Fabric Dyeing

I have been busy! Here is one of the things I have been doing...dyeing fabric. Actually, this is the third try for some of these fabrics. Seems I kept getting a gray or heather look after dyeing, so I would try again. This time, I got out my "Color By Accident" book and did the process a little different. I used Robin Egg Blue Procion MX Dye. I left it in the dye solution for about 15 minutes and then poured a soda ash solution over it and mixed. Then, I left it covered for two days. This is really what i was looking for...soft ocean colors. Some of the previously dyed colors that were grayed aren't so gray anymore. I can use them in the ocean series of quilts or in some landscapes. I don't know what caused the graying effect...if you have any ideas, let me know. Most of the fabric is Aurora Muslin and some is Kauffman PFD. I like the PFD better because it seems the colors were clearer than the Aurora. But it may just be this batch. I guess it's like baking cookies...some are OK and some are delicious. Hopefully, all the delicious fabric will be gobbled up in a new quilt. The bonus I got was all the dyed threads that tangle from the edges will make a nice material to couch.

Landscape Quilt

On The Way

I finally got it out of my basket (it's a large basket) of unfinished quilts. All it needed was to be appliqued, quilted and binding added. I decided to use different quilting designs for each hill (or mountain). I think this piece depended on the quilting to give it life. Now, I love it! It's a small quilt, only 8" x 9", but it has a big impact. I am calling it "On The Way" because it reminded me of the mountains we use to see when we traveled to the beach from Ohio. Once we got through the mountains, I felt like we were finally on our way to my favorite place. After I quilted it, I discovered it had another meaning for me and that is I think I finally feel like I am on my way to discovering what I'm suppose to be doing in my art work. It seems I have been at the start of my journey for a long time. I keep trying out new ideas, taking classes, reading lots and always waiting for the right moment or time to come along. Waiting for that right moment has kept me from moving onward toward my goals. Of course, taking classes, and discovering new techniques have all helped me and I will continue that. But I have been using them for an excuse to "stay in my mountains" and not move forward toward my goal. At some point, you have to step on the gas and see where the road takes you. Hopefully, it will take me to the beach. : )

Fun In The Sun

This is a new ATC I recently made, "Fun In the Sun". I decided to combine stitching and paper on this one. I love this stamp by Time To Stamp. I added some ric rac and punched out a gold star. The bubble on the star is one of the clear rain drop stickers.
I hope everyone has a fun, safe Memorial Day weekend!

Happy Birthday!

Today is our daughter's birthday! Happy B-Day, Traci! I made her this card but couldn't post it until she received it in California. While she was here visiting recently, we gave her her birthday present. The picture of her is either her first or second birthday. I will have to find the original to be sure. (This is one I had on the computer). She's still our little sweetheart.

Happy Birthday, Trace! : )

Almost Connected

"Almost Connected"

detail

While looking at on-line pictures of a current quilt exhibit, I saw a quilt that reminded me of my quilt, "Almost Connected" (Sold), that I made in February, 2005. So, I perused my Adobe Photoshop Elements and found the picture I had taken. I was really into circles at that time. I think I may make another one because I liked it so much. I made it for the "Keiko and Friends" exhibit by Laura Wasilowski. It's posted on this website with the other art quilts if you want to take a look. There are some wonderful quilts there to inspire you. Sometimes, it's nice to be reminded of the good things you made in the past.

I just finished cleaning out my studio closet. Someone could write a book on studio closets. Mine is actually a bathroom to be...meaning all the waterworks pipes and vents are there. But if I turn it into a bathroom, where would I put those necessary things like board books (I may alter them one day), latch hook rug canvas (it makes a cool stencil), empty heart-shaped valentine candy boxes (I saw something somewhere on the web for turning them into something), boxes of Easter egg dye (it dyes tags and other things), and other necessary items? I did use my label maker and labeled the clear stacking drawers and containers. One nice thing I did let go of was all my old quilt magazines (some from the 90's!). I just tossed them all in the recycle bin. I won't let go of my Quilting Arts or Cloth, Paper, Scissors. There is always an article or two that I re-visit in those publications. Maybe I have Spring fever.

Stencils...and Masks

This pear stencil, of a photo I took, was cut using freezer paper. I then ironed it to canvas and painted the pear using Golden fluid acrylics. Then, I masked it and sprayed the background with Tsukineko's Walnut Inks and added more Goldens. I machine quilted it and then added a binding. The tag is painted canvas and stamped. Above: The pear stencil

This one is done on canvas, also. It is a mask of my beach bird taken from one of my photos. The background is painted with Golden Fluid acrylics and I added some swirl stamps. Then I place the mask over it and sprayed it with the Tsukineko Willow Walnut Ink. (Thus the green bird mask below, which actually gives me more ideas as I love green birds). I don't know what I will make from this piece, maybe a journal cover.

