Color My World

Hormones Revisited

2012-01-24T21:38:00.000-08:00

Looking back through my blog posts, I realized that I never showed you the finished "Inside Out: Hormones" quilt. I wanted to wait until the special exhibit at PIQF opened. Unfortunately, many deadlines hit at the same time that required many hours of work. I made all the deadlines, but stopped blogging for a while. So now I'm going to backtrack and show you some of the work I finished during the time I was MIA.

Here they are, hormones in their hot flash mode! A fair amount of tulle was used throughout to force color changes. The whole section through the middle has a layer of tulle, and the circles are also cut from tulle. Some of the tulle is blue, some maroon. Some areas have very dense stitching and that created an uneven surface. It was a challenge to get it to lie flat, but I did it with careful stitching in strategic areas, and lots of steam! LOLHere's a detail shot where you can see the cheesecloth that I used to create the diagonal lines. I love the texture of cheesecloth, and it's so easy to mold into any shape you want. You should give it a try it next time you need a special texture.

I've made a lot of colorful work over the years, but this hormone piece may be the most intense colors I've ever used. I guess it was time for a change, time to work in calmer, cooler colors.

This piece is called Afterglow. The leaves and small circles are made from hand-painted silk. The large circle and the second leaf from the left is made entirely from salvaged thread clippings. I'm always pleased when I find some cool way to use materials that are generally thrown away.

The inspiration for this piece came from an aerial photo of Salt Lake City in the winter. The photo was very graphic, very black (roads) and white (snow). After 15 minutes of using the photo as a reference, I put it away and abstracted the design even more, then I added color. There was no plan, I let it evolve, and this is what happened.

These last two pieces (plus 60 others) are currently on exhibit at the Cabrillo Pavilion Arts Center in Santa Barbara through the end of January. It's a great facility that is used for many weddings and conventions.

With a view like this, it's easy to see why this facility is so popular. Stop by if you get a chance, you won't be disappointed.

Dryer Sheets and Tangled Threads

2012-01-17T21:21:00.000-08:00

Everything is starting to get back to normal after the holidays. We've almost recovered from the nasty cold going around. All the kids have gone back to their respective homes across the country. The house has been cleaned, and my studio is calling my name.

I'm been having some fun combining tangled threads, bits of fabric, and dryer sheets. This piece was photographed before it was stitched and I forgot to take a photo afterwards. I turned it into a pencil bag that contained Inktense pencils and ATC canvas paper. It was a gift for my boss, the woman that owns almost everything. Every year, I come up with something handmade for her. She likes to draw and loved the pencils, so we'll see if she gets hooked on making ATC's.

Here's a postcard made with dryer sheets, and tangled threads. These are so much fun to make. I'm warning you though, they are addictive!

This is a postcard sized piece made entirely from tangled threads.

This piece has tangled threads, dryer sheets, and bits of fabric. Before it's stitched, it is really thick and difficult to get under the presser foot, but once you stitch it into submission, it is much thinner, probably the thickness of Timtex, and just as stiff.

Check out this fun Boa Scarf that I'm knitting. Isn't it a riot? Very organic, sort of like seaweed or octopus tentacles.

WACOM Tablet

2012-01-06T21:40:00.000-08:00

If you haven't tried drawing with one of these tablets before, you should. It's a lot of fun! I've been drawing with a mouse using Illustrator for many years, so it wasn't a stretch for me to switch over. I actually found it much less intimidating to draw on the pad than trying to figure out Illustrator.

For my first attempt, I used a paintbrush in Photoshop and got fairly good results. The thickness of the line depends on the angle of the pen. I don't really like the way the line almost disappeared in some places. Because Photoshop is a pixel based program, it's not the ideal way to draw, but in a pinch, it works just fine.

My next drawing was created in Illustrator using a pencil tool. The pencil makes for a more precise drawing, but it looses the whimsical sketch feeling. The good thing about a vector based drawing program is that I can enlarge or shrink the drawing to any size I want, and not lose any quality at all. If you are interested in designing quilt patterns or creating fabric designs, this is the program to use (IMHO).

I can see myself playing with this a lot more in the future. There are so many possibilities.

If you use a tablet, I would love to hear what you are doing with it. Drop me a note.

Reflections

2011-12-31T14:52:00.000-08:00

It's been a tough year for many people, and we've had a few bumps along the way too, however, I am very fortunate because my life is full of the things that are most important. I have a great family, lots of love and support, live in a beautiful location, and enjoy a peaceful, creative life.

I generally try to keep personal details out of my blog, but I'm going to make an exception because I'm so proud of my kids. Rachel is teaching high school in Boston and just completed her grad school applications, Sean lives in AZ and just graduated with his M.A. degree, and Jason lives in LA and was just promoted to VP of Music Licensing. Aren't they amazing?

The weather in Santa Barbara has been gorgeous, and I've been out taking lots of photos.

I love to watch these birds race back and forth as they try to avoid the waves.

Here's a simple structure that makes a big impact.

A pet cemetery, perhaps?

A fence with lots of character.

A view of the Santa Ynez valley from 2,000 feet.

A view of Lake Cachuma from 2,000 feet.

A view of the ocean from 2,000 feet.

The recent lunar eclipse.

I hope all of you have a happy and healthy new year!

A Piece of Paradise!

2011-12-24T00:04:00.000-08:00

Here's my private piece of paradise . . . our mostly completed back yard. The plants, trees and grass are very happy, and so are we. I want to have a hidden garden in the area by the wheel barrel, but still have some work to finish that off.

We also need to build two patio covers over the living room and bedroom doors and need to finish some paths along both side yards. We have definitely made a lot progress though.

Do you remember this photo of our front yard taken in 2008?

Look at it now! The plants have really filled in, haven't they?
Our front and back yards both look beautiful now. Hard work does pay off! I've also been having a little fun with fabric postcards. A photo of hand-painted fabric was combined with other high contrast photos and printed on fabric. The purplish photos are the skylights in the convention center where the PIQF quilt show is held. They have been manipulated a bit and printed on fabric. Has anyone else ever looked up at these?

Long Blogging Break

2011-12-17T09:59:00.000-08:00

I had many deadlines looming and was feeling a bit overwhelmed. I needed to FOCUS and that meant staying away from the computer. I hope I still have some followers after the long break.

Here are some fabrics that I've been trying to improve with a another layer of paint.

You might remember this one from a previous post. I used a banana slicer to do rubbings. They looked a little obscene, so I decided to disguise them with the purple squares. I think it needs another layer . . . maybe circles.
This piece turned muddy and dull and needed some spark. I added the grid stamp on top in a silverish blue. I think it still needs another layer . . . maybe circles! LOL
This fabric was really grey and ugly and was not usable for anything. I added the spokes and dots. The upper corner needs another layer but I haven't decided what yet.
This was a blue screen print on white denim. I filled the negative (white) spaces with dye-na-flow and it instantly became very colorful. I think this will make a nice bag.
This was a very pretty (pastel) background with very regular patterns printed on it. It was one of my first attempts at fabric painting. It was too pretty and too regular and needed some chaos. It's getting better, but needs something else. Maybe circles!!??

I would love to hear your ideas on what the next layer should be.

Things that Make Me Smile

2011-09-01T21:02:00.001-07:00

This little guy made me laugh out loud as soon as I saw it. It definitely had to come home with me. I love the bouncing head and jazz hands.

Here's an innovative cat toy that comes with its very own jingle bell in the center. I think it will work great for printing some background texture. Amazing what you can find in the grocery store!

A new shipment of thread arrived with lots of yummy colors.

Why is this guy hanging off a billboard? It looked so real, it made me do a double take. Glad I had my camera ready.

My hormone quilt is finally done. Here's the back showing some of the quilting. I'll show the whole thing when the Fibervision exhibit opens at PIQF in October. Such a tease!

We have another exhibit in October at Cabrillo Pavilion Art Center and need lots of NEW work. Yikes! Back to the sewing machine.

Time Flies!

2011-08-14T20:20:00.000-07:00

I've been really busy . . . work seems to take up way too many hours, but I did manage to fit some play time in too. The annual Fiesta celebration just finished here. We went to the mercado, ate tamales and tacos, and listened to some bands including Seymour Duncan (a local), and watched some Spanish dancing. It's fun, but there are so many tourists in town, it's difficult to get around.

I went to IQF Long Beach which is a Special Exhibit only show. It seemed like there were less quilts this year, and there were definitely less vendors. The SAQA exhibit Sightlines was my favorite exhibit. I really liked the way the pieces led from one to another, very clever. Unfortunately, for the vendors, I was in a don't need anything mood, and only bought 2 packages of topstitch needles and 1 yard of fabric.

Unfortunately, another local(ish) fabric store is going out of business. Mr. Baron wants to retire after a zillion years in business and couldn't find a buyer for the Camarillo store. I'm really sorry to see this store close. I purchased my Designer I, my sewing table and drawers and many, many yards of fabric there. Do you remember seeing my fabric wall in 2007? If so, you know I don't need any more fabric. At 70% off, I couldn't resist. I tried, but I lost the battle, and ended up buying 14 yards. Such a good deal!

Here it is, all washed and rolled, ready for its home on the wall. There seems to be an ongoing controversy surrounding fabric washing. I have read some pretty opinionated posts on the subject, but I think you should do whatever is best for you. I'm pretty sensitive to odors, and I'm pretty sure the chemicals in all the fabric I own would make me really sick. I don't take any chances, I wash everything before it enters the studio. What about you? Do you wash?

The backyard renovation continues. Progress is happening, but it doesn't really look it. Plumbing for irrigation, rototilling, etc. We've had several visitors, my BIL, our daughter, and our son will be here later this week. At this rate, the landscaping won't be finished until the end of September. That's okay though, I would rather spend time with family.

I'm quilting my hormone piece that will be on exhibit at PIQF. Nothing like waiting till the last minute! Here's a small section.

Hope you're having a great summer!

Little L.A.

2011-07-29T20:29:00.000-07:00

What is Little L.A.? It's a catchy challenge title. L.A. stands for Los Alamos and it is VERY little. The challenge is to find inspiration for a quilt within twelve blocks. There are so many interesting pieces of history everywhere you turn. The inspiration could be color, shape, or texture. Anything goes.

Here are several interesting compositions I found.

A ship that has been dry docked.

A gate.

A rusty wagon wheel.

Side of a barn

If you attend PIQF in Santa Clara, there is a good chance you will get to see the results of this challenge in 2012.

The deadline for my 2011 PIQF hormones piece is looming. I've finished the design and now it's time to quilt! For me, figuring out how to quilt it is the most difficult step. I don't have much time left to think about it, and I'm pretty sure that is a good thing.

Shibori Weekend

2011-07-28T20:35:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, Andi led a 2 day shibori dying workshop. 12 Fibervision members had a blast in this exhausting workshop. The first afternoon was spent painting the fabric with dye and letting it dry. This part was pretty quick and easy. No soda ash was added to the dye on the first day, so all the colors mingled and created new colors on the second day. We spent a fair amount of time wrapping tubes, rope, and beads with fabric. Then we spent quite of bit of time mixing, and sloshing in colorful dyes. Then we spent a lot of time untying and unwrapping all the pieces and rinsing all the dye out.

Most of my pieces came out beautiful, but I got a few uglies too.

Here is the under-painted fabric that has lemon yellow, fuchsia and red/orange. I used the highly technical splatter technique.

Here it is after it was folded, wrapped and dipped into teal dye.

Here's another under-painted piece that has blended stripes.

And here it is after wrapping, tying and dipping in purple. ooohhhhh, I like this one a lot!

This piece was plain white fabric that was wrapped and dipped into black.

This piece was previously dyed (and fixed) with green, blue, and fuchsia splotches. I created a the circles by placing brass circles between the layers of fabric, and clamping the layers together.

If you decide to try this with a group, here's a helpful hint. Write your name on tyvek and attach it to each piece of fabric you dye. Your name will still show, no matter what color you dye with. That's a lesson learned the hard way!

Fun Train Trip to Carlsbad

2011-07-15T17:57:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure where my week went, but it flew by, just like the speeding train we took to Carlsbad. hehe I shot the photo below while speeding though Los Angeles. I set the camera speed high and the ISO high, braced myself, held my breath, and hoped for the best. You're not impressed with this photo, are you? Who would be?

I shoot 80% of my photos as a jpg and RAW. If you shoot in RAW mode and capture all the digital information, there is a lot of things you can do to reclaim the details in the photo. Here's the new and improved version. A little different, isn't it?If you don't have a camera that can shoot RAW, this before and after photo could make you think twice about a new camera! I love cameras and software and was a graphic designer for 20 years, so this is right up my alley. It's not for everyone though.Back to our trip to The Front Porch Gallery in Carlsbad. Me, Andi Perejda and Ranell Hansen spent 10 hours on the train in one day! Sherry Kleinman and Linda Miller hopped on in LA. The trip down was fun and went by quick. The first 3 hours on the way back were fun, but the last 2 were exhausting. Mary Tabar, the new So CA representative, had lunch with us and gave us a ride back to the train station. I made some new fiber friends, so it was all worth it.

The gallery was packed during the reception. Fortunately, they have a nice patio outside and it's one block from the beach, so there was a nice ocean breeze.

Sherry

Ranell

Andi and Linda

Cloth Paper

2011-07-05T19:34:00.000-07:00

Each month, after the Fibervision business meeting and lunch, we have a mini workshop. This month, Lorna showed us how to make cloth paper.

