Having New Eyes

Latest quilting, so small!

When you're a grandma, and you get a request to make little quilts for your granddaughter's American Girl bunkbeds, what can you say but YES?  Mady has 2 American Girl dolls (DON't ask which ones, I have NO idea) and they sleep in bunk beds that came with some pretty lame coverlets.  Now, maybe it's me, but when I found out how much American Girl dolls stuff costs, I thought they'd be able to do something classier than some cheap pink polyester  covers that have no stitching, trim, and barely cover the dolls when they're sleeping.  Enter Opportunity!  Nonny to the rescue! 

I've been hanging onto this purple fabric printed with baby foot and hand prints in primary colors for years, suspecting I'd have a project like this 'someday'.  What fun to make these for Mady.  (and yes, I made little pillows too)

Handwork in waiting rooms

My husband has been having some health issues recently, and I have been in several waiting rooms, well, waiting.  Occasionally a doctor's office will have some juicy gossip magazines with all kinds of fashion/hollywood pictures to look at, but it doesn't take long to skim those and then be reduced to watching the soaps on the tv in the corner, or reading golf digest.  You know, the magazines your doctor has finished with and then put in the waiting room.

When I discovered quilting, nearly 20 yrs ago, I discovered the joys of handwork.  I have since branched out into all kinds of machine work and mixed media, but my affection for handwork continues.  I have handpieced 3 quilt tops to date, and have handquilted uncounted bed and wall quilts.  My current handwork is something I've often thought I MIGHT attempt, if I got desperate enough, LOL.  I recently read through a book (click the link for pictures and a preview) that a friend had bought and shared with the gals at our weekly sewing time meeting, and fell in love with the notion of a Cathedral Window quilt all over again.

The 1st step was cutting out a huge pile of 8 inch muslin squares.  I didn't have 17 yards of one kind of muslin, and decided that, rather than go out and BUY MORE fabric, I'd make it scrappy.  Not only would the colorful window panes be scrappy and multi colored, but also the muslin would be.  Each square must then be folded and the sides stitched...

I don't typically count my pieces of blocks, which is sometimes pretty wasteful, when I cut out more than I need, but when you consider how many muslin blocks you actually need to make even a full size bed covering (and I want to make a queen), counting at this point seems wasteful!  I KNOW I'll need to make LOTS more, so why count now?

Once I stitched the 2 sides, I learned how to do what I consider a weird 3 dimensional fabric manipulation in order to sew up the 3rd side.  I have no idea how to explain it, but I ended up with a huge pile of what looked like fabric fortune cookies that I turned right side out, poking all the corners to sharp points.  My bad, and fairly unclear picture:

These then had to be ironed flat, with the corners as sharp as possible, the opening used to turn the square right side out hand stitched closed, and then each corner folded and hand tacked to the center.  The hand work begins.

I know I'll have to do a lot more of these, but now it's time to cut out a lot of little colored fabric squares for the window panes, and I've chosen to use batiks.  YUM!

Alaska in a Quilt

Believe it or not, when my husband returned home from his Alaskan adventure, he brought with him a bag of FABRIC that he'd purchased in A QUILT STORE!  This is the man who accelerates past quilt shops whenever we travel together, LOL.  Several years ago I made a wall quilt to commemorate a trip to the Black Hills in South Dakota.  I guess he liked it, because he definitely wants something to commemorate the Alaska trip, and actually entered the forbidden domain of quilters and purchased a bunch of fat quarters plus some novelty and panel fabric.  Here are some of the fabrics Chuck came home with:

Some novelty fabric I've already cut up:

Some of the many fat quarters:

Panels:

Novelty fabrics yet to cut up:

Novelty fabrics partly cut:

And then there are the fabrics I printed from photos that Chuck took in Alaska:

Stay tuned!

Life and Art

 I'd love to be able to make art 8 hours a day - but even if I had the time, I don't think I'd actually do it because I'd get so bored, if you can believe that!  Of course, almost every single evening I watch a movie and do hand work - could be a little stitching, like finishing these book covers:

or a recent new love of mine, needle turned applique:

or hand quilting, a love that I don't foresee EVER giving up:

Do you know what the hardest thing about blogging is?  Taking pictures, loading them on the computer, resizing or brightening them, and then actually inserting them into a blog post.  I am so sure that you who keep tabs on my blog are starting to think that I'm a lazy do-nothing that I simply had to get some pictures uploaded, asap.  The book covers and needle turn applique are current projects, while the hand quilting pics are from a previous project.  In the middle of everything else, I finished a small art quilt for C&T Publishing.  I wish I could show you a picture of it, but by contract I'm not to divulge any information about it until November, so I guess you'll have to wait!

