UNIQUE CLASSROOM!

This teaching trip has been a super busy one.....packed with presentations, new friends, new shops to visit, and a very unusual workshop location. I've asked these groups to adopt me!

The Smoky Mountain Quilters Guild had their workshop in an old school house which has been in the process of being restored by a local Knoxville couple who now also live and work in the house.

Riverdale School is in rural Knoxville, TN, east of the city.....

Amazingly, they've been able to gather photos and historical documents which are on display for interested parties to enjoy.

They've been working on bringing what was nearly a condemned and falling down property, back to life. Part of this large building is used for public and private events.....and the owner's large art collection is sprinkled through out the building.

One of the many examples of the art......

Even the old gym has been saved and now houses large events. I taught in one of the old classrooms....with metal lockers at one end....and huge windows which provided plenty of light for the beading class. This clearly is a labor of love by the owners which will benefit their entire community.

BEAD TEST

Many quilters are unaware that beads may not necessarily be colorfast. For instance, this beautiful blue bugle bead below may appear as if it's blue glass. Not so......it's clear glass that has been dyed or painted blue. Often the color remains secure on the bead, other times not. So.....if you think there's a possibility that your project will be washed, become damp, or even require high steam for pressing.....take a few minutes and test your beads for colorfastness.

Most of the time, there isn't a problem, but for that heirloom project....you'd be devastated if during a final steam pressing, the bead color ran into your fabric. The pricier beads may be just at risk as the less expensive ones.....you can't tell by looking.

Here's how to test:

- Fill a shallow dish with hot sudsy water....drop in a few beads....let it sit for 15 mins.

- Remove them...rinse and let dry on a paper towel.

Note....sometimes color will be visible in the water, other times....the color will slowly eek out as it dries. As you can see....this blue bead has run.....red is another color I check carefully.

Don't let this scare you.......we are all aware that colorfastness can be an issue with fabrics......now you know that beads carry the same risk. Even if the bead color doesn't run....sometimes the fancy coatings......that make a bead's surface shimmer with various affects, (like rainbow) can dissipate......and the bead will lose its luster.

I've tested very, very few beads that I decided not to use......or that I've used with caution......beading is worth any effort....hopefully with this hint....all your projects will continue to shine brightly!

SSF SHOW & TELL

Spritzer Sister Francie shared two more of her quilts that are in the permanent collection of the UW Children's Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin.

Naturally, I adore anything with a cow motif.....and this one is just too cute! Spritzer Sister's have their own term for quilts (and other things) like this.....we say: Oh for cute!

But the biggest reason I wanted to share these quilts today is because the image of a pig is quite timely in our life. 'The husband' has been suffering from a summer cold......which has been hanging on for over a week now. We all know guys don't suffer quietly (well.....neither do I....so this may not be an appropriate jab the other opposite sex)..... But he's been hinting the last few days that 'perhaps he has swine flu'.......get a grip....it's a cold! So, I'm printing off a photo of SSF's pig quilt and will be taping it to his medicine cabinet mirror today!

Happy Labor Day!

GUINEA FOWL FEATHER

Yikes.....my fingers are really sore from hand quilting (not a surprise since my callouses are long gone after concentrating on beading lately). So, I'm taking a little break and am back working on another project.

Here's my inspiration......a Guinea fowl feather I spotted at my friend Dort's homestead. Dort is our 'Mother-earth' member from our PTA small fiber art group who raises various animals/birds.....

I drew a larger/longer shape on Pellon light-weight (non-fusible) interfacing.

The interfacing was hand basted along the outside edges of a piece of woolfelt....next the feather was outlined basted as well. This provided the shape on the right side which I've begun to fill with beadwork.

Creating circular shapes has been more difficult then I anticipated. I've tried numerous methods and was able to stitch circles but none achieved a flat appearance. In the end I had to choose between flat and not so round or elevated and round. I went for the flat look. I hope in the end the spots will work.

On this detail view, notice the right side of the feather tip......I've gone back and added some raised bead clusters to provide some 'fluff'. A few rows on the left side will also be 'fluffed'.....

