And then we played…

Tomorrow is another dye day, but mostly with paint, for me. I have stuff ready for playing and this morning I started to get the garage ready for everyone to use.

I surprised myself by having soooooo much more stuff to haul upstairs than I did for dyeing! Four trips up and down the stairs, for stamps, paints, fabrics, print boards, and an extra table.

I’m tempted to find a full wine bottle to add to this mix! It takes a lot of prep, but it wouldn’t take any LESS prep if I were doing it on my own. It’s so much more fun when I have my dye loving friends here, and we’re all enjoying what we’re doing!

Looking forward to tomorrow…

Make-It-Take-It

This week will bring a new dye day, but mostly the emphasis will be on paint and our new stamps. We will have thickened dye, regular dye, stamps, stencils, maybe some thermofax screens…it might turn out to be a circus, but I know we’ll all have fun!

I started to get myself organized, and I am continually surprised by what I find on my shelves when I start digging!

I can’t remember how old these are, but I’m going to use them, to see if they still work and to get rid of them! I think I’ll wrap them shibori-style around a pvc pipe…well, probably around a wine bottle. I’ve found the bottles are easier to handle, especially when I’m working with small pieces of fabric.

Then I’ve been trying to play with folded shibori and I have several pieces ready to go. Can’t wait to see how they turn out!

And again–what surprises surface when you go digging! I found these blocks and only vaguely remember making them. I combined some painted blocks with dyed blocks and didn’t get any further than this.

This is my favorite, and I think I will finish these up to be a small wall quilt.

What I was really looking for was fabric that needed more added to it….and I sure found a lot of it!

Hope some of it comes out of the day useable!

And the beauty shot of the day—AJ was playing around with the special effects on the ipad camera and now I’m all set up for Halloween!

I don’t think I’m too crazy about those special effects!

I have stamps!

Finally, with my Wacky Quilter friends, I took time to use that basket of stampmaking supplies. Well, a teeny, tiny portion of them anyway. I opted to only use the self-adhesive stuff that I have; no carving, no extra gluing, no glue gun.

Cut some out myself and some are pre-cut.  Tons of foam shapes in the kids craft department.

See the paper on the one on the left below? These strips have adhesive on two sides, so at first thought, you  might wonder how you can print with them. Simple solution–just put some paint on them and let it dry before you use them!

I have a few substrates left…

Next week I’m having another dye–or paint–day, and I’ll be using them, each and every one! And maybe a few more will get made before then, too.

Aaaaand–drum roll, please!–the Crooked Cross quilt is done, except for the label!

The label consists of 5 extra blocks that I couldn’t use on the front. I’m adding crooked crosses around the edges and will write the pertinent info in the white spaces. I’m so excited that it’s done…and the deadline is November! I’m sooooo ahead of schedule on it. Hooray!

Tomorrow starts summer time with the grandson. We get to have him two days a week and one overnight. Every week! May not get tons of sewing done, because the days we don’t have him are recovery days. He’s a busy guy and we have to work hard to keep up with him.  Get ready for lots of smooches, big guy!!!

Liebster Award?

Hollyhocks–winter dreams of summer days…

Have you heard of it? I recently received this comment and went to Tracy’s blog to check it all out. That led me to the Liebster blog and lots more blogging info. (By the way, I don’t like to blog without pictures, so I’m throwing in some random pics, just for fun!!!)

Tracy from It’s A T-Sweets Day—-Hi Kathy! I have recently been nominated for a Liebster Award. I don’t know if you have been nominated before, but the details are on my blog. I am nominating you because your creativity is so inspiring to me. I am in awe of your colors, your designs, and all of your bead work. You truly inspire me! Thank you:)   http://itsatsweetsday.wordpress.com

This is so nice and a good way to include more blogs in your life, to meet more nice people. Part of the plan is to provide 10 facts about yourself and answer questions so people can get to know you better. I’m happy to do that, because I’m vain enough to like to talk about myself! Part 2 is to nominate others whose blogs are not well-publicized with huge followings and ask them to participate, too. And Part 3 is to ask them questions about themselves so that we can get to know them, too.

I’m finding this a very difficult assignment to complete. The intent is great, and it’s nice to learn more about people through their blogs. The best I can do, though, about lesser-publicized blogs is to recommend a link-up that I use: Off The Wall Friday by Nina-Marie Sayre. Checking out these kind of link ups, and there are many, is a great way to ‘taste-test’ the offerings of others.

Here are the questions that Tracy asked, with my answers, but I’m just not able to nominate others at this time.

