12X12 Quilts in Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection 7 09-13-23

The annual Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) annual fund raiser starts tomorrow, September 4, 2023.  There are almost 400 12"X12" quilts in  a reverse auction where the price drops every day.  Go to https://www.saqa.com/auction to find out how the auction works.  Go to  https://www.saqa.com/auctionview  to view  all the quilts, they are listed by maker's last name.  

For the last month of so I have been posting on my blog, images of the pieces I have successfully bid on in years past.  Go to www.delquilts.blogpost.com , look in the right sidebar and click on12X12.  The TCQC has over a hundred 12X12s from SAQA and other auctions, but I have just posted about 30 or so in this series.  This last post below are all bird quilts, which are my favorite subject.  

  

"Two Geese"  Els Vereycken  - Belgium  2011  12X12

The background appears to be a hand dye.  The geese are different white fabrics - bottom one is satin, the middle one is a sheer and the top goose is fine twill.   They are all machine appliqued using both straight stitch  and machine buttonhole,   Machine quilted.

 "In the Thicket"  Sonia Grasvik - Seattle, WA  2012  11.75" x 11.75"    Hand dyed and commercial cottons, silk thread, fabric ink pens.  Machine pieced, FMQ.

The lines on the left are narrow strips of fabric, fold and stitched into the seam.   The twigs on the right are satin stitch.   The bird is machine applique.

"From Above  - Crows"  K. Velis Turan - 2007   12X12

Cotton fabrics, cotton and rayon threads.  Dyed/painted, beads, metal embellishments.  Pieced border.

I especially admire the border - two similar sides and two wildly different sides.  The crows are applied by machine stitches.  

"Tillamook Rooster"  Terry Grant - Oregon  2009  12X12

Commercial cottons, Machine applique, Machine quilting. 

"Fish Dinner"   Sheila Gaquin - Washington   2018  12X12 

Commercial cottons.  Machine applique, Machine quilted. 

And a great back!

Although I usually choose realistic images, sometimes there are a few 
"original" birds that appeal.  Here are a couple "Wild Birds".

" Nite Song"  Nanette Fleischman   2009  12X12

An offset log cabin with a fantasy bird,

Commercial cottons, machine piecing and applique, machine  quilting.

"Taking a Break"  Lynn Welsch - New Mexico   2012  12X12

Such a happy, colorful quilt. Commercial cotton fabrics.  Machine appliqued and quilted.  I met Lynn in a Sue Benner workshop.  Such a nice person with a whimsical sense and good technical skills.

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Back to Blogging 11-20-22

It has been over two months since my last post.  But I am going to try to post every day as I always have in the past.  Where have I been and what has kept me from writing?  Lots of different things; major computer problems, health problems, depression, lack of energy, and so forth!  On Oct 12th I received three epidurals for the sciatica.  The previous shots were Dec 2nd, they wore off toward the end of July and the pain kept getting worse.  I'm not very good at decision making these days, so it took me some time to take action and schedule more doctor's appointments, which seem almost impossible to confirm,   So far the shots have helped a lot, but I still have the "electric tingle" regularly.  Have schedule another round of physical therapy.  After months of dealing with UTIs the urologist scheduled a MRI and found a kidney stone which required "blasting".  I did that, but the stone is still there.  It doesn't hurt, so she is holding off to see if it will dissolve. Had to have a tooth pulled and am scheduled for an implant next month.  And right now I have a cold - the sneezing, coughing, aching, dripping kind.  So far I have managed to avoid Covid.    I suspect this is more than you wanted to know, but I needed to explain what has caused my silence.  I have added new quilts to the Collection and this is Sunday so I will post one of the new additions.  

"The Noisy Neighbor"  Sonia Grasvik - Seattle, WA  2022  12"X12"

Commercial cotton fabric, cotton and rayon thread.  Pieced, Appliqued, Machine Quilted

Beside the blackbird/crow the doodling machine quilting is fanastic.  She has quilted each square separately, or perhaps she quilted a large piece and cut it into squares.  Various colors and weights of thread create a intricate texture.  

This was part of the SAQA 2022 online auction in October.  

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Quilt from TCQC - Sonia Grasvik 08-15-21

This is a repeat of a post from 2012 after I added this piece from the SAQA online auction in October 2012.  

This lovely little quilt from Sonia Grasvik is so evocative of  flocks of little birds in winter - even in SCalifornia.  They are so much more visible when the branches are bare - I watch them in the rose bushes outside my kitchen window. 

