Studio Update

Well, I sit anxiously anticipating the new window for my Studio. For those of you that don't know, my studio is in the room the builder designated as the "media room" of the house, so no window! I've worked in here for 4 years without a window and am about to go crazy. I am a daylight person, being in a room without daylight is well, stifling my creative mood. So, this week I'm getting a window! It was suppose to be installed yesterday, but the window hasn't come in yet, so it has been put off to tomorrow or Friday, if it comes in.....
Now in anticipation of the window and all the dust from cutting the Sheetrock and hardy board, Jeff and I cleaned out all of my fabric, books, machines and trinkets on Saturday. This way it is going to easier to dust and clean when they are done. Where did we put everything? Well, I know most of you won't be surprised, we filled the three guestrooms! Since the window has been put off, a few things have come back into the room, like my Bernina, iron, some fabric to play with....
Pulling out all of my fabric bins ignited the urge to do some piecing. It has been several months since I just sat down and pieced a little quilt together. The twins are coming to town next week, they may need doll quilts. I have also gotten tired of looking at the chair I brought back from Aunt Marie's last year. I've bought the fabric and I think today is the day that it is going to start getting a new skin. It may need new guts too, but I hope it isn't too bad.... In this picture it is missing its arms and legs, Jeff has already stripped the stain off of them and I just need to pick out the new stain. Sounds like a good July 4th weekend project!
Okay, so here are before and getting ready for the pictures of the studio. After the new window is put in, I'll post the new pictures!
Thanks for following my Studio Adventure!
Jules

Self Portrait and Ordering Books

Morning! I just finished my Self Portrait. I love it! I can't wait to show it off at the Dallas Area Fiber Artists meeting Monday night. It only took me 6 months to complete this art quilt, I started it at a workshop we had with Sue Benner in January.
I've also posted a picture of the back of the quilt, I love it as much as the front! Gives me ideas for future quilts, whole cloth with the images just outlined, or find a place to hang a quilt that the front and back can be seen!
This morning I also ordered two books by Jane Dunnewold "Complex Cloth: A Comprehensive Guide to Surface Design" and "Art Cloth: A Guide to Surface Design for Fabric". While I was on Amazon I ran across "Color by Accident: Low-Water Immersion Dyeing" by Ann Johnston. Ordered it too. I think I have ample summer reading and future processes to try out! Let me know if you have read these books and what you think!

Self Portrait

I decided to work on quilting my self portrait today. This picture is the back of my quilt, I just love the way the back can tell another story of a quilt. Just the basic lines.
I have to listen to music when I quilt. So far this morning it's been Three Dog Night and Norah Jones while picking out threads and doing the outline of my face. Now it is time to work on my hair, my "Wild Child" part of the quilt, so I guess it is time to turn on ZZ Top, The Eagles, and Foreigner!
What do you listen to when you are quilting?

Weeping Angel Art Quilt

I spent the day finishing up this precious quilt. I transferred the image of the angel from the computer onto Jacquard's Extrav Organza. I hand painted with textile paints over the image, fused MistyFuse to the back, cut the monument out and replaced it with one I cut out of silk. The silk monument has been hand drawn with Fabrico Markers (I love these!). Next, I fused the angel and monument to this beautiful cotton organdy I bought a few years ago at the International Quilt Festival in Houston. I've been saving it for just the right quilt! Okay, anyway, I finished the quilt off with beads and sequins. Love these sequins, they were from one of those little packets you get with a top, in case you need to replace them...yeah, right...they go straight into my stash!
This piece measures 13" x 12.5" and is listed in my Art Fire Studio!

Summer Sale at StudioJules Art Fire Studio

Well, the summer heat has reached 100 degrees, so I'm having a Summer Sale and have marked all, yes all, of the "Fabric by the Yard" fabric to $1/yard and yes, that means the "Less Than A Yard" fabrics are less than a $1! All Trims are $1/yard! Handkerchief blanks have been marked to $2.99 each!
Visit StudioJules on Art Fire and enjoy the Summer Sale! It's the best way to beat the heat!
All hand dyed and hand painted fabrics are at regular price....for now......

The Project of the Day

I'm trying to get several things done at one time....trying to wrangle myself into doing smaller, day or two projects and not ones that take me weeks to complete. My attention span is waining at the moment, but I'm having trouble changing my scope and making decisions. This week I have been working on my "Angel Series", trying to make some decisions, how to paint, how to quilt, how to embellish....all while new quilt ideas are running through my head! What to do!!!!
So here are the pictures of the "Angel Series" quilts that are in progress...



