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Butterflies that Flutter-by on my Art Quilts

April 16, 2014 / Nancy Smeltzer / 2 comments

Butterfly made from a bow costume pin

Butterflies have to be one of the happiest looking creatures on Earth as they bounce up and down as they fly. I am so looking forward to seeing them again, yet here in the Mid-Atlantic of the USA, just north of Washington, DC, we had light snow last night. So to brighten up the bleak forecast, and to distract me from the flowers that are already out that might freeze, I’m writing instead about how I use butterflies in my art quilts. After all, if it’s dreary outside, I can at least admire the colors in the photos of my creations.

This first photo actually shows a costume pin bow.The ruffled edges and the pearls down the middle reminded me of a butterfly, so I added on a cone shaped, wire wrapped bead for the body, a flat wire wrapped bead for the head, and sewed on some seed beads for the antenna. It looks for all the world as if it was intended to be a real living insect.

Yellow enameled metal costume pin of a butterfly

Another butterfly pin from the same quilt has a more traditional enameled pin that you seeing coming out of China these days. The brightly colored pins are imported by a dealer, Faship, on eBay, and are quite inexpensive considering how much oomph they add. (He’s also about five miles from where I grew up in North Carolina in the Eastern United States). The graduated colors in the enamels and the quality rhinestones make the +/- $6 US worth the cost in my opinion because of the attention these pins create.

A costume pin of a butterfly in profile

The next costume pin of a butterfly is a little unusual in that it shows the insect in profile. Most pins want to get the most visual impact, so the 4 wings are usually shown flat. However, this perky little blue insect in the middle of this photo, again from this same art quilt, gives the viewer a bit of surprise as they come across it.

Pink rhinestone pin of a butterfly

Finally, there’s this elegant rhinestone covered butterfly pin. Each vein has LOTS of stones on it to catch and play with the light. It’s lacy appearance really adds some terrific visual appeal to the piece. However, its edges also remind me a bit of the torn wingtips I’ve seen of butterflies that have been attacked by hungry birds. I try not to think of that possibility as I look at this jewelry. Its see-through wings also remind me of the Glasswing Butterflies where you actually can see through the wings.

So, if you haven’t gathered by now, I adore butterflies, and since I do a lot of garden art quilts, I can easily work them into my compositions. I’d like to think that my work is interesting enough that you’d want to walk across the room to see the piece and as you got closer, and closer, you’d see more and more details. These butterfly pins certainly help to make that happen for my viewers.

Do you have a favorite creature that keeps appearing in your medium? Why did you happen to choose that particular being?

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.

Creating Clouds in a Beaded Art Quilt

February 11, 2014 / Nancy Smeltzer / No comments

Nancy Smeltzer, MFA

I am always on the look-out for motifs to use for clouds in my beaded art quilts, as gardens are a favorite of mine, both the ones outdoors and in my art work. As a result, I have a varied collection of materials that I’ve used through out the years to simulate clouds. I’m usually going for the look of the big, white puffy cumulus ones. In the center of this shot is a tiered white sequined lace motif cut from a net background. I wish that I could have bought yards of the material, but it was quite expensive, so I only have a few pieces left. When choosing whether or not to buy yardage, I count the number of motifs in the fabric and figure out the cost/unit. For something like this elegant, sequined applique, I believe that the cost came out to be about $4 US, but I felt that the impact was worth it. I try and give each of my beaded art quilts something special, as if they were one of my own children.

In this shot, you can see another lace motif that has finger like edges peaking out from behind a dark green “bush” and also in the very upper middle of the photo. While it might be a stretch to envision clouds with parts that loop back on each other, I always claim artistic license when I create my work. After all, Picasso made a bull’s head out of a bicycle seat back in the early 40s. While I don’t begin to put myself in the same league as Picasso, I would like to think that I have as much fun as he did coming up with new uses for materials.

This shot shows one of those special finds that come along once in a lifetime. They were gold colored iron-on appliques that I used to make swirls of clouds. You can see one at the bottom left of the photo and the edges of another one coming in at the middle of the left. I bought them from a “jobber” or a person who buys up large lots of things that didn’t sell and then resells them at a discount. I imagine that there were ones made that had the coil on the right and the tail pieces swirling to the left, but the place where I bought them only had ones facing as shown here. I bought all that they had, knowing that I wouldn’t be able to get more later. Sigh! Now, they’re all gone, but I did give them good homes.