Too cute green beach bird...wouldn't it be cool if God made some real ones this color? : )

Deck Gardening

Some of you asked about my deck garden, well, here it is. I am a believer that you can grow anything in a container given the right soil, proper amount of watering and good drainage in your pots. This is just the beginning as you can see. Most of the plants are just seedlings. I try to use the best potting soil. I don't use Garden soil...just doesn't work well in pots. Always drill extra holes in the bottom or sides. Now, I hope this year's garden makes me look good after saying all this! I do have a really large deck, so that helps. I also have a potted Crepe Myrtle that gives us pretty blooms in the summer. There are containers of herbs and containers not yet planted due to the rain. On the side against the house, I have an old wrought iron bread rack that hasn't received it's little plants, yet. And, I haven't touched the patio downstairs, yet. Good thing we have a nice nursery and Home Depot nearby. Good thing it's raining so I can work on my art inside. : )

Winging It

This is a little Fairy ATC I whipped up this morning trying to re-coop some creativity, thus the reason I call these "creativity starters". The image is from Artchix Studio. I cut it out and edged it with chalk. The word, also chalked, is an image from a box of 4500 words "Words To Go" by K&Company that I purchased at ACMoore (my new hangout, me and my credit card, that is : ) I don't remember who made the card stock, but the swirls are a stamp by Autumn Leaves. My scanner doesn't show, but there are bits of swirled fairy glistening glitter on the card. I do so sound like an advertisement this morning.

I am currently working on a plan to get back into the studio more and actually create. I think I have been in a slump lately. I have been studying different techniques and making sketches of new art work I want to create not to mention the gardening. Our deck garden is about ready to be launched into it's debut. I think we amaze (or entertain humorously) the neighbors at what we can grow in containers on our deck. I am talking veggies, here! I do throw in a few flowers to throw them off. When you first look, it looks like flowers growing in pots, but no, wait, is that a cucumber? And now, I have to stop to mow our lawn and finish the deck garden. Did I mention that we have a beautiful Japanese Magnolia surrounded with purple phlox blooming in a pot on our deck? Yeah, we do aim to please.

Note: I so appreciate your comments on my blog. I don't always get around to personally answering you and sometimes blogger won't provide an email so that I can. But I do want you to know, I love the comments, so keep them coming. I hope I can inspire at least some of you to want to create more. More later...

New Quilt

" Strawberries"

Here's my latest little quilt. I actually finished it two weeks ago and then lost it! I finally found it between two magazines that I had put in a cabinet. LOL! It is stamped with rug hooking canvas and the background has a stamped image I carved. I decided to take a journey on my machine quilting. I usually do curves or some sort of curve. This time I wanted to try straighter lines, so this one incorporates that adventure in machine quilting. I like this and will try to quilt more like this. The size is 7" x 8".

Strawberries is my abstract version of a field of strawberries. One day it is green and then suddenly it all changes into a beautiful field dotted with white blossoms, red and pink berries, and bits of gold. And because this quilt represents change, I am using it for the April theme, "change" for the Take It Further Challenge.

Time for an ATC

Here's my latest ATC, "sassy". I just finished my taxes. Hard to believe I was an accountant in my past life. I remember working long, hard hours and weekends until tax season was finished. I'm just glad they are done for this year.
I had so much fun carving my rubber stamps last week that I must find a way to put them to use. I have several quilt show entries that are looming so that would be a good way to use them. I find that I am slacking off on my duties of art quilter lately. I must have Spring Fever or something.

New Work!

"Inch by Inch"

This is my latest work. It is fabric "inches" mounted on stretched canvas (5" x 5") that I painted and stenciled. The theme for the Take It Further Challenge is "little details" so I thought a way to use my inchies would be great. I had made the "inchies" while I was visiting my daughter in California last year. They were for an "inchies" swap (1" x 1"). Not all the people who were in it completed their inchies, so I had this many left. They are fabric bases sandwiched with batting between the layers and beaded centers. The edges are buttonhole stitched. I finally found a way to display them and it creates a nice memory of my visit to California! It is always nice to have mother/daughter time. Sometimes it's the little things that count. I love the look of using the stretched canvas because it gives the piece a 3-D look.

