Death Bed

(Above:  Death Bed hanging in the atrium at Gallery 80808/Vista Studios for the annual Vista Lights art crawl, 98" x 48", crayon grave rubbing on silk with free-motion machine embroidery and dense hand stitching and vintage buttons appliqued onto a vintage single-bed lace bedspread quilted onto a layer of sheer chiffon but also with another layer of chiffon hanging freely in front of the bedspread on which the artist's full body silhouette is hand-stitched in perle cotton. Vintage lace fringe.  Antique leather soles from a pair of child's shoes were positioned on the floor.  Click on any image to enlarge.)

 (Above:  Detail of Death Bed.)

To read more about this uniquely suspended art quilt, CLICK HERE.

 (Above:  Death Bed.)

 (Above:  Death Bed, reverse.)

(Above:  Death Bed, detail.)

Stitching Together

 
 (Above:  Stitching Together, a sculpture art quilt including a whole-cloth grave rubbing on a vintage damask tablecloth attached to a mid-19th century antique quilting frame at which two, unique chairs made from more modern quilting frames sit.  Click on any image to enlarge.)

Stitching Together was created in response to a very specific call-for-entry for a juried shows called  Crafting Civil (War) Conversations at the McKissick Museum here in Columbia, SC.  It was accepted and will be on view from February 2 - May 30, 2014. The information from the call-for-entry included this paragraph:

Seeking entries from artists working in what historically have been regarded as craft-based media (clay, fiber, glass, metal and wood), our exhibit will be a juried art exhibition that symbolically re-enacts the Civil War’s end as a scene of reconciliation—not between the North and the South—but between former slaves and former slave owners. The Museum ask artists to imagine and give visual and sculptural form to this scene, perhaps giving form to what Martin Luther King conjured when he dreamt of a day when “the sons of former slaves and the sons of slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood."

 
(Above:  Brown crayon grave rubbings from the unknown Confederate soldiers' burial area in Elmwood Cemetery and black crayon grave rubbings of doves, lambs, praying hands, olive branches, and other motifs from nearby Randolph Cemetery, the historic African-American burial ground.  The fabric is a vintage, damask tablecloth.)

 
 (Above:  Detail of the the self-guided, free-motion machine embroidery.)

To read more about this unique, sculptural art quilt, CLICK HERE.

 
 (Above:  One of two chairs created for the sculptural work.)

 (Above:  Detail of the crayon grave rubbing on the chair's seat.)

Some Day We Will Understand

 (Above:  Some Day We Will Understand, Grave Rubbing Art Quilt.  38" x 32".  Crayon on antique child's dress with vintage lace trim and buttons; discharge cotton; dense hand stitching; vintage buttons.  Click on image to enlarge.)

This Grave Rubbing Art Quilt was created especially for an invitational exhibition called Art from the Ashes that will take place during February 2015 in commemoration of the sesquicentennial of William T. Sherman's Civil War burning of Columbia.

Life's Race Well Run

 (Above:  Life's Race Well Run, a Grave Rubbing Art Quilt and my donation to the annual SAQA auction.  12" x 12".  Crayon on fabric grave rubbings on an embroidered, vintage napkin.  Self-guided, free-motion machine embroidery and hand stitching with buttons salvaged from the South Carolina State Mental Hospital.  Click on image to enlarge.)

This piece was created for the SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) annual 12" x 12" on-line fund-raising auction in the fall of 2014.  It was purchased by Nanette Strucinski Zeller, president of PAQA-South (Professional Art Quilters Alliance - South.)

 (Above:  Life's Race Well Run, reverse.)

Sweet Dreams

(Above:  Sweet Dreams, art quilt for SAQA's (Studio Art Quilt Associates) 25th anniversary trunk show.  10" x 7".  Crayon on silk grave rubbings.  Free motion and hand embroidery.  Vintage buttons.  Click on image to enlarge.)

