It's Pinned!!!!!!

Just wanted those that don't quilt or those that may want to experiment with machine quilting to see how the three layers are  sandwiched together. I'm finally ready to quilt.Whew! Safety pins used for quilting have a curved side so it can easily go through the three layers without the fabric and batting gathering once the pin is clipped. When machine quilting the three layers together, the pins are removed as you approach each one. I baste my sandwiched piece with pins when I am getting ready to quilt it because I try not to leave the pins too long. I find that holes can be left in the cloth when the pins are removed; depending on how tightly woven the fabric. Now is the time when I choose the color thread. I am still thinking about whether I want to use a solid color or a variegated one. I've got loads of thread. I am ashamed to say  that I almost have just as much thread as I do fabric. Thought I'd get to begin quilting tonight, but, looks like that is not going to happen.Gotta get ready for tomorrows class at the college. I will be teaching my students how to cut templates and hand applique'. That should be fun; wink, wink.

Time to Sandwich, Pin and Quilt

I decided that the quilt top needed a border. I had no intention of putting a border on this piece, but it was calling for one. For those of you who are non- quilters, we quilting folks have very special relationships with our fabrics which ultimately become quilts. Each peice of fabric becomes almost like children to us and no matter how much fabric that we have in our stash, we  remember each one and know when a piece of fabric has been moved to another space.  I piece most of my quilt borders. .......and as I mentioned in an earlier post, I quilt in phases too. I will quilt what you see, then add the hearts(cut out from one the bandanas we had to use for this project) which will serve as leaves and all of the women that will dance at the tree of life. When basting my quilts, I use quilters safety pins since I machine quilt. Between you and me, I'll use straight pins if that's all that I have access to at the time.:-) Now on to pulling a piece of fabric for the backing, finding some batting (cotton of course) to use for the finishing of this quilt and beginning the quilting for Phase III

Phase III Begins

Before leaving for the Fall Festival with all of my daughters and grand, I began auditioning fabrics for the female images in my quilt. I decided to put four women in the quilt; each representing one of the four parts of the world, North, South, East and West.The colors have nothing to do with the parts of the world; just personal preference. I usually don't dress the women or put hair or features on any of them. I leave it to the imagination of the viewer to decide what that think each woman looks like. I'm still cutting more words to add somewhere on the piece. One of the bandanas had a number of hearts printed on it. I have cut countless hearts which I will use as leaves. Another one of the bandanas had a number of the symbol for women. I think that I might create a banner of some sort, with inspirational words cut from the bandanas. thatthe words will seem to be floating in the sky like a cloud. I'll decide all of that after I sandwich the quilt (layer the top, batting, and backing together [for my friends who don't quilt]) and stitch the tree to the sandwiched piece. I'm going to sew all day tomorrow...at least that is what I am planning.

In the Process Part II: The Canvas (Yeah!!!!!!!!)

Okay, a huge part of my process when quilting is making the foundation or the quilt top as the background or canvas. I machine applique' A LOT on my quilts. Sometimes there are touches of hand applique',  like the curved yellow patches in the top center and left. They are left over pieces from a quilt that was totally hand appliqued around 2002.... I think I was going through some soul searching then.LOL....but for the most part, I machine stitch everything. I also quilt all layers together at the same time. Yes...I quilt the top, batting, and backing together along with everything that I have appliqued on the top at the same time. Sometimes there are up to six layers. I always said to myself, "Self (LOL)....why stitch the applique' pattern pieces onto the top then restitch or quilt everything together AGAIN?" So for the past twenty years, I have been stitching all of the layers together at once. Saves me time, thread and I love the look.

So....I've finished my canvas which always has some piecing in it. I am a fan of traditional and improvisational quilts. Both types, I believe are synonymous with one another.  My points will not always be evident (to me points don't always make a great quilt), you will rarely find African fabrics used in any of my quilts (I'll tell you about that later on) and there will either be an obvious border or NOT. ,.......and, unless I am using striped fabric for the binding, I make a straight grain binding. I love the look of stripes on the bais.

I've used three of the tools by Darlene Zimmerman. The 12 1/2" x 6 1/2"  ruler, the 45 degree triangle and the Flip and Set. The Flip and Set got the Myrah Brown Green treatment.:-) In quilter's lingo that means: I couldn't figure out how to use the thing so I used it the way that I thought made sense. LOL!! Once my canvas or foundation or quiltop as background is complete I begin to dress it with all of the wonderful applique' images in preparation for anything else that I might add after Phase III is complete.
On to Phase III

In the Process!!!!!!

Been working on a quilt for the past couple of weeks. An aquaintance asked me to create it. Although I knew that I was very busy, I decided to squeeze it into my schedule. I didn't realize how maticulous I am until I was in the middle of cutting out the words on the bandanas that were required to incorporate in the quilt. I decided to go with a quilt that will become a part of my "Dancin' at the Tree of Life" series. The theme of the quilt is for breast cancer awareness. I wanted an upbeat quilt look and of course Boa Boa trees are always my comfort zone. The thought of women dancing and celebrating at the African Boa Boa tree(where ancestors have also been known to dwell) would fit perfectly. Oh almost forgot to mention, we had to incorporate the use of these rulers designed by a woman named Darlene Zimmerman. So I am using the rulers to create the background (sky, land etc.). I am more of a free spirit when it comes to cutting fabric for quilts. I usually decide on a size of the fabric patch based on the fabric that I want to use, then build everything around it. I am still trying to stay true to my game LOL by alternating various lengths of cloth even though the tools must be used; keeping the quilt to about 24" X 24" square. Let's see what the final verdict will be. Whew........ I love the quilt process!!!!

Its Me Again

                                          
                                           Top: Afro Blue c 2006     
                                          Bottom: Requiem for Dada  Luka c 2006

I find that I have become quite comfortable with how I relate to Art. My spirit is free to express what I see and relay what I process. Each day I get closer and closer to finding that one thing that unlocks the door to that artistic journey that will pull me across the threshold, lead me through color and balance and contour lines, then take me to that wonderful place where a special collection of quilts will be born. Until then, I will meditate while gazing  into the fiber of those that I have already given birth.

Voices of Art

Remembering what a wonderful show that I had with the Weusi Artist. Dindga McCannon, MlJ Johnson, and Robert Daniels graced us with their masterful presence on my radio/web show at WHCR 90.3 FM at the City College of New York. How humbling of an experience it was to reach out to so many people around the country.