It's All In There...

So many treasures fit in this small hanging journal. It's a creation I made during July in Fodder School 3 with instructor and creative visionary Kecia Deveney. I've taken online classes before with Kecia and this one was just as much fun as the others. It took me more than the month of July to complete the project because, as you can see, there are many elements. It's all in there. Class members made the journal itself which includes fabrics, sewing, and mixed media. And we also made the swag from which to suspend and display it. All together, it's quite eye-popping wouldn't you say?

 

Here's the swag alone. It's composed of a good-sized, yarn-wrapped stick, various lengths of jewelry chain, shrink plastic doo dads, funky round tokens, charms, fiber ties, and pretty much anything else we had on hand that took our fancy! I had a lot. Still have a lot. But, oh the fun of this.

We made a cover of other assorted fiber, trims and papers. And we learned to alter Tim Holz paper doll images to make them colorful and shiny.

Paging through the journal, you can see the inside is just as much fun. These three little First Communion vintage girls looked so nostalgic and invited the addition of colors and flowers.

There's a place for everything inside the journal. The fabric background is one that I stamped with paint. The ruffle is a journal embellishment given to me by a friend. Another Tim Holz paper doll image- isn't she sweet? That hair bow! This was such an enjoyable project. And guess what? I've got enough stuff to make another!

 

And now in "other news". I've been missing from my blog, and may be for a little while yet. We sadly lost my husband's beloved Quarter Horse Freckles this summer. He was 21 and had been born and raised here on our farm in Florida. My husband Jack, who is 84, still rode him nearly every day and they were bonded. So the loss has been very difficult. It also precipitated some hard thinking about where we live and whether we can continue to maintain a 10-acre horse farm. 

Around the same time, we had to make the decision that our sweet Abby was at the end of her life as well. She had several chronic health problems. Abby came to us as a rescue about a decade ago. Jack found her near a restaurant dumpster, malnourished and unwell. We took her in, and while she had some difficulties, it would be hard to find a more devoted and sweet natured pet.

So, rest in peace Freckles and Abby. Since their loss, we have found and purchased a new home closer to town- smaller, more manageable, and closer to services. We've always been rural dwellers, so this will be quite an adjustment, but a necessary one.

This will explain my absence from blogging for awhile. As you might imagine, my sewing room is in an uproar and nothing much is happening at the moment in there! I may have a post about a lovely quilt show I attended and will share some photos of the exhibit quilts. Until then....

Humble Beginnings...

 

Bits and pieces is all it takes to make one of these Tiny Sacred Art Journals as part of artist Colleen Attara's online class. Colleen encourages students to see items that may usually be tossed out in new ways. This journal, which measures just 3" square, is made using a vintage photo matt I had in my paper stash. There are also pieces of old wallpaper, rusted papers, thread nests, and lace trim. A little on the trashy side. And yet here it all is in a fun little journal to hold in your hand. The cover photo is a sweet vintage photo of a crafting friend's family members. What kid didn't want to have a photo taken on a pony?

And inside, there's a photo of her grandmother tucked behind a stitched fold out. I was very taken by this photo- it is so artistic.

Some pretty thread ends all wound up embellishing a page.

And the same friend gave me this vintage button card which I tarted up to put in the book. I think the whole journal will be a gift to her. She's always generous in sharing things like this. But the book is about her family (not this little girl, though-she's a Tim Holtz paper doll.) So, I'll present it back to her. This is the second Tiny Sacred Art Journal I made in Colleen's class.

The first journal began its life as a long, narrow clothing hangtag. After following Colleen's instructions, I was able to peel the tag into layers which became the pages of the book. 

Inside is some hand stitching and a machine stitched paper web.

Colleen invited students to send one of their Tiny Sacred journals to her to be included in her exhibition this month at ArtWRKD Studio in Newtown, Pennsylvania. The title of the display is "Exploration of Art Journaling: Lost in the Found". That about sums up the nature of these little journals. And this is one of the 80+ student journals that will be exhibited, along with works by Colleen. So what was once trash, now has a life and is on the road in its own journey!

More Button-Mania...

 

Well, out came the button collection once again. A local sewing group expressed interest in making the button bouquets like those shown in my November post, Behold the Humble Button. I'm never one to turn down more button fun, so we had a little workshop and members learned to make bouquets like this one. This is my demo project and I gave it as a gift to the wife of a local musician. They spent some time in Nashville, so when I saw this cute little collectible pitcher in a thrift shop, it seemed the perfect one for a tiny button bouquet.

I learned something at our gathering, too. One member brought a button bouquet similar to the ones we were making. She'd purchased it at a vintage market and the maker used the holes in the top of a salt shaker to support the wire stems. I bought a pair of shakers at the local dollar store and filled one with glass marbles. It really does the trick! This is a project in progress. But I sure liked the idea.

