Tuesday, October 31, 2017

SEAT TIME

"The husband' refers to leisure drives in his 'boy-toy' car, as "getting SEAT time".  Well, I've had some 'seat time' myself at the sewing machine this last week as I begin a new project.

Regular readers know I don't do much free-motion stitching. Though I greatly admire those who have mastered this technique, I'm not one of them. Okay, I'll admit the desire to have this skill but I guess just not enough to practice it enough to meet my (probably) unrealistic standards!
 So, I work with the skills I do have.  I'm creating about a half dozen patches with wild flower images, stitched with black thread onto stabilized white fabric.  Instead of marking the motif directly onto the fabric, I prefer to stitch following pencil lines which are drawn onto tracing paper, and pinned to the fabric.  This approach requires removal of the paper after sewing, but any oops moments of stitching that didn't exactly follow the line are eliminated when the paper is ripped away. So, no messy marks need to be removed from the fabric. 
The pile of indigo fabric created this summer at our Fiber Junkies meetings has been calling me.  It's my favorite color.....bar none......therefore I'm having a wonderful time developing a new wall quilt design.

Stay tuned for further updates as I stitch, rip paper, cut fabric, and stitch some more....

Friday, October 27, 2017

LOOKING EAST - NEW WORK

After testing several approaches to add texture/interest to a Japanese theme fabric, a plan was formulated. (Refer to previous post.) The fabric was spliced vertically into sections, interspersed with black flanges that were manipulated/twisted. 

LOOKING EAST  32.5" x 23"
Commercial cottons, machine stitched.



Follow these links to view what other artists have worked on this week:  Nina-Marie's Off The Wall Friday, Sarah's Whoop Whoop Friday, Crazy Mom Quilts

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

DIGGING THROUGH THE STASH

As long as I had piles of Japanese theme fabric spread over every surface after completing "Oriental Dreams", it seemed like a good time to see if anything else caught my eye.
Why yes.....something did.  Though this style isn't the type of fabric I'd ever purchase....a gift of several boxes from a friend continues to challenge me.  After more thought than I care to admit, this scenic panel gained the interest I was seeking after I pleated a couple vertical rows.
 BUT....translating that idea into a quilt eluded me.  On some practice fabric I strip pieced in a narrow flange.  Perhaps that might be interesting if using a different print....it sure didn't work on this one.
 Next I pieced two solid black narrow flanges (about 1/4") between strips of fabric (cut 2.5" wide).  Nope.....nothing special here.
Finally, I pieced in a larger solid black flange....cut 1.5" wide.  This is a take off on Caryl Fallert's High Tech Tucks, made popular in the 1980's.  Now the question is.....will it provide the interest/texture I quested after on the fabric panel in question??  

Stay tuned.....

Friday, October 20, 2017

ORIENTAL DREAMS

NEW WORK......
ORIENTAL DREAMS  60" X 60"
Commercial cottons, machine stitched

Follow these links to view what other artists have been working on this week:

Thursday, October 19, 2017

FELTED POUCHES

The fun continues.....my hand wet-felted/ice-dyed wool yields various sizes of embellished pouches.  Available in space 235 - Woolworth Walk, Asheville, NC 


Wednesday, October 18, 2017

A TISKET - A TASKET - NEW FELTED BASKETS

Nose to the grind stone.....I've been utilizing all kinds of mono-printed, indigo-dyed felted wool to make a bunch of new baskets for sale at Woolworth Walk, downtown Asheville.

They are more time consuming than they look because reinforced bottom and edge stitching are just some of the finishing touches I can't seem to skip!

Monday, October 16, 2017

HUGE BUMMER.....

Packer fans held their collective breath after QB Aaron Rogers went down because of a LATE hit by the Vikings.  Word finally came back, he has a broken right collarbone.......which pretty much means he's out for the season, which pretty much means the Packers are too.

Packer fans are definitely crying in their beer.....what a shame! 

Friday, October 13, 2017

FIBER JUNKIES - OCT. MEETING - PART 2

.......Our focus this meeting was printing with gelli plates.
Since I don't own one, I brought some felted wool to mono-print. I'm using one of Judy's home-made screens....thank you Judy!  White acyrlic paint is applied through the screen with the use of a hotel key card.
I'm gearing up to make more folded felted baskets for what I hope will be brisk holiday sales at Woolworth Walk....and these leaves will be so attractive on a basket. 
 This isn't a novel idea......it's borrowed from the internet. The tongs of a fork are dipped into acyrlic paint and transferred to fabric.
 Sometimes the designs I create are used for the inside of the basket, others for the outside.....a lot depends upon what other felted wool I have to combine it with.
 A stroll out the back door of Gen's house yielded numerous interesting leaves which were painted with a gold metallic paint.....
 ......and printed onto a piece of brown felted wool.  
My attention was so devoted to what I was doing, I was remiss in getting very many photos of what everyone else was playing with. This was one of Judy's.  She was working with fabrics that had previous been printed/dyed and not to her liking.  I LOVE what she's created here....using a gelli plate and a 'crackled' stencil. 
 Kate used white fabric, printing it numerous times with paints and textured items.  It really came to life when she used Judy's chair stencil.
Gen's work station illustrates the great number of stencils everyone brings to share.
This is Kate's area.....as she layers and layers various paint colors on the gelli plate.
This is her first printing....it will be altered again with more printings and perhaps even stenciling.

We had so much fun......it's been decided we will continue working with gelli plates next month!

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

FIBER JUNKIES - OCT. MEETING

Combining coffee time and Show and Tell at the beginning of our gatherings is supposed to help us get into the work room more quickly.  But sometimes there is so much to go gaa gaa over!!
 Kate has had a very productive couple of weeks......this small center piece was a study from a dye workshop she attended.  Her beautiful and thoughtful machine quilting turned it into a real piece of art. I love how elevated the look became by mounting it on a chiffon covered canvas.
 AND WOW....so clever.....I'd given her this piece of fabric which I'd created using molding paste designs.  Having zero idea what I could do with them.....Kate found a way by using it as a backing.
 She dug out some of her marbled fabrics made at a Fiber Junkies retreat several years ago.  Again, Kate's skill with free motion quilting brought the pieces to life.  Though the picture doesn't show it.....she added beads to the top one which added so much motion to the work.

 Denny continues creating huge Gypsy Wife quilts....which utilizes UFO blocks and scraps.  It's even more colorful and interesting in person than what I could depict in this photo.
 She also brought a pile of dyed fabrics for us to gush over. These started out with what she calls clown fabric.....previously dyed/painted etc. fabrics that were disappointments.  Over-dyeing with indigo gave her these beauties!
 I hosted quilting cruises and tours for over 10 years. For each trip I created 3-d embellished pins for the participants.  One year our trip fell over Halloween.....so everyone got two pins....one theme based on our destination and the other one was a Halloween pin. I had access to everyone's room numbers......so while all the quilters were in their cabins dressing for dinner......I donned my Halloween costume and went trick or treating...passing out candy and a pin to each.  I came across a few leftover pins the other day and had just enough for each FJ.
 Gen had this lap quilt on her wall...it was one of the many our other group - PTA Fiber Artists worked on at our last meeting.  Several members like Gen, brought kits home to make additional ones.
Gen never fails to amaze me.....honestly I swear she can make her sewing machine stand up, walk across the room, and take a bow....that is how skilled she is with the sewing machine.  Isn't this smashing??

Stay tuned......next up we look at our gelli plate designs.

Sunday, October 8, 2017

AARON.....THE INCREDIBLE QB

Packers 35 - Cowboys 31

3 + hours of heart stopping action....

GO PACK GO !!!!!