Quilts for Camp Shelby

Thousands of soldiers are trained and deployed at Camp Shelby just south of Hattiesburg, MS. Every time we see these US Army dads and moms saying goodbye to their children, we are moved to want to add a small measure of comfort and to express our appreciation for this enormous sacrifice. Our quilt guild, Pine Belt Quilters (www.pinebeltquilters.com) , makes quilts for children all year, so in November we donated 46 quilts to the chaplains for distribution to children of soldiers shipping out.
1st Sgt. Stephanie Williams brought copies of the Reveille, the Camp Shelby newspaper to our president, Gloria Green (Linda Basden, Marilyn Tucker, Jo-Ann Evans in the background).
Our Children's Quilt group is shown at our December meeting with Christmas goodies.
Our oldest member, Leola Kriegbaum, recently celebrated her 99th birthday on November 10; she continues to make quilt tops and bring them to us for quilting. She was delighted to share in our day with the soldiers. Pictured with Leola are Capt. Terry Partin and 1st Sgt. John Stiles and Martha Ginn, coordinator of the children's group.

South Mississippi Art Association 31st Annual Show

What a thrill to win two ribbons in our 31st anual art show (SMAA: www.southmsart.org) in Hattiesburg, MS, Dec. 8, 2007! It's always interesting to find a suitable category for my fiber art; if there is a "Mixed Media" category, I enter there; if not, "Other" covers it.

My "Sunrise in the Forest," a small landscape scene in an 8x10 mat with a 16x20 frame won a blue ribbon. "Return of the Trees" (17x22) won a red ribbon. It began as my 2007 Journal quilt but I withdrew it because I had not fallen in love with it in September when it was due. I later added more stitching and was satisfied with it.

But having a well-known collector, Sarah Gillespie, purchase "Slashed Trees" (21x19) was a very special honor. She has a large collection of artwork that was housed at William Carey University on the Gulf Coast. This gallery was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in August of 2005 and funds are being raised to build a gallery on the Hattiesburg WCU (http://www.wmcarey.edu) campus to house her extensive collection. Fortunately, none of her artwork was lost in the storm, but this valuable collection is in storage and needs a permanent home where it can be enjoyed.

Sunprinting, vintage damask napkins

I love to do sunprinting using leaves and a little fabric paint. Muslin or other solid light-colored fabric is the usual background, but I tried this on an antique damask napkin and got an interesting surprise when the texture of the woven fabric showed through. Machine quilting with rayon or polyester threads further defines the shapes of the leaves.

Variety in the HOPE Exhibit at the Cancer Center

The HOPE exhibit was well received. Here is an example of the variety of artwork included in the show.

HOPE Exhibit

"A Brighter Tomorrow" (23" x 18") was prepared for the HOPE Exhibit in the lobby of the Forrest General Hospital Cancer Center in Hattiesburg, MS, Aug. 20-Sept. 7. The exhibit contains 30 pieces of artwork by the South Mississippi Art Association and is sponsored by Spirit of Women, SMAA, and Waiting for a Cure.

The piece features reverse applique, AngelinaTM fibers, organza, with an overlay of tulle. The bright sun is made of Fantasy FilmTM (http://www.artglitter.com/). Various colors of rayon and polyester thread were used for the quilting, and the white border was quilted by bobbin drawing, using Madeira Glamour thread.

Color My World

This piece, entitled "Color My World (18" x 17"), was painted with Jacquard textile paints, using melted paraffin and beeswax for resist on white Kona cotton. The four borders are hand-dyes, and the inner borders of print in a swirling, rotating fashion were added to carry out the feeling of circular movement. The binding strips also rotate clockwise.

More Painting on Silk

Here is the second painting, also using a resist. With this much detail and the objects being rather small, I decided to frame it (11 x 14) under glass. There is no stitching on this one.

Painting on Silk

I used Jacquard paints on white silk to create this Angel Trumpet based on a photograph of this beautiful flower in my yard. The borders are hand-dyed Kona cotton. The machine quilting was done with rayon thread.

Welcome to Martha's Blog

As a fiber artist, I love to create using fabric, threads, layers, appliques, and embellishments. This blog will enable me to post pictures and text of what I am working on. I hope friends will check in often and let me hear from you.