We're not dead!

Thank you to everyone who has called, emailed, posted and texted asking about Mark and checking in on us. And the food! Oh my goodness, the FOOD!!! He's doing great and headed back to work tomorrow. My work has suffered a little, mostly from time constraints, but I'm getting back to it now, slowly but surely. Anne and I are doing the Juke Joint Fest in Clarksdale in April and I'm looking forward to having to produce some Blues-themed pieces for that. Lots of ideas, just have to drag out the fabrics and stuff and get started. I've done one very traditional quilt over the holidays as a commission and I was extremely pleased with the way it turned out. It's been a while since I quilted a full sized bed quilt on my machine but it went pretty smoothly once I got a top-stitch needle that wouldn't shred the thread. It was good practice for me too since I started piecing a bed quilt for us last night. All these years of quilting and I've never made one for our own bed! I have 2 completed batik tops but neither of them are quilted yet.

No photos this time, but I'm determined to post more regularly on the blog (and remember to take pictures when I finish something!) so maybe I'll have more interesting posts in the near future.

Treme' Gumbo Festival

Anne and I have a booth at the Treme' festival this weekend in New Orleans and I'm doing recycled, painted clothing. These are some of the pieces I did at the studio today. The pink with the purple design on it is a suit and the design on the pockets is repeated around the hemline. The denim is a skort and the big Fleur de Lis are all over the black blouse, not just on the front.

The khaki colored blouse is an absolutely gorgeous Liz Claiborne with metallic paints. All clothing is either linen or cotton or a blend of the two.

Good News/Bad News

My husband goes into triple bypass open heart surgery at noon today. That's the bad news. The good news is that we had no idea he had heart problems and it was caught during a doctor visit for a totally unrelated complaint.

We are very happy with his team of doctors and optimistic about the outcome. His biggest worry is if the Saints can go 11-0 tonight (he should be just about coming out of anesthesia for kick-off) and my biggest worry is how the hell I'm going to learn to cook without frying anything, or smothering everything in gravy, or tossing out the bacon grease as seasoning. 50 years of cooking style down the drain!

The best thing is knowing that I still literally make his heart skip a beat, even after 26 years of marriage, when I walk in the room. I saw the ekg that proves it!

It's a wrap!

The show is over, the quilts are back with their owners and the building is empty once again! All in all, it was a wonderful show and we had some incredible quilts on display. The workmanship just blew the judge away and renting the pipe and drape hanging system showcased the work beautifully. The last 2 of us were out of the building less than 2 hours after the show closed. We were amazed at how quickly and smoothly the take down went this year. Good thing too, since I got home Sunday evening with a 102 fever and I'm not sure I could have lasted much longer than that. We had an incredible response to the opportunity quilts and did very well with the quilt sale. Lots of good comments on the width of the aisles and the quilts not looking crowded. I think 150 was a good number for the exhibit and I'm glad we cut off entries at the actual cut-off date. The weather was warm and humid, with a couple of very light showers so using the patio area worked well also. At least people had a place to sit down for a few minutes. The Craft Center seemed pleased with the Saturday sales in the gallery and our general stewardship of the facilities. That's always a good thing, since we love having the show in their building and don't want to do anything to jeopardize that. If you'd like to see the building check it out at mscrafts.org It's absolutely gorgeous and really showed off the quilts with lots of natural light and open space.

When I was asked to take over as director of the show, I was scared to death to step in, and spent weeks feeling like I was in over my head, but I had a tremendous amount of help from everyone, especially a core group of committee chairmen who never once failed to offer suggestions, support, advice, opinions, and on a couple of occasions (well, maybe more than a couple) a shoulder to cry on or an ear for me to rant into. There is no way in this world that I would have been able to pull this off without the help of everyone involved, from the people who entered the quilts to hang, to Myra, Lucy and Ann T. who got us from point A to point B.

Again, a huge thank you to everyone involved in making this show such a success. You should all be very proud of yourselves.

More clothing

My stress level must be higher than I realized, since I'm still sewing clothing. This one is for my sweet Madeline, Ben and Kaylee's first born. She's the closest thing I have to a grandchild yet.

I started out with some vintage embroidered organza and went from there. I had one long thin piece of it with a finished edge and one shorter, wider piece with a selvage. The long piece with the lace edging became the bodice and bottom overlays and the sleeves, and the selvage piece became the crown of the bonnet. The original intention was to use a classic Vogue pattern, but I wound up only using the sleeve pattern and even re-drafted that to get what I wanted. #40 satin ribbon was pleated for the brim of the bonnet and candlelight satin ribbon used throughout the rest of the dress. White cotton lawn for the dress with the candlelight embroidered organza over it. Candlelight sparkle organza for the collar overlay. Fully lined with a white cotton slip.

