Art Piece # 019: Four Friends # 2

Art Piece # 19: Four Friends # 2

Up, Art Piece # 19

Up, AP # 19
| Cindy Anderson
The Odd One, AP 17
The Odd One, Art Piece # 17
Ahoy, AP # 18
Ahoy, Art Piece # 18

Do you remember The Odd One, Art Piece # 17 and Ahoy, Art Piece # 18? I wrote about their adventures recently. Both were part of a reassignment project that focused on turning boring art pieces into something much more attractive. The composition I am showing today was part of that process. Let’s take a look.

The Beginning:

Three different fiber art pieces were dismantled for this renovation project. They were: The Chosen Nine, Four Friends I and Four Friends II. The reassignment process netted 17 different blocks and of those two were singled out for this specimen. Both were chosen because of their similarities. A close look at the two blocks will show that they appear to be arrows. Also of interest is the fabrics found on the right side of each arrow; look closely and you will see that they are identical. These similarities made putting them together a natural choice.

Simplicity:

Aside from trimming each block down to 4 1/2” x 4 1/2”, not much else needed to be done. I selected a gorgeous blue fabric to act as a spacer between the two blocks as well as borders for the outside edges. Before attaching it to a 11” x 14” stretched canvas frame I layered the new quilt top with batting and a backing. The quilting in the arrow blocks was already present. To the surrounding blue fabric I added lines of straight-line quilting with a variegated thread. Notice how they add an interesting design element of their own.

The Finish:

Long before I added the last quilting stitch I decided what name I would give to this item. Given that the two blocks looked like arrows, I purposely arranged them to point in an upward direction. The upward movement inspired me to name this fiber art piece Up, Art Piece # 19.

As with all my other frame mounted art projects, this one was given a protective paper backing. The backing serves as a barrier from dust and bugs. A hanging system of two d-rings and wire was attached to aid in display. To provide for ventilation and stability silicone bumpers were added.

I think the appearance of this fiber art piece is far more appealing now that it was before. See for yourself.

Up, AP # 19
Up, Art Piece # 19

Thank You:

I appreciate your interest in my activities and your willingness to read this journal to the very end! Your participation has made my day!

 

Cindy Anderson

Fiber Art By Cindy Anderson

Ahoy, Art Piece # 18

Four Friends, AP 18
| Cindy Anderson

Operation Renovation:

My ongoing renovation project continues with today’s journal entry. Last week I shared the reincarnation of The Odd One, Art Piece # 17.

The Odd One, AP 17
The Odd One, Art Piece # 17

 

Up for discussion today is an item I finished back in July, 2017, known as Four Friends, Art Piece # 18.

Before:

Part of the fun of a renovation project is seeing the before and after photos. Let’s see what Four Friends looked like before I tackled her reinvention.

Four Friends, AP 18
Four Friends, Art Piece # 18

Downsizing:

Portions of this sweet little project were once part of a much larger one. When I decided to modify a number of my art pieces, this was one of the products to evolve. A total of 17 building blocks were harvested from three existing fiber art quilts. After shuffling them around to create new and improved specimens four blocks were chosen for this composition.

Redecorating:

Once the selection process was over I trimmed each of  the four blocks down to 4 1/2”x4 1/2”.  In their previous state, the stark white borders were just too boring for me; this time around I wanted to add more color.

To distract the attention from the dramatic white borders I added strips cut from a royal blue fabric printed with floating fish. The floating fish worked perfectly with the theme I was developing. Next I added a layer of batting and a backing. The entire sandwich was then quilted with straight-line quilting using a color coordinated variegated thread.

Choosing A Name:

My art pieces always have an assigned name; sometimes it’s chosen even before the fabrics are stitched together. For this item I new exactly what I would call it the minute I selected the blocks. All four were chosen to be together because they reminded me of a boat.  Since they were created using improvisational techniques I think it is amazing that this even occurred. A grouping of ugly quilt blocks were repeatedly cut apart and stitched back together with no intention of ending up with a boat image. How crazy is that!

