English paper-pieced monsters for children's quilts

 

These quilts, measuring approximately 38 in W x 48 in H, were made as gifts to family members and as donations to The Quilts for Kids organization. Each features an English Paper Pieced monster(s) that was appliqued onto the quilt using a narrow zigzag stitch on a Singer sewing machine (circa 1960s). A stipple pattern was machine quilted over the background and applique(s).

 

  

Octavia, the giant yarn octopus

 

 I crocheted and knitted Octavia, the red-yarn octopus, at the height of the Covid quarantine in 2020. With outstretched tentacles, she measures 8 feet across. The head is 40 inches high, and she weighs about 20 pounds. Octavia has been displayed at the Bowen Center for the Arts in Dawsonville, Georgia. She has also attended 2 quilt retreats in Georgia, one at Amicalola Falls State Park and the other at Koosa Mountain Lodge. My original intention was to make her as a teddy bear substitute, but found that she takes up too much real estate on my bed. Sadly, she has been relegated to a back closet. I take her out from time to time when I have guests.

On display Bowen Center for the Arts

Attending a knitting, crochet, & stitching group

At Amicalola Falls State Park quilt retreat    

 

 

 

Art Quilt Giant Mosquito

Title: Winner Takes All
Size : 42 inches diameter
Materials: African cotton fabrics, embroidery thread, beads, sequins
Techniques: Hand applique, hand embellishment of beads, hand embroidery, machine quilted
Year completed: 2018

Art quit great horned owl

Title: What A Hoot
Size: 25 inches wide by 42 inches long
Materials: Cotton fabrics, cotton rick rack trims, Perle 8 cotton embroidery thread, machine thread
Techniques: Hand applique, hand embroidery, machine quilted
Year completed: 2018
Exhibited:  Heart in Quilt Show 2018 at Bowen Center for the Arts, Dawsonville, GA

Art Quilt Portrait of Florida Osprey

Title: Lookout
Size: 40 inches high by 30 inches wide
Materials: Embroidered organza, cotton fabrics, paper, embroidery floss, interfacing
Techniques: Hand applique and embroidery, machine quilted
Currently for sale at The Bowery Art Gallery, Apalachicola, FL 32320 (850-653-2425; www.boweryartgallery.com).

Button and bead mullet fish plaque

This fish measures 12 inches long by 5.5 inches high. It's for sale at the Bowery Art Gallery, Apalachicola, Florida (https://www.boweryartgallery.com).

Art quilt portrait of eastern screech owl

Title: "Screech"

Available for sale at The Bowery Art Gallery (https://www.boweryartgallery.com)
SOLD

La Passacaglia Quilt Variation

I made this quilt based on the La Passacaglia pattern in Willyne Hammerstein's book--Millefiori Quilts. It measures 64 inches wide by 77 inches long. Where I differ from her pattern is that I did not cut the outer rosettes to make straight edges. Instead, I appliqued them onto a border fabric. The rosettes were pieced by the English paper piecing method and hand-quilted with an embroidery chain stitch. I titled this quilt, "A Lot of Too Much."

Free-form, beaded crochet lizard

This wall hanging titled, "Tropical Vacation," measures 21 in H x 18.5 in W and was completed in 2016. Materials are cotton fabrics, yarns, beads, clothesline, and threads. It made its debut at the 69th Annual Members Exhibition at the Quinlan Visual Arts Center (Gainesville, Georgia) and will be on view through November 26, 2016.

Miniature grandmother's flower garden quilt with rabbit

This quilt was made as part of a guild challenge for the 2016 Heart in Hand Quilt Show (Dawson County, GA:Sept 30-Oct 28). The quilt measures 12 inches wide by 18 inches long. I assembled it using the English paper piecing technique with hexagons that measured 1/2 inch in diameter. I then machine quilted it. The bunny rabbit was purchased for one dollar from a Goodwill thrift shop.

Garden quilts inspired by a class taught by Jean Wells Keenan

I started the quilt titled "Purple Alliums" in a 2016 Empty Spools Seminars class (www.emptyspoolsseminars.com) with Jean Wells Keenan where she taught us how to make an abstract design from a photograph. My photo was of purple allium flowers. I made the second quilt titled "Summer Solstice" after I returned home from the workshop. The design was based on my childhood memories of my mother's summer zinnia gardens. Both quilts  measure about 24 inches wide by 26 inches high and are constructed from quilt cottons and designer fabrics. The allium flowers are embroidered with a blanket stitch of red embroidery floss. They are currently on display and for sale at the Bowery Art Gallery & Studio in Apalachicola, FL (www.boweryartgallery.com).

