Buttons&Beads&Quilts!

Nancy Smeltzer, MFA

Here is my completed entry into “Quilting Arts” magazine’s Readers’ Challenge “Text Me”. It’s completed a whole day before the deadline for the entries. I used to laugh in my early days of being a professional art quilter that I was glad that I wasn’t a painter, as you weren’t allow to submit entries to shows that were still wet. (That was back when local shows judged from the actual pieces, and not from slides.) Art quilts usually aren’t that messy, but I did have someone drive me to the place where I was to deliver a quilt as I finished sewing on the sleeve for the support rod in the car.

I chose to interpret the theme of “Text Me” by using different fonts that I generated in Photoshop Elements and then printed the fabric by running it through my ink jet printer. I’ve always loved the shapes of various letters, even those in other languages that I can’t read. It turns out that the first fonts were Gutenberg’s attempts to make his printed Bibles look as if they had been handwritten.

I learned a lot about choosing fonts that are going to be beaded over while constructing this small piece (8″ square or 20.5 cm square). The font in the lower right of this detail shot was just too narrow to bead on top of successfully, even with size 10 seed beads. Since I did a lot of this piece while I was away on a trip, I also had tried out the use of the chain maille jump rings as the edging half way around the outside edge to see if I liked it. I had used it before on another small art quilt, but not until I had finished the embellishments on the surface. Try as I might to close these what are actually just very large jump rings, I could never quite close some of the loops totally. As a result, the sewing thread kept getting caught in the loops and I would have to turn them and wiggle the thread out between the opening of the two halves of the rings. While I will probably use these jump rings again on small quilts, as I like the scalloped edge that it gives to the piece, I will never ever add them on until the very end. To make them lie flat, I have a piece of stiff, wide ribbon sewn on the back, covering up all of the rings except the part that sticks out beyond the edge of the front.

These small art quilts give me an opportunity to work out some design principles and ideas on a small scale that I would never have done on my larger pieces. They are also a very portable size to carry when I’m traveling, so I won’t look too much like a ‘bag lady”. (Here in the States, a bag lady is a poor homeless person whose belongings are all stashed in shopping bags, hence not a very desirable look to try and copy!)

What are some of the tricks of the trade that you’ve learned along the way that would save us all some time and frustration as we work on our art quilts? My take is why re-invent the wheel, so do share some of your secrets with the rest of us so we won’t repeat the same mistakes.

To see other cool art quilts, check out this blog where art quilter’s post their newest every Friday…. http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com/

Why not leave a comment as to your thoughts on this posting. Please take a minute, fill out the form below or by clicking on the “comments/no comments link” at the top of the posting, and then share your ideas with the rest of us. We all grow when we share our thoughts and impressions, so why not join our growing community of those who appreciate art quilts and textile arts. We’d love to hear from you!… and PLEASE tell like minded souls about this blog! The more readers and contributors, the more I write because encouragement helps the words flow!

You can see more of my art work on my web site at www.fiberfantasies.com (be patient as it loads; it’s worth it), my spiritual healing work at www.transitionportals.com and can find me on Google + , Facebook (for Transition Portals) Facebook (for Fiber Fantasies),  and Twitter.

To find out how to buy my art work, please check out “How to Buy my Art Work” in the “Pages” section to the right of this blog.