A couple more projects

Exciting news, I sold one of my art quilts last weekend. The quilt, Log Cabin Lighthouse, was one of my earlier pieces, so I'm happy to see it go to a good home. Of course now there's an empty spot at the restaurant, so I need to pick out another quilt to display there.

I'm still not back to serious work on my art quilts, but I've made good progress on the decorating front. It's still being creative, right?

Here are a couple more projects that are finished. For the kitchen curtains, I made the trim using the invisible seam technique I learned for pillowcases. It worked great, with no raw edges left showing.

I had several sets of decorative window shutters tucked away in my storage room. I thought the small ones would be great decorative pieces, but I made them useful, too. The coral one hangs in the kitchen as a key holder. The blue is in the bathroom. The hooks are from the hardware store and I found the glass shell ornaments at one of the local stores.

More later.

A few befores and afters

Well the sewing is still in progress, but I've finished working on several pieces of furniture and decorative items at our new apartment. I thought I'd share a few befores and afters.

4-drawer chest found at a used furniture sale

after painting

wicker chest found at furniture sale

after painting (needs second coat)

another wicker chest

painted and ready to use

one of a pair of table lamps found at a thrift store

second lamp after painting. I spray-painted with blue,
then sponged on an ivory to add interest

pair of tables my sister found at a yard sale

after painting, used as coffee tables

I forgot to take a before of this 60s sewing machine cabinet,
but the after adds a bright spot of color to the living room

The case of the missing quilter

I know, it's been more than a month since my last post. Where have I been? At the beach. Well, kind of...

At the beginning of April we got an apartment near our business on Tybee Island, GA. So I've spent most of the past month furnishing and beginning to decorate it. It's amazing how much "stuff" you need to furnish an apartment from scratch. Of course there's some stuff I've been able to bring from my house, some quilts, a few decorative items and of course some sewing stuff. But like most people I don't have duplicates of all the everyday stuff you need.

Now that the basic stuff, dishes, pots and pans, sofas! have been taken care of, I'm working on decorating. Through a combination of used furniture sales, thrift stores, estate sales and so on, I found most of our furniture. Several pieces were in good shape, but needed a new finish, so I've been painting furniture - in fun, beachy colors, of course. So far I've finished two small tables, a small chest of drawers and a couple of small wicker trunks. An old sewing machine table, to be used as an end table, is in progress, and another chest of drawers waiting for paint.

I'm also sewing, of course. I've finished a shower curtain and the curtains for the living room. I have fabric for curtains for the other rooms, bed skirts, cushions, quilts and so on, which will keep me busy for quite a  while. I've set up the guest bedroom with a Singer 15-30 treadle, so I can work on all the decorating projects while I'm there.

One of my finds at a furniture sale was an old sewing chair, which opens to provide storage. This one is not getting painted, but it is getting used.

Unfortunately, all this activity means I haven't done much with my art quilts over the past month. But I've been working on them almost exclusively since the beginning of the year, so a break is okay.


I'll post some before and after pictures of my projects soon. Just wanted to let everyone know I'm still around.

Plein Air treadling

Sorry for no posts last week. I was busy with work, life and mostly getting ready to have an artist's booth at a local arts festival. ARTsFEST, at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, GA, is an annual art and art education festival with tons of hands-on art activities for kids. They also have an artists' market, and artists are asked to demonstrate their work.

The wind kept blowing our display board down, so we rearranged.

So I spent last week finishing and framing several art quilts and hand-dying bandanas, gathered them up, plus some mixed media jewelry, fabric postcards and a few glasses cases and little drawstring bags, loaded them with a tent, table, sewing machine and cabinet, chairs, display board and all my sewing stuff. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

A beautiful day to sew outside

Other than the loading and unloading – and the sunburn – it was a blast. I worked on several small pieces, thread sketching and thread painting, as people stopped by. The reactions were so much fun. Some of the older visitors talked about learning to sew on a treadle or having a mother or grandmother who sewed on a treadle. Many had a family treadle tucked away at home and I gave them information on cleaning and taking care of them. A lot of the men were interested in the age of the machine, how it worked and sewing machine history. A number of women who do sew were interested in the actual sewing, as well as getting their own treadles to work. Since the university has a fashion design program I got a lot of interest from younger people who sew, or are learning to sew. And the kids were interested in how the machine worked.

I think the most common comment was that people had never seen anyone sew on  a treadle, or didn't know anyone still sewed on a treadle.

