Four O'Clock

This is a new piece I finished recently. The Four O'clock flower is inspired from a picture that I took of the Four O'clocks that grow in my flower bed. My mother-in-law gave me the seeds when I lived in Columbus. On my last visit there, they were blooming. I dug up some of these hardy little plants and yes, they really love Virginia weather. The yellow fabric is fabric I dyed last week. I used a "new to me" type of applique to make this. I am currently taking an online class with Susan Brittingham and she teaches an applique method called "UDA" or Upside Down Applique. I wasn't crazy about the satin stitching on the edges so I probably won't use this method that much. I machine quilted it and used free motion embroidery on the flower center.

Hand Dyed Fabrics

Here are pictures of my first hand dyed fabrics. It was so much fun to do and it is a surprise as to what they will look like. I scrunched the fabrics into 1 qt. plastic containers and used two different colors in some of them. This all results in a batik-like, variegated look. I didn't make a mess at all! Taylor (our cat) is still the same color, not purple at all. I dyed half-yard pieces and now I have to go out today and buy more fabric! Most of these are the PFD fabric by Kauffman. I want to try muslin next time.
This is a closeup of one of the fabrics. It came out looking like a moth or butterfly!

I only used the three Primary colors to get all of this. It was fun trying to remember the color wheel and what to mix to get what.

Fabric Dyeing

I'm going to dye fabric today. This will be my first time to do this with the Procion MX Dyes. I have my dye clothes on, gloves ready, supplies purchased and will try to not make a mess! I will post pictures of it when I'm done. My dye class was cancelled so I decided to do it on my own.

Finished New Work

Here are two photos of my latest work that I am calling "Squared Away 1" I think it will be a series of squares. This is the first piece I have made since my studio makeover so it is appropriately named in celebration of my quilt supplies being squared away. My things are not "perfectly" stored away, thus the abstract. I still have some fine tuning to do on the studio. The photo below is a detail shot. I also got my Bernina back into my machine cabinet and used it to quilt. I did have to tweak the tension a bit, but it was a trooper and quilted just fine. I used Sulky Blendables size#12 on top and So Fine by Superior Threads in the bobbin. I decided to quilt curves to break up the sharpness of the straight lines in the quilt.

Work -In-Progress

Before I forget, thanks to all of you who commented on my studio makeover. I really do love the new color.

Here are pictures of two of my current WIPs. The first one is a series of squares. I say series because I seem to be creating squares in that direction. Hopefully I can finish this one today. It is a 12" square for the SAQA monthly group. The next one is a drawing and value map. The picture is one I shot of my petunias growing outside my studio. I then created a drawing of it and enlarged it using my over head projector. You can see the cord on the floor in the first picture. I love this process and will post progress on this as I go. I am trying to stick to complementary colors in the squares series.

I signed up for a fabric dyeing class, bought the supplies and then it was cancelled. I have decided to try to learn it on my own. Anyone have any good book suggestions on the subject?

Our new baby

Here are pictures of our new baby. She is a Boston Terrier puppy and so adorable! She is almost a month old in these pictures. We get to pick her up Sept.1st and we can't wait. As most of our friends know, we are already familiar with Bostons because our daughter and son-in-law have a sweetie named Betty Boop. The first two pictures are of Matt, our son, holding her. Stephanie and Matt found her and even picked her out for us. They did a perfect job, isn't she adorable? Now, we have to have a name for her. Any suggestions? We are leaning toward Emma. I'm so excited!!! We finally will have a sweet little Boston of our own.

Studio Makeover

Here are the new pics of my studio makeover. The "before" pictures are just too messy for me to post. LOL! I realize these are not the best quality pics but they will do for now. I love the new color on the walls...it is Benjamin Moore #179, Honey Wheat. I moved the cubes to divide the room and now the HQ16 is behind the cubes in an area of it's own. The thread racks on the wall are silverware boxes that I purchased from Target. The green boxes are from IKEA, my favorite store for finding such things.

(Ok, here is one "before" picture.)

Back to Art

I am currently reading "The Artist's Muse, Unlock The Door To Your Creativity" by Betsy Dillard Stroud. I find it very intriguing and informative. There are challenges at the end of each chapter to help jump start your creativity. After a week of visiting relatives and not being able to work on my art, I find the challenges are just what I need to get back into the groove of creativity. I highly recommend the book. I am off to download the pictures of my new studio makeover.

Hey, I'm back! (Projects, too!)

I have been gone way too long from the blog! I was in the midst of a "studio makeover". Lots of organizing, tossing and we even painted the walls. I will add pictures of the new look later this week.

Serendipity II

Serendipity II (detail)

This is my quilt that was in the Sacred Threads show in Ohio last month. It is beaded, painted, free-form embroidery and machine quilted. I really enjoyed making this one because I was able to incorporate shells I found while walking on the beach.

