Home Again

I'm very happy to be home, but he air quality is terrible; lots of smoke and ash everywhere. I need to stay inside as much as possible because of my asthma. I've spent a good part of the day returning all of my stuff to its proper place.
Unfortunately, this fire is far from done. It is burning towards Santa Barbara and thousands of houses are still threatened, but so far, only one mobile home, a few outbuildings and several cars were lost. Pretty amazing when you consider how fast this fire has spread. It has burned over 10,000 acres and is 28% contained. Over 1,200 firemen are working hard to control and contain the flames. No easy feat!We were very fortunate to have a beautiful house to stay at when we evacuated (thank you Cyndee), but under the circumstances, we really didn't get to enjoy it. We were much too worried. However, I did get some great shots of the fireworks from the balcony.
Thank you to both my local friends and online friends that offered their homes and words of comfort. You have no idea how much it helped.
The firemen are real life heroes and I am amazed at the bravery they continually display. As we run out, they run in! Thank you guys, YOU ROCK!

Fire Storm

The fire storm is spreading at an alarming rate. Yesterday, 300 acres burned; and tonight, that number has climbed to over 3000 acres.These photos were taken Tuesday afternoon and that glowing sphere is the sun covered in smoke. Very eerie!

This is, by far, the scariest situation I've ever been in. Earlier tonight, we evacuated our home. My nerves couldn't stand another night without power. Sitting in the dark wondering if the fire is rushing down the hill toward you is really nerve racking. Today, the air was so bad I had to wear a mask. I have a phobia about anything covering my head and face, so for me the mask was a HUGE deal. I developed asthma during the fire last year and have been taking medication since. I figured it was the mask or the hospital!

We'll try to get home tomorrow to see if our home is still standing.

Thank you for all your kind words and prayers. I really appreciate your support.

Here We Go Again!

Another wildfire (The Gap Fire) is burning here in Goleta, and this time, it's the moutain right above my house. The last time this area burned was over 50 years ago, so there is a lot of dry fuel. So far, 350 acres have burned. This photo was taken last night by Ray Ford, a photographer at the Independent Newspaper. My husband and I were enjoying a glass of wine during intermission at an Ottmar Liebert concert at Soho, when my son called to tell us about the fire. Needless to say, we left the concert and raced home. An evacuation warning was issued for the area around my house and we're ready to get out if need be.
What possessions would you save? Family and pets come first, of course. Some of the items I grabbed were photos, external hard drive, camera, computer, personal files and quilts. I have lots of stuff and I love it all, but when it comes right down to it, very few possessions are precious.
I'll keep you posted!

Hand Painted Cloth

Has anyone seen Rayna's book, Create Your Own Hand Painted Cloth? I haven't received my copy yet, but have heard great reviews. Let me know if you've seen the book and my quilt.

A while ago, Anna Nowicki and I decided to trade ATC's. This is the beautiful card I received from her. It has bits of shredded paper, ribbon, and handmade beads. Thanks Anna, I love it.I'm afraid this is the only photo I have for this post because my camera has gone off to Greece again without me. Hopefully, it comes home with more great shots.

The grand opening of Pazzazz took place this past weekend. Of course, I went to all three performances and took three different friends. It was a lot of fun and a real blast from Vaudeville past. The best part of all was the costumes, and I'm not just saying that because that's what I worked on. Arlene Larsen is an award winning, Hollywood costume designer and I was really fortunate to work with her. It was a lot of fun, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat!

Back to making apricot jam.

Coming Together

The idea for my Art From Scrap challenge piece "Coming Together" began with the quilting samples shown here. I had them stacked up and wondered what I was going to do with them. Do I put them in a drawer and look at them every couple of years. No, that's a waste. Why not paint the samples? I dug out my textile paints and a roller and had at it. Then, I added oil stick on top . The quilted texture showed up nicely, lots of depth. I cut the shapes and added the strings and sewed it all down. Here it is, in all of it's lime green glory.

Here's a detail shot where you can see the layers of color and the stitching line. Little by little, it was "Coming Together.

All of the entries will be on exhibit at Art From Scrap through July 19th. There will be a silent auction with the proceeds going towards children's art classes.

I went to see A Tear in the Fabric exhibit at Cal Poly. My friend, Jeanne Surber's "Size Prison" piece is in this powerful show. Definitely worth the drive!

