SAQA annual benefit auction starts soon – 2023.09.09

Posted on September 9, 2023 by TerryAske

SAQA’s 2023 Benefit Auction will take place online from September 14 through October 8. The auction has a dual purpose – to increase the recognition of quilts as art and quilters as artists, and to raise funds to support SAQA’s exhibition programs and education outreach activities.

With 380+ pieces of beautiful artwork available for bidding, there is something for everyone to enjoy! These artworks have been donated by SAQA artists from around the world. You can see them all on the SAQA website here. Think about which you might want to bid on when the auction opens on September 14th. Or just enjoy browsing through hundreds of mini works of art!

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My entry this year is ‘Aqua Flow‘. I made this last December for a Curated Quilts mini challenge. It wasn’t accepted, but I am happy to donate it for the auction. You can read about my design and construction techniques in this post.

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This is my eleventh SAQA auction quilt! As you can see, I like to mix it up and use a variety of techniques.

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I’m linking up with Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday, where you’ll find many other creative and inspirational projects.

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Variations on a theme – 2023.08.26

Posted on August 26, 2023 by TerryAske

I have been working on a trio of art quilts in complementary tertiary color pairs (yellow/orange with blue/violet, yellow/green with red/violet, and red/orange with blue/green). I love tertiary colors, but I always want to to use ALL the tertiary colors, not just a pair of them.

Later this month, I’ll be heading to Penticton BC for the annual conference of the Fibre Art Network.  As usual, we will have an artwork exchange.  The theme is ‘Anything Goes’ and the only criteria is the outside perimeter or circumference cannot exceed 40 inches.

I decided to use the same pattern I created for the trio of quilts, reduced to 10 x 10 inches, and include all the tertiary colors on a background of black felt. As I love a scrappy look, I divided the pattern in half, so I could include 2 fabrics of each color.

I started in the center with yellow/green, then following the color wheel counter-clockwise, I added yellow/orange, red/orange, red/violet, blue/violet, blue/green and finally green/yellow. I know that last one is really the same as yellow/green, but there are only 6 tertiary colors and my design has 7 sections. So I used my favorite color twice – in the center and on the outer circle.

This came together quickly, as I already had a lot of tertiary fabrics out for the other project.

Here are a couple of progress shots. I cut most of the fabrics on the bias so the straight edges would be less likely to fray.

building from the center out
trim slightly inside the marker lines

It is important to remember not to set the iron on high, so as not to melt the felt! I set it at medium, use a press cloth and keep the iron moving. This seems to be hot enough to set the fusible without shrinking or melting the felt.

Here is ‘All the Tertiary Colours’, just under 10 x 10 inches. I’m not sure which way should be up, so I positioned the label diagonally. I will include a couple of my hanging clips rather than sewing on a sleeve.

I really like this, and I think I will make one for myself.

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I’m linking up with Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday.

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Circles workshop in Victoria – 2020.08.24

Posted on August 24, 2023 by TerryAske

Last week I travelled to Victoria BC to do a presentation and workshop for the Victoria Quilter’s Guild. The presentation was mostly a PowerPoint slide show, plus I brought some of my smaller quilts to show.

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The Circles workshop was the first I have taught since Covid, and it just as fun for me and the participants as I remembered. Here are just a few of the circle blocks made by participants during the workshop.

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Victoria is one of my favorite cities to visit, partly because it beautiful, yet quirky, and partly because I have family there. Here a few of my favorite photos from my visit last week.

  • From the bounty of my sister Anne’s garden – applesauce-fig concoctions with coconut cream, garnished with figs, white and red raspberries and currents.
  • Garden trolls.
  • Lovely little library.
  • Ubiquitous deer in a parking lot.

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  • Anne’s garden of hobbits, gnomes, dragons and other mythical creatures.
  • A music fest at a small neighbourhood park.
  • Wandering the Inner Harbour area in the evening.
  • BC Parliament Buildings lit up at night.

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It was a wonderful week, and I plan to visit again soon.

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I’m linking up with Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday.

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SAQA virtual gallery: Body Language – 2023.08.08

Posted on August 8, 2023 by TerryAske

I just realized that I had never posted about this!

In January 2023, SAQA announced a call for a new virtual online gallery: Body Language.
This is the theme: “We not only speak with our voices but also with our bodies. It is estimated that 60% of communication is visual. Our nonverbal expressions, such as a raised eyebrow, a waving hand and crossed arms can convey many different pieces of information. From subtle motions to expressive gestures, these unspoken pronouncements add depth to our stories. How can you use body language to inspire and enhance your work?”

