White on White Tallis

A long time friend commissioned me to applique some white doves and leaves on a white silk tallis. Heidi is doing a lot of white on white hand embroidery. I hope you can see the dove in this photo, it was very difficult to photograph. There are 10 doves in all, 5 on each side panel.It is very understated and elegant. Her son will be using the tallis at his wedding instead of a chuppa. Sounds like it's going to be a very grand affair at the San Ysidro Ranch in Montecito. There is a very good chance that this wedding will be highly publicized.

Here's a little experiment I tried with a 1" styrofoam ball. I felted wool roving to the styrofoam. Little by little, the styrofoam seemed to disappear, leaving a felted ball in its place. I flattened one of the balls into a button shape and punched two holes through it. This is a lot of fun, I can see myself making enough felted beads for a necklace.

You could feel a storm approaching this afternoon, the temperature started to drop and the clouds were rolling in quickly. It made me want to cook a large pot of chicken soup, so I pulled out carrots and look at what I found!

Imprint of the Soul

This is the quilt I've been working on for the last couple of weeks. It has a lot of stitching, both by hand and machine. I love the colors and the way the light hits the silk. It feels very rich and elegant.

The first source of inspiration came from a poem that my son Sean wrote called Couturier. Here is the first line: "The first things to notice are the sterile lights illuminating fabrics one dreams of but rarely visits with touch".

I've collected some silk fabrics, but never used them. After reading his poem, I couldn't find the silk fast enough. I was working on a series of line drawings that I felt would work well with the poem and the silk. I ended up doing a lot more hand stitching than I usually do but the texture the seed stitching was exactly what the piece needed.

Okay, enough already, here it is. Did you notice all the circles? I'm telling you, they keep showing up in my work.

With any luck, it will be on exhibit at the Architectural Foundation of Santa Barbara in March. It is a little bigger than the size specified, however, my Fibervision group is known for breaking the rules. We'll see if the rule breaking/bending applies to size!

I LOVE Circles

Circles appear in my work more than any other shape. I'm not sure why, but it definitely seems to be my symbol. So when the challenge for my "Blockheads" mini group came due, I looked through my vast selection of photos for inspiration. This photo of circles spoke to me the loudest, so this is what I added to my envelope. The exchange was random, but Jean and I ended up choosing each others envelope. Jean's inspiration is beautiful lily pads (looks a lot like photos in my personal collection). Jean and I share the same birthday (except I'm 20 years older), we also share many of the same ideas and interests: quilting, photography & computers. The only rule for this challenge is no barbed wire! It's going to be fun to see what comes out of this.

The painted fabric from a couple of weeks ago finally cured, so I rinsed the salt out and dried it. I stretched two panels today and added another layer of paint. The paint is transparent, so it will add more color and depth. I'm taking photos of the progress and will post on Monday. Tomorrow, I going to Road to California quilt show in Ontario with some friends. I'm sure it's going to be a lot of fun.

My silk piece is almost done, I'll should finish it tomorrow. I'm loving it more with every stitch.

Work in Progress

I'm working on a new silk piece that was inspired by a poem my son, Sean, wrote. It is still in progress so I won't show the quilt yet, but I thought I would tease you a little with a close up of one small area. Lots of texture and stitching will be added. I really enjoy working with silk, I'm going to have to buy more when I go to the garment district!Here is a sampling of the January Artist Trading Cards. I am amazed that we used such similar colors. I swear it wasn't planned! My book of ATC's is very full, I really have to get a larger one.