Cherry Blossom Festival in DC

Wow! I had seen pictures on TV, but the actual sight of the Cherry Blossom Festival was awesome! The trees were spectacular! The blossoms were so thick, the branches hung down. We took the metro (crowded was the word!) to downtown DC and got off at the Smithsonian. Over a million people also went that day. I have never seen so many cameras, ever. We charged right into the crowd and when we got to the tidal basin, the trees were so beautiful that there seemed to be a reverent hush over the crowd. The trees were given to us in 1912 by the Japanese. There are over 3,750 of them (different varieties). I will add a few pictures of the trees, but I could not capture the magnificence of their beauty. If you ever get a chance to go, don't miss it. This was our first time to see it, maybe this year was just a great year for the blossoms, but we loved it. We walked around the entire tidal basin which includes the Jefferson Memorial and the FDR Memorial. Awesome sight to see!

After we saw the trees, we hiked over to Pennsylvania Avenue and had lunch. Well, our lunch was at Potbelly (one of my favorite places to eat) next to the Renwick. We went to the Renwick Gallery to see the new exhibit which was "Ornament as Art", a metal jewelry exhibit. After that, we walked across the street to the White House and took some pictures. There was a pick-up truck parked in the driveway which we decided might belong to the President. We couldn't tell if it had Texas plates or not, but it did look funny to see a pickup truck parked out front. As we got there, a group of people were exiting the visitors' gate. We found out later on the evening news that Laura Bush had held a High School reunion there for her Midland, Texas classmates. There was also a war protest going on right out front. The protesters are always interesting to see with all their signs and such. I just love all the interesting things we get to see in DC. There are so many more places and events to explore. It was a fun day!

New Camera & new Pictures

My new Baby

I have been having so much fun with my new camera, that I haven't taken the time to blog about it, yet.   Matt surprised me with this Casio Ex-Z77 for my birthday present. Wow! Was I ever surprised!  Don't you just love the color? It's a periwinkle blue, which is a purple/blue color. It takes photos in a snap. I have taken lots and lots of pictures of Emma as you see below. This camera has a Best Shot setting that gives you tons of options for taking good pictures. We took it to the Cherry Blossom festival this weekend in DC. It took great pictures of the beautiful trees with the blossoms. I will blog about that in a separate post. It takes movies with sound and has a special You Tube video setting (Haven't tried that, yet.) Anyway, I love this little, compact (fits oh so nice in my purse) camera.
Emma, age 9 months, my Sweet Baby

I can quickly take snapshots of Emma before she moves and makes the picture blurry. I'll be adding more pics of Emma later.

Happy Spring!

I forgot to say it on the first day of spring, so, "Happy Spring!" I just finished this little bird ATC. This is my first time to use gamsol and colored pencils. In case you don't know, gamsol is odorless mineral spirits.

It blends the colored pencils so you can achieve shading. Fun!

Crusade for Art

Here I am joyfully carving stamps and I find Michelle Ward's Art Crusade # 18 which is carving your own stamps! I love carving my own stamps! I am addicted to it! I can't wait till next month...stencils! I'm so happy she has this crusade I can join! There are others out there like me!

Freshly carved stamps. These will be used in my journals and art quilts. They work great with fabric paints

Here is how I transfer my designs: I draw or trace the design onto the back of a Post-it-Note with a 0.7mm #2 mechanical pencil. Then, I flip it over, sticky side down onto the rubber. Use a bone folder, edge of a ruler or whatever to rub the image (carefully) onto the rubber. Presto, your image is transferred. I use the pink and white carving material that comes in blocks. I also use the poly white erasers. Another hint, sometimes the material has a lot of loose, carved tiny bits that keep getting on your ink pad. I use cellophane tape to remove it. Just press it onto the newly carved stamp and it removes all those tiny bits.
Remember, I carved stamps and posted the fabric in this post? Fun!

It's Here...St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patty's Day is here...when I woke up, I actually forgot it was my birthday...but maybe it was because we celebrated my birthday on Saturday at Tyson's mall. My husband and daughter cooked up a nice surprise for me at the Coach store. They schemed together to have a new purse waiting for me to pick up. Here is the pretty box below with aqua satin ribbon (quilt fodder, of course). Then, the purse inside...it even comes with a drawstring satiny bag for storage. Cool! Anyway, it's my first Coach bag. I think this would make a nice tradition every year. (hint...for hubby reading this). I also had a huge slice of my favorite double chocolate cake at Gordon Biersch. Oh, and we had pizza and salad, too. But the cake is the yummiest!

"The" purse

I received a really cute card from my friend, Susan...it has a Boston on it! Also a cute card from my daughter and a cute froggy fabric ATC from my cyber friend, Diane. It's a nice day. I am going to do a bit of shopping today for fabric.

I am so into crocheting while I watch movies on TV, now. I just figured out a cool hexagon pattern and I'm making a new afghan using pottery barn colors.

Vintage Fashions & Sleep

Emma asleep under the sleep inducing afghan. It's almost instant sleep for her when the afghan touches her.

