Houston Quilt Show Report

I had a great time in Houston and met a lot of really nice people. Some were already online friends, but most were previously unknown. It's wonderful how a common interest can bring such different personalities together. It doesn't matter if you make traditional quilts, modern quilts, or art quilts . . . it's enough of a connection to start a conversation and a potential friendship.

Andi took a photo of me with my quilt, Inside Out: Hormones. It didn't win a ribbon but it was accepted into the show which is an honor in itself. It's always interesting to see what quilts received ribbons. Sometimes you totally agree with their choice and other times you can't figure out what they were thinking.

Overall, it was a great show and I enjoyed the experience thoroughly. I tried to see all of the quilts, but I know I didn't. The set-up was a maze and I never really quite figured it out. The quilts I did see were amazing though. The grand prize winning quilt, Chihuly's Gondola by Melissa Sobotka was gorgeous but it was difficult to see the details because they had barriers set up that kept you three feet away. Melissa said she used tsukineko ink and a lot of reverse applique.

My quilt above has some reverse applique and the class I took with Ann Johnston was on reverse applique. It's a great technique and I'm pretty sure I'll be using it quite a bit more in the future. Here are two of the blocks in progress from the class.

More layers can still be added or subtracted as desired. A third block was sewn, but not cut into at all yet. I think we got a lot accomplished in one day.

Then there are the vendors . . . something like 700 of them!

Honestly, I already own enough products to open my own store, but that never stopped me from finding something to buy. For the most part, my purchases were practical but very specific: applique scissors, chalk marker, self threading needles, awl, shibori book, misty fuse, HQ ruler, Glide thread. I only bought one yard of fabric but it's gorgeous,  Japanese, and it was the last yard. The most unusual thing I purchased is a resin product called Little Windows. I haven't tried it yet but it looks like it will be fun.

It's nice to travel but I love coming home. Quilt shows always get me fired up. I'm working on several projects at the same time. I'll take some in progress photos for the next post.

Countdown to Houston

In a few days I'll be flying to Houston to attend the quilt show. Andi and I will be there for several days, so we should have plenty of time to see the whole show and all the exhibits. I will be a volunteer in the SAQA booth on Saturday from 12:00-2:00. If you're at the show, I would love to meet you.

I'm taking a one day "Beyond Piecing" class with Ann Johnston. I rarely use solid fabric and actually had to dye fabric for this class. All the colors look nice together, we'll see what happens when all those solids are put together in one piece. I brought a couple of hand dyed fabrics with lots of pattern and colors . . . just in case I'm allowed to stretch the rules a bit!

See the red case on the right side? That is what I'm using to carry all of my tools for the class. It's really lightweight and fits everything except the extra large rotary cutter and scissors. I generally keep it stocked with embroidery thread and beads so I always have a supply ready to take with me. 

When the case is opened flat, it has four separate zippered compartments. It's made by Laura Ashley and is probably meant to be a cosmetic case. I've been using this case for approximately 8 years and it's still in great condition.

I've added some hand dyed silk scarves to my Etsy shop. Click HERE if you want to see them.

Marimekko Fabric

Here it is . . . Merimekko Fabric, all washed, dried and ready to be rolled for storage on my fabric wall.

 Each photo shows about a fat quarter yard of fabric.

 The original price for Marimekko fabric is $45.00 per yard, but once it hits the Crate and Barrel Outlet, the price is reduced to $5.95. The clerk told me that they use this fabric in the store displays, but the only tell tale sign was one staple.

The fabric is really thick and extra wide. I'll probably use these for quilt backs because the extra weight will really make my quilts hang straight.

The red and green fabric are actually the same design, but the red shows the design towards the edge and the green shows the design towards the inside.

I'm not sure if you can buy it in all of their outlet stores, but I know there is plenty available in Calabasas, CA.

San Diego Fun

San Diego is a fun city with a variety of things to do. In a few days I managed to visit the Contemporary Art Museum and saw a very interesting beaded color field exhibit by Liza Lou, Gaslamp District, Little Italy, Old Town, and Balboa Park. I also stopped at Crate and Barrel outlet store and bought a 8 yards of Marimekko fabric.

I spent a day exploring Balboa Park and some of the museums and the IMAX theater.

This was the view I saw as I walked into the park.

The architecture was truly impressive. I spent half of the day looking up.

I got some nice photos of the lily pond and gigantic koi.

 This huge sculpture of a dragon is located outside of the Mingei Museum. It's constructed with concrete and covered with tile and marbles. They allow visitors to climb on it. Quite surprising.

This is Spanish Village Arts Center. It has 30 or 40 talented artists with little studios throughout. It's a very charming area.

 Another stop was Old Town. They are definitely getting ready for the Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration on November 2nd.

 There were plenty of skeletons everywhere I went. They are quite beautiful with very elaborate costumes.

These two had a whole story line and wedding in progress.

Felting and Stitching

I'm such a lucky girl. My good friend Susan Italo gifted me with some of her hand dyed wool for felting AND hand spun yarn. She dyes her own wool and then spins it gorgeous yarn. Truly amazing.

Look at the great items I scored in her yearly studio clean out. I'll use this wool in hand felting projects. I don't know what I'll do with these gorgeous bits yet, but for now they are happy living with the rest of my stash.      

