Two Cyanotype Quilts Featured in “The Quilt Life”

I’m thrilled to share that two of my art quilts with cyanotype imagery are featured in the August 2012 issue of The Quilt Life magazine.  They  illustrate the article “Solar Powered Surface Design” by Irene Berry. Also featured are quilts by other artists working with cyanotype - Sandra Sider, Jane Walton, Tafi Brown, and Carol Newby.   I am honored to be in such distinguished company!

Shown are Columbine:

Columbine

And Plume Poppy:

Plume Poppy

It’s a very good article, a basic primer on the process with references to resources, including my supplier of choice, Blueprints On Fabric (no affiliation except as a longtime satisfied customer). And of course, there’s a wealth of other information and quilty goodness in this issue, so be sure to get yours either online or in the bookstore/fabric store.

I never set out to become a cyanotype expert, I just was intrigued enough by the process to give it a try.  Once I did, I was smitten, and driven to keep experimenting.  I’m a long way from exhausting the possibilities, either in making prints or incorporating them into my quilt designs.  How lucky am I, to be doing the work I love, and to be able to share it?  I wish you all the same.

Work in Progress - Silk Mill #2

I’ve been working on a new quilt, Silk Mill #2. It follows my Silk Mill #1, which is currently on display with Images 2012 at the Robeson Gallery. Both are based on pictures I took of the abandoned Ashley and Bailey Silk Mill in Columbia, PA, shortly before its renovation and partial conversion to a tourist attraction for the Turkey Hill Dairy.

  I was fascinated and attracted by the patterns made by the missing window panes, with blue sky showing through them, and used this image as the basis for a thermofax screen.  I screen printed the images in several colors.

I also used the image to order digitally printed silk yardage, which I’ve cut and used in the piecing.

I made good progress on the quilting today and hope to finish it up soon.  Silk Mill #3 is up on the design wall and awaiting my attention.  To track back this new series, and see lots of pictures of this architectural gem, click on “Ashley and Bailey Silk Mill” under Labels on the right sidebar, or click here.