Of course, another obstacle to blogging is real life - and grandchildren!  Yesterday I babysat the twins while the 4 yr old went on a date with Momma.  I brought JJ with me, and while both twins were a bit shy with her, Hannah especially, by noon I'd spent some time teaching both of them to walk the dog!

 

 

  

Have you ever walked a dog?  (I'm referring to a dog who is well behaved on a leash!)  The best word to describe it is "empowering".  When we visit the nursing home,  as long as someone is able to hold her leash, they get to walk her, even from a wheel chair!  It's gotten to the point where I have to work out a way for the residents to take turns, because they all want to hold her leash.  I've seen the same thing in children.  Hannah was quite frightened by JJ at first, so we all went for walks and Sam held the leash.  Eventually, Hannah was willing to let go of her fear so that she could have a turn.  Now if only I could figure out a way to prevent JJ from licking everyone.  sigh. 

OHNO - another JJ quilt!?

I can't resist.  My boxer, JJ (aka Jada Jarhead), is an available and free, and dare I say beautiful?, model for my photos and quilts.  LOL.  I've just finished this small wall quilt.

I've actually had the picture of JJ printed out on cotton fabric and pieced together for nearly 6 months, and pinned to my design wall, but...  You know how it is don't you?  An idea comes along, perhaps in a magazine article, or a Quilting Arts episode, that really catches your fancy, but partway into the process some voice inside you says, no, I don't like the direction I'm going with this.  So it sits.  In my studio, I pin things like this on the design wall so that I think about it whenever I happen to glance that was.  Originally I was going to make a collage style quilt, with other dogs and summer pics/colors, but it wasn't coming together in my mind.  Only 2 weeks ago I asked that wonderful question "what if...?"  Within days, she was finished.

 

 

This quilt is for sale for 185.00

 

Finished Placemats and Napins

Do you remember the post where I linked to a neat tutorial on making cloth napkins with ric rac edges?

I've finished a set of them using some fabric I recently purchased, that actually coordinates!!  I made a set of 6 napkins:

Once they were finished, I still had some of that luscious hand dyed rust color left, plus some very nice coordinating stripes, and a lot of ric rac - so...I decided to make some really colorful, but coordinating, placemats with a pocket on the right side for the silverware!

There's no way I'll do a lot of these - but it was fun to do this time!

Faith, Hope, and Love

I have been finishing up a 3 piece series, based originally upon 3 irish linen hankies, each with a B monogram.  These were vintage, inherited pieces within the Bettinger family, and have some age marks on them (don't we all?) which is one of the reasons I really like vintage things.  The hems are hand stitched, and the 'feel' of the linen is unique and lovely.  I decided to use what I call "big stitch" quilting with hand dyed embroidery floss I bought from Laura Wasilowski.  Since I had 3, I wanted a series, and the concept of faith, hope and love became my foundation.  I actually finished the hand quilting while a passenger in our truck, 3 summers ago, on our camping trip to South Dakota.  I knew, when the quilting was done, that the pieces were unfinished, but it took several years of consideration before I began the finishing process.  All that's left at this point, is to bind them, which involves some more thinking and planning!  When the quilting was finished, this is what I had:

All 3 were similar, and though the thread is beautiful, you can see that it wasn't quite, well, finished.  When I started in on them a month ago, I decided to pull out my paints.  The result was much more satisfying:

Once I painted, and markered in some details, I machine quilted with pale yellow to take up some of the "slack" in the linen and went searching for Bible verses and possibly quotes about each of the subjects, faith, hope, and love:

   Originally, I thought that I'd add text to the entire image, but opted instead for encircling only the single word painted on each quilt.  One of the interesting things I encountered, especially with the quotes on hope, is the contrast of basically 2 perspectives.  On one hand, there seem to be a collection of quotes that, basically, have a negative bent.  For instance, there are many people, who call themselves realistic, who believe that hope is impractical at best, and an out and out lie at the worst, engineered to manipulate the fools who are willing to fall for it.  While I'm willing to admit that that kind of false hope exists, especially in the political arena, I adamantly, and realistically, hold to the truth that hope, when placed in God, is real, and powerful.  Hope in man - you'll be disappointed.  Hope in God, never.  Definitions of love and faith are similar.  So I mostly veered away from the quotations of famous humans and chose to write primarily Bible quotes.  I really like the end result.

  How to finish these, whether to use a sleeve on back like a traditional wall quilt, or to frame them, or mount them, or, I even considered making them the cover of 3 scrapbooks, is still the question.  
 

After a bit of a Dry Spell...

