MINI NOTEBOOK COVERS

Inbetween art quilt projects, I find it satisfying to create notebook covers.  These minis are an excellent way to utilize small, but precious, bits of special fabrics.

4.50" x 3.25"

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BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAIN BREEZE

Many hours of hand stitching on this one.....

 BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAIN BREEZE  -   13" X 13"

SOLD

Hand-dyed cottons, Ultra-suede, hand & machine applique,

hand embroidery.

DETAIL

SNEAK PEAK

 Okay.....perhaps I shouldn't be such a tease.....here's a sneak peak at what's coming......piece still in progress.

HAND WORK ALWAYS SLOWS THE PROGRESS DOWN

 Nope, it doesn't look like much from this view.....however I've actually been working on this new piece exclusively for about a week. Hand appliqué & now the addition of hand embroidery has to be approached with patience......it just takes time.

More to see real soon.......

GELLI PRINTING

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After more than a year meeting fiber friends in person...we are trying to make up for lost time.  Several pals who belong to our Mountain Art Quilters Group gathered for a day of gelli printing.

Some were super productive, others took more time being thoughtful about their images.

I purposely stayed with a few select colors, mostly greens as seen above and below.  Can't wait to see what they will inspire.

The time is now....grab some of your fiber buddies and make your own play date!

THE QUICK BROWN FOX.........

AND.....perhaps if you recognize the title of this piece, you will also know what the motifs represent.

THE QUICK BROWN FOX........  13" x 13"

AVAILABLE HERE

Cottons, pieced, appliqued, quilted.

To answer the question before you ask....NO there is no hidden message....the motifs are typewriter keys....just typewriter keys!

ADDING MOTIFS & ASSEMBLING

The process continues.......

The motifs are arranged with the aid of rulers.
 

All the motifs are arranged within the boundaries of the piece &  fused in place.

Appliqué begins using my documented machine settings. Each one is edged stitched to keep them flat just inside and outside the zig-zag stitching.

I'm a fan of pulling ALL threads to the wrong side and tying off. Lightweight stabilize was then removed.

 Fray Block is applied along the edges of the small lettering to prevent fraying.

The finished top is positioned on a canvas covered frame, wrapped and secured with staples.  A label is added and the unit is fitted into a shadow box frame.

Finally, the back cover of the frame is secured and another label added.

Please visit tomorrow to view the completed piece and see if your design guess is correct.

NEXT A BACKGROUND IS CONSTRUCTED

The next step was to build a background for the motifs.

The color is actually ivory but I wasn't able to get the camera to believe it!  It consists of small patches of varying sizes.

I like to document the outside edge of the finished piece with basting to aid in positioning the motifs correctly.  Here it was done by machine, but most often I baste by hand.

Another poor quality photo but perhaps if you squint....

I've cut a 12" square of batting and positioned on the wrong side...again with the aid of my pre-marked shape.  This piece will ultimately be attached to a canvas covered wood frame and set into a shadow box.  Because of the seam's bulk on the pieced top, the batting was eliminated in the areas that wrap around the canvas.

With the aid of a ruler and painters tape....I began to stitch straight quilting lines.

After only a few, I decided I didn't like it.....so out can the seam ripper.

Instead, random diagonal lines were used to provide more interest.

The next post will reveal the design (though you may have guessed the subject matter by now).  As usual, it's not a simple matter of just fusing....oh heck no.....I make it much harder for myself than that.....   See you soon.....

TRY TRY AGAIN!

The process of creating what I thought would be a straightforward project has expanded.  So, rather than one long post, I decided to break it up into several which follows my previous intro post of this newest piece.

After the disappointment of not being able to get a useable print of the desired motifs on fabric....I began again.

Here's the rejected fabric that had been scanned from a laser print (without the offending lines in the black circles) into my computer, and then printed using my ink jet.  Notice the greyed background which was also reflected in the lettering.  Though the photo here looks like the circles are black, in person they are quite gray. Too gray for my purposes.

I went back to the computer and printed onto paper, more letters and symbols to be included in my piece.  They'd become templates...........

.......to trace in the REVERSE onto the paper side of Wonder-under that had been fused to a light colored batik. TIP - trace on the bias of the fabric to reduce frayed edges.  Each small piece would then be cut out and fused to a black circle.