When it's finished, I'll share the final work.

BEADING WORKSHOPS IN TN

Over the last year, I've been reducing my air travel bookings while adding local groups within driving distance. Next week I'll be visiting two Knoxville, TN quilt guilds. Here's details and contact info if you are interested in joining the fun.

Village Quilters: Sept. 10 - Full-day workshop - Beading Basics and Beyond

Sept. 11 - Guild meeting lecture - Let It Shine

Smoky Mountain Quilters: Sept. 12 - Full-day workshop - Beading Basics and Beyond

The subject of both workshops are beading techniques. I cover the equipment needs, product information, stabilizing necessities, when to bead, etc. Next we learn the beading basics.....straight stitching, curve lines, working with seed beads and bugles. Student's are introduced to 'decorative' methods such as attaching sequins, buttons, charms, etc. Notice, all the buttons (flower heads) on the quilt above are attached with beads.

The afternoon focus covers a large variety of bead edging treatments.....one such, 'zig-zag' has been utilized on the binding in the above photo.

Every student has a front row seat because of my live projection demo system......learning is easy as they follow along with my on-screen stitching as they create their own sampler.

I hope to see some of you there!

HAND QUILTING

I love to hand quilt......even though this technique seems to be out of vogue with most quilters these days, I still enjoy the look and the process. So, I volunteered to hand quilt a panel for the new upcoming Alzheimer's Exhibit. To learn more, click here.

The panel is 6" wide x 7 feet long, consisting of 55 signature patches. Though many quilters aren't comfortable stitching in a hoop/frame.....I'm a firm believer that this is the very best way to achieve uniform stitches and to avoid distortion.

Here's my method of securing smaller work in a frame (I use a 11" x 17" Q-Snap frame)....this is a great trick you can use to quilt the final border of a quilt!

First, make a muslin 'casing' with a 2"-3" long extension.

The casing or sleeve needs to be large enough to slip over the PVC frame.

For this project, I've got two casings.....one on each lengthwise side. The narrow panel was pinned to each of the muslin extenders and the PVC clips secured as usual. The short sides of the PVC frame utilizes the clips in the usual manner. (Refer to top photo for a full view)

In this view of the wrong side of the quilt sandwich (white threads are the basting) ......you can see the muslin pinned on either side of the quilt.

Here's a detail of the hand quilting from the wrong side. I was a bit concerned the quilting would be difficult because the backing is batik, but since the batting is a thin poly, I'm not having any trouble. However, my fingers are a tad sore as it's been awhile since I've hand quilted. I pondered for quite awhile over what quilt motif to use and finally settled on overlapping circles.....since we are all in this quest to raise money for Alzheimer's Research together!

FAA - SHOW AND TELL

Our monthly Fiber Arts Alliance meeting was held today......of course we all strive to develop as 'serious' artists, but there's room for fun too.

And the giggles came out of this bag.....

Darling and creative Sally Fargo is modeling her 'sports' bra (hand dyed and embellished). She called it her Julie Andrews bra......think Sound of Music and the song, The Hills are Alive.....

If you haven't already guessed, the 'bra' was made from jockey 'shorts'.

Detail of the bead embellished button......three cheers from me!!

Pat T. showed this black and white BEFORE.....

Here's the AFTER........which has been dyed and painted.

I love this purse, made from black linen that has been discharged with bleach.....

It's always so inspiring to learn what techniques others are using to incorporate into their work!

Remember.....readers.......I'm hosting a quilting tour to the Asheville area next August.....where you will have a chance to explore the talent here in the Great Smoky Mountains and an opportunity to meet with some of my creative friends. To learn more, click on the link provided at the top right to join the fun.

SPRITZER SISTER'S MORE SHOW AND TELL

The Spritzer Sisters surely must have been wired with the same code.....Our work is often so similar despite not even telling each other what we are doing....or even mentioning our latest designs. Really, it's quite astonishing....

