Thursday 16 September 2010

Thomas 'Spider' Turkey

The La Conner Quilt and Textile Museum http://www.laconnerquilts.com/is located in the Gaches Mansion, built in the late 1800's http://www.laconnerquilts.com/the-museum/gaches-mansion The mansion is desperately in need of renovation. At present, the Museum has qualified for a grant that will match the money raised by the museum.
The curator of the museum and the Board put out a challenge with the theme, 'Innovations/Renovations'. It will be shown at Quiltfest 2010 and travel in 2011, at which time it will be auctioned for the renovation fund.
I spent the last couple of weeks in the studio, making this little quilt (24" x 36")
Wild turkeys live in the trees behind the museum. They strut around the town and are even seen using the sidewalks and crosswalks. Thomas 'Spider' Turkey was based on my husband's photo. It was enhanced with paint and free motion stitched onto batting. The unit was then appliqued to the background. 'Spider' is the Renovation Project Manager.In answer to a couple of comments, I've added a closer view of the turkey. A comment on where photos start and end: the mansion was cut away from the background, except for the front bushes. I overlapped trees and grass to make it all blend in. I added the sky and a tree in the upper right corner - for consistency. The mansion sits on the top of the hill with a magnificent view. My photo was printed on fabric and enhanced with stitching. The sky was my handpainted cloth. The walkway was bleached and rubbed on a sidewalk with paintsticks to get texture.
If you have never been to La Conner, it is a charming little town on a salt water channel north of Seattle. http://www.laconnerchamber.com/
The Current exhibits end soon: June 30 - September 26, 2010
All that Blooms: Quilts from Japan
Japanese Textiles: This is an exhibition of textiles collected from a quiltmaker’s point of view. The fabrics displayed here have been collected over 25 years.
Upcoming - Quiltfest 2010 http://www.laconnerquilts.com/quilt-fest
Find out more about the fundraising for renovations: http://www.laconnerquilts.com/save-our-mansion

6 comments:

Carol said...

Fabulous.

Vivien Zepf said...

Wonderful quilt! Any chance we can see a close up of "Spider". He's a marvel.

Best of luck with the fundraising.

Carol said...

Hi Vivian. I love your turkey/mansion quilt. Very inspiring.

You are one of the recipients of The Sunshine Award :) come visit my blog, Thursday post, and find out more.
http://ascotintennessee.blogspot.com

Gloria said...

Very clever way to use photos! I can hardly tell where the photo ends and other fabrics begin!

ann said...

Vivian,
This is fantastic! It would have taken me twice as long to do a quilt that size. I wish I could see the detail closer up. It looks like paint, but not sure. The composition and the rendation is really GREAT!

Really wonderful to meet another art quilter who uses the Innova.
Ann
designerann.blogspot.com

laura said...

hi Vivian, thanks for the note and the link to your blog. it looks great!
This is a wonderful piece, very sophisticated and fun, wonderful detail without being enslaved by the photos. Good job.
keep in touch.