Checking Off Items on the Check List

Well I've been able to check off a few things on my check list so that I'm ready to leave for the International Quilt Festival in Houston on Tuesday. Friday I ran to Kinko's and ordered postcards of the quilt I have in the In Full Bloom exhibit. Nothing like deciding to do things at the last minute!



One of the very important things I accomplished today is embroidering Hudson's name on my denim shirt. When I embroidered all the girls names, Hudson wasn't born yet and his name wasn't a "for-sure" thing. Now that he is almost 2, it's way past time to have his name on my shirt. So here they are, all 5 of my precious little bugs, well blue jays in this situation. Nickola leading the pack, Betty going along her merry way, the twins, Sadie and Shelby, the same, but different and here comes my Huddy Buddy, charging after the girls and making sure they stay in step. Oh what a precious bunch they are with their own personalities! Don't know what I would do with out them! Can you tell I'm a proud Grammy???!!

All my supplies are packed for Houston, laundry is done, but I haven't packed my clothes. I've set up times to meet my quiting buddies for lunches and dinners. Book on CD has been picked out from the library, now let's hope my CD player will work. It's on the fritz and the dealership has ordered a new radio, but sometimes it works!
Okay, off I go. Time to go cheer for the Texas Rangers, hopefully they can pull out of the two losses they've had and come back and win the World Series! Oh, and we have to join three of the grand kids for the "Monster Mile" in our development tonight!
Happy Stitching everyone!

Staying Busy and So Much to Do!

Time is moving fast and I have so much to finish up with before I leave for Houston next week. What's on the schedule? Well, I have a display I need to finish for the Dallas Area Fiber Artists (DAFA) 2010 Annual Show, embroider my grandson's name on my denim shirt (because it has to go to Houston with me), finish packing my class supplies and my car CD play went on the fritz today so tomorrow is goes to the dealership to be fixed. I have already checked out two books on CD to listen to on the drive to Houston and back, so the CD player has to be fixed.
And to add to my time schedule, the Texas Rangers are playing in the World Series (though tonight they aren't doing as well as we would like), so nothing gets done during the games.... There are still several items on my worktable that need to be finished up, but they can wait until after Houston. I really need to finish my truck quilt so it can be submitted on the 19th to a show DAFA is having at the Oxide Gallery in Denton. I work best under deadlines and stress, so I'm sure everything will get done when it needs to be done, but time is flying fast!
I was pleased to find out today that my Old Alton Bridge quilt was included in a blog by Satin Moon. What a wonderful surprise and it is a fascinating blog post.
I had a great time Monday night with my fellow DAFA members at our monthly meeting. My mini-workshop went well and I'm mulling over how to make the mini-workshop into a full workshop so the participants can make an art project. I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to doing more and growing in this segment of my career.

Teaching First Mini-Workshop

Well, tonight is the night. I'm teaching my first mini-workshop at the Dallas Area Fiber Artist meeting. It is our "Mixed Media Mini-Workshop" night. It should be a lot of fun. My season is is on painting and fusing cheesecloth and Mistyfuse™. There is so much you can do with this process! I've got my instructions written and printed, kits made, supplies together....now I just have to find something to do until time to leave for Dallas. It's hard for me to get into the studio and be productive on days like this, because I loose track of time when I start working. If I start working on one of my projects I might miss the meeting!

I'm anxious to teach tonight. If things go well, I would like to spin this off into a 1/2 day or full day workshop where the attendees can do this process and incorporate it into a project.

So, if you are in the Dallas area, come to our meeting and join the fun! Check the link above to get directions. See you there!

Free Shipping on MistyFuse!

Don't forget that the free shipping on Mistyfuse™ end October 31st from StudioJules on Artfire!
Use Coupon code Mistyfuse Free Ship!

Go Texas Rangers! ALCS Champs!

For My Art Quilt Friends That Have Never Seen My Studio a Mess

This is for all my "Artsy Friends" that have never seen my Studio a mess. Yes, there have been complaints that my Studio is always too neat and how do I get anything done in a workspace that is so clean. Well, that's because I cleaned it before they came over and I am a little ADD about my workspace and have trouble focusing in with a clutter of projects around me. Maybe it's a case of the era I was raised in "Finish what you start and then you can move on to the next project....clean up your mess as you go...." Anyway, to "please" my friends, here are pictures of what my Studio looks like today.

On my worktable you will find several things in progress...the Truck quilt - ready to put on the background fabric (it's hanging on the work wall), supplies for Houston, Dancing Angel quilt is ready to be mounted on canvas, and supplies and samples for the mini-workshop I am going to teach Monday night at the Dallas Area Fiber Artists meeting.



Oh yes, and don't forget that overflowing backpack of supplies I've already packed for Houston! Katie PM, here I come!!!!

Okay, so I've got to get busy here. I've been listening to another book by Lisa Samson "Club Sandwich", but I think I need some good old Rock n' Roll to get me moving this afternoon and get finished up here in the Studio. I need to finish mounting the Dancing Angel quilt, get my class samples finished for Monday night and mount a display for the Dallas Area Fiber Artists Annual Show. Then I need to get dinner started for when "Mr. Wonderful" comes home from work and then the Texas Rangers are playing the NY Yankees. Tomorrow is another busy day with family and the TCU football game. Okay so Rock 'n Roll! Go Rangers! and Go Frogs!!!!

