WIP Wednesday

Well Wednesday is coming to a close, for me anyway. But it's not too late to post for WIP Wednesday, since it's still officially Wednesday. The photo shows the same postcards from yesterday. But today, they are jazzier and pizazzier, is that a word? I've added some interest with painted designs and hand embroidery. I'm not sure if I'll do anything more to them. Since I can't finish them off without my machine, I'll just put them up on my design wall and see if they call out to me to add more.

What Does One Do...

When one has no sewing machine? You fuse!


My machine started moaning and groaning on me. Thought I'd better take it in. Some of you may recall I had it in about 2 or 3 months ago (I think). At that time, Mr. Repairman couldn't find anything wrong with it. I'm betting he finds something now, as the motor was making noises, "fix me, fix me" it said.

So here I am today with no machine, what to do, what to do? I worked on some faces. I dyed some canvas, and other scraps. And I fused up the above postcards for valentines day. I'm thinking of adding in some hand stitching. For finishing, they'll have to wait until my machine is back home.

I was hoping to show you my new display wall that I plan to use to show off my postcard, ATC, small quiltie collection that I've gotten from various swaps. But I was in the process of sewing that when the machine when kapoooeeey. So that will have to wait.

I didn't get a precise time when my machine might be done, just one of those replies like, "we are a little backlogged, but we'll get to it as soon as we can". Ugh! I'm wondering what I will do when it comes time to make my weekly journal quilt.

I Love Batiks

Today I attended the North Dakota State Quilter's Showcase. A quilt show held right here in my home town. There were many beautiful quilts to admire. Many vendors selling wonderful fabrics and patterns. I purchased a few batiks. I love love love batiks. Did I mention I love batiks? Well I do! If I could have a bolt of every batik made, I'd be in heaven. Okay, maybe not a bolt, maybe just a yard then. Here are the batiks I purchased. I also picked up a couple colors of Angelina fibers. I love batiks!

Journal Quilt #4

I love gardening and I love flowers. As I was writing on the back of this journal quilt, I noted that creating this little quilt has allowed me to garden in the winter time.

Thank you everyone for your lovely comments about the postcards in the previous post.

Whatever

Have you ever started working on something and had sort of a vision of what you wanted but yet not? Well that's how yesterdays piece was. I knew what materials I wanted to use and I knew what methods I wanted to use...but as I was progressing, I was getting less happy with it. At one point I decided, nope, this isn't working for me. So I hacked it up and came up with two postcards. There wasn't much waste as I think the piece was about 9x9 to start with.


Questions/Answers for previous comments:
Dianne asked, "So, has this anything to do with your faces??!!" Nope!

Windyangel asked, "Quilter's newsletter magazine - why does that sound so familiar?" Quilter's Newsletter Magazine is a major quilting magazine that's been around for years. You've probably seen it on a newstand or something.

Margaretr asked, "Can you tell me about that lovely design on the top? It looks so textured and almost 3D. How did you do that please? This design was created with water soluble paper and a rubber stamp...I had posted about it here. I've added more color to it since that post.

WIP Wednesday

Happy Wednesday! Here's a little peek at what I'm currently working on. It is a bit time consuming as I'm doing some hand embroidery and beading. So I don't know when I'll be able to show you the completed project. Maybe tomorrow or Friday.

Questions from last post's comments:
Purple Missus asked, "have you painted them on paper or fabric?" The girls are painted on fabric.

Bluejude asked, "What did you use to paint them?" I used watercolors.

Ain't She Sweet

Hi All! I've been painting today. I finished up these girls. They are for a specific project that I won't tell you about yet. It's a secret. But somewhere, some how, you will see them again. Waaaa haaaa haaa haaa (evil laugh)!

Thanks everyone for your comments about the Go Girl Bags in the previous post.

Carol asked, "did you applique all the design work or did you stamp"? I do both applique and stamped designs on the bags.

ML asked, "... did you use a pattern for the bag itself"? I've made purses from patterns in the past, so I'm familiar with the basic construction of handbags, but this one I created on my own, using my own dimensions and shapes.

Margaretr asked, "Is the 'Go girl' bags a name you have invented for them? Yes. I love that expression...'YOU GO GIRL!', so that's kind of where the name came from. I had tossed around a couple other names, but this one was my favorite.

My Weekend

Well here it is...Sunday night...I should be in bed. But I had it in my mind that I was going to finish these three Go Girl Bags, and I did! YAY! Some of you may recall that in December I went out west to visit my aunt. I had given her a Go Girl Bag when I was there. Well she took it to work with her and showed it off. Two of her coworkers ordered bags from me. The purple one and the blue one. I had already started the red one so I finished that one too. I'm going to send that one along with the other two because as soon as the two coworkers start showing off their bags, someone else is going to want one, right? Hope my strategy pays off.

Fronts:

Backs:

My favorite out of this group is the red one.

To answer a couple questions from the comments in the last post:
Purple Missus asked, "Did you have any formal art training or are you self taught?"
No formal training, I'm self taught.

