A TOUCH OF THE ORIENT - NEW WORK

Though I continue to wind up the sales of my friend' quilt treasures....there has been time to finish a new piece that I chatted about here.

 A TOUCH OF THE ORIENT   60" X 60"

Available here

Cotton fabrics, many made in Japan.  Machine stitched.

Close-up

PACKER ART!!

It's Sunday......our weather here has turned almost fall like......with more and more leaves on the ground and yikes....even some color!

Of course that means it's "Packer Time".....yes, I'm talking about our beloved Green Bay Packers.

Philadelphia artist Daniel Duffy sketched a portrait of Lambeau Field handwriting the name of every Packer in history.  To avoid any copyright conflict.......I won't publish the photo of his art.....but definitely do click here to see his amazing work....(NOT all is sports related!)

GOOD WEEK

This has been a very good week for me at our NC Arboretum Quilt Exhibit.....these three pieces all found new homes!!  It's always an honor when buyers wish to live with one's work!!

I found it very interesting that the colors are so similar....must be the feeling of fall in the air!!  

You can check out my available pieces here.

Visit these blogs for further inspiration:  Nina-Marie's Off The Wall Friday, Sarah's Whoop, Whoop Friday.

SLOW WORK

With my task of finding homes for my friend's quilt treasures coming to an end....my attention can now slowly turn back to my own work.

Many years ago I inherited a fabulous collection of authentic Indonesian batiks collected by my MIL during an extended business stay in that country.  I pondered and pondered how to show them off and finally made this quilt to hang on our stairwell wall in 2009

It's come as a complete surprise to me how 'saleable' my Asian inspired quilts have been.  Since my goal is to create pieces to sell....and that I have a lot of

that style of fabric, it seems only smart to continue with that theme!

Busy prints are challenging for me....I much prefer clean, uncluttered designs....so I've found the easiest way to work is to fussy cut several patches at a time....shifting locations, eliminating or adding as necessary.  It's coming along......

INDIGO DYEING - FIBER JUNKIES AUG. - PART 2

KUDOS to Judy who hosted our indigo dye day.  Thankfully she must have prayed to the weather gods because we had perfect weather....sunny, breezy, and not too hot.

My determination to use gloves at all times was pretty much forgotten the first time I had to removed the knots from a rope of indigo soaked fabric.

We've never played with wax when we've indigo dyed in the past, so thanks to Judy and Kate....we did this time around.  I do love polka-dots!  Here Denny is holding my piece just as it came out of the dye pot.....while it is quickly turning from bright green to the lovely indigo blue.  

 At home I'll need to remove the was with a hot iron and paper to absorb it.

Here are the troublesome knots that were difficult to untie when the fabric is wet.

This fabric was twisted and wrapped onto a thick wood dowel...securing with rubber bands.  

An overview of my results....some better than others....but isn't that the thrill of it......ya never know what you are going to get!

 This is Judy's drying on the line....she secured empty thread spools for her resist.

 Kate even dyed some socks!!!  Nothing is safe with this group!

 Denny did a lot of overdyeing with great success....she's the queen of layering.....and is always thinking - "just one more thing".

I was so busy with my own pieces I didn't do a good job of documenting....perhaps pieces will be brought to share at our Sept. meeting.  We tried a couple of different approaches to dyeing this time.  

Rather than placing dry fabric into the pot.....we soaked it first in plain water, we also left many of the resists in place for about 30 mins. after coming out of the dye pot.  Honestly, I don't know if that provided any better prints or not....in the case of my pieces, I don't think so.....but that could have been just because of the manipulation methods I chose to do.  Would I bother with the extra steps in the future?  Probably not......  Would love to hear what you all think.

FIBER JUNKIES AUGUST MEETING - Part 1

This month we welcomed a new member to the Fiber Junkies....and I sure could have done a better job of introducing her besides just seeing her shirt!!  The fabulous art quilts that belong to that 'shirt' are the creations of Susan Webb Lee.  Our group is limited to 6 members, but we've had only 5 since our longtime member Val had to step away due to health issues.  We miss her terribly and hope someday she can return.......

 ........With that said, we are delighted to have Susan join us!  Here are examples of her exciting work.  She started making quilts in 1979, lives close by in Flecter, NC, and is also a member of the prestigious Southern Highland Craft Guild.

 This piece is in the works.....a true artist is always challenging oneself.  The design squares have been created directly onto black fabric using water soluble colored pencils.  

 It's a unique approach, one that works very well.  This didn't just happen....Susan spent quite a lot of time experimenting with paints and various pencils/crayons etc. to find just the right look for her piece.  She'll fit right in with this group as we are all about experimenting!!

 Last month we worked with Gelli plates....Denny's approach was also in the realm of experimentation.  She used transfer paints, applied to paper.  Later at home her designs were transferred to several types of fabric, by using a hot iron and pressing the paper directly onto fabric.  The product she used works on synthetics. We all agreed that the various fabrics types provided a lovely light airy appearance.

Stay tuned for Part 2......when we all turn our hands blue.  Can you guess what technique we played with this month??

TWO CRANES - NOW COMPLETE

Despite fighting this piece every step of the way.....a not uncommon occurrence since I only make one-of-a-kind wall art, it's now finished.  As can be typical, the process was kinda like learning to ride a bicycle, with some wobbles and hesitations along the way.

You may recall my earlier post where some of the indecisions were shared..hop over if you'd like to be reminded.

TWO CRANES   51.5" x 51.5" 

SOLD

Cotton fabrics, most were made in Japan, machine appliquéd & quilted.

 Detail - center panel

Detail - patchwork 

Visit these sites to see what other artists have been working on this week:  Nina-Marie's Off The Wall Friday, Sarah's Whoop Whoop Friday.

"NATURE ACROSS THE CAROLINAS".....

Here are the faces to go with the quilts at our exhibit, now on display at the NC Arboretum, Asheville, NC.  Realizing that probably only a hand full of you readers will be able to visit it in person, I'd like to direct you to Judy Simmon's blog.  

She did a wonderful job of photographing all the pieces with excellent commentary about how we work together to create a 2 1/2 month long exhibit. Click here to read Judy's post.

OUTSTANDING - Old/New - vintage 1930's bed quilt

One of the most stunning pieces from my friend's collection.......purchase and use this vintage quilt immediately!  Special price for my blog followers - SOLD….HAPPY THIS WILL BE ENJOYED BY A NEW OWNER….

  This "Garden Path" - 74" x 87" bed quilt is the perfect marriage of old and new. 1930's prints were rescued from an Illinois school classroom wastebasket. They had been salesmen's samples. Purchased yellow sold cotton used for sashings and borders. Made between 1995-2005.  Shown on a King side bed....and pinned to my design wall.

Condition excellent, like new. Stunning professional custom machine quilting by Paula Roskowski (Illinois) is outstanding. No stains, or pucks/tucks. Anyone who has every had to scribe when I was judging a quilt show knows I'm super picky about bindings....there is 1 tiny tuck between final border and binding and not quite as smooth in some areas as I'd like....but that's being SUPER picky. This quilt is a true beauty....a real find, ready to use. The custom quilting alone would have cost more than the selling price!

It quilt comes with an AQS Certified appraisal for insurance. The value/replacement cost to remake is $1,800. 

PayPal payment within 12 hrs. Ships via USPS flat rate priority @ $18.90, the next business day if possible. Smoke free home. PM (for faster response) or comment with email address to claim the item. US sales only.