I rummaged through my closet, gathered all sorts of paper, foil, dyed paper towels and painted dryer sheets. We slathered the papers with generous layers of diluted Elmer's glue, stuck it to a muslin backing, and set it aside to dry.

It's very colorful and quite stiff. I really have no idea what I'm going to do with it, but I will probably make more of it. It's the perfect technique for all the "stuff" I've saved over the years. Lorna has done both machine and hand stitching on her cloth paper and says the more you stitch, the softer it gets. She has made some wonderful mixed media pieces using the cloth paper.

One more tool to add to the tool box. Thanks for organizing the workshop, Lorna.

Fabulous Patio

2011-07-03T13:25:00.000-07:00

Here it is . . . the long awaited patio. 1,000 square feet of outdoor living! Yippee. The black flower pots are covering the metal thingees that will hold the posts for the future pergolas, one over each door.The patio came out better than I imagined. I'm thrilled because rarely does anything live up to my imagination. After talking to the owner, Jose, his biggest problem is when the customer doesn't know what they want or can't communicate it clearly. Obviously, I didn't have that problem. They took my basic idea and ran with it. If you ever need concrete and live in southern CA, call Martinez Concrete & Pumping. They are a fantastic team.My DH likes to assign labels to everything, he calls this giraffe! I hadn't thought about it, but I guess it does. LOL

We will seal the giraffe next week which will bring the color out even more. Right now it looks aged, and we really like it. I hope it looks good once it's sealed. Knowing me, I will drop paint on it. It's not a matter of IF, it's a matter of WHEN. I don't want to deal with guilt, so we'll seal it right away.

Front Porch Gallery: Carlsbad, CA

2011-07-02T10:21:00.000-07:00

I'm really excited about the upcoming exhibit at the Front Porch Gallery in Carlsbad on July 9, 2011. I'm sure this is going to be a great exhibit because there are some great fiber artists represented. Here's a partial list: Jane LaFazio, Jamie Fingal, Rose Hughes, Terry Waldron, Kathy Nida, Smadar Knobler and 5 of my Fibervision Friends, Andi Perejda, Jeanne Surber, Ranell Hansen, Susan West, Pamela Price Kelbaum, and yours truly.

I am really excited that I was chosen for this SAQA exhibit. Honestly, I feel like a small fish in a big pond. That said, you can probably imagine how excited I was to see my quilt on the invitation (top right). Andi's quilt is on the left side. We're the bookends. Very, very cool!

We (Me, Ranell, and Andi) will be catching the Surfliner southbound train, and will arrive just in time for the reception. It's going to be a long day, full of fun, friends (new and old), laughter and our fair share of wine (I'm sure).

If you live anywhere nearby, please stop in, I would love to meet you.

Embroidery While Blindfolded

2011-06-27T20:53:00.000-07:00

Katherine Loomis and Terry Jarrard-Dimond had an interesting collaboration awhile ago about creating embroidery while blindfolded. This idea intrigued me and I decided to give it a try. Katherine and Terry spent 12 hours each stitching, while I spent around 6 hours on my piece. I may continue with it, you just never know.

I was taught that my stitching should look good from the front as well as the back. I had to let go of that thought, and I did. For me, the most difficult part was being blindfolded. I don't like things covering my head or face, so being completely submerged into darkness was difficult. Once I adjusted to my situation, I actually became very peaceful. Without sight, the rest of my senses heightened. Muscle memory kicked in and supplied me with the details that I needed. I couldn't see what the stitching looked like, and I didn't care, I liked the way it felt. Creating art, even while blindfolded, made me feel good, and I'm happy to know that I can enjoy creating no matter what happens to me.

Now I'm curious to try my hand at blindfolded painting. You never know, it could be fun!

More Tangled Threads

2011-06-24T22:02:00.000-07:00

Here are the newest additions to the Tangled Threads series.

Each piece is hand stitched to a painted canvas. The top piece has french knots embroidered in the center circle. The bottom piece has many stitches radiating from inner circle. I really like the idea of adding subtle texture that will only be noticed once you get up close to the piece.Don't you love the way the threads blend together to make these beautiful colors?

These are are so much fun to make . . . I'm sure I'll be making some more soon.

Have you ever used your leftover tangled threads in a project? If you have, I would love to hear about it.

Colored Concrete

2011-06-19T14:49:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a process this patio turned out to be. I didn't realize how labor intensive it was going to be.

The guys arrived at 7:00am to make sure everything was ready, and the concrete began pumping at 8:00. It took them about 2 hours to pump, and level the concrete; then the fun began.

The finisher drew the shapes of the stone with this high tech tool.

Yep, it's a twig tied onto a an aluminum pole. I love the ragged lines it made, but the guys following behind him made the lines deep and regular. They are going to chip some of the edges for me before they grout. Even though it is concrete, I want it to look as natural as possible.

I asked him to make stones of all sizes. A couple of times, I wanted smaller stones in a certain area; he would erase the existing lines and redraw them. What a nice guy!

The base color is sandstone, and on top, there are 5 different colors. At first, I was worried that this was going to be over the top, but they assured me that it would look natural. After color was sprinkled all over an area, it was covered with yellow sand. The final step was to take a texture stamp and tamp it into the wet concrete to make it look like stone.

By the time they left, all I could see was yellow sand with some ridges. They told me I could sweep an area away this morning to see what the color looked like. This is what I found.

It looks fabulous. Can you see the stone texture? On Wednesday, all the sand will be removed, and Saturday the joints will be grouted. So far, I'm thrilled . . . I just can't wait to see it all finished!

Progress

2011-06-14T21:48:00.001-07:00

This Tangled Threads piece was made for my friend Kathy. She celebrated a significant birthday, and I felt she needed something special. She seemed to like it even though it was a month late. Unfortunately, that seems to be the story of my life lately . . . I'm always playing catch up. This back yard renovation is probably a good excuse for being late with everything. As you can see the patio is very close to being done. It curves along the full length of the house and wraps around one corner. I did 15 different designs in Illustrator before we settled on this patio shape. I think the curves are more interesting than straight lines, and it just felt right. Once I had a shape that I liked on paper, I tested the shape in real life. I drew it onto the ground with flour. Once I had it perfect. I marked the line with flags, and the contractor placed the bender board on the marked line.The concrete will be poured this coming Saturday. The base color will be sandstone and there will be flagstone shapes drawn into it. They will sprinkle 3 different colors on top. When it's dry, the cracks will get grouted and the whole thing will be sealed.

Yippee!

Art Exchange

2011-06-12T13:47:00.000-07:00

Lucky me! I'm the proud owner of this wonderful felted masterpiece that Sandy made.

I fell in love with it when I saw it on her blog, and as it turns out she was willing to trade work with me. She didn't want to chose something, she wanted to be surprised. Well, the biggest surprise turned out to be that the package didn't want to be delivered. The first time I mailed it, I left one number out of the address, and it took a week to come back to me. I mailed it again using Priority Mail, which was supposed to take 2-3 days, but 1-1/2 weeks passed and neither of us received it. Just when I thought I would have to replace it, the mailman delivered it to Sandy. Yeah!!!

Here's the adventurous piece that survived the journey . . .twice.

And this is what it's made from, tangled threads that come off washed fabric ends. I added 4 or 5 saturated strips of fabric for some extra zing, and a backing fabric, other than that it's tangled threads.

Rain in June?

2011-06-05T13:53:00.000-07:00

I can't quite figure out what is happening with the weather . . . it's been raining here for two days! I know that sounds normal to some of you, but, I've never seen it rain in June in the 30+ years I've lived here. Generally, it pours between December-March, and that's it for the year. This time of the year, we have June Gloom . . . heavy fog that burns off by noon. There seems to be a lot of strange things happening worldwide . . . it really makes you stop and think, doesn't it?

Our back yard is still a work in progress but we're getting very close. After 15 drawings in Illustrator, we've finally decided on a design for the patio. It will be a free-form, L-shaped patio with and a couple of cutouts against the house for plants. It will be colored and stamped concrete, that will look like flagstone. Once dry, we'll grout the low areas so it looks even more like stone. We chose a contractor and now we just have to get the irrigation done.

We've been trying to recycle/reuse as many plants and materials as possible. These large patio pavers have a new home under my potting bench and under the trash cans. Each one weighs about 400 pounds and was very difficult to move.

The old concrete path has been removed and is ready for the new patio and path. A cutout in the patio will be made for the angel trumpet tree on the right.

I'm still exercising quite a bit, and have lost 14 pounds. At first, I was exhausted from all the exercise, and didn't have much energy left for other interests, but it's getting easier now, and I'm back in the studio making art. Yeah!

This will give you an idea of what I'm working on. These are made from the knotted ends of washed fabric. They will look different once they are stitched together and mounted onto the painted canvas.

I'll share a couple other pieces made with the same materials in next post. I'm just about ready to applique my hormones onto the background.

Progress in several areas is underway!

Shared Stories, SAQA Exhibit in Carlsbad

2011-05-25T22:14:00.000-07:00

Yippee . . . Inside Out: Golgi Body was Accepted!

Congratulations to:
Betty Amador, Charlotte Bird, Patt Blair, Loris Bogue, Cherie Brown, Jamie Fingal, Barbara Friedman, Doria Goocher, Desiree Habicht, Gail Hansen, Ranell Hansen, Carol Henke, Rose Hughes, Sara Kelly, Pam Price Klebaum, Sherry Kleinman, Smadar Knobler, Jane LaFazio, Linda Boone Laird, Sandra Lauterbach, Jill Le Croissette, Nancy Lemke, Felisa Lyons, Kathleen McCabe, Linda Miller, Jeannie Palmer Moore, Gillian Moss, Kathy Nida, Andi Perejda, Judy Rys, Lois Sprague, Jeanne Surber, Mary Tabar, Terry Waldron, Deborah Weir, Susan West, Sally Wright, and Lisa Yoder

for having work accepted in Shared Stories~ Expressions and Stitched Memories. Read more at Front Porch Gallery's blog.

Hot Time in the Desert

2011-05-07T22:26:00.000-07:00

The last time we were in Arizona was 30+ years ago when we drove across the country. Our son is attending grad school in Tucson, so we have a great reason to revisit the desert state once again.

First we flew to Tucson, picked up our son, drove north to Sedona to visit the breathtaking red mountains. From there, we drove to Jerome, an old copper mining town, and then back to Tucson. It's really quite surprising to see how different the vegetation is in each area.

Tucson is definitely the home of the Saguaro cactus. They are everywhere . . . thousands of them . . . standing tall. It's amazing that anything, plant or animal could live in that scorching desert, but both have found a way to survive and thrive.

This little guy was photographed at the Desert Museum, where they have exhibits of 300+ desert animals.

Sedona is as gorgeous as I hoped it would be. The mountains get their red color from a high concentration of iron. They have some wonderful hiking trails that take you to the base of the mountains. We also went on a jeep ride through the back country. It was called an "Adventure Ride" for a good reason! Fortunately, the woman driver was amazing; she knew the trails like the back of her hand.

No Saguaro cactus here . . . their main cactus is the Prickly Pear. You really need to be careful where you walked in Arizona, there are pickers everywhere.

Our hotel, Sedona Rouge, was also gorgeous. Beautiful fountains, private patio, pool, spa, handmade lemon-mint soap. I would definitely recommend it.

Jerome couldn't have been more different than Sedona. This mountain town was built because copper was discovered. There were a lot of jobs and money to be made. In its heyday, Jerome was the 4th largest city in Arizona. Once the mine closed, the population dropped from 15,000 to 100 residents, and basically became a ghost town.

Around 500 people live in Jerome now. Quite a few of the buildings remain in various stages of renovation or disrepair. Several shells remain that add an authentic flavor to the odd ghost town.

I'm not sure what is holding this facade upright, but it makes an very interesting entrance way to a glass blowers studio.

The remains of this bank building displays an odd assortment of items like an outhouse, toilet, wheel barrel, and sink. People stand above the building, and throw coins, trying to hit the various vessels. It reminded me of a carnival game, without the prizes!

Here's a photo of a sign that made me laugh out loud. Perhaps it was originally posted in the very popular brothel.

All in all, we had a lot of fun in the desert . . . but there's no place like home!

Fabric, Fabric, and More Fabric!

2011-05-02T21:59:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, I haven't been very creative lately. A lot of my free time is being consumed by gardening and exercise. I've been walking several times a week with my friend Kathy. One of the perks of my job is a personal trainer that comes to our office one day a week. Sloane is young, sweet, gorgeous, and an exercise fanatic. She is helping me become more fit . . . no easy feat. I have always been the artistic, not athletic type. So far, I've lost 6 pounds but I still have a long way to go!

Kathy and I have been fabric shopping. I own a wall full of fabric and certainly don't need any more, but that doesn't seem to stop me. The Treasure Hunt is having a going out of business sale and I scored some lovely batiks.

I've already used some of the striped batik on the left. The project isn't quite finished yet, so you'll have to wait a little while to see it.

Color is probably the number one thing that attracts me, but the texture is usually the deciding factor. The fabric above on the left and below second one in from right are not colors I generally use, but the textures were so interesting, I couldn't resist. I always keep an eye out for interesting black fabrics and very light fabrics.

Here's a few more fabrics that I bought at the Seven Sisters Quilt show this past weekend. I generally buy 1 yard of each, so the stash takes up quite a bit of space. Whenever I start a new project, I find everything I need in my own stash. If I don't have the right color, I'll change it by adding paint, dye stick or ink.

