Noriko Endo's Silk Fiber Elegance - Cherry Blossoms class at the AQS Show in Phx, AZ Feb 2014

Noriko teaching the silk fiber class. 

Finally, the third class I took with Noriko Endo was her Silk Fiber Elegance - Cherry Blossoms class. Again the photo of her sample for the class drew me to the class, as well as, working with silk and silk fibers. I had no idea what to expect from this class, either. I found silks and silk fibers hard to find in the Phoenix area, so chose to order a kit from Noriko for the class.

I was having trouble with my camera in this class, so I didn't get photos of several of Noriko's samples before figuring it out and getting it working again. Following are just a couple of the samples.

Silk fiber scarf. Approx. 18" x 60". You can't really tell from this photo, but 

this scarf is sheer. 

Silk shoulder covering. This piece started as a rectangle. Noriko took tucks in it and folded a

curve under on one end. She added beads and other embellishments. She attaches it with a 

brooch to the shoulder of a jacket or blouse to dress them up. The photo I took of Noriko 

wearing this over her shoulder did not come out. This picture doesn't show the beauty very well. 

In this class, we worked with silk hankies (or caps) to create our own fabric. We laid the fibers on a water soluble tacky stabilizer. Then we added silk cherry blossoms that Noriko had die-cut for us for this class, silk fabric strips for branches, twigs, or just other embellishments to our designs, and finally spooled on heavy silk and metallic threads for further embellishments. Over this, we laid another piece of water soluble stabilizer and then free-motion stitched the layers together with silk thread. The silk fibers are held together with thread, so they need to be heavily stitched. When we get home, we were to soak the "fabric" in warm water to dissolve all the water soluble stabilizer.

The first few photos are from other students in the class.

Student stitching her "fabric."  Approx 8" x 20".  

Student almost done stitching "fabric." The heavy silk threads can be seen in the 

upper right corner. She's added silk fabric for the stems under her cherry blossoms. 

She has added sun rays with her free-motion stitching. Approx. 12" x 14". 

Student has used silk fabric of various colors for hanging branches of cherry

blossoms. She has also spooled some of the thick silk thread, as well as,

a few other threads before free-motion stitching the "fabric."  Approx 6" x 10". 

These last few photos are my project.  I did a small project about 6" x 10". I added silk fabric for branches and loaded them with cherry blossoms. I added several colors of metallic and holographic threads, in addition to the heavy silk thread for embellishments. The first photo is the "fabric" encased in the water-soluble stabilizers. The stabilizer has been dissolved away in the second one.

My "fabric" with stabilizer. Approx 6" x 10". 

Stabilizer has been dissolved. Approx 6" x 10".  I have a few 

cherry blossoms that didn't get stitched down well. I also plan 

to add some beads and other fibers for more embellishments. 

Noriko, again, taught another fun class. This one was similar to wool felting, but without the "felting". We used the silk hankies similar to how wool roving is used. Another very different, fun class. I'm excited about the creative possibilities using the silk fibers. I picked up more silk hankies and silk cocoons at the show from one of the vendors.

Noriko (right) and myself (left) in front of her silk scarf sample. 

Copyright of samples belong to Noriko Endo and to the students creating them. 

Noriko Endo's Painting with Needles - Possibilities of Free-Motion Quilting class at AQS Show in Phx, AZ Feb 2014

The second class that I took with Noriko Endo was her Painting with Needles: Possibilities of Free-Motion Quilting. I had no idea what to expect from this class, but her sample on the AQS website looked interesting, so I signed up for the class. I also figured I could always use more practice with my free-motion quilting.

These are the samples Noriko showed us for the class:

Thread painted portrait enhanced with paint by Noriko Endo. Approx 30" x 45". 

Maple leaves by Noriko Endo. Approx. 35" x 20". 

Feathers and Doodles by Norido Endo. Approx 20" x 16". 

Feather motif by Noriko Endo. Approx. 20" x 16". 

 

Noriko Endo in duster length vest thread-painted  with a feather variation, enhanced
with paint. Noriko painted the fabric for the vest and then quilted it and filled in the
quilted motifs with more paint to help the motifs stand out. 

Noriko had us pick a motif and quilt it in various sizes on our quilt sandwich. She encouraged us to use a variegated polyester thread. Depending on the motif, she had us either echo it, fill the motif, and/or go over the stitching 2-4 times to emphasize the outlining. After stitching the motifs, we then picked areas to paint with acrylic paints. Noriko doesn't use any special fabric paints on her quilts, just acrylics. She said sometimes we'll want to paint the quilt first and then quilt and other times, we'll quilt first and then paint, or a combination of the two. When we get home, we will finish painting the motifs and then fill in the background with more free-motion quilting.

