Artist Trading Cards

I've joined an ATC Swap Group and above is my first swap for January 2011. ATCs can be made from paper (usually) or from fabric. Since the theme for January was "Vintage", I decided to do a Fabric ATC.  The size of an ATC is a mere 3.5" X 2.5", not a lot of real estate to work with. This F-ATC has a photo on fabric that has been tinted with colored pencils, lace, a key, a slip of ribbon with "Memories" on it and a "diamond" for her necklace. The background is silk dupioni. I just love the wistfulness of the woman's face.

Birthday Greetings in 2011

I've been busy with fabric post cards lately, and have put together a design for 2011 to send to my friends on their birthdays.

This fabric, "Cherie" by Clothworks, is one of my favorites, and this figure is just one of eleven different motifs on the fabric. Just a small amount of embroidery and a little embellishment, and voila! a wonderful birthday surprise.

Cruising to Hawaii

My cousin Karin and I have booked a 2-week round trip cruise to Hawaii sailing in March, 2012. We are part of a large quilting group led by Quilt Camp at Sea that will be providing us with notable quilt teachers and classes while on board and at sea.

One of the challenges for the group is to make 12" X 12" quilt blocks with the theme of Hawaii, Cruising, or Nautical for a quilt block exchange. My design is shown here. I managed to get two of themes with the Hawaiin lady and the cruise ship.

This design is done with applique using fusible web and lots of machine embroidery stitches. There are also some ruched ribbon leis attached and a sparkly flower headress.

Can't wait to get on board that ship!

2010 Holiday Cards

I don't always manage to get around to sending holiday cards every year - but I did this year! These fabric post cards are made with Alexander Henry Fabrics' design "cherubim" by Nicole De Leon. The cherub motifs were cut from the fabric and placed on new backgrounds -- being heavily decorated with glitz and free motion quilting.

The River Quilt Project

The Rogue Art Quilters of Ashland, OR will be exhibiting "Along the Rogue", an homage to the Rogue River which is situated in Southern Oregon, running from Crater Lake westerly to the Pacific Ocean. The river quilt project involved 19 quilters, the uniting factor being the river running through each quilt. A few criteria were imposed on the art process - everyone used the same fabric for the river, each quilter was also given a width measurement for the quilt and entry/exit measurements for the river. These imposed parameters allowed for the quilts to be "connected" when hung for exhibit. The final exhibit is 39 feet long! It is an amazing work of art by some very talented women. The exhibit can be seen at the US Bank in Ashland, OR from August 2 through November 31, 2010.

My quilt is #12 in the series and is pictured here. Photos on fabric of myself and my niece
are in the foreground. Fabrics used were Batiks, cottons and Silk Dupioni along with many types of embellishments.

If you would like to view all of the quilts in the series, check out the Rogue Art Quilters blog: http://rogueartquilters.wordpress.com/

. . . and view the little movie with the quilts hung in order: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1NEVXhBc1Q&feature=email

And just last week the JOY insert of the Medford Mail Tribune published a full-page article on the quilt project. You can see a portion of my quilt pictured on the left side of the photo. See the article here: http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100915/JOY/9150334&emailAFriend=1

12/18/2010 Update: The river quilt series is being shipped to California to be exhibited in the 2011 Road to California Quilt Show in Southern California. That's a WOW!

3/1/2011:  More exhibit news!!  The River Runs Thru It Quilt Project will also exhibit at the Knoxville, TN and Denver International Quilt Shows this year as well as various local showings in Medford and Grants Pass, OR.

5/1/11:  I have confirmation from Jan McGee, editor of The Quilt Life, that the magazine will be doing an article on our river quilt project in the December 2011 issue.  How exciting is that?

12/1/11:  The Quilt Life December issue has a wonderful 5-page article on this quilt project.  I helped write this article and am very pleased with the magazine's presentation.

