Fat Inchies, Heart Pins, Gift Tags & Embellishments...

Here are a few of things I made as a result of an attempt to clear out the contents of my "box" of handmade fabrics, soy silk, painted canvas, etc.

I've been working on a big quilt for Sal and when I get bored with that, it's fun to take a break and work on some smaller things.

Almost everything here is made from fabric that I made myself using water the water soluble stabilizer method, hand felted fabric or soy silk fabric that I learned to make in a workshop last summer.

Making fabric with water soluble stabilizer is so easy and it really makes for some interesting projects. Let me know if you're interested in a tutorial and I'll think about putting one up.

These are all small pieces (the fat inchies measure about 1.5" and the hearts are about 3" across) that will be used as jacket and/or tote pins, gift tags (they make really pretty gift tags) and embellishments for journals, etc.

I've also been visiting your blogs quite a bit lately and there is some really great stuff going on out there. I have you guys linked over on my beside bar under "Feeds my Soul" because that's exactly what you do - feed my soul with your vision and your writing and your spirit: Carolyn and her artistic take on the world and its beauty, Katie and her watercolors, Acey's stitching, stories and wisdom, Lisa and her stunning beading, Mary and her humor (and stitching when she gets around to it!), Andrea and her Parisian characters and adventures, Jude and her Spirit Cloths and Jeanne with her stories and beautiful quilting -- you girls continue to inspire and enlighten me every day!

Thanks for That! Really.

XO

All Kinds of Stuff Going on.....

Been painting with inks and dyes in prep of some hand stitching projects for auction donations and gifts, etc. I like to use hand painted fabric for these types of projects if possible.

I am in love with cotton canvas (and this picture of Gizmo!) lately. I guess it's the texture - but it takes inks and dyes really well. At first I thought maybe not as it's so course - but it just sucks up the color - and keeps it vivid. This "brick" looking piece was using the glue gel resist and dyna-flows. I'm in the process of filling the bricks with seed stitches in matching colors.

This piece is Neocolors on muslin - a pretty big piece of muslin. I have several pieces coming out of this. Here's a "before" applying water and an "after" apply water.
Next I'm going to thread paint it with some metallic and rayon threads, and then cut it up. These pieces will be for some post cards and note cards for an auction "summer fun" theme basket at Sabrina's school.

Just a few pieces I painted in preparation of smaller projects. I finally got around to painting some cellophane and organic cotton batting with Lumiere. Can't wait to use these in something. Since I already had the painting "mess" out, I decided to paint up a few extra pieces of stuff for a special friend in Ohio who is experimenting with art collaging.

Finally, I've been meaning to try making some tyvek beads, so about two weeks ago I cut up some strips and melted them onto a skewer. (Carolyn has a wonderful tutorial on her blog if you'd like to get see the process and her beads are really, really pretty. )

I finally got around to painting them last week and sprayed them with varnish. After looking at Carolyn's tutorial, I decided to wrap some of them with metallic threads - I love that bit of detail. I think I'm going to do a huge batch of these and add painted detail and fibers to some of them. They make the coolest embellishments for art quilts. Some of my favorite quilt artists use tyvek beads in their work and you'd never know these are just little melted pieces of Priority Mail envelopes (don't tell my mailman!)

And finally, a few snapshots I took around the house yesterday morning - it was a gorgeous day and the sun was dancing around the trees and Gizmo and Tobie were dancing around the yard! I get up really early even on the weekends - and so enjoy sitting outside while it's quiet with the sun, the shadows, my coffee and my corgis.

Life is good!

I've Been Painting....

Canvas, duck cloth, cheese cloth, dryer sheets, batting, basically anything I can get my hands on.

I've got a few smaller projects in the works and have been working on Salvatore's quilt.

Weather in North Carolina is indescribably delicious. Perfect Harley riding weather, perfect sitting on the porch with husband and drinking coffee (or martinis!) weather, perfect sleeping with all the windows open under a light quilt weather, perfect drying painted fabric outside weather, perfect working in the garden weather, perfect playing frisbee with the corgis weather , need I say more?