Fibervision Workshops

2011-04-27T21:02:00.000-07:00

No matter how hard I try, I keep falling behind on my blog posts. Each month, after our business meeting and lunch, one of our Fibervision members teaches a mini workshop. They highlight whatever technique they feel someone would want to learn about. I like spending time with my friends and I like learning everything I can. I can't help it, it seems to be the way I'm wired! Some people believe that all these new techniques and subject will distract them and won't be able to focus on their own style. Not me.

Jeanne taught Free motion quilting in March. She has been doing some amazing stitching and were are lucky to some pointers from her. First we did a few pencil sketches using one continuous line, then we did the same sketch with thread on fabric. It's a good way to gain confidence in your FMQ. The next thing we did was new to me.

We dropped our feed dogs, and made a sampler of decorative stitches. It was fun trying to figure out what the stitch was going to do next. After a few minutes, you began to get a feeling for what it was going to do next and went with it. On the back side, I recorded what stitch it was and the different tension settings I used.

Here's a close-up. The stitches really have a personality of their own.

Kristin led a bookmaking workshop in April. Each of us made two different small books.
The yellow one has stitched signatures and the turquoise one has accordion pages. Both came out quite well for my first books. I'm glad I leaned how to make them, but I don't think I will be making more anytime soon.

Three's a Charm

2011-04-24T20:02:00.000-07:00

This small piece is the third in a series, hence the title, "Three's a Charm".

If you're interested, you can see the other two pieces in the Art Gallery section. If you look closely, you'll see that they share some of the same characteristics. The reason is that the fabric was stacked in five vertical layers and paint was added to different layers. Depending on the type of paint used, some of it penetrated through several layers and some didn't penetrate at all. After it was dry, additional layers were added to enhance each piece.

The painted fabric and batting were machine stitched, then the beads were added. I painted a canvas for the background and hand stitched the finished piece through the canvas. The inner piece is 8 1/2 x 11" and the canvas is 11 x 14".

FYI: That white border is the batting.

Hormones: Divide and Duplicate

2011-04-17T11:21:00.000-07:00

My intention was to finish this quilt for the Faulkner Gallery exhibit, but I just wasn't happy with the design. It needed something, and I just couldn't quite put my finger on what the something was. It hung on my design wall for a while until I realized that the hormones should be divided. I was afraid it was a mistake, and didn't want to start from scratch. So, I decided to do the cutting in Photoshop, and see how it looked before I took scissors to fabric. Once I played with the pieces, and saw the many possibilities, the scissors came out.

The hormones were cut apart and rearranged. But it still needed something . . . More Hormones, of course.So, here I am back at the beginning, creating even more hormones. Here's a close up of the plain yellow hormone fabric before the embellishment began. If you want to see the whole process, click here. The green strip in the middle is dyed cheesecloth that will float around the hormones. There are some other surprises in store, but you're going to have to wait a while to see the final results. It will debut in a group exhibit at PIQF in Santa Clara, CA. The exhibit is called "On the Way" and it will feature 20 Journey pieces made by Fibervision members. This will be our first group exhibit at PIQF and we're all very excited about it. Hope you get a chance to see it in person.

Scarf Redux

2011-04-05T21:13:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the wonderful advise of Teri and Lisa, I ripped the offending scarf apart, and proceeded to knit it on circular needles. Unfortunately, nobody warned me that if you weren't careful, you could knit it together into a circle. Okay, stop laughing, it only happened twice! Now I have a pretty good idea how to make a hat. Seriously, it's so much better now. Thanks Ladies, great save!

This is my favorite scarf to date. It's knit with a yarn called Knit One-Crochet Too Cotton Ty-Dy. The lacy stitch makes and cotton yarn makes for the perfect CA scarf. LOVE IT!!

And here's a close up of the lovely lacy stitch. Another new knitting adventure!

The last post showed the orchid that was in the exhibit room. These are photos of MY actual plant. I absolutely love the visual texture! Isn't it gorgeous?

You're probably sick of reading about flowers and scarves by now. Next post will be about quilting, I promise!

The End of the Grapefruit Tree

2011-04-04T20:02:00.000-07:00

We've been working really hard in the backyard. As you can see, the grapefruit tree is gone, the grass is dead, and quite a few plants have been removed. I'm still working on the patio design, but we're getting pretty close. No matter what we decide to do, it has to look better than it does now.The rain has finally stopped and the sun has returned to southern CA. This is a beautiful sunset that I saw from my back yard. I had to stop working and run inside for my camera. Spring is here!
A few weeks ago, I spent a fun, action packed day with my son, Jason, his girlfriend, Helen, and Helen's mom, Lisa. One of the things we did was attend a fantastic orchid show. There were so many colorful orchids in one place, I couldn't believe it.Every one of them was gorgeous and it was pretty difficult to choose a favorite, but I did. This lovely orchid came home with me.So far, it's doing great. Almost all the buds have opened, and it looks very happy in its new home. The real test is whether or not it survives long enough to flower again. I bought orchid food and read up on how to care for them. Keep your fingers crossed . . . the orchid I bought last year didn't survive. Sad, but true!

Beauty before the Storm

2011-03-21T20:40:00.000-07:00

It's so peaceful to roam around the garden, looking for the prettiest flower, and the best angle to photograph it.

A Camellia bud getting ready to burst.

Beautiful Lilacs, a rare sight in Santa Barbara.

Brilliant Clivia's are happy in their new home under the orange tree.

All was well . . . and then a late season storm hit hard. 7" of rain in 24 hours! Fortunately, it has stopped for a while, but more rain is expected tomorrow. The ground has been completely saturated, flash floods warnings were issued, and the risk of mudslides is pretty high. I hope the next storm takes a different route and lets us dry out a bit.

Can this Scarf Be Saved??

2011-03-17T21:20:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, my opinion is NO. I know, I spent a lot time knitting this much, but I just have to accept the fact that it's a failure, and rip those stitches out.

It's one of those yarns that have six wonderful (so I thought) yarns on one skein. It looked so beautiful, I just had to make a scarf. How can something so pretty turn ugly so fast? The gauge of every yarn is different and the scarf ended up getting fat and skinny with every yarn change. Some of the yarn is fuzzy like mohair, some is metallic and slender, some nubby and it's all different thicknesses. Somebody told me that I could block it, but they said that sight unseen. I stopped at the Ball & Skein yarn shop in Cambria and saw a scarf knitted with similar yarn, and asked them about it. They said to use size 11 needles, but I'm currently using size 10, so I think 13 might be better. I need advice from any knitters out there.

While I was at the yarn shop, I saw this beautiful yarn, and had to buy it. It came with a free lacy pattern and the owner showed me how to do it. Unfortunately, by the time I got home, I forgot how to do it. Yarn over and knit 2 stitches together. Huh? I couldn't get my needles through 2 stitches no matter how hard I tried.

Honestly, I'm really not good a knitting, but for some strange reason, I continue to torture myself by trying to knit. Every time I begin a project, I have to watch videos on the internet to re-learn how to do it. Then, I start knitting and ripping the project apart at least 6 times. Finally, I figured it out, and I LOVE how it looks.

It would have been a lot faster to crochet it. Hmm . . . buying a scarf would have been really easy. Sometimes, I wish I wasn't so stubborn!

Exhibit Opening

2011-03-15T21:49:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of our exhibit at the Faulkner Gallery. Hanging the show turned out to be pretty easy because we met before the exhibit and figured out how the work from 3 different artists would blend together best. In the end, I think we did a great job. This photo was taken right after we finished hanging it.

Ranell forgot to bring one of her pieces (empty space on the right) and she added the title "Conceptualize, Create, Communicate" on the far wall, later in the day. I managed to remember to take a couple of photos during the reception. We had a great turnout and we received wonderful feedback. The most exciting part was that many people had never seen fiber art like this. They were really excited about our work and had many wonderful questions. Here is a photo of Rafael Perea de la Cabada (right), a Santa Barbara artist, and teacher. He's a great source of inspiration and will give me honest feedback about my work. I really appreciate his input.

I also have two pieces hanging in an exhibit at the Jewish Center in Santa Barbara.

Soy Wax Results

2011-03-13T23:02:00.000-07:00

The paint has cured, the fabric was soaked in hot water and then ironed to release all traces of wax. Here are the results:

Fabric #1: I used a foam stamp for the grid and a cork for the circles.

Fabric #1: Layers of wax and paint

Fabric #1: Wax removed

Fabric #2: I used a foam stamp for the flowers

Fabric #2: Layers of wax and paint

Fabric #2: Wax removed

Fabric #3: I used a metal whisk to stamp the swirls.

The fabric looked identical with and without the wax layer. I suspect that because metal is a better conductor of heat, it made a clearer impression on the fabric. This was the final piece, so it's also possible that the wax was warmer.

If you are patient, and let the paint cure for 2 weeks before you remove the wax, very little paint will wash out. Next time, I'll use Dye-na-flow paint instead of Setacolor.

Lots of fun! If you decide to try this, I would love to see the results.

Soy Wax Workshop

2011-03-08T18:16:00.000-08:00

I have an electric wok that wasn't hot enough for stir frying, but it's perfect for soy wax. I also have a little melt pot and Anne has a crock pot filled with soy wax too. I have tons of stamps, spatulas and found objects that are perfect for stamping.

What is all this for? A soy wax workshop with my Fibervision friends. I gave them the basic information about soy wax and off they went. They grabbed some fabric and tools and got busy.

There are little things you learn along the way about the different tools, but there is very little that can really go wrong. This group doesn't want or need many directions. Even if I told them exactly what to do, they would do whatever they wanted anyways! That's why I LOVE this group!

I really don't like starting with white fabric, so I dunked it into very diluted setacolor (before the meeting) and set it outside to dry. Here's one of the pieces drying in the sun.

This is what it looked like after it was dry. Much better than white.

This is my collection of kitchen tools that I use for stamping. It's amazing how many different mashers you will find once you become aware of them.

Xandra had some pieces that she painted in a different workshop. She brought them along to add a layer of wax and more paint. It looks like she really likes the swirly whisk.

Here's the fabric after a setacolor dunk. Kind of cool!

Here's the same piece after I took a mono print of the surface of my board. Don't you love it?

I'll have more before/after photos to share once my paint has cured.

Bizarre Encounter in Cambria

2011-02-27T18:24:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, Mike and I headed north to Cambria for a weekend getaway. We thought it would be a nice quiet weekend. Ha . . . we couldn't have been more wrong.

Every year, between December and March, North Beach in San Simeon (just above Cambria), becomes the breeding grounds for Elephant Seals. There is a boardwalk where people can view the seals from a safe distance and docents are present to answer questions.

The largest males weigh 5,000 pounds are are extremely dangerous. They continually challenge each other for breeding rights. The winner of each battle returns to the harem on the beach; the loser is forced to leave.

Their sounds were deafening! Click here to listen. Imagine hundreds of bulls fighting and honking, and mothers and babies screeching (bonding) at each other.

Each female gives birth to one infant, but some will let more than one nurse.

This was the largest baby on the beach, it looked as if it were ready to burst. I think it's safe to say that his mother didn't adopt other infants. Soon it will be on its own, and will need to learn how to fish. Until then, it will survive on the nourishment from the mom.

We spent a several hours watching, and photographing these amazing creatures. It was definitely worth the trip.

Tea Fire: Finishing Up

2011-02-23T21:12:00.000-08:00

You've seen this piece right after I finished the top. It hung on my design wall, along with many others, waiting for quilting inspiration to hit, but it never hits. I know this. Why does it take me so long to start? Once I start quilting, it goes well enough. I don't understand why I have this block. Deadlines give me a reason to finish. Without deadlines, I would probably have a room filled with quilt tops.

Here's a photo of some of the quilting. I like quilting through two layers, front and batting. If you look real close you will see two vertical areas that aren't quilted as dense. Those areas will contain the final quilting lines.

After the majority of the quilting is finished, I attach a back, then I add the last

bit of quilting . . . just enough to hold the layers together.

This is what the same section looks like from the front. I'll be adding the back tonight and finishing up with the sleeve and label tomorrow night. Almost done with my third fire quilt.

Exhibit at the Faulkner Gallery East

2011-02-21T22:55:00.000-08:00

You're all invited to our exhibit at the Faulkner Gallery in Santa Barbara. The opening is March 3rd, from 5:00 - 8:00 pm. This is also the same evening as our local gallery night, First Thursday. All the galleries and museums stay open late, so you can see quite a bit of art in a short period of time.

I'm so excited, and exhausted! Four of the twelve selected pieces for this exhibit have been finished in the past month. Actually, I'm still working on the final piece. Over 30 works will be on display throughout March, so stop on in. It will be a very diverse, colorful show with a variety of fiber art ranging from portraits to surface design.

Curve Piecing

2011-02-19T09:24:00.000-08:00

Last week, I took a one day workshop with Jean Wells on curve piecing. Jean's technique is a little different than what I've done before, a little more liberated. She has some good tips for beginning art quilters on inspiration and color choices. It wasn't information that I really needed, because I find cracks in the sidewalk inspirational, but I like to hear how other people work. It's good information and a good technique to have in my toolbox.

Here's the little piece (8-1/2 x 11") I completed in the workshop. After this, I went on to experiment even more, testing how far you could push this method. I found the limit pretty quick.

The first seam/curve went smoothly (no pun intended). Even though I matched little dots along the curve, I still fell short 1/4" at the bottom (purple/black seam). The second curve completely pushed the limit of this method. I lost about 1-1/4" at the bottom of the piece (purple/green seam. Solution: cut the piece that is being added extra long and fake it, or make templates and add 1/4" seam allowances. Good information to know.

