Art Quilter Aspirant: Art Quilts One and Three!

Pictured here on my blog are my first and third art quilts. I am currently quilting #4. Obviously, if I chose one and three here, it means that these are the ones I like the best. So far, anyway! My first art quilt hangs in our stairwell; the third, up high in our living room, which is a two-storey room.

The Stone Arch Bell Gate was done under the direction of quilt artist and teacher Esterita Austin.
The quilt was based on a photo, which I traced and then enlarged to make the templates. We used raw-edge applique for the various elements in the design. Esterita is the inventor of Misty Fuse, which is my favorite fusible. I took Esterita's class at Quilting Adventures in New Braunfels, Texas.

The third quilt, which also appears under the blog title, I named Jubilation! and it, too was designed and begun at Quilting Adventures as well. That class was taught by Cara Gulati. Cara taught us first how to draw the scrolls that overlap in the quilt. After we made many drawings, we chose the one we liked this best. Then, as in Esterita's class, we took our designs to a copy shop to have them enlarged. Then we traced the shapes for templates, which we made from freezer paper.

Cara's method of applique was different. We used gluesticks to adhere the turned-under edges of the appliques which were "on top." We also used a light box for the placement of the appliques, making that process very precise. After the appliqueing was completed, we cut away the background from the back. My good friend and expert machine quilter, Judy Steward, did the lovely machine quilting on this quilt. (Actually, Judy machine quilts most of my quilts!)

Soon I hope to finish art quilt #4. When it is done, I'll probably post about it and about my 2nd art quilt, too. So stayed tuned! I hope that all I invite to this blog will become "followers"! Thanks to Linda, who already has done so!