Finally, sometimes you luck out and find a piece of costume jewelry that is exactly what is needed. The sliver colored pin with the pearl center in the upper center of this photo was perfect for my needs to create the effect of a cloud in this marsh scene. Measuring about 2.5″ or 6.5 cm, I pinned it into place through all 3 layers of the quilt sandwich, and then sewed round and round the posts of both ends of the pin to make sure that it didn’t come off. In the past, I used to squash the fastener of the pin with a pair of pliers after the point of the pin had been locked into place, but I found that on some of the less expensive pieces of jewelry, the post would just break off.

Gathering the effects that you want on an art quilt can be challenging, but after you’ve done it for awhile, it becomes more like the thrill of the hunt. “What can I make out of this cool thing that I’ve found?”, I often ask myself. The choices that I make amuse myself, and if making art isn’t about having fun, then what’s the point in doing it?

You can see other amazing art quilts at.. http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com/

What are some of the more unusual things that you’ve repurposed in your art medium? I’d love to see some well-lit photos which maybe I could use in a future blog. Please send them to info@fiberfantasies.com

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.

Category: Materials for art quilts / Tags: art quilts. art quilt blogs, beaded art quilts. special effects for quilts, Nancy Smeltzer

Creating Stars in Beaded Art Quilts

December 24, 2013 / Nancy Smeltzer / 5 comments

Nancy Smeltzer, MFA

At this time of the year, here in the Mid-Atlantic on the east coast of the USA, you can see so many stars in the night sky. Sometimes, I find that I want to create that shape in my beaded art quilts, and here are some of the ways that I do that.

In this detail shot of what is actually an underwater scene, across the middle of the photo, there are several clear, flat rings of textured plastic that have been held in place with long and short white stitches of embroidery floss. (Who says that stars just have to be in a sky scene?) Here, the clear discs reminded me of the gelatinous tentacles of a jellyfish, which when you look at them from above, have sort of a star shape. In the upper right of this shot, are some of the plastic snowflakes that I use a lot in my art work. When they’re fastened down with six strands of embroidery floss in contrasting colors, they make for a great subtle detail. Years ago, they were easy to find in crafts stores for kid’s creations, but lately are harder and harder to find in opaque colors, except on eBay, ordered from China. Fortunately, I have a large supply of lots of colors that should last me for awhile.

From this same small art quilt as the photo above, (about 10″ or 25 cm square) is one of my more unusual finds for a star shape. To the right of the red arrow that I added on to the photo is a clear, plastic rosette that is used to hold a mirror onto a wall, usually in a bathroom. The piece is about 2″ or 5 cm in diameter. A central screw goes through a hole in the center of the star. The star that fits at the edge of the corners of the mirror. The thick wide points of the star either overlap the mirror or parts of the wall and hold that side of the mirror in place. I fastened the plastic star onto the art quilt with six strands of embroidery floss, much as I would have one of the small snowflake beads that I wrote about above. Since the mirror star is clear, it probably would have shown up better if it had been placed against a darker background, but where it ended up was where I felt it needed to be in the composition at the time.

Finally, one can always use shi-sha mirrors to add bling to a beaded art quilt.(Great tutorial at the previous link). Originally, these bits of glass were made from beetle wings, to mica, to ground glass and originated in India but spread throughout Arabic Asia. The tiny rounds of mirrors can be fastened on in a multitude of ways, but back in the early 80s, I was fortunate enough to get a large stash of shi-sha covers that were embroidered rings with pearl edgings. With those covers, all that was needed was to tack them down over the mirrors with a few stitches, and the mirrors were secured. The bottom red arrow even shows where I filled the hole of a cover with a pearl instead of a mirror for a different effect.

There are a multitude of ways to add stars to your work, and I hope that these photos will inspire you to look at materials in new ways. Just think of a circle, either with points already on it or that can be added to it, and shiny surfaces, and you have the makings of a star for your own art work.

You can see more delightful art quilts at… http://ninamariesayre.blogspot.com/

What are some finds that you’ve transformed into other uses for your artistic medium? Please share your ideas, as we all grow when we learn from each other’s ideas rather than re-invent the wheel.

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.

Category: Materials for art quilts / Tags: art quilt blogs, art quilts, beaded art quilts, Nancy Smeltzer, star embellishments for quilts

Handmade Beaded Appliques for Art Quilts

December 19, 2013 / Nancy Smeltzer / No comments

Handmade Beaded Appliqu Nancy Smeltzer, MFA

There’s nothing like making something yourself to get you to appreciate those who do it professionally. There are many magazines like “Bead and Button” that show beautiful illustrations on how to make a central motif for a necklace that I decided to make some for myself to use on my art quilts. However, most of the designs in the magazines show a central stone or cabochon. These domed stones are then meant to be held in place with a circlet of beads and then the bead that spread outwards are carefully worked with interlacing threads or thin wiring to get the beads to lay flat.