I'm back at it!  The trip to TX was a bit of a drain, and then getting home and having a long list of duties to perform made "My Art Soul" a bit shriveled and unused - but as is always the case, the Lord leads me into the path.  After I'd decided to pursue the artist role, I was quickly sidetracked into the business role - you know, selling what I make which led to making things that would sell which led to a lack of inspiration and motivation.  I'm back on track now - letting myself play, posting my work and making it available for sale without hanging any of my hopes on sales.  Once again I feel ready and bursting to try this and that!  Lisa Bebi issued an orange challenge which got me looking at some pictures of my poppies that I took back in April.

OBVIOUSLY - this became the subject of my orange challenge!  I used Leslie Riley's TAP, image transfer paper, to print out a 4x4 image which I transferred to white cotton and fused to some fusible fleece (for the batting).  I then thread painted the flower, added a backing, and satin stitched the edge.  VOILA!

Oops - I failed to mention the line of text I added from a favorite hymn.  There is light that is inaccessible to human eyes - and that light makes the magic we cannot give voice to when we look around us.

   

Help me to decide! Giveaway ends Sunday night!

I have designed 4 different styles of notepad/journal covers.  Each one appeals to me on some level, and as you probably know, it's very hard to be objective and pick just one to fine tune when you're the maker.  So I'm enlisting YOU - my blog followers, my facebook friends, and new friends.  Please look at these carefully and then fill out the form at the bottom of this post.  

I'm asking you to look at the DESIGN, rather than the actual colors or paintings - If you like the bird - which notebook cover design is the one you'd like to see the bird on, or if you like the flower, please tell me which design, the single folds, or the double folds, the ties, or the buttons!

As a way to thank you for your help, and for filling out the form, your name will be entered into a drawing.  Yes - you heard me.  I'm giving away all four of these original designs as a thank you. Here are the ways to be entered into the drawing:

1. Become a follower of this blog by clicking the "follow me" link next to my name and following the instructions.
2. Become a fan of my facebook page, by clicking the facebook link in the lower right margin of this blog and clicking "LIKE" on my facebook page
3. For current fans and followers, every person you personally refer to this post, and who does either 1,2 or 4, will get your name in the drawing.
4. Fill out the form at the bottom of the page and submit it.

BE SURE TO LEAVE A COMMENT, EITHER HERE OR ON MY FACEBOOK PAGE (link on the right) MENTIONING ALL OF THESE 4 THINGS YOU HAVE DONE SO I CAN INCLUDE YOUR NAME AS MANY TIMES AS YOU DESERVE!

                     
NUMBER 1:  The bird folder is a straightforward, single fold notebook cover.  It's designed to hold a 5x8 inch spiral notebook, like you can buy in 3-packs at office supply stores.  This one has a button closure where a hair scrunchy is recycled and sewn into the front edge seam and the vintage metallic button is attached to the back of the cover.  The painting utilizes ink markers (tsukineko/fabrico) for the bird and Stuart Gill Acrylic paints diluted with water for the background and between the lining and the cover I used interfacing to give it a little body and help me with the free motion quilting.

                

NUMBER 2:   The 2nd, similar cover is about the same but instead of a button closure I've enlisted some glittery blue trim as a tie closure.  I've used the same paints and techniques, but instead of a lot of quilting in the background, I've free motion outlined the flower and its parts with black thread.  This particular cover was the 1st one I made and it turned out to be a bit too small for the 5x8 notebook, so it would accomodate a smaller  notebook, or as I've done, a little homemade notepad with a sewn binding.

                  
NUMBER 3:  The next 2 covers involve an extra fold.  This one has a magnetic closure, with a right inside flap holding the 5x8 folder and the left flap housing a pocket for a pen.  Technically, the way this one turned out, the painting is on the back of the cover, if the front is the closure as pictured.

                  
NUMBER 4:   This cover is similar to the previous.  I've again used a vintage glass button and a super soft and fuzzy yarn for the closure (the yarn is knotted - you just loop it over the button)  The painting is again, technically, on the back of the cover, but it's less obvious because when closed, either side can be the back.

 Link to the Form

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Quilted Business Cards?

Every Monday I go to Champaign to visit the grandkids and teach piano.  In between, I like to spend 45 minutes or so at Borders or Barnes and Noble and peruse the magazines, especially the one put out by Stampington.com that are full of mixed media inspiration.  One project I saw which really captured my imagination was one where a lady made homemade business cards.  I've made inchies, ps inchies, atc's - so why not the little 2x3.5 inch business cards?  While I have beautiful business cards for my Simply Music piano lessons, I'd like to teach people to quilt, whether contemporary or traditional, hand or machine, and for local use, I put these together:

These cuties are OFFICIAL QUILTS having 3 layers stitched together.  There is no paper in them - 2 layers of cotton fabric and a batting layer of stiff interfacing.