I chose a pink batik for my background fabric. It is a fabric that I hand-dyed. I don't use pink much and wanted to do something different for this class. Choosing the motif(s) was about the hardest part of this class, followed by how to lay out the motifs to get a pleasing composition. Once I started stitching, things just seemed to flow. I had never done so many layers of feathers within one feather design or stitched such a small pebble design. It was challenging, but fun, too. I was surprised when I saw my piece after getting to a point where I was ready for painting. I couldn't believe that I did this sample!

My sample, approx 18" x 16". I decided to stitch feathers and swirls with pebbles, 

similar to one of Noriko's samples. Noriko had me fill in the feathers with more two 

more sets of feathers inside my original ones, in a different color variegated thread. 

I loved the way they turned out. Then I filled in the one set of feathers and some

of the pebbles with blue acrylic paint.  When I have time to finish this at home, I

plan to fill in the other set of feathers and more pebbles with another color of paint.

Then I will fill in the background with more free-motion quilting. 

Following are a couple samples from a couple other students in the class. I didn't get too many photos of others' work, as by the time I finished, most of the other students had already left.

A fish motif in the process of being painted.  She was pleased with how it was turning out, as she

had never done any fabric painting before. She was very tickled with the paint on the fish lips. 

Done painting the fish! 

A seascape quilted and painted by another student. She had done a similar seascape for 

her very first quilt some 20 years previously. She was planning to compare the two once

she finished this one to see how much she has progressed since she started quilting.

Quilt designs copyrighted by Noriko Endo or the student creating the quilt.

Noriko Endo's Naturescapes from Scraps 1/2 Day Class at AQS Show in Phx, AZ 2014

I took three classes with Noriko Endo, an art quilter from Tokyo, Japan while attending the American Quilters Society (AQS) Show in Phoenix, AZ at the convention center Feb 5-8, 2014.  I became interested in Noriko Endo when I first saw her work hanging in the International Quilt Show in Long Beach, CA about 4 years ago. I watched her do a demonstration of her confetti landscape technique during the Sampler Class. It was so different from any quilting technique I had ever seen. It reminds one of the Impressionism art movement of the late 1800s, early 1900s. She captures the scene by "painting" with small bits of fabric, adding details with paint and thread.  Ever since then, I've been wanting to attend a workshop with her. She was one of the many instructors available during the AQS Show this past week.

Confetti Naturescapes by Noriko Endo, copyright 2011.

The first class I took with Noriko Endo is her Naturescapes from Scraps. Noriko also has a book published with this technique, Confetti Naturescapes: Quilting Impressionist Landscape. She offered this class twice - one a half day class and the other a full day class. I chose the half day class, as I figured with taking two other classes, this would be all I could manage with my health issues.

These are some of Noriko's samples for this class. She also had a quilt, Cherry Blossom #7, 58" x 32", hanging in the show. It can be seen on my blog from yesterday of the quilts in the AQS show.

Noriko Endo's sample of trees and path. 8" x 8". 

Noriko's sample of flowering tree branches overhanging water. 20" x 30"

Noriko's sample of a summer or spring forest. 25" x 20"

Noriko's sample of an autumn forest. 25" x 20".

Noriko's sample of cherry blossoms overhanging water. 25" x 20". 

I thoroughly loved the class. Noriko is a gracious teacher, gently encouraging each person to create a small art quilt of a landscape. She adds bits of confetti fabric before you quilt it, to help the colors pop and explains why she adds these colors to your quilt. She added bits of black, as she said black is in everything; though our eye may not see it, our brain picks it up, so add black to make your landscape look right. Then she added turquoise, as she said this helps the colors pop. She also added bits of bright purple and pink to mine, since I had those colors in my landscape. These seemed so bright when she added them, but they really did help the colors pop. After taking her class, I viewed the Tentmakers of Cairo exhibit. They used bright colors, like turquoise and orange and white accents. These made the colors pop in their wall hangings. It really helped reinforce this lesson from Noriko.

Here is my small quilt sample that I completed in class. I was getting frustrated while free-motion quilting my sample, but realized that I just needed to relax and enjoy the process, which I loved. It was so much fun to just cut the scrap fabric pieces into confetti and then scatter them (strategically) over the batting to create a landscape. I found it to be very freeing - I tend to work very tight and am always trying to loosen up. This technique definitely encourages that!

My sample. 10" x 10". 

Some of the other students in the class, allowed me to take photos of their projects. I think everyone had fun creating these little pieces of art. As Noriko said, they look better when viewed from a distance (5-6 feet), like you would view masterpieces in an art museum. You don't look at them closeup, unless you want to examine the brush strokes. In these samples, the brush strokes are the small pieces of fabric.

Student sample of flowering trees. Approximately 9" x 9".

Student sample of trees and flowers bordering a lake. Approximately 10" x 10". 

Student sample of trees and flowering bushes.  Approximately 8" x 6". 

Student sample of red roses and other flowers. She plans to applique one
 red rose and stitch more red roses in the red area. Approximately 9" x 9".

All quilt designs copyrighted by Noriko Endo or the students in the class.