Speaking of Faces…

This “Flower Girl” wall quilt came about after I became interested in drawing faces and trying them out in fabric renditions. A quilting friend was working on two face quilts she’d begun in a class with Mary Diamond, and I was fascinated by her projects. I could hardly wait to give it a try on my own. Hopefully my resulting whimsy girl is pretty and not scary! I sketched the face on the background fabric and then emphasized the features with single-strand embroidery stitches to shade and define it. Her hair made from floral motifs is covered with tulle and accented with bright beads. You can see those a bit better in the detail shot that follows.




I learned a lot about making faces, and clearly have much more to learn. But the good news for me is that I never knew I wanted to, or could, create faces. It was so much fun and I’m happy with her.




While I was at it, I decided to try a variety of quilting techniques in the piece which I’ll enter in our guild quilt show next month. I couched knotted yarn lines on the background and then stitched with a feather stitch between the lines. And I added another blossom to one corner of the asymmetrical border just to balance things out a bit.


And now that we are done traveling up and down the eastern seaboard helping our daughter move here from NY, I’m off to a week of quilt retreat and hopefully recharging my very depleted batteries! I’ve always heard that a move is among the top three stressful events. I had no idea somebody else’s move would count, too! Phew. My sewing machine has been neglected, but will spring into action over the next few days. I’m ready.

Let’s Face It…

Let’s face it, there are times when we all need this message- keep calm and quilt on! Do you find that quilting and art projects help you to be more peace-filled? I’m a firm believer that creative endeavors are therapy of the finest kind. This mixed-media girlie is another new project I made under the instruction of artist Bonnie VanDenHandel at She Scrapbooks. I’ve been wanting to draw faces, and this was just the right opportunity. Since we are our own worst critics, I won’t point out the mistakes in this project- you can spot them I’m sure. But overall, I’m pleased with how this turned out, and I like the message. I’ve had many opportunities lately to “keep calm” as we just traveled to NY to help our daughter move here to Florida. Long story short, our smoke-spewing truck, our horse trailer intended to bring the contents of her apartment, and her two cats are still up north in NY and PA. We are in Florida with a UHaul, a tow dolly and her car, her, all the belongings, and her dog. The kitties hid themselves and showed themselves to the neighbor when we were already gone. She's caring for them and the rent is paid until the end of the month. So there is more to be resolved with another trip north to retrieve everything. And there have been many blessings amid the challenges. So that’s my current saga, and why I feel quilting and crafting are such a gift in my life. They truly do help keep me calm. But on with the show….







This is Bonnie’s class sample. She’s a trained artist, and I just love her work. We began with a burlap canvas and built layers up on it. Pretty, pretty.






Here’s teacher Bonnie herself. You can see a bit of this wonderful shop behind her. It’s hard to keep the credit card in my purse when I’m in here!





This is the canvas we began with. You can see that Bonnie’s sample was a little different with the text background.





We got to work with paint, stamps and more to build our projects.





There were two of us in the class, and this is my classmate Lori’s girl. She moved the flowers around on the project several times so that her girl was, at first, a heavenly angel and later gone Hawaii. The class name is Chicky Chicks. I think they’re actually Cheeky Chicks. Hope you enjoy seeing them. Will have to see how often I can post until we get things more settled. But I'll be back. Oh yes, and after the dust settles, I get to go on a quilting retreat! Won't that be just what's needed to put my head back on straight?

Can You Judge a Book by Its Cover?

I think you can when it’s this lively! I had the pleasure of taking a bookmaking class with Bonnie VanDenHandel at She Scrapbooks in The Villages, Florida, a couple of weeks ago. Not only did we cover making an accordian-style book using one large sheet of watercolor paper, but we also did a marathon printmaking session using a Gelli Plate. And this book is the happy result. The front and back covers have strips cut from my Gelli-prints adhered and then embellished. We used gloss medium to add that bit of shine to the surface and to make sure everything is stuck down tight.











After I “warmed up” by making prints on plain copy paper, which were the ones I later cut up for the cover strips, it was time to print directly in the book, layering paint and texture on every page. As you can see, I’m quite fond of bubbles for surface texture. Once assembled, the book stands up on its own so you can see all the color goodness inside.











A view from the back of the book shows more color pages. The Gelli printing process is full of wonderful surprises as you combine stencils, stamps, and multiple paint colors. It’s pretty much mistake proof so it’s perfect for beginning art journalists like me. Once the pages were printed, we added the covers and a ribbon closure. Now I’m ready to fill the book with…. I don’t really know yet! For now, I just enjoy making the prints and books, and feel quite accomplished getting that far.











I made the flower accents using Bonnie’s paper punch and leftover Gelli printed papers. A little black cardstock and some jewelie accents helped them to stand out a bit. Even the charms on the ribbon closure are paper. The heart is a handmade bead made from layers of paper hearts and finished with Glossy Accents. The butterfly is also from a punch that Bonnie had for me to use in class.