This book was written in 1988 by Marilyn Stothers, and is where I first learned about curved piecing. I used this technique in one of my quilts back in 2005.

All that 1/4" seam sewing made me realize that I don't piece much anymore. The majority of my recent work is either raw edge applique or painted or a combination of both. It's funny how major changes can happen gradually, and you don't fully realize how much has really changed until you take a good look back.

Bad Blogger!

2011-02-17T20:41:00.000-08:00

I apologize for checking out and hope that someone out there is still interested in what I'm doing. I honestly don't know where the time goes.

This photo shows our latest work in the backyard.

We're picking all the grapefruit and then removing the tree. It's pretty sad, but necessary. Someone planted this tree right smack in the middle of the yard before we bought the house, and we've been living with it for the past 23 years. We want to install a large patio and the tree is in the way. I bet the yard will look huge after the tree is gone.

Several people from my Fibervision group brought different items to our meeting to experiment with and we had a fun play day together. There was clay, beads, paint, paintsticks, screens etc. Here are a couple of fabrics that I rubbed with paintsticks.

Remember the banana slicer I bought a while ago? I finally got around to using it for these rubbings. They look like sea slugs to me, but a friend had a very different vision and thought it was disgusting! I'm pretty sure that I'll never see fabric like this anywhere else.

I used ribbed shelf liner for this effect and I really like the way it turned out. I chose very happy colors that day, didn't I? Very spring like.

I'll have a 3 woman show during March with Jeanne Surber and Ranell Hansen. I'll have 4 new pieces and I'm almost done with the last one. Yeah! Stay tuned . . .

Inspiration Is Everywhere

2011-01-02T18:44:00.000-08:00

It doesn't take too much to get me started. I'm surrounded by wonderful scenery, books and supplies. Regardless, I'm always looking for a new perspective . . . a challenge is always intriguing . . . almost impossible to resist.

I came across an online group last year called Fast Friday Fabric Challenge. They recently had an opening in membership and I was eager to play along. The Fabric Challenge part is fairly easy, it's the Fast Friday part I'm struggling with. I'm able to come up with a design, but no way can I complete the entire thing in one week. There just aren't enough hours in my day . . . full-time employment seems to get in the way!

Even if you don't join the group, you can get inspired by the general information about the challenge subject and links they provide. It's like a mini art lesson each month.

Below are photos of the pieces I've made along with the challenge name and number.

Challenge 49: Chiaroscuro - Tea Fire

Challenge 51: One Shape - Looking Up

Challenge 52: Color Field

Batting and Bags

2010-12-31T17:57:00.000-08:00

Here are a few projects that I finished up in the last couple of weeks. My Fibervison group had a dye day using Rit liquid dye. A variety of items were dyed and over-dyed, fabric, lace and batting were the most popular. I dyed three different types of cotton batting: Warm & Natural, Soft Touch and Mountain Mist.

They all dyed equally as well, however, the rinsing was a little rough on the batting and a few thin spots developed. Mountain Mist was my least favorite going in to the experiment, but it held up the best. The papery outer layer protected it. A surprise was waiting for me when the Mountain Mist dried. One thickness of batting separated into two pieces.How cool is that? Two for the price of one! (The photo below shows the layers pulled apart.)

If you want to give this a try, we followed the directions in the Dec/Jan issue of Quilting Arts by Judy Coates Perez.

I made these shopping bags for my kids (grown adults really) for Christmas. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of Jason's before he went home.

Sean likes anything abstract and the fabric for this bag was selected with that in mind.

Rachel's favorite color is orange. I figured this tropical fabric would make her happy . . . and it did.

Thanks for hanging out with me this year, it's been a lot of fun. I hope you all have a Happy and Healthy New Year!

Painted Fabric

2010-12-15T22:36:00.000-08:00

This piece was painted with Dye-na-flow and scrunched until it was dry.This base of this fabric was screen-printed with construction fence under the screen. Once dry, the whole piece was painted with Dye-na-flow. The paint filled all the areas that weren't already painted. I didn't really like this piece until I added the final layer. You just never know.
The first layer was black textile paint through a thermofax screen, second layer was yellow Setacolor, the third layer was Dye-na-flow.
I grew up in MA where there are plenty of old apartment buildings and fire escapes, but there aren't many in Santa Barbara. This one is part of the historic Hotel Santa Barbara. This building is 3 stories high; the tallest in town is five stories. The building codes are very strict here, both size and style are scrutinized. It generally takes about 5 years to get a building permit. Patience and deep pockets are required.

Fun with Soy Wax

2010-12-12T19:15:00.000-08:00

Here's my latest experiment with soy wax, Dye-na-flow and found objects. Each piece started with fabric that was previously colored in some way. I figured another layer of color couldn't hurt.
I hope you can see the waxed images that were stamped on the fabric. I used a pool noodle extender to make the largest circles, the medium circles were made with plastic thing that held a roll of paper. The smaller circles were thread spools and the smallest circles were made with the end of a dowel.This photo shows the piece with wet red, blue and purple paint. The wax will resist the paint and leave the original color showing.

Here's the final piece with all the wax removed. Very fun, lots of movement.

This piece uses the potato head masher and thread spools. I was really anxious to see how this piece turned out.
Orange, red and yellow paint was added. You can really see the wax impressions now.Dry fabric with wax removed. I love it! The colors are very happy.

I always put another piece of fabric underneath to catch any excess paint. No sense wasting good paint. Again, it's usually a piece that needs a little something.

Here's my final piece. I used the pool noodle and thread spools again. This time, I purposely cracked the wax to see what would happen.
Red paint added. You can see the red seeping into the cracks.
Here's the dry fabric with the wax removed. This is what happens when you start with a dark background. It's a bit moody, don't you think?

This was a lot of fun and easy too. I'm sure I will be doing more.

De ja vu?

2010-12-07T22:04:00.000-08:00

If you've been following my blog for a while, you've already seen a similar photo of junk on my curb. We're at it again. This time we're landscaping the back yard. The first step in any landscaping project is removal and that's what we did here.

Those bags are filled with a 20 feet of bamboo roots. I think we got most of it, but we'll find out for sure in the next couple of months. The canes have been cut, stacked and taped into bundles for the trash men to haul away. Bamboo is so tough it breaks the chipper, so we can't recycle any part of it as green waste. Good riddance!

I've been having a lot of fun with dye, soy wax and paint. I'll take some photos and post them next time.

I'm So Lucky

2010-12-04T17:08:00.000-08:00

I'm so lucky to be surrounded by supportive people. My family is always there for me, no matter what. My like-minded fiber friends feed my soul in a way that nobody else can. The Internet has allowed me to meet many wonderful artists that are willing to share their lives, work, ideas and techniques. It truly has become a very small world.

My friend, Linda, surprised me with a large bag at our last Fibervision meeting. Inside was a lot of hand-dyed fabric (over 5 yards) that she dyed herself. Beautiful, saturated colors, very moody and mysterious,

and a gallon Ziploc bag full of thread balls. OMG . . .what an impressive collection of thread balls.

My jaw dropped, I couldn't believe my good fortune. Only someone that knows me very well

would know that this messy pile would be a cherished gift!

I've been saving these ends from washed fabric for years and bet I have one of the largest collections in southern CA. I think I've posted photos of things I've made in the past. Here's one piece that uses a number of these knotted beauties.

I really love this piece, but don't own it any longer. I really should make more, it was a lot of fun to work on.

Here's another gift I received in the mail. I admired the rusted fabric Elizabeth was making and she was kind enough to sent me a beautiful piece.

A huge thank you to Linda and Elizabeth for their gifts and many thanks to all of you out there for all your support and comments. Keep them coming!

Things That Make Me Smile

2010-11-30T19:27:00.001-08:00

I love this potato head potato masher. I think he's adorable . . . my husband thinks I'm crazy.

I haven't tried it yet, but I think he's going to make a great stamp for soy wax or fabric paint.

These whimsical paper clips are great too. Of course, I never use them as paper clips. I'll have to flatten them a little, but I think they will work great with sun-printing. Has anyone ever used them?

What is a Line?

2010-11-29T22:07:00.000-08:00

When does a line stop being a line and become a shape? It seems like an easy question, doesn't it?

After drawing many lines and thinking about them, there were two things that I kept noticing. If a line is wider than it is long, it appears to be a shape instead of a line. If the beginning of a line connects back to itself, it appears to be a shape.

I'm pretty sure most people would agree with those two statements. I don't, but it's probably because of my background as a graphic artist. I am constantly using lines to construct shapes and see them and treat them as separate elements. I can choose to feature the line or hide the line, but the line always exists.

After spending way too much time thinking about this, I started an experimental piece. I drew lines on the paper side of fusible web and ironed it to the back of fabric. The first thing I did was cut the piece into four equal parts, then I cut on each line and placed the positive pieces on a background making sure to leave space between each piece. All the pieces were fused in place.

I was hoping to visually connect the four pieces with machine stitching even though they were physically separated. I stitched along the outside line and continued the stitched line whenever the physical line ended.

The visual connection was weak, so I added a second line, but it was still weak. I added vertical and horizontal stitching between the four sections, but the connection remained weak.

The only way I could visually tie the four pieces together was by adding paint to the areas where the lines had been machine stitched. Once I did that, the line appeared to be a connected.

Conclusion: There are too many variables and more samples would have to be done in order to know if the stitching itself could make a visual connection. That's not going to happen, I'm over this experiment!

If I were to try more samples, I would reduce the space between the four sections. This sample has 1 inch between each section. I would also use a solid colored thread, I used a variegated thread with a section as dark as the background. Unfortunately, it completely disappeared in areas.

Do you think that too much time was spent on this small piece (14" x 19")? Probably, but I'm not finished yet. I'm adding seed stitching to all the purple areas. The fun just never ends!

More Hormones

2010-11-15T22:54:00.000-08:00

A while back, I asked your opinion about a background for a hormone piece I was working on. I must admit that I was a bit surprised with your comments. I didn't expect people to feel emotional about the background. I was thinking about contrast and color, and many of you were thinking about how the raging hormones would look.

When I'm not sure about how a fabric or shape looks, I photograph it. For some reason, the answer is always clearer on my monitor than on the design wall. Sometimes, it takes a long time for me to make a decision, possibly months. That is what happened to the hormone piece. Originally, I liked fabric number 1 the best, but I didn't like it enough to think it was THE ONE.

Here's my newest choice. Much hotter and a different texture completely.

I feel that the hormones stand out well against the color and the texture doesn't compete for your attention. Is this THE ONE? It's a strong contender, but something else is needed.

Tour of Mexican Ports

2010-11-14T18:37:00.000-08:00

Here's an unusual angle of the Holland America cruise ship we travelled to Mexico on.

The harbor at Cabo San Lucas isn't large enough for cruise ships, so we had to take one of the smaller boats ashore. My husband took this shot on the way back. Although it looks huge, the Zaandam is actually a medium size ship that holds about 1400 passengers. I still can't figure out why they would hang this sign on the rooftop of a restaurant. Bad translation perhaps? It did get my attention, but I didn't eat there. The harbor was pretty, but I wasn't in the mood to have people trying to sell me trinkets. We decided that tours were the way to go. And here we are . . . a Town, Country and Tequila Factory Tour in Puerto Vallarta. In the foreground is the fruit of the blue agave. They cook it in the brick oven for 8 hours, then process and ferment it. The pulp tastes a bit like sweet potatoes. Wonderful tequila (bought two bottles), gorgeous setting, colors and . . .

yummy tacos too!

Our third and final port was Mazatlan. Beautiful beaches and a fantastic outdoor sculpture collection. Yes, these are aliens climbing a ladder, and there are more aliens on the ground!

These are the famous (and crazy, IMHO) cliff divers. What a gorgeous dive. They have to time the waves perfectly in order to survive, the water is only 7 feet deep.

Hope you enjoyed the short tour of Mexico.

Wonky 9-Patch Finished

2010-11-13T17:10:00.000-08:00

Can it be true? I actually finished some old projects. First, was the log cabin that now resides with my son in Topanga Canyon. Next in line were a couple of small wall quilts which I forgot to photograph, and the latest is this wonky 9-patch baby sized quilt.

I really like the cheerful colors in this one.

Here's a close up showing the wonky quilting. It feels great to finally get this finished.

And here is the next pile of quilts I'll be working on. I backed all of them with batting and added a ton of safety pins. A couple of years ago, I started quilting through the top and batting only. No backing. I do a fair amount of quilting and like the stability that the batting provides. When I finish all the stitching, I sew all the layers together, all the way around, with no opening. I cut an X through the backing layer and flip the whole thing inside out through the X. I quilt around some of the major areas, cover the X with a label or with the hanging sleeve and it's done. I'm not sure how long I'll continue to use this method, but for now, it suites me just fine.

Does anyone else out there quilt through two layers? I'm sure I can't be the only one!

Where Has the Time Gone?

2010-11-07T08:33:00.000-08:00

So much has happened since I last posted. Here are a few highlights: the Santa Barbara quilt show, an exhibit with Fibervision, a trip to PIQF and the most exciting news, even though it's not quilt related: my husband won a 7 day Blues Cruise to Mexico.

Imagine 90 concerts in 7 days and three ports to explore. Here's part of the lineup: Johnny and Edgar Winter, Los Lobos, The Lowrider Bank, Elvin Bishop, Cafe R & B, Kelly Hunt, Tommy Castro, Elvin Bishop, etc.