PAZZAZZ The Musical

We're entering the final round of costume design and alterations for PAZZAZZ. Dress rehearsal and three performances are scheduled in a small theater in Los Angeles, then it's the world premier at the Granada Theater in Santa Barbara June 20-22nd. I never knew that I would enjoy working on costumes as much as I have. Arlene has been designing costumes for Hollywood for many years and her talent shines. The most amazing costume is the break away ballroom gown. It disappears just like magic! Can't give you any more details than that, you're just going to have to see it yourself.
Here are a few close-up shots of some of the costumes, just enough to tease! This is THE DRESS. I've spent many hours working on the beaded fringe on the sleeves and miles of lace. I have to say that I'm really glad it's finished!

The saloon girls will be wearing these, they are VERY sexy!Feathers, lace, satin, sequins, beaded appliques and flowers. You name it, it's here. I thought I had a lot of embellishments, but Arlene's collection puts mine to shame. Definitely over the top!
The rusty items in this abandoned workshop made me want to climb the fence with a few yards of fabric. I looked around to see if there was somewhere that I could leave a business card in case they wanted to get rid of some of this rusty junk, but it looks like they walked away 20 years ago and haven't come back since.

There is an ordinance in Santa Barbara that makes businesses clean up graffiti within 24 hours or they get fined. So, you really don't get to see a whole lot of graffiti, so I was surprised when I found this piece downtown. The caption read "Are we Alive?"

Photos Printed on Fabric

I shot some photos of lillypads at a local pond and couldn't resist the urge to manipulate the colors. They had glossy green leaves and beautiful yellow flowers before I had my way with them. I really like the large shapes and glowing colors. I printed several of them on cotton fabric with my ink jet printer and auditioned some colors that I think will work well with the blues and purples. A little orange will make a big statement.
Whenever I have a piece layered and ready to quilt, I freeze up. I know how to quilt, but I don't know WHAT DESIGN to quilt it with. So, I hang it on my design wall and stare at it, hoping that it will reveal the perfect quilting design. Unfortunately, it never happens! Finally, I get tired of staring at it and decide to go for it. As I begin, I have no idea what I'm going to do and that makes me nervous. I'm always afraid that the quilting isn't going to look good.Somehow it magically evolves and turns out looking good. Now, I want to take it to the next level; I want the quilting to be great. There are two ways to achieve quilting greatness, the first is to take it to my dear friend Susan Italo. The second is practice, practice, practice, both with pencil and paper and with the sewing machine. For me, the easiest designs are the vines with heart shaped leaves, garlic bulb shapes and spirals. If you have any helpful quilting tips or designs you like to use, drop me a line. Bet you can't guess where I went today? Awww . . . you guessed it, the Santa Barbara Zoo. Here's a close-up of an elephant eye . . . I know, it's a little odd, but the texture is fantastic.
And here's a beautiful macaw. They love posing for me.

I Madonnari Festival

Every year at the end of May, artists converge on the Old Mission in Santa Barbara to decorate the grounds with colorful chalk drawings. The I Madonnari Festival began in 1987 and has grown into a very successful fundraiser for the Children's Creative Project. Approximately 25,000 people attend the festival. Here are a couple of my favorite drawings this year.

The foreshortening on this hand is fantastic.
I love this composition; it draws you right in.
The weather has been so strange here, I can't tell if it's winter, spring, or summer. We'll have one day with record breaking temperatures in the 90's, and the next day, it's 65 degrees! The honey bees know it's spring though because my Hebe bushes are blooming.

My beloved camera (Canon Rebel) went to Greece without me! My husband went to Athens on a business trip and brought back some great photos. I'm the one that's always taking the photos, so I was really impressed at how well he did. I told him that I liked doors, color and texture and he came back with these fantastic photos. I LOVE THEM.

What a guy! How many people have photos of Greek Graffiti?

I'm Back . . .

Sorry it's been so long since I posted. I have lots of excuses, however, none of them are very good. I've been busy and have a lot to show and tell, so lets get on with it.
Shopping: now that's a good place to start. I'm afraid a lot more came in this month than went out! I went to two quilt shows, one in San Luis Obispo and one in Camarillo, Quilt Visions in San Diego, F&S Fabrics and Pavilion Fabrics in Los Angeles. Another worthwhile stop was at La Jolla Fiber Arts. There was a wonderful selection of hand-crafted fiber items. Here's a small sampling of what I bought. Bought these beauties at the Seven Sisters quilt show in SLO.

