight of Flowers and his companion Arty. Don’t forget to say hello.

Artigamus the Adorable story

This little fabric collage was created for a swap on the Art For the Creative Mind Yahoo Group. If you like swapping and are working with mixed media come on over and take a look. The link is listed on the side links.

Catnip Capers …. a summer quilt of kitties playing in the sun

By on 1-28-2010 in Original Quilts

Catnip Capers was done for a woman who truly is the mother of these cats. Her favourite flowers are sun flowers and I thought what better than to put the cats in a sunflower garden enjoying the sun on a hot hazy day. The butterflies and dragonflies along with ladybugs are all present on this summer noon along with a hazy sun directly above. The cats are playing and rolling in the grass with one (there’s always one) looking down on them with humour.

catnip capers

These cats started as embroidery outlines. I painted and coloured them in Photoshop using a Wacom Bamboo tablet. Once they were fully drawn and coloured in I used filters to give them a soft furry look. The sunflowers have stuffed middles along with some of the petals that have been sewn down onto the quilt background. Other petals are double sided giving the flowers a 3D look. The stems are twisted cord, ribbon and embroidery floss. Large leaves were cut and sewn with a raw edge and then fray stop was used to keep them from fraying. The brown-eyed susans have button middles and the flower petals are simply a piece of gathered strips that has been cut with a pinking blade and doubled. The chickweed flowers were made on a daisy loom with ribbon and seed beads sewn for the centers. The little forget-me-nots are made with dark silk from men’s ties and mauve lame. Simple small yoyos turned backward and sewn down with more seed beads. The dragonflies, butterflies and ladybugs are buttons and embellishments. This quilt was an absolute joy to make from start to finish.

Fantasy Quilt….”Camelot rising through a misty dawn”

By on 1-28-2010 in Original Quilts

Camelot in a misty dawn

Another challenge quilt with the Valerie Hearder Landscape Quilt Yahoo Group….what fun to do. The willow in the quilt was created in honour of our fallen weeping willow. It fell so hard this winter it has ‘drilled’ itself into the winter earth. I created the willow branches using untwisted poly/cotton strands. I tripled a strand, tied a knot in one end and then sewed each strand by hand onto the tree trunk. It took over 14 hours of work. I also couched the strands down with matching thread to keep the branches from spreading outside the working area. Although it was time consuming I think it was very successful….it does look like a willow tree. I also used ribbons, chain link, lace, crocheted cord, beads as well as watercolour pencils to add to the ‘fairytale’ look of the quilt.

Colourful Buildings of the World

By on 1-28-2010 in Original Quilts

colourful buildings postcards

The first cards are from an exchange last fall…..colourful buildings. The theme was chosen after Valerie Hearder posted some photos from her holiday in Mexico. The buildings were fantastic. Then the on-line conversation drifted to Newfoundland and the other Eastern Provinces where they also have such pretty and uniquely coloured homes and other buildings. A new postcard exchange was born. The second group of cards are my first and second that were created for my first two exchanges. Also included is an Ottawa bicycle path, you can see the parliament buildings in the background and the 2009 Christmas card that I sent to family and friends. What a wonderful way to quilt.

2009 postcards

Redwork Snowmen…..meet Freddy, Albert and the Snow Family Village

By on 1-28-2010 in Original Quilts

Freddy and Albert Quilt

This little redwork quilt is 22″ x 23″. Freddy, Albert and the snow family village are all original sketches. The village has “Snowmen are communities of little flakes”. These fellows were just bursting to get out so here they are. I embroidered the snowmen on diaper flannelette to give them a ‘snowy’ feeling using mostly chainstitch and French knot stitches. The quilt itself was sewn on the serger…. no little bits of thread to worry about and the seams were absolutely straight. You can download Albert here: Christmas in July and here: Christmas in March