Here’s my talented instructor Bonnie VanDenHandel of VDH Studios with her class sample book. Bonnie was born on the Caribbean Island of Saint Maarten and studied art and art education in the States. She now lives and works here in Florida. Below is a close-up of Bonnie's book, and one made by another of her students. I’ll be signing up for more of Bonnie’s classes at the shop in the future. Of course I realize that endeavors like this one require yet another set of supplies and materials. So my sewing and craft room is ready to split its proverbial seams. However, I'm sure that making this book is just the beginning of even more mixed media fun!

Swapping by Mail…

I just took part in a fun prayer flag swap that began right here in Blog-land. Jan of Laughing Dog Arts commented on this blog that it seemed as if we both liked many of the same things- a variety of sewing and craft projects, bits and pieces of assorted materials, animals… just lots of things in common. She noted it might be fun to do a swap sometime. We decided to go ahead and trade a prayer flag shipped in a mail art envelope. My prayer flag for Jan started with some hand-dyed and stamped fabric given to me, to which I added lettering, paint, embroidery, vintage trims, and a rolled fabric flower. The white header and casing is a vintage dress front. So much of this flag is created from “found” items. Funny thing about prayer flags… I notice that while I’m assembling the bits and pieces for the project at hand, there are two or three small piles of other bits that just seem to go together. So the next prayer flags are inventing themselves as I work. This tells me that this is an endless project and that I’ll return to it again and again.






You can tell from her blog title that Jan is a dog lover. When I saw this appealing image of a dog in a magazine, I clipped it out and decided to alter it for her envelope with overlays of paint, painted papers, and stitching. There always seem to be some images in advertisements or brochures that need to be saved and used somehow. This was one of those.









The address side of the envelope is just some Washi tape, and recycled paper bits. I figuratively hold my breath a little when sending these, but the mail does go through! And as it turned out, Jan’s birthday was right around the time she received her prayer flag, so it was like a birthday gift. Further coincidence is that my birthday is also in August, so her flag for me was like a gift as well.






So here is the prayer flag Jan sent. We had a chuckle when we noticed that both of us topped our flags with vintage linen and lace. I love the painted and stamped piece she used as the top layer. It has lots of metallic paint lines and squiggles. The photo below is the back of the flag base with stamped images of coyotes and crows.





Jan even pinned some hand-made fabric beads on the header. So pretty!





Speaking of pretty, here’s the file folder she altered with paint, stamps, and stencils, and then stitched closed. I opened it on one side very carefully so as not to rip any of the mailer. I plan to use it, possibly for a journal cover. There’s so much to look at, and it’s so creative. I love the items Jan sent, and I think we both are very happy we decided to swap our work!

The Humble Cereal Box Transformed …

One thing that appeals about mixed-media paper projects is the use of odd bits and pieces. After all, I’ve been saving those for years! The supplies are trying to overflow the storage space, so it’s time to put them to work. Things like little silk flowers, buttons, ribbons- you name it. I thought it was going to be used in quilts somehow, but nope. It's for journals, cards, and projects like this. These heart ornaments started with an empty cereal box for the base and just grew from there, layer upon layer. I saw the idea in “Altered! Art Projects” by Tweety Jill Publications. And how about that funky flower adornment? That came from viewing a tutorial by Jenniebellie. She’s a delightful, arty instructor and has an entire YouTube channel of fun things to make. And if there’s one thing I love, it’s making stuff!

This heart combines text paper, painted paper flowers, yarn, ribbon, beads and more. It may not be done yet- there’s still room on that surface. Knowing when to stop is not my strong suit, so this may still get a few touches.

This heart still needs some “messaging” in the form of cut out words of encouragement added to the surface. The flower in this one is made from two pieces of vintage lace trim that I spritzed with color. I’m asking myself where the creative urge to make all this has been hiding for so long. I decided it’s actually been there all along. However  years back, when managing a household with children growing up and teaching full time, I decided I needed to choose one hobby and focus on that in order to keep things a little bit more orderly. So I gave up cross-stitching, macrame, garment sewing, knitting, etc. and focused on quilting, my very favorite. Now that I have a dedicated creative space, the genie is back out of the bottle and I’m off pursuing every project that catches my eye. And a lot catches my eye! What fun.

Back in the Sewing Room…

Before we left for Maine, I’d made some mail art for a quilting friend in Pennsylvania. This is the back of the catalog-size envelope covered with paint, stamps, lettering, paper cut outs, and even a selvage. Working with paper this way is really satisfying. Guess I didn’t get enough of finger painting as a kid- my favorite art activity. Just got it filled and mailed out this week.





This is the envelope front, and I’ve covered my friend’s address with another post card. But I had to crop the photo a bit as, oops, I forgot to cover my own address. She was happy to receive the mail, partly for the envelope and partly because it included some pretty pieces of washi tape for her to use in her art journals.