This is yummy micro suede. Jeanne and I found this fabulous store in LA, Pavilion Fabrics, that is going out of business. Everything is 50% off!!! GOTTA LOVE THAT. There were around 40 colors and I bought 16 of them. We also scored some polyester thread and trim. F & S Fabrics has a huge assortment of everything you could possibly want. Didn't get out of there empty handed either.In case you didn't know, I'm a book-a-holic. All three of these are great and I'm really happy to add them to my collection. I bought both of the Jane Dunnewold books at the Quilt Visions Museum, but you can buy them here.

Speaking of great books, Rayna Gillman's "Create Your Own Handpainted Cloth" will be available in June. Yours truly has a piece in her book as does my friend Jeanne Surber. You can pre-order your very own copy here.

Here's a few painted pieces that I made with my Fibervision group on Saturday. Lora did a great job organizing this workshop and everyone enjoyed it. The top two are fat half yard pieces and the bottom one is about 24 inches square.

I've been working on the costumes for the musical Pazzazz. The deadline is looming, and things are getting a bit frantic, dress rehearsals begin June 6th. This has been a fun project, totally over the top and colorful.

I've organized an Art Quilting lecture that will be given to the Fiber Arts Guild in July and have begun to compile images of Fibervision's fantastic art quilts for a CD. I've also signed up for a Fabric Challenge at Art from Scrap. I hope I get inspired in the next two days!

Other Activities: I went to the Mannheim Steamroller Fresh Aire Tour at the Granada Theater with my friend Kathy. If you get the chance, go see them, it was a great show. I also went to see CATS at the Arlington Theater. This is the best show I've seen in a while. Next on the list is LOVE in Las Vegas!!

So, as I said, I've been busy and I'm glad to be back!

More Printed Fabric

Here's some printed fabric that I've been working on this week.I carved 4 different designs from an erasers. The top green and yellow piece is printed using one of the carved stamps. The bottom piece has several layers of screen prints and paint.
This is thermofax screen print. The original was a photo that I took of the ocean and then performed some Photoshop magic on it, see here.

This is also one of my photos that I converted into a thermofax screen. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with all of this yet; but I'm having fun. Here are some of the ATC's I received from fellow artists in April. It's always love to see what designs people come up with. It's such a diverse group of artists, everything from textile, assemblage, painters, knitters (you name it).

Tomorrow, we're having our Fibervision meeting at Andi Perejda's house, then the whole gang is going to the Seven Sisters Quilt Show together. I've been told there are over 300 quilts. It's going to be a lot of fun!

Melting Pot Experiments

I finally got some time to play with the melting pot and UTEE. I made fabric beads, dipped them into UTEE, wrapped them in Angelina fibers and dipped again. They came out looking like fire opals inside glass. I had a few leftovers from the April ATC exchange and decided to cut some into 1" x 1-1/2" pieces. I then poured melted UTEE over them and heated them with an embossing tool. Looks like the designs are encased in glass. I'm going to attach pin backs to some of them and drill holes through others so I can attach them to a quilt with beads. Both came out very cool. Mike and I just came back from seeing CATS at the Arlington Theater. It was amazing, I'm so glad we went. Tomorrow night we are going to see a play at the Ensemble Theater. Ah, Life is Good!

Writing on Fabric

Last year, Rayna gave me a curved syringe similar to the one she uses to write on fabric. I put it away and never actually tried it. Then Sue wrote an article in Fibre & Stitch using the same tool. Again, it looked intriguing and I knew I would try it someday.

A couple of my thermofax prints didn't turn out well, because the design was too busy, so I figured I would try using the syringe and add a layer of writing on top. What did I have to lose? I was going to throw both pieces away anyways. The first couple of pieces felt a bit forced. I was trying to figure out how to hold the syringe and how hard to press it. And what the heck was I going to write about anyways?

By this third piece (larger than what is shown below), the technique felt pretty natural and words just came spilling out. Every once and a while you can read a word or two, but for the most part, it is illegible. I think it adds a nice layer of texture though, don't you?

Originally, the syringe was used by vets to administrator medication to animals. Some creative person had a "what if" moment, ran an experiment and discovered a great new paint technique.