Cindy Grisdela ~ art quilter

I just received notification that “Playing with Colors” has been juried into the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival being held in Hampton, VA Feb. 26-March 1, 2009. This is the third year in a row that my work has been accepted there. I had already made plans to go to the show with my mom and my sister, so it will be even more fun with a quilt in the show.

“Playing with Colors” is part of a series of art quilts I’m working on that explores color across the color spectrum. It has more than 100 different batik  fabrics in it. I use a simple improvisational block that is cut into curves freehand with a rotary cutter and then reassembled. The batiks give a rich saturated glow to the colors, which seem to blend into each other from one row to the next. Free-motion quilting of a stylized daisy-like flower adds to the cheerful feel of the quilt.

I’m excited to announce that several of my art quilts and one-of-a-kind pillows are now available at The Artisans shop in McLean, VA. The Artisans is a fascinating shop dedicated to contemporary handcrafted art including jewelry, ceramics, wearables and other unique items. It’s definitely worth a trip to pick out a special gift for someone else, or one for yourself! The shop is located in the Langley Shopping Center on Old Chain Bridge Road.

The wall pieces available at The Artisans are Firecracker, Flash of Insight, Gazebo and Here Comes the Sun. They are shown on my website under the Small Art Quilts tab if you want to take a closer look.

I spent the weekend with my mom last week and we worked on these double wedding ring   quilts we started in a John Flynn class last year. Although this is a traditional pattern and a departure from my contemporary art quilts, I couldn’t help but use the wild colors I love. The rings are designed with a variety of bright dots and the black and white centers really make everything pop. The solid red acts as a neutral and helps to give the eye a place to rest.

The quilt on the right is my mom’s. She used bright batiks in the rings and a multicolor background. Definitely not your grandmother’s wedding ring! Since I usually work by myself, it was fun to spend an entire weekend with my mom doing nothing but creating these wonderful quilts. We both learned that this pattern is not for the fainthearted and that making one was probably enough–although technically this is the second one I’ve made. John Flynn’s technique is much easier than the traditional template version that I used before to make a wall hanging for my parents’ 40th wedding anniversary. These pieces will be special because of the fun memories.

I’m excited to be part of an exhibit of coffee cups at the Conscious Bean coffee shop in Great Falls. My friend Jennifer Duncan curated the show for Great Falls Studios and members responded enthusiastically. The directions were to create an image of a coffee cup that was 12″x12″ and the range of interpretations on the theme was amazing. Most are paintings and there are a few photographs too. My piece is an appliqued cup on an abstract pieced background. It’s in the upper right of the photograph. I quilted it and stitched the piece to another background and stretched it over a 12″x12″ painter’s canvas–my first attempt at doing that myself! I was very pleased with the results. The show will be up through  January with a reception on Sunday, January 18 from 3-5 PM.