I've never considered myself much of a portrait photographer, but it looks as if the tables have turned. I really got some great shots of the performers on this cruise.

Edgar Winter

Johnny Winter

This is the first time that the Winter brothers performed together.

Roach from Cafe R & B

Howard Scott from The Lowrider Band (formerly known as War)

Tommy Castro

Many Thanks to Tommy Castro for pulling my husband's winning ticket at a local performance. The cruise was a fantastic experience! In fact, we enjoyed it so much, we signed up for next year.

Which Background Do You Like Best?

2010-09-07T23:01:00.000-07:00

If you're like me, you pull a zillion fabrics out of your stash, and one by one, you put them on your design wall, and by the time you get to #30, you can't remember what any of them look like. Sound familiar?

If I think there is any possibility of a fabric working, I take a photo. For some reason, looking at the choices on the computer really helps in the decision process. Does it takes the emotion out of the decision? I'm not sure, but it works for me.

Here are some backgrounds that I chose for the "Hormones" piece I showed previously. I would love to hear your opinion, good or bad. Maybe you hate them all.

Number 1

Number 2

Number 3

Number 4

All of the backgrounds are either hand-painted or hand-dyed by me.

Summer Distractions

2010-08-20T21:49:00.001-07:00

Summer doesn't seem to be the most productive time for me. Too many fun distractions going on. We have a lot of festivals in Santa Barbara. In the past month or so, we've been to the French Festival, the Greek Festival and Fiesta. Here are some of the dancers at the opening of Fiesta (La Fiesta Pequena) that was held at the Santa Barbara Mission.

I took a whole series of photos of the Mission as the sun went down. The evening was very colorful and energetic.

Last weekend we travelled up the coast to Cambria. On the way, we stopped to explore a small town called Los Alamos. We ate lunch and visited a nice gallery. Here's a couple of photos from the historic downtown area.

It was a great way to begin a very relaxing weekend.

One Thing Leads to Another

2010-08-07T10:47:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, inspiration comes from unexpected things. The piece below is proof.

A simple piece of fabric with cut out circles. It didn't really look too exciting, but the possibilities were endless. You've probably noticed that one of my favorite symbols is the circle. I shouldn't have been surprised at my reaction to all these circles!The first step was to get it off the cutting board and onto piece of painted silk. Hmmm . . . Nice!
The negative circles are exciting, however, the positive rectangle is just too plain and boring. The first step was to paint the surface with some diluted Setacolor. By the time the paint dried, I had an a pretty good idea that I was going "Cellular".
The rectangular piece was cut into an organic shape and placed onto yet another painted background. Nice, but still not enough. Cells are incredibly colorful and the mellow yellow fabric was NOT going to make it.
Let the layering begin!

Here's a closeup of the new and improved cellular structure of "Hormones". It now has many colorful layers and interesting texture and is a worthy focal point. The next step is to audition more backgrounds; then onto the quilting stage.

Just a little glimpse inside my head and my thought process. Did you enjoy the journey?

Comments and suggestions are always welcome!

Transitions

2010-07-19T23:07:00.000-07:00

The bright lights are behind us. We spend our final days on Cape Cod and at Norwich Lake with parents, aunts, grandparents, siblings, nieces, cousins. This is the best part of all, the most relaxing part.

Photography is the only creative outlet I've had during our trip.

A close up of one of my favorite trees at the boat dock (above). The boat dock at dusk (below). The scene was so peaceful and calm. Our vacation was winding down.I brought a few small projects to work on, but was never in the right frame of mind. One would think that I would be anxious to get back into my studio. Unfortunately, the transition wasn't that smooth.

The first day was spent unwinding thread from old spools. The thread will be re-purposed and the spools will be great for stamping. Then I purchased new storage units and completely rearranged my supplies.

Finally, I began to sew. I pulled out a log cabin quilt that I made 12 years ago and finished the quilting.Then I cut lots of circles. I backed them with interfacing, stitch and flip them right side out and use them for labels. This is the type of sewing I do when I feel uninspired. Useful but boring. yawn

Then I look down at the leftovers from my circle cutting spree. Out of nowhere . . . Inspiration strikes! The leftovers become the focus of my next microscopic piece. It will be called Inside Out: Hormones.

Stay tuned . . . Next post will show how the leftovers begin to develop.

The Freedom Trail

2010-07-17T14:11:00.001-07:00

Boston is the last of our large city visits. Our guided Freedom Trail walking tour began in Boston Common.

History has never been one of my favorite subjects, but this tour guide really made the experience more enjoyable and educational.

Don't you love his costume? You could tell that he loved history and really enjoyed giving these tours. This is the Granary Burial Grounds and the guide is standing next to the Paul Revere's headstone. Over 5,000 bodies are buried in a tiny space, with up to 20 bodies per hole. We wound our way through the city and learned a lot of interesting facts about Boston that we wouldn't have known on our own. Lots of great architecture, a real mix of old and new.Here's the calm before the storm. It poured for a half hour, then we continued on to Quincy Square for food and entertainment (acrobatics on an extension ladder).

Each time we visit Boston, we have a different experience. In the past, we've done the duck boat tour, art museum, science museum and we even went to see the Blue Man Group. My only disappointment with this visit was Chinatown. All I can say is, don't waste your time.

Boston is a fun city, but it's really easy to get lost and end up in the wrong place with no easy way to return. Make sure you bring your GPS!

AQS Show in Knoxville, TN

2010-07-15T20:59:00.000-07:00

Are any of my blog followers going to the AQS show in TN?

If so, could you keep an eye out for my quilts in the special exhibit "Becoming Art at the Seams"? It would be great to receive a photo or two of the exhibit!

AQS contacted the Ventura Museum and asked if the artists would like to participate in the AQS show. For me, it was a no brainer, all three of my quilts will be in the show. Some pieces couldn't be included because they were mounted on stretcher bars or canvas, some had a previous commitment, however, most of the art is included in the TN show.

Two of my quilts have been on exhibit for approximately 7 months. Three months at the Elverhoj Museum, 3 months at the Ventura Museum and a few weeks at the AQS show. I'm really happy to have such wonderful opportunities to show my art.

Don't you love quilt shows? They are so inspirational! I'll be going to the IQF in Long Beach next week. Sensory overload coming my way!

No Place Like Manhattan

2010-07-08T21:37:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you've heard NYC described as "The city that never sleeps". I never realized how true it was until our recent visit. There is a constant buzz everywhere around you. If feels like every bit of space and oxygen is being used. Although I really enjoyed our visit, life in Manhattan can be a bit overwhelming!

Our visit began with a 3 hour wait in the baggage claim area. One of the engines on my son's plane encountered a flock of birds. Lets just say, there were no winners. The plane had to make an emergency landing. Once everyone was safe and accounted for, we headed to the hotel, dropped off our bags and started our NYC adventure.

We walked through Central Park which is around 2-1/2 miles long. It is a great park with a lot of activity happening. Concerts, performers, biking, boating, you name it we saw it.

I encountered this sign at the far end of the park. I don't think I ever heard of a No honking law, but I can understand why they would have one here.
We took a boat tour around the entire island. It was a great way to get a feeling for what the whole area is like. We went under 19 bridges and through one bridge that opens sideways. Needless to say, bridges are their lifeline. It's such a fabulous skyline, but it's impossible to tell what it really looks like when you are in the middle of it. Once you get out on the boat, it looks so much different.We didn't have enough time to visit Lady Liberty, but we did get pretty close.

Here's an odd sign on the side of a building "A bare knuckled bucket of does". Huh?? What the heck does that mean? If anyone knows, please share.

Other highlights were the Empire State Building at night. The view was absolutely breathtaking. We went to Peter Lik's gallery in SoHo. His photography is fabulous. If I were alone, I would have spent all day there.

We rented a car, managed to make it out of Manhattan without hitting any pedestrians (no easy feat), and headed to Massachusetts for our next adventure.

Family Vacation

2010-07-03T16:39:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a fantastic vacation with our family. The first stop was IL for my daughter's graduation from Northwestern University. Every time I visit Chicago, I like it more. They have great galleries, restaurants, entertainment, friendly people and public transportation. Usually, we stay in Evanston, but this time we stayed in the River North area of Chicago. Here's the view from my hotel.

Can you see the giant frog sitting on the building across the street? It just about gave me a heart attack the first time I looked out the window. Freaky!This giant stainless steel sculpture is located in Millennium Park and is called Cloud Gate or the Bean. The way it reflects everything around it is fantastic, but the best part (IMHO) is inside the bean.Here it is. I'm underneath the bean looking up! How cool is that? Every person turns into an abstracted shape and is reflected many times. I took quite a few photos in here.There are two of these giant towers (40-50 feet) in the park. Each has a different face projected on it and the facial expressions constantly change. You stand there watching it, and the next thing you know, the mouth opens and water comes streaming out. It was a hot day, and the kids were having a great time playing in the water.

Two of my favorite art visits were to Vale Craft Gallery and Chiaroscuro. Everything is handcrafted and gorgeous. Definitely worth visiting.

My next post will feature NYC. Stay tuned!

New Jersey Housing Needed

2010-06-13T14:08:00.000-07:00

I hope people from the Princeton, New Jersey area read my blog and can help.

My daughter is about to graduate from college in IL and has an intern position at EFT in Princeton, NJ. It's a wonderful opportunity that she couldn't pass up. The problem is, she can't find a place to live for the 2 months (July and August) she'll be there.

It sounds like the area includes very nice homes and Princeton student housing. It appears that not much else is available. The usual craigslist hunts aren't working.

If you have a room for rent or know of an apartment in that area, please contact me privately.

O-So Many Layers

2010-06-06T15:23:00.000-07:00

The Fibervision challenge is finally complete. Each panel features a piece of fabric that I made using a variety of surface design techniques (screen printing, sunprinting, dyeing, stamping).

The fabric was wrapped around a square of Timtex and stitched together. Each square is then stitched onto the painted canvas to form the letter "O". Each individual square also contains the letter "O" somewhere on its surface, in some cases, all over its surface.

A plastic bracelet was repurposed by wrapping it in translucent ribbon and stitching it to the Timtex. Screen printing, stamping and embroidery are the main techniques used in the square above.

The base of this piece was sunprinted with green and yellow setacolor and the blue was printed on top using a thermofax screen. The tiddlywinks were used to sunprint and then were stitched onto the surface.

Do you know where the inspiration for your art comes from? Generally, I'm not influenced by other artists work, however, this time, I remember seeing two wonderful pieces of art that influenced the layout of my piece. Perhaps I'm kidding myself, maybe I just don't realize how easily influenced I am. Hmmm . . . something to think about.

Take a look at Michelle's colorful piece. It has 9 mixed media squares on a fabric background. She combines recycled items, text and color in a very fun way.

The other inspirational piece was hanging in a local gallery and was made by Michelle y Williams. I instantly fell in love with it but my husband didn't. Unfortunately, the price tag required that both of us had to be in love with it. It is made from metal squares that have layers of paint and texture applied. Twenty five squares were nailed to a solid base to form a grid.

Are there any truly original ideas left? Probably not many.

Eat the Muffins and Repurpose the Packaging

2010-06-02T21:59:00.000-07:00

A group of friends were carpooling to the Southern CA SAQA meeting. I bought some mini blueberry muffins for the ride. While passing out the muffins, I noticed the great flower shape of the packaging. Hmmm . . . this could make a great print. After we returned home, I returned to the store to check out the larger muffins. Oooh, these are a different shape and look even more promising. I didn't need the muffins, but the packaging was irresistible.

I slathered the paint on and made some sample prints on paper. I think they have a lot of potential and have added them to my collection.

This just goes to show that great shapes are everywhere. Some of the favorite printing plates come from very simple packaging items. Have you ever looked at the packing tray that holds those tiny liquor filled chocolate bottles? They make great circles, one of my personal favorite shapes!

Keep your eyes open and let me know if you find something good!

LARGE Birthday Card

2010-05-28T22:14:00.000-07:00

Arlene's birthday invitation came with a rubber nose, peanuts and a photo of her dressed as a clown. Is that funny or what? Arlene is the owner of The Magic Castle in Hollywood and that's where the party was held. She didn't want any presents - only cards. My first thought was, this better be a great card and I started to play. This is what I came up with.Four funny faces! I just love making these faces, they are sooo much fun! My friend Rene is responsible for getting me hooked on this. When I began, I had no idea what the faces would like, they just developed. To me, the faces ended up looking like a robot, a clown, a muppet and a martian. Do you agree or do you see something else?
Here's the back of the card before we signed it. Needless to say, Arlene loved the card. And yes, it was the largest (13" x 17") and most colorful card on the pin-up board. My DH made a wonderful envelope for the card. I'm really happy with the way it turned out.

The party was a blast and the magic is always amazing. If you ever get an invitation to visit the Castle, make sure you accept.

The Benefits of Water Soluble Crayons

2010-05-27T20:45:00.000-07:00

Rayna wondered why you would use Water Soluble Crayons instead of textile paint. Here are several reasons that I can think of. Clean up is much quicker, they are super easy to use, they are very compact for traveling, they don't change the hand of the fabric, and the most important reason of all is that I LOVE to experiment with new materials.

Twelve crayons in a compact tin.

Twelve jars of textile paint.

Don't get me wrong, I love textile paints and crayons won't replace my paint. Crayons are simply one more tool in my toolbox. I'll be traveling this summer, and crayons will be in my suitcase. You may find that crayons are exactly what you need for a particular situation. Options are good!