Each quilt is 10 x 7 inches (25.4 x 17.8 cm), mounted on a black 12 x 9 inch backing board, and sealed inside a clear envelope. The 407 quilts are divided into eight trunks, each containing 51 works of art (trunk G has 50).   The artist's location, artwork title, statement and information about techniques and materials are on the back.

Each trunk will travel a region of the world into 2017.  This piece is is Trunk E.

Circular Churchyard

(Above:  Circular Churchyard.  86" x 53". Crayon grave rubbings on silk.  Self-guided, free motion machine embroidery with blanket stitch edge on by hand.  Click on any image in this post to enlarge.)

Circular Churchyard was accepted into Quilt National 2013.  It will be touring until autumn 2015.  To read more about this piece, including many additional detail images, CLICK HERE.

 

An Artful Journey

 (Above:  An Artful Journey, Grave Rubbing Art Quilt.  13" x 13".  Antique crazy quilt block and Victorian lace with vintage crochet, recycled felt, and crayon grave rubbing on silk combined with hand embroidery and free motion machine stitching.  Vintage buttons from the Czech Republic.  Beads and sequins.  Click on image to enlarge.)

This small Grave Rubbing Quilt was made after receiving a lovely message from Dale Rollerson of The Thread Studio in Perth, Australia.  She asked if I would send a small work for an upcoming exhibit she was mounting called An Artful Journey.  This show will be held during the Western Australian Craft Show at the Claremont Fairgrounds, August 2 - 4, 2013.  Dale wrote:  "...I want to hang an exhibition of one of my pieces of work, together with work of artists whose work I admire. I am hopefully looking to hang 20 pieces of work. I have titled it ‘My Artful Journey’ because that is what my work is about and I suspect for most of you – yours too." 

To read more about this piece with additional images, CLICK HERE!

(Above:  An Artful Journey, reverse.  Click on image to enlarge.)

Carl Sandburg

 (Carl Sandburg, A Grave Rubbing Art Quilt.  47" x 48".  Crayon rubbing and vintage textiles.  Free motion machine embroidery and hand stitching.  Click on image to enlarge.)

This is the only Grave Rubbing Art Quilt that features a "famous person".  It was started during a month-long artist residency with Studios Midwest in Galesburg, Illinois, the birthplace of Carl Sandburg.  To read more about this piece, including lots of detail photos, CLICK HERE.

(Above:  The reverse of Carl Sandburg.  Click on image to enlarge.)

Be Ye Also Ready, Beloved

 (Above:  Be Ye Also Ready, Beloved.  Grave Rubbing Art Quilt Series.  25" x 24".  Crayon on silk and on vintage damask dinner napkin; vintage buttons; free motion machine embroidery and hand stitching.  Click on image to enlarge.)

To read more about this work, including detail images, CLICK HERE.

(Above:  Be Ye Also Ready, Beloved.  Reverse.  Click on image to enlarge.)

Texting From the Grave

(Above:  Detail of Texting from the Grave. 26" x 24".  Crayon grave rubbings on silk mounted on black Kraft paper, folded and stitched with a silver metallic painted piece of mat board.  Double sided, individual "text message" on heavy Peltex each measuring 15" x 20".)

This unique piece was especially created for the SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) juried traveling exhibition, Text Messages.  It was accepted and shown in the following venues: premiering at the International Quilt Festival in Houston, TX from Oct. 31 - Nov. 4, 2013. Moving to The International Quilt Festival in Chicago, IL from June 20 -22, 2014; the International Quilt Festival in Portand, OR from Aug. 13 - 16, 2014; the Round Bobbin Quilting and Sewing Expo in St. Charles, MO from Sept. 19-20, 2014; Morris Museum in Morrison, NJ from Nov. 14, 2015 - Mar. 20, 2016.

 (Above:  Texting from the Grave, shown as an installation.)

The work was also created to be shown "in the round" and as an installation.  For more information on this piece, including a detailed explanation of how it was made, CLICK HERE.

(Above:  Texting from the Grave.)