Saturday, September 16, 2006

A Nod to Autumn

It's a blustery Fall day here in Alaska, & it has inspired me to post some of my older autumn pictures, so I apologize if you're familiar with these things & don't want to look at them again, but autumn is my favorite season, & has inspired me to make several pieces.
This 1st one is made from hand-dyed wools, using natural dyes. My friend Kathy Jolman & I dyed all the wools over a span of 2 summers when we were living in Michigan, for my DH to go to school. After we moved back to Alaska, Kathy & her DH John, came in the early Fall here to visit, & while we spent 3 weeks traveling around Alaska together, I hand appliqued & hand quilted this little wool quilt.

The next one, is one I did, my last summer in Michigan. I made it in memory of my Mom & Michigan, & the neighborhood I grew up in. The brown fabrics are sun prints made from trees & bushes around the yard & neighborhood & yard where my Dad still lives. I hand quilted this with a sparkely thread, to look like frost. It's name is "First Frost", & the name of the street is Frost Street.

The next quilt started ou as a challenge quilt for Keepsake Quilting, but the rule was it had to be 30 x 30, & as I worked on it, I felt I had done so much work I didn't want to enter it, & I wanted to frame it differently from the 30 x 30 requirement for the contest. It's all hand applique, & hand quilted.



The next piece is "For Autumn Antie". It's all done by machine, when I first switched over to primarily all machine work, & I started this piece in a Caryl Bryer Fallert workshop in 1997. We were supposed to find a picture from a book or magazine for inspiration, & I knew the picture I wanted to use, but couldn't find the book as we had just moved back to Alaska, & the book was still packed away. My inspiration was a painting by Robert Batemen, & I'm glad I couldn't look at it, because my quilt looks nothing like the painting, & it may have looked a lot like it, if I hadn't been relying on my faulty memory for the inspiration piece.




Here are a couple of pictures for inspiring anybody who needs it. I love fall leaves. Both of these were taken here in Anchorage. The red is something we don't have a lot of, mostly we have golds.


These last 2 are my vest. I made it to use & highlight my Threadpainting, which is a class I love to teach.

9 comments:

Sandra said...

What a lovely testimonial to fall! Everything you have shown is beautiful and shows your fondness for the season. Thanks for sharing. May you have a LONG fall season and a short winter!

Rian said...

Great stuff--thanks for sharing. I really love the vest, it's gorgeous!

Micki said...

You have done a lovely tribute to fall. Beautiful vest. And a wonderful tribute to your Mother.

Melodie said...

OVERACHIEVER !!

Deb Hardman said...

For anyone who is concerned about Melodie's comment, don't be. She's my big sister, & she loves me :)

Melodie said...

Yes, I love you Sissy!

Ali Honey said...

Deb, Saturday and Sunday here were incredibly blustery here to - Spring blustery..... trying to knock the blossom off my Cherry trees. I like to think that our Seasons are opposite and we each get an equal turn at all 4. I have never lived anywhere as cold as Alaska so find it different and fasinating. Enjoy your Autumn colours.

Emmy said...

lovely your work and the words
thanks for sharing

Jules said...

The thread painted tree is gorgeous. In fact, the whole vest is.

I so recognized that as a big sister comment. I have a big sister, myself. And I am a big sister, so I make smart aleck comments like that, too.