I took a short break from the studio over the Christmas holidays, but as soon as we rolled into 2017, I was right back at my Hot Cross series with Iron Cross.

For Iron Cross, I wanted layers.  Not just the traditional top, batting, back layers.  I wanted more.  I wanted depth.  So I created mini quilts to stack on mini quilts to stack on the primary cross, using felt for batting.  Each of the minis was stitched to the next largest after quilting until the full piece was completed.

This piece rounds out the Hot Cross series and is meant to represent inclusion through use of all the colors in the spectrum.

To see all of the pieces in the series, please go to my Gallery page.  The first four in the series were a standard 18″ h x 12″ w.  The second four were completed in the cross shape with full pillowcase facings to finish and run a bit larger in size.

I really enjoyed working with shapes; I intend to fully incorporate “non-traditional” shapes into my art practice, which could be interesting as some things won’t lend themselves to a non-rectangular or non-square shape.  However, I always have to rebel against something, so I’ll rebel against “square”.  🙂

Constructive criticism and comments are always welcome.  Please share your thoughts!

Iron Cross (link to poem)

In other exciting news, a co-worker made his bi-annual trip home to India to visit family and he brought back a TON of fabric for me.  Silks and cottons, prints and solids.  It’s a glorious stash of art making material.  I’ll share photos in a future blog post.

In other even more exciting news, I’m getting a dedicated studio!  I’ve been using our dining room table, with supplies stored in the basement and both boys’ bedrooms.  In essence, the whole house has been my studio but we’re finally consolidating.  I can’t wait!!  Once I’m all set up, I’ll post about that too.

Next up: Airport Layout – Houston Hobby

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I finally returned to my Hot Cross series!  It was so pleasant to create art for myself rather than with the intention of creating for a specific exhibit.

Criss Cross is the fifth in the series and, frankly, I’m not satisfied with it.  I tried something a little different — no fusing, just strips woven together against a background.  As a result, the fabric, doing what fabric does, shifted.  I have this on my list of things to try again in different colors and with strips prepped with fusible backing to eliminate the shift.

Whether I’m satisfied or not, Criss Cross was worth making.  All experiments are worth undertaking.  Sometimes the lesson leads to a discovery of what you do not want to do.

Let me know what you think.  As always, constructive criticism and comments are welcome.

Criss Cross (link to poem)

Next up: Hot Cross 6 – a Celtic design

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When I posted the first art piece in the Hot Cross series, Crossroads, I requested input and constructive criticism.  I’m grateful for what I received.  My brother, in addition to his comments, also presented me with a challenge:

He wrote: “I’m hoping one uses mixed media of some sort to look like a rustic cross made from the wood in an old barn… Consider that a challenge put forth.”

To my mind and my eye, Rustic doesn’t look like wood or an old barn, but the colors are indicative of those weathered structures one sees when traveling down a lonely rural road.

Quilting away

Texture

Closeup

Closeup and texture

Rustic: The completed piece

Poetry label

This piece incorporates burlap, with burnt edges, and hand dyed cheesecloth (not mine…created by Frieda Anderson – http://www.friestyle.com/ ).  The burlap and cheesecloth were anchored with single cross stitches using hand dyed embroidery thread (also not mine…created by Laura Wasilowski – http://artfabrik.com/ ).  My Sweets suggested I extend the strip piecing beyond the edge of the quilt at the top and bottom of the cross to imply rough and rugged edges.

I’m not quite sure I like the final impact of those extensions, however, since this art piece began as a challenge from my brother, I incorporated Sweets’ suggestion as an additional out-of-the-box effort.

Please let me know what you think.  All input and constructive criticism is appreciated.

Rustic (link to poem)

Next up: A break from the Hot Cross series, but I’ll back to it soon.