Barbara Strobel Lardon Art quilts

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

The Hammock

"The Hammock" is No. 26.

This one took me longer to quilt than I thought. I have two left to do. One is started on my design wall....with 12 days left, I should make it on time. It is closer than I would wish
but......it is all about making it to the finish line.

Monday, November 9, 2009

"The Egg Gatherer"

"The Egg Gatherer" is No. 25.
Libby this is your suggestion, I hope it does justice to your idea.

Friday, November 6, 2009

....and it goes on!

"The Swing" is no. 21.

"Sunset in the Birches" is no. 22

"The Shore" in No. 23
The comment from my art director was this looked too lonely so I
am thinking of what I can add to eliminate that feeling. Any ideas?

"Harvest Moon" is No. 24.
It is on my design wall now and I am trying to decide if it is finished. The quilting will add some texture and furrows to the foreground so I think I am finished with it.

Four more to go and still some bindings and sleeves to put on plus all the labels and more hanging rods to make.
I feel confident I will make it on my deadline now and that takes away much of the stress.
I am still learning as I go along. This week after working on "The Shore" I started "Harvest Moon" and got to a point where I felt it was a failure. I was stuck with trying to decide whether to start another piece or keep going. I have been battling this time issue as I work and did not want to waste time on a piece that was destined to fail. I went to bed that night and during the night I kept waking up and thinking about it. By morning I had decided to try fusing the furrows on the hill, which led to the trees, which led to the sky and clouds, which led to the corn and geese and before long it has become one of my personal favorites. Of course those of you who know me know I have a "thing" for Canadian Geese. :)

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A MIDSUMMER'S NIGHT SCENE

This quilt was inspired by some photos my brother Jeff took of dragonflies around the pond at my mother's house here in Wisconsin. I was so intrigued by them and wondered what they would be like in the late evening flying in to rest for the night.
I did not plan out this quilt but instead just began with the fabric at the bottom which I have had in my stash for several years waiting for the right project. Then I found a great print of what looked at first to me like trees and had planned to use it in that way, but once on my design wall, all I could see was water.
So it became the water running through the center of the quilt.
The trees came into the background along with leaves. I fused all the pieces on and quilted the pieces. Then I added the yarn embellishments along with angelina on the wings of the dragonflies. I also used crystals on the flowers and the eyes of both dragonflies. I was very satisfied with the results. "A Midsummer's Night Scene" measures 24 by 26 inches. SOLD

BREAKFAST WITH CHICKADEES

"Breakfast With Chickadees" was inspired by a watercolor done by Susan Bourdet. I found it on my calendar for the month of January and I kept looking at it and just loved how much it reminded me of my backyard. We have so many chickadees at our feeders each year. I began by piecing the background with whites, greys and black fabrics in 1 and 1/2 inch blocks. When I finished that I began adding the dead sunflowers, grasses, stump, and berries. As I progressed I changed many elements of the original work and made this my own. The chickadees were added in different locations from the original work and then I added the barbed wire, weaving it in and out of the grasses. The addition of the sparrow perched on the barbed wire on the bottom left of the quilt gave me the title of Breakfast With Chickadees. I added the border and quilted in clear crystal beads in the border as well as adding them to the snowy areas. To add a little sparkle to the snow I also painted on glitter glue to the edges of the white fabric. Before completion I contacted Susan and obtained her permission to show this quilt as well as enter it in contests since she holds the copyright on the original inspirational piece. This quilt measures 21 inches by 24 inches.

Turtle Soup

Working on this quilt has been a joy and a learning process. I used some new materials as embellishments including tulle, metallic thread, silk ribbons, fabric markers, yarns of all types and sea shells. I wanted to give the feeling that everything was actually under water, so I quilted over everything in metallic thread increasing the darkness of the thread as you got deeper in the water. Then I stretch the tulle across to give the look and feel of a current running in the water . I also hoped to give depth to the piece by making some background fish with very little detail to them and also making the fish that are following the turtle get smaller and smaller. The sea turtle approaches the bottom of the ocean floor and all the smaller fish swim for cover while the larger fish are curious and are swimming towards him. The two crabs in the lower right hand corner do not know what to do so are frozen where they are. Sea urchins attach to rocks on either side of the quilt. Also, all the fish are from my daughter and her boyfriends salt water fish tank! Molly took the photos for me and Mark, of course has been raising the fish! I hope you enjoy looking at it as much as I enjoyed making it.

"Turtle Soup" measures 40"X33" and is for sale.

Who's There?

This quilt is the fourth in my series of pictorial art quilts. It depicts two sheep leaving the flock and shepard to get a drink of water at the stream. Something has made them uncomfortable. Is it you, the viewer, or something else?

I used many fabrics in this quilt along with multiple threads including variegated, metallic, rayon (for sheen) and polyester. I also used twine and yarn in the body of the sheep to give the viewer the feel of the wool, black crystals for the sheep's eyes, and amber crystals in the wolf's eyes to add an eiry feeling to his gaze.

Quite a bit of quilting was done on this quilt as well. I brought leaves out into the border on two sides for the sense of depth and intimacy and then quilted the leaves and ferns as well as the wolf's body and the fence out into the border as well.

I hope you enjoyed the journey.

"Whose There?" measures 41"X 34" and is for sale.

