Hockey Garden part 2

The garden with the hockey sticks continues.  I have cut out and placed lots of the hockey items that would be included in a player's gear.  Hockey sticks, helmet, gloves, bag, pucks.

Here is the hockey bag, that has been fabricated since my last post.

 

What I usually do for pictorial pieces like this is take a photograph of the object--like the gloves resting on top of the hockey bag.  I simplify the photo into sections that I can fuse together with different colors of fabric to add shading and volume.  I assemble each item and press it onto a piece of baking parchment; instead of having 20 little pieces of fabric, I have one big glove or item to move around on the surface until it is in just the right place.

The helmet was done the same way.  And I think it will be sitting atop a hockey stick in my garden.

My plan was to have a pair of skates in the picture, but the above skate has tons of tiny little pieces in it.  So my quilt will only get one skate, you will have to make believe there are two! I liked having it sit on an angle, it seems more chaotic that way--more "real life!"

What I have shown you has taken weeks to accomplish, and this quilt isn't very big.  But that's how this piece seemed to evolve!  So here is the first big reveal.

Here is the background with the pieces in position.

What's next?  The pucks have to be fabricated and so do the gloves, they are in the photo above cut out of paper.  My plan is to then add the garden elements all to make a quilt without a traditional border.

I'm going to be needing a title for this one, and I need your help with that!

Till next time.........

Ann Fahl

A Ribbon Always Makes Life Better

If you are one of my regular readers, you will remember my blog series on designing and sewing Garden of the Sun God. After a bit of time without receiving any significant awards for my work, I was beginning to doubt my abilities. Over the years, I have learned that there are many ups and downs to working for yourself and as an artist.  This is just one of those things. All of my thoughts, dreams and life are stitched into this quilt, it took longer than many I have designed.  Today I am thrilled and am basking in the glow!

Garden of the Sun God, original quilt by Ann Fahl

This weekend the judges at Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival in VA, awarded the piece "best machine workmanship" in the Innovative category. I am sending them a big thank you for the award.

Ann Fahl

A Different View of a Garden Quilt

It was just before the holiday season when I stopped to have dinner with my son in Chicago.  My creative mind was in the "off" mode at the time, and he suggested that I start a quilt called "Hockey Garden." Of course I immediately dismissed the idea, because I have already made a hockey quilt. Hockey Mom was made years back when both my sons were playing hockey and my husband was coaching.  Hockey was all that was discussed in our house that particular year. I did have great fun making this quilt and it is my only self portrait.

Hockey Mom, quilt (c) Ann Fahl made in 1996, 39.5 x 41 inches.  Also pictured in Quilter's Newsletter  Dec '96

But as time passed by, I decided that I had a really good idea for a hockey garden quilt.  The next few posts will show the piece in progress. You may recall my post called the World's Most Expensive Free Rose Bush? A year or two ago, my neighbor gave me a start from her grandmother's old fashioned rose bush, and I used my son's broken hockey sticks to keep it under control.  I decided to take this same idea and make it into a small quilt.

Here is the rose bush, surrounded by the expensive broken hockey sticks!

Background of the new quilt Hockey Garden.

 So here is the beginning of my next quilt.  I've pieced together a sky background, the foreground is a little bit of garden soil and grass. My idea is to have a garden of fragrant flowers growing in and around some smelly hockey gear.  Only mother's with hockey players will truly understand this. 

Here is the hockey bag which is central to the life of a hockey player because it contains all of their expensive equipment.  No matter how often the stuff is washed there is always a very strong unpleasant aroma attached to it.  The bag is also central to my future garden as a planter.

There will be more later.

Ann Fahl

Meet a Pirate!

Hey thar mateys.

Recently I've returned from a warm sunny trip to Florida.  Here in Wisconsin it has been very cold, below 0 every day! I've done all the little catch up things that one has to do when returning home.  Now I've started work on a new garden piece. It's small and just fun.  It isn't in a state where I can share it with you yet!

In the meantime, I have one vacation photo to share with you.  It was taken by my friend Sally on Amelia Island in front of one of the shops in the wonderful village full of interesting spots. This guy was really cute and willing to pose with me. I had just eaten a large piece of chocolate cake on my arrival at Amelia, so I'm sure I had chocolate on my breath.

Ann

The importance of what you don't do............

Many of us have been quilting for most of our lives.  About a year ago, I realized that it was time for me to slow down my quilt production. After 34 years of full time quilting, I needed a break to spend time doing other things.

Detail from A Quilter's Menagerie, by Ann Fahl

In December Oprah interviewed Stephen Spielberg, Sally Field and Daniel Day Lewis about the making of  "Lincoln" the movie.  History fascinates me, especially American history and what affect it has had on our lives. The back stories about the making of movies and other art forms always brings a nugget or two of wisdom my way.

Another detail of A Quilter's Menagerie, by Ann Fahl

 Daniel Day Lewis talked about how he needed at least a year to prepare himself for the role of Abraham Lincoln. Not only does he want to research his character, but he also needs to spend time doing other things. He finds joy in being home with his family and doing mundane things like taking the kids to school and soccer practice. So he has found that he not only needs to immerse himself in his work as an actor, but also spend time at non-theater tasks.  Both make him a better artist.

Swan detail of A Quilter's Menagerie by Ann Fahl

The bells and whistles went off in my head, when he said this. I've been balancing family, traveling/teaching, and making quilts for so long, that I'm not experiencing the many other facets of life. Daniel is so right. It's OK to take time off. I don't work on weekends anymore nor make 12-15 quilts a year.  Maybe just 2 quilts a year will be right when combined with being a master gardener. Yes, time away is much more important than I realized.

It has become very important to write my family history; both for myself and for my two sons. This is a fascinating journey using all the skills I've developed during my career in business and quilting: computer word processing, investigative work, problem solving, writing and assembling a book.  Right now, with the temperatures below 20 degrees, what could be better than working in a sun filled office then learning about all your ancestors? It's good to stay home.

So if a day comes, and you decide to do something other than make a quilt; don't feel guilty, it is OK.

A Quilter's Menagerie, quilt by Ann Fahl

Ann Fahl