More 12X12 quilts in the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection 8 09-17-23

The SAQA auction continues with the quilts in section one on offer at $750 starting on Monday 09-18-23.  The price goes down each day.

Here are four more 12X12 quilts that I added to the Collection in years past.  I think the first two are so interesting in their similarity since they were made by two different artists in different years, on opposite sides of the world and using different techniques.They have nice balance and values.  They hang nicely together.

"Breaking Through"  Polly Bech - Pennsylvania    2008

Cotton fabrics and threads.

Bleaching with leaves and grasses, machine applique and piecing, hand stitching. 

"Cloncurry Flinders Grass" - Sue Dennis  - Australia   2007

Cotton fabrics, thread.  Stamping  with leaves and grasses, machine applique, machine quilting.  Bleaching with leaves and grasses, machine applique and piecing, hand stitching. 

"Blue Bird of Happiness"   Deb MacKay- California   2014  12X12

Commercial cotton fabric and thread.

Fusing, machine applique, machine quilting, overcast binding. faced back.

In the corners Deb has used Sue Benner's technique of knotting all the threads from the machine overcast binding.

"Possibilities"  Deborah Boschert - Texas  2009  12X12

Cotton fabrics, paper, beads, sequins, cotton embroidery floss.

Fusing, machine and hand stitching, stamping.

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Actually sewing again! 01-05-21

I decided that I would just pick anything to sew.  Not worry about how it might fit unto the "agenda" of what is important.  First I mended some undies, about a ten minute task.  Yes, I do mending, it is just part of my DNA I guess - I have just always done it, by hand or machine.  

Then I took off the shelf a box with small quilts I purchased at the 2015 SAQA conference in Portland, OR.  There is always a written bid auction at the conferences and I do enjoy the action at those auctions.  So, I bid all over the place and came home with a dozen 8" X 6" lovely pieces for the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection.   Each one is a little jewel and came with a white mat making them about 10" X 8".  But I don't want framed pieces, so I removed the mats.  Nothing was ever said about finishing the edges of the little works of art, so some have very raggedy edges.  It has taken me all these years to find time to tidy up the edges and mostly do a tiny zigzag around each one.  Some are very nicely finished and don't require anything more.  These four are complete as is.  But all the others need a little tidying. 

"At the Market"  Terry Grant - Oregon 2015  6"W X 8"L 

Stitched from drawing placed on the reverse side.

"Roof Lines"  Geri Patterson-Kutras  - California  2015  8"W X 6"L

Fused with house edges finished using very fine machine blanket stitch. 

"Eucalyptus Leaf"  Sue Dennis - Australia  2015  6"W X 8"L

Sue intended this to be horizontal, but I much prefer it in this orientation. 

"What's Next"  Deb Cashatt - California  2015  6" X 8"

This is fabric with a button, a part from computer innards, and a painted broken arrow.  The label is the small piece on the right, but I don't know what orientation Deb intended.  I like it this way.  

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A Sue Dennis quilt from the Fiberlandia auction 06-28-15

Sue Dennis came from Australia for the Fiberlandia conference and I was glad for a chance to talk with  her.  I have one of her quilts in the Collection and admire her talent. 

For her leaf quilts she collects leaves on walks trough the Toohey Forest not far from where she lives.  She is attracted by the patterns of the insect eaten holes.   

 

"A Leaf" Sue Dennis - Brisbane, Australia  2015 8" x 6"

She uses Permaset Textile Ink which is used for screen printing, but it works well for her printing.  She uses Supercover white on the black fabric and then applies Misty Fuse to the black fabric, cuts around the margin and appliques with a zigzag machine stitch letting the zigzag fall into the background for a feathered look. 

 

She uses a zigzag stitch to free motion quilt around the background.  She calls this the "organic shuffle".  It is what I have heard referred to as "herky-jerky quilting" in the USA. 

The back fabric is an indigenous print and shows a simple but complete label.

 

Sue has a 12" square leaf quilt in the SAQA auction this fall.

 

www.suedennisartquilts.blogspot.com

www.suedennis.com

 

 

 

Quilt from TCQC by Sue Dennis of Australia 05-01-11

For the next month or so I will be showing quilts in the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection that were purchased from the SAQA online auctions.

"Concurry Flinder's Grass"  Sue Dennis - Queensland, Australia  2006  12"X12"

Cotton fabric, paint, machine applique and quilting.

Cloncurry is the name of a town and a shire in the north west of Queensland - the town has a population of less than 3000 and the main industry is cattle raising.
Flinders grass is a drought-resistant pasture grass (Iseilema membranacea) native to inland regions of Australia and used as fodder.

I am not familiar with Sue's techniques, but this appears to be printed on the background fabric with actual grass and leaves (eucalyptus) using paint of some kind.  The edges of the impressions are very crisp - I wonder how she achieves that.  She has used red thread to outline quilt some grasses and also added some free hand lines to emphasize the grass.
 

The three squares are made of the same red fabric as the binding and are very precisely stitched with machine satin stitch.

A very simple label that just gives the basics.

 

I'm not sure I would have purchased this quilt if I had seen this unique Australian fabric on the back.  I don't KNOW they are spiders, but they LOOK like spiders and have eight legs - br-r-r-r.  Spiders are about the only thing I am afraid of and I get a creepy little chill whenever I see the back of this piece.  Oh, well, I like the front enough to endure the creeps once in a while! 
Two people have commented that these insects are honey ants, not spiders, and they have a "history" in aboriginal folklore.  See comments. 
A comment from Sue tells me that the technique she used here is direct printing with the foliage. See comments

http://suedennisartquilts.blogspot.com/

http://www.suedennis.com/