Helen Remick's unusual materials "stitched" together to be shown at National Quilt Museum

Remick's "What I Want to Remember" (Mark Frey photo)

There's big news from CQA member Helen Remick! Her latest work, "What I want to Remember," is one of 25 quilts selected for the National Quilt Museum’s "The Gala of the Unexpected." It will be on display at the museum from April 14 to July 12 and will then travel through the end of 2017.

The quilt top is made of 35mm film negatives and overhead projector sheets printed with pictures from the negatives and other sources. Helen says of the quilt: "As my dear mother-in-law slipped into dementia, she and I repeated two lists that were important to her: the names of family members, and the places she had lived. As I finished this quilt I realized that I had created my own list. The photographs are of the people I love and the places I have been."

Detail of "What I Want to Remember" (Mark Frey photo)

Asked about how she constructed this piece when putting together such unusual materials, Helen said, "I saw potential in the 35 mm film precisely because the holes for stitching were already there, and were even.  I have a Cricut paper cutter, one of the early versions, that can be programmed to do odd shapes.  I drew a pattern for the printed areas, printed the overheads, and then cut the shapes, including the holes to match the film.  The only thing I had to punch was the diagonals on each film strip.  A nasty job, but a limited one.  Then it was easy to sew together with yarn.  The top is fastened, not quilted, to the two other layers: tulle and felt."

For more about Helen and images of her other pieces, go to www.helenremick.com

CQA to host a one-day symposium April 16

Symposium speakers (from top): Dr. Sandra Sider, curator, Texas Quilt Museum; Cathy Izzo, Art Quilt Gallery, New York City; Kris Sazaki, president and board member, Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA)

Calling all art quilters!

Enjoy a day of gathering, inspiration and learning! CQA's upcoming Quilt Art Symposium promises to shine a light on the future of Quilt Art with three leading speakers--Dr. Sandra Sider, curator of the Texas Quilt Museum; Cathy Izzo of the Art Quilt Gallery, New York City; and Kris Sazaki, president of SAQA.

The full day includes a luncheon, a tour of the CQA exhibit "Cutting Edge," and an opening party!

**Saturday, April 16, 2016
**Washington State History Museum
**Tacoma WA

Hotel details, ticket info and other information on the event are now available at: www.quiltartsym.com

CQA members get messy at annual "Play Day"

CQA artists at play, January 9, at Bellevue Arts Museum

Splashing paint around was definitely on the agenda as members of CQA got together January 9 at Bellevue Arts Museum for the group's annual "Play Day" to try out a variety of surface design techniques. Many thanks to the Program Committee for the arrangements (Helen Johnston, Nicole McHale) and especially to the instructors/demonstrators for being so generous with their materials and information: silk screening (Colleen Wise), stamping (Margaret Liston), "gelli printing" (Ginnie Hebert), and marbling (Helen Johnston). And thanks to BAM for hosting us again for this, our third year of play days. A good time was had by all! Here's a look at the day's activities, in photos.

STAMPING WITH TEXTILE PAINTS

Some stamps required careful painting. (That's instructor Margaret Liston at left.)

Other stamps could be painted more casually.

Stamping the same design in different colors makes for an interesting result.

Overlaying a different stamp design in a third color adds even more interest.

SILK SCREENING

Instructor Colleen Wise (green shirt) imparts the basics of silk screening on fabric.

Leaves proved to be a popular design for silk screening.

This silk screen for a pattern features both orange and purple paint....

...for a very  interesting two-color result.

Silk screening patterns, rather than objects, was also popular...

...as in this nice contrasty result.

MARBLING

In marbling, drops of paint on a jelly-like surface can be swirled for free-form patterns...

...with this attractive result.

This multicolor marble paint pattern will have spectacular results.

An interesting swirl pattern in neutrals. The blue and yellow "masks" in the background have holes that confine the paints and provide interesting patterns [see photo below].

Very unusual results were achieved with the use of a mask with many open "holes."

A bright marbled design.

Marbled pieces: The one at the left used the "mask" with holes; the one at the right was free-form.

"GELLI PRINTING"

Monoprints, many with textures from pattern forms (right foreground) were achieved from fabric paints applied to "gelli" forms such as the circle, right background.

Daubs of paint were applied to the gelli forms (this one a rectangle), then spread out with a brayer, so that fabric could be placed on the paint to achieve the desired monoprint design.

The paint was given this design on the round gelli plate...

...fabric was then placed over the paint and firmly rubbed....

...so that the painted design is offset onto the fabric.

Twin designs from the gelli plate were achieved directly (left) and with a stencil (right).

...AND SOME MORE FINISHED PRODUCTS:

Products achieved through silk screening and gelli printing, above and below.