Feeling Simply Quilty asked, "Did you use any stabilizer under the satin stitch?"
This technique used a muslin foundation, then you fuse or adhere your colored pieces, then lay a black fabric over all of this. You then baste from the back along your pattern lines. Once that's done, trim excess black away following the basting lines. Then I satin stitched. I'm not sure if this answers the stabilizer question or not. Hopefully so.

Journal Quilt #3

This week's journal quilt was created using a reverse applique stained glass technique that I had saved from a back issue of Quilter's Newletter Magazine. And since cats are a big part of my life, I decided to create a cat scene. The method shown in the magazine article was for hand applique (Needle turn method). But I used my sewing maching and did a satin stitch instead.

Thanks to everyone who shared their ideas and opinions regarding replies to comments. There really is no right or wrong way, you just need to do what is right for you. I'm going to continue replying to comments via email as long as I have an email address. And if a question is asked I will try and remember to post a response in the next blog post, so that if others were wondering they will know the answer also.

WIP Wednesday

Hi everyone! Today I'm working on a couple of Go Girl Bags. These are spoken for and I need to get them completed soon. I'm hoping to have them ready to ship by early next week. I'm also getting ahead on painting up some girls for more bags and other projects.

Here's something to think about....I was reading on another blog about etiquette in answering and thanking fellow bloggers after comments are made. I got to thinking about it and am wondering if there is one way that is really right. After all don't we just do what feels right to each of us? One comment I read about this subject was that one of the advantages of the comment section in blogs is to cut down on emails filling our inboxes. Now I don't know about you...but my method of replying to comments is to send a personalized email to the commenter (especially if their email address is known). How do you feel about this? Do you like personalized responses via email or do you prefer to revisit the comments to see if I've replied. Personally I don't like to revisit a comment area as sometimes I forget what I've written on each blog I visit and don't recall if I asked a question....which leads to more time on the internet that is wasted. Please share your thoughts on this subject.

Experiments (playtime)

Experiments really mean playing. And who doesn't like playing.....NOT ME! This first photo shows my results with water soluble paper. I followed the instructions from Maggie Grey's article in Cloth Paper Scissors mag Jan/Feb 2007. This was the paper casting technique. I found it to be very easy. I followed the instructions as given and didn't deviate from them. As I wet the soluble paper on the stamp it turns mushy/pulpy. This is when it was easy to push it into the rubber stamp. I didn't color my paper while wet. I painted with some acrylic paint, using a dry brush method. Next time I may try coloring the paper while wet. I think I will try adding one to a fabric project. Stay tuned.


My next experiment was to do silk fusion. I've seen some luscious silk fusion all over the internet and just knew someday I'd give it a go. Well someday is here. I used silk roving that was already colored. This picture hardly does the color justice. What looks like gray is actually a shade of purple or purple/gray. Trust me it looks so much prettier in person. Now to make something with it.

Kim's Fabric Book Page

In the Fiber Art Friends group I belong to, we are having a page swap. This month I am swapping with Kim. She sent me a lovely page for my book. My theme is nature. Here is the wonderful page she sent me:



Kim chose "Symbols assoc. with Celestial Bodies" as the theme for her book. Here is the page I made for her. I used the stitch 'n flip technique. I added in a few sequin stars. I hope she likes it.

Week 2 Journal Quilt

I would like to thank everyone for your kind thoughts and prayers for our family. How generous! Below is my week 2 journal quilt. I have been so inspired by everyone who is taking part in the TAST challenge that I decided to do something with some hand embroidery on it. Yep, that's herringbone stitch and just a little bit of buttonhole. Enjoy!

8.5" x 11"

Detail

Happiness from Sadness

Happy WIP Wednesday everyone. Are you wondering about the title of my post? Well I'm happy to tell you that Bob is home. He arrived home just after midnight last night. I'm so happy.....but as stated in the title....I'm happy he's home, but he's home because we've had sadness in our family. Our nephew has passed on. Brian had been struggling with cancer for about 6 years now (brain tumor). He was a fighter and I am so happy he was able to fight as long as he did, but near the end he was in a lot of pain. He leaves behind a lovely wife and two young sons, ranging somewhere in age from 7 to 10. So tomorrow we will be driving a 6-hour drive to go to his funeral.

I don't have any works in progress to show today, but I do have this completed handbag that I finished a couple of days ago. It is knit, then felted. I still need to make some type of closure piece for it...I'm thinking a large polymer clay button on the outside and a braided yarn piece to loop around the button. Knitting this purse was my first experience with circular needles. The handles are also knit...the technique is called "knitted i-cord".

My First Journal Quilt

Here is my week 1 journal quilt. If you read my previous post, I talked about one of my goals being a weekly journal quilt. I created this one with raw edge applique, free motion quilting, and instead of a traditional binding, I satin stitched the edges. I created a house setting because early this week Bob had to leave home to take a job about 500 miles away. He may be gone for up to 3 or 4 weeks. If you look at the windows on the house, you'll see they look lit up. I was going after the meaning of "I've left the light on so you can find your way home".

