Block of the Month

I forgot to say that I would draw for the Blog Giveaway next Monday, Dec. 7. For the new viewers, I try to blog on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, when we get up at 5am, so my "retired" husband can get to his job. This is the next Block of the Month for http://www.twocreativestudios.com/   It's fun to have a challenge and doing a traditional block really is one for me.

Blog Giveaway

Saturday marks 2 years that I have been blogging. Where has it gone? To celebrate I am giving away 3 postcards. Just leave a comment to get on the list. I hope people like them.The first one is stripped fabrics with applied circles and machine embroidery. The next is dark red wool with applied silk flowers, silk roving, and netting. The last is stripped fabrics with molding paste put through a stencil and the piece painted.

Painted Papers

A friend invited me to her house to paint paper for a book. Here are just a few of them.I was using up some of the small bottles of Jacquard fabric paint that I have, because they tend to dry out.                    The paper is Stonhenge-a nice paper to work on as it doesn't buckle when wet.

I tried to keep them in the same color range for the book, but my love of color made me branch out and do other colors.

Saturday is the second anniversary of my blog, so I need to find something to have as a giveaway. I'm open to suggestions.

Experiment, Sewing Show

I did try the felting on a piece of felt and then painted it. It's a rich surface but stiff and took forever to dry, because it is thicker.

Friday I went to the local Sewing Expo at Vancouver's Fairgrounds. I bought this printing block to add to my collection. I've not seen one like it before.

I also got this foil to use. They were in patterns I hadn't seen before. They are mostly silver with the iridescent look. It's always fun to see what is new, so I went to a talk on blue printing and making a silk screen.

Altered Book

I decided it was time to show more of my family Altered Book. This is my Dad and his big brother. I'm so glad to have some of these pictures. It's a good place to use some of the marbled fabric scraps I have.Here is Mom and her parents on the left-glamour shot. On the right is a photo I took in Hawaii from a helicopter. I loved riding in one.This is Angelina heated over a rubber stamp. The effect is very interesting. The stamp is one made by Sherrill Kahn at http://www.impressmenow.com/  Her stamps are unusual and cool, and hers is an angel company which means that you can use them in your work without the copywrite issue as long as you give her credit. She's a friend from my S. California years-a very creative woman. Lastly, is Dad's Mom which he always thought I looked like even though everyone else thinks I look like Mom. She was a quilter who loved animals and adopted all the strays. The heritage part is loose and held in place by two pages where the flowers are that are cut short to allow for adding  flaps. It's a paper towel.

Class

Linda of http://www.creative-textile-and-quilting-arts.com/ has a section she calls Free Lunch. You can take a free class each month.When you post a photo of a lesson, you are sent the next one. I think it's a great idea. This is from the Paper Quilt class.

It is tissue paper on batting Machine stitched and then painted. It's a great idea. Last night I decided that I could take the white roving that I got at a Weaver's sale, embellish it to make "fabric" maybe machine stitch it and then paint it. Now that I've posted the idea, I'll be sure to do it!

Class

I'm taking Fiber Collage from Susan Sorrell at http://www.creativechick.com/ Here are some doodles I did.

This is the piece so far. The colors are brighter than shows in the scan.

When we were in California, a lady in my quilt guild was interviewing people for the California Heritage Quilt Project that records the older quilter's stories, so they are not lost. She decided to interview younger ones and Wearable Artists(what I was doing at the time) and have them interviewed again in 20 years to see what had happened by that time. It was an interesting experience and made me really think about what I was doing. At the end she asked if I wanted to say anything else and out came the quote without any conscious thought. It has become my motto, as I really believe we are guardians of the earth-owe it respect and should be caring for it.

Trades

One of my friends wanted to buy some of my journals to use as Christmas gifts. I asked for some of her hand dyes instead, as I hadn't dyed fabric in a long time. Aren't they wonderful? Now I need the perfect project for them.

Cards, gifts

I went on a card making spree thinking that sets of them would make good gifts. When two of us marbled fabrics in S. California and sold the garments I made, I kept all the scraps of course. They really weren't big enough to do much with but were perfect for this. I used the envelopes I'd gotten at Goodwill and cut card stock in lots of colors to fit them. The fabrics are fused to the cardstock. Quick and easy. The directions are from SueB and are at www.twocreativestudios.com in the free projects section.

I'm trying to use up things that are around here and still come up with nice gifts. We all have so much that it seems like the best idea. To answer some of the comments on the totes, I, too, have been carrying my own to the stores to keep from using the plastic ones which I always did hate. They slide around the car, so you end up rebagging things when you get home and are a pain to store, tend to break, and are ugly.

Gifts

I seem to be in gift making mode. My DIL had sent me upholstery fabrics-hard to find something to do with the small pieces of heavier fabrics, but they do make good totes. I topstitch all the seams open and down and box the bottoms. The boxing then determines where the edge stitching goes to make a more structured tote.

Calendar Girls

Here is the calendar page that is the inspiration for this month's postcard at http://calendargirls2008.blogspot.com When I look at it, all I see are the trees, so I did autumn leaves-something I'm seeing a lot of right now. The background is silk paper I made. I didn't notice the fairies until it was mentioned in the group, but then I don't do figures.

Class Projects

I've folded some Lutradur to make a double page using the instructions from the extras Lynda Monk and Carol McFee included in the Simply Salt class they offered at www.fibre-in-form.com
It's easy to do and has lots of possibilities. I'm always fascinated by creating pockets in the pages for all the treasures we have.

Block of the Month, Postcard

The http://calendargirls2008.blogspot.com exchange from Neki came, and she included this beautiful, silky handwoven piece she's done. The card has lots of dimension in the circle and is so much fun. I decided to do the Block of the Month that Terri Stegmiller posts at www.twocreativestudios.com Here is September--done in October.Here is October actually finished the last day of October.

Traditional is a real stretch for me, but I though these plus this month's might make a good table runner for a Christmas gift.