Song Bird- "White Peacocks"

The quilt was made for an online Song Bird challenge for the group, Art Quilts From Around The World. 

 I was so impressed when I saw several stunning, unusual white peacocks in person. I have made several peacock quilts with blues and blue greens. Creating a white peacock was new to me. I added beads and sequins to its feathers and used tone on tone cotton and satin fabrics.                                                                                                                                                                                   

The challenge song is the White Peacock Song by Sachin Kumar   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NxorAkSUuM

International Miniature Quilt Exchange

The beautiful quilt on the top was made by Jean Ameduri of St. Louis, Missouri. I am the lucky owner in a quilt exchange.

I created A Journey to India over the past year and included hand embroidery, buttons, beads, sequins, shisha mirrors, and trims.

I met Jean at the International Quilt Festival in Houston last November while admiring The Quilt Show special exhibit of The International Miniature Quilt Exchange. Jean has exchanged over 300 quilts!

Knitting Fun

My Favorite Thing

Just When The Caterpillar Thought His World Was Over...

The quilt depicts the caterpillar to butterfly life cycle includes the leaf, leaf with eggs, the eaten leaf that feeds the caterpillar, Chrysallis and emerging butterfly.

The circle represents the world and the bar code is to count blessings!

It was designed in Make the Cut software. A circle and bar code were Boolean joined. Node editing from lines into curves provides a path for caterpillar to transform into a butterfly. It was cut with my electronic cutter and free motion embroidered and quilted.

12”x 12”

A 3D Star's Undulating Path

Created for Curated Quilt’s Black and White Mini Challenge

13.5”x13.5”  

The Cancer Journey

The difficult Cancer journey from diagnosis to treatment is both a physical and an emotional roller coaster ride. It requires courage, faith, strength, support, and hope as patients also deal with anxiety and uncertainty. Counting blessings and living now can provide a greater appreciation of life. The dragonfly signifies strength, and the wishing well anticipates a cure.

Materials:

Cottons, fiberglass window screen, lace, lame, net, silk tie, ric rac, and trims.

Techniques:

Applique, die cuts, hand embroidery, machine embroidery, machine quilting, painted dragonfly, stamping. Text designed in Make the Cut software and printed on fabric.

16”x 20” 

Coping with Cancer Clouds

Coping with Cancer Clouds was juried into the Sacred Threads Exhibition

in Herndon, VA . It will be exhibited through July 28, 2019 in the Washington DC area.

The Cancer journey from diagnosis to treatment is a roller coaster ride. It requires courage, faith, strength, support, and hope as patients also deal with anxiety and uncertainty. Counting blessings can provide a greater appreciation of life. The dragonfly signifies strength, and the wishing well anticipates a cure.

Some believe that dream catchers are a filter for dreams, trapping bad dreams in the web and allow good dreams to pass through feathers and beads while asleep.  The treasure chest holds strength and time. The outer web traps the bad dreams as cancer patients undergo treatments with chemotherapy, radiation and medications.

Materials:

Beads, cheesecloth, cottons, lace, lame, net, silk tie, ric rac, sequins, trims, yarns, window screen.

Techniques:

 Applique, die cuts, hand embroidery around ric rac, machine embroidery, machine quilting, stamping. Text designed in Make the Cut software and printed on fabric.

64" h x 44" w

Brown Eyes

Combined two challenges  in one this week.

One was for the Chocolate Challenge and one was for the Eye Contact Project for Sacred Threads.

Using the color brown as the inspiration, I free motion quilted the largest eyes I have ever made.

 Just had to add the bindi for an embellishment.

23" wide x 5" high

Today’s Joy from A-Z

Focus on the positives of each day.

Designed in Make The Cut computer software, printed on fabric, hand appliqued, hand embroidery, machine pieced and quilted

18x22

Stashbuilding Fun

The Challenge theme: Bigger than a breadbox. My stash is slightly larger :)

13"x 25"

Immigration Travel

The quilt was designed on the computer and parts were printed on fabric. It includes trims, has hand stitching, machine quilting and was also appliqued. It was 50 years ago that I traveled to the US!

I combined 3 separate challenges this week into one quilt. The first challenge was to use Red ,White and Blue. The second was about Travel for the Art Quilt Facebook Group and the third for the Border Wall Quilt Project.

8"x16"
Meena Schaldenbrand
Plymouth, MI

In Memory Of

Paper, vinyl in a glass frame

Always Have Hope!

Created for the Project Quilting challenge, Hope Springs Eternal.

Techniques: Designed in Make the Cut software, printed on fabric. hand and machine applique, hand embroidery, free motion quilting

Materials:  Beads, sequins, cotton fabrics, trims

12”x 15”

A Surreal Time

A Stitch in Time:Challenge 9.5 of Project QUILTING Season Applique
6"x8"
Plymouth, MI 

Home : Where Memories Are Made

Names of bride and groom on tree and their wedding date on a sign.

Using the negative space to create a house from hands and also to emphasize quilting

Designed in Make the Cut software and cut with an electronic cutter,

Beads, hand embroidery, machine quilting

Luggage tag Yellow Challenge Project Quilting 9.4

 A luggage tag created for the 9.4–Mellow Yellow Challenge of Project QUILTING .