8/18/2012:  The exhibit has been taken to Leavenworth, WA for it's final exhibition at the Leavenworth Quilt Show in September.   All told, The River Quilt Exhibit has been shown at 7 venues and had 2 published articles about it.  It will be sad to finally break up the quilts, but the owners are anxious to get their creations back home again after being gone traveling for over two years!

A Little Landscape

Back around 1988 I took my niece, Alexis, to Carmel for the weekend. We spent some quiet time on the beach, listening to the ocean's sounds. I snapped the photo of her as she was building castles in the sand.

Twenty-some years later I borrowed part of my photo and printed Alexis on fabric so that I could insert her into my "Accidental Landscape" quilt. The quilt is 10" X 12" and is comprised of many small pieces of fabric, fiber, shells, beads and starfish. If you are interested in creating your own small landscapes, get the book "Accidental Landscapes" by Karen Eckmeier and have an adventure of your own. This book is filled with great ideas for all sorts of landscapes from beach, to farm, to forest, to mountains. You'll be surprised at just how quickly you can become an Accidental Landscape artist.

Mosaic Moments in Scrapbooking

I recently discovered a new way to scrapbook memories that is an enormous amount of fun. Check out Tami's website for all the details and available products to produce pages like this. (http://www.tamipotter.com/) The 12 x 12 scrapbook pages contain pictures reflecting two trips I took - one to Moody Gardens in Galveston, TX (the bird) and the second one composed of pictures taken on the Oregon and N. California coastline (lighthouses). The Galveston photo used about 9-10 photos and the coast one used 7-8 photos. Click on the picture for a larger view.

Watercolor Quilts - a new passion

Watercolor quilts have been around a long time, but I had never gotten around to trying to do one. While on my recent journey to Sisters, OR, I bought this kit for "Fun At the Fair" from Whims (http://www.whims.cc/) and completed the quilt top in just a day and a half. This was great fun to do, arranging the fabric squares by light to dark tones and then using the flip and sew method to create the background. The fair appliques were then added to finish the scene.

This still needs its borders added and then to be quilted. I'm thinking I'll add some bling to it as well with some crystals and paint accents.

Goddess of Lost and Found Things

I just returned from Sisters, OR, home of the world's largest outdoor quilt show. The week prior to the one-day quilt show is filled with a myriad of classes for all types of quilters, from traditional to contemporary to art quilters. One of the classes I took this year was with Jane Davila, author of The Art Quilt Workbook. The class involved using found things (from nature, from your stash, from someone else's stash, your junk drawer, etc.) to create a small art quilt.

My completed art quilt is shown on the left (click on it for a larger view). It contains found objects such as keys and tags and a piece of copper mesh. The lace was salvaged from a nightgown no longer worn. The goddess is created from a ceramic face found in a bead shop, a body made from an old silk cocoon, her hair is leftover throwster's silk, plus a rusty key and other things found in my stash.

I named her the Goddess of Lost and Found Things, because I think for every thing we lose during our lifetimes, something else is found (that is often better) to replace it. The goddess' story is being written and will be attached to the back of the quilt.

Journal Quilts - Building Sand Castles

My niece, Alexis, spent a good amount of time with me when she was younger. We went on some amazing adventures together. One day in 1988, when she was about 4 years old, we spent the day on the beach in Carmel, CA building sand castles. I photographed her when she was unawares, as she began her castle. It was a bright, sun-shiny day, quiet and peaceful. We had tucked ourselves up in a cove, protected from the ocean swells. This journal quilt that I made for her birthday this year - she'll be 24 - is a memory of that small journey, proof that time is fleeting and definitely going quickly by us.

Alexis' photograph is printed on silk and attached to some lovely batik fabrics that were in my stash that are remindful of the sea. Other embellishments include over-dyed rick rack and trim, fresh water pearls, beads, shells and charms along with metallic thread and free-motion quilting. The back of the quilt has a poem about sand castles and a commemorative quilt label. Click on the photos for a king-size view and read the wonderful poem.

