FLYING OFF TO A NEW HOME

MY WORK

During the 2006-07 school year I started this new assignment in my Beginning 3-D class.

I had the kids tye-dye 2 pieces of fabric

 and use one piece for the front of their appliquilt, 

and the other for the back side.

I left subject matter up to them.

We rolled the edges inward and whipped them down,

and they were able to choose which embroidery stitch to applique the design edges down  with.

I like to make demo pieces with the kids so that I keep one day ahead of them.

Sometimes I finish them and some years I don't  LOL

I really liked this one so I did follow thru and get it done.

Then we made a paper mache' display frame to float the pieces in.

I also encourage the kids to use the Kantha stitch to fill in the background.

We call it "Chicken Scratch".

This first year we lined them with fabric.

On the next years you will see it lined with paper collage.

This was the next school year's sample,

my favorite.

I recycled a sterling bead necklace to outline Vincent in,

and also incorporated a Shisha mirror in the upper left corner.

Both of these pieces are now owned by my good friend and neighbor Rebecca,

 up at the cabin,

 for her new home she just purchased.

Vincent is her housewarming gift cuz she told me how much she loves it,

and she bought the "Wishing You Were Home" piece at my Studio Tour.

I'm thrilled to know they will be going to such a loving home 

and that they will be almost right next door for me to visit.

The Wonderful World of Tye-Dye Student Work

Oh Boy, did the kids in the Beginning 3-d class have fun learning how to tye-dye.

You can see we used rubber bands, paper clips, clothes pins, staples and string to resist the dyes.  The kids were given the 3 primary colors to dip into as well as black.  These were their results:

Junior Lily Lin

Junior Mark Ilog

Senior Aparna Vancheswaran

Senior Luis Gomez

Junior Sara Shams

Junior Joy Chung

Junior Julia Chanco

Sophomore Alex Rendon

and junior Sheila San Agustin.  Now I know those of you, like me, who grew up in the 1970's are wondering if we do any traditional tye-dye patterns.  Of course,  you can see one below

done by junior Tiffany Lee.  These gorgeous pieces of cloth are going to be the backdrop for a fabric journal the kids will be making a little later in the semester.  In years past they were the foundation for our appliquilts the kids made like the one below by alumni Ashley Chang who graduated in 09.  You might recall that her appliquilt along with this year's senior Kelsey Lee and 09 Alumni Kevin Ni where featured 2 years ago in Quilting Arts Magazine which was a big thrill for us. 

Paper Mache' Framed Appliquilts - Student Work

We've seen these appliquilts earlier in the year, but what you didn't see were how the kids built paper mache' frames out of cardboard, masking tape, newspaper/starch, and paper collage to float them in.  And some of the back sides are even cooler then the fronts.  So enjoy!

Above and below we have sophomore Rita Labib's gorgeous, detailed work.  Check out the use of twigs, laces and peacock feathers she has incorporated into her frame.

The kids were required to include their names, city, state, date and title, plus anything else they wanted to add to the back side.  In this eye-catching piece, 8th grader Karisma Dev has brought in netting, twigs, text, and her preliminary tye-dye sampler that she fan folded to use as a focal point on the back side. 

Senior Tiffany Wang's nailed the visual flow that was required so that the frame worked with the colors and design of the quilt without distracting from it. 

Junior Jaimee Chirico has created a powerful statement thru both her quilt and frame.

Here senior Anisha Mistry went all out on the back side of her frame.  As you can see, these kids give me an amazing amount of effort on all their assignments.

Senior Anika Haque's frame is just as playful and sweet as her quilt.

Senior Brenda Yee went for a much more subtle approach to go with her very sensitive and calming quilt.  As you can also see the students were required to put a hanging devise on the backside.  I love all the solutions the kids came up with to handle this requirement.

Junior Noel Kim's back side was so well done, just like her quilt. 

And one of my personal favorites was done by junior Elsie Aguilar.  Fantastic visual flow, and the design on the back side was brilliant.

I'm so proud of all of you for working so very hard for me.

Framed Appliquilts - Student Art

So thrilled to finally show off my beginner's finished appliquilts in their paper mache' frames. The kids built their frames from scratch and then paper mached over their cardboard foundations. After a coat of primer they paper collaged then embellished them and put labels and hanging devices on the backside. Look at how beautifully their frames compliment their quilts. From top to bottom, left to right are junior Alma Gudino, 7th grader Andrew Veenstra, seniors Jenny Ham, Emily Choh, Ariel Improta (yes, our drama teacher's daughter), Connie Pae, Ivy Hu and Shabina Toorawa.


















A close-up of the pieces so you can see all the handstitching and embellishments. And these are just my beginners! What a lucky woman I am to teach these kids!

I Wear My Heart On My Sleeve

I made this piece 3 years ago as a demo piece for my Beginning 3-D art class. It's a 2 part assignment. They make and embellish the appliquilt first, then create a paper mache frame to display it it. This piece is dedicated to one of my ex art students, Luini Tan.

Wishing You Were Home

Began this assignment for my Beginning 3-D students after seeing Andrea Stern's fiber art in Quilting Arts Magazine. So this was my first demo piece 4 years ago. The frame was made by using paper mache' over a cardboard shoebox lid then fabric collaging over that. Way too much fun!