Structures -- My Buck List

Our world offers much travel and many tourist attractions. I have already been to a few places on my bucket list. Other places I hope to visit someday, and still more places will only be a dream. I'm glad to visit many places virtually and see online what I may otherwise never see.

My Bucket List -- 30"x40.5"

Do you recognize all the places?
Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, CA
Dignity, Chamberlain, SD
Petronas Towers, Malaysia
Space Needle, Seattle, WA
Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia
Big Ben, London, England
Gateway Arch, St. Louis, MO
Leaning Tower of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Great Wall of China, China
Petra, Jordan
Washington Monument, Washington, DC
Eiffel Tower, Paris, France
Brooklyn Bridge, NY, NY
Taj Maha, Agra, India
Colosseum, Rome, Italy
Christ the Redeemer, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
Statue of Liberty, NY, NY
Hoover Dam Bridge, Arizona / Nevada
London Eye, London, England

Detail

Stitching between the lines again adds more texture.

Darkening some of the stitching.

Tutorial on Balcony at Sunrise III

This is my piece for the annual SAQA Benefit Auction. I'm calling it "Balcony at Sunrise, III"

I'm often asked how I make my pieces.

Notice the piece on the left has heat-n-bond ironed to the back. The piece on the right is marked into a grid at 1.25" intervals.

I cut 1" patches from the heat-n-bond piece...

insert mov here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UgCuZ2zb2Y&ab_channel=JuliaGraber

...and iron them to the 1.25" gridded piece.

Then I lay the top over 2 layers of batting and the backing.

And now I'm ready for the background quilting.

Starting out.

Stitching down the silhouette.

The signed back.

Fiber Art Pieces 13 of 52

 Since the beginning of 2021, I have been trying to make or finish at least one piece of art a week. Here we are already 1/4th of the way through the year.

13/52 Balcony at Sunrise II

12/52 Zeke

11/52 A Special Prayer

10/52 The Millers II (back)

10/52 The Millers II

9/52 Balcony at Estill Springs

8/52 Plumes at Estill Springs

7/52 Balcony at Twilight II

6/52 Balcony at Twilight

5/52 Balcony at Dusk III

4/52 Balcony at Dusk II

3/52 Balcony at Sunset

2/52 Balcony at Noon

1/52 Balcony at Dusk

Gateway Arch

 Here's another piece I recently finished.

Gateway Arch

8"X10"

From this picture ...

... I made a line drawing.

Detail of the stitching and couched thread I used for the arch.

This piece went to a friend, Marilyn who is part of the Southern Fiber Artist group.

Friendship Oak

Friendship Oak -- 8"X10"

Detail

This live oak tree continues to stand in Long Beach, MS. It has a long interesting history that is recorded HERE.

I adapted the picture with a photo app, ironed it to freezer paper, and sent it through my printer and then ...

... quilted it. When it was finished it just didn't have the pop that I like in my quilts. So ...

I enhanced it with brighter fabric and Superior's varigated thread. Here you can see the difference the change made.

This is for my friend Rena.

Flipper -- SAQA Fresh Fish Project

"Flipper"

I made this piece for SAQA's Florida Fresh Fish Project. They asked for both fresh and salt water creatures for an exhibit at the 2022 SAQA Conference in St. Petersburg.

Detail

2020 MSC Artists' Showcase

The Mississippi State Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts will present their 2020 Showcase at the Mary C. O'Keefe Cultural Center and will be filmed for showing on social media. Frank Janka will adjudicate the showcase, and his comments on each artist's work will be included in the film.

I'm thrilled to have 3 pieces included in the exhibit.

Tower of Babel -- 2018

7.5"X10"

Tower of Pisa -- 2019

7.5"X10"

 Eiffel Tower II -- 2018

7.5"X10"

Eiffel Tower II

Eiffel Tower II -- 2018

7.5" X 10"

The Eiffel Tower is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. --Wikipedia

This piece answered the call to make a piece of fiber art referring to 'blue' and 'home.' "When Gustave Eiffel designed his namesake tower, he cleverly included a private apartment for himself where he hosted famous guests, like Thomas Edison. The apartment is now open for the public to tour." -- Wikipedia

I used "Google Street View" to find a pleasing view of the tower and saved a picture of the scene. From there I used an app to my liking and then printed it out onto fabric and free-motion machine stitched on top of the design. It is quilted with Superior Threads +/- 1/16th inch horizontally.

Detail

My first attempt of the tower was quilted +/-1/8th"

Celtic Solstice and En Provence

Life ...

I love the transparency and design of this dragonfly's wings.

... as a Quilter

I finished two Bonnie Hunter Mystery quilts. My sister Emily long-arm quilted them and then I finished them up.

En Provence

Celtic Solstice

Call of the Wild

... as a Quilter

I finished the challenge for dog/violet for our Southern Fiber Artist challenge. You can read about my process here.

Call of the Wild -- 8.75"x11"

$125.00

Back

"Howling is one of many forms of vocal communication used by dogs."

Flying to Indiana and Dog/Violet Challenge

Life ...

Paul and I had a quick flying trip to Indiana for his cousin Raymond's funeral. Joel was our pilot.

We stayed with cousin Benny & Miriam. She had this beautiful quilt for us to sleep under. I wished I would have asked her the story behind it.

Joel's girls continue to make good use of the steps and books.

 Ashton checking the pertinent things before getting started with field work.

Somehow he is growing up way too fast!

... as a Quilter

I've been working on a piece for our Southern Fiber Artist challenge for violet/dog. There are many decisions. Big vs. little.

Light vs. dark.

Quilting.

Big and light took the honors and then I added stitching to enhance the moon.