I'm pretty sure every quilter has a tin or jar of buttons- some old, some new. We shared the bounty as you can see! To the left of the pink vase bouquet that I brought as our sample, you can see the vintage silver salt shaker mentioned above.

Nothing but smiles all around the table when working on our bouquets. 

A pair of wire cutters, assorted buttons, and floral wire (plus a pretty vase with some filler of course) are all the supplies needed to created these pretty and whimsical flowers- guaranteed not to fade.

I dislike sewing buttons onto clothing, but never balk at sewing them onto projects. Why is that?? More buttons traveled with me to our Fiber Art Bee work session where we made these wise guys... oh, I mean wise old owls. Three of us led a small group of members through making these cute pin cushions filled with fiber-fil and crushed walnut shells.  This is a display of my table member's work. Here's a link to a video tutorial and free pattern so you can make one, just in case you find them irresistible, too.

And, with apologies for the blurry image, here is part of the owl graduating class, below.

Let's Get Soft on Fiber Arts...

 

Join me for a gallery visit! A celebration of a wide array of textile art is on display at the Thomas Center Gallery in Gainesville, FL, until July 23. The pieces included in the juried exhibition were created by more than 40 local fiber artists. This sweet vintage doll dress really took my fancy right off the bat. It's full of hand embroidery and beads, and is the creation of Judy Ellen Keathley.

Even the exhibit title is created with fiber- it's lace stretched over an embroidery hoop and the letter outlines. The exhibit is curated by Katy Lemle and Anne E. Gilroy.

More vintage textiles were used in several pieces. This is "Somebody's Doll Clothes", again by Judy Keathley. I'd say, "Somebody's been visiting antique shops, and really scored!" I see hankies and vintage cotton prints along with the doll clothes.

This was a happy surprise, and yet hand-tied flies certainly make good use of filament, fiber, feathers, and you name it! The work of Erin Hyde and Alex Burnett was on display and there was even a video running, showing the art of fly-tying. You can take a look at She Ties Flies here.

More vintage textiles and trims are found in Judy Ellen Keathley's "Rick Rack" quilt. I think I'd like a peek at the artist's vintage textile stash!

Jacquelyn Cubas made all of these Handmade Dolls using felt, sequins, fabric and trims. Very detailed! Behind her dolls, you can get just a glimpse of another exhibit also running with Soft. It's the work of Eddy Mumma, a Gainesville artist who was wheelchair bound and a prolific painter. His story is an interesting one you can read here.

 

Several talented members of the Fiber Art Bee (FAB), a group that's part of The Quilters of Alachua County Day Guild, had pieces on display. This fiber floral collage "Anniversary" quilt was made by Celeste Beck of Goatfeathers Studio. It includes a framed fabric photo of her and her late husband, so it is all the more special.

This eye-popping quilt (only two blocks pictured here) is by the color-loving FAB member Merri McKenzie. She ice-dyed the fabric for her "Florida Sunrise" quilt. It kind of makes you want to dance, doesn't it?

FAB member Gretchen Brooks has mastered the art of making fiber vessels. This beautiful "Yellow Vase" has lots of hand-dyed cottons along with a variety of yarn and fibers. 

Linda Krause employs many fiber techniques in her art quilts. She's a nature-lover and combines a love of photography in her pieces. Linda, also a FAB member, began this piece with a photo and then used paint, Inktense pencils, dyes, markers and both hand and machine quilting in "You Should See the Other Guy...".  A little nature-loving, quilter humor there.

More nature, more color- just what we love! "Jewel Beetle" is the creation of FAB member Candace McCaffery. Candace always WOWs us with her fabric dyeing, use of paints and nature themes. 

Linda Henderson made "Improv Blues", a Modern Quilt based on the traditional Log Cabin block.

This tropical beauty was made by longarm quilter Pam Mitchell in the One-Block Wonder style. Her quilting enhances the complex hexagons in the design.

"Milky Way Dream" (top), "Carnival Dream" (center), and "Cirrus Dream" (bottom) were made using acrylic paint, inks, and metallic thread by Sylvia Montesinos.

And one more vessel- this time a paper cast made using hand-made mulberry paper and fiber. "Spiritus" was crafted by Amy Richard. Good thing it's behind glass- I so wanted to touch it.

There- we took a fun field trip! There was much more to see in the Soft exhibit, and several of the pieces were very large installation-type displays. The Thomas Center itself is worthy of its own post. It's a large, Spanish-style building that began in the early 1900s as SunKist Villa, a private residence; became the renowned Hotel Thomas; then became an educational site; and now houses city offices and the gallery (read the history on the site linked above). If you love architecture, you'd enjoy all the impressive details preserved in the various rooms. It's lovely.

Taking Flight...