Printing with Water Soluble Crayons

2010-05-23T17:12:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for a new way to add a layer of color, try water soluble crayons. They are easy to use, cleanup is a snap and they deliver great results. All you need is a thermofax screen, Jacquard extender and water soluble crayons.

Place a padded surface on your table, place the fabric with the pretty side up and put the thermofax on top. Color all over the screen with the water soluble crayons. If you want saturated colors, press hard while coloring to make sure a lot of crayon is applied. Add a line of extender across one edge of the screen, like you would if it were ink or paint and drag it across the entire screen. I used a bondo applicator tool from the car store, but the best tool depends on the surface you are working on.

This photo shows the fabric before it was printed (left), what the printed surface like as I peel the thermofax back (center) and the thermofax as it's being removed (right).

Here is a section of cloth that shows two pulls. You can use one solid color or mix and match whatever way you choose.

This piece shows the same design printed many times using different colors. I started printing with the lime green color, added some blue and printed, added some red and printed, and then I added some yellow and printed. Each additional color mixed with the color below it to create new colors. You should always work quickly and keep your screen good and wet. Fun experiment, great results!

Bendable BrightLight

2010-05-09T19:20:00.000-07:00

Have you tried this new LED task light? Lucky me, I was able to use a 40% off coupon at our local craft store to buy it. The price is pretty high for such a little light, but it gives you a nice bright, white light, exactly where you need it.
See how it's attached to the left side of my sewing machine? The flexible shaft will adjust in any direction you want. If you need light in a different location, just pop the whole piece out of its holder. Be warned, this light does not run on batteries, you need an electrical outlet. I had some major rearranging to do to make one available. It's amazing how many electrical items I have in this studio! The only battery operated item I can think of is my clock.The photo below shows the normal light that comes from my sewing machine. As you can see, the light is yellowish and spreads across several inches.

The photo below shows you how the Brightlight is focused exactly where you want it. I also like it because it doesn't give off a lot of heat like some lamps I own.

It seems like the older my eyes get, the more light I need. If you're like me, you might want to give this light a try. BTW: I have no affiliation, I'm just a happy customer.

"Smoked Out" Returns Home

2010-05-07T23:24:00.000-07:00

My quilt, "Smoked Out" has returned home safe and sound from its year on tour. I hope some of you had a chance to see it up close and personal in Long Beach, Houston or Chicago. Was anyone lucky enough to attend all three shows?

A year is a long time, but I'm thrilled that my quilt was chosen to be part of the Quilts Inc. West Coast Wonders Exhibit. It's obvious that Quilts Inc. took great care of my quilt and I'm very grateful. If you haven't seen the quilt, take a peek in the Gallery.

I've had laryngitis this week and haven't had much energy . . . it was the perfect time to work on little projects.

Hand felting is fun and the bright wool from Susan made me feel better. Everything about her makes me smile, including her crazy dreams!

Shape Splitting is another fun project. You begin with multiples of a shape and explore various ways to divide it up while maintaining the original shape. The leaf shape in the top left corner didn't quite line up as well as it could have. I think two of the pieces were glued in the wrong place. Oh well.

Self Control Isn't One of My Strong Points

2010-05-02T12:42:00.000-07:00

I attended two quilt shows in two weeks, both were mostly traditional with a few innovative quilts sprinkled in. Last weekend was the Seven Sisters show and yesterday I went to the Camarillo show. I enjoy all types of quilts and have pieced my fair share of traditional patterns.

Shopping and inspiration are two things you're sure to find at a quilt show. I've been trying to curb my purchases, mainly because I'm running out of space to store the stuff, but I'm afraid self control isn't one of my strong points! Here's the damage.

One yard of each, most are batiks. I'm always in search of good blacks. I think the grey fabric will look great with some sparks of color added to it.

A large felting brush. I originally bought the smaller brush to try it out. I've discovered that I really enjoy it and need a larger surface. I had to have these large grommets. The vendor used them on handbags. I'm not sure what I'll use them for. A new silver paint stick and stencil brush.

A beautiful scarf with lettuce edges. I like to wear scarves, but they make me so hot, I feel like I'm about to burst into flames! This one is so lightweight, even I can wear it. At least I hope I can, time will tell.

This is a photo from a book that I bought at Barnes and Nobles this past week. It's called Earth From Above. 366 Days by Yann Arthus-Bertrand. The images are from all over the world and are fabulous. Each photo includes the location and a description of what you're looking at. Some are quite abstract and you would never guess what it is. Examples: Colorful Bottle Racks in Germany, Slash & Burn Farming in Venezuela, Waste from a Uranium Mine in Niger.

The photo above is of ice skaters at Wollman Rink in Central Park in New York City. Earlier this week I watched a documentary about a Hawk called Pale Male that made NY and Central Park it's home. I'll be in MA in June, maybe a NY side trip is necessary. I've been to the museums, Radio City Music Hall, shopping, etc., but I didn't make it to Central Park. Is it worth the trip?

Enhancing the Surface with Layers of Color

2010-05-02T00:56:00.000-07:00

The base fabric was painted with Dye-na-flow, when it was dry, water soluble crayons were applied through two different thermofax screens. I didn't care for the way it was developing . . . it looked too pretty. I decided to put it away for a couple of weeks.

When these new permanent markers arrived, I had to test them. I added a layer of writing to the surface. Interesting, but I didn't want the writing to be the focus. Now what?

It's too monochromatic, it needed some intense color. Circles were added with permanent markers and Tsukineko ink. Better . . . but too bright.

I decided to integrate the layers by glazing with two colors of Jacquard Textile Paint. I applied the paint to the entire surface with a dry sponge. The glaze knocked the intensity down a notch.

A subtle change, but much better.

Still Stitching and Embellishing

2010-04-25T15:35:00.000-07:00

As you can see from the photo below, I'm still stitching and embellishing. This mat and metal trays help control my beads. If you spill a container of beads, you'll be picking them up for the next 2 years. Not much fun! Do you have specific tools that make your beading easier?

Here's the final square for the letter "O" challenge. I didn't finish in time for the Fibervision meeting, but I faked it pretty well. Each square was attached to the canvas with two applique pins. My first attempt with blue tape attached to the back didn't work because the squares were too heavy. Once I finish the embellishment on this square, I'll stitch them all to the canvas background.

Everyone loved my piece and thought it would make a great sample for teaching surface design. I tend to underestimate the amount of information I have and think that everyone knows what I know. My friends keep telling me that it's not true, I have a lot to share and should teach. Teaching is something I would like to do, but at this point in my life, I don't have enough hours in my day.

I love the texture in this sea foam along the beach. I use circular or pebble quilting quite often and find that the size variation of the bubbles is what makes it interesting. I recently saw a quilt where all of the bubbles were the same size and I didn't care for the way it looked. IMHO, Size does matter! LOL

Progress . . . Inside and Out

2010-04-18T21:54:00.000-07:00

It was a good weekend . . . my "To Do" list is definitely a little shorter. The long days and warm temperatures really make the flowers bloom. Here are a couple of close ups of flowers in my garden.

Nothing like a beautiful Gerber Daisy. They are easy to grow and seem to live forever.

This is an Angel Trumpet Tree. Right now, it's around 5 feet tall, however, they can grow up to 15 feet tall.

Here's a couple of finished panels for my Fibervision challenge. Will it be finished by next weekend? I'm not sure. I still have to finish two panels and attach them all to the black canvas.

The fabric and embellishments in each panel is completely different, however, each has layers of paint, dye or marker. They have been rubbed, screened, scraped, sun-printed and bleached. There is quite a bit of hand stitching, lots of beads and some re-purposed items attached.

With any luck, I'll have a photo of the finished piece ready for the next post. Stay tuned!

Invitational Exhibit at AQS show

2010-04-13T21:13:00.000-07:00

This is a giant display in the Ventura Museum window. I asked to have the poster after the show but was told that it's printed on film and probably wouldn't survive the process of removing it. Bummer.

AQS has invited "Becoming Art at the Seams" to travel to Knoxville, TN show for a special exhibit in July. How cool is that?

Do you remember all the planting I did this time last year? Here's the mature version of the same garden. Isn't it pretty?? Amazing what a year and 20 inches of rain can do!

I saw this "animated line" video on Cheryl's blog and thought you would also enjoy it.

It's Challenge Time!

2010-04-07T22:04:00.000-07:00

My Fibervision challenge piece is due in a few weeks. Nothing like a deadline to get me moving! This year, I found the challenge to be, well, very challenging! I think there were too many rules and I had a hard time starting. You need to use a specific letter of the alphabet, mine is "O", it has to be mounted on a specific size canvas or stretcher bars and it needs to have some recycled element in it.

Here's a sneak peek of a couple of the elements. So far these two squares have gelatin printing, screen-printing, rubbing, stamping, painting and beading and I still have a ton of handwork to do. My recycled element will be one of my thread circles. I never know how a piece will turn out ahead of time. I start with a general idea and let it evolve. This one has evolved many times already!

I just added a new page called Art Gallery. I thought you enjoy seeing some of my finished work. I'll try to add more as time allows. I didn't realize you could add additional pages until I read a post at Through My Eyes. I also added a tab for Tutorials, but haven't had the time to post any. I'll let you know when it's ready.

We had a lovely picnic at Goleta Beach after work and then went for a walk on the pier. It was very peaceful and relaxing. It was just what I needed.

Venice Beach, California

2010-04-02T20:57:00.000-07:00

I've never seen anyplace quite like Venice Beach. I've heard CA referred to as "The Land of Fruits and Nuts" and never quite understood it until this past weekend! What a colorful bunch of people! Here's a photo of Muscle Beach. Basically, it's an outdoor gym where muscle bound men show off.Look very close - see if you can find "Tree Man" hidden in among the palm tree. He's a walking, talking, 8 foot tree from the land of Lanoce (combination of Land and Ocean).

Here's a closer view of him. You should be able to see his mouth, chin and neck in this photo. If you really want to see more, look for him on Facebook!Many of the buildings have murals painted on them. This happens to be a knock-off of my favorite Vincent Van Gogh painting.Here's a detail of another mural full of alien creatures. I like the slogan on his T-shirt "You Can't Until You Say You Can". Very True.

This is nothing like Santa Barbara where graffiti has to be painted over within 24 hours or you get fined mega bucks. I guess every tourist area has a different audience. Venice Beach is a blast from the past! I'm glad I went, but I probably won't be going back any time soon.

Front Page News

2010-03-30T19:22:00.001-07:00

Susan told me that my photo was on the front page of the Ventura County Star, but I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that a detail of my quilt, "Inside Out: Macrophage", IS the front page!

Wow, that's quite the portfolio piece. There is a very nice article inside, and more photos of the quilts. The reception was amazing, almost too well attended. It was so crowded, you could barely get near the art. I guess that's better than having nobody show up. I want to go back to the museum and look at all the art again, it seems I have a hard time focusing on opening night. I'll also be there for the lecture entitled "Maverick Quilts" with Julie Silber. It's a great show . . . I hope you get a chance to stop by to see it.

As promised, here's the newest addition to my garden art collection. Venus caught a Spark Plug bug! The whole thing uses recycled materials and it's nicely rusted. The fences were just replaced, now I need to measure, draw a site plan and figure out the hard scape. More dirty days to come. Unfortunately, I haven't had too much time to quilt!

Fun Friday

2010-03-26T22:28:00.000-07:00

If you ever wondered what I look like, here I am at Ostrichland. Yep, that's right . . . Ostrichland. If you like being frightened by large animals, this is the place for you!

My daughter is home for spring break, so we decided to head north to play tourist! We stopped at Creation Station where Dawn and Patrick have created a fabulous fabric store and gift shop. Then we went on to this fun garden store. There are so many wonderful items to choose from.

We're about to start the remodeling the backyard and I'm collecting garden art. Today we bought a rusty Venus fly trap catching a bug that's made from a spark plug! I know it sounds a bit strange, what can I say. I'll take a photo for the next post, you'll love it too.

Guess where our final stop was? Can you tell what kind of bottles these are? They're all stored on their sides in a dark room that is temperature controlled.

Give up? We went to Gainey Vin eyard for a tour of the facilities and then wine tasting. What a great way to start the weekend!

Tomorrow, I'm leading a Visual Texture workshop with my Fibervision group. Should be another fun day!

My New Best Friend

2010-03-20T21:46:00.000-07:00

Here she is . . . the newest addition to my household! Isn't she pretty?? I'm so happy to have a working computer again. I'm switching from a PC to a Mac, so there is a bit of a learning curve, but I'm getting it.

Every time I cut thread tails off the end of a seam, I add it to this jar. My jar began to overflow, so I needed to find a way to recycle the thread.

This is what I came up with - thread circles.

I got a little carried away and made quite a few of them in various colors and sizes. This one already has a home in my newest piece.

Do you have a favorite recycling technique? If so, I would love to hear about it.

Museum of Ventura County Exhibit

2010-03-09T22:12:00.000-08:00

Happy Dance time! I'm really excited to tell you about an exhibit that is opening this week at the Museum of Ventura County. Three of my pieces were juried into the show, along with fabulous work from 27 other fiber artists in LA, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. A detail of one of my pieces was included in the brochure (see below).

The opening reception is Friday, March 12 from 6:00 - 8:00 pm at the museum. Check their website for more information. I hope you get a chance to stop by to see the show, it will be on display for 3 months.
And here's the page with my photo. It's such an honor to have your work featured in the promotional materials. They have some other fiber events planned besides the exhibit. I'm looking forward to the Maverick Quilts lecture.