This quilt background is hand dyed cotton organdy. The angel I took from a grieving angel statue I found in a cemetery. It is photo transfer on silk organza and then painted with textile paints and fabric pens.



This is the same angel but I wanted the monument to be different, so I traced it out onto silk with fabric pens and wrote the last two verses to Psalm 126 on the monument.



Now, several months ago I took a "Self Portrait" workshop with Sue Benner. The workshop was put on by the Dallas Area Fiber Artists group. Well, par for the course, I couldn't get happy with my self portrait and it has remained incomplete and in the "I'll finish it later" pile in my studio. Well this morning I got up and decided that today was the day to work on my self portrait and this is what I have gotten done. I have a hard time "stepping out of my box" sometimes and really have to force myself to do it, so this self portrait shows my body in a formal, traditional manner, but my hair! It's the creative side of my jumping out and going full force into the colorful world I love.

Just as God Created Art Quilt

Several years ago my cousins' wife started a group in East Texas to support the families and children of Down Syndrome. Each year they have a Buddy Walk to raise money for the East Texas Down Syndrome Group. This year I have been blessed with creating a quilt for them to raffle off at the time of the Buddy Walk. Creating this quilt has been a joy and a blessing for me to be able to participate with this group in this way. With their permission, I am posting a picture of the quilt in hopes of raising awareness of these precious children and their families.
My thanks and love go to this group and especially Chris, Lisha and Alex.

Sunset

Isn't this beautiful? I took this picture when we were on our cruise last month. I printed it off on cotton and then enhanced it with Fabrico fabric markers and Shiva Paintstiks. The canvas is covered with hand dyed silk organdy that I bought a few years ago. It measures 14x11.

What am I working on now? Well, I have several angel pictures scattered around the studio and on my work wall. My "Angel Series" is underway and I have several different processes that I'm testing out and working with right now. Hopefully I'll get far enough along on one of them today to be able to post tomorrow.

On to New Work

Now that a busy May is out of the way, June is going to be a month of "Art Quilt Accomplishment". I have one quilt on my table to finish painting, then quilting and then my slate (aka work-wall and work-table) is clean and ready for new work. This morning I have been busy sorting through pictures and fabric, trying to decide what to work on next. There are three quilts stitching through my brain right now, we'll see which one ends up on the work-wall first. Who knows, maybe all three will end up on the table and wall at the same time! Hmmm...maybe it's time to try some new techniques too....whatcha think?
Time to turn up the music and get busy!
Happy Stitching!

Dancing Olivia

This past weekend our sweet friend, Olivia, graduated from Round Rock High School. Olivia danced with the RRHS Dragonettes for three years, so I thought I would do a special quilt for her to take to college and hang on the wall. I took this image from a picture that was taken of her during a solo she was performing during a competition.
Olivia, may you always dance and enjoy the freedom of the music!

Oxide Gallery - Main Show

I'm very excited to announce that three of my pieces have been accepted into the Main Show at Oxide Gallery in Denton, Texas. Oxide is a great little gallery with a variety of artists. Tonight, Tuesday, June 1, 2010, is this months "Gallery Night", so I will be there to meet the other artists and art lovers. If your in the area the gallery will open 6pm to 8pm for the event.
What pieces of mine are showing? Well, here they are!


Sunflower with a Passion for Color



Color Explosion



Dancing Angel

Mexican Sunflower in Batik Accepted into National Exhibit

Yesterday I received news that "Mexican Sunflower in Batik" was accepted into a special exhibit at the International Quilt Festival. The exhibit is called In Full Bloom 2010: Floral Quilts in Memory of Helen Pearce O’Bryant! I'm so excited! Gave my husband a scare with my gasp when I read the email, he was driving at the time....
If you go to the International Quilt Festival, whether in Houston, Cincinnati or Long Beach, go by and see the exhibit. The quilts are always beautiful!
With this much excitement I have had to do some work in my studio to settle me down so I can work on one of the three, almost 4 quilts I have started. I have a Dry Erase board above my desk that I have written my "Goals for 2010", so my project this morning was to wipe it down and make two columns: Goals and Accomplishments. I thought if I am able to move the Goals over to the Accomplishments column, that I will stay better focused and driven when working on my quilts. I guess is it a way to stop the distractions that I feel sometimes (everyday!).

Kimono Jacket Finished! And Angel Quilts Started!