Before proceeding with the step above, first I wanted to experiment to determine the color, size, density of the edge stitch I'd use to attach the back circles to the body of the quilt. Once satisfied with the results, they were documented along with the stabilizer I used.  It was retained for when I was ready for that step.

Are you getting any ideas of what these images will be???

2 DAYS DOWN

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So....what have I been doing  lately?  Well...... 2 days, 2 FULL dedicated days and a couple of hours today working on a new small art quilt.  I've been documenting the steps along the way to give readers an idea of just how long and involved creating one's own original art can take.  I'll publish them when the piece if complete.

 

However, this is an example of time that ended up not well spent!  I wanted to print some black circles with white lettering onto fabric.  Hair tearing time.....no matter what I did, I got these mystery white lines.  At first I thought my printer needed cleaning, which I did with no positive results.  However, when I printed it using my laser printer the lines didn't appear.  For some reason the ink jet printer (both 'the husband's & mine picked up these lines.  

I assume the lines came from the text box that was embedded onto the circle.  I even scanned a correct copy printed from my laser printer into my computer and then printed it on the ink jet.....no lines were visible then, but the black was very pale and the white was muddy.

I gave up on that approach and am now well on my way creating them another way.....stay tuned.....

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EXPLORING JAPAN

 

EXPLORING JAPAN - 61" x 61"

AVAILABLE HERE

Japanese cottons, machine pieced, quilted 

with brass toned metallic thread.

NEEDLE FLYING

 It's been marathon sewing here the last two weeks.  I'm fortunate to have a venue to exhibit my work that enables me to display both large and small works.

The quilting (which is not shown here - diagonal double lines with metallic thread) is in progress on this 61" sq. piece.  I expect the art quilt to be available next week.  I'm kinda ignoring everything else as I'm excited to complete it.

OUR SMOKY MOUNTAINS

You know when I throw one of these nature scene photos in my blog....it means I'm headlong into a project and not spending much time on anything else!  This photo was snapped during our early morning 'forced march'.....as you can see it's just getting light.

The phenomenon of what appears to be smoke rising from the forested mountains is what gave our area to be named the Smoky Mountains.  It's actually fog that is created by the vegetation.

BUILDING A NEW QUILT

Hooray for the visitors coming to Asheville, visiting Woolworth Walk and taking home my work!! 

I try to have at least 1-2 large quilts on hand as replacement when luck strikes and one of my bigger ones sells.  I just hung my last one the other day so I'm knee deep in fabrics and decision making.

Design & fabric decision made.  Due to the submitting required for this one.....each piece had to be carefully chosen.

Don't mistake this photo as the result of quick work.....not me....I create painfully slow...but I'm getting there and honestly, enjoying the journey.

SAND HILL ARTISTS EXHIBIT

I'm delighted to be included in the Sand Hill Artists Anniversary Exhibit.  As far as I can tell, I'm the only fiber artist so it's an opportunity to display my work along with painters, photographers, wood carvers, etc.

If you are in the Asheville area, consider attending this free event....details below. 

SUMMER IN UPPER CRABTREE

Pausing from fiber posts just for today.....a look at our late circa 1800 log cabin that was found in TN by Appalachian Hardwood Company.  We had a local craftsman reassemble it on our property in 2006.  We (or should I say 'the husband') uses it as a garden shed.

It's summer in Upper Crabtree, a high mountain valley about 45 West of Asheville, NC.

CAN'T LEAVE WELL ENOUGH ALONE

My previous post showed 4 new wet felted vessels......two were kinda plain Jane's.  Of course they were lovely as is....but the embellishment itch that will probably remain with me forever had to be scratched. 

Before

                                                      After

After adding a piece of sea glass

KEEPING BUSY

 This is what I do between creating art quilts.....small items help cover the cost of having a gallery space...and those purchases I'm just as grateful for as the big ones....well....almost!

4 - small felted folded mono-printed baskets.

4 - wet felted vessels

RED BIRDS

Gotta admit....I got super obsessed creating this piece.  Working with fabric that was specifically hand printed to coordinate was quite the incentive.

It's a small piece, with hopefully a big impact.  I'm getting more comfortable with the process of framing my work and hope that extra effort pays off.

RED BIRDS - 13" X 13"

AVAILABLE HERE

Hand printed cotton, appliqued, hand embroidered,

machine quilted with metallic thread.