Silk scarves

I hand-dyed a bunch of silk scarves for donation to the Brockville Women's Network, an organization I used to belong to. Every year, they hold a Christmas auction to raise money for scholarships that they give out to women who are going back to school. It is a wonderful organization and I do miss it.

Anyway, after taking the class at Wild Heather, I decided to try my hand with it at home. I got a bunch of blanks, some Dy-Na-Flow paints, some brushes, silk salt, and off I went!

I didn't do any of the Shibori style, but I did vary the techniques I learned a bit; some of the painting was done on damp scarves, some on dry, some I used salt on and some I didn't, some are vivid and some are more sheer. In the interest of helping them dry a bit faster, I dried some of them with a hair dryer while they were pinned to the plastic on my table and when they floated back down, they picked up some beads of paint, which was pretty cool, if unexpected. I also found spraying water on the paint made an interesting pattern.

As a trial, I also added fringes to a couple, using fancy yarns, and on just one, using Solvy and threads along with some knobby wool, I did some free motion stitching to attach the wool, and liked the result of that too.

Here are some photos of the scarves. I will definitely do some more of these, they are a LOT of fun to make!

Book signing and shameless name-dropping!

Last night was the bash at Wild Heather Quilts and Mixed Media Supplies for the book signing! What a fun night it was!

The book is called "Fabric Embellishing- The basics & beyond" and is a MUST HAVE for anyone interested in learning a whole whack of techniques for adding style and personality to their work. The authors are listed as such: Ruth Chandler, Liz Kettle, Heather Thomas, Lauren Vlcek. It's published by Landauer Books. (Please ignore my poor photography!) The book was reviewed in the Nov/Dec 2009 issue of Cloth, Paper, Scissors- and they say if you are interested in embellishing, this book is a must have! I can attest to that.

It's so great to see friends get published! It's so cool to actually KNOW a couple of the authors! Of course, I know Heather Thomas because she owns the Wild Heather shop where I could spend ALL of my free time and money-and I have taken the best classes with her- she is a fabulous teacher and a lot of fun! I know Liz from the days that Mona and I were going down to Monument for the ATC group before Heather moved the shop to Englewood. Liz is also a lot of fun.

Since getting into quilting and art, it has been my great fortune to be surrounded by well-known designers and teachers. First, back in Ontario, Canada where I moved from: Nellie Holmes, Christine Baker, and Jean Boyd, who can be found at: http://www.uppercanadaquiltworks.com/- the front page of that site has links to each of their sites; and now Heather Thomas (http://www.wildheatherdesigns.com/ - the store will be closing soon, but it is my understanding that the online store will stay up) and Liz Kettle (http://www.textileevolution.com/). I am a very lucky girl!

My start in Art Quilting

I have been drawn into the world of art quilting and suddenly there just seem to be SO many possibilities out there!

I am glad to have learned the basics of quilting, but it is very liberating to be able to make up my own rules, to experiment with new techniques, and give my creativity room to grow.

I started with a simple landscape wall hanging, based on a photo I took a while back.

My next foray was based on a technique I learned in a book- I will get the information about it and post it here soon. I donated that quilt to a quilt marathon back at a store I used to work in.

The most recent I have finished will be part of a series. This wasn't at all how I originally pictured it in my mind's eye, but part of the process I am trying to learn is how to let things happen. I tend to be a control freak and it is a big step for me to let go of how I think things HAVE to be- and just let them develop as I go along.

I am happy to be learning how to create beautiful things! And in my opinion, there are no strict guidelines on what art is. If you make it and it makes you happy or satisfies something in or for you- it is art. I create, therefore I am. Now I get that statement!

Beatles fabric!

I went to the Sew Expo in Denver last fall with a new friend, and had a blast!

I found this Beatles fabric and as all of my kids are huge Beatles fans, I knew I had to do something with it.

So, for Heidi, a tote bag. She too, is a bag fanatic. She aims to have a cool homemade (by me) tote bag for each time of the year.

For Chloe, a cutie cubie. Well, the pattern calls it something else, I will have to look that up.

For Holly, a wallet, modified from an free online pattern, which I will also have to look up.

I still have some fabric left; now something for me!?!?

Bag Lady!

I am addicted to bags. Luggage, purses, quilted bags of any size. Maybe it is just because I like to have nice or cool things to contain other things... lol

I don't know. But what I do know is that I love making them, I love giving them away, and I love to be on the lookout for another cool pattern!

Older work

Here are some photos of quilts I completed before moving here- in the interest of documenting my entire body of work since learning how to quilt.

Right now a quilt top I pieced back in Canada is in my Pfaff; I am doing free-motion quotes in the big border before putting on the binding. It was one of the first quilt tops I made, but up till last spring, we were using it as a duvet cover.

Traditional Quilts

Since moving here, I have completed a few traditional-type quilts. Some I started before I moved here, others I have done start to finish here.

It usually feels like I haven't done much in the way of completing things, but it seems I have accomplished more than I thought!

Of course, there are a number of UFOs in my studio still; I will post photos as I get them completed.

Easier way?

Well, since I don't know how yet to transfer posts from one blog to another, other than copying and pasting, I think for now I will work on getting up past photos to start.

If anyone has any questions about the pattern or a technique or anything, feel free to leave a comment or email me and I will do my best to help.

Time to separate

Yes, yes, ANOTHER blog! lol

Personally, I hate sifting through stuff to find specific things, I like to be organized. And though I have not created that many things since moving here to Colorado, it is starting to add up.

I just joined an online Fiber Arts group and realized that anyone going to my personal blog might not want to sift through my everyday life stuff either, in order to find out what I am currently working on. So here I am.

I am going to go through my personal blog and re-post here any of my work, along with the original post. If I think of anything else relevant, I will add that. Then from here on in, my creations can be found here! Hope you enjoy! Please feel free to contact me if you want any information about anything you see.