I included the image of the seahorse on my quilt label because it is truly my favorite of all sea creatures. The seahorse is the only species on Earth where the males give live birth to the young. After the female is fertilized she squirts the fertilized eggs into her mate and then swims off and away - no doubt for a quick trip to Nordstom's. My kinda' gal. The male seahorse is left to the gestation and birth of the sea-ponies. Fitting.

Jill - The Bingo Babe

My sister Jill mentioned that while I had indeed made her a paperdoll, I had never made her a paperdoll with HER face on the doll - as I had done for other members of the family. She seemed a bit put out about it, as a matter of fact. So in celebration of her 58th birthday I made her a paperdoll with HER face on it. (This is her when she was around 20 or so -- it's been all downhill since then.)

Since Jill is into Bingo in a big way, but also likes Keno, slots, cards, dice - you name it - I decided she needed to be a Bingo Babe with added pieces representing other gambling disciplines. The pictures above depict the front and rear view of the doll. The Bingo Card is kind of a 'sandwich board dress'. Underneath it on the front is a "Welcome to Vegas" bejeweled sign, and underneath the back there is a slot machine. On the back of the Bingo sandwich board you will note the Chapel with the number "5" on the steeple - this number being significant to Jill - you'll have to ask her! Also note her quart-size bingo dauber hanging from her hand -- I didn't want her to run out!

My goal was to make this Babe the gaudiest of the gaudiest with a headress to rival Beach Blanket Babylon. I think I succeeded. Go forth and win big, you Bingo Babe, you. Oh, and Happy Birthday sis! (As always, click on the pictures for a close-up viewing.)

Anniversary Post Card

My sister Jody and her husband Gary went on an Alaskan cruise in 2007. Jody hates to fly. (I secretly think she's waiting for them to build a bridge to Hawaii, so she can drive there.) So, it was with great amazement that she got on a !! helicopter !! to go see the glacier while in port in Alaska. This is a fabric replication of a photo of her and Gary standing on said glacier. I used landscape quilting techniques along with printing photos on fabric, lots of thread painting, Angelina fibers, glitter and other embellishments. I felt it was necessary to also commemorate the helicopter ride, so note the back side of the FPC.

European Village

I partially created this European Village fabric postcard using some items from a kit purchased from Bonnie Sabel (author, Positively Postcards), which I then proceded to change up a bit, by adding a wonderful pastoral button from my button stash and lots of thread painting. All of the trees and shrubbery have been done by "painting" them in with thread using my sewing machine, as well as some shadowing on the buildings. The foliage just leaps out at you when viewing the card in person. Click on the photo for a closer view.

Sultry Sensibilities - An FPC Triptych

The Fabric Postcards shown above are part of a triptych that I'm doing as a limited release of 25 sets. The lady didn't fit on one card, but I thought she looked pretty neat lounging over two cards. The third part of the triptych is the lady with the red flower bonnet below this post. One tryptic is being donated to this year's Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show for the Wendy's Wish Project.

Read all about it at: 

http://www.sistersoutdoorquiltshow.org/events.htm#wishcard

As always, click on the pictures to get a larger view - look for the jewels on her fingers and toes.

Happy Holidays everyone!

I've finally sent off my 2007 Holiday Postcards; it ended up being quite a project, but loads of fun. I created a few special cards for some special friends (not shown) plus a limited edition of 24 cards of the Santa Elf card shown on the left. I embellished the card with gold rick rack and a gold star and was afraid they'd get lost in the shuffle during the post office processing. So, they each got a fabric envelope too! I hope everyone enjoys getting them as much as I enjoyed making them.

More Fabric Postcards

I recently returned from a weekend visit to the Northern Oregon coastal city of Wheeler. I attended a fabric postcard class taught by Bonnie Sabel, author of the book, Positively Postcards. You can view her work at http://www.quilted-postcards.com/. I've included a couple of pictures of two of my postcard creations; one is called Lady on a Leaf, the other is called Romance Novel. Both of these used a portion of kits that I purchased from Bonnie, but they are changed up a bit.

