New Word

Here's the new word for November 15, 2010. Have fun!

TRANSFORMATION

Noun:

1. The act of transforming or the state of being transformed
2. A marked, thorough or dramatic change in form, appearance, or character, etc. especially one for the better
3. (mathmatics) the replacement of the variables in an algebraic expression by their values in terms of another set of variables; a mapping of one space onto another or onto itself; a function that changes the position or direction of the axes of a coordinate system
4. (linguistics) a rule that systematically converts one syntactic form into another; a sentence derived by such a rule
5. (genetics) the alteration of a bacterial cell caused by the transfer of DNA from another, especially if pathogenic
6. (politics, South African) ideologically driven government policy - becoming more conformant with socialist African national groupthink

Synonyms:

Metamorphosis, transmogrification, conversion, permutation, revolution

Verb:

Transform: alter, change, convert, make over, transmogrify

Migration Story: American Bittern

Although common in much of its range, the American Bittern is usually well-hidden in bogs, marshes and wet meadows. Usually solitary, it walks stealthily among cattails and bull rushes. If he senses that he's has been seen, the the bird becomes motionless, with its bill pointed upward, causing it to blend into the reeds. 


In other words, he "STRETCHES"...


This piece stretches the definition of a quilt.  It is made of two layers, not three.  The background is a vintage National Geographic map from 1959 which includes part of the range of the bird (New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Massachusetts) and the coastal town where I now live.  Collaged onto the map is a marshy scene of rushes and cattails made of fabric and thread.  The bird is made using raw edge applique, and the entire piece is machine quilted then framed behind glass.  For those who may wonder, the second layer of the quilt is a stiff interfacing:  Peltex 70.

Detail, Migration Story:  American Bittern

Migration, maps and birds have played a prominent role in many of my quilts lately.  I am glad to have added this "Stretch" to my gallery of quilts.

Stretch

Let me start by saying that I am very unhappy with the end result of this piece, although the exercise was great for me and it's the experience of the challenge that is most important. This theme was the most challenging by far for me. But that's the whole point, isn't it?

More importantly, I probably have more ideas to explore from this one exercise than any of the others we have done. It's hard to see that from the piece itself, but it's true. In the end, it was a great "stretch" exercise. It stretched my understanding and development of symmetrical quilts and pushed my toward some new directions. In the end it was good!

If you want information about the construction of this quilt you can find it on my blog.

Onward and upward......

surface tension

Seemingly like magic, the water strider skates across the pond as if on a length of stretched plastic wrap. Magic, it is not. In addition to his hairy legs which trap tiny air bubbles and act like life preservers; it is surface tension which allows him to stay afloat and stride so gracefully.

Digital Circles

My "stretch" entry is entitled Make Mine Mocha.  It's made from small pieces of natural fiber fabrics that were digitally printed with a manipulated image of discharged fabric, rearranged on hand dyed foundation cloth.  For more details on the construction, click on the link above to go to my blog post.

Since I've been working with digital images a lot lately, I decided to stretch the boundaries of what might be possible with a reinterpretation of a single digital image. 

Autumn Stretch

The theme of stretch prompted me to stretch back to simplicity. Many of my previous works were feeling overworked and too busy. I needed less, but to make less into more. This piece is simple and was a good exercise for me in KISS.

Autumn

20x16

Linen, dyed and discharged, silk dye and wax, silkscreening, stitching.

Canvas mounted.

Autumn closeup

---Mandi

Ebb and Flow

Funny how things happen. At the time the word was revealed for this challenge, I was feeling quite "stretched" and overwhelmed in terms of demands on my time. Since then I have taken steps to have more control over my time rather than allowing that control to outside influences. And that allowed me to look at "stretch" from a creative viewpoint. More on my blog.

Fiberaction

It's time for the reveal. This truly was a "Stretch" for me. The details are on my blog http://focus-on-fiber.blogspot.com/

My Stretch

I must admit that these last 3 challenges have been a real 'stretch' for me. For the last 4 months we have been building a second home in NC which is about 2 hours from our home in GA. My time at home has been limited but the flooring was put down last Friday so I may be back to a somewhat normal life soon!

For this piece I started with a fabric that I created about a year ago. I loved the colors but I thought the front was too bright so I turned it over and used the back. I just started adding layers of fabric and paint.


The green leaf on the upper left actually is made up of 11 layers including the quilting. Here is a closeup. The layers are: backing fabric, 2 layers of wool/cotton blend batting, background fabric, orange fabric, red felt covered with organza with designs created by using a soddering iron, green leaf, painted misty fuse, black tulle and finally the quilting.

One of the things that always takes me forever is deciding on how I want to quilt a piece so this is really where the 'stretch' comes in on this quilt. Usually for the background quilting I do some sort of all over consistent pattern. My crutch seems to be stippling.

After starring at this pinned to my design wall for an hour or so I decided to just start some real random allover quilting with no real pattern in mind. At first I thought I would just use clear thread in case I didn't like it but at the last minute I selected a variegated that I had never used before. In this closeup you can see the results.

Secrets of Old Trees

After several failed attempts to come up with a design for my "Stretch" challenge, I decided to try a new technique. The latest issue of Quilting Arts (Aug.-Sept. '10) arrived and I fell in love with the small woven foundation pieces of Jude Hill's story cloth. Oh, boy! Texture and hand stitching ... my favorite things!



This quilt proved to be quite a challenge for our group's required size of 16x20. Even with much basting and pinning, trying to do my hand stitching truly stretched my patience ... the background simply wouldn't stay still! This is definitely a process better suited to small, more managable pieces. Despite my many frustrations during the making, I love the texture of the finished quilt.



16x20 - various torn cottons ... some rusted or tea dyed, linen, lace, sari ribbon, silk organza, automatic writing, rusted leaf buttons, a few glass beads, perle cotton, hand stitched, free-motion machine embroidered tree.

fragments

"fragments" 16"x20" hand painted silk on stretched canvas

More details on my blog here.

Leaf Study- it's a stretch

I really wanted to stretch my creative muscles, & do something I had never tried before, so I got out my book by Rayna Gillman 'Create Your Own Hand-painted Cloth' , & (mostly) followed her directions on Gelatin printing. I didn't bother mixing dyes for the process, I used my textile paints, but the gelatin was fun to play with. I spent 2 evenings printing, using leaves & ferns from my yard.

I layered the squares & sewed & machine quilted them down in one step. The brown piece in the center is painted batting, & paper towel. After machine quilting I layered lots of hand stitches & a scattering of seed beads for more texture. It was a fun stretch!

Time to Go?

"Time to Go?" is my offering for the challenge word: stretch. I chose to stretch myself by creating limitations and, in so doing, challenge myself to stretch my imagination.

The limitations were: one piece of fabric, one color of paint, one embellishment and thread.

I cut a freezer paper stencil, painted with charcoal grey, painted the distant birds from an antique Japanese stencil with greatly darkened grey, machine stitched and embellished with antique, silk covered buttons.

I'm Fnished!

My "Stretch" piece is done & ready for photographing.  I'm actually not done early, I'm leaving for Michigan tonight, & wanted to include this in the ALCQ show Sept. 11 & 12, so I had to be done by today in order to deliver to my friend Margaret, to be hung in the show. I'm just a lst minute fool!  I'll photograph it this morning & load my pictures, ready to post on the 15th. I'm looking forward to seeing how everyone else "Str.r..rrretches"!