How did you get started quilting or sewing or crocheting? In my teens, it was fun (and economical!) to make your own clothing. I fell in love with fabric and have been working with textiles ever since.
If you could have one present, what would it be? At this point, I’d like to be able to use all the things I have in my stash–paint, dye, fabric, stamps, stencils, beads, yarn–so I guess that would be a gift of time!
What is your favorite sewing tool? It has to be my rotary cutter, closely followed by my sewing machine.
What has been you favorite blog post? I can’t say that I have a favorite. Some I like better than others, but it’s all simply a running commentary on my work and life.
Who has been your inspiration? Oh my gosh, there are so many…every quilter and art quilter whose work I have ever seen inspires me every day.
What is your favorite food? Hmmm….salmon…shrimp…steak…ice cream…lemon meringue pie…any vegetable there is…pasta…I pretty much like it all!
When do you blog? I don’t have a set time to create the blogs, but I try to publish early in the morning when I have one ready.
Did your mother sew? My mother did a little sewing, and I had a grandmother who quilted, but Grandma was gone before I discovered textiles. So I am mostly self-taught–not even a Home Ec class in school!
What makes a perfectly SWEET day at your house? Time for sewing, time to relax and if there is bit of grandson time in there, it’s a beautiful day!
What advice would you give to future sewer/bloggers? Don’t be afraid to TRY anything that catches your fancy. The only way to know if it’s a keeper is to DO it and the more tools you have in your toolbox, the better your work will be!

Thanks for the nomination, Tracy. I hope anyone reading this will check out your blog and all your other nominations, too.

 

 

 

Stampmaking

Next on my agenda is finally getting around to using the pile of stuff I’ve accumulated for stampmaking.

I have shapes to stick onto bases and shapes to trace and shapes that I have no idea where I got them!

Noodles and circles and wood bases and acrylic bases and a ton of self sticking foam.

I’m trying to corral this all into one basket, since I’ll be taking it all to a meeting of the Knot Even Quilters on Thursday. There may be some things left behind.

I found these white metal frames…somewhere…and I think I’m going to try them out for stamping also.

And, of course, there is good ol’ glue gun stamps!

I like using these by painting with the flat side up and laying the fabric over the top. They also give a unique effect when you use the ‘bumpy’ side for a less than perfect print.

Next week we’ll get together again to use what we have made, as well as have all our dye day stuff available. Fun times ahead.

 

Moment in history…

In the history of the world, this is nothing. In the history of my sewing career, this is momentous!!!

A totally clear cutting table, ready for action.

I don’t know yet what that action will be, but I AM READY!!!

Last pics of the cross quilt until it’s completely done, I promise. I used almost all of the blocks I received–143 to be exact. I only counted because I know someone will ask! There were 5 that I didn’t use on the front, so they will be part of a large label on the back.

I have them basted down and they will be quilted as I quilt the whole top, and if I get any more late additions, they will be added the same way.

The top is basted–I use spray basting–and marked.

Are you wondering why you can’t see the marks? It’s because the only ‘marking’ needed are the lines of blue painter’s tape that are crossing the top. Even though I will be washing this quilt because I always wash out spray basted quilts, I don’t like to mark with anything else. So whenever I can start with tape to mark straight lines, that’s what I do. I can continue to space out my lines with the tape, which comes in lots of widths. Or I can space lines with my presser foot, or the quilting guide bar that comes with most machines. I can also use the lines I quilt to mark out areas that will be filled with free motion ‘anything-I-want’ designs. Oh, I suppose I could simply outline the squares of the quilt, but that would be very uneven on this one and kinda boring!

Yep, the quilt is ready, but I am not ready to do the quilting yet! There is time (I think!).

I have ideas to explore that began with a class with Mary Hogan and continued with my Wacky Quilters group–working in a series. I have two sets of blocks that are distinct sets and yet both are exploring the idea of buildings.

In my mind, these really continue my City Grids ideas and I’m eager to work more on them.

I also have to finalize what our Blue Lake project will be this year,  AND make some samples. My class at QU could use some additional examples of what can be done with simple embellishment, too. It’s hard when you have to pick only one picture for a class sample, and there is so much more you can/will be showing!

Lots of projects from which to choose and my UFO pile continues to grow. I’ve always said that I will never run out of things to do, but it’s not a good thing to have so many projects that you never finish anything! I believe that’s a good goal for the rest of the summer—finish, finish, finish!

 

Back on track

Hopefully I have all the tech issues under control for a while and I can get back to sewing and posting!

Got a day’s worth of dying rinsed out, ready to press.

And after a while, all nice and neat and pressed–ready to use!

Today I got back to constuction of the Cross Quilt for the guild. The first half is almost assembled.

 

And the second half is….not…

Improv construction involves a lot of trimming and adding and quite often on a large quilt, partial seams.

It’s also a slow process, but I totally enjoy every moment of it. I’m still in love with this quilt and I’m eager to get it completed and ready for quilting. This is my top project at the moment.

Next week will be devoted to stamp making, so I hope to have this done before that. So many areas to explore. Textile art is infinite in possibilities and I will never, ever run out of things to try!