Monday, December 1, 2008

CREATING A YARN ON FABRIC

I find a great deal of pleasure in capturing nature through the lens of my camera but along with my attempts at being an amateur photographer I also dabble with an assortment of threads, yarns and fabrics. My quilting creations are very much free form, I cut out what I want from fabric and stitch it on, using the applique method. Where I think I want more thread color I do some thread painting. I have only been quilting for about two years and honestly, my inspirations always come from observing nature. One of my favorites has always been the Robin. I love the songs they sing and their need to find every worm in my backyard!

They seem to love our pines, yews, and sycamores for building their nests of mud and grass.I especially like all the different hues of oranges on their breasts, the speckled cinnamon brown breasts of their young and the linear designs that appear under their bills as they mature.
Of course, who didn't grow up recognizing and loving those beautiful blue eggs and shells. I suppose all these reasons eventually led me to decide to create a quilted wall hanging with Robins as my focus.
I do create, in the moment, so to speak, but I specifically chose the Sycamore tree because the bark peels and drops, leaving a patchwork of earthy colors that compliment the tree with its rich tones of siennas, browns and greens.
For the floral, I added something similar to the little wild roses that grow in the fields and woods near our house. These I cut out and attached, filling them in with colored thread via my machine.


and of course one always has a ton of scraps... so why not create your own friendly orange goose!!..if for nothing else, it amuses the dog!
and if you are a real crazy saver, like me, you can keep all those pieces of thread, yarn, and loosely woven material for our nesting friends in the spring. They seem to like these scraps as they grab and pull on a piece of lint or string..flying it back to the nest, preparing to create their own yarn on life.

20 comments:

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Tina: I really like that second photo in the fir tree.

I went to Youngstown State University and I was there when Kennedy was shot. We lived in Akron when the shooting happened at Kent State.

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

Tina, your quilted robin is gorgeous!! I am awed by your creativity and skill.

Craig Glenn said...

Tina,

You are my hero! I love your creativity and the way you join your passions together to create beautiful works of art. Always a joy to visit your site.
Craig

Ruth's Photo Blog said...

You are such a talented person.
Thanks for sharing the pictures of the quilts,many hours must have gone into those.Looks great!

Shelley said...

Your quilt is a true treasure!! so beautiful to look at!

Tina said...

FG, we used to visit Akron a lot. Nice place.

Lynne, Thank you very much :)

Craig, Thank you and it's always nice to hear from you! Keep walking!!

Ruth, I was surprised how many hours went into this quilt! I so admire those that create bed size quilts or those who quilt by hand!

Barb, Thank you! this was an"out side the box" style of quilt..wasn't sure how it was going to look, but I'm happy!!

Thanks Shelly :)

Eve said...

Wow Tina what a talent!! That is a beautiful quilt. The goose is fun and I too love to hang thread scraps for the birds!! Beautiful!!!

NCmountainwoman said...

Wow! I am totally impressed with your work. Just lovely.

A Colorful World said...

It's the quilt!!! I am so glad you posted it! I enlarge it and just look at all the intricate design work. It truly is a lovely work of art!

I love the robin photos, too. I think the robin is the first bird children learn, and that's something we all can share in. But you know so much about them, it is apparent that you didn't stop with your childhood knowledge, but went on to become intimate with these wonderful birds. This is a great post for the way it ties in your love of the robins with your great quilting talent!

And I LOVE the idea of putting thread and scraps in a suet feeder for the birds to get!!!! Great! Also, that goose is so CUTE! It made me wonder something...A goose could be made, perhaps, with rings around openings in it's body, to hold fat quarters. That way, your fat quarters would always be easy to find, and you could replace them as you used them. I just thought that might be a cute variation on your theme. But, of course, you were using scraps, which we quilters always have tons of, and they usually fill plastic bags, so this was a GREAT idea! :-)

Thanks for commenting on my blog posts! I had never heard the expression about Astor;s pet horse...maybe it is a reference to Lord Astor. I just don't know.

All my best!

Marie

Tina said...

Eve, Thank you! I usually put out a few really bright yarn colors and see if they show up in any of the nests I see in my yard or houses!!

NcMountain..thank you very much!

Marie, Yes finally after you posted yours..I got braver! tee he Thanks for all your nice comments..and great idea for that goose..always trying to find ways to store those fat quarters!:)

troutbirder said...

Thanks for stopping by Troutbirder. Especially since it led me here to see all your beautiful bird photographs. I don't know how I missed it previously, since you link to many of my favorite people. Thanks!

Kim said...

You must have the patience of a saint to be able to be that detailed. I enlarged the last picture and saw all of the stitching it required. It is so vibrant and colorful. Absolutely beautiful.

Tina said...

Greetings Troutbirder, Thanks for stopping by.

Kallen, Well thank you but the reality is, if it is nasty out I'm in my studio if it is nice out so am I..so quilts take me a while to finish! Thank you, tho, for your nice comments..I appreciate you stopping by!

Gail said...

At the risk of using an over used word...Awesome!
And what's this about amteur?

Craig Glenn said...

Tina,

I value your insight and opinion so much I was wondering if you would critique my new blog for me. I know the content may not be to your cup of tea but I just want to know if I am on the right track. Sorry for posting on your page for this but have no other way to do so. The page is http://craigsobservations.blogspot.com/

Thanks so much for your consideration,
Craig

Unknown said...

The orange goose is just awesome Tina

NoBS said...

I love the idea of the bird homesteading supplies. Excellent!

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Wow Tina... That wall hanging is drop-dead-gorgeous!!!! You truly have a gift. I don't quilt --but I love them. I may have told you that I have an old quilt that belonged to my mother.. SO special!!! I also have a big one that the teens made for me (with the help of the adults) --when I was a Youth Director many years ago. I LOVE quilts. Wish I had some of that talent!!! Thanks for sharing!!!
Hugs,
Betsy

me ann my camera said...

Tina,
The Robins are so beautiful!! I love everything you did about it for it is such a creative and wonderful explosion of colour and detail interwoven together with thread and fabric. Its so very inspirational and it makes me eager to get to work on my Starling stitchery that I am planning.

Also, the suet feeder full of fabric and thread is a great idea!! I shall use that idea for sure in the spring.

Thank you for telling me of your Robin and thank you for your visit to mine.
ann

Linda said...

I work for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. We publish a quarterly online newsletter, Habichat, which deals with creating wildlife-friendly backyards.

This spring we will do an article on Yarn for Birds.

I was wondering if you could give me permission to use the photograph of the birds nest with yarn in it to help illustrate this article. The photograph is the BestNest.jpg and I found it on your blog.

Of course we would give you a photo credit.

To preview our most recent issue of Habichat, visit: http://www.dnr.state.md.us/wildlife/habichat24.asp

Back issues are also available at:
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/wildlife/wildacres.asp#habichat

Thank you for your consideration of this request
Regards,
Linda Wiley
Webmaster II
Information Technology Service
Maryland Dept. of Natural Resources
410-260-8022
lwiley@dnr.state.md.us

would like to hear your thoughts..