teresashippy

Bobbin work using Valdani threads.  Thanks to Deborah Stanley who managed to keep a nice steady balance and flow with the camera! We had a ball!

“Cool Classic Rides”  Cruisin into Quiltfest Savannah Georgia.  March 27-30, 2014. Many thanks to Mancuso Inc. Valdani Threads and to Deborah Stanley!

Rollin into The Quilt Fest of New Jersey- March 6-9, 2014- Somerset, New Jersey. Hope you have a chance to see this 27 piece “Cool Classic Rides” collection!  Thanks to Mancuso Inc. Valdani Threads and to Deborah Stanley.

All 27 ” Cool Classic Rides” stitched heavily with Valdani threads.  First Mancuso show kicks off Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival, February 27th-March 2, 2014 in Hampton, Virginia.  Send me a couple of photos if you plan to be there!

Check out Mancuso dates/venues   here,   (special exhibits)  Much thanks to Valdani Threads, Mancuso Inc.  and  Deborah Stanley.  Stay tuned!

Hope to see ya on the road,

Teresa

Hope you have a chance to view the collection up close and personal!  The concept began in 2011. Cut-up quilts, leftover fabric painted pieces, men’s vintage ties and wool scraps define each car. All 27 cars have approx. 15-25 tiny pieces of fabric to compose each ride. All 27 heavily stitched using Valdani cotton threads. Many thanks to Mancuso Inc. Valdani Threads and Deborah Stanley.

Its been a wild and crazy ride. Two years ago I started with my first cool ride, Mini Cooper. Even though the mini will not be touring with the others, it’s a cool ride, not a classic. Finally in the wrapping up stage of the 27 piece collection. Sizes vary from 12 x 12 to 24 x 30. So excited to have “Cool Classic Rides” debut at Soft Expressions Upstairs Gallery this September, 2013. In addition, “Cool Classic Rides” Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival 2014 through the World Quilt Show-Florida. The entire collection will be featured at the Avantgarden Gallery here in Santa Ana 2015, specific date/dates pending. Many thanks to Valdani Threads. I absolutely love the quality of these beautiful variegated hand dyed cotton threads. All 27 cars have been heavily stitched using these fantastic spools of eye candy. Thank you for your sponsorship! Happy girl indeed!

Faces can be challenging.  Every little detail along with shadows and highlights are so important, especially if  you want to capture the true essence of the individual your working on.  A loved one or a commissioned piece can be daunting.  To capture a simple frown or those well deserved lifelines.  To define using threads helps a great deal in capturing those moments in a realistic way.

To the far left is a sketch from a ten-year old  photo.  The same sketch was traced onto worded cotton fabric.  By stitching heavily with threads I was able to define what this person looks like now.  I used the reversed side of the fabric so that the words would look like shadows.  It worked great!  Much more to do……..

Cotton variegated pale hues courtesy of Valdani  Threads                  

http://www.valdani.com

More faces,                                                                        

Taking a bit of a detour from my “Cool Classic Rides”  to finish up a couple of special exhibits.

“Delphinium fields” A 8 piece floral collection curated by Deborah Stanley will be in travel mode starting May 2013.  Thrilled to have “Handful” travel the full circuit of shows with the Mancuso quilt shows organization.  Honored to be amongst such wonderful talented artists.  Artistic Expressions is a wonderful group founded by Deborah Stanley.  Each of us brings a bevy of artistic ideas to the table at every meet.  Much more additional info here…http://5artisticexpressions.blogspot.com

Hand painted cotton canvas. Raw-edge work. Heavily stitched using a wide variety of variegated cottons and pearl cotton threads from Valdani 

So many memories!  Love the classic car shows. Mom used to drive a pale green corvair way back in the day. Three of my fiber art cars are currently on display @ the Avantgarden Gallery  in downtown Santa Ana, Ca. The entire 27 piece collection will debut this September in Anaheim, Ca. Additional dates for 2014 coming soon.I’m forever grateful for Valdani  Inc. for their wonderful support and sponsorship. Each car is approx. 15-25 pieces of different fabrics stitched onto a hand painted canvas cloth. All 27 cars are stitched with Valdani  Hand  Dyed Variegated Threads. The original concept started in 2011; I thought it would be cool to design funky cars out of pieces of leftover fabrics, some from cut/up quilts, left over painted pieces from my workshop classes, anything that looked on the vintage side was fair game for me to use.  Another source of an inspiration for me is remembering the cars that we had in our large family; 6 brothers, 2 sisters makes for many crazy fun cars to create!  Enjoy the ride…….

Havin Fun!                                                                                                                                                                                   

Below is a before and after pattern. Each piece of the pattern becomes a template; I usually use tracing paper to make each template. People have asked me why not just use a single drawing of a car and let that be a pattern. In order to give it texture and a  cool dimensional look, you really need the many pieces of fabrics along with the thread-work to define.

Love to do faces! Happy to be part of a wonderful art group. The Serendipities current rotation trade theme is “face Value” My 12 x 12 , “Harmony” is free-motion thread stitched using Valdani Hand Dyed Variegated Threads. The background was stitched with a beautiful hue, Subtle Elegance,  50 wt. I used Black Night, also 50 wt. to outline the faces, and also fill in the facial features. Pearl Cotton #8 and # 12 was used from the reverse, bobbin work for the hair. The pearl cotton threads really added a nice textured look. Different weights of these threads create a variety of textures; because I tend to embellish heavily with threads its so important to me to have the quality. Valdani provides just that, a fantastic product!