 Have you ever seen a Rosy Moth? The real one is even more colorful and pink than this stitched one, which is hand-painted and stitched. Artist Lisa Goddard was an instructor for Making Zen, a free online stitching retreat and this was her project. It was such fun to make, and like many of the small projects I'm drawn to, it makes use of all those bits and pieces collected over years of sewing. I'm pretty sure another moth is taking shape in my mind right now. If the free retreat is offered again, I recommend enrolling. Many instructors offer tutorials and projects in an array of stitching methods.

And sticking with the theme of flying things, who wouldn't want to sew a housefly? These are so cute you would not want to swat them I'm sure. Anne Wood Handmade offered a free "House Fly Rag Doll" tutorial and template that will have you stitching rather than swatting flies. Our Fiber Art Bee decided to make a whole swarm and send them to a sewing friend who is under the weather. One member found an old-fashioned metal-screen swatter and engineered a way to attach the whole swarm to present to him with our best wishes. The blue fly at the upper right is named Splatz and was gifted to me by Celeste Beck of Goatfeathers Studio, who also could not resist making more than one fly. I made the others and they are as yet unnamed. The furry-bodied guy in the lower left was started by a member but not completed. She gave it to me and I finished the job. Houseflies are pests? I think not.

Next, our quilt guild asked us to make felt "word birds" to use as centerpieces for the next holiday luncheon. Each member will get to take a bird home at the end of the event. So there was some more stitching fun!

I was so taken with this Harmony Bird that he's going to stay and live here in the sewing room with me. Believe it or not, I had to ask our coordinator for some felt scraps to make these birds because I have very little in my stash. Imagine that! Not words I use often- Very little in my stash!

Glorious Glass... Part 2

 

We're not done with the wonderful Chihuly at Biltmore exhibit. It begged to be more than one post! The colors, forms, and textures in his glass pieces are beyond description, so feast your eyes.

Looking into the glass sculptures is quite mesmerizing. There are thousands of glass pieces making up the display.

The glowing neon colors are like no glass I've ever seen and the pieces light up beautifully.

And the array of glass plant life forms makes for such a pleasing arrangement.

From tall and slender to twisted and serpentine, the arrangements of the pieces are attention grabbing.

This Mille Fiori installation is the centerpiece of the entire exhibit in my view. The artist's vision was inspired by Mille Fiori- an Italian word meaning "thousand flowers". The garden can be viewed from all sides, and there is much to see. It takes Chihuly and his entire team of artisans to blow the glass forms for installations like this one. If you have 20 spare minutes, here is a YouTube video showing the process of the designs. I hope you're packing your bags for a trip to Asheville, NC, and Chihuly at Biltmore. You won't be disappointed!

Glorious Glass...

 

For this post, my blog will be like a travelogue or a gallery tour. I had the wonderful opportunity to travel to Asheville, NC, to visit The Biltmore House and the Chihuly at Biltmore exhibit. Oh my, I love Dale Chihuly glass creations. I've seen them before at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, AZ, and the Chihuly Collection in St. Petersburg, FL. But they are worth seeing again and again! Near the entry of the exhibit we saw this spectacular array of colorful Navajo design wool trade blankets, many made by Pendleton Woolen Mills. Chihuly's collection of the vintage blankets inspired the vessels you'll see next. 

You can see the influence of the woven threads that were created with thin glass rods in these cylinders. They are part of his "Navajo Blanket Cylinders" series.

Native American designs of the Pacific Northwest later appeared in the glass vessels when he captured the soft sag of native baskets in his Soft Cylinders series. The shadow on the wall illustrates how translucent these colorful glass cylinders are. From the left are Pyrol Orange Soft Cylinder with Verditer Blue Lip Wrap; Rose Soft Cylinder with Forest Green Lip Wrap; Sun Yellow Soft Cylinder with Green Lip Wrap; and Verdant Green Soft Cylinder with Poppy Lip Wrap. So there's a new technical term for you- lip wrap! Just beautiful and the lip wraps provide just the right color accents.

Here we have Black Vivid Yellow Soft Cylinder with Scarlet Lip Wrap and Black Chartreuse Soft Cylinder with Forest Green Lip Wrap. Even the darker glass allows the light to shine through.

In another part of the exhibit we were treated to Chihuly's Icicle pieces. Each icicle is blown glass and then the individual pieces are assembled into either a tower, like this one, or a chandelier which hangs from the ceiling. Just imagine transporting and assembling these glass structures!

This is Radiant Yellow Icicle Chandelier with Royal Blue Icicle Tower in the background.

Is one Icicle Tower not enough? Are you wanting more? OK then, here are three of a kind- Serpentine Green Icicle Towers. Just amazing. I'll stop now, but there will be a Glorious Glass, Part 2 coming soon. Chihuly's work is so electrifying!