Short Attention Span Quilting - - - Linda S. Schmidt, Fabric Artist
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Garment Gallery

So, quilts aren't enough challenge for you?  You want them to fit your three-dimensional body?  What fun!  Here is a garment I call One Hot Mama, made with a lot of leftovers from my Filament Fantasy class. Below, there are a few pictures of some of my other garments.  In the immortal words of Rachel Kincy Clark - "If you've got it, decorate it!"

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I was chosen as a Fairfield Designer twice, and a Bernina Designer twice.  This was great fun because you could order anything you wanted for free, or just about.  You did have to pay the wholesale cost for fabric and fusible crystals, but threads, notions, purse kits, Solvy, ribbons, elastic, patterns, and whatever else you wanted were free.  That is why we would spend 4 months working on our garments, then have a grand gala party, a super fashion show, and a book of the garments each time we did it.  It was grand.......sigh.  Here's to the old days!
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My first Fairfield garment for the Houston Quilt Show was called Wild Things in the Night Garden.  I used an Alexander Henry fabric with fanciful animals in the garden at the bottom of the coat, then made it into a whole scene, with flying gees up the lapel.  The smocked, beaded, sleeves took 3 months by themselves.
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Blouse and skirt
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Coat back
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My second Fairfield garment was called Where the River Meets the Sea. Since thread and Solvy were free, I made the dress completely out of thread - 18,000 yards of it, embellished with Schwarovsky crystals. with a hand-dyed silk underdress.
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This is the first Bernina garment I made - called New Day Dawning.  My husband finally got a real job after a year and a half of iffy contracting jobs, and I was so happy I had to make this sunrise dress.  The top is made of ribbons and beads, the skirt is entirely made of thread, with my hand-dyed silk charmeuse underdress.
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The coat for this garment is hand dyed Dupioni silk, with rows and rows of silver machine embroidery embellished with tiny crystal beads and hundreds of Schwarovski crystals.
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Starry Starry Night was the last Bernina garment I made.  It is based on Van Gogh's famous painting, and is many thousands of bits of fabric and Schwarovsky crystals fused to black moleskin.  
Back detail
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The blouse underneath is made of a base of black tulle, black Mistyfuse, then threads in the form of a galaxy, then another layer of tulle. I sewed through it every 1/4" in a grid, then fused hundreds of crystals to it.
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Blouse above, jacket in process below.
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Angel Top front
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Sapphire Symphony front
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Sapphire Symphony back
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Asilomar Sunrise Vest, front
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Asilomar Sunrise vest, back
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Autumn Splendor front
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Autumn Splendor back
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AutumnSplendor jacket
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One Hot Mama - back
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One Hot Mama - blouse and skirt
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Black Gold, front
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Black Gold bustier & skirt
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Black Gold jacket front
This is probably the easiest garment in this Gallery.  It's just fused chiffon fabric on a black linen background, quilted every 1/4" with sliver thread
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Black Gold bustier & skirt, back
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Black Gold Jacket & skirt, back
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Coat of Many Colors, front
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Coat of Many Colors, back
I was asked to do a Fashion Show for the Marin Quilt Guild, so I made this outfit to be the emcee for the show
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Coat of Many Colors, blouse & pants
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Coat of Many Colors, back detail
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Just Vested
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Hearts in Space
This is actually the second Hearts in Space jacket. I leant (so I thought) this jacke to Lludmilla Bhokov for an exhibition, and then never got it back, so had to make a second jacket. 
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Dragonfly Dreams back
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Dragonfly Dreams back
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Phantom of the Opera front
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Phantom of the Opera blouse & skirt
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Phantom of the Opera back
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Phantom of the Opera blouse detail
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Asilomar Sunrise vest-front
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Asilomar Sunrise back
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This was an exercsize in layering Bonding Agent 007, sheer fabrics, Angelina fibers, tulle, then fusing and adding twisted yarns and beading by hand.
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This is the front and back of Summer's Gone, an experiment with value gradations and painted silk appliques.
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Jacket under Summer's Gone, made with scraps from a Caryl Bryer Fallert 3-day class in value gradations.
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Closeup of appliques and piecing
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Dare to Dance! This garment has 27 feet around the hemline, just perfect for dancing!
Oriental Dreams, using Diane Ericson's Peony Petal jacket pattern.
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Back of Oriental Dreams
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Feed the Birds Coat
I made this coat to wear when my first Bernina garment was shown, 
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Feed the Birds dress
because I made the collar out of thread, just as the garment was made of thread.
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Tree of Life jacket
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The tree was made separately on Solvy, then applqiued to the background silk.
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Mother of the Groom jacket
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Morning Glory Vest front
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This vest is based on Ruth McDowell's morning glory pattern.  I did three of hers on the back, then adapted 
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them to design my own, inimitable, pieced, morning glories.  This was totally, extremely, decidedly, HARD!
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Summer's Gone front
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Summer's Gone back
I made this after a Caryl Bryer Fallert class that had to do with gradations.  You had to bring 5 yards of 5 different colors, each yard a different gradation of a color.
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When the class was over, Caryl said she did not have enough room in her car to take the extra strips home, and did anybody want them?  Yes, of course, I'll gladly take them off your hands!  Pieced coat and jacket, with silk painted, appliqued leaves.
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Dragonfly Dreams - front
Accepted into a Sulky thread challenge. Made on Solvy.
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Dragonfly Dreams back