Yellow reminds me of Smileys and emoticons. Used  thin metal dies to cut them, fused  to a Timtex tag shape, and then quilted and added a tassel and ribbons along with a clear acetate pocket on the back for an address label. 

The tag is 2"x 8" including the tassel and ribbons.

Plymouth, MI

Protect Human Life

Protect Human Life

For the Bold and Brave  Project QUILTING 9.3 challenge 

Bold topic for an art quilt. Feeling somewhat brave in sharing it ...and so emotionally drained.

Designed on the computer and cut with an electronic cutter.

Applique, beading, hand embroidery, machine quilting

21"w x 17"h

Plymouth, Michigan

Fragile Beginning..Sixty Million and Counting!

Fragile Beginning

The spotlight is on the  60, 000,000 American  babies that have perished since 1973.  The abortion number is ten times the six million Jews  that perished in the Holocaust..and counting!                                  Worldwide, the numbers are even higher.  A real time counter for American and babies worldwide is at http://www.numberofabortions.com/  American laws protect Eagle eggs with fines and jail but not humans. The human heartbeat begins at about 4 weeks gestation. Abortions stop a human heartbeat and end a human life

"Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want" Mother Teresa, 1994 National Prayer Breakfast

Materials: Cottons, sheers, lame, beads, ribbons Techniques:

Hand embroidery ..the Word Victims at the very bottom done in specialty font, hand quilting, machine quilting.

3 D Triangular Star

Fused a yellow and red fabric.

Cut 2 of the 3 parts of a triangle from the two sided  yellow  and red fabric with a thin metal die. The back side of the fabric ( red triangles ) were flipped back  and are  actually 3 Dimensional and stand up. 

8.5" x 8.5"

Plymouth, MI

Created for the #PQSeason 9.2 Triangulation challenge

Detroit

 

 Detroit is also called the Motor City. So, I used  a car negative space to show off the Detroit skyline and the I love Detroit text.

Made a list of the many Detroit attractions and created subway art within a heart shape on the computer that was printed on fabric and quilted with heartbeats.

It  was created for Project Quilting, season 9 called Hometown Pride.

It is 15x22.

The goal was to make it in less than a week!

Mahatma Gandhi’s Peaceful Journey to India’s Freedom

Mahatma Gandhi’s Peaceful Journey to India’s Freedom Mahatma Gandhi obtained India's freedom from the British remarkably with nonviolence. His many methods included fasting, being imprisoned, civil disobedience, boycotts, peaceful protests and marches. He encouraged others to do the same. Four Gandhi portraits: The first is of an18 year old law student in England.  The second is as an attorney in South Africa: fought against discrimination of Indians and their rights for 20 years. And, 2 senior portraits including a large line drawing of a bald head, glasses. Charkha (spinning wheel): spun his own yarn, wove his own cloth (self sufficiency)

He is regarded by Indians to be the Father  of  The Nation  The  back of the quilthas map of his journey.  He inspired many others including Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela.

Techniques:                                                                                                                          Ink and stencil, hand embroidery, hand quilting, machine quilting

Materials: Cotton, shisha mirrors, beads

Show Me The Money!

Three of my quilts were juried into Show Me The Money exhibition at HVCA in Highland, MI,. The 3 are Wall Street Dreams, Drowning in Debt and Recession's Depression.

Wall Street Dreams won first place!

Wall Street Dreams.is about  my Love /Hate relationship with Wall Street. It was made when I belonged to a Women's investing group when the market collapsed!..
Money is growing on Wall Street with actual coins.
The cash cow is being milked for $ in the bucket. Wall Street’s beat coincides with the beat of the investors and the cycles of investing in bull and bear markets in a yin yang setting.
The path is dangerous as shown by barbed wire yarns. The bear has clocks in the background for timing the market.
One needs rose colored glasses and a crash helmet.
The chicken is afraid to jump in and even more of jumping out of the market.
The zebra is unraveling his stripes due to stress.
Money is raining on the ostrich with his head buried in the sand hourglass.
The market conditions shown in the apple include loss of hair, zits, knots in the stomach, and ulcers. Investors also need band aids for bumps and bruises ... and of course, lots of prayers.
The musical scales represent roller coaster variable related to investing such as annual reports.
When the market is up, the sound of money is music to the ears.
There is some degree of chance as shown by the dice and slot machines and the HIT the Jackpot mentality.
There are bottles of aspirin, Prozac and antacids.
The stork scissors is waiting for new stock splits.
The red hot sports car is for my husband.
The life jacket is to prevent drowning in money.
The octopus represents diversification. The mountain of money is the prizes that results in summer and winter homes, lots of jewelry, and no housework.
DNA made of money is my legacy to my daughters whose portraits are drawn with free motion embroidery.

Fabric Postcard Fall Quilt

Fabric Postcard Fall Quilt...created from internet swaps and UFOs...unfinished objects(a common quilt affliction) I also used many teaching samples from my Sheer Delight workshop. Feeling pleased that it is done! Love admiring the many creative techniques fellow quilters used in their postcard swaps.

Orange challege

Fall Focus!