Well, I'm the proud owner of a brand new iMac. I'm really happy with my decision, but I'm having my fair share of issues transferring files and favorite websites, but I'm getting closer every day. I lost quite a few emails when my computer crashed, so please forgive me if I never answered you. Many of my email addresses have disappeared, so drop me a note so I can add you back into my address book.

Once I get CS4 up and running I'll be able to process some photos and start blogging again.

The Hunt Continues . . .

2010-02-22T22:35:00.000-08:00

I've looked at a lot of computers in the past couple of weeks - laptops, desktops, all in ones, both PC and Mac. It appears that I'm falling in love with a 20.5 all in one iMac (hope that is right). There are a couple of software issues holding me back . . . some of the programs won't work on a Mac, ad the other is the price of Creative Suite. I may get an emulator, so if you have any experience with an emulator, I would love to hear from you. It's difficult sharing a computer, having to use a card reader and an external hard drive all the time, but I'm getting by. My husband told the Mac salesperson that I was switching to the Dark Side, you can imagine how that went over!

My friend, Andi, spent a couple of days lecturing and teaching in Camarillo and Santa Barbara. She spent a couple of nights with us and we had a great time. Mike made a delicious beef sate for us, we drank some wine, and printed fabric the following day. Then 10 or so Fibervision members met for dinner at the Beachside Restaurant. It was a lot of fun and I should have sleep overs more often. Here is some of the fabric I printed and painted, some during her visit, some after she went home.

This was printed using a thermofax screen. After it dried, I painted it with Setacolor.
This base of this piece used deconstructed screenprinting methods with thickened dye. I really didn't like the white background and decided to jazz it up by painting the background with Setacolor. A huge improvement and now I love it.

This is screenprinted using a thermofax made of bubble wrap. I painted it with setacolor and let the sun do its magic.

This was an experiment. I machine basted lines of stitching, gathered them up and tied them off. I sprayed the fabric with water, drizzled Dye-na-flow all over and let it dry. And this is what it looks like once the stitches were removed and ironed. You can see the lines of stitches. It's interesting the way paint gathers in the hills and valleys.

HP Laptop DIED!

2010-02-19T17:51:00.000-08:00

I'll start with an apology because I'm going to vent just a bit. My HP laptop died and I experienced the worse customer service ever. After 30 minutes of customer dissatisfaction on two different occasions with two different tech support reps in India, and numerous requests to speak to a supervisor . . . I give up!

My laptop experienced a major problem that HP knew about but failed to tell me. If HP knows of a problem, they post it on their website, but don't tell the customer. If you happen to find the problem while your laptop is still under warranty, they will replace the motherboard. If your warranty runs out before the issue arises, Tough Luck! The fact that they built a BAD product doesn't seem to faze them. Well, after thousands of dollars invested in the company, I'm done with HP for good. Let the buyer beware . . . they don't care about you at all.

Well, on to a more pleasant and colorful subject . . . this quilt top was just completed. I showed it on my design board a couple of posts ago. It has some hand painted fabric, sunprinted fabric, a thermofax screened print and some fabric that I ran through my inkjet printer. I think I'll make the quilting pretty simple because of all the seams.

You may recall this fabric that I screenprinted a while ago. I finally made into a tote bag that I use for grocery shopping. I didn't quite have enough, so I painted and stamped the yellow stripe to add in on each side. I love it - it makes me smile.

Aerial Photos of Salt Lake City

2010-01-31T16:27:00.000-08:00

I'm really excited about the aerial photos I took over Salt Lake City. I've never flown over during the winter, so this was new to me.This is one of my favorites . . . such a great composition. This one reminds me of a circuit board.This one looks as if someone just applied the final brushstrokes.The combination of salt, mud, ice and snow made for some fantastic abstract compositions.

We had a great trip to Evanston, IL to visit our daughter for her final college swim meet. Hard to believe that after 14 years it's coming to an end. I know her body will be happy to have a break - 6 hours of swimming a day, 6 days a week is tough. I am constantly amazed at Rachel's focus and determination . . . it's something I could never do.

No trip to Evanston is complete without a visit to Dick Blick and Vogue Fabric. All I bought was a little Thai silk, bright yellow roving, versatex printing ink, extender, Golden open acrylic gloss, and Jacquard color remover.

Not too bad - my suitcase was only 48 pounds and I think my bright red pea coat accounted for 20 pounds. I was surprised how few colorful coats there were. It's so grey in the winter, people should wear more color. Just my opinion.

Grey Ending to a Colorful Week

2010-01-17T14:14:00.000-08:00

A few exciting things happened this week, but the most exciting is the box that arrived from Dharma Trading. I've been fighting the urge to start a new collection, but I finally gave in. Here's what I bought . . . Procion Dye, Urea, Sodium Algenate, Cotton/Bamboo, Cotton/Silk fabric and lots of plastic bottles. Score!!! Now I just have to figure out what to do with all of it!! In the past, someone else did the mixing for me. Susan has already sent me lots of info that I'll read during my flight to Chicago next week. We're going to see our 5' 10", 22 year old baby swim in her final college swim meet.

Yvonne Porcella was the guest speaker at our guild this month. I went to her lecture Thursday night and took her silk painting class on Friday. I never painted silk before, so that was really fun. Yesterday, I went to the Road 2 CA quilt show in Ontario, CA. It's been a busy week.

This is one of the new camellia bushes I planted. As you can see, they're doing great. Nothing like a little color in the middle of winter.The rain started here about an hour ago. The weather report says to expect 6-8" on the coast and 20" in the mountains. At the widest part of town, it's 6 miles from the mountains to the ocean. My house is at the base of the mountain and it's probably 3 miles to the ocean. Remember all the forest fires? Our mountains haven't recovered and 20" is a lot of rain. Keep your fingers crossed!

UFO or WIP?

2010-01-11T18:34:00.000-08:00

I love it when people leave a comment. It's nice to know somebody is actually reading my blog. There were several comments about (UFO's) UnFinished Objects! It seems like everyone has them . . . the difference is their attitude about them. Some refer to them as Works in Progress (WIP). To me a WIP is different than a UFO. If it's on my design board, it's a WIP. If I lose interest and it comes off my board, it's a UFO. Out of sight - out of mind. Once that happens, I'm ready to move on to something else and I have a difficult time going backwards. And that applies to everything. I can't even do a back dive or roller skate backwards! Sad but true!
Here's a photo of one of my design boards. It's the typical wall insulation covered in felt. WIP's, inspiring pieces of fabric, comics, photos & quotes are among some of the things found there. The piece in top right corner is a hand-painted piece of fabric that has lots of inspiring shapes. The bottom left is a WIP that uses a photo made into a thermofax and then printed, an abstracted photo that was printed on fabric, hand-painted fabric, deconstructed screen printed fabric and commercial fabric. Quite a mix. The bottom right is screen printed fabric that's waiting to be made into a bag. The top left is a quilt made by a friend. It's amazing how good it looks with my own work.Here's the same design board a few days later. The WIP in the bottom left has changed quite a bit, but it's still not finished.

Here are two more UFO's. Both are completely finished tops, well constructed, interesting to look at, approximately 40-45" square. Why are they unfinished? I don't know. I love circles . . . that in itself should be enough to get me to finish them. The top one is completely pieced, the bottom one is machine appliqued.

Patty Ashworth has a system that might help get these projects finished. One year she made a resolution to finish one project a month before she could start anything else. It worked for her . . . It might work for you. Anybody game?

Wild Tote Bag

2009-12-26T10:44:00.000-08:00

My boss loves to travel all over the world to shoot fabulous photos. Her latest adventure was to Africa. One of her Christmas presents to me was a book entitled An African Moment. It is filled with HER photos of gorgeous landscapes and every wild animal you can think of. I thought she would enjoy having a tote bag that reflected the African animal theme and made her this Wild tote bag.
I thought she would like it but wasn't fully convinced because it is just a little bold, but she loved it! She is completely in awe of anyone that can sew, so it's pretty easy to impress her. LOL

Here's the pitiful progress made on the chenille piece. You can see some of the layers of color peeking out through the cuts. I have to say that it takes forever to cut through these random channels of quilting. I'm still not convince that it's worth it, but will continue on as my patience allows it. It looks like I'm almost finished, but this photo only shows around 20% of the piece. It's definitely a labor of love and I hope it doesn't end up in a pile of UFO's like the ones below.Am I the only person that has a lot of UFO's (UnFinished Objects)? I doubt it. I know some people finish each project before they start another. Not me, I generally have 2-3 going at the same time. This photo is of perfectly acceptable quilts in various stages of development. Top left is a quilt top made of 1" squares, top right is a wonky 9 patch that is layered and pinned, bottom left is chenille that would make a great pillow, bottom right is quilted, maybe another pillow or a bag.

What makes me stop working on a project when it's so close to completion? I don't have a good answer. Some people say that once we've learned the lesson needed, we move on. It appears that I've learned a lot of lessons! I have at least 10 projects worth finishing that will be completed in 2010. There, it's in writing, now the commitment is real and I have to do it.

Unusual Log Cabin

2009-12-13T16:51:00.001-08:00

Here it is . . . the finished log cabin quilt I made for Leslie, my Blockhead buddy. I'm really pleased with the way it turned out and Leslie loved it. The piecing was a challenge because there were so many points converging at the end of each football shape. I feel it was worth the extra work to get this unique kaleidoscope & star combination. Each block measured 3-1/2" and the overall quilt is around 14" square.

Here's the quilt that I received from Jean. The inspiration I gave her was a photo of a macaw. She used the colors in the photo and created this wonderful snail trail quilt. Thank you Jean, I love it.This is the base fabric that I'm using for a surface texture experiment. Something sturdy and colorful. Hmmm . . . what could it be?This pile of scraps is the middle layer of this colorful sandwich. This technique uses tons of leftover scraps. If you're a pack rat and have lots of patience, this may be for you.If you want to know more, here's the link to the Country Channel TV that Sandy sent to me a couple of weeks ago. Be sure to search for all episodes of Talking Threads.

I'll show more as progress is made. I started with a piece 24 x 30", I should have started with a 12" square. Don't follow my example unless you're a glutton for punishment!! LOL

Fall Foliage in Southern California?

2009-12-03T21:25:00.000-08:00

Many people believe that Southern California is always warm. Well, it's not true. As a matter of fact, it's pretty chilly. My heater is on right now. I know a lot of you are laughing at me . . . you think I don't know what it's like to be cold, but you're wrong. I grew up in Massachusetts and it's very cold there. I must admit though, my blood has thinned a lot in the past 30 years!

This is fall foliage in Southern California. Not quite the same as the east coast, but beautiful non the less. The colorful trees is one of the things that attracted us to this neighborhood.

I came across these bare branches at the lake and thought it would make a good thermofax screen.

Here's a piece in progress. One of my groups has an exchange each year. Leslie's inspiration was a photo of a butterfly. I decided to print the butterfly on fabric and use it as the focus in this unusual log cabin setting. This is half of the finished square. When finished, it will form a very cool circle with a star in the middle. Leslie prefers traditional quilts, so I tried to combine the best of both traditional and artsy. Right now, it's on the small side, I'm going to have to get creative with some borders. Any suggestions? I need to finish by Saturday. Yikes! Back to work.

One of a Kind Shopping Bags

2009-11-28T15:37:00.001-08:00

My husband and I have decided to be more friendly to the environment. It started by filtering our own water and using a metal water bottle, and then progressed to reusable shopping bags. I really didn't want a bag that said Trader Joe's. I decided to use some of my hand-dyed, painted and screened fabric to make a shopping bag that was truly one of a kind.

I started with a set of instructions that was fairly simple and proceeded to change everything about it. I think the only thing that remained the same was the length of the webbing used on the strap! I kept coming up with a better way to do it . . . I just can't help myself. In the end, it's still pretty simple, but the way it goes together makes a lot more sense (at least to me).

Here's the first bag I made using hand dyed denim on the outside. The interior has a beautiful batik.

Once my husband saw the fabric combination below, he decided he would also like a special shopping bag. The fabric on the left is a commercial fabric, the fabric on the right was sunprinted, then it was printed using a thermofax screen.

Here's the finished bag. I'm happy to say that Mike loves it!

This is the fabric combination for the next bag. The purple is a commercial fabric and will be used for the lining. The fabric on the right was screenprinted using blue glue on a screen. Once the denim was dry, I added color in some of the squiggles with Dye-na-flow.

Hope those participating enjoyed their Thanksgiving celebration. Two of my three kids came home for a short visit. Although our dinner was delicious, it definitely wasn't traditional. Somehow, all three of my kids turned into vegetarians. One will eat dairy products, one will eat dairy and fish and one is vegan. We decided to have Macadamia nut encrusted Halibut with grilled tofu, home made applesauce, carrot salad, grilled asparagus and stuffing! Everyone was happy and it was wonderful to spend some time together. What more can you ask for?

Fabulous Fiber Pins

2009-11-22T21:08:00.000-08:00

Of all the items I made for the boutique at the Elverhoj Museum, the fiber pins were the most fun to create. The first examples are felted using wool roving. A surprise package arrived in the mail from my buddy, Susan Italo. She gave me some of her solar dyed CVM Corridale wool. OMG, I couldn't believe how luscious the colors were. Thank you Susan!

The pins below were made using a stiff sheet of felt as the base. I stitched and drew on the sheet with markers and added a variety of thread and yarn. I cut it into shapes and dipped it into melted UTEE and heated it some more. I then added a background of thick felt and stitched it together with beads.

