Pleasantly Surprised!

I belong to two Quilt Guilds, the one in Mooresville that meets during the day (there's also a night guild that I haven't had the chance to attend yet) and the original one that I joined down in Charlotte that meets at night. I entered a quilt last year in the Charlotte Show, but didn't win anything. It was a goal that I had set for myself to enter at least one quilt show. Well I entered two shows and won ribbons at the second show in Mooresville. I entered again this year in Charlotte, but I was not able to attend the preview party when they call out the winner's names and the they come up to get their ribbons (had to work.) I then couldn't get to the show on Friday due to grandmother duties, so finally today, Saturday I had a chance to go to the show and I was pleasantly surprised to see a second place ribbon hanging on my quilt!

About 24" x 30" {I think, I can never remember}

Hand-dyed fabric (purchased prior to Carol Soderlund's Class),

Fused Applique, Painted, Machine Quilted

(Note: That pink and blue stuff at the bottom is the back of the quilt on the otherside of where mine was hanging.) It was entered in the Amateur Small Art Quilt category and that's always a interesting category, but I guess it was the right one for this quilt.

I was very surprised and very pleased. It will now go back to Jason's Office and retire from shows. I might make another one based on this idea and make some improvements. Jason asked specifically that it not have too much quiting in it, but I think perhaps I'll try it again and add a bit more quilting to see how that works.

Lastest Endeavor

This past week-end the surface design group met and we experimented making felt. I was not expecting to really enjoy this technique but went anyway. Wow was I surprised! I'm hooked!

We started out with Wool Roving that we ordered as a group. I brought some frilly yarn to add in.

The technique is in the fourth edition of Quilting Arts Magazine and was very easy. We pulled out strands of the white and layed down a base. Then using the dyed Wool Roving we pulled out strands and layed those across the top of the white base. After that it was sandwiched between fabric, pinned and then thrown into the washing machine. During the wash, the wool fibers grab and lock into each other creating the felted piece.

I loved it! It's a little thicker than I would probably normally want, but I think it turned out very well for my first piece. I've already ordered more wool and hope to make some more pieces. While I can't dye fabric while I'm taking care of a three month old baby, I can do this, it's not messy at all! Also great project for children to do. If you can use safety pins, you can do it. And I actually talked to the lady where I order the wool, www.outbackfibers.com and we discussed trying the same technique without pinning it. So I've got some more experimenting to do with this! Next month, we're going to make more felt using a different process.

Grandma Keeping Faith

I started taking care of my granddaughter, Faith on March 5th full time. Well almost full time. On days that I can't do it, her other grandmother fills in. She's a delightful little girl and very easy to take care of. Although she is very easy, I have forgotten after 25 years or so how time consuming little ones can be. But as she's getting use to being here she seems to be less trouble with each day! Maybe it's just that I'm figuring out what to do for her. At first I thought she was very picky, but now it seems she's satisfied with most anything. I am very privileged to have the opportunity to take care of her and thankful that her Mom and Dad are sharing her with me! Thank you Rachel and Jason!

And of course while she's here, Grandma can't resist the opportunity to get out the camera and have a little photo shoot. She does smile alot, but it's very hard to take pictures and get her to smile all at the same time. She does the most smiling for her mother, but I was able to catch a few good shots.

Here she is a 3 months old.

The outfit was adorable. All matching, hat, clothes, socks and fancy black shoes. She's growing very quickly so we have to grab these shots very fast while the outfit still fits. I think she wears a hat very well, it seems to suit her.

Stenciling Class

I also went to a two day stenciling workshop in Charlotte, NC. Janet Lasher taught the class and it was a great opportunity to learn some techniques for making stencils to use in dye painting fabric.

WARNING: The following has lots of details on dyeing. Skim if you're not interested and enjoy the pictures.

I was a again a bit lazy so I tore my fabric (a messed up piece that I had dyed, but forgot the soda ash I think). So I tore the fabric into four pieces and layered them on top of each other. I was just going to do the top piece and catch the dye that went through with the other layers.

Here is the first piece:

Then Janet saw what I was doing and suggested that I lay the stencil on the second one and make a pattern. (She didn't know that I was only making one piece.) So I followed her suggestion and got this piece:

You can see where the stencil from the first piece showed up on the second cloth and then I made the pattern.

Now the next two layers I'm not totally sure which order. I wasn't really planning on doing anymore, but Janet was there to recommend do the next one. I was getting tired, so the dye paint when one a lot quicker and much more freely.

I think I like this one the best. Again you can see the pattern that resembles the previous one that was on top and bled through to this layer.

And this final one just had the paint slapped on to cover it up. I was ready to finish up at this point. I think I could add some more layers to this one in the future. Right now I call it "Ode to Janet" because I think it's colors she would like.

I learned tons from this class! I love the stencil making techniques and I'll always layer my fabric so I get several companion pieces of fabric or varieties to use. The way it seeps through to the next layer and leaves a mark was great.

Photography Class

Along with quilting, dyeing, rusting, etc... I also signed up for a 6 week photography course that meet on Tuesday nights and concluded March 13th. This was a great opportunity for me to use my new camera and be a little more creative with picture taking. If you want to see the full portfolio email me and I'll send you an invitation to the Kodak Gallery album. Otherwise here are a few samples of what I did for the class.

All of these pictures focused on the use of color.

This one is an interrupted pattern. The rows form a pattern and the brown interrupts it. I had to buy a bag of candy to do this and then not eat it! Very difficult!

This is a daffodil that was blooming down here in North Carolina. I used a selective focus to purposely blur the background and therefore drawing attention to the flower. The yellow stands out.

This last picture was taken while I was waiting to meet someone for an interpreting assignment. I think it actually was taken with my older camera, a point and shoot that I carry with me all the time.

I just love the colors of a good sunset.

Surface Design Group

First of all, I'm sorry that it's been so long since I last posted something on this blog. I had a disclaimer paragraph for my first posting, if not seeing something new on this blog everyday is annoying then please reread that post and accept my aplogies for not updating this blog on a more regular basis. Ok, now that's over, here's what I've been up do.

I began attending a Surface Design Group in Charlotte. We meet once a month and I went for the first time in January. Everyone is so creative and are excellent sources for inspiration and information! I always take lots of notes when I'm there.

(WARNING: Skip to after the picture if you don't want to read details on how to make the scarf.)
Our meeting in February was about ways to make fabric have a rusted affect. Two ways were demonstrated. The first one involved painting objects with a metal type paint and after it dried we sprayed on an oxidizer. All of the supplies can be purchased at Michaels and the process was nice, but not sure when I'll use that technique. I'm sure I will though sometime. Then we did another method on a silk scarf. We used fine steel wool (purchased at Home Depot/Lowes). We pulled off strips and dipped them in White Vinegar (must be white, not apple cider). Then we layed those strips on the silk and folded in accordian fashion, putting another couple of strips on each layer. That was all. Then I left it sitting outside for a week. (It spits and spews rust particles and vinegar so therefore outside is best.) I loved this technique! I'm all for the short and simple methods. (Do I sound lazy?) After the week, I poured out off the vinegar, rinsed off the old rust particles and then washed it in the washing machine with synthropol. (Can add hair conditioner to soften up if needed.)


(Click the picture to enlarge.)
I'm going to try this again. Next time with dyeing the fabric first and then putting the rust on afterwards. Also may prefer a more random pattern so I'll try laying the steel wool on a little differently.