Another Chance to win a Hand Painted Panel!

 

May 18, 2013
Canadian Quilt Association Representative - Jackie White
draws for free kit with hand painted fabric of Eileen Gidman's

Value $129.00

R. C. from Rock Creek, BC was the winner of a wall hanging kit! Congratulations. I look forward to seeing it made up into the wall hanging or whatever??? As my dye painted fabric is washable and colourfast it is suitable in quilting, clothing, pillows or framing.

YOU HAVE ANOTHER CHANCE TO WIN A ONE OF A KIND, HAND DYE PAINTED FABRIC PIECE

'Sunflower Sentry'

There are three ways you can be entered for the draw to win this hand (dye) painted panel on June 30^th.

Either:

·        LIKE my Watercolour-and-Textile-Artist Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Eileen-Gidman-Watercolour-and-Textile-Artist/310557619037972
·        join my blog at here by  subscribing to follow by email (note upper left on this page)
·        or email at egidman@kootenay.com, identifying that you want to receive my quarterly newsletter.

(note if you can always unsubscribe later, but I hope you won't want to)


I come to the world of quilting with the perspective of a trained artist. Both, art and quilting have much in common and through my blog I strive to share what I have learnt through my experience as an artist and as a quilter. Some posts discuss a design element, either colour, value, texture, line, shape, or size as they relate to my projects or other quilter’s work. Feel free to email me submissions.

An example of how I like to share information, came through an email last week. “I really appreciate the time and expertise that you shared with me over this little wall hanging.  Your advice helped me move forward with the project and bring it to completion. A huge thank you.” 

Please send photos of your quilting, especially, if you have used my hand painted fabric egidman@kootenay.com I now have a Quilters’ Page where photos can be shown. Other quilters’ contributions make the blog exciting with the rich variety!

The draw for the hand painted fabric will be June 30^th, so be sure to enter soon. 

Designer Pillow

Designer Pillow using a Hand (dye) Painted Panel
Berry Panel created by Eileen Gidman
Pillow sewn by Joan

Seamstress, Joan created this unique pillow using one of my hand painted pieces. It was painted with dye onto a fine lawn material which worked perfectly. I wonder how a tighter woven cotton would work with this sewing technique? Let me know if you have tried it.

The texture created with this pattern gives added dimension to this piece. Value is a main design element with the motif being medium dark against the white background. Having the value contrast echoed on the bordered with the white corner squares againgst the navy fits well, I think.

The stitched tucks are sewn down perpendularly laying them one way and then on the next adjacent seam the tucks are laid the opposite way giving a wave pattern. This pillow fits perfectly as an accent pillow atop a bed quilt.

Bee Problems



Hand dye painted Textile Card with Thread Sketching

It is frightening to read that honey bees throughout the world are still declining. This year, the European Union is planning to restrict the use of certain pesticides known as neonicotinoids which is thought to be one of the causes for the bee decline. It seems the costs for pollinating with honey bees has risen significantly for North American farmers due to the shortage of this wonderful workers.

At the time I painted this bee and stitched on it's wings I wasn't thinking of the trouble bees are experiencing globally, but I know I will be painting more to draw attention to the situation.

 

There were so many beautiful quilts throughout the recent Penticton, Quilt Canada 2013 show, but one of my favorite quilt among the winners was Brigitte Villenue's "Expedition" which you can view here.

 http://www.canadianquilter.com/photo-gallery/national-jury-show.php?year=2013

The category she won in was 'Workmanship in Applique' which I would be unable to assess but her colour choice of orange and the complementary blue focuses the viewer on the paddlers and the greyed greens of the trees in the background provide a wonderful sense of distance. Amazing!

 

Please also note of the Creston Fabric Artisans - 'Creston: Slice of Paradise' which is very impressive! Beautifully done ladies.

Quilt Canada Penticton, BC

My Booth last week at Quilt Canada in Penticton, BC

Quilter Joan's Wall Hanging
using one of my Hand Painted Panels
 

What a whirlwind week I had last week, chock full of interesting experiences at Quilt Canada in Penticton, BC. I met so many quilters from across Canada, two of which I had previously connected with on Facebook, one I may have gone to high school with, three who came with notes from other quilters who had instructed them to search me out, several fellow dyers, a vendor and her artist husband, other friendly vendors, many quilters wanting workshops, several Canadian Quilt Association Board members that I had met in Halifax last year, my fellow quilt group members, and so many other interesting people. Wonderful!

