2007 Journal Quilt

FINALLY-----I can now unveil my 2007 journal quilt. The mandatory size was 17" X 22" and it had to include at least three techniques from the book Creative Quilting. Mine includes hand beading, hand and machine applique, machine embroidery, couching, needle felting, photo transfer onto sheer, fused sheer fabric, painted fabric, and a few other things.





This is my write-up on it:

The Three Mitzvot of Jewish Women

Creative Quilting techniques used: photo transfer on sheer fabric (p. 198); wool roving (p. 86); beading (p.216)

My participation in the journal quilt projects for the last four years has enabled me to grow as an artist. By working in a small format, I was less fearful about using “good” fabric and I became more willing to experiment with different techniques.

This year I chose to illustrate the three mitzvoth (commandments) which have been entrusted to Jewish women as a vehicle to create three vignettes using different techniques and to help teach others about a few Jewish customs. The three mitzvot entrusted to women are Challah (the making of bread and the separation and burning of a small piece of the dough to remind us of the offerings in the Temple), Nidah (the laws of family purity including the use of the Mikveh—a ritual bath whose design has not changed since Old Testament times), and Hadleek (the lighting and blessing of candles on Friday nights and Jewish festivals.) The acronym for these is Chanah----the name of a pious woman who prayed fervently until she bore Samuel.

Hadleek is illustrated with candles with beaded flames---as the lit candles become the centerpiece for Sabbath and holiday dinners, and a Kiddush cup to hold wine which is blessed before the meal. Mikveh’s are used after nightfall at a prescribed time during a woman’s menstrual cycle as part of the laws of family purity. They are also used by both men and women as part of conversion to Judaism, and at other times to indicate a change of state from “impure” to “pure.” A woman using it for family purity spends a long time preparing for the immersion, then emerges “like a bride” to re-unite with her husband during the rest of the month. The photograph taken by Lloyd Wolf, author of Jewish Mothers and Jewish Fathers is used with the author’s permission.
On Friday nights and Festivals Jewish dinner tables are adorned with two loaves of Challah, braided bread. Two loaves are used to represent the double portion of manna received on those days. Wool roving was braided and felted to represent the bread, and the portion burnt as “Challah” is represented by the ball and flames.

Broderie Perse assignment

This is my broderie perse assignment. The leaves were stamped onto PFD fabric using a foam stamp cut from real leaves. They were then appliqued onto a light green background.

Eleanor Burns goes wild

This is my shop sample for the Beyond Beginning Quilting class Its' El'Ementary taken from Eleanor Burns book.

More C and G exercises

These are some of my leaf prints on paper and fabric, and some pastel stencilling from the same leaves.

What kind of flower am I

I am a Nasturtium What Flower Are You?

"You are more than what you seem. Outwardly, you are a confident person with just a little bit of a temper. Inwardly, you are someone who needs some serious TLC and attention."

Sketchbook photos

I have attached some sketchbook photos. As you can see they are more like collections!!!!

Fusible applique sample

I took the jar that I am using for my coloring exercise and made it into an applique shape. I did it 4 times with different stitches to see what would happen, and then assembled it into a four-patch. Miraculously the centers met. It is screaming for quilting......if only I could find time to do it!

This is the four-final piece

Leaf stencil exercise

This is the leaf stencil exercise. As I had done some plain stencils with Shiva/Markals, I decided to try shading! This was all done with a freezer paper stencil. I am showing you both the original artificial leaf which was the basis of the exercise and the finished product.

Fabric Postcard

This is one of the fabric postcards I made for the "Where I live exchange". the background was painted with Tsukineko inks and the palm tree was an embroidery design. The back was a photo transfer of an MSWord template

Last Exercise for Module 2

I got my last exercise for module 2 finished----an abstraction of a photo of bare trees against a grey sky which I took in Canada. I will quilt it later on when I need to do some quilting. Overall I am glad that I got the courage to finish it.

Quilted monoprint

Here is a picture of the quilted monoprint. I used Sulky twist and Rainbows. The background used Bernina stitch 4 altered.

The Pear is Quilted

Here are two photos of the quilted pear. I used a variety of nature color threads. The pear used a mix of echo quilting and circles, while the background was quilted using a meandering leaf-type background fill from a Trillium House book

Celctic Applique

For some reasaon this was one of the hardest exercises for me to psych myself to do in Module 2. I used a design found in a magazine as Laura and Linda had thought that my first choices were too complex.

2006 Projects

C and G assignments for Module 2. I have a photo of pear somewhere in fabric :)






























These are some of my journal quilt photos. The January Journal quilt is published in their book and the photo is MUCH better. I will have to hunt for photos of some of the later ones.

This project was dye-painted and started in a class with Hollis Chatelaine. It is machine quilted.