2007 Goals and Experiment Results

I've been hearing and reading how some of you make lists of your creative goals each year. I've never done this before and started thinking about it. I've decided to try it for one year then see how I like this idea. So, for the past couple of weeks, I've been making a list and here it is:

1. Participate in the monthly technique with the Fiber Art Friends group I'm a member of. Each month a new learning technique is selected and I will try and come up with 3 to 5 ways to experiment with the technique.


2. Create a 8.5 x 11 journal quilt each week, using any subject and any technique. On the back side of this small quilt I plan to write about the process I used and any other thoughts I may want to include.


3. Participate in swaps with the online groups I belong to. But...don't over-commit myself. I want to feel really excited about the swap idea before I decide to join.


4. In the Fiber Art Friends group, I'm participating in a Fabric Page Swap, which we will eventually make into a book. Each month create a 9x9 fabric page for my swap partner.


5. Continue to sketch/draw. Keeping up with this should help me improve in this area.


6. Keep track of my favorite magazine's "calls for submissions" and challenges....and enter when I can come up with an idea I'm really excited about.


7. Continue to work on my Indian Orange Peel Quilt.

The following pictures are the results of the fabric/paper I created the other day. After it was dry it had stiffened considerably and could even stand on it's own.

I laid the fabric/paper down on my ironing board, paper side down and using a protective piece of fabric I ironed the entire piece to flatten it out. Next I cut a 8.5 x 11" piece of the fabric/paper. I folded it in half and using a text rubber stamp and some white ink, I stamped all over. Then I sewed on some canvas scraps that I had stamped a design onto. And there you have it....a greeting card.

Detail photo. The tissue paper created a wonderful crinkle texture.

I think this experiment went quite well and I would do it again. I feel there are a lot of potential uses for this fabric/paper.

Speeding Around the WWW

Well I got my DSL modem today and have it all hooked up and I'm cruising around. I know there are much faster ways to browse the internet than with 1.5 DLS, but this is all that is available for my location, that doesn't cost me an arm and a leg and a toe and a finger.

I do have a new email address. If any of you out there have me in your address book with a juno address that will soon be obsolete. Email me soon, so that I can send you the new one.

WIP Wednesday

Here's what I'm working on today. The first picture is a birdhouse gourd I'm pyroengraving. I think I'm about half way done with the burning. This is a project that may take a bit of time to finish as I can only hold the pyroengraving tool for so long before my hand gets sore.


These next photos are a step by step process. An online group I belong to (FiberArtFriends) is going to be experimenting with new techniques each month for the year 2007. This month we are supposed to experiment with combining fabric and paper. I am following a Quilting Arts magazine article with this experiment. I started out with brushing a glue/water mixture onto my work surface. Then I spread a piece of white muslin over that. Then I applied more glue/water.


Next I took a piece of white tissue paper and scrunched it into a ball. Unfolded it and spread it over the muslin. Using my hands I pushed it down onto the muslin. I then applied glue/water again with the brush.


Then I applied Dye-na-flow colors. I used squirt bottles with a watered down version of the Dye-na-flow, as I didn't want the colors too strong. I used brick, violet, and ochre.


After I had all the color on, I then took a dry brush and gently went over the colors to blend them somewhat. Now it's left to dry. I imagine it will take about 24 hours to completely dry.

Fabric Charms

In the Surface Design group I belong to, we are having a Fabric Charm swap. The fabric charms measure 1-inch square...yes, pretty small. Here are the ones I've started. I'm planning to do something more to them, but at this point I'm undecided what that something more is. I'll post a picture of them again, once I've got it figured out. I had created the main "fabric" for these charms a while back and blogged about it here. So since I still had this "fabric" laying around, I thought it would be perfect for these charms.

A Doll is Born

Do you remember way back in November I started working on a doll and then ran out of fiber fill? Well I've finally gotten her finished. She is a present for the gal who cleans the office where I work, who also happens to be a family friend. Well she's been working weird hours over the holidays and so I expect she'll be back to her normal schedule this week so I can give her this late Christmas gift. She had seen a similar doll I had done and really liked that one so that's how I decided I would make her a doll too.


On another note....do you think this looks comfortable? I surely don't.

And another note...I don't think I've introduced you to my two outside/shop kitties. During the fair weather days they love romping around outside and enjoy protecting us from all types of wild, ferocious rodents. During the frigid cold days of winter, they spend time in Bob's shop where it's always warm and toasty. The black gal is Lucy and the other is Patty. We named them after Peanuts characters (you know...Charlie Brown). In these photos they are about 5 months old and currently they are about 8 months old. They are so much fun.

Sketches

Last evening while Bob and I sat in front of the tv enjoying our nice cozy wood stove warmth, I did some sketching. I got four faces done.





I think the middle two are my favorites. How about you?