Thursday, February 19, 2009

Redwork CQ & Feminine Mystique

When packing for vacation, I threw in an old UFO to work on. It's a 12" crazy-pieced block in red and white that I was doing for my daughter, who wanted a red & white bedroom at the time. But she changed colorways, and this got put away....... until I pulled it out and fell in love once again with the freshness of red against a crisp white background. I guess my eyes get starved for color at this dreary time of year!

The entire block (in process) is above; a detail shot of the center motifs is below.

One of our challenges this month on CQI is to incorporate hankies into our CQ work. It was actually in preparing for this challenge that I thought to retrieve this block and finish it.

There are several snippets of vintage trim in the block, as well as this vintage hankie which I accented with mini rick-rack. I'm torn about whether to do some highlighting of the embroidered motif (1 strand red silk floss) or whether to leave it alone. What do you think?? On one hand, to leave it alone would leave a big white area on the block's upper right. Or maybe instead of outlining the motif I could just embroider a dainty vine along the corner edges???

I've still got quite a way to go on this block, but I'll post progress shots ....


In Tubac, one of my favorite places is called The Feminine Mystique (sound familiar? It was a book by Betty Friedan). It's a gallery that displays the works of women artists of all mediums. They kindly gave me permission to take pictures, so I'd love to share them with you.

Regina Browne is a very talented fiber artist, and she had several wall hangings in the gallery. Two of my favorites were the ones pictured above and below. The desert landscape provides great inspiration and opportunities for interpretation in many techniques. I love how she has captured some of the subleties (above piece) of color as well as the impossibly beautiful color-charged sunsets (below). We witnessed a sunset very similar to this, but I was too mesmerized to go grab my camera.

Here are three more of Regina Browne's pieces: (the name Jan Hayden that you see refers to the body sketches and paints hanging adjacent to Regina's felted pieces).

Gretchen Lima had an amazing array of dolls on display in the gallery, in addition to a full booth going outside at the Arts Festival. What a prolific dollmaker she is!

And I HAD to snap this picture of a wildly painted hutch. It reminded me of the bright furniture painting of my dear friend Gerry, although this style is folksy Mexican .....

Well, that's it for now. Tomorrow I've got a great exterior courtyard to show you, my favorite antique store in Tubac, and some of the goodies I snagged along the way!
Cathy

11 comments:

  1. Hello Cathy, Welcome HOME. I love the photos you brought back with your of the fiber art. The sunset is truly gorgeous. The painted furniture is also very bold and colorful. Definitely a very talented person painted it. I look forward to seeing your other photos. Hugs Judy

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cathy... your red block is just adorable... I love the mix and the adornments you already have on there.... when I was a teenager, I had a red and white bedroom too....

    Personally, I think I would add a little red floss to the cream section... I think because it is at the corner, your eyes are drawn away from the piece because there is nothing to "lock" your eyes on to... adding a little red will make your eyes "stop"... hope that makes sense.

    The pics of the gallery are wonderful.... so nice to see what others do.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi, Cathy. Your blog is a marvelous treatise to color and our craft. Plus travel photos to enjoy. Thanks!

    On the red & white piece, what about weaving a strand or two of silk floss through the open work on the hankie? And maybe outlining the sweet embroidery with size-15 beads? Just a thought. It's beautiful the way it is. Your artistry is such a pleasure to see. I LOVE hankies and have been collecting them for years. Love the notion of using them in CQ, but can't bring myself to cut them. I think it's time to change my way of thinking!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Cathy first, Thanks for stopping by my blog. It was great to hear from you. Love the blog. It really is fun to read and I like the look that was created for you.
    I will be dropping by again.
    Take care,
    Debra

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Cathy! The red and white blok is beautiful - just the dose of colour needed this time of year when it is so dreary out! Not sure about the hankie in the corner but I think I'd try to bring in some red somewhere there -can't wait to see how you do it cause I know it will be creative and wonderful!
    Thanks for sharing pictures of all the Feminine Mystique items - I adore that hutch!
    Hugs,
    Kerry

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your redwork block is beautiful. I don't know if I would add color or not,,that is a difficult decision cause the texture is there, my eyes stopped to see what all was there,,and i bet in person it even looks better,,so don't know for sure if it needs the color added,,but then again it may set it off even more..I'm a lot of help huh?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Cathy...I certainly like your red block.Beautiful embroidery and other embellishments.
    Laurette

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow Cathy I love the red and white......I also really enjoyed the pics of your vacation...I love antique stores especially ones that have allot of nice small stuff..take care and I will visit again. Congratulations on your 100th post

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm glad you pulled that red/white back out...it's a bath of warm color on a cold winter's day...

    ReplyDelete
  10. Absolutely love your red block! I just recently bought a Redwork pattern (Winter Wonnderland)and plan on my first attempt at Redwork. I think I've only ever made one red block but after seeing yours I've got to start on numbers 2,3,&4...

    ReplyDelete
  11. Love the red & White block Cathy. I have a few interesting red/white embellishments so will have to make one myself one of these days!

    ReplyDelete

I appreciate your visit to my blog and love your comments!