Stars Over Purple Mountains Majesty

Stars Over Purple Mountains Majesty (copyright '08) is the fifth in my series of Pictorial Art Quilts. It was very enjoyable to work on for me. It encompassed colors that I love and make me happy. For me, this makes the process towards completion a successful one.

For the first time ever I have incorporated embroidery stitches in my quilt. At first I thought this would limit my creativity and make the quilt look too much like a "sampler" for the Pfaff company. However, I found that you can do subtle things with the stitches such as changing the size as you progress across the quilt top adding a dimensional factor you would not otherwise get. I also would change my thread color many times for shading and depth.

For embellishment I used yarn, variegated threads, and metallic thread.

The spinning star patches were pieced by me and added to the top. This is where I used the metallic thread to add a bit of "sparkle" to the piece.

"Stars Over Purple Mountains Majesty" measures 34"X25" and is for sale.

"Evening Solitude"

"Evening Solitude" was once again a fun project. I needed to do something small that I could work on during the holidays when I needed to destress from all the shopping and decorating and planning. So I began this quilt and enjoyed every step of the way. The background fabric inspired the woodsy feel that I wanted to portray. I embellished with clear glass beads for a dew drop effect and I also added french knots in the border. My little sparrow has been caught sleeping the night away awaiting dawn.
"Evening Solitude" measures 24X21 in size. This quilt is SOLD.

BEADED POPPIES

Beaded Poppies is my first quilt in which I used the embellishment of beads. It was a fun quilt to do partly due to the bright colors I chose. The turquoise blue is the background on top of which I rawedge appliqued the black and white mum print. After that I added the subdued brown and gold poppies over the black and white and then spilled the orange poppies off the black and white and down through the turquoise. The feeling of coming out of winter into the glory of spring and summer is what I strived for. Once the quilt was finished with black border added, I began to bead. I chose to "halo" bead, a technique where you concentrate the beads around the object rather than on top. I feel I was successful with this piece and enjoyed the process completely.

"Beaded Poppies" measures 21"X24" and is for sale.

"RED BARN"

Red Barn is my first simple fractured quilt. I pieced the background and then sliced it apart vertically. Then I staggered each strip until I was satisfied with how it looked and then sewed it back together. The buildings and trees etc. were raw edged fused in place followed by quilting. This was a fun quilt to work on and I enjoyed the experience as well as working a bit freer not trying to be realistic with my buildings and trees but instead more whimsical.

This quilt measures 16"X24" and is not for sale.

"Urban Sprawl"

The completion of "Urban Sprawl" was a satifying one for me.
I am distressed by the sprawl of our population into the countryside as I see the dramatic changes around me from when I grew up and wonder what the changes will be for my children and grandchildren. So I endeavored to make some sort of statement about that concern.

Urban Sprawl is designed, raw edge fused appliqued, and quilted by me. It depicts the big city sprawling into the suburbs, crowding out the farms but making room for big box stores. The farm has a road that due to eminent domain the highway dept has split his house from his barn, a common site in Wisconsin. The pines are barriers, trying to keep the sprawl at bay from the naturalist who has chosen to camp in a small space of land that is still pure and away from all that is encroaching on it.

This quilt measures 29" X19" and is for sale.

"Butterflies Are Free"

"Butterflies Are Free" was designed, fused, machine appliqued and machine quilted by me. It is the third quilt in my tree series and follows "Red Barn" and "Urban Sprawl". I gave the quilt this title based on the fact that I have owned the butterfly inspiration fabric for 10 years. I have not found a use for it until I began this quilt and decided it needed the butterflies. So after 10 years of being somewhere on a pile of fabric, they are finally free. I added the chenille yarn binding to finish off this piece adding texture to the natural theme. I also used trapunto to the allium flowers for more depth .

"Butterflies Are Free" measures 17 1/2" by 20 1/2" and is for sale.

"Crows Pins"

Crows pins was a small quilt that I wanted to do just for fun to take a break from a more difficult piece.

The concept came from watching the crows in my own backyard.
Each spring they come back all full of character and fun. Yes, they get into trouble too but overall they are fun to watch.
So I portrayed them that way sitting on the clothesline holding on the quilts.

I used batiks, commercial fabrics, rayon thread, and metallic thread on the birds feathers to give the glossy look they have.
It is fused raw edged appliqued, quilted and designed by me.
Measuring 11" X34" in size, this quilt is SOLD.

The Intruder

This quilt was a journey for me. Someone near and dear to me was having a health scare. It meant waiting for tests and then test results to come back. I had to find a way to keep my mind off of what may come our way. So I began working on this piece.
It depicts the beautiful colorful poppy garden in the foreground with the fence holding back the weedy dandelion. Yet one is trying to come through the barrier and intrude on the serenity of the flower bed.

This quilt is designed by me. It is fused, raw edged appliqued, pieced and quilted by me. I have added beads to the centers of each poppy and have quilted using Sulky 40wt. Rayon Thread.
It is not for sale at the present time.

As for my dear one, they are fine and healthy.

The Canadian

The Canadian is designed, raw edged fused applique, and quilted by me. It measures 41 1/2" by 21 1/2". The inspiration for this piece came from a photo taken by my brother and wildlife photographer, Jeffrey J. Strobel. I wanted to convey the majestic power of the Canadian Goose. They fly over our house many times and the beating of their wings is just amazing to me. I am dedicating this quilt to my father, Charles S. Strobel, who loved the Canadian Goose and never tired of seeing it in flight. This quilt is NOT FOR SALE.