The four little boats with their floating fish borders now had a nautical theme. To set them on a path for smooth sailing I chose to call them  Ahoy. Here is how they looked just before their maiden voyage.

Ahoy, AP # 18
Ahoy, Art Piece # 18

Do you see what I am talking about?

Final Touches:

Once Ahoy was attached to the stretched canvas frame I added a layer of protection from dust and bugs with a paper backing. To make it easy to display the fiber art piece on a wall two d-rings and wire were added. I also attached silicone bumpers for ventilation and to help with stability. Ahoy, in its final form, measures 12”x12”x7/8”.

Thank You:

As always I am thrilled that you were able to spend time with me today! I hope that you enjoyed reading about my adventure as much as I did in sharing it. Let’s make a plan to do this again!

Best Wishes!

Cindy Anderson

Fiber Art By Cindy Anderson

 

 

The Odd One, Art Piece 17 (AKA The Chosen Nine)

The Odd One, AP 17
| Cindy Anderson
A Handfull
A Handfull

Busy, Busy, Busy:

This year has been very busy with  my renovation project, my solo art exhibit, finishing oodles of 8”x10” small art pieces and starting my own online store. Sandwiched in-between were numerous trips to my little cabin in the woods as well as fun activities with my peeps; all while practicing social distancing. The online store has taken up most of the time I would normally have spent on my blog. With the majority of those tasks accomplished, I can once again share my triumphs with Operation Renovation.

A Return To Operation Renovation:

Operation Renovation is a project I started back in January. During the early days of this pandemic I searched for something to focus my attention on. At the time, I had a number of art pieces that were finished but not quite to my liking. With my pandemic anxiety level reaching an all-time high I decided to redirect my attention to those less-than-appealing projects. A number of successful outcomes have already been shared but I still have quite a few to go; time to get back to sharing my progress.

Today’s journal entry will focus on the art piece I once called The Chosen Nine, Art Piece # 17. So, sit back and enjoy my next reveal.

The Chose O, AP 17

In The Beginning:

This art quilt began during  the summer of 2017 (see photo above). In its original form it was a grouping of nine improvisational building blocks. Each of the blocks was surrounded by four white borders. The nine, with their stark white edges, were stitched together and surrounded by a white binding. They were quilted with a simple, but attractive straight-line quilting motif. The finished quilt remained in that state until recently; that’s when I decided the composition was just too blah. To remedy my dilemma I grabbed a seam ripper and removed the binding, then gave it a good pressing

Simultaneous Renovation:

At the same time I decided to tackle the renovation of Art Piece # 17 I had also decided to work on two other items. Those compositions contained four blocks each. They are Four Friends # 1 and  Four Friends # 2. All three quilts could very easily have been left intact and mounted on a stretched canvas frame. Since I was making changes I decided to go wild and cut them all apart; I ended up with seventeen 5 1/2”x5 1/2″ units. To change things even further I reallocated them into eight separate art compositions: a six piece, a four piece, a two piece and five individual specimens.

Six Piece:

The six piece composition was the first one to be finished. To give this item a punch of color I chose to add a two-tone blue border around each block. All six blocks were then stitched together to form a new quilt top. The newly created fiber art piece was sandwiched together with a layer of batting and a new fabric backing. To secure the layers together I traveled around each block stitching straight-lines with a variegated blue thread.

A New Name:

Once the quilting was finished I decided to give this renovated item a new name. As I allowed my eyes to travel over its surface I made a discovery; one of the units incorporated into the project was quilted differently than the others. This revelation gave me the inspiration to title this fiber art piece The Odd One. See if you can locate it!

The Odd One, AP 17
The Odd One, Art Piece # 17

The Finish:

In its finished form The Odd One measures 16″x20″. Protecting the back from dust and bugs is a paper backing. For ease of display two d-rings and wire were added to facilitate hanging on a wall. Silicone bumpers were also added to help minimize sideways movement stability and to promote air circulation.

Thank You:

I hope that you have enjoyed seeing the once blah specimen turn into something much more spectacular. Sharing these stories with you is one of the best parts of the entire process. Thank you for being here!

Cindy Anderson

Fiber Art By Cindy Anderson