Anonymous: finished!

Back in May I showed you my improvisationally pieced quilt top which started out quite abstract before slowly resolving into something that looks, to me at least, a lot like a person.  I free motion machine quilted it as always, more or less following the general curves of the piece and using both contrasting and matching threads.  After finishing the quilting and indulging in some creative consultation with my mom, it became apparent that it not only needed to be cropped, but that the pale background was blending in to the white wall.  I therefore decided to mount it on a dark blue quilted background which I think grounds it nicely.

So here it is finished.  And many many thanks to Mike for taking all these final pictures.  I think he really managed to get great definition in the quilting on the background without washing out the foreground too much.  Many of the fabrics are silky/shiny, and they look great in person.  I'll keep everyone posted if it goes out into the world.

Anonymous, c. 2016, Shannon Conley, 34"w x 45"h

My artist statement for this one is short and sweet:  In remembrance of women throughout the world who remain voiceless, oppressed, judged for their choices, or stripped of their identity.

Anonymous, c. 2016, Shannon Conley, 34"w x 45"h, detail

Anonymous, c. 2016, Shannon Conley, 34"w x 45"h, detail

Anonymous, c. 2016, Shannon Conley, 34"w x 45"h, detail

Anonymous, c. 2016, Shannon Conley, 34"w x 45"h, detail

Linking up to the fabulous Nina-Marie as always as well as TGIFF!

Map Wallets

A few years back I bought a cute wallet from a lovely etsy seller who has since closed her shop.  It featured cute paper covered with clear vinyl, and held up really well!  About that same time I bought a card case made from a map from a different Etsy seller for a friend of mine.  She recently facebooked me to say it was finally on its last legs and did I know where she could get another one?  I decided to challenge myself to make new wallets for each of us, combining the map idea with the overall design of my previous wallet.  I didn't have a pattern or anything, but was able to trace some general shapes off my old wallet.  I stitched them on my singer 201 which did great with all the layers of vinyl.  Mine was the guinea pig and didn't come out exactly right, but by the second one I really had it down!  This was a fun little project and now we each have reminders of home!

Crest Trail- Finished

I finished this quilt just in time for and end-of-January entry deadline, and delayed showing the final quilt lest I jinx it!  In the end it didn't get into that show, but I recently found out that it has been accepted into Fiberworks 2016, a show here in Oklahoma City.  For any locals, please join us for the opening, next Friday (July 15) from 6-9 at the IAO gallery at 706 W. Sheridan.

It's been a while since I talked about this quilt; I designed it to depict my favorite section of my favorite childhood hiking trail, Crest Trail #25, from Monjeau (which falls more or less at the top right/northeast) to the base of Ski Apache (which falls on the bottom left/southwest).  Each layer of fabric coordinates to a 160 ft elevation topo line from the USGS maps of the White Mountain Wilderness in New Mexico.

I talked before, here in detail about how I painted the fabric and cut and assembled the pieces.  But for anyone who is just checking in, all the fabric was hand painted, after cutting but before assembling.  The background (with front-batting-backing) was free motion quilted first, and then painted and used as the base on which all the layers were assembled.

Topography #2: Crest Trail, c. Shannon Conley, 2016, 42 x 28 x 4

Each of those funny spots that looks like a big stitch on the front is a place where the wire comes through all the layers.   Between each layer a pony bead is strung on the wire to prevent the layers collapsing on themselves.  Many thanks to Mike for taking the final pictures.

So this is my tribute to one of my very very favorite places in the whole world.   The number of memories I have hiking this trail is too many to count.  The colors, while obviously not realistic are meant to capture the transitions this trail goes through- many forested areas with either old growth or new growth forest, as well as open, treeless saddle areas where the green grass quite quickly turns to golden yellow in our dry New Mexico climate.  Unfortunately, the area was devastated by a forest fire a couple years back, and now looks very different.

Making this was both a technical challenge and a wonderful mental and emotional exercise.  I love the way it turned out and wish I could spend more time there.  I hope that some of you can get out to see the show at IAO, Fiberworks is always great.  It features tons of different types of fiber art, not just art quilts.


Linking up with the fabulous Nina-Marie as always!