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This is the front of Asilomar Sunrise vest.  I think the $200 I got for getting both the Artist's Award and the Judge's award probably just about paid for the beads and embellishments.
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This is the staircase that leads from the sea to Asilomar, as seen from the beach.  This is the back of Asilomar Sunrise.
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Fern Frenzy
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Hearts in Space - The front and back panels are foundation pieced, the other hearts are bits of stuff, sewn down with Solvy on top, then the Solvy was dissolved.  If you ever see Lludmilla Bhokov, tell her I want the original jacket back!  When she took the original one to Russia for an exhibit, she never sent it back, so I had to make a duplicate.
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The Music of the Night - a tribute to Phantom of the Opera.  I figure that any show that costs $65/ticket deserves a new outfit. 
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Back of Music of the Night, complete with an 88 key pieano keyboard made of silk charmeuse and black velvet.
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The blouse is made of tiny bits of fabric cut up, then ironed between two pieces of Solvy. Then I sewed through that with a 1/4" grid, dissolved the Solvy, and laid it over black velvet to make the top.  

The skirt is a Le Skirt pattern, also of black velvet.
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Autumn Splendor, vest & skirt
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Autumn Splendor with coat
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Coat of Many Colors - When I feel insecure, I do Seminole piecing.  I was in a bad way when I made this outfit, so there is a LOT of Seminole 
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piecing in this outfit - in the lapel of the coat, the cuffs of the sleeves and pants, all around the neckline of the blouse and the short sleeves of the blouse.
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Feed the Birds Coat
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Feed the Birds Dress
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Feed the Birds detail
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Flamboyance Rising blouse
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Flamboyancy Rising ensemble front
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Flamboyancy Rising ensemble back
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Fire! Jacket front
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Fire! Jacket back.  Made of many layers of fabric painting, Tintzl, fused fabric flames, Bonding Agent 007, ripped up sheer fabrics, burnt edge trees, a layer of tulle and more Bonding Agent 007.  Very, very, HOT!
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When I am Old, I Shall Wear Purple suit
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Vest and pantsThis vest was begun in a class taught by a master  embroiderer from England.  There is a base layer of blue batik, then 
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Bonding Agent 007, bits of sheers, Tintzl andAngelina fibers, melted painted gold cellophane, tulle, and more Bonding Agent 007.  Then, on top of all of that is hand couched yarns in stitchery patterns, and many, many beads. In the class, I got a piece about 5" in radius done.
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Twisted Ribbons
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This jacket is pieced, not appliqued, and is in what we Minnesotans call "Earth Tones."
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Earth Back
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Earth front
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Simply Silk
There is vitality, a life-force, a quickening that is translated through you into action. And because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. If you block it, it will never exist through another medium. It will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is…It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. - Martha Graham

"We can do no great things, only small things with great love."  - Mother Theresa

"When the eye, the hand, and the heart come together, that's when you get the greatest art." - David Hockney
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