"Eclipse" - Scrappy Improvisational Quilt

When my brother, Thom Atkins, visited last fall, he showed me (and a few quilting buddies) his new method for designing and constructing "scrappy improv wall quilts," a technique that turned out to be a lot of fun for me, especially given my long history with an improvisational, intuitive approach to bead embroidery.

Basically, what we did was to empty our bags or boxes of scraps onto a large table and start pawing through them, pulling out ones that appealed to us at that moment. For me it was all about color - red, magenta, fuchsia, with hints of pink, golden-yellow, orange, lavender, and dark green. All of the fabrics were in my scrap box. We had two days of Thom's demonstrations and guidance. During that time, each of us in our small group produced a unique and very pleasing "piece" or "block," measuring roughly 18 x 21 inches, the size of a fat quarter.

One of my red scraps, cut in a nice arc at one end, was the start of it all because I liked the shape and the color. Next I picked up a small strip of yellow, and held it behind the arc of red. Ooooh! Nice enough to repeat. The scrap of orange/red batik was large enough to cut a similar arc, and the strip of yellow was long enough to go behind that one too. These two arcs formed the basis of my piece.

You can see the two arcs above; the lower right was the first. The yellow strip was only about 3" wide, not enough to go all the way around the arcs, but I cut two shapes that would echo the top of each of the arcs. I layered the remaining scraps from that on top of the arcs along the vertical edges of the design. Then I put a dark green scrap behind the arcs and the yellow, which set them off nicely. The rest was just filling to the edges of the quilt with more scraps, including fussy-cut leaves and flowers.

The next step was to glue it all together along the 1/4" seam overlap, working in layers from bottom to top, and cutting away the excess fabric from the underside after each piece is glued. Cutting away the excess fabric leaves a double layer of fabric only at the seams; the rest is a single layer. The glue is Elmer's School Glue, Disappearing Purple, as shown below. It is an organic stick glue, relatively easy to sew through, repositionable, (in case you change your mind), and purple when first applied, drying to transparent (so you can see where exactly you are putting it).

Thom's method is a type of raw edge applique, typically accomplished with heat-fusible web, such as "wonder under." The typical method, given a complex, layered design such as mine, would have resulted in a thick, stiff, multi-layer surface, which would be difficult to quilt, even with a machine. In Thom's method, there is no web, and in most places only one or two layers of fabric. Like all raw edge techniques, the raw edges must be sewn down, and the resulting quilts are not very suitable for bed quilts unless there is heavy stitching over the raw edges (for example, dense, zig-zag, machine stitching).

After gluing my original (shown above) quilt top, I assembled the quilt, using a spray glue to layer the backing, batting and top. The next step was to stitch along the "seams," the overlapping, glued edge of each piece. From there, it was up to each of us as to how to finish the quilt, perhaps with machine quilting, such as stippling or contour stitches, or perhaps with beading, all of which Thom does on his quilts.

A couple of months went by after getting to the unfinished stage shown above. I liked it, but didn't know what to do with it, until one day when I was at our Senior Center, getting foot care from a trained nurse who comes a couple times a week to help those who need it. Her treatment room, about the size of a walk-in closet, has no windows. Her client faces the door to the room, a plain, wooden door.  "That door needs a quilt," I told her. The rest is history; my scrappy improv quilt, Eclipse,  hangs there now.

Only first I had to finish it. Above is the finished quilt, Eclipse. Below I'll tell you some of the finishing steps and about how I transformed it from looking flat and ordinary to sharp and textured using embroidery embellishments. Please click on the photo so you can see the details!

You might have noticed that the finished quilt is longer (better suited for hanging on a door) than the original piece. That was a challenge, although less than you might expect, because Thom had demonstrated for us how he sometimes extends the size of his quilts. In short, I roughly planned out the addition, the mock-up shown below, then created it using the same process and scraps as the original piece.

I used fusible "tape" made for butt-joining pieces of batting, to add a new piece of batting to the bottom edge of batting on the original (upper) part of the quilt. The horizontal strip of striped fabric overlaps the two parts of the quilt and the joined batting underneath. As you can see below, I added a fussy-cut flower over the striped fabric to break up the horizontal strip and visually join the two parts.

Confession time... I'm not good at machine quilting, and don't even have a proper quilting foot for my old machine (1972 Pfaff). I tried stitching around the fussy cut flowers to secure the glued edges, but failed miserably. What to do? Ah, hand-sew with embroidery stitches and floss? Yes! It took a few tries, but eventually I found stitch and thread combinations that worked.

