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!

You Know You Are A Quilter of Habit When....

You know you are a Quilter of habit when you try to bury the knot you just made after sewing a button on your husbands dress pants....Yup, I just tried to do that! Guess you know where my mind is!
I have set aside the truck quilt for another week. My mind just too distracted to concentrate on painting highlights and shading right now. I have a little bit of time before my personal deadline for this piece.
I started a new quilt yesterday that I am going to put in our family room. There is a dark corner in-between the built-in and the window that needs an artistic piece. My vision is for it to pull the inside colors(white, light tan, greens and blues) and the hydrangeas just outside the window. I'm planning on using different surface design techniques to pull in the greens, pinks, blues and purples of nature, but in an abstract way...
Have a creative day everyone!

Clearing My Mind.....

I have to blog today to clear my mind. There is just too much going on and I'm not as organized in my daily routine as I use to be!

Today is the deadline for entries for the 2010 Dallas Area Fiber Artists Membership Annual Show. I’m the Show Chair, and this is my first time to be involved in this capacity of a show, so I’m going a little crazy. My work background, before I ventured into full-time fiber art, was in Church Finance and before that, the Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities Market, writing processes and procedures, doing a little bit of report programming and training and compiling lots of information to send out to someone else. I'm use to having a "To Do" list going and right now I have several lists! Lists that I made in meetings, lists that I made in the car/kitchen, lists from emails I've received... I feel like an applique' quilt should come together here somewhere! Okay, it's time for me to get all these lists in one place! I'm going to try out the Microsoft software "OneNote" and see how I like it. Maybe this will be the stitch, or fusible, to bring all my notes together seemlessly!




Okay, now that you have read my venting for the day….on to more artistic things. Here is the latest photo of my truck quilt. The grill will have the strings of sequin beads for a texture break and this morning I was reading some things about Mistyfuse that I hadn’t tried before, so maybe there will be some Mistyfuse techniques added. Hopefully later this week I will be able to spend a day painting on this quilt, I really love the way it is coming together!

Oh, and if you haven't been to StudioJules on Artfire lately, I'm selling Mistyfuse by the yard!

Better eat some lunch and get back to making my lists, checking them twice and putting them all in one list!

I haven't gotten very far.....

Well, I haven't gotten as far as I would like on my truck quilt. I've suffered for three days with a sinus migraine and I just don't create very well with the pressure and pain. To cure the ache in my head I had a mani/pedi yesterday and a massage today. My body is sore, but I think after I have some lunch and my power drink, I should be good to go this afternoon.

I love, love, love the fabrics I'm using for this truck. The interior fabric is hand dyed silk I bought from Frieda Anderson. The tactile change in fabric is giving it a nice texture. I’m enjoying combining different fabrics and right now my studio is starting to look like there was a fabric explosion. There is tulle, organza, organdy, and cotton fabrics strewn about, along with sequin and other ornamental fabrics. Who knows what I’ll finally end up using on this quilt.

My daughter-in-law has already said that this quilt is hers when I'm done! We'll see about that, I may have to make two, one for her, one to show/sell. Maybe I'll make the one for her in fabrics that will go in Hudson's room, so he can grow up with the truck. Yesterday when I was talking to her on the phone he was playing with a train and choo chooing in the phone. So cute!

I'm listening to Lori Copeland's book "A Case of Crooked Letters". Blogging is making me feel better and ready to get back to work!

Starting the Truck Quilt

Yesterday I Misty fused my fabric for the truck quilt.





I’ve pulled additional fabrics out to include also, but won’t decide on those until I get further in the project today.

I also traced out the pattern onto freezer paper and placed the original underneath my appliqué press sheet.



Last year I special ordered this press sheet from Bear Thread Designs. They have stock sizes on their website and in their booths at the quilt shows, but I wanted a custom size. Mine measures 42”x36”. Since most of my quilts are approximately 30”x30”, I wanted one that would accommodate my quilts appropriately.
Today I’ll start “auditioning” the different fabrics for the various pieces of the truck. Here is the background fabric. I dyed it earlier this year.



