Blessed is the Spot

 

Blessed is the Spot

28" tall x 44" wide

I am mighty pleased with this one.  It was made with the Cryptography call for 4 Common Corners Art quilt group in mind.  

I hand dyed the background fabric first, then translated what I wanted in to binary.  Yes, there is such a translator!  It was fun to write by hand all those numbers in the blue areas.  

Next I decided it needed more layers, and cut out all the corresponding letters out of white tulle.  It was hard to keep track of each letter!

After carefully pinning them where I wanted, I loaded the whole thing on to my longarm machine, appliqueing and quilting the whole piece at the same time.

Here is a close up.

I loved the making this one.  Tried some things, struggled with it sometimes, but I think now that is just part of the process and am very happy with the results.  I wasn't able to put the full prayer on the surface, only most of it, but in the end I don't think it matters to the integrity of this piece.

Here is the prayer, in it's entirety.  It's one of the first prayers, and a favorite, since I memorized it as a child.

"Blessed is the spot, and the house, and the place, and the city, and the heart, and the mountain, and the refuge, and the cave, and the valley, and the land, and the sea, and the island, and the meadow where mention of God hath been made, and His praise glorified."

Baha'u'llah

Prophet founder of the Baha'i Faith

thanks for stopping by!

Nicole

Oasis

 

Close up of Oasis

Oasis close up 

Oasis by Nicole Dunn

The latest finish for the group 4 Common Corners.  It is finally photographed!  It measures 43" x 51"

I was inspired by a trip to Hawaii, with it's colorful buildings, lots of visitors surrounded by the waves, gardens, birds and ocean. 

This was a piece I worked on very intuitively, slowly building each layer, first piecing, then hand applique, then hand quilting.

I loved working on it, thinking of the marvelous and relaxing time we had on our visit.

Nicole

Southwest Bird

I called this small quilt (24" x 24") Southwest Bird.  It's not a recent finish, but it is one of my favorites.  The interior red fabric is recycled wool, given to me by a friend. It was too scratchy to use as a blanket, but after repeated washings softened up nicely for the background of this quilt.  After adding some special ribbons made from velvet and wool, rick rack and embroidery stitches to the background, I researched old petroglyph bird patterns and settled on this shape for the bird.

 It is of course my interpretation, but the flavor is there.  Birds where a favorite with the native people in this area and I hope to do more.  The embroidery on the bird, taking artistic liberty with details, was lots of fun to do.  It's hard to decide what to do exactly, but once I get going, it seems to tell me what's needed.  The sun added a real southwest flavor, as well as the border print that I happened to have in my collection of southwest fabrics.  It is a quilting cotton, and goes perfectly I think.  

Lots of tiny quilting later, and voila, you see the results.  Look for more birds soon!

thanks for stopping by,

Nicole

 Balancing Act

A finish!

I've been thinking about this quilt for quite a while, so it is really nice to finally get it out of my head.  This is the 5th in a series of these spirals and houses quilts.  They all have a slightly different theme, at least in my mind. 

As I worked on this, I thought a lot about all the things we have to balance in life, especially during a pandemic year.  I am lucky enough to have a secure and stable home, but do realize that many do not, either by circumstance or by choice. Even children have had more than usual to balance and learn during this last year, and I wonder how it will affect them and their choices in the future.  So, while this piece is meant to be whimsical and bring a smile to your face, it also talks about balancing our lives, and all that comes with that, the responsibilities, the sadness, the happiness, hopefully living life to the fullest, with love, and kindness generosity and compassion.

On a more practical level

 This one started when I discovered the vine fabric.  I was able to buy a bolt (still lots left!) of this African Dutch Wax Vine print, and fell in love.

After cutting out the vine parts that I wanted with some extra around each leaf, it was appliqued to the background, which I previously hand dyed, on top of the already appliqued swirl.  The swirl fabric is also an african tie dye.  I'm not sure how they achieve this look, but I've loved and cherished it for years.  It was time to use it!

Then I dove in to my scrap bag (ok, I have several bags) and choose house and roof fabrics.  I stuck with mostly blue fabrics for the roof, as it seems to give the whole piece movement, direction and balance.

And of course, had to add some little trees for a lot of the houses.  

Lots of quilting later, with two layers of batting, I was going to doing a facing finish, but as I laid the chosen fabric down, I really liked how it picked up the flashes of red in the interior of the piece, and gave it an nice edge, so a traditional binding it is.

Are they little fairy houses, bird houses, or just a whimsy silliness?  It's up to you the viewer to decide!

Thanks for reading!

Nicole

Agave

 

  Detail of one of the leaves of my Agave

 Another detail.  It was fun to add lots of quilting to each leaf. Using a red orange and yellow thread I also added the thorns on each leaf where appropriate.

This is the finished piece.  It measures 41" wide by 50" long.

It is the result of a word prompt Heat for my art quilt group 4 Common Corners.  My daughter took the picture on which this quilt is based.  The desert heat shown thru the edges of each leaf, making it quite luminous. I hope you enjoy!

Reflections

 My latest finish.  Started with the prompt Bright Skies, Dark Skies for the 4 Common Corners group.  I found this one to be a challenge to figure out.  But once I did, it was just a matter of following through.  Very pleased with this piece and very pleased with my exploration in to non representational work.

This is "Reflections"  42.5" tall by 51.5" wide.  All cottons, all machine pieced and heavily quilted. 

While working on this piece I thought of all the marvelous sunsets I've seen in my native New Mexico, and how much I've loved every one.  A special gift is when you get to see that sunset reflected in the water, whether an still eddy of the Rio Grande River, a small fishing lake, or even a puddle left after our elusive rains.  I also had a chance to reflect on this past year, its challenges and rewards.

Enjoy!

Here is a detail shot.

While 2020 was a challenging year for many, including myself, I find myself very grateful at the end of it all.  Grateful we came thru Covid, if not intact, almost so.  Grateful for family.  Grateful for a closet full of fabric to use while we stay home.  Grateful for friends who stayed in touch.  Grateful for technology that allowed me to stay in touch. Grateful for the opportunity to be a part of something that challenges me to reach for the best in myself.  And so much more.

Nicole

Nicole

Fissures and Fractures

 The latest prompt for 4 Common Corners, a group of Saqa members located in the southwest 4 corners region (New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado) was Fissures and Fractures.

I worked on this piece as we traveled in our little van this summer, mostly in the northwest region of Colorado.  It first started as a hand dyed fabric.  I am lucky enough to go visit Terrie Mangat's studio in the mountains of Taos once or twice a year to dye and paint fabric.  She is so much fun!

 We each work on whatever we want, but my favorite part is the camaraderie and friendship, her welcome and encouragement.

This piece evolved differently than most of my previous ones.  After dyeing, I decided first to work on it as a whole cloth piece and quilted it in turquoise perle cotton, and then fuchsia pink perle cotton, creating rough square divisions.  I then choose small pieces of fabric to applique in those squares, rounding off the corners, and small enough to leave the background colors to peep through.

I intended to cover the entire piece with appliqued squares, but as I worked on it, I realized I liked it better with empty areas, and the more I thought about fractures and fissures in our lives, and in my life.  It became a representation, at least in my mind, of those fractured things, the missing bits, the ugly and the beautiful.

I hope this blog becomes a journey and journal of sorts of my work, and I and others can see the progression over the years.