Ben's family gown is "too fragile" to be used any more and Kaylee's family lost everything in the storm, so we're starting over with Madeline. I did the basic construction on the dress, Ben's mother is doing all the hand work on the lining and contributed the organza from her own mother's stash, and Kaylee's grandmother will embroider the name on the slip, so all of us will have had a hand in making it. Nick will be coming home from Okinawa around Christmas to be the godfather.

Back to my roots

Woke up this morning with an idea for a jacket made out of a vintage pulled threadwork linen tablecloth in my head. So of course, since I have nothing else to do I made it. It probably would have gone a bit faster if I'd actually made a pattern for it first, but I'm happy with it anyway. I hate I had to seam the center back, but there was no way to get the pulled thread design symmetrical without doing it. I might have made the arm scythe a bit deeper had I started with a sloper, but maybe not. Ignore my son's blue shirt under it. It didn't photograph well without the contrast and that's just what was closest at hand to use. Hey, I was just glad I got photos of it at all.

It's funny, but I was thinking earlier that even after all these years, sewing is my release and relaxation. After all the details and minutia of dealing with the quilt show stuff this past week I think my brain just needed a break. I have several quilts here that need to be worked on, but none of them struck my fancy so I went back to my own "comfort food" of sewing, which is clothing. It surprises me at times that I don't do more wearables because I love to sew clothing. Maybe I know myself well enough to know I don't want to over-do it and burn myself out on something I love.

Festivalgirl's shirt

My friend Chrissa's "Lily Flower (Fleur de Lis) Bouquet" shirt.

guild commission

This is the quilt I'm working on right now for the Craftsmen's guild. It will hang on the back of the piano to hide the "guts" of it when it's in use. Morrison Brothers Music donated the piano and I used colors to pick up the stained concrete floors in the guild hall. The background is fabric that was rust stained on the piano sound board in my front yard, so the striped effect of the rust is from the actual strings in a piano. The walking people are an adaptation of the Craftsmen's Guild of MS logo, but the crafts they are usually carrying have been replaced with musical instruments. The outlines are couched pearle cotton and each one took about 2 hours! That much handwork from someone who doesn't even sew buttons on by hand is pretty strange, but it seemed to be the best technique for the effect I wanted. The piece is about 54"x36" and will be bound in black. Some quilting with gold metallic along the rusted string lines is next. The walking people are a little more apparent in the real thing than they are in the picture.

Satchmo Art Show

Whooo hooo! Second place in the Satchmo show in New Orleans the other day! The show will be up through the end of August so maybe it will sell too. It was a real thrill to win, not only because it was a New Orleans show, in New Orleans, honoring a New Orleans icon, competing against New Orleans artists, but also because I won with a quilt! It's sometimes a struggle to get fiber and textiles accepted to art shows, although the biggest hurdle seems to be having a category to enter them in. I've never been rejected for an art show, (rejected for several quilt shows though) but there have been art shows I never entered because the work didn't fit into any of the categories.

The reception and show were at Crescent City Brewhouse on Decatur in the French Quarter and they did a nice job with the food and drink. Half a dozen of my local friends in NOLA showed up and we had a crowd at the table. Of course, I was off at the bar when they announced my name as a winner! My cousin went up and got the certificate and prize for me and I sort of hated missing out on hearing my name, but I'd have probably passed out from the excitement anyway and I had on a dress (YES! Me in a dress!) so that could have been embarrassing. When I got back to the table and they told me I'd won, I blew it off assuming they were referring to the fancy participation certificate. It took a minute to sink in that it was an actual prize with a ribbon and everything. I floated on air the rest of the night. Well, maybe longer than just the night, even though it was a long night.

My studio mate Anne had one of her shrines accepted also, and we were both down for the reception. It meant a lot to me that she was there to share the win with me. It has been a terrific learning experience for me to be working with another artist to bounce ideas off of and get good (honest!) feedback from, and I've grown as a result of working with her. Not only from her specific input, but just being exposed to the way she works and watching her decision-making as she creates her own art. The whole studio thing has worked out beautifully for all 3 of us I think. I'm producing more, and getting better exposure, and refining my work. I've accomplished as much in 6 months at the studio as I would have in 3 years still working for home, both in volume and quality of work. Even hanging the joint show at the Craft Center last month was a lot of fun once I decided on WTH I was going to do for it. Apparently, I picked the right thing though, since I sold 2 pieces right off the bat.

Without further ado, here is the piece. It now has a red ribbon hanging on it too!

more non-traditional surface design stuff

Of course, after posting the last list, more things come to mind. Maybe if I made a list before beginning to type it would be easier. As it is, I'm just winging it with whatever comes to mind after I start writing.

