Paper and Leather and Fiber… and More!

Piecing and sewing large quilts is a long-term effort for me. So there are many times when a small project in another medium that I can make quickly piques my interest. Such was the case with this decoupage initial members made at a recent quilt guild meeting. Of course we kept it “quilty” by cutting quilt images from catalogs and old magazines. The letters are lightweight papier mache ones from the craft store. This was a fun patchwork project of a different sort.




And then I saw a tutorial on making fabric twine from narrow strips. Of course I had to give it a try. The twine goes along quickly and is good handwork for watching tv or a movie. Before I knew it, there were yards and yards of pretty fabric twine. I used some as an edge finish on a journal quilt which I’ll show here in my next post. And the rest is just sitting and looking pretty, awaiting use in some other project.



There’s a bag full of strips, so I’m sure I won’t stop making the fabric twine until… who knows? I think it will make nice tie closures for fabric journals, so it's likely to come in handy.



Here’s new life for old tee-shirts. In Alma Stoller’s STITCHED online class, she offers some tutorials for making soft beads from strips cut from tee shirts. They’re chunky, clunky, and soft. And again, I think I’ll use them to embellish bindings or closures for journals.



I was recently invited to spend a day learning to craft a bracelet from old leather belts at Goatfeathers Studio. We crafted, painted, visited, and had a lovely lunch plus a tour of the studio. It was certainly my idea of a lovely day out! This is my bracelet resting atop a gift bag I painted with a Dresden Plate design. I stockpile and recycle gift bags by painting them with gesso and then adding some colorful painted or stamped images.



One of the participants in our recent Fantasy Fish workshop gifted me with this theme-related coaster featuring the artwork of Leoma Lovegrove. She has an entire line of products available at Beall’s stores. My quilting friend was wearing one of her tee shirts with a similar fish image on it. I may need to find one of those. I love the colors in Leoma Lovegrove's work. So while I don’t turn out quilts very quickly, you can see there’s never a dull moment in my sewing room. I believe my tombstone should say “She wanted to make one of everything.” I’ve certainly got enough stuff in the sewing room to do so!