The selected artists were announced in March, but the gallery didn’t go online until April. I got focused on other projects, and never posted about this (although I did post on Instagram).

I submitted ‘Gone Sailing’ and I’m honoured to have it included in this collection.

The Body Language online gallery (thumbnails below) can be seen here on the SAQA website. You can click on any square image to launch the slideshow.

There are some wonderful artworks in this collection curated by Fuzzy Mall. On the SAQA site, be sure to click See Details under each image to find out more about each piece, including additional images and artist statements.

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Midas Touch mini quilt – 2023.08.06

Posted on August 6, 2023 by TerryAske

I belong to a local group of fibre artists called FYBR 2RT. A recent challenge, called Midas Touch, was to use gold foil in a 12 x 12 inch quilt.

I haven’t used foil much in the past, so a lot of experimenting was involved. I wanted to use fusible web to adhere my foil because I thought it would give a crisper line than glue. Here are some of my experiments. I found that if I applied the foil twice over the fusible it gave a more solid result. I used Steam a Seam for my design.

Here’s the finished piece – Untitled for now. Two of the quadrants have foiled square spirals. The other two square spirals are stitched with gold thread. The edges are straight-stitched three times with black thread.

Here are some of the techniques I used.

I cut a black piece of fabric 13 x 13 inches, and applied 2 square spiral designs cut from paper-backed fusible. I pressed them to the background fabric, then removed the backing paper to expose the fusible web. The next step is to press the foil (shiny side up) to the fusible, using parchment paper to protect the iron.

I did minimal quilting, just around each spiral with black thread. I had to cover the foil while quilting, as the bottom of the presser foot sticks to the foil. I experimented with tissue paper, then Solvy Tear Away, then Pellon Tear Away. They all left little bits under the stitches that need to be picked out with tweezers, but the last one was the easiest to remove.

In the other 2 quadrants, I added stitched spirals. I drew the shapes on freezer paper, pressed it in place and quilted around the freezer paper with gold rayon thread.

I’m not sure if I will use foil much in the future, but I’m glad I experimented with it, and that I recorded my techniques for future reference.

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I’m linking up with Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday.

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Posted in Art quilts, Mini quilts, Tutorial | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Tertiary complementary colours – 2023.07.31

Posted on July 31, 2023 by TerryAske

I’m working on 3 pieces for an upcoming exhibit organized by my local fibre art group FYBR 2RT. This exhibit has a number of interesting requirements.

  • each piece will consist of tertiary colour pairs (yellow/orange with blue/violet, yellow/green with red/violet, and red/orange with blue/green)
  • the design will be based on/inspired by the Golden Mean and/or the Fibonacci Sequence
  • each piece will be 20 x 20 inches

My design: I played with a lot of ideas, and eventually created a design in MS Paint with nested circles. The diameter of each circle is based on the proportions of the Fibonacci sequence – 1,2,3,5,8,13,21. Then I divided the design vertically, using the Fibonacci proportions – 1,2,3,5.

Techniques:

  • I printed my design full-size, then traced the pattern lines onto paper-backed fusible web. I used a thick marker, then cut the pieces apart right down the center of the marker line (leaving a bit of marker on each piece).
  • I cut a 22 x 22 inch piece of felt in one of the tertiary colours for the background.
  • Fused the pattern pieces to various fabrics in the two tertiary colours. Trimmed the fabric pieces slightly inside the marker lines to leave a bit of the felt base showing between each piece as ‘grout lines’.

Here is my first piece – yellow/green and red/violet.

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Initially, I thought I would create 3 different designs – one for each piece. But I like this design so much, I decided to use it for all of them, and let the colours and values be the differentiating features.

Here is the initial fabric selection for the second piece – yellow/orange and blue/violet.

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I’m linking up with Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday.

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Posted in Art quilts, On my design wall | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Skinny strips, how I make them – 2023.07.29

Posted on July 29, 2023 by TerryAske

At the June meeting of the Vancouver MQG, members displayed mini quilts made to celebrate our Guild’s 10th anniversary back in 2020. The theme was TEN, using only our logo colours and the size was 10 x 10 inches. The mini quilts were intended to hang at the VMQG 2020 showcase. Of course, there was no showcase that year. So we showed them at the June 2023 meeting, when we were celebrating the guild’s 13th anniversary.

These are my mini quilts. Click here for more information about how I made them.

On a recent blog post, one of my readers posted a question “At the VMQG meeting your mini quilt celebrating the guild’s 13th anniversary with the narrow white strips…can you blog on the technique for keeping those strips so straight and even?”