I stayed at a The Old Wheeler Hotel, a recently renovated old building that had been a flourishing hotel in the 1920s in support of the railroad and timber industries. During the depression, its business fell off and the building became an arthritis clinic in the 1940s. It is now a simply lovely B&B that I highly recommend should you e'er travel this way some day. Check out the hotel at http://www.oldwheelerhotel.com/index.htm

The hotel is on Highway 101, literally. For those of us who have lived in California, we watched 101 become a ever-widening series of lanes full of bumper to bumper traffic traveling at speeds in excess of 70 MPH. By the time 101 reaches the northern Oregon coastal area, however, it is a quietly traveled 2-lane road where speed limits slow to 25 MPH for those driving through the scattered coastal towns. In Wheeler, I walked outside the hotel and then sauntered across 101 - no cars were in sight! It's a bit like being in the Twilight Zone - in a very nice way.

Fabric Postcards

Recently my cousin, Karin, and I attended the Sisters Quilt Show Week in Sisters, OR. We were delighted to meet Bonnie Sabel and Louis-Philippe O'Donnell who are the authors of "Positively Postcards", a book on making fabric postcards. It is a truly terrific book on the subject. Bonnie is delightful and gracious; she has put together some great kits to make some of the postcards featured in her book. I've included two pictures with this post to show one of my own designs - a birthday postcard for my sister Jody who has a special fascination with angels. This postcard was created with Flavia fabric using a gold sparkle tulle overlay, free-motion quilting, some gold leaves and fresh water pearls. The message side even has a fabric stamp and an original poem by moi!

Wearable Art

I just started an online class with Quilt University that was recommended by the leader of the Art Quilt Club that I was recently invited to join. The site offers some really terrific classes at very reasonable prices. You download a weekly lesson to work at your own pace; there is a forum for sharing with other students around the world or for contacting the instructor with questions/problems.

The class I'm taking is for a wearable art Mermaid Jacket, designed and taught by Linda Schmidt. It's quite challenging, yet it's really getting my creative juices going. This first week involved cutting out the front and back yokes, enlarging and tracing a design to a stabilizer that is then ironed to the yokes. Next came applique' piecing the background of the mermaid underwater scene (seaweed, coral and sand primarily) from the reverse side and then using couched fibers and metallic threads to enhance the applique' from the front.

I've completed the two front yokes, pictured below. (click on pics for larger view) Remember that this is just the background of the scene and once mermaids and seahorses and starfish are added, there will be ribbon embroidery, beading, buttons, charms, jewels and such added to complete the yokes. Then the rest of the garmet will be created by strip piecing a multitude of fabrics.

I'm now working on the back yoke, so keep an eye out for more postings on the wearabouts of the Mermaids.

More Decorated Dominoes

I've been busy decorating more dominoes to use in my craft projects. In addition to making domino books, there's potential for their use in wearable art, art quilts, scrapbooking, mixed media such as fabric journals and even for greeting cards. Here are some pictures of some of the new designs. Click on them for a larger view.





A fellow LibraryThinger wrote me an email suggesting that I create domino books with a literary theme inside related to an author or a classic book and try to sell them through bookstores. An interesting idea.

Domino Books

I'm busy taking lots of classes this year and having loads of fun. I just finished another class with Carol Murphy from Joggles. In this class we used dominoes, special inks, rubber stamps, paints, papers, glitter, gems, charms, gold leaf pens and whatever else came to mind to create Domino Books. I bet you never heard of them before and didn't even know that you needed one. I've posted some pictures of what they look like opened up (back and front) and then all folded and tied up. (Click on the pictures for a really big view)

These books can be used for fun little gifts or party favors. I'm planning to experiment with the process a bit and perhaps use single dominoes on art quilts, fabric journals, in scrapbooks and greeting cards. I am inspired.

The book on the right stamped with the the candid lady saying "look closely and you might see" and the book with the rather staid lady in the middle are from Catslife Press domino stamp collection. A link to the designer Susan's website is in my favorite link list.