It looked so good that I decided to add stitching and knots to the yellow arcs next. Wow! That popped the eclipse look! In the photo below, you can see bits of all the embroidery stitches I added. Not only does the embroidery provide embellishment and emphasis, it also further quilts the piece. Click the photo to see the detail and better read the stitch identification.

Here are two more detail photos of the finished quilt (without the text boxes).

Lots of fun, and I like the results! Will I do another one? Well, right now I've finally returned to my hexie project, where I'm likely to remain for many months, but after that, scrappy improv may be just what I need!

Brother & Sister: Both Quilters & Beaders

My brother, Thom Atkins, is a very talented quilt and bead artist!

He's written a popular book about how to make beaded quilts.

Recently he sent me a wonderful birthday present - a box of his scraps to use for making hexie flowers for my in-progress, hand-pieced, hexie quilt. Forty-nine different fabrics makes quite a stack of flowers.

Here they are again, this time arranged on a flat surface (click photo to enlarge for details). It's way fun to play with the flowers, re-arranging them in different ways, re-stacking them, and then spreading them out again.

All the while I was cutting, basting, and stitching these flowers I was thinking about Thom, about our history and our mutual love of stitching. I recognized most of the fabrics. One was in a quilt we made 19 years ago for our mom's 80th birthday. Some were from blouses, dresses, shirts he made for himself and his wife. Some were from pillows and other home decor he made for their home. Some were from his early quilts. Most of them brought up a ton of memories for me!

I always like (and sometimes love) things that Thom makes, and yet I've also noticed when we are in a fabric store together, we do not gravitate toward the same fabrics. I wouldn't have guessed that I would use almost every one of the fabric scraps he sent. There were a few that were too glitzy, had a stronger metallic look than I like. But 90% or more could have come from my own stash. That's how much I like them.... leaving me to conclude that we are more alike than I thought.

Here we are as kids... book ends.  Me 16 months older than him.

What's it like when brother and sister, close in age, are both quilters and beaders, both of us entering our quilts in shows, both of us teaching workshops and writing books?

Are we competitive?

A little, but not very much in my opinion. I admit to being a little "nervous" when he took up bead embroidery a few years after I make it the focus of both my art and my career. In artistic matters, he has a quicker learning curve than I do, rapidly achieving excellence in any medium he tries.

The fact that he likes bling and representational, while I like matte and symbolic, makes our work look different, which helps. We're also very different in our approach to quilt designing. While I am heavily influenced by traditional quilts, his quilts are all "art quilts." Most of his are heavily beaded, while mine are mostly not. Right from the start, he usually has a complete "picture" in his mind of what his quilt will look like when finished; whereas I rarely have a clue what mine will be like until I'm nearly finished with it.

Nor have we had issues with our teaching. I mostly teach beaders, emphasizing bead embroidery techniques rather than projects. He mostly teaches quilters, concentrating on methods for sewing beads onto quilts. There are enough teaching opportunities for both of us to accept as many gigs as we can handle.

What's the best thing about our mutual passions for beading and quilting?

Well, we talk on the phone for hours at a time about our current projects. Our conversations would bore everybody else in our families to death, but for us it's exciting to share our ideas, challenges, and victories. We do it often! It seems each of us has always respected the artistic sensibility and skills of the other. It's great to have somebody you can count on to say, "That's really wonderful," when you show them your latest work.

We also share information about photography, opportunities for showing our quilts, inspirations, promotion of our books, and countless other related things. We help each other to solve problems and to grow artistically.

It seems pretty ideal; was it always like that?

If you've read my first book, One Bead at a Time, available here as a free download, you know that Thom grew up favored to be the artist in the family, showing his talents at a very early age. My bend was more academic, although I had no clear pathway. After majoring in art in college, Thom rapidly became established as an artist. After majoring in English and psychology, I muddled around in a couple of careers for many years. I didn't discover my passion for beading or start to think of myself as an artist until I was 46 years old. Until then I always admired Thom's art, but didn't relate directly to him about it. I'm glad it is different now; glad we are both talented and creative... together!

Please Don't Miss This 5-Star Show!

From political to folk,

from traditional to way outside the box,

from peaceful to wild,

from beads to bicycle chain,

from whimsy to satire,

the current show at the La Conner Quilt Museum

has it all...

and

they're all created by men!

