Gloria Loughman Landscape Workshop: Part 2

Student WIP

Participants of this workshop came with varying levels of "preparedness" and expectations. The course outline required that each student bring a photo or a sketch of a sunset scene or a simple landscape. From this photo we would derive the basic design of our class piece, as well as use it as a colour guide.

At the end of the two day workshop, students were at various levels of progress. Below are a few samples of some of the participant's work after completion of the course.

Giselle, (below) who seemed to have a clear understanding of the direction she would take her piece, came to the workshop with a tree that she had fused and thread painted separately in advance of the class. The tree was later placed on top of the fused tiles and became the focal point of her piece.

Here Giselle's tree is loosely placed over top of the tiles. It will be fused into place permanently once all of the background tile work is completed.

In her moonscape, (below), Carol has used a tiny scrap of dyed and shredded batting and has floated it in front of a full moon to successfully represent a wispy cloud..

A paper pattern of the foreground lies over top of Carol's completed night sky.

Faye and Eryl (next 2 photos) came prepared with their own hand dyed fabrics ready to create a sunset (or sunrise) scene. These two ladies were extremely efficient and focused and therefore, made great progress in class. Both had their tiles fused and stitched into place before the workshop ended.

With tiles fused and stitched into place, Faye has started working on the silhouette of a tree, which will become the focal point of her piece.

The reflection in the water that Eryl has created in the foreground mirrors for the sky perfectly.

In her own work, Gloria Loughman uses diamonds and triangles as well as squares and rectangles. However, to keep things a little more straightforward and simplified, the majority of students chose to work with either square or rectangular tiles.

Quita placed her rectangular tiles on the diagonal. This creates a very different effect from tiles that are placed in straight rows.

Deanna has chosen to use her square tiles on the diagonal as well.

The next two photos are of my LIP (Landscape in Progress). I took this photograph at the "Bambouserie", a bamboo forest in the south of France many years ago. At the time, I had hopes of creating a quilted landscape, but because I had no experience with this type of design and no real idea of the direction that I wanted my quilt to take, I left it alone, but never quite forgot about it. Since then, there have been several textile artists whose work I have admired, Gloria Loughman being one of them. After having bought her book "Radiant Landscapes" in 2010, I was inspired to work up several design layouts, with the one pictured below becoming the basis of this workshop piece. It is designed as a triptych and I am currently working on the center portion of the photograph.

Because I chose to work with monochromatic colours, working with a black and white print of my bamboo forest gave me a better guide for choosing values.

My work so far, with my colour palette of pre-fused fabric tiles on either side.

Working on this landscape is a great creative learning experience for me and I am having lots of fun playing with it. I do hope to finish this piece some day, but right now there is more pressing and (quite frankly) more exciting stitching in my immediate future, like baby quilts and other baby "accoutrements". Granniehood is on the horizon for me and this Gran E is seriously inspired and prepared to fulfill all stitching requirements.

Boutis: Traditional French Needlework

" Piqûre de Marseilles" or "Boutis" is a traditional French hand stitched and corded needlework technique, which uses embroidery stitches to create intricate channels that will later be stuffed with yarn, thereby creating a raised design with three layers. It's origins, and it's name, can be traced to the port of Marseilles in southern France to the 15th century. Traditional boutis was a technique invented to embellish otherwise plain white cotton with intricately patterned channels that would later be stuffed with a plump white yarn to give it relief. The resulting corded whitework created an elegant, embossed textile that was much sought after. Not only was it aesthetically appealing, but it also provided warmth and absorbency, so could be used for bed coverings, toilette linens (like towels), clothing items, home decor, etc. The first two photos below are from the collection of Mme. Monique Alphand, a well known French expert and collector of antique t...

Amish Hand Quilting in France with Esther Miller

Esther Miller, was born into an Amish family in the U.S., and now lives in Germany where she has for many years taught the techniques and methods of Amish hand quilting to anyone interested in learning these skills. As a child, she would closely watch as the women of her community worked together on a quilt, and eventually she was rewarded with a needle of her own and encouraged to join the group. Through the years, she has mastered these skills and techniques and now generously shares them with anyone who has a genuine desire to learn. Esther Miller in Ste. Marie-aux-Mines in Alsace France. An example of her own work, Esther brings this intricately and perfectly hand stitched wall quilt to class as inspiration for her students. Last week, at the "European Meeting of Patchwork" in Ste. Marie-aux-Mines, in Alsace France, www.patchwork-europe.com , I had the privilege of taking a 2 day workshop with Esther. The Amish...

Blocking and Squaring Boutis

The door of her cage has been opened. She is free to fly off and find her destiny. After many months of hand stitching and then many more months of cording, my little "colibri" is ready to set off on her own. As this was my first attempt at designing so large a boutis piece, it was a learning curve. All of the tight swirls, curls and circles are a great deal more difficult and time consuming to cord then are the longer more gentle channels. Maintaining an even tension is absolutely necessary throughout the process, so patience comes in very handy when doing the cording. The process of stitching and cording a work of boutis subjects the fabric to a lot of handling and manipulation that can distort the design. For this reason, once all of the stitching and cording is complete, the boutis must be washed, blocked and squared. The first step of washing is to remove all traces of the marking pencil as well as any soil that may have collected over the many months of working w...

needle and nestSeptember 29, 2014 at 7:24 PM
I love the colors you chose for your quilt. It has a dreamy nighttime quality to it. What will the finished size be? And is this approach strictly for art quilts or is it ever appropriate for everyday quilts? I've never seen anything like it before - it's all very intriguing!
MonicaSeptember 30, 2014 at 2:33 PM
Such an inspiring set of photos! I love Quita's greens - I always go for green, I think!

You are off to a great start with yours too. It's going to be an excellent complement to your bamboo design. As I said last time, there will be wonderful depth to the piece. Onwards!
AnonymousOctober 6, 2014 at 12:33 PM
Love your bamboo drawing! And the dark colors you have chosen will be lovely. It was fun to see the work of the other participants as well. Looked like it was a great workshop!
KarenOctober 8, 2014 at 4:18 PM
Congratulations on your upcoming Granniehood! That's great. I, too, will be a first time Nana in late February. So many baby things to think about now!

Seams French

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