August 17th MMQQ

Here is my Monday Mini Quickie Quilt, just a tad late. It's been finished for several days, but my new camera comes with a learning curve, LOL.

The background was an ugly grey hand-dyed with funky pink splotches on it (note to self: either mix old dyes more thoroughly or strain them using cheesecloth). I gelatin printed it using an intriguing mixture of old paint from the previous print (blues and pinks) and new paint (gold and copper) using a coreopsis leaf (again! hey, it's the best thing in my garden!). I also tore some random pieces of newspaper and tossed those on as well.

Needless to say I was less than pleased with the funky strips of ugly background fabric showing. I covered them with Misty Fuse and roughly pleated a coppery sheer on top. The edges were covered with a copper thread and decorative serpentine stitch.

To cover the ugly hand-dyed in the center where the leaf print was I free-motion quilted/embroidered a tree using a dark brown thread. It still needed more so I hand stitched copper beads on the tree as if they were blossoms.

Eh, not my favorite piece, but parts of it I really like (the beaded tree) and I learned what NOT to do next time, LOL. Isn't that the whole point of life?

Lisa

Happy Birthday Again!

Last night we celebrated my birthday. A little late, but that's normal when you have a summer birthday and have to wait for people to return from trips, vacations, etc. Here's a picture of the cake my husband made for me, Boston cream pie, my favorite! I caught him just before he made the second cut, LOL. I also received a new camera, yay! so I will be learning how to use it shortly (as soon as I get a memory chip for it!). No more dinosaur of a camera that weighs a ton and stores pictures on a 3-1/2" disk!

Don't you just love birthdays that keep on celebrating?!

Lisa

Student Work from Mary Tabar's Class

This summer I've been taking Mary Tabar's class in San Marcos. Estela managed to get her quilt done in time for the last class. I'm impressed with her timeliness and with her quilt!

Lisa

August 10 MMQQ

Here's my Monday Mini Quilt Quickie from August 10. It started with a piece of PFD on which I drew dots with variously colored Sharpie markers. Rubbing alcohol was then applied to get some color migration. It sat in my "what do I do now" pile until I came across it this week.

My son happened to be with me so I had him select a variety of sheers from my stash (many were purchased when we lived in Bahrain where you can get lots of them for very little money). Using paper circle templates I stitched around the sheers then trimmed away the excess. Then I machine trapuntoed them using 2 layers of a polyester batting. Finally I added a low loft cotton batting and quilted it, circling each "bubble" then stippling to make the background recede. I like it and think it's an art quilt, but not your typical dark and tonal art quilt with a deep inspiring message, LOL. I guess I'm not going to be a typical art quilter (grin).

And today I turn 52. Happy Birthday to me! I plan on celebrating by doing whatever I please all day including brownies for breakfast and dinner out tonight with my son (the only one at home this week).

Thanks for reading my blog!
Lisa

Meow!

I am finally starting to adjust from living alone to having the whole family back under one roof. It's quite a change and I enjoy spending time with all of them. Unfortunately I find I'm not getting nearly as much done! Too many temptations :-)

I had a show in Redondo Beach last weekend and as usual it has rejuvenated my enthusiasm for making wearable art. There's nothing like a room full of admirers to make you want to create new art!

Here is my latest jacket, hot off the presses (or sewing machine, Meow! The cats are my own design and a new technique as well: stenciled applique.

There are 5 cat designs in all and 9 patterns (4 of them are reversed).

I am in the process of making a quilt from the same cats in different fabrics.

I'm not sure if you can tell, but my cats are fused, then buttonhole appliqued in place. Of course you could satin stitch them or do turned edge applique also. If it goes over well I hope to make these into a pattern and teach it.

And keeping with my latest fun twist I've stenciled the lining as well. This one features a Laura Murray stencil of a tree and Stewart Gill paints.

Back to work,

Lisa

August 3 Mini Quickie Quilt

Here is my mini quickie quilt for this week. I don't know why I never finish them until Wednesday, LOL.

On the gelatin plate I tried to hand draw some gold paint into starbursts or pinwheels. I wasn't that pleased with the effect so this was in my "dud" pile. Nevertheless I chose it to play with this week. (As in "Can This Fabric Be Saved?")

First I fused rust colored flower centers, then I added some long stems. The leaves are leftovers from an old jacket. After fusing everything in place the fun really began. I free motion stitched metallic copper thread (the one my Bernina does NOT like, argh!) around the gold, creating wispy flowers. I free motion stitched with green thread over the stems and leaves.

Finally I wanted to try a new-to-me finishing technique I heard about in Mary Tabar's class. I made a facing from leftover grey fabric and hand stitched in to the back. I will have to experiment with this idea further as I wasn't totally satisfied with the final result. The edges seem a bit bulky to me and the corners didn't work right. It also seemed to take a lot longer than traditional binding, but that may been just because it was new to me.

I will be in Redondo Beach on Saturday for a luncheon fashion show. Hope to see you there!

Lisa