Gallery – Geneva Carroll

Signals

41″ x 23″

I drafted a 5″ version of the block “Signals”. I used my hand dyed fabrics to foundation paper piece the blocks as well as create two sections of rectangular pieces of the hand dyes. Circles were added to balance the piece. The background fabric has a vertical and horizontal stripe which made piecing the quilt a challenge. I pinned a lot and ripped out a lot of stitches. I quilted the body of the quilt in straight lines, then added the blue stripe to the top and bottom to give the quilt a vertical look. “Signals” is in the collection of the Kuhn/Bentley family. May 2020

Dictionary

22″ x 22″

This quilt was made using a pattern from Steph Skardal. I enjoyed using her easy piecing techniques to make this little quilt. I used a background fabric that is printed with dictionary entries. An all over purple and orange quilting motif seems to suit it. Making sure the binding colors start and end at the correct spot on each of the four sides was tricky, but that makes the quilt spin even more. March 2020

Galaxy

56″ x 42″

Some quilts make themselves; others make me work hard for a finish! Galaxy was begun in September 2019 and not completed until Ground Hog Day 2020! I enjoyed making the compasses using Robin Ruth’s rulers. Each compass was layered, quilted and hand appliqued to the diagonally quilted background. I spent many hours/days embellishing the background and then ripping out the work. I finally decided to sit at my sewing machine, use some metallic specialty threads and create “space dust” around each compass. “Galaxy” is in the collection of the Carroll/Barnes family.

Making Pace: Heartbeat

38″ x 31″

This is a very personal quilt. While waiting for my husband’s emergency pacemaker surgery, I watched his EKG. Returning home, I felt the need to express my feelings and thoughts about our experience. A piece of hand dyed fabric that I had made a year ago was an effective reflection of the damaged heart as well as the return of a healthy heart. It was the background for quilting the lines of the EKG. The top yellow/red band show the unhealthy blood and oxygen flows and the EKG lines on top show the “pauses” in his heartbeat. The blue band in the middle shows improving blood flow with the wavy lines in the middle representing an improving heartbeat. The red band at the bottom shows the healthy blood as it courses through the body with the EKG lines on the bottom representing a healthy heartbeat regulated by a pacemaker. Blue borders reflect a calming, the getting on with life. January 2020

4 Ring Circus

52″ x 49″

The winter of 2019 was a blur of constant snow. We could rarely get out of the house due to piles of snow. I pulled from my stash some solid fabrics and a package of 5″ squares of “Op Art” fabric line. I have enjoyed using the “Sew Kind of Wonderful” Quick Curve Mini Ruler before, so I started making curved 4″ blocks of various fabric combinations. Once I had a good sense of the top and bottom portion of the quilt, I made the center section splitting the white and black background between the rows. The quilting was sewn diagonally with a variegated thread to add to the circus atmosphere. For more information on this quilt please see my blog post of April 15, 2019. “4 Ring Circus” won 2nd place at the 2019 Odyssey Quilt Show in Hershey, Pennsylvania. April 2019

Christmas Quilts

56″ x 46″

I decided in May of 2019 that I wanted to make Christmas quilts for my four children and their families. I wanted quilts that would be cuddled under, spilled on and loved. I put together a palette of fabrics that wasn’t all Christmas fabrics and made 36 large trees, 54 medium trees and 72 small trees. I divided the trees into four sets and went to work “puzzling” the trees together into four quilts. I quilted three quilts with a wavy line and one quilt in a grid. For more detailed information on these quilts please see my blog post of December 2019. Photo by Dawn Bentley August 2019.

Santas in the Wild

28″ x 38″

These two Santa quilts were made for my younger grandchildren as advent calendars. This is a pattern from Sew Kind of Wonderful using their Quick Curve Mini Ruler. A fun and easy quilt to make. I found 12 days of Christmas pins on Etsy and the grandchildren have fun pinning them on the Santa’s beard. Photo by Dawn Bentley. December 2019

Happy Hour View

24″ x 24″

Cherrywood Fabrics holds a challenge every year. In 2019 the challenge was “Bob Ross”. I received a specific bundle of various fabrics and could use only those fabrics. We are blessed to live in a desert climate with a large vineyard as our backyard view. This quilt represents the view of our path, cedar trees, the vineyard and the White Bluffs. It is a beautiful and restful view as we share the ending of the day together. June 2019

Direction

43″ x 41″

SOLD

This is another quilt using my favorite type of art quilt process. Sometimes I want to cut up fabric and sew it back together, then figure out what to do with the pieces I have created. I started cutting strips of varying width from my stash of 24 hand dyed fabrics. I sorted the strips into cool and warm piles then stitched the strips diagonally onto lightweight paper. After cutting the squares into half square triangles I resewed the triangles to make bigger triangles. As I sifted through my stash of fabrics looking for a background to sew these triangles onto, I came across a beautiful piece of Kaffe Fassett fabric. It screamed at me to use the wild background fabric with the calming cool/warm solids. This quilt hung at Walter Clore Wine Center in the summer of 2019 where it was purchased. I hope “Direction” is thoroughly enjoyed by its owner! December 2019

Straight to the Heart

42″ x 17″

Improvisational pieced, hand dyed fabrics, mimic arrows pointed to a heart full of color bringing this quilt straight to its meaning. May 2017

Gimme a Hug and a Kiss

25″ x 25″

In May of 2019 my mother made the decision to go into Hospice care. I’ve always found solace in cutting up fabric and sewing it back together again, and this time was no different. In my stash I found a package of 5″ squares of a batik fabric line, made X blocks in warm colors and O blocks in cool colors. I set the blocks in an all over X pattern and added black sashing strips, warm orange inner border and a cool turquoise outer border. In the outer black sashing, I hand embroidered little dashes and dots with sparkly thread. I don’t remember a lot about making this quilt. It really made itself. Whenever I would say good bye to my mom I would say “Ok Mom, gimme’ a hug and a kiss. I’ll see you soon.” She loved this little quilt. May 2019

Positive Energy

50″ x 58″

In the summer of 2019 I hand dyed 24 gradated colors of fabric at my friend Jo Matthias’ home. I decided to make plus blocks decreasing in size. This turned out to be a mathematical test of wills! I have kept the large drafted sheet of paper that I wrote down all the measurements. The sizes of blocks were made to the 16th of an inch. I had fun making the borders, sewing bits of color between the cream, around and around the body of the quilt. The special stitching on the border made for a more “positive energy” look. September 2019

Bronze Lone Star

18″ x 18″

In 1996 I was talked into making an original bronze quilt by our friend Bill Conley. I went to Shidoni Foundry in Santa Fe, New Mexico and created a one of kind lost wax bronze for him. In 1997 I made another bronze quilt, this one using a clay mold which allows several of the same bronze to be reproduced. Working with the excellent Foundry artisans at Shidoni was a wonderful experience. I learned so much and gained a lot of knowledge about visual texture in art. 1997

Purple Poppy

38″ x 32″

Ann Shaw is a well known and respected quilt teacher using the original techniques of Ruth McDowell. I was pleased to be able to take a class from her with the local Tri Cities Quilt Guild. My first Poppy was a disaster, but I set it aside and about 4 months later pulled it out and made this purple beauty in a matter of a few days. For a more detailed description please see my blog post of February 14, 2019.

Color Passion 1

69″ x 78″

The sisters Color and Passion 1 and 2 are made with cotton batiks and cotton batting. They were made over a three-year span using all of my stash of batiks. The pattern is a square within a square and they are machine quilted with 24 different variegated threads. These amazing, colorful quilts would be a beautiful display for a corporate, medical or other office wall.