• Political signs - Those corrugated political signs make great work surfaces. They're sturdy, a good size to work with, free, and have a plastic surface that makes them reusable many times. You just have to remember to collect some after an election.
• Fingernail polish remover - Does good copier transfers and bleeds Sharpies to either remove the marks altogether or make them sort of watercolor-y looking.
• Alcohol - Plain rubbing alcohol also bleeds and blends Sharpies for a sort of tie-dye effect.
• Aloe Vera gel - Thickens inks and thins acrylics. This usually needs to be washed out after drying.
• Instant grits, mashed potato flakes and oatmeal - Mixed thick, spread on fabric and dried, these make good crackle textures for surface design.
• Vinegar - Wet fabric with vinegar, wrap around rusty items, cover with black plastic and you get rust stained fabric. Also removes odors if fabrics are washed in it.
• Bleach, bleach pens, Soft Scrub or Sunlight gel with bleach - Used to discharge fabrics. Each one works with different fabrics, but the experimenting is part of the fun! Always remember to neutralize the chlorine with Anti-Chlor or a similar product afterwards. Any fish tank chlorine remover (available at the grocery or dollar store) works to neutralize the fabric.
• Tea bags - The most common use is probably for tea-staining but you can also use wet tea bags or strong tea when rust staining to get a grey/black with the orange. Loose tea can kill some odors in fabrics too. Place the tea in a closed container with the fabric for a few days.
• Spaghetti, string, yarn, wire - Cooked spaghetti arranged on one of the aforementioned political signs (weigh it down so it dries perfectly flat) or string/yarn saturated with thinned Elmer's or thick wire make good rubbing plates, as does dimensional fabric paint just by making your shapes on the surface and letting them dry. They can all be mounted on a piece of cardboard or wood block to make stamps with.
• Bar soap - Slivers of left-over soap can be used for markings on fabric that will be washed. A bar of Irish Spring (get them free at the St Paddy's parade in New Orleans!) in a closed container will kill odors on fabric. Ivory soap can be used to spot clean delicate textiles.

This is not a comprehensive list by any means, and I'll continue to add things as I think of them. Again, please feel free to add any others you think of in the comments.

non-traditional and economical quilting supplies

Many of the supplies and tools that I use in my own work come from the grocery, hardware or office supply store. I'm a firm believer in never looking at only one way to use something. Please feel free to add any other suggestions for non-traditional supplies or uses in the comments. I'm always looking for easier/faster/better ways to do something.

• Freezer paper - Applique patterns and stencils. Most of us already know of and use this one.
• Glad Press-N-Seal - Quilting patterns and beading uses. Draw your quilting pattern on the wrap with a water-soluble marker, stick it to the quilt and you have a pattern to follow. You can also stick a piece of the wrap over a beading project. Just put the beads where you want them and stick the wrap over it. You can roll the wrap back a few inches at the time, attaching the beads as you go. Great for just rolling the work up with the beads already in place without losing your placement.
• Elmer's glue - More uses than I'll be able to remember. A thin line around an applique pattern drawn onto the back of the fabric before cutting keeps the edges from fraying, similar to Fray Chek, but can be washed out. Use instead of Wonder Under to attach appliques until they are stitched down, then wash it out and you won't have the change of hand you get with WU or the bleed-through you see with thinner fabrics. Make your own silk screens by coating a piece of fine tulle with glue in every area where you don't want the paint/dye to show. Use as a resist for dying and batik. A thin wash can preserve colored pencil work on fabric. Elmer's can pretty much be substituted for any use of gel medium or Modge Podge. Add paint or dye to Elmer's and it remains after the glue is washed out.
• Reynold's Release Non-Stick foil - NOTHING sticks to this stuff! It makes a great palette for paints, protective surface for fusibles, base layer for Elmer's glue silk screens, and "parking place" for adhesive labels.
• Bamboo skewers - As a pusher when sewing small pieces. No metal flying if you accidentally get it under the needle. Point turner. Paint mixer. I've even used them as hanging mechanisms and surface embellishments for small art quilts.
• Placemats - Bamboo placemats have a ton of bamboo sticks or slats in each one that can be used as hanging bars for art quilts and embellishments. Fabric placemats can be used as a base for art quilts. They come in a huge assortment of fabrics, weaves and colors. Check out kitchen towels and napkins too.
• Laser Level - Great for squaring up a large quilt without a long ruler or hanging a quilt straight.
• Carpenter's chalk line - Another way to square up a large quilt. Also makes straight quilting lines (I only ever use the yellow chalk, red and blue stain some fabrics.) I've seen the suggestion of replacing the chalk with Corn Starch but have never tried it.
• Sheet rock ruler - 4 foot long ruler that is WAY cheaper than a 4 foot long quilting ruler!
• Full-sheet adhesive labels - Useful as a carrier sheet to print fabric in your printer.
• Graph paper - Useful for designing or enlarging patterns.
• Spring hair clips - Used when hand-turning a binding. Cute decorated ones are 12/$1 at the dollar store or plain silver ones are 18/$5 at the quilt shop. You decide!
• Spray baste - Of course the intended use of sandwiching quilts, but I also use it for tacking stencils down, tacking patterns to paper/mylar to cut stencils, and to place applique pieces on the background before stitching.
• Make-up sponges - These make great stencil brushes.
• Salvation Army store - Clothing, curtains, tablecloths, wedding dresses, etc. have lots of fabric, buttons, and trims for next to nothing in cost. Check out the purses while you're there to use for leather scraps.
• Plain safety pins - Beyond the obvious uses, you can tie bright scraps of fabric to a handful of safety pins and use them as "look-at-me"s to mark places on your work that need to have thread tails buried, mending, repairs, or anything else that you might tend to forget.

