Hull Artist Studio Tour

On July 7th and 8th I participated in the Hull Artists Studio Tour. This was a great event that featured 22 artists opening their studios to the public. I had a fabulous time showing my art quilts, Zentangle (TM) inspired art, and my original designed fabric pocketbooks and totes. This event occurs twice a summer and I'll be participating again on August 25th. Here are pictures of my "front room" all prettied up to show my work.

 Wholecloth quilt - this is inspired by the sea. It is one piece of fabric with intricate stitching. All of the stitching is done freehand by machine without any computer assistance.

Staccato Sunrise (Sold) Pieced, machine quilted and beaded. The machine quilting is detailed showing the motion of the grasses as well as the ocean and the sky. The sun is represented by a mariners compass block that was bisected to show motion.

The seascape series below was constructed and quilted in a similar manner. On a smaller scale, these pieces are stretched over a deep 1 1/2" canvas frame.

 10" x 10" seascape 1

 10" x 10" seascape 2

10" x 10" seascape 3

 detail - seascape

 detail - seascape

Detail - seascape

This is a small (5") quilted piece.

Below is the tree series. Zentangle (TM) inspired art from pen, ink and pencil. Each piece measures 3 1/2" square.

And let's not forget the kitchen ladies quilts -

 quilted, beaded and mounted on 1 1/2" deep canvas stretchers.

And the purple sunset! Machine quilted and fibers.

More pics of the front room turned studio for the weekend!

That's all .....see you in August!

Tangled iPad cover

This weeks Diva Challenge is to use the new tangle Pea-nuckle. I decided to use it on one of my ready-to-tangle iPad cases! This was so much fun. I used Identipen markers in black, Fabrico marker in 181 cool gray, and Copic markers BG15 and BG10. I decided to fill the entire space with tangles but to work really big. On the first side I did three tangles - Mooka, Pea-nucke, and Tipple. A really nice thing happened at the transition between Mooka and Pea-nuckle - one of those happy accidents!
If you haven't tangled on fabric yet you should give it a try! The way that the pen works with the weave of the fabric adds a texture and richness that's really fun to play with.

 On the fip-side I used to black Identipen marker and gray Fabrico marker. I used several tangles and again filled the entire space.

The ready to tangle and decorate canvas iPad cover is availabe on my website. I make each one individually from canvas with a zippered closure and two inside pockets for your stylus and small accessories. Each is lined with beautiful batik fabric.Click here to order! If you email me a picture of your decorated iPad cover I'll mail you a handmade Pen-holder for your sketch book!

Or - you can order a Pen-holder here!

Feeling Groovy

The Diva challenge this week is to use the tangle pattern "Groovy" created by Eden Hunt. This pattern really brought out my dyslexia and it took some time to learn the pattern. I do like how it can create a woven effect if the wavy lines are touching. For the Zendala I altered the printed string somewhat to make three designs do a kind-of yin-yang thing in the center.I really like how the designs swirl in the center. I used Graphitint pencils in green and purple.

For this square tile I tried to keep it simple and to have the Groovy pattern look woven.

Zendala

The newest thing from the folks at Zentangle (r) is round tiles. They come as a set of 18 in a cute tin. Some are prestrung - divided into areas for you to create tangle patterns in - and some are plain. I 've been pondering making one of these tiles for about six weeks!

This is what the tile looked like before - you can see that it's divided into interesting spaces.

I combined my efforts by trying the round tile and doing the Diva challenge.  The Diva challenge was to use only two tangle patterns "Hybred" and "Strircles". Here is the result.

For this tile I used black and blue Pigma pen and shaded with Derwent Graphinte pencil. I found the Zendala process to be a little tedious. The spaces are small and it was hard not to start making tiny little designs that I would then need to repeat in the four quadrants. I do like the result though.  I think I will try to make more Zendala but really try to keep the patterns bigger - and not worry about keeping the quadrants the same.


If you want to try Zendala tiles they are available for purchase on my website: www.elainehuffman.com - with free shipping!

I'm Back!

It seems like forever since I've blogged. There is so much I could blog about but I have not set aside the time to do it. Since my last blog I've spent part of spring break in Florida and the other part in Hull, Massachusetts; I chaperoned a 4 day middle school field trip to Philadelphia; I taught at MQX in Providence RI; and I've been creating lots of pieces for the Hull Artists Studio Tours. Oh and I got this cool new head shot taken by Stephen Gore at Nantaskart Gallery!

Nice huh!

In honor of Earth Day I'll share some nature inspired pieces. The first is Staccato Sunrise. This piece measures 37" x 35" and is inspired by the sunrises at Nantasket Beach. The sun is a mariners compass that I segmented to create motion. The sky, grass and beach are improvisationally pieced. The quilt has detailed Zentangle (r) inspired free motion quilting on it and beading.

Next is my tree series pieces 1 - 6. Each piece measures 3 1/2" square. They are pen and ink Zentangle (r) inspired pieces. I entered the first one in the Diva Challenge see more about that click here.

If you'd like to learn more about Zentangle (r) visit my website www.elainehuffman.com.

Inspiration - Spicy and Felted

I was looking for a way to draw out the steps for tangled patterns and wished for a template! I only had to look as far as my kitchen....the McCormick Recipe Inspirations packaging is perfect! I found the recipie rather so-so but I'll keep the cardboard package for drawing.

 Today I recieved an unexpected gift from my friend Lee Thomson. She felted and then stitched this circle. She said it reminded her of my Zentangles. I looked on the back and she made this piece on the aniversary of my mothers birthday. My mom died almost 20 years ago but I've been missing her lately. What a lovely gift. Lee's other work can been seen here.

Sanibelle Quilted

Sanibelle Quilted!



Sanibelle - drawn with Pigma Pen and pencil



The Diva Challenge this week is to create a tangle submitted by one of the blog’s followers. The tangle selected is “Sanibelle” and was designed by Tricia Faraonce. This design is a natural to adapt to quilting. 

This is the Diva challenge tangle I made this on a Zentangle® 3 ½” tile.



This is how I draw it:

I use teardrop shapes instead of the scallop followed by straight lines. I feel that I’m able to create a smoother line this way. Also it is easily adapted to a continuous line for quilting if you retrace some of your lines along the way. This is shown on the bottom left of my sketchbook page.

And again here is the tangle quilted out. I used Signature and Bottom Line threads on a Sew Batik fabric.

 

Hey Lefty

The Diva challenge this week is to create a Zentangle (r) tile using your non-dominat hand. Well this really was a challenge - I found that I had to turn tile a lot to make up for my uncoordinated left hand!

That was fun, sort of. I don't really feel like doing another one though!

Last Saturday I had a group of Certified Zentangle Teachers (CZT) at my house to network, learn, and socialize. We had a great time! Plans are already in motion to get together again!

Here's the group!

And we had a surprise visitor - Maria Thomas - co-founder of Zentange (r) !

I gave a short demo on how to machine quilt tangle patterns. A very mini-version of the class I'll be teaching at MQX in Providence RI this April. I gave people a chance to try out the longarm sewing machine - it's harder than it looks! Here's Maria trying her hand at the longarm.

Jeanne Paglio showed us how to make tangled earrings. Here are the ones I made - I'm going to make more of these earrings - it was so fun!

We also heard from Dr. Meredith Yuhas on the clinical study she is conducting on Zentangle.

I've been hard at work in the studio this week making earrings and planning some awesome quilting projects. I've also spent some time on marketing my sewing patterns - you can check them out here.

And..... on Monday I'll annouce a great giveaway!