Forty-one incredible quilts, created by 15 highly-creative men from the USA, Holland, and Japan. I tell you, their quilts make me swoon, give me heart palpitations. The show runs until December 30. Please, don't miss it! The What-Where-When details are at the end of this post. Let's get to the quilts!

At the most out-of-the-box end of the scale is John Lefelhocz of Athens, OH, who uses the oddest materials to make quilts: sugar wrappers, match sticks, roof flashing, breakfast cereal, plastic bugs, and other assorted materials. If your mind says, "Impossible," take a look below.

Ms. Ing Links by John Lefelhocz, 59" x 35"

The pattern/design on this quilt is created by hundreds of painted bicycle-chain links sewn to the quilt top with beads. Do you get the humor of the title? (Hint: run the Ms. and Ing together.) All 5 of his exhibited quilts are examples of how much fun an artist can have mixing word-play and imagery. Each is a puzzle of wit, challenging the viewer to find all the jokes and meaning it contains.

Near the other end of the scale is David Taylor, of Steamboat Springs, CO, whose meticulously pieced and machine-quilted works are realistic without being "like a photograph." They are fiber and thread, yet somehow give us a good whiff of movement, dimensionality, and emotions found in real life.

Marmalade's First Snow by David Taylor, 47" x 35"

Marmalade's First Snow by David Taylor, detail

Up Up and Away by David Taylor, 42" x 52"

See what I mean by realistic, but not photographic? Can you feel the magic of looking up at a hot air balloon rising in the early morning air, and sense Marmalade's hesitation and intense curiosity about the snow? Wonderful!

Quilts by Shawn Quinlan, of Pittsburgh, PA, tell stories, calling attention to things that aren't quite right in the world around us, adding layers of humor and satire to the expected warmth of a fabric quilt. Being a tree-lover and a person who is a little ill-at-ease with Christmas, the quilt below really hits the mark with me. See the circular and carpenter's saws?

Homage to the Discarded Christmas Trees by Shawn Quinlan, 46" x 33"

Homage to the Discarded Christmas Trees by Shawn Quinlan, detail

Homage to the Discarded Christmas Trees by Shawn Quinlan, detail

Here's another of Shawn's quilts (4 in the show), one that expresses a number of complex thoughts about the political scene in our country's capitol. Check Shawn's website for revealing detail shots.

As My Daddy Always Told Me, "At Least the Democrats Will Throw You a Bone" by Shawn Quinlan, 48" x 29"

Next, let's look at two amazing works by Leslie Gabrielse, of the Netherlands, quilts that show just how expressive and painterly applique and hand stitched embellishments can be! Having spent 10 years of my life folk dancing, I am particularly drawn to the one below, the largest quilt in the show.

Portuguese Folkloric Dancers by Leslie Gabrielse, 118" x 92"

Portuguese Folkloric Dancers by Leslie Gabrielse, detail

Portuguese Folkloric Dancers by Leslie Gabrielse, detail

I am fascinated by the way his work reminds me of collage art, of layering papers, stamps, and paints. Of the four quilts by Leslie in the show, my second favorite is a portrait he did as a commission.

Karlee Abbott, by Leslie Gabrielse

While we're on the subject of portraits, how do you like this portrait of President Obama by Michael Cummings of New York, NY?

President Obama by Michael Cummings, 50" x 72"

Of this quilt, Michael says, "I wanted to play with his racial makeup....his father was black and mother white...that dictated my choice of colors in construction of the quilt. After that choice, I wanted to have some thought-provoking statements by famous people...statements that addressed issues in our society related to both democracy and racism. Issues that are alive and well today and that President Obama has to encounter as leader of our country." Of course, because of Micheal's excellent visual-communication skills, I knew all that, just from looking at the quilt.

Here's another one by Michael, this time a portrait of a place, obviously one familiar to him.

Mecklenburg County, NC by Michael Cummings, 72" x 96"

Mecklenburg County, NC by Michael Cummings, detail

My brother, Thom Atkins, found himself in very good company in this show, and his four beaded quilts add a wonderful contrasting element, a sparkle, to the mix. The two quilts below are my favorites among the four of his pieces included in the show.

The Man in the Window by Thom Atkins, 30" x 34"

The Ravens of Angel's Crest by Thom Atkins, 35" x 51"

Eight other quilt artists, who happen to be men, join those mentioned above, adding their own unique process and style to the mix. The whole, to my mind, is a luscious salad, its flavors delightfully complex and memorable.

