Fractured Quilts 2011 Exchange

I was so excited to make it back to Klamath Falls, Oregon last week as our group which does the Fractured Fiber Art was meeting to exchange pieces.  Then the arduous task of reassembling and completing the pieces begins.  This year, in my opinion, no one piece stood out above the others.  Everyone worked very, very hard to produce the best product which they could and the end results shout that out!  Thank you very much Dona, Joanne, Kathy & Susan for your commitment to excellence.  Without further ado, here are the pieces and a short explanation of them.

Susan's Bird nest was taken from a painting by one of her friends.  Each piece is very dimensional, done with a lot of roving, yarns, threads, feathers, and actual fiber from a palm tree.  The bottom of the nest will stand out a little bit from the background so the eggs can tuck into it.  The background on the third piece from the left will either be replaced or toned down to flow across the piece.  That was my section, and honestly, the original picture had blue and green on that part of the painting.



L-R, Kathy, Joanne, Louise, Dona



 The next piece belongs to Kathy Adams who combined three pictures to draw this scene depicting her Grandmother's catch at her favorite camping spot.  Joanne and Kathy did Gramma with her catch and the detail is very life like.  Kathy requested that the mountains and the ground pieces be done in a traditional pieced style, which seems to flow together quite well.  The two large trees are quite dimensional, begging to be touched.  Everyone provided Kathy with lots of bushes, grasses, foliage pieces, etc. which will be added after the quilting is completed.  It is really a wonderful piece, but lots of work and ingenuity will be required to get it put together and finished.



L-R, Kathy, Joanne, Dona, Susan, Louise

 
Dona chose to do zebras for her piece.  She did the background felted piece directly behind the zebras and each of the rest of us got a zebra to complete.  Dona provided us with the pattern and a color palette to use on the zebra which we were given.  Initially, we tried to exchange some fabric for the zebras to obtain some continuity in the piece, but soon discovered that each zebra was a different color.  The base fabric for each zebra was either found in our stashes or painted and then the stripes were cut from fabric or felted wool, fused on and then further embellished.  Each zebra seems to have a definite personality and Dona will have to showcase that in her finished product.  We auditioned several backgrounds, and the final one will be left up to Dona. As one of our quilting friends used to say, "her quilt, her way."



L-R, Susan, Kathy, Louise, Joanne


Joanne chose to draw a rain forest scene, providing each of us with a line drawing of the whole piece and the pattern for our section.  She also gave us a color palette to follow and then sent us on our way to create.  This piece really stops you in your tracks for a number of reasons, first and foremost the colors!  After that, the dimension and all the interesting pieces draw you in.  An arsenal of techniques was used by everyone on this piece and it begs for a closer look and maybe some petting! 




The tree on the left, Louise, the ground layer, Kathy, the parrots and background, Joanne,the plants above ground level, Susan, and the tree and flowers on the right, Dona


The last piece is the one which I am doing which is about a young Indian man from my tribe, Jackson Bussell.  This piece has truly been a labor of love and a spiritual walk for me.  In so many ways it has touched my heart and those of the other women who have worked on it along with Jackson's family.  I can see the hand of God guiding this piece.  He has, and continues to mesh together so many lives and situations to bring this piece to fruition.  I believe that it truly is blessed by God and meant to be a testimony and honor to Jackson's life and his love for God.  The main figure is Jackson, taken from a photo of him in his Chicken Dance Regalia performing at a powwow.  The other figures are Chicken Dancer drawings done by his stepfather Marc McNair and created from those line drawings.  Numerous techniques were used, fabric painting, needle felting, beading, etc.  Not all of the small pieces have been affixed as of yet, but believe me, it is going to be over the top when it is completed.  Thanks to each of my Fractured friends and Jackson's family for allowing me to be a part of doing this work of art.



Top L, Susan's Chicken Dancer, Bottom L, Kathy's, Center, Jackson top half, Joanne, Bottom half, Dona, R Chicken Dancer, Louise