Purple Alliums

Summer Solstice

Textile Study Group of New York--Yard Works--Accepted piece titled, "Permian Tide Pool Party"

This piece titled, "Permian Tide Pool Party," measures 18 inches wide x 36 inches long. It was submitted and accepted into the following show:

YARD WORKS--a juried exhibition of works created by members of the Textile Study Group of New York (TSGNY). All artwork in the exhibition will be documented with a printed catalog.

Juror: Janusz Jawarski, Program Director for Chashama (organization in charge of Durst Lobby Exhibitions) will jury the exhibition.

YARD WORKS will be exhibited in the the Lobby Gallery of the Durst Building at 1133 Avenue of the Americas in New York City. The gallery is on the street level and is accessible to employees of the building’s corporate and business offices and their visitors, offering TSGNY an important opportunity to reach new audiences.

The gallery will be open to the public during the reception on October 6, 2016, from 6 to 8 pm. At other times, it will be open by appointment only. The exhibition will run from September 21 through November 16, 2016.

Permian Tide Pool Party is a collage of crocheted and knitted elements plus a mix of buttons, beads, wire, and fabric.

Button and bead lionfish wall plaque

This plaque measures 11 inches wide x 11 inches high. The blue background is made from a recipe of 1 part cornstarch to 1 part PVA white glue such as Elmer's Glue All. The mix was shaped, allowed to dry, and then painted and stained. Once dry, it was hard enough to drill and to sand. I embroidered the fish onto stiff interfacing and then added buttons and beads. Check out the cool skull beads (gift from my friend Debby) on the end of the poisonous spines. This piece is currently on display and for sale at the Bowery Art Gallery & Studio, Apalachicola, FL (www.boweryartgallery.com)

 Although beautiful, the lionfish is an obnoxious invasive species in the Gulf of Mexico. However, I understand that it's quite tasty, once its poisonous spines have been removed. Here's an interesting link if you want to learn more about lionfish--http://www.reef.org/programs/exotic/lionfish/resources

Button and Bead Chameleon Wall Plaque

Title: Chameleon

Materials: Cotton interfacing, buttons, beads, sequins

Size:  7 H x 12 W

Year: 2015

This piece was made by sewing buttons and beads with Nymo thread onto a stiff interfacing.

 

Crochet lizard on art quilt wall hanging

Title:  Tropical Vacation

    Materials: Cotton fabrics, yarn, beads, thread

    Size: 21 H x 18.5 W

    Year: 2016

This is a quilted wall hanging with a crocheted, beaded lizard attached. The green and orange area of the quilt consists of fabric strips wrapped around cotton clothesline that was then stitched together.

Button and bead mullet fish

                                                                                   

This framed mullet fish measures 18 inches long. I recently sold it at the Bowery Art Gallery (www.boweryartgallery.com) in Apalachicola, Florida.

Small button & bead Cuban tree frog wall plaque

This plaque, which measures 4 inches wide by 3 inches high, is a perfect decoration for a skinny wall space such as between windows. All the beads and buttons are hand sewn with Nymo thread for extra strength. The toes are dried corn kernels. It is backed with a stiff interfacing painted with acrylic paint, which makes it virtually waterproof. It can be hung easily by the toothed bracket on the back.
It is currently for sale in my Etsy store (see link to the left of this post).

Overview

• Handmade item
• Materials: plastic buttons, wood beads, glass seed beads, dried corn kernels, acrylic paint, mounting bracket, stiff interfacing
  
  
  

Art Quilt with Embroidered Words and Applique Cockroach

This quilt titled "Inherit the Earth" pays homage to the lowly, yet resilient cockroach who can handle just about any human-caused disaster. The quilt made its public debut at The President's Summer Art Series at Brenau University Galleries, summer 2015. Viewer results were mixed. :-)

Title:  Inherit The Earth

Artist:  Jane B. Broaddus

Medium: Fiber (hand-dyed cotton fabrics, machine thread, tulle, organza, upholstery fabric)

Date:  2015

H x W:  41 x 39 inches

Button & bead alligator wall plaque

This alligator measures about 10 inches from snout to tail and has a bracket on the back so that it can be hung on a wall. I made it by sewing buttons, beads, and sequins on a stiff interfacing cut out in the shape of an alligator. 

Then more layers of interfacing were added and painted to make the piece stiff and waterproof. It is currently for sale at The Bowery Art Gallery (http://www.boweryartgallery.com; (850) 653-2425) in Apalachicola, Florida.

Eastern blue bird button and bead wall plaque

This Eastern bluebird measures about 6 inches from beak to tail feathers and has a bracket on the back so that it can be hung on a wall. I made it by sewing buttons, beads, and sequins on a stiff interfacing cut out in the shape of a blue bird. Then more layers of interfacing were added and painted to make the piece stiff and waterproof. It is currently for sale at The Bowery Art Gallery (http://www.boweryartgallery.com; (850) 653-2425) in Apalachicola, Florida.