Papering the Sewing Room

Apparently it's not enough that there are fabrics and fabric scraps, along with unfinished quilt projects proliferating in my sewing room. Now I am drawn to paper, and it's filling up the place, too. To say nothing of all the new supplies I need to play with paper... paints, stamps, inks, shaving cream. Yes, even shaving cream! That's what we used in Carol Murphy's "Tempting Techniques" online class at Joggles to make marbleized paper. My husband had to be stopped from taking the can. He thought I bought it for him. ha, ha, ha.

The papers in the photo above are, from the left: paste paper, acrylic paint, marbled, watercolors with stamps, masking tape resist, faux mulberry, glue crackle, bleach discharge, acrylic paint, and marbled. Some were made using methods from online classes and YouTube (for the paste paper), while others were from library books on the subject. All are destined for further layering and embellishment, and will ultimately go into journals.

In addition to online classes and books, there's also a lot of inspiration and instruction among the many blogs published by various creative souls. Just look over on the left at the list of blogs I follow. You'll see some wonderful work by artists like Martha at Art du Jour.

I'm learning a lot, and speaking a whole new language. I didn't know what gesso was, but now I have a great big container of it. And then I also signed up for a journal making class titled "Open Your Door Journal Workshop". It's taught by Carole Brungar, New Zealand, on her blog "Madness and Mess". So we are working away to create papers that will go into the journals, and then get embellished.


And last, but not least, Ashley at The Creative Place had a Scrap Paper Challenge and giveaway on her blog I won a pack of her paper ephemera, shown here. The challenge is to create a variety of projects inspired by the assortment. There will be more coming about these projects on this blog and on Ashley's. Her blog is full of ideas and tutorials for all sorts of stitched and paper projects. Recipes, too. So who knows what all that wonderful paper she sent will turn into! Such fun. Stay tuned...

Coffee Break....

This is a small wall quilt I made and machine quilted using a pattern and fabric from the Cuisine-Coffee Classic series by McKenna Ryan. The pattern is for a square quilt, but I added some batiks to top and bottom, preferring a rectangular look.

While it is small, there is a fair amount of work in the piece. It's fusible applique. The machine quilting...I'm making progress. That's thanks to a workshop offered at my quilt guild a year or so ago by Jan Doudna. She gave plenty of helpful pointers and I got some successfully free-motioned quilt sandwiches underway. And I've found the Supreme Slider and Leah Day's 365 Days of Free Motion Quilting blog to be most helpful as well.

It was a fun project. And it's brown. I always like brown in quilts! One time I was with a group looking through some quilt photos. I chose one that I found especially appealing. Another member of the group commented, "But it's brown. Quilters don't really make brown quilts, do they?" Everyone laughed because brown was practically my signature color. That's less true now (or is it?), but at that time, every quilt had brown in it.

Another Crafty Quilter Turns 90!

Our local sewing group had reason to celebrate! Once again we were privileged to honor one of our members on her 90th birthday (the other celebrant was Emmy Lou in March, shown here). This time it was Marie Block, above right, who was the honoree at our luncheon. Marie is a longtime crafter who still does a bit of crochet, although she acknowledges she's slowed down a little. One of Marie's annual efforts is to fill 20 shoeboxes with small items such as toys, school supplies, and sox for children in need around the world. It's part of her church's social outreach through Christmas Shoebox program. Our fearless leader Gwen Hill-Hearn is shown above left, presenting Marie with a gift and our thanks for being a treasured member of the Citra Crafty Quilters. We were all very happy to celebrate Marie's birthday with her!


Of course a show-and-tell is always part of our group gatherings. This time Elaine Cornett (above, right) had her scrappy Strip Twist quilt. Elaine used plenty of colorful strips and a pattern from Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville website. Mary Reynolds (above, left) quilted it on her longarm machine.



Our group always manages a feast for such special occasions. In addition to quilting, crafting, tatting, and embroidering, our members are good cooks. I'll echo the words used my small hometown newspaper years ago when reporting on social events... "a fine time was had by all."

Exciting Mail! ATCs are here...

The envelope, please! These five ATCs arrived in the mail this weekend. They're the swaps from The Mixed Mania book study at mmartfriends group on Yahoo. I showed you the five cards I made to trade in this post.