 

"In the Thicket"  Sonia Grasvik - Seattle, WA 2012  11.75" x 11.75"
 Hand dyed and commercial cottons, silk thread, fabric ink pens.
Machine pieced, FMQ.
Sonia wrote to tell me that all of the fabric in this piece is commercial cotton.
 

 
The bird and the briers are inked on the background and then the outline is sewn in black thread.  Or maybe the outline was sewn and then inked to fill in the black silhouettes.  The hand dyed background presents a hazy, damp, cold winter day.
Sonia  advises that the inking was done first and then outlined with YLI silk thread.

 
The tiny stripes are folds - like piping - and the background looks like those damp leaves and twigs that cover the wintry ground.
 

 
A nice matching label with all the necessary information.

I added the measurements in the upper corner because I need to know the exact size for when it is shown in a gallery or exhibit.  This is one of the few that are not 12" square.  
 

 
Faced rather than bound, Sonia has rounded the inside corners of the facing to make it lay flat and easier to sew.   I love having this 12x12 gem in TCQC. 

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Additions to TCQC 03-02-21

 During this past year I have added only a few quilts to the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection.   A few from the SAQA online auction in the fall and now there are three from the SAQA Traveling Trunk Show - 2016.  Every year there are several trunks of 10" X 7" quilts that are available to show what is happening in the quilt world.  They can be rented from the SAQA website and they travel all over the country.  At the end of three years these "quiltlets" are put up for sale.  I have purchased a few in the past, adding them to the "small quilts" section of TCQC.  When they travel they are in cello sleeves to keep them clean and have Velcro dots on the back of the sleeves to allow mounting on a fabric wall.  

I love scraps and use them a lot.  But I never thought of doing something like this. 

There are several Karen Rips pieces in the Collection.  I particularly like this one because of the variety of textures and lines. 

I know this Ikea fabric!  Sonia has used it in her unique way.  Like it a lot. 

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Some bird quilts on exhibit. 03-22-18

There is currently an exhibit of quilts depicting birds at Back Porch Fabrics in Pacific Grove.  I am always attracted to images of birds in quilts and just about anywhere else.  If you are in the area, especially to attend Empty Spools Seminars at Asilomar, do have a look.  There is a variety of techniques and styles and sizes, including Ruth McDowell's fabulous "A Rash of Flamingoes".   One of the great things about having a collection is sharing it with others.   

Here are some of the 12"X12" quilts in the exhibit, most are from the SAQA online auctions. 

Left to right and top to bottom:

"Red Hen" - Olga Norris/England (not in exhibit), "Walk the Line" - Doria Goocher/San Diego,CA, "Another Collector" (Magpie) - Diane Wright/Connecticut,  "The Crow's Story" - Olga Norris/England (not in exhibit),

  "Steller's Jay" - Terry Grant/Oregon, "Night Owl" - Judith Roderick/New Mexico, ,"Taking a Break" - Lynn Welsch/New Mexico,

 "From Above-Crows" - K.Velis Turan/New York, "Yellowheaded Blackbird" - Ruth Powers/Kansas, "In the Thicket" - Sonia Grasvik/Washington

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Sonia Grasvik quilt from SAQA online auction 12-16-12

This lovely little quilt from Sonia Grasvik is so evocative of  flocks of little birds in winter - even in SCalifornia.  They are so much more visible when the branches are bare - I watch them in the rose bushes outside my kitchen window. 
 

"In the Thicket"  Sonia Grasvik - Seattle, WA 2012  11.75" x 11.75"
 Hand dyed and commercial cottons, silk thread, fabric ink pens.
Machine pieced, FMQ.
Sonia wrote to tell me that all of the fabric in this piece is commercial cotton.
 

 
The bird and the briers are inked on the background and then the outline is sewn in black thread.  Or maybe the outline was sewn and then inked to fill in the black silhouettes.  The hand dyed background presents a hazy, damp, cold winter day.
Sonia  advises that the inking was done first and then outlined with YLI silk thread.

 
The tiny stripes are folds - like piping - and the background looks like those damp leaves and twigs that cover the wintry ground.
 

 
A nice matching label with all the necessary information.
 

 
Faced rather than bound, Sonia has rounded the inside corners of the facing to make it lay flat and easier to sew.   I love having this 12x12 gem in TCQC.