UFO to Fabulous
UFO is a Fiber Art term for UnFinished Objects. We all have them. Pieces that we have made and for whatever reason and in various stages of completion, never quite finished. For this May/June window, we put a few of our UFO’s in a plain brown grocery bag. At a meeting a few months ago we treated them like Christmas grab-bag. None of us knew what was in the bag. The rules were that we could use as much or as little of the bag’s contents, and we also were able to supplement with some of our own supplies. The challenge was to make, Fabulous new art!
Participants: Liisa Faberlund, Barbara Houshmand, Evette Allerdings, Caryl Bryer Fallert Gentry, Lynn Giles, Merrie Jo Schroeder, Mary Tyler, Debra Olson, Lora Armstrong, Terri Wolf
Liisa Fagerlund
Original Artist: Caryl Bryer Fallert Gentry
Parterre
13"x19"x1"
$95
Boro style bag. Printed and hand dyed fabric, raw-edged qpplique, hand and machine stitching. Quilted fabric beads.
In the UFO bag were several computer-printed photos of a beautiful garden blossom. Not all the various exposures were equally great so I cut blocks and combined them with color coordinated hand-dyed fabrics. The grided shapes and the garden theme inspired the title: Parterre, an ornamental arrangement of flower beds.
Terri Wolf
Original Artist: Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry
Life Sequenced
19" x 36"
$500
Pieced and Applque
Barbara Houshmand
Original artist: Caryl Bryer Fallert Gentry
Nine Bowls
Size: 33.5” x 27.5”
$400
Machine pieced and sashiko stitched wallhanging.
The bowls represents the need to feed others at my table and around the World.
Lora Armstrong
Original Artist: Debra Olson
Masquerade in Steampunk
Butterflyrose
Rose in Three
Paisley Stars
Prices: $75-$150
Handmade books using traditional bookbinding techniques, the pages are a compilation of water color, mixed media and/or sketch weight papers. Division papers are eco printed/dyed with flora/fauna from the Olympic Peninsula and the Orchid Isle (The Big Island-Hawaii)
Evette Allerdings
Original Artist: Mary Tyler
Life on the Peninsula
22"x23"
$200
Silk painted and hand dyed cotton, free-motioned quilted. Framed wall art.
I got Mary Tyler’s UFOs. It was hand dyed fabric that she had sewn into padded circles and triangles. They looked so nature inspired. I took one of my UFO’s to use as a background.
Caryl Bryer Fallert Gentry
Original Artist: Evette Allerdings
Iris Collaboration
Size: 31.5” x 31.5”
$3000
Dye painting, pieced, machine quilted
I found the rectangular shape challenging to work with, so I squared it up and made a border that combined the green silk painted by Evette and the silk I had painted in deep, jewel tones. I quilted in many different colors of thread to create a textured surface. The quilting carries some of the lines of the iris petal out into the border. The cotton backing fabric was painted by me and the binding fabric is from one of the collections I designed for Benartex.
Lynn GilLes
Original Artist: Jeri Auty
Going with the Flow
25”x38”
$145
Curved piecing, raw-edge appliqué, machine quilting
This art quilt was inspired by section of pieced fabric created by Jeri Auty.
Merrie Jo Schroeder
Original Artist: Terri Wolf
Embrace Imperfection
16”x19”
NFS
Machine pieced and quilted wallhanging.
The brown bag I chose was a collection of colorful scraps and unfinished blocks from Terri Wolf. I tried to use as many of the pieces supplied and only added the black and white checked fabric and the charm.
Mary Tyler
Original Artist: Anonymous
Some Assembly Required
18.5"x19.5"
$100
The back ground is hand dyed cotton, raw edge applique, quilted and stitched
I was taken aback when I iopened my bag. There were all these little body parts, obviously parts of an unmade doll. I thought about sewing them together, like a minature Frankenstein's monster, but creating a storage place for them seemed more appropriate.
Debra Olson
Original Artist: Liisa Fagerlund
Liisa’s Vessel
10" x 14" x 5"
$195
The vessel consists of fabric, reeds, paper, beads, hand and machine stitching.
This project began its life in the capable hands of another artist as a garment (jacket and pants). Wanting to create something of an opposite, I decided on a 3D piece, and the vessel emerged. The tassels around the top came from a scarf that was included in the collaboration bag.
Butternut Squash
22"x34"
$175
Overdying, piecing, hand stitching, stamping, beads
I took the remaining pieces in my collaboration bag and overdyed many of them, then began cutting and stitching them together several times, ending up with 7 blocks. I then added more hand stitching, some stamping and pieced the flashing to connect the blocks, creating the wall piece.