But before I get to the show info, remember the teaser photo at the beginning of the post? That picture is a detail from the most jaw-dropping quilt I have ever seen. I mean EVER. And that includes all the thousands of quilts I've seen while teaching at various quilt festivals. It is THE most incredible quilt I've seen in my whole life. This isn't the greatest picture, but please click on it to see it full-sized.

Flow of the Seasons by Shingo Nakano, 87" x 80"

Shingo Nakano, of Japan, cut out over 16,000 little hexagon shapes from hundreds of different fabrics and hand-stitched them together to make double-ringed flower shapes. Arranging the pieced flowers so their colors suggested the flow of the seasons, he then hand-stitched them all together. Each hexagon is about as big as your thumbnail. Hand-quilting around each petal, completes this masterpiece of hand work.

Flow of the Seasons by Shingo Nakano, Summer-Fall

Flow of the Seasons by Shingo Nakano, Winter-Spring

If you follow my blog, you know I've been working on a hexie quilt (see here). Having already spent hundreds of hours on it, I can almost imagine the time, measured in years, it took to make this quilt. But the beautiful hand-work is not its only virtue. The fabrics and arrangement of colors send me into a place of inner calm, of beauty, of spiritual fulfillment. Thank you, Shingo Nakano for allowing us this glimpse into your inner world. If you like this quilt, wait until you go to La Conner. There are two hexie quilts by Nakano in the show! The second is even larger, with about 18,000 hexies. While you are there, take your time to study these two quilts; you won't see anything to compare for a long, long time.

What: Material Men: Innovation and the Art of Quilt Making
When: October 11 - December 30, 2012
Where: La Conner Quilt and Textile Museum in La Conner, WA
Hours: Wednesday - Sunday, 11 am to 5 pm; Monday & Tuesday by appointment
Exhibit Curators: Geoff Hamada and Kathleen Kok

Link to further exhibit information
Link to museum website

Have I been clear enough? Go see this show! Make time; find the moola; just do it!

Thom's Beaded Quilts - OMG!!!!

On Jan. 11th, my brother's first solo show opened at the LaConner Quilt Museum... 43 beaded quilts.... 10 years of work by Thom Atkins!!!! To say I am one totally proud sister is a drastic understatement.


I took a few pictures with my little point-and-shoot camera. And then the battery went dead. No spare. Good news, however... my beadiferous-fiber friend, Sweetpea's Path, also attended the opening and took pictures with a more advanced camera. She posted them here.


You can also visit Thom's website to see more. Better yet, get thee to LaConner.

There is NO WAY that any camera can capture the awesome totality of these quilts, beautifully displayed on the museum walls, full size, up close and personal.

The town is a fun, artsy town, with nice places to stay, eat and see. There's even a new quilt shop that just opened. The show closes on March 25, 2012.

The above pictures are detail shots of Monterey Seascapes. Be sure to click to enlarge these images so you can see all the beady details. You can see the whole seascape on Thom's website, on this page. I think the way he used beads to construct the various underwater flora is utterly amazing.


Most of the quilts in the show are for sale, although the prices aren't posted. There's a price list available in the Museum gift shop on the same floor as Thom's exhibit. I'm so pleased for him... two of the quilts, including the one shown above and below, Australian Dreamscape, sold during the artist's reception.


Here is a picture of Thom working on Australian Dreamscape in my studio during a visit in July, 2004. And here's where you can read more about it.


I bet you'll all be glad to know Thom's book on quilting with beads will be out this fall. I'll post a notice when it is available. The quilt below, which is one of my favorites, is on the cover. The title of the quilt is Tenuous Membrane and it's 25.5 x 43 inches. I love the colors and the harmony of lines!


Here's a detail shot. It's not on his website yet.


Another of my favorites is My Father's Shadow. Our biological father died in an automobile crash when Thom was 3 1/2 and I was just turning 5. I never thought of depicting our father in this way, but when I saw Thom's quilt I got a massive lump in my throat and a dense coating of goose bumps. It hit home, big time.


Here's a detail. The grass is entirely beaded. Here's the page for it.


They're all favorites... but one more for you, just a detail... Serenity lives up to it's name... lichen-covered rocks, with moss-covered bases, sit serenely in perfectly raked sand. This picture is just a detail, a teaser, because the whole is not yet on Thom's website. You'll have to go to LaConner to see it.