HEARTBREAKING & HEARWARMING

 My long time Wisconsin friend Tootie, posted this photo on her facebook page.....she explained a Marine in Kirkland, WA had reserved a table in a local bar, came in with his Marine uniform & bought 13 beers in rememberance for the 13 fallen.

Yes a picture can say it all......

BIRDS OF A FEATHER

 Working with the newest batch of gelli printed fabric is so darn rewarding.  Makes all the difference when there is enough like-minded fabric to choose from!

BIRDS OF A FEATHER - 13" X 13"

AVAILABLE HERE

Artist gelli printed cottons, Batik, appliqued, hand embroidered,

and quilted.  Wrapped on canvas frame secured in black wood frame without glass.

DETAIL

STOPPING TO "SEE"

 Often I rush through my days without stopping to actually 'see' and appreciate the world around me.  Recognizing that taking a breath is positive time spent, here are some views that made me smile over the past several days. I hope you will too.

I spotted this on our morning forced march (actually several weeks ago).....who put it there?  Why?  It's in a very remote location on a rarely used gravel road and it's glued down...  LOL

We've been enjoying several deer that feed right across the street from our house on the two apple trees in a vacant (but maintained) lot.  This is the first time we've seen one with a fawn....adorable.

Too bad this photo doesn't show the gigantic spider web any better.... it runs from the top of the chair to the porch roof and nearly as wide.

 Take a moment to look around as your travel through your day.

"IN THE PINK"

 Fabrics have been flying in my studio!

"In The Pink" - 22.5" x 14.5" 

Available

Hand painted & dyed cottons, appliqued, embroidered, & quilted. Faced edges & prepared for hanging with fabric sleeve.

"In The Pink" - 22.5" x 14.5" - Hand painted & dyed cottons, appliqued, embroidered, & quilted. Faced edges & prepared for hanging with fabric sleeve.

WORKING WITH GELLI PRINTS

 The new approach I've taken when gelli printing is limiting the colors to work with to just a few.  This assures there's a better chance to obtain a decent amount of fabrics that will coordinate.

It's paying off!!

This is half of the stack I created on my last gelli printing session with several buddies.  The other half have a darker tone and will be saved for another project. 

Theme ideas are flowing.......hoping to narrow them down to one and begin designing soon.

FLOATING WITH THE WIND - New Japanese Style Art Quilt

Keeping track of the hours spent creating an original designed art quilt is not part of my process.  Mainly because in the end it doesn't matter, it's all about completing a well designed and executed piece and I don't want to feel like I have to rush so my hourly rate will improve.

However, after a discussion with some of my art buddies, I got curious.  62 hours went into this one.  It's discouraging just how poor the hourly rate would probably be when sold and if I factored in the cost of materials & equipment....I'd surely be totally discouraged.

Yet, I can no more quit making art than quit breathing!

 FLOATING WITH THE WIND -  41" X 49"

 Contact me if interested

Japanese cottons, sewn edge applique, quilted 

with brass metallic thread, double fold binding.

Although the quilting above appears silver, the detail photo below provides the true color.  Additionally, the background fabric is a subtle print of ginkgo leaves on very dark green, not black as it looks.

DENTURE DUNKER

 My long time friend Jan VanderHill posted a photo of a mini quilt I made for her to commerate a ridiculously funny moment in Oct. 2001, about a month after 9/11. It's called "Denture Dunker". Here's what I wrote on her post after she brought it to my attention.

DENTURE DUNKER

"We could probably write a book about our Iceland, London, Paris quilters tour on which I was still recovering from being the stem cell donor for my twin sister. Though I wouldn't have missed the trip for the world, I was really, really feeling punk the whole time. After learning our return flight had been changed.....with reassigned seat locations, Jan and I set off to find Iceland Airline's downtown Paris office as that was the only way to be sure we could have one of our fellow travelers put in a seat to accommodate her dislocated shoulder. Internet communication was far different than what it is today at that time!!! After all our diligence...it turns out our requests were ignored, including the seating for Jan and I which were supposed to be together.

So we get on the plane in Paris....I was a row across & behind Jan's seat, both of us were on the asile. I noticed while we were in flight she kept turning her head toward me...with this sort of horrified look on her face. Finally I got up and slowly walked past her to check out what she was trying to tell me. Seated next to her was someone we assumed was a cleric, dressed in all black with his long beard and head covering. (With everyone on edge during this scary time, we noticed him in the waiting area.....remember this was right after 9/11). He had taken his dentures out and was dunking them in a plastic cup...cleaning with a toothpick. UNBELIEVABLE!!! Poor Jan sat next to him all the way from Paris to Iceland where we all connected on flights to our various home areas in the US. I couldn't get this hilarious vision out of my mind.....so I made this little quilt for Jan and presented it to her not long afterwards which I believe was on my Caribbean cruise or tour to Hawaii...can't remember which. I'm touched that Jan still has this piece Jan......20 years ago....where did the time go????

SNAPSHOTS FROM JAPAN

I'm grateful for the brisk sales I'm experiencing....and frankly am now in a bit of a panic creating as fast, yet as thoughtful and carefully as possible. See my inventory of available pieces at my online gallery (link on right side bar.)

"SNAPSHOTS FROM JAPAN" - 17" x 32" 

Japanese cottons, quilted with metallic thread, bound with doubled faced black fabric, prepared for hanging with fabric sleeve in place.

MOUNTAIN SUNSET

 

MOUNTAIN SUNSET - 13" X 13"

AVAILABLE AT WOOLWORTH WALK #235M

Hand-dyed & ice-dyed cottons, hand embossed Ultra-suede, appliqued & embroidered, completely hand sewn. Gallery wrapped canvas in black wood frame without glass.

EMBOSSING ULTRA-SUEDE

 I've been working on a new landscape piece and decided on a bolder look for some evergreen trees......not very successfully I might add.

They look too clunky......so I set about trying the add more interest.....

Using acyrlic paint and pine needles I experimented adding marks on scraps of fabric.  I had previously tried both stitching by machine and hand and that didn't give me the look I wanted either, mainly because the Ultra-suede didn't really want to be stitched!!!

Ah ha......what if I could emboss the Ultra-suede to provide texture??  Numerous attempts failed until I hit on this.  Using a small but very hot iron, I heated a 3 prong fork. (Many, many times.)

Yup.....the heat of the tines of the fork embossed the Ultra-suede. If I owned a wood burning tool, that probably would have worked as well.

Now I'm more pleased with my small composition.

A DAY WITH FIBER PALS

Several friends from the Mt. Art Quilters Group again gathered to do some gelli printing.  We were on such a quest, I neglected to take very many photos.  

Susan had been printing two days prior with another small group and she brought these beauties to provide further inspiration.  Notice how many feature printing on black fabric.....VERY effective.

I again kept my decision to self limit the colors I work with.  This time it's was mostly blues.  Two gray/black pieces snuck in, but I gave them away before packing up.   

I do believe I will be trying to print on black fabric too.....it may not be apparent, but in person this one was quite successful.

Kathie brought some really nifty texture rollers.  They were made by carving pipe insulation foam pieces, found in the plumbing department of big box hardware stores.  To use, simply slide a piece of PVC pipe through the hole.....and use like a rolling pin.  BRILLIANT!!!

Kathie also wowed us with more of her botanical printed scarves.  She's hooked!!!  She's taking Jane Dunnewold's eco printing online workshop with an emphasis on using the heat press process.

She's become quite the expert experimenting with different combinations of mordants and additives.  One of her favorites is gin....yes as in alcoholic gin!!