 

I wanted to share with you the stunning wall hanging sewn by Quilter Joan C. She started with one of my fabric (dye) painted panels, added an inner border, then pieced borders that were created using the ABCD technique developed by Kim Schrader Fauth http://www.abcdquilting.com/. The center piece was embellished with thread painting using two different variegated threads and french knots added texture to the flower centers.

 

For those of you that couldn't attend and those of you who want to get more fabric, I will be updating my online store starting tomorrow! http://www.eileengidman.com/

 

The 'Color Me Up' Coloring Books I had in my booth, can be purchased here http://windinnart.blogspot.ca/

Butterflies: Heading to the Canadian Quilt Show, Penticton, B C

Dye  Painted Fabric

I sketched this one butterfly, actually I sketched half a butterfly and traced the second half to maintain symmetry. By placing the sketch under the fabric, I was able to draw several butterflies quite effortlessly. Thickened black dye in a bottle with a nib was used to outline the images. After curing the black line to a near dry state, the colours were added using a brush and thickened dyes. After curing the butterflies, the fabric was washed in a sythropol wash. All ready for a sewing project. Some embellishments such as beads or metallic threads might be nice on these butterflies.



Dye painted 6 1/2" Squares



'Your Arts Desire' Gallery and Store in Kaslo, BC

Owners Arnie and Judy, of 'Your Arts Desire Gallery' in Kaslo, BC, Canada
 Check out my new Watercolour Paintings here

'Feathers'
16 X 20"  $265

'Bullock's Oriole and Friends'
16 X 20"  $265

'My Summer'
16 X 20"  $265

'Scarlet'
16 X 20"  $265

Can you help? Note the format in the first four watercolour paintings. Can you think of a name for this new series?

Clothesline Series: 'Floral Towels'
11 X 14"  $179

Creston Bird Festival - Textile Cards



Birds on a Wire - Textile Art Card

The first Creston Valley Bird Festival is this weekend! Check here for details of events.  http://www.crestonvalleybirds.ca/  Friday night is the art show and sale featuring local artists with art of a bird or nature theme.

 

Today to get in the mood of the upcoming festival, I thread sketched, bird themed textile cards! Starting with an interfaced piece of my hand dyed fabric, I select an image to detail in stitching which I then lightly sketch in pencil. For me this is the fun part, decide what image will suit the textile. While the sewing machine is running, I move the fabric around to create the sketched image. It isn't a fast process, but I have a lot of fun doing it.

 

My textile cards will be available for sale at the reception area of the Bird Festival Art Show in the Creston and District Community Complex - Creston Room from  5:00 pm to 8:00 pm, at Quilt Canada in Penticton May 16-18, and are currently available at the Creston Card and Stationery.

 

If you are participating in the bird festival, enjoy!

Adding Pieced Borders to Hand Painted Panel



Hand painted center square with Pieced Block Border

It took getting together with my sister for some days of sewing to get the pieced blocks sewn around this painted fabric. The center block, I painted with fibre reactive dyes which leaves the fabric soft and washable.  The pieced blocks were made this winter in Kim Schrader Fauth's  ABCD Quilt workshop. I would like to recommend this workshop highly as in no time at all we had created 32 pieced blocks. Check out Kim's website here:  ABCD Quilting Website 

With the joint effort of both my sister and I, the border design and sewing was soon complete. For quite sometime, I have wanted to try my hand painted fabric with pieced borders. What do you think of the results?

Two Toned Textural Effect

Dye Painted Textile-Fat Square

Want texture? Think of new tools to try. Here I used a small household brush to apply some of the thickened dye, dragging it along the fabric in a dry brushing technique. The colour was mixed to a dark shade for the first application. After that layer had dried slightly, I applied a lighter hue over the dry brushed areas to give a two toned effect. It looks best to use several hues for the overcoat. After all nature has many colours.
This technique of using a darker first coat and painting over the whole thing with lighter hues can be used in many applications and it is a key technique for painting with thickened dyes.