What do YOU think this weather is perfect for???

Leaves II/IV

You may recognize these leaves as one of the first pieces I painted when I received my Caran d'Ache Neocolors. After free motion stitching, I finally backed it (with hand dyed cotton that I brought around to the front for the binding) and quilted it. I found the perfect tree branch, sanded it and stained it for the hanger and sewed two loops on the back to hang with the branch (which is one of my favorite ways of hanging nature pieces.) There is also a single sleeve across the back for invisible hanging.

I'm so please with how this came out. Neocolors rock!
Gotta do more with those - maybe this weekend.

Sunday's Stitches....

I decided that for Sunday's Stitches this week I would dig deep into the bowels of my "box" - you know, the box I mentioned last post - experiments gone wrong - experiments gone right - and try to use only stuff out of there. So I dumped my box out onto the floor and sifted through two years worth of experimentation to come up with these:



Painted Dryer Sheet
Handmade Soy Silk Fabric
Lumiere Painted Canvas
Turqoise Embellishment
(gifted by Teresa)
Perle Cotton

Painted Dryer Sheet

Organza

Acetate

Perle Cotton

Glass Bead

Painted Dryer Sheet

Dyed Cheesecloth

Organza

Melted Acetate

Beautiful Sequin

(gifted by Acey:)

Glass Beads

Painted Dryer Sheets

Fused Angelina Fibers

Hand Dyed Fabric

Acetate

Embroidery Floss

Painted Dryer Sheet

Dyed Cheesecloth

Lumiere Painted Canvas

Glass Beads

Painted Dryer Sheet

Fused Angelina Fibers

Wooded Heart Button

Embroidery Floss

I haven't made a dent in the contents of my "box," but it was fun digging through it and coming up with these little squares.

Notes to Self:

1. I absolutely need a "bigger" box (as this one is over flowing and it's hard to easily see what is in there); and

2. I need to go through my "box" more often. There's all kinds of cool stuff in there!

What am I going to do with these squares? I don't know. But I think now that I've decided I need to buy a bigger "box" for my experiments, perhaps I will use this box, for stuff that I've made out of the experiment box!

Carolyn knows where I coming from, as she so aptly put it in one of her recent comments-

"...chill, enjoy the processes and the learning curves, and those bits in the box will be the exact piece of "treasure" you need to finish off something one day!"

Thanks Carolyn - I think I'll do JUST that!!

Hey - What's in YOUR box???

Bad Girl......

Two weeks and no blogging.What in the world?

I just have not produced anything worth blogging about (other than my gorgeous crop of tulips!)

I was in and out of the studio last week - painting, burning, soldering, etc., but nothing great. Most of it just went in to the "box."

I have a "box" I keep in a closet in the

studio with my experiments - soy silk fabric, pieces of copper

painted duck cloth, melted organza with angelina fibers, fused fibers, tyvek experiments, etc., etc.

Many times Sabrina will play around with something and end up throwing it into the garbage - I go behind her and yank it out, putting it into the "box" and more often than not I end up using it for something.

Anyway, we did have a meeting with our art guild (Carolina Mixed Media Artists) last Thursday which is always inspiring. A month ago we were provided some atc boards to try and we were to bring back what we made with them and they are going back to the company that makes the boards and I think I heard someone say they are going to be auctioned off. Here are a few that we made to donate using molding paste, embossing powders, copper wire and painted and stamped images.

Right now I'm concentrating on two quilts I've been working on and will post pictures soon. I've ordered a really beautiful queen sized goose down comforter and I'm making a quilted duvet cover for it for my son for Christmas as he keeps asking me "where's my quilt, Mom?" And I've got a few smaller art quilts going -- again though, not enough progress to post anything.

In the meantime....

enjoy this amazing weather, go stand outside, look to the clouds, raise your arms up to the sky and thank God for making this beautiful Earth.