I'm sure there is bunch of stuff that I've left off, but this is a good start on some of the things I use almost on a daily basis that are more cost effective and useful than having a studio full of specialized tools.

MQA June gathering

Another June gathering under our belts, and it seemed to go smoothly. It was nice to be a participant rather than in charge of anything this year and I enjoyed being able to visit and chat rather than have stuff to do. A few minor changes this year but nothing huge. They moved the meeting part to the auditorium, which didn't work for me at all considering my claustrophobia of sitting in a long row of seats surrounded by others,rather than having it in the big room. But they did have the vendors in the area where the stage in the big room usually is. I managed to get out of there with only a few yards of fabric, but that's not really surprising considering I'm buying much less commercial fabric nowadays. White pdf and muslin....that's another story....I was sort of surprised there was no coffee Saturday morning, but that was quickly corrected when Cheryl hunted down "the little maintenance guy" and had him make a pot.

We unveiled the "River Runs Through It" challenge at show and tell on Saturday afternoon and I was amazed at the variety of techniques and looks for the pieces. This photo by Myra Hester shows 7 of the 8 pieces (Linda McInnis has piece #1 but she didn't make it to the gathering....we'll see it at the quilt show in Sept though) all lined up in order. I am always happy and proud to see the results of the challenges.

Each participant was given a piece of muslin with 2 lines across the bottom that had to be water between the lines. The lines connected up from one piece to the next so there is a river running across the entire assembly of pieces. We used facings, rather than bindings, so there would be no breaks between the pieces. I'm very pleased with the final result.

another trunk show post

Way back on Feb 9th I posted a photo taken at the February MQA gathering and I neglected to give proper attribution to Myra Hester for taking the photo and then emailing it to me! I have no excuse for not doing that. She takes beautiful pictures and I was thrilled she got that one and then took the time to email it to me. Her great eye for framing shots is second only to her great eye for color in her quilts!

full week coming up

We had a great art group yesterday even though the gel plates were too soft. I need to figure out an alternate way to pour them at the studio when it's not feasible to do it at home. Even so, I think most everyone got the idea of how it's done, and I offered to pour some more for the meeting next month in case anyone wants to pursue it a bit further. Someone was taking pictures yesterday but I'm not sure who it was. I saw the flash but I was looking down while demonstrating and then forgot to ask, so no pics of our playtime.

I'm liking this idea of working on journals during the meetings also. Not only will we have a physical journal at the end, we're also "journaling" our techniques on the covers.

The Craft Center is offering a kid's art camp this month also, so I'll be working with a group of kids for a couple of hours each day. First up is Sharpie tie dyed quilt squares today. I drew off some simple shapes (we're working with 5-9 year olds) onto white fabric squares with paint pen. They color the squares however they want with the Sharpies, I'll hit them with alcohol to bleed the ink, then let them go back in tomorrow with crayons and colored pencils to finish them off. Stitch them all together with some bright sashing and a quick-and-dirty in the ditch quilting and we'll have something to show the parents on Friday. Or maybe they'll be individual quiltlets....we'll see. I'm also in charge of decorating the little invitation bags. Foam stick-ons and maybe stamping their names. That comes later in the week.

Meanwhile, I'm still working on my own stuff that is under deadline. The challenge piece needs to be finished by Friday and ready for the reveal at MQA. Mostly finished with it, and it's small, but I'll feel better when it hits the "all done" pile. Another class lesson from Graffiti Chic comes out today too. I still have 3 of those to finish for the show and 2 to bind.

Worked as a volunteer at the Renaissance Arts Festival in Ridgeland this weekend and had a lot of fun. I hate we weren't aware of the call to artists in time to apply, but there's always next year. Not a single textile exhibitor! 3 fiber artists but they were all paper I think. People from all over the country and there was some beautiful art. Some crap also, but that's true of any large arts fair I think.

The best part of that morning (other than meeting some of the artists) was getting word that I've been asked to produce a piece for the back of a piano that's been donated to the Craft Center! Every time they roll the piano out to use it, my piece will be seen! I know that doesn't sound like a big huge honking deal to anyone but me, but I'm excited about it.