Cindy Grisdela ~ art quilter

Buttercream and Chocolate 12" x 12"

“Buttercream and Chocolate” is part of a new Great Falls Studios theme exhibit at Katie’s Coffee in Great Falls for the month of August. The theme this time was simply “Food” and each piece was restricted to a maximum size of 154 inches, including the frame. There are 21 pieces in the show, including paintings, photographs, pottery, jewelry (mounted in a shadowbox type frame) and my fiber piece.

The title of course refers to the icing on the cupcakes, which were hand appliqued along with their plate onto a background resembling a table. The buttercream cupcake has seed beads applied by hand to add some definition and sparkle. The background is heavily machine quilted in several different motifs. The piece is stitched to the red-purple background and then the whole thing is stretched over a 12″ x 12″ canvas.

At right is a shot of one of the groupings of artwork at the show. It was interesting to see how each participating artist chose to interpret the theme–some sweet food, like cupcakes and pies, some fruit, some vegetables, some coffee, some wine. One photographer offered a shot of a classic book open on a table set for dinner entitled “Food for Thought” and another showed a mother sparrow feeding her babies. It’s an exciting group of talented artists–stop by and have a cup of coffee if you’re in the neighborhood of Great Falls Village and see what you think.

Wild Geese in Flight 34"h x 24"w

I’ll be at the Great Falls Studios booth at the Great Falls Farmer’s Market this Saturday, August 1, from 9AM-1PM. I’ll have three new quilts that I haven’t shown before, including “Wild Geese in Flight” at right. In addition, I’ll have my contemporary wall hangings, bright pillows, purses and note cards for sale.

“Wild Geese” has been in the works for a while–it was a lot of fun to finish because I chose a different quilting motif for each section. The variety keeps it interesting to work on as well as to look at. It’s posted in the Small Art Quilt gallery on the website and a detail of the quilting is included there. I’ll also have “Tropical Reef” from the previous post and another new piece called “Seashells” that hasn’t been photographed yet. “Seashells” is an exploration in neutral colors so it’s a little bit of a change from the bright work I’ve been doing recently.

If you’re in the area on Saturday, please stop by and say hello–I’d love to see you!

Tropical Reef 32" h x 49"w

I finished the quilting on “Tropical Reef” and had it photographed, so it’s up on the website in the Large Art Quilts gallery. There’s a lot going on in this piece, so I quilted the body in a couple of overall decorative motifs that reminded me of sea anenomes. I tried something new in the border, which is this wonderful blue and green batik that looks like seaweed. The border has a vine with leaves quilted into it.

The borders on this quilt are asymmetrical, which was another new idea I tried. Partly it was dictated by the amount of fabric I had on hand and partly I wanted to experiment with a different presentation. I had initially thought I would use an irregular edge on this one, but when the quilting was done I decided that it would be enhanced with a narrow lime green binding. It’s a cheerful piece that makes me think of a warm summer day at the ocean, which is nice this time of year.

I’m pleased to annouce that I’ve been juried in as a new member of the Potomac Fiber Arts Gallery at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria. At right is a picture of two of my pillows on display this month, “Neutral Circles” on the lower left and “Tropical Squares” on the right. Below is my “Building Blocks” quilt on the lower left, which is also in this month’s show.

"Building Blocks" at Potomac Fiber Arts Gallery

I’m excited about this new opportunity. The Fiber Arts Gallery is a co-op gallery that has been part of the Torpedo Factory since it opened 35 years ago. The Gallery has about 70 artist members, including weavers, knitters, jewelers, and quilters. Each month brings a new juried show, so there’s always something new and exciting to see.  The artists staff the gallery, with each one taking a turn about once a month, so it’s a great opportunity to see what other artists are doing and to interact with art enthusiasts.

Here’s the update for “Red is a Neutral” with the piecing finished. I made the improvisational blocks individually and then put them together like a jigsaw puzzle. The last block I made was the one on the upper right with the strippy sections. I really liked that effect, but it stood out too much with the rest of the piece, so I randomly added several more sections like it to help the eye move around.

To the left is the beginnings of the quilt on the right, just a pile of strips and leftover blocks next to my sewing machine. It’s loads of fun to see how this raw material turns into something interesting!

I plan to hand quilt this piece, like I have the others in the series, with a small utility stitch and perle cotton. I think it enhances the nature of the piece more than my usual heavy machine quilting would. Stay tuned!

This is the most recent in my Color Block improvisational series–”Red is a Neutral.”  I used solids and sewed pieces together in a fairly random fashion, many of them left over from previous projects. It gives me great satisfaction to “repurpose” blocks or units that either didn’t work in another piece or were simply left over.

I’d like this piece to be on the large size, probably 40″ x 60,” which is the largest one I’ve done in this series so far. I really enjoy how the random construction sometimes results in surprises, for instance the block in the middle has a yellow triangle that looks like it’s the partial roof of a house emerging from the left.

Unfortunately, sometimes the blocks don’t work. The yellow block on the upper left was created with another idea in mind that didn’t pan out, but I think it’s too monochromatic for this piece. So I took another picture of it on a larger solid background by itself. It’s an interesting block and perhaps it could anchor another piece all on its own. In my mind I see some dense machine quilting in blocks all over the surface–sort of like wavy echoes.

I took “Red is a Neutral” to a critique group I was participating in recently, and several people commented that the blocks are interesting enough on their own to be the “star of the show” in separate quilts. I think that’s a valid point, although I really like the riot of colors and intersecting shapes in this one. I’ll probably continue with this idea for this piece, but their comments gave me the push to try something different with the block that stood out too much. Maybe it’s the germ of another series!

I’ve just finished “Sunrise on the Beach” in time for the “Beaches” show at the Great Falls Foundation for the Arts gallery in Great Falls. The show will run from July 2-August 31 and it features interpretations of the “Beaches” theme from a variety of Great Falls Studios artists, including painters, photographers and jewelers, in addition to my fiber piece.

The opening reception will be Friday, July 3 from 7-9 pm. If you’re in the area and have a chance to stop by, it looks like an interesting show!

The evolution of this piece is interesting, since I wasn’t planning to enter the show because I don’t normally do landscape work. The beauty of the group I belong to, Great Falls Studios, is the creative push that being in a diverse group of artists gives me. I was talking to a couple of friends of mine–a painter and a photographer–about the show, and when they heard I wasn’t planning to enter, they challenged me to step outside my comfort zone and give it a try.

I have to say I’m very pleased with the result. I went through my fabric to find the perfect batiks for the scene. I used curved strip piecing to create the background of sand, ocean and sky, then quilted pebbles, breakers, waves and clouds into the sections. I hand appliqued a seagull in flight after it was quilted and added beaded starfish, shells and whitecaps to give it a little sparkle. Then I added a background of green mottled hand-dyed fabric I made several years ago and stretched it over a 24″x12″ canvas. The whole process was great fun and the overall effect is a peaceful, serene day at the beach–one of my favorite places.

I’m going to have this one professionally photographed next week and I’ll post a detail of the quilting and the beading then, but I couldn’t wait to share it!