Mixed Media By Chance or Recycle Reuse?

I know I’m always starting new projects before I finish the prior two, but hey, art on a whim can be the best pieces, right? Okay, I know, it just increases the number of unfinished projects, but the results can lead to unforeseen Mixed Media items that I hadn’t thought about before. That’s what happened this morning! Yesterday I painted and fused (with Mistyfuse™) cheesecloth for a new project. I did this on my appliqué press sheet, figuring it would clean up easily. This morning I went back to cleaning up in my studio where I had left off yesterday from painting and fusing. Using my handy dandy pot scrubber to take the paint off the press sheet I was welcomed with a colorful surprise. Look at the gold, silver and turquoise flakes! Can’t you just imagine how wonderful they are going to be fused (recycled) into a project!



Today I plan on working on the front end of the Truck Quilt and I’m thinking these flakes may work in somehow. They may be in the front end, below the truck, inside the truck, who knows, time and testing will tell!

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures.....

Yesterday was a beautiful "Partly Cloudy" day. The temperature was perfect, so I grabbed my camera, newly dyed fabric and hankies, plus some of the older fabrics. I have been able to improved (IMO) my photo techniques, so I wanted to reshoot pictures of some of the older fabrics while it was cloudy outside. The sun, clouds, and I had to play peek-a-boo for a little bit, but I was finally able to shoot pictures for a couple of hours. Thanks to my wonderful husband, I was able to use a stretched canvas to block the sun at times and he also helped me pin fabrics to the fence. We were able to get several pieces done before Dallas Cowboy game started, maybe I should have kept taking pictures….

I wasn’t able to get all the fabric photographed, so when the “Partly Cloudy” part of today happens, I’m going to be outside again.
This morning I have spent time loading the new pictures and products in my Artfire studio (StudioJules) and remerchandising the different categories.
Well, I’m off to press fabric so I can maximize the “cloudy” part of the day!
Happy Stitching Everyone!

Mistyfuse™ and Making Mini-Workshop Kits

I just posted Mistyfuse™ White, Black and Ultraviolet packages in my Studio Jules (on Art Fire) studio! Now it is available to purchase in a pre-cut package (20" x 2.5 yards) or by the yard (12" wide)! For the month (well, the remainder of the month) I'm offering Free Shipping to kick off sales.
This afternoon one of my Dallas Area Fiber Artists friends is coming over to help me put together kits for the mini-workshop I will be teaching this month. I'm so thankful for the help! We'll be making 60 kits of Mistyfuse™, cheesecloth, and parchment paper.
Tomorrow, back to work on the truck quilt!
Happy Stitching Everyone!

Yesterday ~ What I did for Fun and Future Projects

Yesterday as I intended to continue on the truck quilt I received an email from one of my fellow DAFA board members that there is a change in the program for this month and she needed some of us to teach quick and easy mixed media techniques. Perfect timing, I have in my brain that after the first of the year I am going to develop curriculum to teach some of my favorite processes in a workshop setting. This will be a great jumping off opportunity.
A couple of my favorite tools are Misty Fuse and paint. I have a great piece that I made in a workshop with Esterita Austin using sheers, Misty Fuse and paint. So how can I use that process and do something different? After I played with a few ideas and processes I came up with layering Misty Fuse, Cheesecloth and paint. Using parchment paper as the bread for the sandwich, I hit it with the iron to fuse and dry the paint and this is what happened!

If you would like to learn this technique along with several others, join us on October 25th for the Dallas Area Fiber Artists Mixed Media Night!

Getting Back to Work

I’ve been piddling in my studio lately and not being as productive as I usually like to be, but you have to have down times every once in a while. I have been busy organizing the Dallas Area Fiber Artists Annual Show that will be November 5 – 27 at the ArtCentre of Plano. I am pleased to say that the jury process is complete and three of my pieces were selected for the show. Kimono Jacket, Traditional Batik and Sunflower with a Passion for Color. I'm looking forward to the show and seeing all of our art work hanging all together in this 1920's home that has been refurbished and converted into a gallery and offices.


This past Saturday DAFA participated in NorthPark Celebrates Art in Dallas. It was a productive day, we were able to spread the word about DAFA and entice people to visit us and join! It was also a great day for me to spend with fellow members and get to know them better and talk about our upcoming show and education ideas for the coming year.

I’ve decided I like the way some of my smaller art quilts look on painted canvas, so I painted a few canvases this week to mount two of my angel quilts on. Here is the "Weeping Angel" art quilt that I just mounted.


I love the way the art quilt continues on out into the painted canvas. I had done this process with a couple of other art quilts and a gallery owner encouraged me to continue this technique, telling me that art collectors will see it more as "art" rather than a quilt hanging on the wall.

While I was piddling last week I designed and started a new quilt for the house. There is a dark corner in our family room that needs to lighten up. The wall is “blue suede” and next to the windows going out to our hydrangea flowerbed and a dark stained built-in entertainment center. I want to complement the blues and bring in the beautiful colors of the hydrangeas. Here is a picture background that I put together. I’m going to try out some new surface design techniques to pull in the blues, pinks and greens of the foliage. If you have any ideas of things for me to try, let me know! I’m open to ideas!!!!



Happy Stitching Everyone!