I'm so excited about my new jacket! I love the way the fabrics dyed and came together. In my previous post there is a picture of the Indigo fabric. The silk accent fabric was pink Silk Shantung that I discharged and then over dyed with Indigo, Turquoise and Chartreuse. I modified Lois Ericson's "Kimono Encore" pattern to suit my vision. I wanted the back to have some interest (other than the dyed fabric) so I created the lower panel of the silk. The neckline seemed flat so I made a scarf out of the silk too and attached it and then remembered I had a chiffon scarf of the same colors in my closet and added it.
I'm toying with adding some beads to the edges of the scarf, but right now I think I need to get on with creating some quilts and finish painting a quilt I've already started.

I made Hong Kong seam finishes. Hong Kong seam finishes always look so clean to me, especially in a jacket.


Friday I started two Angel quilts. I'm going to start quilting them this afternoon and adding the embellishments. Don't you just love the whimsical nature each of these has?

Dyeing to Show You What I'm Working On!

It is a beautiful day today. Overcast, cool and barely a breeze, so I've been outside dyeing the fabric and shirts that have been soaking in soda ash.
I can't wait to see how the pieces on the PVC turn out, there is even a shirt scrunched on one of them! I loved snow dyeing, so I tried using ice with one of the pieces, the results should be interesting...
I love the way the shirts look. I dyed the tank to go with white jeans and the jacket that I am making.






Here are my little cardinals that wake me up in the morning and keep me company all day. They even decided to get close to the area I was working in today! The feeders being refilled today probably helped too!

Hand Dyed Fabrics from Yesterday

Here are pictures of the washed and ironed fabrics that I dyed yesterday. I'm so excited about how beautiful the colors and designs turned out.
All these are listed on my Art Fire account - StudioJules

Dyeing Fabric and Trying New Techniques

Even though the day is windy, I'm dyeing fabric and setting it outside to dry. I've "cornered" the fabric with long straight pins so that it doesn't blow around the backyard. The first picture of of three yards container dyed in Deep Purple, just love this color! The second picture is three yards dyed Indigo Blue. This is definitely my favorite color! I twisted this fabric and wish I had left it twisted, I love the variation of the dye throughout the fabric.


















Picture three is of how I twisted the next sections of fabric before I added the colors or Turquoise, Chartreuse, Sun Yellow, Fuchsia and Deep Purple. When I untwisted the fabrics there were a few places I wanted the colors deeper, so I squirted more dye and twisted it again to mixed the dye into the fabric evenly.













The next three pictures are of the dyed fabrics. I can't wait for them to be dry so I can run them through the wash and iron them out.











I have another bolt of fabric sitting in the soda ash waiting to be dyed, so I'm off to dye some more. My plan is to dye fabric in the morning and start painting a new quilt this afternoon.
Till tomorrow, enjoy the sunshine and the music of the birds!

Snow Dyed - Hand Dyed Cotton Fabric

Well, I promised finished pictures of my snow dyed fabric and here it is! I'm thrilled with the results and now I wish I had done more!
This first picture is of two 1/2 yard pieces of 100% cotton, previously soaked in Soda Ash water, on an old window screen with snow piled on top.

Second picture: with dyes squirted on top - colors: Fuchsia, Purple, Yellow and Chartreuse.

Pictures 3 & 4: one of the 1/2 yard pieces complete, after washing and ironing. I love the way the snow moved the colors, they look like they just explode into each other.


Pictures 5 & 6: second 1/2 yard of fabric with results just as beautiful as the first!

Even though I love the warm Texas weather, now I'm going to look forward to our rare snow days and maybe even attempt this process with my snow cone machine!
These two pieces, plus the hand dyes I previously posted about have been added to my ArtFire Studio - StudioJules, along with the Old Alton Bridge art quilt.
Enjoy! Spring is here, the windows are open and cardinals are singing!

Dyeing Fabric on Saturday

I spent the day Saturday dyeing fabric. I have several books on dyeing, so I just kind of took from all of them and did some experimenting. The turquoise fabric is going to be a new jacket from a pattern I bought last week at the Dallas Quilt Celebration. The Fuchsia fabric is beautiful. I just love that color! The Chartreuse fabric looks so soft and very modeled. I added a salt water mixture to the Chartreuse dye mix, that may have added caused the dye to move differently in the fabric, I really like the movement. I also over-dyed some pink silk that I purchased several years ago. I think the deeper color looks very rich.
The Fuchsia has some modeling in it, but not as much as the Chartreuse.
I over-dyed a piece of commercial fabric in the turquoise, along with the PFD fabric. I want to use it as the back of the jacket I am going to make. I also tied one piece of the turquoise to give the lines across it. Hopefully this is enough for the collar of the jacket.
Well, my next posting will be on the snow dyeing I did yesterday. Since is snowed Saturday night I was able to test this process out too! Need to go set the fabric to dry!
Stay tuned for the next post!