BUSY WITH FELTED WOOL

 I'll be teaching a beaded mitten ornament class Tuesday for community residents.  NO, I'm not going back to travel teaching!!!! However, I love the idea of exposing using beads as construction and embellishment accents for project.  The craft classes offered here are numerous and varied which is a positive for residents.

Of course that means digging out my large bins of wool felt as well as bamboo rayon felt.  Both were the subjects of my C & T Published book "Embellishing With Felted Wool".

It's been fun coming up with new ways to feature this material.....I've made small travel pouches as well as several sets of felted wool coasters.  If anyone is interested in the later they are available for purchase.

Sample for my MERRY MITTEN ORNAMENT WORKSHOP

OUR HEROES

 What a fun game to watch!!!!!!!!!!!   Packers 45 - Patriots 27.....

These guys top the list of heroes......Watson and Golden celebrating their athletic abilities all game, leaving our eyes popping out of our heads!  It would be an understatement just to say we are loving LOVE for his poise and tremendous skills as well.   GO PACK GO!!!!!!!!!!

MOONLIT MARSH SENTINEL

 It's interesting how simply glancing and admiring the view of a glowing early morning moon can inspire an art quilt.  Ideas come easily to me and I embrace them whether it's visual, color, or a specific subject.

The drive to utilize my hand indigo and ice-dyed fabrics spurs those inspirations into art quilts.  Here's the latest.

MOONLIT MARSH SENTINEL -  15” x ”23

Interested?  DM for details

Artist’s hand-dyed indigo & ice-dyed cottons, batiks, 

Ultra-suede, & felted wool.  Techniques: Appliqué, thread sketching, 

fabric crayons & metallic acrylic paint, machine quilted,

 faced edges.

GLOWING MOON

The finishing touches........The full moon now radiates with a warm golden glow after the addition of oil pastels and metallic paint over the indigo dyed cotton fabric background.

A photo posted of on our community Facebook page by Marcy Davidson was the inspiration for this piece.  The foreground was replaced with a serene vision of a heron standing watch in a marsh.

BACK AT IT

 Okay, a small misstep is now in the past after some thread sketching added texture & motion to the sky area while the impression of grassy clumps appear in the lower section. The appliqué motifs are the theme, thread painting merely adds to it. Since this is an art quilt, machine quilting through three layers, top, batting, backing will complete the project.  

But first I'll be adding some highlights using fabric pencils and crayons. Please visit again to view the finished piece.

STITCH - THEN UNSTITCH

 Gosh, and I was making such good progress...... The top is pieced and as usual I tend to add texture and movement by stitching through the pieced top and its stabilizer before many of the foreground motifs are placed.

My preference is to sew with a walking foot, rather than FM (of which I am terrible at). Following simple drawn lines would/should/could have provided a sense of motion for the sky area. NOT....it wasn't fluid enough. Fortunately, the realization came quickly before too much 'unstitching' had to be done. Because each of my pieces are original, one-of-a-kind, ideas and methods are constantly evolving. AND that's what keeps it fun and challenging for me.

GEARED UP TO CREATE AGAIN!!

 Normally there aren't many lulls in my creative process........life has kinda gotten in my way lately.  It happens!!

Often I begin with only a vague design idea............declaimer, unlike many who claim their designs come from dreams, my projects DO NOT COME FROM DREAMS.  Frankly, I have to work harder than that!!  This idea has been in the back of my mind (I call that passive designing) for several months.

Take a look at the progress so far.  My goal was to feature some of my indigo dyed and Ice dyed fabrics.  Piecing is not my usual approach for the background of art quilts, but in this case it worked well to utilize the colors and textures of these hand dyed fabrics. 

XMAS COMMISSION PIECE

 It's always so very flattering to be asked to create a commission (slightly nerve wracking too!)  Normally I don't do small personalized pieces, but who can resist creating a holiday theme?

It begins by pulling potential fabric choices.  (Photo #1)

And since black labs are near and dear to my heart, ideas came quickly and with a couple of days in my studio, it's ready for my customer.  I hope you enjoy this sneak peak.  (Photo #2)

JOYFUL SLEDDING

12” x 12”

Original design - made by Mary Stori - Roseville, CA

Commercial & gelli printed cottons, Ultra-suede, gelli printing, raw edge 

machine appliquéd.  Secured on a canvas wrapped wood frame.

FALL 2026 ARTISAN FAIRE WRAPPED UP!

 The Heritage Placer Vineyards community has outdone themselves again.  Our Fall Artisan Faire was bigger and better than ever!!!  The location changed to the new clubhouse facilities right across the street from our home.  No packing or unpacking a car, plus having an indoor space was super.  A friend (thank you Teddy) and I rolled my large cart to my space in about 5 minutes.

My set up with new display equipment is shown below.  Many thanks to the supportive residents who purchased all but one of the many art quilts that were sold.  The other one was claimed by another vendor...which is always flattering!

Naturally, quilt sales & shipping (if you aren't local), can be arranged directly with me.  Visit my online gallery - link on right side bar for available pieces.

INSPIRATION CHALLENGE

 It's been fun getting to know other quilters who live in this development.....7 of us now meet monthly.  The focus of this little group is not 'play dates' to learn and experiment with surface design techniques as my group of 6 in NC did.  Instead, we participated in a quilt "challenge".

Teddy suggested we create a 12" square block/small art quilt inspired by a picture/photograph. We gave ourselves 2 months to complete one.

When we first moved to the mountains of NC, we took lots of walks into the vast vacant rural areas surrounding us.  Documenting the treasures we found became a habit for me. So I chose one of my photos #1 as my inspiration.

Photo #2.   OLD BARN WINDOW -  Barn wood printed cotton, designed by Mary Stori for Kona Bay Fabrics, artist ice-dyed & gelli printed cottons, & screen material. Pieced, appliquéd, thread & acrylic painted.  Secured in a wood frame without glass.

AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE

PHOTO # 3.   Another approach to utilizing these unexpected finds was to print their image on fabric which became the subject of "Off The Beaten Path" -     41" x 34".  (SOLD & in a private collection.)