What fun to see the variety of techniques and design concepts depicted in these small cards. About the size of a baseball card, the ATCs (artist trading cards) provide an opportunity for group members to try out painting, sewing, collage, beadmaking, stamping, embellishing, doodling... you name it.

My thanks to group leader and swap coordinator Belinda Spiwak. You can see her work on her blog, and in many issues of Quilting Arts and Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazines. And of course, many thanks to my swap partners. Just take a look at their work! I'm inspired to make more of these now that I've had a chance to study some new techniques for making them. Above- top, by Jennifer Elliott; above-bottom, by Sue in South Africa. Below left, by Jennifer Lyons; below right, by Elle Pukalo; bottom, by Joyce.

Fabric Jewelry?!?

Yes, indeed. While browsing the shelves at the local library, I came across this book- "Fabric Jewelry" by Teresa Searle (2007, St. Martin's Griffin, NY). What an intriguing concept! So I signed the book out, and found it's packed with more than 20 projects for making creative jewelry pieces from fabric. What fun.




I'm unsure as yet which of the jewelry pieces I'll make, but I had to at least try making a couple of the elements. The author's one-of-a-kind Filigree necklace is made using fabric flower motifs and machine embroidery sewn on dissolving film. When the film is washed away, the flowers and some lacey looking threads remain. My first two efforts are shown here. One has too little stitching, and the other has too much. I'm confident that next time I'll get it "just right." Also discovered that using variegated thread created a milky look that I would avoid next time.

Other simple elements are the twisted lengths of fabric that make up the Corded Necklace. I had some narrow (1"-wide) strips leftover from making the fabric-covered rope baskets. Twisting a strip while sewing with a zig-zag stitch results in a thin cord. Several together can be used in a bracelet, or other embellishment. I'm not sure what the ones above will become, but I like the raggedy look and the texture of the threads.

In a bit of serendipity, I picked up a copy of Country Living magazine, Feb. 2010 issue, from the "pass-it-on pile" at our sewing group. Look what I came across in the Fresh Picks column! Pretty fabric necklaces available from several designers. Timely!

Scenic Watercolors on Fabrics... a Class Act

Teacher Debra Johnston brought these class samples to inspire the 12 students in the recent One-Day Getaway: Watercolor on Fabric event. We gathered at The Crystal Ice House in Trenton, FL. It includes a classroom and is part of a complex known as The Suwannee Shops.




We began with color photos, post cards, or other scenic images. Snapshots of former homes that held fond memories were a popular subject. Students transferred elements of the images to paper and then to fabric. And, oh yes, that's a menu Betty is holding, below. We also began by placing our lunch orders!



Debra provided watercolor crayons, pencils, and markers and explained the different effects each would give to the work. Students then experimented on extra squares of muslin before beginning their masterpieces. They took to it quickly and their work was varied and lovely! Just take a look.






Our only problem was one student who lacked confidence and kept disappearing from the class. I found her hiding out in the ladies room, and finally got her to rejoin the group.

Watercolor on Fabrics..

This piece is my first effort from a class on watercolor paints on fabric. Quilting teacher Debra Johnston held a trial class at her home with just three students. Debra has an art background and she provided all the necessary items... watercolor crayons, markers, pencils, and paints. That meant we could try the various methods without buying lots of supplies.

We began with a landscape-style photo or picture and a piece of bleached muslin. Mine is a courtyard in St. Augustine. After creating a black-and-white photocopy version, we traced the major elements from the picture onto the muslin. Then we filled them in using watecolor paints, and added details with watercolor markers. After heat setting the image, it's now ready to incorporate in a crazy quilt block, or other project.

It was so much fun, that we decided to schedule a special event for our quilt guild, The Country Road Quilters. So next week, she and I will "hostess" a One-Day Get-Away at The Ice House, a beautiful new classroom at The Suwannee Valley Quilt Shop in Trenton, FL. We'll have the watercolor class and a luncheon at the cafe for 12 participants.



Debra is the brains and talent behind this event, so I'm helping out with the lunch arrangements, preparing the fabrics, and other details. I stitched these mini-notepads to put in the class packets along with a brush and muslin pieces. To make them, I cut dollar-store paper to size, and then added the fabric strips as toppers. It was a chance to try out a few of the fancy machine stitches and to use up some fabric scraps. These were strips cut from interfaced fabric leftover from the Jane Sassaman class and project.

Should be a fun day. I'll get pictures to share.