I'm not sure if it's the jabbing with a sharp object or the rhythm that I enjoy, but I think hand felting is pretty relaxing.

Here's a piece that I just finished hand stitching on. It will be a postcard once I add the backing and finish the edges.

Here is one of my Photo Note Cards that I've added to my Etsy shop. There are 25 different cards, all of them are 5 x 7".

Etsy Store is Open!

Yay . . . the Etsy site is up and running. So far, I have the half yard pieces of dyed fabric and some fiber art postcards listed. I still have quite a bit more fabric and dyed silk scarves to get listed. I'll also be selling 25 different Photo Note Cards.

The store name is JudyRysdesigns. If you want to take a look, you can click on the name and it will bring you to the Etsy store. I'll be working on Photo Note Cards this afternoon, so they should be live tomorrow. Thanks for looking and let me know what you think.

Black and White Photography

Lately, there have been several photographers showing black & white photos at my camera club. They brought me way back to my college days and inspired me to convert some of my photos to black and white. Here are a couple that I think turned out pretty well.

 This calla lily was shot in a shaded area of my backyard.

Lake Los Caneros is a beautiful place to go for a walk.

Pepper Jelly Anyone?

Something had to be done with all the ripe jalapeno peppers in our garden and the best solution I came up with was Pepper Jelly.

My tolerance for spicy food is sort of on the low side and I don't eat much sugar, so I won't be eating this, but I'm sure my husband will love it. He has been away this week for work so he hasn't tasted it yet. The recipe uses 2 red and 2 green peppers and 10 jalapenos. I left all the seeds in this batch and I'm too chicken to taste it to see how spicy it turned out.

Tomorrow, I'm going to make another batch and leave only half of the jalapeno seeds in. That level of spiciness may be better for most people. I think I'll chop the peppers a little smaller for the next batch.

Anybody have any other ideas of what to do with a lot of jalapenos? My plants keep growing.

Jelly making was my break from posting information on Etsy. It's going pretty well but I have a question and I'm waiting to hear back from them. I should have the site up and running tomorrow.

I'll keep you posted.

Fremont Street Experience

Here are some photos from the Fremont Street Experience light show in Las Vegas. I took so many great shots, it was difficult to narrow my choice down to a four.

 This photo gives you an idea of the overhead canopy where the light show is taking place. See those dark shapes that look like trees. There are a bunch of them that run along the tunnel like canopy and provide the power to the 12.5 million LED lights.

Yep, that's right, 12.5 million lights lit up overhead at one time and constantly changing. And music too! It was pretty amazing.

The designs that flashed by were incredible. I can't believe how well my camera photos came out. I guess there was plenty of light available. haha

There was a different light/music show every hour that lasted about 10 minutes. We were there for 3 different shows. There are 3 or 4 stages set up under the canopy with free concerts going on, and a bunch of casinos, restaurants and stores. Plenty to things to keep you entertained for an evening.

Search Dog Foundation

A good friend of mine told me about the Search Dog Foundation a couple of years ago and I've been a supporter ever since. I'm really impressed with the work they are doing and how many lives are being saved. These dogs are highly trained to find LIVING people among rubble and chaos. As you can imagine, they get shipped to every disaster around the world.

If I'm ever stuck in a bad situation, I want these dogs looking for me.

If you want to learn more about the Search Dog Foundation, click here.

Hand-Dyed Fabric for Sale

As you know, I've been busy dyeing a lot of fabric lately. I've decided to share some of my gorgeous fabric with the world and have begun selling it. If you you see something you love and just can't live without it, send me an email and we'll work out the details. I'm pretty close to getting all the photos and details finalized for my Etsy Shop but I thought I would give you an idea of what is coming.

Fabric 3: Gorgeous Sateen Fabric, MX Dyes, Fat Half (22" x 36") $12.00

Fabric 4: Gorgeous Sateen Fabric, MX Dyes, Fat Half (22" x 36") $12.00

Fabric 11: Gorgeous Sateen Fabric, MX Dyes, Fat Half (22" x 36") $12.00

Fabric 12: Gorgeous Sateen Fabric, MX Dyes, Fat Half (22" x 36") $12.00

Fabric 19: Gorgeous Sateen Fabric, MX Dyes, Fat Half (22" x 36") $12.00

Fabric 29: High Quality Broadcloth, Thread Count 133 x 72, MX Dyes, Fat Half (22" x 36") $10.00

Fabric 36: High Quality Broadcloth, Thread Count 133 x 72, MX Dyes, Fat Half (22" x 36") $10.00

Fabric 38: High Quality Broadcloth, Thread Count 133 x 72, MX Dyes, Fat Half (22" x 36") $10.00

Fabric 42: High Quality Broadcloth, Thread Count 133 x 72, MX Dyes, Fat Half (22" x 36") $10.00

Using Resists during Dyeing

Look what happened when I stacked brass circles between folded fabric and sandwiched it between plexiglass. The rubber bands held the stack together while I squirted yellow, red and purple dye between the plexiglass plates. 

This is what it looked like when I opened the bundle.

Sky blue was used to over dye the whole piece. It certainly is a unique piece of fabric. It was an interesting experiment and worth exploring more. Next time I'll use a fat quarter instead.

My daughter dyed this shirt using wooden clothespins for the resist. I really like the way she placed the pattern on the diagonal.

Don't the clothespins make a great pattern?