PTA 6TH ANNUAL RETREAT

We all agree, our retreat is the most fun we have all year. You'd think we'd be tired repeating the exact same itinerary for our retreat....but it only gets better.  

Without a doubt, having such great, talented, generous, kind girlfriends is a treasure. The details of our retreat may only be interesting to me.....read on or come back another day....

 Before we even begin to organize our stations.....Judy and Kate are sharing photos of potential projects.

 Other important 'stations' are set up.....snacks and music...

 Items to share.....fabric, books, magazines

 The meeting room space we rent is fabulous.....tables, iron stations, and even raised cutting tables are all provided.

 Several of us have taught on the national quilt circuit for ages, so we count many recognizable names as personal buddies.  But still...who'd even believe I'd be lucky enough to have Linda Cantrell as my personal presser.  Linda was in between projects and chose to knit rather than quilt so she kindly volunteered to assist me.

 I won't share who has lowered her waist band to show her pedometer....now that might seem like a crazy thing for a quilter to wear since we all tend to do so much sitting!

 But.....low and behold......a second member showed off hers as well.....each try to reach 10,000 steps per day.....watching these two iron is a hoot as they walk/prance in place!

That's the back story of our group's retreat.....come back to see what everyone made.

3 DAY RETREAT = 1 HUGE QUILT TOP

What a wonderful week!!  I've just returned from our 7th annual PTA (Professional Textile Artists) Retreat.  

My goal was to piece and assemble a huge batik quilt (top) for a family member.  For many of you, this simple block would be a no brainer....but for me, who isn't all that in love with piecing it was daunting.

However, our small fiber group has soooo much fun during our 3 day retreat, I knew that this was just the time and place to work on the quilt.

 .....and so it begins....

 .....and it grows.....

....Finally......all 110 blocks are pieced and arranged.....10 across x 11 down....measuring appx. 94" x 104".

Come back and visit me again as I 'tell all' about our retreat.....though some names will be withheld to protect the not so innocent!

I'm linking to Nina-Marie's Off The Wall Friday  and Sara's Whoop Whoop Friday where you will be so inspired by the fabulous artists who share their work!

IMAGE TRANSFER

 Image transfer is a technique that is popping up in more and more art quilts.  It's one that I've had little experience with, mainly because I haven't found that it fits into my work very well.

Secondly, I'm not very computer savvy.  I'll admit Photoshop is on my computer, but frustration sets in quickly when I attempt to use it.  

However, this darling photo of our grandson and the desire to have a small portrait of him on my desk, gave me the determination to give Photoshop manipulation another try.

My friend Judy often uses images that she prints on her home computer in her beautiful work.  She suggested using a 'line drawing' filter which she has in Photoshop Elements.  Unfortunately, my full version of Photoshop doesn't have that option, so after cropping and cleaning up the background (which seriously took me longer than I wish to admit...with a few full blown hissy fits), I used 'graphite pencil' option to alter the image.

It's been printed onto a tea-dyed looking piece of muslin. Antique Kimono fabric, that the kids brought back from Japan for me years ago, borders the image.  It's mounted on a 5" x 7" canvas frame.  I'm on the lookout for a sturdy small stand to place it on....  

For all of you techy's...this accomplishment might not seem so major, but for me it was.  Yes, you can teach an old dog new tricks!

I'll be silent till the end of the week as I'm heading off early tomorrow for our 6th annual PTA (Professional Textile Artists) retreat.  There will be lots to share when I return.....

SUNSHINE & SHADOWS - SMALL WOOL PIECE

This week has flown by as I've been multi-tasking on a number of new works.

Here's one I completed.....these little pieces are fast becoming my favorites to create.....

SUNSHINE & SHADOWS  8" x 5"

AVAILABLE HERE

Hand felted, resist dyed wool, hand embroidered & bead embellished

I'm linking to Nina-Marie's Off The Wall Friday, and Whoop, Whoop Friday

PAPER FABRIC

Last month after teaching at the AQS Quilt Show in Phoenix, I hung around for a few days to join several friends at our 3rd. annual 'Art Camp'.  I blogged about it here where I explained the process of creating paper fabric.