It’s one of those pieces that was squirt the dye and see what happens. I love the colors and the abstract results.
Until later!

Exciting News!

This morning I received an email with exciting news! My Old Alton Bridge quilt was selected for a book to be published next year "Lone Stars III: Texas Quilts Today, 1986-2011". This book is the third in a series by Kary Bensenhan and Nancy O'Bryant Puentes. The book is being published by the University of Texas Press and will be released Fall of 2011 to coincide with the opening of the Texas Quilt Museum. To be included with so many nationally known Texas Quilters, well, to say the least, I'm in awe and am inspired to continue working on new art quilts and new surface processes.


This are the latest two art quilts in my Mailbox Series - "Fall Mailbox" and "2010 Cardinal Way". I completed it "Fall Mailbox" yesterday and "2010 Cardinal Way a couple of weeks ago.
Today I'm going to start on a new quilt. It's a pick-up truck. I'm using a picture of my grandfather's truck that we all learned how to drive in out in the pasture between fishing ponds.
I loved this old truck! I have wonderful memories of going fishing with my grandfather and just riding around in the pasture with him. We called him "Foxie". His favorite newspaper cartoon was "Grandpa Foxie", so that's what we called him! The nickname fit him much better than Grandpa, Grandfather, or Grandad.
I'll keep you posted on the progress of this quilt, it will be fun to work on it and try some new processes. I've already dyed, discharged and over dyed some fabric for it. We'll see what else I come up with.

Iraqi Bundles of Love

I think I posted this last year, I'm doing it again! One of our courageous servicemen is collecting "Bundles of Love" for the Iraqi people. What's a "Bundle of Love", FABRIC! Here is the link to his website, he is also on Facebook, so just search for "Iraqi Bundles of Love".
IBOL website
I'm spending the day getting ready for a community garage sale and trying to finish a small art quilt. I've worked on this small quilt for a couple of days and have started over three times. I just couldn't get the fabric, batting and fusible to cooperate very well. Kept getting the "wave" or "puckering" effect when I fused the background fabric on. Some people will say it's the batting, I say it's the fusible. From now on I'm only using MistyFuse, the other brands just don't compare!
Have a great day everyone and I'll post pictures of my IBOL bundle and my small art quilts when I'm done!

On to Other Things

I finished the binding on the Traditional Batik Quilt and the Pumpkin Quilt yesterday. I was able to get this picture of the batik quilt, and had to wait for the wind to quit kicking up before I could get one of the pumpkin quilt. The batik quilt measures 65" square and the pumpkin quilt is 71"x73".



Since I finished these quilts I have taken time to hand paint on some fabric that I screen printed at my "Dye Party" a few weeks ago. Both of these will be 9"x12" and will go to the SAQA-Texas exhibit at the Houston show.



I'm calling this one "Hugs and Kisses". I hi-jacked this screen from one of the other ladies at the party. I'm going to hand quilt X's and O's on it.



"Feelin' Groovy", my Red, White and Blue Themed quilt. Hand painting this one was fun, going in waves and circles, controlling the paint...very relaxing.

I'm listening to books written by Susan Wiggs right now. Just finished "Lakeside Cottage" and today I started listening to "Table for Five". Listening to books is so relaxing and I'm able to escape to another world while I'm enjoying my art in my studio. Life is good!

Accomplishments

I feel accomplished! I have had a basket in my elfa stand labeled "Quilts to Quilt" and now I can proudly say, it is empty! Yesterday I finished quilting the Traditional Batik quilt and last week I picked up my Pumpkin Quilt from being quilted (I wasn't going to tackle this one on my Bernina, I'm not that industrious). Today I am cutting off the excess batting/backing and cutting the bias binding for both of these quilts. They turned out beautifully and I'm so proud of the piecing, applique and quilting in each one. My friend, Connie Keller, quilted the pumpkin quilt. She does awesome quilting and I'm so blessed by her friendship.
As soon as I get the binding on these quilts I'll post full pictures.