While we had a wonderful week with family in Maine, it’s always good to get back to my sewing room. I could hardly drag myself out of it this week to get the laundry caught up. One project I made was this cute apron made from a tea towel. A guild member showed hers at a recent meeting, and I didn’t catch the pattern source. But when I searched for a tutorial, up popped The Missouri Star Quilt Company and their instructional video (link for Part 1 of 2) and pattern print-out. It’s so quick and easy. The company sells a nice variety of the tea towels very reasonably, so I’ve ordered several more to make aprons for our quilt show boutique. I’ve also been sorting and reorganizing my supplies. I felt re-energized from our trip to dive into that project (an ongoing one!).





Here are a few photos from our trip to Maine- this is a stained glass window at the Franciscan Monastery in Kennebunkport. I love the contemporary style. The grounds there are very beautiful, and below is statuary of St. Francis amidst some animals, flowers and a fountain.





This art work is also on the grounds, and the sign notes that it was an exhibit from the 1965 World’s Fair in New York, now permanently housed here.



We ate well in Maine- the freshest, sweetest lobster dinners.
The wood-fired pizza.

The delicious chicken salad atop a salad at David's KPT. All so yummy.

   Plus we found a new favorite lobster pound in Cape Porpoise. They catch ‘em and cook ‘em. We eat ‘em. A perfect arrangement in my book.


Loved this sign at a gallery shop in Kennebunkport. Earth without art? Eh!


  And this sign on the Marginal Way, a beautiful ocean-side walking path in Ogunquit. I had shown some photos of the cairn rock piles someone had been making there on a blog post a year or so ago. But the township evidently now has a policy of no cairn building. “Leave no trace”- I see their point. I liked the rock piles, but they were man-made in an otherwise wild and scenic area.

  This is Perkins Cove- a little fishing and boating inlet at the end of the Marginal Way walk. Lots of nice little shops and restaurants. Overall the weather was lovely. We had a couple of rain showers, but they never got in the way of our plans.





Our daughter Joanna took this panoramic view of Nubble Lighthouse in York Beach. It gives a good sense of the sweep of rock and ocean surrounding the island.


Hope you enjoyed this little travelogue!

A Quilters’ Showcase…

Our small weekly sewing and crafting group recently held a welcome luncheon and display for potential new members. We all brought a variety of items we’d made and arranged them for all to look at. When I gathered up all the small things I’d made or been given, it filled a table.




I think this just proves the point that I never met a craft I didn’t like and want to try. Paper crafts, quilting, rope bowls, greeting cards, journals… you  name it. That’s just one of the fun things about our group, the Citra Crafty Quilters- there's an abundance of talent and interests.




One of our members, Penny, makes these cute night light covers and decorative fabric pine cones. She taught a class on the pine cones, so all who were interested learned to make them. And that was all of us!





Penny is also learning “pin-broidery” or card stitching. She’s stitched the butterflies on cardstock by pricking a pattern into the paper, and then stitching in a pattern with variegated thread. This is a new craft to me, and Penny has jumped right in, making a number of beautiful hand-crafted cards. It reminds me of those sewing cards I had as a child, though an advanced version.





These two striking pieces were made by Claudia who recently took a class in soy painting on silk with quilt artist Juanita Yeager. The poppy above was her first project, and she’s hooked. It won’t be her last. And I love what she’s done with the batik panel of butteflies. Her quilting is beautiful, and I wish the camera could show the spark added by the crystals she embellished with.






Jackie, an art teacher, sells her work in an artist’s co-op locally. She showed this grapevine and raffia piece. I love the intricate knotted pattern, and it felt good to the touch with all that texture.





Ida is an absolute master of embroidery, but she's so humble she doesn't even know it. We just marvel over her handwork. She brought a number of her heavily stitched and bead-embellished blocks that will eventually go to make up a quilt. This one impressed me most because of the flower vine stitched in metallic thread. Metallic! I would never attempt this much design work with metallic thread. But Ida got it to behave with remarkable results. And those tiny cross-stitches along the fan handle have one itty-bitty seed bead sewn between each pair. Such a gift she has.


Below is the soft and sweet Half Log Cabin quilt made by Ann-Marie. She also made the redwork pillow and I love the little French Knot dots between the roses. They enhance the white space, and add some lovely texture.






I thought you might also like to meet Smarty. Smarty is a yearling Quarter Horse, and is a full brother to Jackson, who I’ve shown here before. You might have thought this was Jackson, because they look a great deal alike- both bay roans, and very handsome fellows. Jackson was sold and is now with his new owner, but still at the same trainer’s barn. We’re hoping to get a picture of both of them together at some point. Smarty arrived at our barn just after Jackson left. Smarty is living up to his name as my husband Jack is working with him off the golf cart and a little bit in the ring and he's catching on nicely. He’s a sweet guy, gentle and kind. Smarty, I mean, but so is Jack!




We’re traveling to Maine, and Smarty will board at the barn where Jackson is. So we may get our photo op soon. The boys' half-brother Freckles is also at the barn. He can get in on the family photo, too.