A River Runs Through It

The Fyber Cafe 2013 Challenge, "A River Runs Through It" was due at our June meeting, we had 10 pieces, mostly finished, and 5 still to do. It was great to see them unveiled in order, left to right, and to go ooh and ahh, when we saw each one.

There are still several missing, and they are not lined up correctly, like they will be when they are hung up on a rod. From left to right, Maureen, Crystal, Pat, Jana, Cheryl, Vera, Amy, Kay, Vera, Peggy, and Meredith.

Maureen's on the far left is inspired by cover photo on Scientific American Magazine of a "Naked Singularity" she has needle felted fibers, Angelina, and quilted with added Rhinestones. It is an inspired beginning to our Universe of River art.

Crystal is still working on hers, she has copied a poem onto the muslin sky, and the green grass, by running it through her computer printer. A figure of a women is on the left, blending into blue into the river, she is going to machine embroider or couch yarns, and intends to add some color to the sky, appliqued fish, and other details.

Pat's work is also unfinished, she used "Texture Magic" fused to the back of her mountain fabric, using a steam iron, she shrunk it to create a wrinkled texture in the fabric. The bottom is multiple layers of green to form a golf course, with needle felted fiber to form a green, and rough area. She intends to add a flag at the hole and other details.

"A River Runs Through the Shire" is Jana's creation. She has made a Hobbit House, with a circular door, built into a hillside, above the river. She has added a lot of thread painting, flowers, reeds, and grasses, to create a garden.

A trip to Maui inspired Cheryl to do her 3 Dimensional needle felting, titled "A River Runs Through Maui" She has created a vibrant scene with waterfalls on the mountains, coconut palms and a parrot. The foreground has the river and many details of 3-D flowers and leaves to show a lot of depth.

Vera based her abstract art piece on a topographic map, different color grids represent lakes, mountains, fields, etc.. A legend hangs from the bottom to inform the viewer of the types of landscapes in her piece. Stitched detail of rivers, and lakes, and other features to finish the quilt.

Amy's grove of birch trees in the moonlight, is filled with deer, ferns, salmon, and wildflowers. The flowers are embellished with silk ribbon embroidery, and the birch trees have an extra layer of Tyvek painted and melted to make textural leaves. The trees extend above the border, and an extra area of rocks and flowers were added at the bottom, to give extra depth.

Kay's beautiful hand dyed sky fabric shines in colors of the sunset, her hand painted papers and fabric embellish the sky and hang from the bottom. Fibers, yarns and beads embellish the rivers edge.

A photograph out her brother's kitchen window inspired Peggy's creation, of greenery hanging off the cliff edge, overlooking the river. She used many fibers, and 3-d elements to create layers of green, a large tree and her river. Rocks in the foreground and a Blue Heron looking on the peaceful scene complete the view.

Meredith's piece is still in progress and finishes off the panels on the right side. She has created a shimmering waterfall, to fall off the piece, reaching to the floor. She plans on a bucket or bowl to catch the escaping river. Her forest is very 3-d with padded trees, rocks and loose foliage. The water and falls are made with many different white and blue fabrics and fibers, many of them shiny. She is dyeing more blue cheese cloth to add length to the falls.When the final pieces are finished and inserted into the right order, it will be a stunning project, that we will be proud to display at different venues. See 8 pieces on display at the "Elkton Butterfly Gardens" June 29th at a music and art vendor event to benefit the Elkton Charter School Music Department. Pyrennes Winery in Mrytle Creek will display the entire collection in August.