Wordplay and Puns
Size: 18” wide x 24 – 50” long
A collection of color-altered fabrics created by each artist over the course of several years set the stage for this vibrant exhibit. Indigo dyed fiber, discharged pieces, fabrics dyed using various colorants, as well as painted fabrics are fastened to each artist’s unique interpretation of their word, phrase or pun. Each quilt in this inaugural exhibit contains 50% or more fabrics altered by the artist.
Brushstrokes: Fri-dye Night Lights
By Arlene L. Blackburn
NFS
Under the bright lights on a crisp fall evening, the green manicured grass is slightly damp from a fresh watering earlier in the day. Tinged with excitement, the marching band takes the field in a well-practiced regimented formation. Horns up! The Star Spangled Banner resonates through the air and sets the stage for all of the drama about to unfold. Those lights piercing the night sky are a beacon inviting all to come and experience a classic moment of their youth.
Fabrics hand-dyed by artist, raw-edge cut, machine-pieced, machine-quilted.
Cotton fabrics, cotton and rayon threads, 80/20 cotton-poly batting.
Dye-ing to Escape COVID
By Susan Davis
NFS
COVID is what is consuming us all these days. I began remembering when I lived in Hawaii and what a relaxed and seemingly carefree time that was. In my art quilt the tropical flowers are battling the virus for dominance just as my mental health is battling isolation.
The flowers are hand-painted on silk and hand-appliqued to a cotton background that is a wax batik. The texture of the batik/COVID is enhanced with free motion machine quilting.
Aurora in the Night Dyes
By Tina Freudenberger
NFS
Last year my friend and I began experimenting with ice dyeing. When TAVA members challenged each other to incorporate our own dyed fabric, I wanted to ice dye my fabric and build an aurora borealis piece. After many tries, I finally was able to create a sky that reminded me of the aurora. I tend to do quilts with animals so I added a polar bear to this scene.
All fabrics were either ice dyed or submersion dyed by hand, using fiber reactive dyes.
Raw-edge applique, and machine quilted with various threads.
Dye-namite
By Gwen Goepel
Price:
$1000
Some waves simply explode like the mighty force of... Dye-namite! As an artist, I cannot find a better way to spend my time (in addition to being with family) than expressing myself through improvisational art quilting. Living on the beach provides a constant and changing inspiration for my work.
Dye-namite is sun dyed with coins and couscous, painted with Setacolor, Inktense pencils, and acrylic paint, quilted with cotton, polyester, viscose and metallic threads, and embellished with love!
Dyed, Dead, and Gone
By Paula Golden
NFS
Inspired by the lyrics, “And When I Die,” from my youth (recorded by Blood Sweat and Tears, songwriter Laura Nyro). The catchy melody of this song belied the seriousness of the lyrics but offers hope for the future of humanity in the chorus: "And when I die / and when I'm gone / there'll be one child born, in this world / to carry on / to carry on."
Fabrics created from rust dyeing on linen and sack cloth and waterless lithography using oil printing ink.
Dye on the Vine
By Judy Madigan
NFS
This is a wordplay on “Die on the vine”. Venturing out on my daily hikes, I see multiple trees with vines in all growing stages. I decided to create the entire background so it looks like the bark of a tree trunk. This involved dyeing cotton material in shades of black, grey, and white with Dye-Na-Flow paints. After cutting different lengths and adding small amount of commercial fabrics I fused everything to a black background. This base is heavy free-motioned quilted. A cord was attached for the vine and multiple leaves dyed with Dye-Na-Flow paints were fused to the surface. The piece was finished with more free motion quilting.
Lucy in the Sky with Dye-monds
By Dee Ann Mims
NFS
The title is a pun from a Beatles’ song indicating LSD, a sixties recreational drug created in scientific labs to explore mental states. Ingestion produced “trips” that could lead to horrific experiences or religious transcendence. Banned in the sixties due to numerous instances of harmful effects, the drug has been restudied in recent years and scientists use LSD in the treatment of mental disorders and terminal illness.
Indigo dyeing transformed tied fabrics. Straight line quilting directs eye movements from the bottom to the top in transcendence evoking the way one experiences the world under the influence of LSD.
Nice Dye
By Carol Monti
Price:
$600
A play on “Nice Try” and “Ice Dye”, this quilt was inspired by the beautiful textures created using the ice dyeing technique. In my shady Florida garden, I grew caladiums, a warm season bulb, and their color and patterns were the basis for the design.
Made from 100% hand-dyed fabrics using raw-edge applique. Acid reactive dyes in both powdered and liquid form were used to create the vibrant colors.
Live Free or Dye
By Anne Panella
NFS
"Live Free or Dye" is a play on the New Hampshire state motto, "Live Free or Die.” The title appealed to my libertarian mindset. I chose to depict a flaming torch, the symbolic guiding light in many contexts including liberty, resistance, hope, knowledge, regeneration, and continuity. The complete quote, “Live free or die. Death is not the greatest of evils,” originated with a Revolutionary War hero in 1809.
The flames are made with dupioni silk, colored with alcohol ink, and the dark background is cotton, treated with Dye-Na-Flow liquid colors. The torch, border and binding are unaltered quilting cottons.
Dye-verse Marine Life
By Laura Post
NFS
In an attempt to illustrate the diversity of life under the sea, I tried to use as many different fibers and techniques as possible.
On my painted and stenciled background, I dyed a variety of embellishments, including osnaburg, organdy, organza, cheesecloth, evalon, Tyvek, babywipes, color catchers, ecofelt, silk ribbon, wool roving, perle cottons and many different yarns. Hand stitched and machine quilted.
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Crazy for Embellishments
By Kathy Sevebeck
NFS
Crazy quilts are an Over the Top assortment of fabrics, embroidery and embellishments in a random design. To give my quilt some order, I used hexagon patterns from Foolproof Crazy Quilting. Some fabrics and trims have sentimental value-- the satin from my daughter’s wedding gown, grandma’s hankie, a swatch from my granddaughter’s jacket. With silk ribbon flowers I stitched my initials in three hexagons. Some embroidery and beading was inspired by Stunning Stitches for Crazy Quilts.
Each hexagon is machine pieced. The remaining stitching and assembly is hand-done.
All Dyed Up
By Kathy Sevebeck
NFS
A wordplay on “All Tied Up”
When my granddaughter was in the 8th grade, she won first place in a regional art show. I have always liked her artwork and have incorporated her award-winning design into this quilt. Ink-tense pencils, hand dyed fabrics and decorative ribbons are my interpretation of her work.
Beauty is in the Dye of the Beholder
By Gloria Smith
NFS
This quilt is an experiment in improvisational quilting. I allowed myself to play, which is hard for a traditional quilter. Improvisational log cabin blocks (my favorite traditional block) were the start of this quilt. The designs created with gelatin plate printed fabric allowed for some creative quilting.
Indigo dyed fabric, gelatin plate printed fabric, commercial cottons, machine and hand quilted.
Sea's the Dye
By Karin Täuber
NFS
A double wordplay on “Seize the Day”. The wooden post of an old pier is overgrown with plants and corrals providing a sheltered area for various fish and ocean creatures. Sunlight seeps down to the sandy ocean floor from the water surface. Coral reefs are very effective for reducing damage coming from the ocean. They absorb wave energy and protect ecosystems located between the reefs and coasts, for example seagrass beds and lagoons, thereby contributing to environmental protection through the reduction of coastal erosion.
Discharge, Stamping, mono printing, gel printing, Dye-Na-Flow and indigo dying. No commercial fabrics were used.
Beads, yarn, hand applique and free-motion quilting.