I'm currently working on tote bags. Photos will be shown in the next post.

Making up for Lost Time

2009-11-11T22:26:00.000-08:00

A number of things have happened to me in the last few months that prevented me from creating much of anything. I'm finally feeling better and am making up for lost time.

Three of my quilts were juried into the Redefining a Material World exhibit at the Elverhoj Museum in Solvang from November 14 - January 24, 2010. The opening reception will be this Saturday, November 14th from 4:00 -6:00 pm. If you happen to be on the central coast of CA in the next few months, stop by the museum to see the show. You'll probably recognize the image on the front of the postcard because it was in the design stage in my last post. I was finally able to finish it this past month along with another "cellular" quilt called Macrophage. Below is a detail shot.I also made quite a few postcards and pins to sell in the boutique. Below is one of my needle felted postcards.

It feels great to be back!

West Coast Wonders

2009-07-20T23:12:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been so long since the last post. Thanks for hanging in there with me and sending emails. Unfortunately, my arm and neck became so painful, I had to stop typing and using a mouse. I switched to a trackball mouse and absolutely love it. Unfortunately, the problem hasn't really disappeared, it's slowly moving through my body, creating havoc wherever it decides to stop. I'm visiting a kinesiologist regularly and hope to have this cleared up very soon.

If anyone is going to the quilt show in Long Beach this week, keep an eye out for my "Smoked Out" quilt in the West Coast Wonders special exhibit. It will also be traveling to Houston and Chicago and will return home sometime next year. I will be in Long Beach, but would appreciate photos of my quilt in Houston and Chicago.

I took a 5 day workshop with the fabulous Rayna Gillman at Quilters Studio. After 3 days of being together, Rayna and I were finishing each others sentences. Here's a piece that I designed during a quick (15 minute) study. The crazy hand-painted fabric was a gift from my buddy, Andi Perejda.Here's a piece of screen-printed fabric that I chopped up and put back together. Both pieces are off to a good start, but definitely need more work. Hopefully, I will get back to work / play soon!

I also had the pleasure of meeting Terri in person for the first time. We chatted like as if we have known each other for years! It was a great group of talented women and I enjoyed the whole experience. A huge thank you to Pam and Stan for inviting me to stay in their home. We went out for a great Mexican dinner and plenty of Margaritas! Pam, please send me your email address.

The Expanded Square (Or Half Square Triangle)

2009-06-07T15:50:00.001-07:00

Generally, Fibervision has a workshop after our business meeting. Andi led the last workshop which was based on an article in Quilting Arts by Jane Dunnewold. If you save your old issues, look in issue 27, June/July 2007. Basically, it is a study of balance between positive and negative space. You start off with a black paper square (or half square triangle), cut shapes, remove the shape, and transfer it to the opposite side of the square or half square. Sounds easy, doesn't it? It can be simple or very complicated and confusing. The two examples below are pretty straight forward, however, I designed two squares that are more complicated.

This one was cut from a half square triangle. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to develop this one into a repeated pattern before my right arm started hurting. Every time I type or use the mouse, the forearm hurts. This is the only repeat that I was able to finish. As you can see, a simple design can develop into a wonderful pattern. I love the strong graphic quality and will be doing more as soon as my arm is better. Enjoy!

Group Quilt

2009-05-24T07:36:00.000-07:00

Several months ago, my Fibervision group got together for a funny face portrait workshop led by Rene Jennings. Our friend and Fibervision member, Susan West had just lost her home of 25 years in the Tea Fire. We decided to combine these small quilts into a group quilt for her. Each portrait is an 8-1/2 x 11 finished quilt that is attached to a quilted backing. It turned out great! Here's the finished quilt.
We gave the quilt to Susan yesterday at the Fibervision meeting. Needless to say, she loved it. It's probably the most laughing she's done in the the last 6 months. If you want to see a close up of my quilt, look here and here is the second funny face I created.

Are you a topper?

2009-05-22T21:01:00.000-07:00

I could easily go through life creating quilt tops. Surely, I'm not the only one!

I learned how to machine quilt quite a few years ago, but I never really felt comfortable deciding how to quilt it. When I finish a top, I layer it with batting and backing fabric, pin it, and then I go brain dead.

I hang the top on my design board and stare at it, waiting for an image of the perfect quilting pattern to appear. Well, let me tell you, it never appears. How should it be quilted? What will it look like? It seems the fear of choosing the wrong design is enough to paralyze me.

Usually a looming deadline kicks me in the behind and forces me to take the quilt to my sewing machine and start quilting it, whether I have a plan or not. Once I get started, I relax and the quilting design works itself out. Most people are amazed when I tell them that I have this internal struggle, because it doesn't show in the final product.

I've heard of all sorts of ways to test out a quilting pattern, but they're too structured for me. I started asking the best quilter I know, Susan Italo, lots of questions. She's been really generous with her knowledge and quilting library (thanks Susan). I'm hoping that some of her quilt magic rubs off on me.

I've been making a lot of quilt samples on plain muslin, practicing different patterns, searching for the ones that are comfortable for me. I decided to paint one of my quilting samples with textile paints and here's a portion of it. What will I do with this? I don't know, but it still doesn't feel finished. Any suggestions?

Needle Felted Postcards

2009-05-18T21:04:00.000-07:00

These postcards started with a piece of gray wool that somebody put on the free table at our guild meeting. It was the perfect background for these needle felted postcards for the Surface Design group "Anything but Cotton" trade.

I worked on these while we were visiting our daughter in Evanston, IL. It was the perfect travel project. The front is made with wool roving and decorated with beads, the back has painted Lutrador. I hope the recipients enjoy receiving them as much as I enjoyed making them.

Postcards Received

2009-05-17T20:56:00.000-07:00

I received three wonderful postcards in the "Anything but Cotton" trade from the Surface Design group. What material(s) do you think I used to make my postcards?My camera didn't capture the iridescent quality of this postcard. Annette used polyester brocade and velvet.

Jan made this luscious postcard from silk, wool, and a variety of yarn.

Tracy couched a lot of yarn onto a background and painted it with metallic paint. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to capture the shimmery gold paint on this postcard.

A huge thank you to my trading partners, it was a fun trade. My postcards are finished and will be mailed tomorrow. I was a bit distracted during the wildfire and was a bit late getting my postcards finished. I'll show them to you next post.

I was going to take a workshop with B. J. Adams, but I ran out of vacation days, so had to back out of the class. So, I decided to try some of the FME techniques that she uses on my own. This little tree is thread painted on a tulle background. I like the way the tree looks, but I'm not thrilled with the tulle. Next time, I will use a water or heat dissolving stabilizer.

I think this would be classified as thread drawing. It's pretty quick and easy. I can see this technique being used with quilting designs too. Both techniques could be quite useful, so I'll stick them into my bag of tricks.

Funny Face

2009-05-12T23:13:00.000-07:00

Here's my newest Funny Face. I just love making these! I think it might be impossible to look at it without smiling.

The idea is to turn the left brain off and let the right brain take over, in other words, create intuitively. It's all about having fun. I didn't intend for the portrait to resemble anyone in particular, but I've already heard two comments about how much it resembled an un-named relative.

I've got a lot of embellishment to do, but I thought you might enjoy seeing it in progress.

This piece was made using leftovers from other projects. I pulled random pieces out of my scrap basket and attached them to a muslin foundation. Once the pieces were arrange to my liking, I quilted the top to muslin and batting. I stitched along all the edges and turned the piece right side out. Some hand stitching and embellishment is already underway.

PhotoEZ Screenprints

2009-05-11T20:02:00.000-07:00

Wow . . . I can't believe it's been over a month since I last posted. Where does the time go?

Here's some of the printed fabric I made using the PhotoEZ screens I made from bubble wrap. As predicted, both samples printed great. The red sample looks pretty similar to how real bubble wrap would print. This sample shows the Photoshop manipulated outline of bubble wrap. I really like the way this one turned out, it will add a wonderful layer of texture and it's very unique.The graphics for this last screen was made in Illustrator by manipulating the letter"o". I'm involved in an alphabet challenge, and this is one of my experiments. I'm not sure if I'll use it, but I enjoyed playing with letters.

As many of you know, there have been a lot of wildfires around my house in the last couple of years. Unfortunately, we're having another one, the Jesusita fire! This fire quickly spread through the hills of three neighboring cities, Goleta (where I live), Santa Barbara, and Montecito. Over 30,000 people were evacuated and another 15,000 were in the evacuation warning area. The winds blew embers up to 1/2 mile away and would start another fire. Needless to say, it was horrific. Nobody was safe. I've never been so grateful to see the fog roll in.

The last report I heard said it was 65% contained, and as long as the Santa Ana winds don't blow tonight, we should be fine. I think 80 houses were completely destroyed and 20 or so damaged. I was packed, but didn't get evacuated. Many of my friends were evacuated, but all of them are safe and none of their houses were burned.

Firefighters from all over the surrounding states came to put this fire out. I am in total awe of these brave individuals, they are true heroes.

I guess I'll get my sewing machine out of the car, I need to finish some postcards for an Anything but Cotton trade for the Surface Design Yahoo Group.

Love My Bubble Wrap

2009-04-07T23:13:00.000-07:00

I've used bubble wrap many times to print on fabric or paper. It is one of the easiest background textures that I've found. In order to get the best texture, you should pop the large bubbles; it doesn't seem to make a difference with the small bubbles.

While trying to figure out a new way to use bubble wrap, I had one of those "What If" moments. I decided to put the bubble wrap directly on the scanner to see what would happen. The scan has some interesting textures, but the ink coverage would be really thick. I proceeded to play in Photoshop until I came up with the next example.Hmmm . . . I like! I think this one will make a nice print, but . . . I decided to take it even further.

Wow, very cool. I decided to make a PhotoEZ screen of the last two examples. I haven't had a chance to print with them yet, but I think (hope) they are going to look great. In the past, I made a couple of screens that just didn't look good when printed, they ended up looking mushy. At this point, I've accumulated a pretty extensive set of PhotoEZ and Thermofax screens; you would think I could tell ahead of time, but I still can't be sure what the final results will like.

Which one do you think will look best when printed?

Colorful Circles

2009-04-04T23:29:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to post the quilt that Jean Morrison made for me as part of the Blockhead exchange. The inspiration I provided was a photo that I took of some clay circles (my favorite shape) attached to a wall. The original photo was pretty interesting . . . but I still had to to play with it to improve the colors. Here's what it looked like when I was finished.And here is the quilt that Jean made for me. Wow, did she ever color my world. Thanks Jean, I love it. She picked my name again for the challenge next year! BTW, Jean is a wonderful photographer, you should check out her website. I wish she would post on her blog more often (hint, hint), but she's in the middle of remodeling her house (I know the feeling).

A Creative Weekend

2009-03-31T22:18:00.000-07:00

I love the weekends. I usually get some free time to spend with my fiber friends, but this weekend was all play and not much work.

Fibervision had their monthly meeting on Saturday. The business meeting was pretty quick for a change. We had art talk, show & tell, a quick lunch and bead shopping at a store that is going out of business. I can understand why it's going out of business . . . this store has been open for one year, directly across the street from where we hold our meeting, and none of us ever knew it existed. Huh? How can that be? I saw a going out of business sale on Craigslist, so 12 of us piled into the shop. I'm sure she was as surprised as we were!

Here's my haul . . . there's several types of glass beads, a fused glass pendant, a cross section of some type of nut, semi-precious stone beads, copper bells and some funky happy face beads. How's that for an eclectic assortment?After the shopping, Lucilla led a fun workshop making a collage out of photos and text from magazines. It was a round robin format with only 2-1/2 minutes to work on each collage before it was passed on.

On Sunday, I went with three friends to the Glendale Quilt Show. I'm sure you're not too surprised that I found some items that I just had to purchase.This book really grabbed my attention and begged to come home with me. It has some interesting techniques that I hope to incorporate into one of my upcoming challenges. And look at these beautiful soy fibers. Silk fusion is a technique that I've been wanting to try for a while. One of the vendors had a kit that contained the silk fibers, textile medium and instructions. Her instruction said that The Ultimate glue works well for heavy duty uses, so I decided to buy a bottle and give it a try.

After the quilt show and lunch, it was onto a SAQA meeting in Brentwood (LA). It's the first informal meeting of this type that I've been to; but plans are underway to have one each quarter. It was a fun afternoon spent with some very talented artists. Lucky me!

Art Technique Fat Book

2009-03-21T17:39:00.000-07:00

As promised, here are a few photos of my Art Technique fat book trade. The only technique rule was to use recycled or cheap household items. Originally, there were 120 participants, but a couple people didn't follow through with the commitment. I was quite impressed, it's difficult to get 118 people to do anything!

Personally, I think there are way too many pages to be a traditional book, so I decided to punch two holes and use loose binder rings to hold them together. Somebody else in the group put her pages into a box.On the left, Pat Upton uses alcohol to do an inkjet transfer. On the right, Karen Swiech has a little book in a recycled net pocket that describes how to paint the surface and make the book.Theresa Ross shows different ways to use hardware store washers. They are really pretty and surprisingly heavy.

On the left, Kathy Swift shows how to dye and layer tissue paper that ends up looking like leather. On the right, Martha Rose Bonds demonstrates how to use aluminum cans for embellishment.

There are a wide variety of techniques ranging from Homemade Alcohol Inks to Recycled Wine Bottle Screwcap embellishments. Definitely something for everyone and a wonderful resource for years to come.