Pierre the Chicken is one of several quilts SSF has made for the American Family University of Wisconsin - Madison Children's Hospital. How perfect is that to lighten up the mood at such a scary place for a child!?!?

Funky Rooster is a piece I created as a workshop project for my Hawaii Quilting Tour.

This quilt was inspired from a drawing by SSF's granddaughter, it also hanging at the UW Children's Hospital. Of course I found the bead embellished button flowers soooo charming.

Fluttering By is a piece I created for the Pilgram/Row Challenge which benefits the MAQS museum in Paducah. Notice the background fabric I used is the same one SSF utilized in the inner border of her butterfly quilt.

And yes.....we finish each other's sentences too!

FIBER JUNKIE'S SHOW AND TELL #2

Carol Sloan is another member of our group, her focus is mixed media projects which are often incorporated with her whimsical drawings.

One of her sketches can be seen on this 'Art Diva' banner flag seen here. Carol just participated in an online exchange....the idea was to collect a number of the flags to be hung on a string to decorate one's sewing space.

Detail - the background utilizes 'rusted' fabrics...another speciality of Carol's.

This is one Carol received in the exchange, I LOVE the button that has been enhanced with text.....we assume that was done using a pressure transfer method.

Here we are in Judy's fabulous studio with the 'techique exchange' part of our gathering. Judy Simmons (on the left), Nancy Bruce, and Carol Sloan. We are learning Judy's tricks and tips to print images onto prepared fabric from our home computers.

She uses an amazing variety of fabrics: cottons, silks, gauze, sheers, satins....the list goes on. She soaks the material in Bubble Jet and dries it flat on plastic sheets. If necessary she'll press out the wrinkles. Next, the fabric is mounted onto card stock using a spray adhesive....did you notice our 'spray booth'? The fabric is cut to fit the 8 1/2" x 11" paper and all outside edges are covered with blue painters tape. Yes, this is a lot of work!

Because Judy uses her own 'image fabrics' in most of her work, she'll set time aside to make up many, many sheets using a variety of fabric styles....this way when she's working all she has to do is run the manipulated image (done in Photoshop Elements) through her printer.....a real time saver in those creative moments!

Here is my image.....

......And how it looks as it came out of the Epson C88 printer. Judy recommends using a color fast ink such as Dura Brite.....not all printers, or even all Epson printers utilize that ink.

Here's one of Judy's spectacular pieces.....she hand dyed the left background fabric, while the right side was a nearly solid black. The trees were added with a type of silk screening process. Judy 'burns' her screen on her Thermofax machine (Judy correct me if I have this equipment name wrong). Next, using both black and white inks.......she printed the tree images onto her background fabric.

Did I tell you these gals are soooo amazing, talented, and generous!!

FIBER JUNKIE'S SHOW AND TELL

The Fiber Junkies is a new group that I belong to. The talent of the 4 other members makes me grateful to call them friends. Friends who share!! The focus of this group is to share our special technical skills and of course to create inspiration.

I'm sure Nancy Bruce doesn't sleep.....she can't possibly master all her unique ideas in the hours we mortals are used to working in. She felts, rusts, dyes, over-dyes, embroiders, crochets, tats (I'm not even sure how that is spelled!) and beads, just to mention a few of her accomplishments. I'm convinced she'll dye anything that isn't moving.

Words aren't necessary for you to enjoy these visual wonders......

I'll comment here because you'd never guess how what these beautiful pins are created from....

The 'altered' frame began as a white cardboard slide. The film was removed and replaced with fascinating stamps. I fell in love with them.....

Felted scissors sheath.....note the little dyed lace flowers!

She's rusted and dyed these pieces of lace....which will find their way into something new....probably tomorrow!

A highly embellished crazy patch necklace pouch.

Nancy felted and shaped these water bottle cozies. Each is further embellished with little treasures. Often she'll use inexpensive plastic and costume jewelry pieces that she rusts.

This piece is in progress.......she laughed when I took a photo because I totally overlooked the flower head pins still in the work......all I saw was wonderful subtle colors and texture. I almost tripped over myself getting my camera in focus.

Detail