Vintage Fashion ATCs

These are Vintage Fashion ATCs I made for a swap. I had some scrapbook paper with these tiny vintage ladies on it, so I enlarged them and used them on an ATC.

Emma (our Boston Terrier) and I were lazy today. We laid on the sofa and watched chick flicks. We were wrapped in the sleep inducing new afghan that I crocheted. I haven't crocheted an afghan in many years. I forgot how warm and cozy they are when the weather is cold outside. Above is a picture of Emma asleep in the chair with the afghan. Of course she has her little chew bone nearby just in case she needs it. Emma will be 9 months old next week! We will both have a birthday celebration!

Journal Quilt

Mom & MeMom & me (detail)

This is a journal quilt I made using the theme of "What are you old enough to remember?" from the Take It Further Challenge. I found this challenge hard to start as it brings back too many memories. This quilt is a picture of my mom and I shopping. I remember we would always dress up for the trip to town. My mom sewed most of my clothes, thus the sewing notions attached to the quilt. I remember the sound of the taffeta full skirts swishing as I walked. The plaid fabric on the side and bottom are taffeta. I remember the photographer who would snap our picture on the sidewalk...this is one of those pictures. I'm so glad my mom bought this one! I remember her black and silver scissors which she used to cut fabric and paper dolls for me from a newspaper! I remember how much I wanted to sew and iron just like her. I did sneak to the ironing board one day to iron my doll clothes...I still have the scar where I sat the heavy iron down on my hand. It burned all night and she kept a bowl of ice water beside my bed to soothe it. I remember the large flower prints on our drapes which is similar to the background fabric in the quilt. OK, I could go on and on with remembrances but I must stop because I have to iron...ugh...I hate ironing! But I love sewing and cutting paper with my scissors!

Party Dresses!

Here they are! Party dresses! These are made from sturdy cardstock using a vintage dress pattern. I traced the dress pattern and enlarge to the desired size (4"x6"). I then traced the pattern to clear template plastic so I can make more later. What fun it was to embellish the dresses! I guess I was imagining that three sisters were going to a Spring tea party. (It's a Southern thing) So, I had to use flowers, velvet ribbons and of course, a tulle overlay. The cardstock is Wild Asparagus. I like to use this brand because it is so sturdy.


I just have to make more of these! And if I can just find the pattern for my wedding gown (35 yo), I think it would be fun to make. I really wish I had saved my old patterns. These three are going for a swap. I just have to make more.
I can't believe it's March already...my B-day is coming up on St. Patrick's Day. I even bought a St. Patrick's Day T-shirt this year. I need to work on taxes today so I don't have to worry about them on my b-day, but I may just have to run out for more cardstock. : )

Stamping Fabric & Carving Stamps

This is the fabric I stamped using a stamp that I carved. I have found that I love carving my own stamps! If you click on the scanned picture to enlarge it, you may be able to see the white berries I added using the eraser end of a pencil. This is just done on some unbleached muslin and I used Jacquard Textile paints, undiluted. After several tries of painting and dabbing, I found that a sponge brush worked the best to dab onto the stamp. After one good stamp, I immediately stamped again to get a shadow effect on the fabric. Then, after it dried (and it did dry fast), I heat set it with an iron. I didn't even put a pressing cloth over it because I was in a hurry. There was no bleeding onto my ironing board cover. The picture below shows the stamp I carved using my Speedball carving tool. I won the tool in a drawing at one of my art groups one year. It has interchangeable blades in all sizes. The block I use to carve the stamp is made by Speedball, too. I buy them in a local art store or they can be ordered. They feel just like an eraser and are very easy to carve. I draw my image onto paper using a pencil. Then, just lay it on top and rub and the image is on the rubber, ready to carve. I also made some small ones using the white erasers. Fun!
After I carve the image, I use a regular ink pad to stamp it onto paper. This method shows you where you need to carve more rubber away so it won't stamp onto the fabric or paper where it shouldn't. If you look at the stamped image I did on the paper, you can see some spotty ink that shouldn't be there. After using the textile paints and the dye ink pad, my stamp was no longer a pretty pink color...it become permanently stained, but still works just fine. I mount it on a clear 1/4" acrylic block that my hubby cut from Plexiglas we bought at the Hardware store. He cut several sizes so I can use them with different stamps. The repositionable dry adhesive roller tape is great for holding the stamps onto the acrylic.
Now I have to find something to make from this fabric. I really like it and may just keep it like it is and add a border...instant art quilt. It would also make a nice pillow top.
We had a great weekend with our son and his girlfriend visiting us from Ohio. We went to DC (Metro trips) for two days and saw lots of good sights and museums. They are fun to hang out with. I don't think I cooked at all while they were here. It was a fun time!