I however, as usual, did not follow the directions. I sewed a button onto a circle of felt, and then started surrounding the button with increasingly larger beads. I wanted a circle of bugle beads to come out from the center, to give a star effect, but I used ones that were way too long for this project (about 2″ or 5 cm long). As a result, there were gaps in between the bugle bead ribs, and I had to fill in with shorter beads. as a result, the whole applique did not lay flat.

By the time I got to my 2nd attempt at making one of these beaded appliques, I was a little better at the process. This time, I used shorter bugle beads (about 1″ or 2.5cm long) and only one row of large beads around the same central button. This way the bugles lay much flatter, and I didn’t have as many gaps to fill in on the spokes of the wheel radiating outwards from the central button. That allowed me to repeat an outer circle of the same large blue beads that I had used around the center button, which I feel tied the whole look together much better than in the first applique that I attempted.

The final attempt at making beaded appliques in this style, I used two circular rows of bugle beads. Each of the rows used beads about .5″ or 13mm long, and again the results were pretty lumpy. Getting that last outer row of bugle beads to lay flat was really hard, but having spent so much time constructing it, I used the applique anyway. Besides there is so much going on in the rest of the surface design, that few would be as picky as I’ve been in describing these appliques.

The take-away for me is to practice, practice, practice then starting a new technique. They’re never as easy as they look in the book or magazine, and who knows how many attempts the author went through to get those perfect looking ones in the picture. It does give me an appreciation for all who do handwork, especially with tiny beads….and please pray for no bead accidents in the middle of constructing a piece. Those little beads really bounce quite a ways then they fall.

What have been some of your big Ah-Has that you’ve learned while working in your medium? Why not share some of your discoveries so that the rest of us don’t have to make the same mistakes.

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.

Category: Materials for art quilts / Tags: art quilt blogs, art quilts, beaded art quilts, handmade beaded appliques, Nancy Smeltzer

Leaf Beads And Buttons For Use On An Art Quilt

December 17, 2013 / Nancy Smeltzer / No comments

Plastic ovals used to simulate ferns Nancy Smeltzer, MFA

There are a number of ways to get the effect of shiny leaves on a beaded art quilt. (I wrote about some other ways a few weeks back in another posting.)I’ve had a lot of practice looking for different materials since magical gardens are a favorite theme in my art work. I tend to like the color olive green rather than grass green, so when I saw these plastic ovals a few years ago, I bought as many as I could find. They’re about 2″ or 5 cm tall, so they’re big enough to make a statement on a large quilt. Behind them is a motif of a clump of ferns, cut from fabric, and then I sewed the plastic ovals on top. I interlaced the two layers together with overlapping rows of large beads, some with facets. That allowed the two designs to look intertwined, just as they would in nature.

There are a number of glass leaf beads on the market, but most of them are rather small, as they are designed for jewelry, not art quilts. The three translucent one shown in the upper middle of this detail shot are about 1″ or 2.5 cm long and were the perfect size for this small art quilt (about 10″ or 35.5 cm square.) They have deeply recessed veins and a midrib unlike many other glass leaf beads that have those sections just painted on. The stem that are attached were made from a rather textured yarn that was couched on, but I allowed some of the threads to fray away from the main yarn giving the effect of tangled twigs.

Finally, here are some green, enameled, leaf shaped metal buttons that I bought through a wholesale account with JHB a number of years ago. (I remember that my local fabric store also carried them at the time.) Only about 1″ or 2.5 cm long, they were expensive, but way too pretty not to buy as many as I could afford. Any small button that has a shank on it is hard to get to lay flat on a quilt surface. (The shank was necessary to get the unusually shaped button through a buttonhole.) However, the fact that the button doesn’t stay exactly flat has an advantage in this case, as the back is a gold color, and a little of that shows through to the front.

If you’ve been reading my posts for awhile, your already know how passionate I am about beads and buttons. The shiny little treasures sit in my studio in clear boxes sorted by colors, so that their siren song is constantly calling me to create. Sometimes, I just have to make my art, well,…. just because!

How do you feel about your art materials? Do you purchase just what you need, or do you have a stash of “this will be perfect someday” materials?

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.

Category: Materials for art quilts / Tags: art quilt blogs, art quilts, beaded art quilts, beads and buttons for embellishments, Nancy Smeltzer

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Archive for Materials for art quilts

Butterflies that Flutter-by on my Art Quilts

Creating Clouds in a Beaded Art Quilt

Creating Stars in Beaded Art Quilts

Handmade Beaded Appliques for Art Quilts

Leaf Beads And Buttons For Use On An Art Quilt

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