This was a fun class project of a machine embroidery class I am taking at Quilt University.
It is all thread on a solvy and/or tulle base. Fun! All free-motion embroidery.
Tomorrow is July 4th already! Tonight, we are going to walk to the golf course (across the street) to a fireworks celebration. Our housing area has lots of celebrations. They have a band with dancing on the town square every Friday night during the summer.
I have worked hard on getting this studio in shape and now I hope to spend some time working on new quilt projects. I have plans for the new fabric I just painted with Setacolor.

More painted fabrics

These are the other fabrics I painted today. It's late and my pictures aren't taken in the best lighting. They are more vivid than the picture shows. The pink one is going to be used in an applique of pink petunias hopefully. The blue one shows the sun print of the rose leaves. It was an experiment but hopefully I will use parts of it in quilts. The hand of the fabric is so soft, nothing like acrylic paints. I have to order more PFD (prepared for dyeing) fabric so I can paint more!

Fabric Painting with Setacolor

Fabric painted with Setacolor Transparent Paint

Fabric detail...soon to be pears!

Wow! I had fun today! But first let me say, I had a great time in Ohio with my friends. I was there for a week and got to go to the NQA show and took classes at QSDS (Quilt Surface Design Symposium). If you ever want to be inspired in your artwork, sign up to go. While I was there, I noticed a lot of artists dyed their own fabrics. I still want to try this when I get the dyes, but being the impatient person I am, I decided to try something I have not tried before. I used PFD fabric and Setacolor transparent paint. It is so cool to see the designs appear on the fabric when it dries. I have 4 pieces drying on the deck at the moment...one is a sun print of rose leaves. First, I laid the fabric pieces on a smooth board (plexi-glass) and used a sponge brush to paint them with water. Then, I diluted the Setacolor (1 part Setacolor to 2 parts water) and used sponge brushes to dab, paint, and swirl it around until I liked the color combination. I then threw on some Kosher salt and set it in the sun to dry. If you want to make sun prints, add a few items such as leaves. Then, when dry, I brushed off the salt and heat set with a hot iron. Then I rinsed it (no colors ran) and let it dry a bit and then ironed again. I see pears! I love pears! (look for a pear quilt soon!) The fabric is so soft! I may decide I like this more than the dyeing process. (No nasty powders to inhale).

So, I am off to make dinner and think of other colors I want to use. My class at QSDS was "Color Confidence".

More Cubes

This is a 12" art quilt that I made for SAQA Art quilt of the Month group. The next picture is a detail shot of one of the 2" cubes.
Below is a picture of the fabric before I transformed it.

The fabric above is the result of painting and stamping. I used acrylics and fabric paint. The leaf images are stamped with a pigment ink. I backed the painted fabric with Wonder Under and then cut it into 2" cubes. I made a smaller one of these recently so I guess I have started a series of "cubes".

Observations

Today, I am sharing with you something I wrote in my journal on Memorial Day last year. Our daughter visited us that weekend and we decided to take the Metro to the National Mall in DC. Of course it was very crowded that day, but it turned out to be a very memorable day for all of us. As we walked along the way, we walked through the beautiful World War II Memorial. Next to one of the names was a flag wrapped in a plastic bag with a wedding photo in it. So many stories untold. The crowds were tremendous as we got closer to the Vietnam Memorial. We got in the long line waiting our turn to pass by the wall. I noticed a small group of veterans wearing their traditional black leather vest and blue jeans with their medals and patches proudly displayed. They were probably members of "Rolling Thunder". They were lined up in front of us ready to proceed down to the wall of names for a ceremony. Among the group was a blind veteran led by another veteran who only had one leg. (All war casualties I suspect). They looked like they were all in their 50's or 60's. Standing proud, they started their formal march down to the wall. One turned around to go back to get his buddy who was still looking in the book of names to find his unit's site. His friend gently pulled him away and he followed. While I was standing there I thought of how this was just an example of not leaving his buddy behind...just like in war time. They got back into the march with their unit which was just a small group of men...maybe all that was left after the war. The progression to the wall was slow and very quiet as some were on crutches. The crowd parted to let them pass and I could see a somberness fall over the people as they observed the march. We finally made it to the long line and got to the wall. As we approached, it really struck me how many names are there...all the loss of young life. The memorabilia left along the wall...flowers, letters, pictures and one sign looking for anyone who "knew her daddy" she never got to meet. Farther along the wall, there were some of the veterans who had been in the ceremony. One of them was clinging to a wall, his arms stretched across a group of names. He was in tears, crying "here they are...all of them...my guys" and another veteran was comforting him while they both cried. Of course most of the crowd was crying at this point. Another veteran was touching every name being careful not to miss a one as he walked beside the wall. The bond between combat veterans is so strong. They are the true definition of "brothers". Those of us who haven't experienced it can only imagine the conditions and experiences they shared in a hell called war.
I have lots more I could write about this day but I think it is a time I will never forget. I can't really put into words the feelings I have each time I visit the memorials but I highly recommend the experience. It's a place where you can feel close to God.

