Check out the latest additions to the Thread & Timber collection displayed below!
NEW! Joining Hands to Protect Our Lake
We were invited to participate in Island Intersections, a collaborative art and poetry project which was part of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore 50th Anniversary Resource Stewardship Symposium. Our assigned presentation was “Our Changing Lake: Emerging Water Resource Issues in the Apostle Islands” by Brenda Lafrancois from the Park Service. In it, she discussed all of the many issues facing Lake Superior including rising lake levels, climate warming, increasing severe storms, invasive species and an increase in algae growth. In her conclusion, she spoke of the need for collaboration between agencies around the Lake to deal with all these matters.
So with hopeful hearts, we decided to illustrate that need. The entire project will be on exhibit at the Washburn, WI Cultural Center in June of 2021. Our beautiful Lake Superior: may we all help protect her!
So with hopeful hearts, we decided to illustrate that need. The entire project will be on exhibit at the Washburn, WI Cultural Center in June of 2021. Our beautiful Lake Superior: may we all help protect her!
NEW! Pirouette
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The quilt is made up of improvisational twists and turns in bright turquoise and lime green. It’s supporting form gives it dimension and anchors it slightly away from the wall. The edges look like the fluttering skirt of a dancer. Yes! Let’s dance! Approximate size: 25 inches in diameter.
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NEW! Transformation
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Sometimes quilts don’t follow the expected path, not unlike life itself. This one is a perfect example. The original linear curves suddenly called out for circles. The dimensional form took on a multi-level terrain. But the path that started with dark quilted leather embellished with polished wooden “stepping stones” looked dreary and boring. To the rescue: a pop of yellow linen to enhance the leopard wood stones…which became unique wooden buttons. Change is good! Size: 20 inches by 27 inches.
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View our Gallery/Shop to see the rest of the Thread & Timber collection available for sale.
Thread & Timber Featured in Vendor Blog
AquaCoat manufactures the eco-friendly water-based wood finish we use on our projects. They recently featured Thread & Timber on their blog! Click the button below to read the post.
About Thread & Timber
About Thread & Timber
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At Thread & Timber, we stand for COLLABORATION! We are all stronger when we work together, whether we are part of a nation, a community, a family….or even a marriage. Our art is a collaboration between Barb (Thread), a long-time quilter and Bill (Timber), a retired engineer and emerging woodworker. One of us is improvisational, one analytical. Our strengths combined, create a more dynamic whole.
After retirement we pursued hobbies and volunteer activities. Barb’s 20 year interest in quilting gradually morphed into a passion for improvisational art quilts. |
Bill set up a workshop and tried to determine what to build. The chance suggestion from a close friend, “Why don’t you have Bill make a frame for that quilt?” was the inspiration we needed. It turns out he had an innate sense of design, an interest in making quilts more dimensional and the engineering skills to make it happen. The fabric scraps and the wood scraps have been flying ever since! We hope you will enjoy following us on this, our newest collaboration.
Scroll down to learn more about Thread & Timber's design approach or go to our Gallery/Shop to see our work. |
Barb a.k.a Thread
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I started out as a traditional quilter in 1993. While that’s not an absolutely necessary path to becoming an art quilter, I personally think it’s a good thing to sharpen one’s basic skills in the beginning. Art quilting is all about breaking the rules and it’s good to know the rules first so you end up with a quilt that actually stays together. The folks at SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Association of which I am a member) define an art quilt as “artwork made of fiber that has been layered and quilted in some manner”. That gives plenty of room for interpretation! Most of what I create still follows the norm as a traditional quilt that has been pieced, but in an improvisational manner. I love improv quilting! I don’t like to follow a pattern and I don’t like to complete quilt square after square until it covers a bed. Frankly, I don’t like to measure things either. I am the exact opposite of my analytical husband which apparently allows us to work well together as long as we stay out of each other’s way.
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My inspiration almost always starts with fabric. Like most quilters, I have a little fabric “problem”. (We try not to say “hoarder”). Most of the time I purchase fabric with no notion of where it will end up eventually but instead, choose colors and designs that catch my eye along with a good supply of solids or nearly solids. My most important tool (other than a working sewing machine) is a design board. I start by hanging up different fabrics and seeing how well they play together. I generally have a vague notion of what the quilt might look like but rarely put that plan on paper and it’s likely to migrate through different concepts before I’m finished.
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Once I’ve put the whole thing together with batting and backing, it’s time to finalize the quilting plan. Quilting is what gives a quilt texture and interest. Plus, it holds everything together which is one of those important basic elements I spoke of earlier. I know some quilters have someone else complete the actual quilting but I find doing it myself makes me feel like it’s really my own work. Plus, I love the quilting process itself…either by machine or especially by hand… but quite often a combination of both. Not mixing the two is one of those rules that were made to be broken. My quilting is never perfect. Probably it’s my less-than-perfect nature but I think it’s what gives a piece character. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
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Think of the great things that could happen in our world if each of us offered our strengths and worked together! Thread & Timber
Bill a.k.a Timber
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Thread says: In the past year I’ve had the pleasure of handing off the finished product to Bill (aka “Timber”) who views the quilt in an entirely different way than I do. Being partially color blind seems to help him focus on design more than color. I’ve learned that if I give him suggestions on what I think should happen, it generally doesn’t turn out as well as when I let him run with the design. It’s at that point I give up total ownership and it becomes OUR work. I think there might be some life lessons here somewhere.
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Timber says: I apply “dimensional form/s” to continue the visual series and theme presented by Thread. Using “Pickup Sticks (COVID Quilt)” as an example, the grain line in the wood blocks parallels lines in the quilt somewhere. The top surfaces of the blocks are staggered to add dimension to the form.
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The dimensional forming process starts by tracing the outline of the quilt on to graph paper. The quilt is analyzed for series and theme/s that can be continued in the form dimensionally. Ideas are roughed out onto the tracing until a design concept formulates.
Then detail drawings are made of each of the form pieces. Part of this process utilizes the “ometries” (Trig, Ge, and Descriptive Ge) while blatantly disregarding symmetry and level lines. A career in engineering was spent constrained by the latters, so it is nice to be rid of them for a while. It is more fun to be outside the box than in!
Then detail drawings are made of each of the form pieces. Part of this process utilizes the “ometries” (Trig, Ge, and Descriptive Ge) while blatantly disregarding symmetry and level lines. A career in engineering was spent constrained by the latters, so it is nice to be rid of them for a while. It is more fun to be outside the box than in!