Here is how I insert skinny strips – I cut my strips 1/2″ wide. I sew the first seam just under 1/4″ from the edge, and press. For the second seam, I position my fabrics with the skinny strip on top, so I can see the first seam line. I position the needle 1/8″ inch away from the first seam and sew the seam.

Here is the front and back view of a little sample I made with an 1/8″ skinny line.

skinny line – front
skinny line – back

I don’t have any step-by-step photos of the process. But this tutorial by Kathy Loomis has a lot of great instructions and photos. http://andthenwesetitonfire.blogspot.com/2012/06/piecing-very-fine-lines.html

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I’m linking up with Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday.

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New West Textile Art Exhibit is open – 2023.06.11

Posted on June 11, 2023 by TerryAske

Our exhibit was hung on Thursday, and we opened on Friday morning. The gallery was open Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We’ve been very pleased with the number of visitors. We will be open again next weekend – Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The venue is lovely – brightly lit and very spacious – about 55′ by 55′. It’s impossible to get a photo of the whole space, but the photos below give an idea.

Below are photos of each artist’s work – but this is only a small sampling of the artworks we each have on display.

Judy Villett artworks
Trish Graham artworks
Terry Aske artworks
Judy Leslie artworks
Terry Rammel artworks

I am very pleased with my curtain clip hanging system, described in my previous post. Below you can see a 36″ wide piece hung with 3 clips – so much easier than wrestling with a 36″ rod. All of the smaller pieces – up to 20″ wide – are each hung with 1 clip.

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I’m linking up with Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday.

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Posted in Art quilts, Quilt shows | Tagged | 4 Comments

My art on display and a new hanging method – 2023.06.05

Posted on June 5, 2023 by TerryAske

I will be part of a group of local textile artists exhibiting in New Westminster in June, at the popup gallery location at Columbia Square.  Collectively, our techniques range from piecing and collage to dyeing, weaving, embroidery, quilting and surface design.    

Location:  I Heart NW Community Space in Columbia Square at 78 10th Street, Unit 103

Opening Reception: Friday, June 9,  5 to 8pm

Gallery Open: Fridays to Sundays (two weekends)

  • June 9 – 11,  11am to 5pm
  • June 16 – 18, 11am to 5pm

As I have been preparing for the exhibit, I realized I have about 25 small/mini quilts (from 8″ x 10″ up to 14″ x 14″) that I would really like to display.  However, many of them do not have sleeves, and I didn’t want to spend hours sewing and attaching sleeves.  I came up with an idea I really like, so thought I would share it. 

I am going to hang each one with a 1″ curtain clip, hanging on a nail or a clear push pin.  This is going to work with my long skinny quilts (12″ x 24″, 16″ x 36″, etc.) too. As long as the clip is in the center, the quilts hang straight and flat against the wall. And, if I nudge one, it straightens itself.  I think I’m onto something here!

I do have some wider quilts that will probably require rods in sleeves, but first I’m going to try using 2 of the clips because I really like the look.

When the show is hung on Thursday, I will post photos of the display.

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I’m linking up with Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday.

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Signs of Spring – cherry blossoms – 2023.03.07

Posted on March 7, 2023 by TerryAske

This year I really left this to the last minute! February 28 was the deadline to submit entries to the annual textile art exhibit Cherry Blossoms: A Textile Translation which will be on display in April at the Silk Purse Arts Centre in West Vancouver.

Early in February I started playing with fonts to use to make a banner style quilt. I decided to use ‘Gill Sans Nova Ultra Bold’ for the word Cherry, and ‘Verdana Pro Black’ for the word Blossoms. I printed them at point size 600 and 400 respectively, and arranged them on my design wall. I cut the letters from a variety of pink fabrics.

On the weekend of February 25-26, I started auditioning green fabrics for the background. It wasn’t until February 27 that I finalized my fabric choices. I unpinned the letters from the design wall and fused them to the background. As you can see, I changed the orientation of the word Cherry.

The letters looked so pretty on my white table, I couldn’t resist posting a couple of images on Instagram before I fused them and started quilting.

Fortunately I had the entire day to spend on the quilting and finishing steps. I quilted vertical straight lines in green and horizontal in pink, turned the edges to the back, took my photos, wrote my artist statement and submitted my entry (whew!)

Here it is – ‘Signs of Spring’ – 16 x 36 inches.

And today, I was notified that it has been selected for the exhibit, which will be on display April 5 to 30 at the Silk Purse Arts Centre in West Vancouver. And there will be an online Opening on Thursday April 6 from 5 – 7 pm Pacific.

Posted in Art quilts, On my design wall | Tagged , | 1 Comment