"Here Comes The Sun" Journal Quilt

This one has fantasy fabric as the center of the sun. Fantasy fabric is bits of beads, yarn, fabric bits, buttons, etc. all caught under a layer of bridal tulle. Then, it is stitched around the edges to hold it in place. The bits and pieces move when you shake or move the quilt so it can be interesting. I named this "Here Comes the Sun" because it is almost summer, my favorite time of year. This year, we will take a beach vacation and that's my favorite place to be. The ocean brings new treasures to me everyday. Serendipity.

New Stuff in my Studio

Here are my new "cubes" I got at IKEA. It has helped tremendously to organize my supplies and gives me a place to display artwork. I like to have things out where I can see it to use it. After I took these pictures, I decided to use the two lower cubes to hold two sewing machines for easy access.

This is my thread rack. The wall racks are wooden silverware trays I bought at Target. I put hangers on the back and they are perfect for holding spools of thread.

The next photo is a photo holder I found at IKEA. You bend all the spokes up and it holds some of my ATCs for display. Notice the little jars of buttons? I got them from a scrapbook store. They have such cool colors like the spring green, watermelon and aquas that I like.

This next picture is a little holder for my dyed tags. I love the color of the tags (dyed with Easter egg dye). The large jar holds ribbons not on a spool. The spool ribbons are in my ribbon box on top of my cubes as you can see in the picture. OK, that's the new stuff for now.

Happy Birthday!

Today is our beautiful daughter's birthday! Happy Birthday, Traci! This is a picture of her when she was almost 3 years old, about 26 years ago! The guy driving the trike is her older brother, Matt.

Traci was born in Okinawa, Japan. She arrived in the states at age 5 weeks and she's still a world traveler, still a sweetheart, and still beautiful. Happy Birthday, Traci!

New Card Design

This is a picture of the birthday card I made today for Traci. I actually drew the cupcake free hand, then used Shimmering H2o's watercolor to paint it. Then, I used pigment ink to shadow around it while masking the design. The background paper is by Basic Grey. I hope she likes it!

I just signed up today for QSDS! I'm taking Confident Color taught by Rosalie Dace. The classes are in June in Columbus, OH! I get to share the time with my friend, Susan. I can't wait! Also, it's NQA that week and I get to meet up with my other good friends! Yippee! It will be National Friend Week for me! I really miss all my friends! We always have a great time together...we think alike. Nope, not a dangerous thing, just lots of laughter!

Tiny Fabric Art

These are tiny (1") squares of art. They are called "inchies". They are made just like a quilt. I placed batting between 1 1/2" squares of batik fabric. Then, I beaded through the top and batting. I ironed "Heat n' Bond Lite" to the backing and ironed to the top/batting layers. (note: I usually use Wonder Under when working with batiks, but it was OK to use Heat n Bond for the back of these) Then, I trimed to 1" and handstitched the edges using a buttonhole stitch and two strands of floss. I actually got these all beaded while I was in California.

Postcard Quilts

These are three postcard size quilts that I just made. They are for a class, "Self-Expressions Studio" that I am taking. The size is 4" x 6". I first cut the background 4 1/2" x 6 1/2". Then, I ironed wonder-under to the fabrics and cut out the shapes randomly. After ironing the pieces to the background, I backed it with Warm N' Natural batting and did a bit of quilting. Then, I backed it with watercolor paper and used a zig zag stitch for the edging. These may go in a frame or I can mail them as postcards.

It's a nice day here, but a bit chilly...only in the 60's, sort of like the California weather last week. I just took a long walk (on my daily to do list, now). I hope I can start running again soon. After our move, I was a slug and now I have to get back to exercising again. Hopefully, more art tomorrow.

WIP ready to quilt

Here is one of my latest pieces I am doing for a class. It needs to be quilted. I sometimes think the quilting process is what brings it to life. I don't have a name for it, yet. Sometimes that comes to me as I am sewing on the binding. I also finished up two journal quilts today (they needed binding). It was a productive day for me...I also made three postcard size quilts. I will post a picture of them tomorrow when it's day time and the lighting is better for a photo. The postcard quilts were fun and I tried to stay with muted colors but it was hard to achieve that goal. I found a container of great fabrics that were still unpacked from the move...now that felt like Christmas morning! My studio is fairly stuffed, but I don't think I would like it any other way...I like my things in sight. I like all the fabrics in the shelves and my bulletin board filled with cards and letters from friends. The walls in my studio have my quilts displayed on them. I have a vision board that I recently added. It has, of course, a Boston Terrier puppy on it (OK, it has three pictures of Boston Terrier puppies). : )