Fabric Paper Trades

As our Stitch Alchemy book study group winds down, a number of the swaps have been completed. This means colorful, exciting mail. Here's what I've recieved in just the past couple of days.

First, there are these strands of Good Fortune Birds. Each participant made three strands of five birds each, sent them to our hostess with a return mailer, and got back three strands made by other group members.

Mine were made by Peggy Wilkinson, from Illinois; Denise Funfsinn, also from Illinois; and Catherine van der Hoeff, from Holland. The birds have glitter, glitz, stitching, stamping, and more surface decoration. They were fun to make, and even more fun to recieve!



Then, Claudia Vedder, of Hamburg, Germany, was my swap partner for the Love Doll trade. Here is the doll I recieved from Claudia. In the package, she also sent some pages from a German book, shown behind the doll, so I can make more fabric paper using it. There is a lot to look at on the doll. She is thoroughly embellished with buttons, charms, sequins, beads, coins, my initial, embroidery, a felt heart, and even a tiny tear drop. I'm sure it's a tear of joy!



Thanks to all who took part in these exchanges. I learned a lot and I'm so very pleased with the results.

And, PS, my swap partner Claudia, has a blog you might be interested in. She has wide-ranging interest and ability in mixed media.

Good mail!

Just before I left for the Honeybee Retreat in Jacksonville, FL, last week, this colorful package arrived in the mail. Inside were the four bookmarks, shown above. They were made by participants in the swap conducted in the Stitch Alchemy book study group I belong to on Yahoo. Each was made using fabric paper, also called stitch paper. I learned to make and embellish the fabric paper along with the other members of the group. Author Kelli Nina Perkins hostessed the swap, and it's her artwork on the envelope and on the two enclosures shown here.

It was fun to see the variation in style and construction. What a great way to make use of all those yarns, threads, and trims! I'll enjoy using these bookmarks, and showing them off.

While taking classes at the retreat, I was joined by my friend Joanne from Pennsylvania. Happily, she got out of town just ahead of the winter storm there over the weekend. In addition to learning lots in the quilting classroom, I also brought some items needed to make stitch paper so Joanne could give it a try. Here are the results. She had to make do with limited materials, so she creatively incorporated bits of napkins and the paper label from a club soda bottle in her pieces.



The fabric paper isn't necessarily done in the state you see it in the photo. There are colors to add, stamping to be done, and surface stitching which is my favorite part. It's a chance to try out the many decorative stitches on the sewing machine. The piece in the photo below, right, has been stitched and is now ready to use in a project of some kind. Like the doll from my January 17 post.

When I returned home, my husband Jack had this card waiting for me. It was for our 45th anniversary. I love the sentiment, and hey, it kind of looks like fabric paper to me!

A Whole Lotta Swapping Going On...

I'm participating in yet another online stitch paper swap for the Yahoo book study group. This one is for a "Love Doll". My swap partner is from Germany, so this doll will be well-traveled. Here's the book... I took it to Staples to have a spiral lay-flat binding added. They did it for less than a couple of dollars and my choice of spiral color.



Kelli, the author of our book Stitch Alchemy, noted to be careful while adding stuffing to the dolls. They are not quite as flexible as a cloth doll would be. I learned the hard way that she was right. Over-zealous stuffing ripped a hole in the seat of the doll's britches. Her back is made of craft felt. What to do? I patched her up with a heart.




This doll turned into "Love Doll meets Project Runway." She's stylishly dressed with her tee-shirt and beret. She's carrying a Bahamaian penny in one hand. It will be difficult to part with her when the time comes. I like her. Husband Jack won't be sorry to see her go... he thinks she's scary. What do you think? She could use a name, too. Any thoughts on that?

These Little Bookmarks Stayed Home...

I've been involved in an interesting online book study in a Yahoo Group. The book is Stitch Alchemy by Kelli Nina Perkins. First we made what is known as stitch paper or fabric paper. It's made on a muslin, or other fabric, base with a glue wash and various layers of paper pieces added. Color can be added when the fabric is wet, or after it dries. And once it dries, various embellishments such as stamps and surface stitching are added. The resulting fabric paper is somewhat stiff, but you can stitch on it and with it.

Next we signed up to swap various items made with the stitch paper. One of these was bookmarks. We could make any number up to 10, send them to the hostess, and she'll return to us the same number of bookmarks, but that have been made by other group members. The swap closes today. I made several bookmarks, but these two stayed home with me..For some reason, I got pretty attached to the bookmarks and wanted to keep a couple of my own.

I'll share some more photos from this study soon. We've already swapped 6" squares of stitch paper, and there is also a love doll swap. A doll made from stitch paper.... now that will be a challenge.

By the way, adding the beads and buttons to the yarn tassels would have been difficult except for a tip I found in a book on scrapbooking. Using a floss threader helps get the bulkier yarns through the holes in the beads quite nicely.