On the art side, I got lots of compliments on my quilts and many people said they'd never seen anything like them. It didn't seem to be much of a buying crowd, so I didn't sell any bigger works, but I did sell a few small items, at least enough to cover the cost of entering the show. My sister came along to help, and handled most of the sales and kept an eye on the merchandise, which let me concentrate on my demo and talking about sewing and machines.

It was great fun, I got some good exposure as an artist and saw a lot of friends I haven't seen in a while, since I worked in Statesboro for years. And I even got the basic quilting/thread sketching done on several pieces while I was there.

And I learned a lot about having an artist's booth. I need a better display, mine kept blowing over in the wind. I forgot to bring cards, next time bring cards and handouts with references on sewing machines and art quilting. And if I do ARTsFEST again, I'll bring along a handcrank sewing machine and let people try it.

Have a great week, more later.

Photo Friday – Wisteria

I was away from home last weekend, and got home to find my yard draped in lavender. The wisteria is blooming. At this time of year the wisteria is as beautiful as something out of a fairy tale. The shades from lightest to dark lavender, the way it drapes so gracefully and shimmers in the lightest touch of wind.

The rest of the year, unfortunately, it's more like something out of a horror movie, strangling trees, creeping under the siding of the house and sneaking out to snare a foot or the lawnmower blades.

But for now, beautiful. I've wanted to make a wisteria quilt for a while, so I took lots of photos to help me capture the look.

Enjoy. More later.

Mixed media jewelry - tutorial

A couple of people asked for a tutorial on the mixed media jewelry, so I've put together an outline. There are so many possibilities here that I've just gotten started and I'm sure everyone else can come up with variations on these basics.

Materials:
Stiff interfacing (I life Stiffy from www.longcreekmills.com )

scraps sorted by color

Fusible web
Fabric scraps (and paper scraps if you like)
Fabric paint (I used Jacquard Lumiere)
Embellishments (beads, buttons, more fabric, etc.)
Jewelry findings (earring hooks, pin backs, etc.)
Sewing machine, thread, basic sewing tools







Cut a piece of stiff interfacing to a comfortable working size (I used about 8x10)

Apply the fusible web to one side, following manufacturer's instructions. Allow to cool completely and remove paper, if paper-backed.

fused fabric base

free motion quilted

Sort your fabric and paper scraps into groupings you like, and arrange scraps on interfacing (fusible side up). It's easiest to do this on your ironing surface, with a piece of parchment paper or press cloth under the work. Try not to leave any gaps between pieces, but don't overlap, either.

Cover with parchment paper or press cloth and fuse down.

stamped and painted

If you have scraps of fabric with fusible already applied, you can cut them into shapes and lie on top of the piece, then fuse them down at this point.

Allow the bases to completely cool, overnight is good.

(Note, I prepped several bases, then moved on to each step with all of them, made it easier to allow for cooling/drying time, the idea for fusing the fabric came from an article in Quilting Arts magazine.)

quilted, painted and cut into pieces

Choose a thread that you like with the fabric combination and free motion quilt closely over the entire base. Simple patterns, like swirls and meanders work best, as you will be cutting the piece up. Have fun and use different colors and different designs.

Prep an area for painting and stamping. Choose contrasting or complementary colors and stamp designs across the base. I used the heat moldable stamps and created simple stars and swirls. You can also paint between the designs or instead of stamping. I like the Lumiere paints as they have such a rich effect.

finished pieces

Allow to dry completely (overnight is good) and heat set.

Apply fusible to the back side of the interfacing and fuse on a single piece of fabric (or paper) for the backing. You could skip this, but it gives a more finished look to the pieces.

finished earrings, using commercial findings

Cut out your shapes! I used a ruler and rotary cutter to cut squares, then cut strips from the bases for smaller pieces. You can cut freehand, or draw or trace the shape on the back of the piece. Save your scraps as you can layer and stack them to add dimension and texture.

Seal the cut edges of all the pieces with paint or glue (this is the most tedious part). Allow to dry completely.

Embellish and add findings. You can glue or sew on beads, charms, buttons, scraps of the fused materials, bits of fabric, thread, whatever you please.

Wear and have fun!

Photo Friday - the pool

I know I'm a little late, but it's been a busy week. I didn't realize it when I took this photo, but it incorporates several elements we use in art. There's perspective, shadow and light, symmetry, asymmetry, triadic colors/primary colors, and reflection.

And for those who are still suffering through winter, there's encouragement that spring really will come one of these days! We are in full spring mode on Tybee Island, with spring breakers swarming the beach, and temperatures in the mid-80s expected today.

Enjoy, more later.