magikquilter July 24th, 2008
This is a quilt I made in 2005 with upholstery fabrics. It was inspired by the Kaffe Fassett book Glorious Patchwork ….Page 115, where he had made a remarkable pair of curtains. The book may be available in libraries for people who do not have a copy. As this quilt only has 25 blocks it was quite simple to organise the fabrics. The main thing is to get fairly monotone fabrics.
I found a curtain panel remnant in spotlight which was the main influence in the choice of other fabrics. This quilt has wadding inside to make it soft and puffy and it was tied with crochet cotton and has the same fabric on the back of the quilt as the feature fabric. The quilt is quite rich in tones in real life and is now living with a friend that I met that year. When first was invited to her house I was astonished to find that her drawing room had little embroidered antique chairs in similar tones as wellas leather sofas in beige leather. After a few days I showed her the quilt and she petted and stroked it and went very quiet. Several days later I brought the quilt to her saying that it would be used in her home whereas it was simply in storage in ours. She took me shopping a few days later to buy enough fabric to make a new quilt and also treated me to lunch. The family have been told that the quilt is only for her, quite an honour as she lives in her house surrounded by quilts.
I am collecting fabric now to make the set of curtains as I love the drama and lushness of them…..dripping with fringing and positively gleaming with textures, getting excited thinking about it now.
Tags: Glorious Patchwork, hand made, monotone quilts, patchwork curtains, remnants
magikquilter July 23rd, 2008
Where do you find your inspiration? For me it is from a mixture of sources…magazines, flickr, art, fabric, pottery, china, fellow artisans, coloured glass beads, books, jewellery….yes everywhere really! I have started a group on flickr.…yes another one…..especially for all artisans to show photos of what sparks their creativity. Only today I saw on Kelly’s blog that she was inspired by Kirsten of Two Lime Leaves [they are also involved with our flickr groups] to make her wall quilt ….. thank goodness it is available for us all in this month’s Quilter’s Companion. Should think Kirsten has inspired a lot of people over the years.
Some say it is a God given gift …others that its in our DNA, what do you think? All I know is that I am becoming more inspired the older I get, and like a lot of over fifties there isn’t going to be enough time for me to do everything that I have in my head….not to mention in my storage area! Also I feel that I am much more creative now….wonder if that is because of a newfound freedom in the fifties or an inbuilt mechanism that kicks in as we age. Its fascinating and deserves some research.
I do know that my increased creativity now is a boon to me as it distracts me from nerve pain and enables me to see beyond the present circumstance. And its a great source of accomplishment to create something, makes it even more special that out of suffering comes beauty. We only have to think of the late Laurel Burch and many artists and composers over history, not that I put myself in their league. Anyway, here are some of the things that are inspiring me at present….my thrifted Calico china and some of my craft and art books. So, what is inspiring you?
Tags: Calico by Burleigh, creativity, creativity and the over fifty woman, God given creativity, is creativity in our DNA?, nerve pain, over fifties freedom
magikquilter July 21st, 2008
Finished this voile scarf which is backed with silk dupion in a splendid shade of fushia …it is just the right length to be worn with a brooch outside a coat or jacket. Thought it looked a treat against my cascading flowers book.
We went to see Batman The Dark Knight today to get away from the loud music and helicopters which were there again today because of WYD ….great film and interesting take on heroes and what it takes to do the right thing. Extremely well acted and an enjoyable break from the noise …although when we were waiting at the traffic lights to go to the cinema complex two helicopters hovered directly over our heads….for most of the walk….maybe the Pope was being shown the local beaches…they took him on a helicopter ride around before the Mass so maybe he was hovering over us!! Passed masses of pilgrims on the way back as they were having a party outside the Catholic Church…who knew youth were so spiritual…and so gorgeous!
Tags: Batman Dark Knight, blooms, book, handmade, scarf, silk
magikquilter July 19th, 2008
Primary Mermaid is a work in progress which I am almost finished. It incorporates a Laurel Burch panel in the centre which I have used several times before and has always been a great success. These works by the late Laurel Burch have an almost spiritual element I feel. Maybe it was the immense suffering which Laurel had all her life which has this effect or perhaps because she did not allow her condition to limit her talent or then again maybe the talent was intensified because of the suffering. Whatever the source she painted with an almost childlike delight and glee and incorporated elements of the fantastical as well as history, myth and legend. Her Mythical Horses are a special favourite of mine as she draws on Native American myths as well as Egyptian.
Because of the spiritual dimension to these quilts I often give them to people who are ill or lonely. They make a wonderful addition to the home and are available in two colourways and are still being distributed by Burch’s estate. I do not sell these quilts as commercial use of her fabrics I believe requires licensing.
Tags: illness, Laurel Burch, mermaid, primary colours, spiritual dimension
magikquilter July 19th, 2008
Bought some really cute tea towels in Target a while ago and shall soon have restyled them into something more useful. I prefer to let dishes dry in the air and use water that is so hot that it virtually steams them dry anyway. My husband does but he is not getting these beauties! I hate to see holes in cotton tea towels from knives etc…its heartbreaking! Photos coming soon!
Tags: design ideas, sewing with tea towels, Target
magikquilter July 14th, 2008
The inspiration for this set of beaded jewellery came from my totally gorgeous knitted boucle jacket which was an unusual purchase for me as it is unusual for me to buy a new garment especially when its not on sale or not my birthday or Christmas. This lightweight jacket has contrasting pewter knitted lace which is especially stunning on the sleeves which are gorgeously long and drape over the fingers in a sort of princess or witchy fashion.
I bought this to wear to my good friend young Daniel’s Barmitzvah although I ended up not wearing it as I thought that the dress code would be more sombre for the temple. Duh…my friend wore gold spangles and others wore bright colours so it would have been both tasteful and different as a lot of women wore suits. I ended up wearing a black skirt and a black with teal swirls knitted top with a teal long cardigan…nice but not as special as this. Think I shall wear it for our 25th wedding anniversary celebration in September…if we
get there that is!!!.
As I was going to wear this I felt that some special jewellery was called for and so I sorted through my beads and found only a handful in the colours of the jacket and realised I would need to buy a lot of beads to get the mix of these shades that I desired. Luckily our local shops have a good quality discount shop which stocks products from businesses that have closed and I was able to find some glass bottles of mixed beads and mixed packets as well. These had lots of different colours which were not in my colour scheme so I bought several packets of the smaller beads and two bottles of the larger ones so that I would have enough beads in these colourways. I really love the bronze and slate grey in these necklaces…would never have dreamed of that myself and also find that they soften the green beads which were much darker in shade than I usually use! For a while I was going to make three necklaces but settled for two as one sits nicely inside the other and they really dress up an outfit.
Tags: Barmitzvah, beading, dressing for temple, glass beads, knitted boucle jacket, necklaces, set of jewellery, where does the inspiration come from?