What I've Been Up To Lately.....

It’s hard to believe that it has been two weeks since I have posted, but when I look back to all that I have done…..
After my fun day of dyeing fabric, I invited several friends over for a Party to Dye For. Here are some of the pictures. We had such a great time sharing and learning from each other.



I manned the Parfait Dyeing table while Kathy taught us Soy Wax Resist and Screen Printing. Michelle brought natural dyes, Tumeric, Marjoram and I provided Avocado.
Many Thanks to Diana for taking pictures for us!

Most of the fabric that I dyed is now in my StudioJules ArtFire Studio. There are Fat Quarters, Half Yards and Full Yards of fabric. The colors that came out in the dye are wonderful and variegated. Some of the pieces are subtle, some are striking. Take a look, be enticed!

I just have the outside boarder left to quilt on the Traditional Batik quilt that I started quilting a few weeks ago. I’m hoping to work on it this weekend and finish the first of next week. I also got my pumpkin quilt back from being quilted. Just need to put the binding on it and I can hang it in the stairwell gallery. Okay, Jeff will hang it….

The planning and organizing for the Dallas Area Fiber Artist Annual Member Show is taking a lot of time right now. Contacting sponsors for prizes, working with the ArtCentre of Plano and our membership. Luckily most of my pieces are already complete, photographed and ready for submission.
Last week I also joined the Textile and Fiber Art List (TAFA). There are wonderful artists on this list! I'm inspired and in awe of what other artists accomplish and blessed to be listed among such wonderful people.
Well, that is it for today. I’ll try to be better about posting, but you know how time can just get away from you!

Dyeing and Quilting Day

This morning I got up in the mood to work on my Traditional Batik quilt and to try Parfait Dyeing (this is layering the fabric and dyes in a container for those of you that are new to dyeing like I am). I layered tank tops, 100% cotton fabric and a few pieces of silk from my stash. The dye colors I used (in order) were Indigo Blue, Chartreuse, Fuchsia, and Yellow. I love the results! I'm addicted now and Parfait dyeing will be my norm!








So, what did I learn? Well, be careful how you layer shirts to get the varieties in color and if you pull pieces out of your stash, make sure they don't already have MistyFuse on them. Yup, the silk piece did. It dyed wonderfully (picture not up yet), I just have to see if the MistyFuse is still fusible. Hey, if we don't make a mistake, then the learning process isn't as much fun!
So, I'm still working on my Traditional Batik quilt, almost done! I'm stippling, so it is taking some time to quilt and I'm taking a lot of breaks so I don't break down!
Wednesday some friends are coming over to have a Studio/Dye Party with me. Watch for pictures and what we learned in the process!

Project for the Week

Ever have a hard time starting a new project because you keep thinking about the projects you haven't completed? My answer - Constantly! So I told myself that this summer I have to complete my "Unfinished Projects" in between the new projects. This way I'm taking care of all the mental and visual road blocks that keep me from having a free mind to create. This week I'm quilting the "Traditional Batik Quilt" that I pieced two years ago. I participated in a Block of the Month with Cabbage Rose in Fort Worth, TX in 2008. We had a choice of traditional or batik fabrics. When the blocks were complete I designed my own quilt instead of using their pattern. I love Flying Geese so I chose this block to join the other traditional blocks together. Yesterday I started quilting and I'll spend today working on it too. I'm stippling the quilt and using coordinating thread colors for each block.

Here's a picture of the quilt top after I finished it two years ago.
I'll post again when I'm finished with the quilting!

Dyeing to be Creative

Here is my 1x1x1 Challenge piece that April Soncrant put out on her blog, Spice Drop Soup. I'm calling it "Dyeing to be Creative". I used fabric that I had either hand painted or hand dyed, hand quilting, buttons, beads, and stamps. One I got started, this was a fun piece to make!
Hope you enjoy it!
Thanks April for putting the challenge out there for us!
I'm off to finish my two angel quilts, postings to come!