 Now these pieces are home with me and it's time to create.  The first thing that was required was to press the designs flat.  I sandwiched each piece individually between tissue paper....thinking that might protect the iron's sole plate and the pressing surface.  Ultimately, I ended up removing it and with the aid of steam....managed to get some nice flat pieces.  

Yes, I had to clean the iron...really it wasn't as bad as I expected. But since the paper is adhered with glue, it made sense to remove any reside to avoid staining a future piece of fabric. I saw no evidence of staining on my pressing mat.

 This is the fabric side of my 'paper', prior to pressing.

With the aid of a decorative blade on my rotary cutter, card stock cut and folded to the appropriate size to fit blank envelopes, I set about making notecards.  A light mist of adhesive spray was used on the wrong side of the fabric to temporarily position it onto the prepared card stock. (Normally, I avoid this product as I find it messy and frankly....because of some health concerns.)

The final step was to stitch the fabric to the notecard..... TA DA.....  

TAPPING OUR TOES

Here's a subject you've read about here more than once.....my love of Bluegrass music.....

We are so fortunate to have the opportunity to experince excellent live concerts frequently in our own backyard.  We attend a sold out concert series each winter featuring Balsam Range, a local band that has become world famous. 

Their latest award winning album is called Papertown....a nod to Canton, NC where the local paper mill continues to keep area residents employed...though like so many other industries, it's not as large as it once was.

You might enjoy this song  which was nominated for IBMA's Song of The Year.  The group brought in some of their friends....famous, famous friends to play along. They are all 'studio' musicians....who have worked for every "A" list artist in the industry.  A for instance; the drummer is flown all over the world to play with Willie Nelson!

EMBELLISHED ROCK PAPERWEIGHTS

Honestly....I really do have plenty of things on my 'to do' list.....BUT...turning smooth rocks into paperweights is challenging and fun!  

FIBER JUNKIES SHOW AND TELL

Every quilter I know loves show and tell....the Fiber Junkie members are no exception......

 Gen can do any technique that involves a needle.....sigh....really she's our hero.  Here she shows off her leg warmers.....an item that was well appreciated during this cold winter here in the mountains!

 But, she didn't stop there......I wish you could see and feel the texture of the scarf and hat she knitted.

 And this handsome scarf was my favorite.....

 Denny has been super busy......her 'shows' are here.....which include a lot of mixed media/dyed/painted/and manipulated fabric.  Her 'tell' was a big one.  She got a quilt accepted in Paducah....way to go Denny!!!

 Notice how she created this ghost like image on her background....fabulous.

Kate brought a small piece that began life at a recent Fiber Junkie play day....when we were experimenting by printing modeling paste through stencils.  This is soooo Kate....we all loved it.

I can't tell you how much I've learned, not to mention the fun it is to spend a day experimenting with like-minded creative souls.  This group is the definition of sharing/caring/generous.  Grab some of your pals, make a list of techniques you wish to explore...then set a date and just do it....you won't be sorry!

GUEST BLOGGER

Beata Keller-Kerchner is hosting at And Then We Set It On Fire. for the month of March.

Her subject will hand stitching, something that is near and dear to my heart!  I will be a guest blogger on March 17, 19, 20, to be exact.  Do visit this inspiring and education blog.....everyone there works so hard to provide great content!!

Here's a sneak peek at a small resist dyed-felted wool piece I'm currently working on......

FURROWS - RESIST DYED FELTED WOOL

Another little resist dyed felted wool piece was calling for attention.

 After stabilizing with Pellon's non-fusible light-weight interfacing, supplies were pulled in preparation for the stitching.

 Some of the main elements were added first to work out the embellishing theme.

 Because of its already busy design, less beads are finding there way onto the piece. 

 Detail

FURROWS  10" x 8"

AVAILABLE HERE

Hand felted resist dyed wool, hand embroidered, & bead embellished.

Mounted on felted wool covered canvas frame.

When it was complete.....it felt too lonely as such a small stand alone.  After some experimenting, I decided to mount it on a felted wool covered canvas which seemed to set off the piece in just the right manner.

I'm linking to 3 sites where you can enjoy the work of other artists celebrating the progress they've made this week:   Nina Marie's Off The Wall Friday,         Crazy Mom and Whoop Whoop It's Friday