In Progress...

I looked around my studio and noticed a bunch of unfinished projects. Some getting too close to the deadline.

I started this little (10x15") acrylic ink piece in Judy Coates Perez' surface design class at IQA Houston last fall. I sponge-painted the background and cut freezer paper stencils for the coffee cups. I used a dry brush to paint around the edges of the cups and added detail with fabric markers and a white Prismacolor pencil. I still need to quilt this one.

I found this felted wool bag in a thrift shop. I'm looking for the right handles for it.

I stenciled dandelion leaves on this 18x18" piece of dyed sateen. 

After I quilt it, I'll stencil the words below...

and embroider some dandelion puffs.

This will be "One Fish" in my fish series. 

Lots of coral and sponges need to be added to the sea floor. 17x19.5"

Here's my entry to the Dallas Quilt Show's Words and Letterform category. 

Still need to bind it, label it and sew on the rod pocket. 57x39"

I painted sateen with thickened Procion dye in 1992 for a kimono. 

This will be the third small "Just Crabby" quilt made with the upcycled Kimono fabric. 18x18".

This was the back of the kimono, I'm still wondering how to finish it. 28x50"

This is a manipulated photo of Lorraine Kuehnel's cat Hazel. She is a grey kitty. I added the color and had her inkjet printed on muslin. I need to quilt her next. 18x18"

"Dragonflies at the Pond" is inspired by a poem of the same name by Richard Schinzel for the Merging Visions Exhibition. I hand-dyed cotton sateen for the background and added dyed cheesecloth to represent the pond's edge. The dragonflies, water bug, cattails and lotus are fused to the background. 

Next, I'll quilt all of the appliques. 21x31"

"Cedar Waxwing" is my second entry for the Merging Visions Exhibition. The poem Invisible Threads by Beth Honeycutt describes a bird sitting in a snowy nandina bush. I combined three photos and "painted" things with photoshop before having it inkjet printed on cotton sateen. 13.5x18"

Time to step away from the computer and get busy!

Exhibition of 2015 Calendar Art at Chestnut Tree

If you haven't had a chance to go to the Chestnut Tree Tearoom and Bistro on the Denton Square this fall you should go. Their remodeled space has lots of room for artwork. The VAST Exhibition of 2015 Calendar Art is on display through January 9.

My Red Fish quilt is in the calendar and on display. 17x19.5"

Blue Fish is also hanging at Chestnut Tree. 17x19.5"

"Aquarius" in ArtQuilting Studio Magazine

My little art quilt "Aquarius" is in the winter issue of ArtQuilting Studio magazine!

What a nice surprise.

Summer Lights

Lightening bugs remind me of summer nights at Grandma Byers’ house in Indiana, with a jar full of fireflies as a night light by my bed.

I made the background of this quilt with the quilted sateen strips that were trimmed from “Particle Trails”.  I butted the strips together and zigzag stitched them together to form the background. 

I drew around cut out fireflies with chalk  and free-motion stitched them with glow-in-the-dark thread. I fused up-cycled green silk drapes back to back and cut blade-shaped leaves. I stitched the blades along the center so the edges are loose.

 

Summer Lights, 13.75 x 23.5"

Please visit my etsy store.

Altered t-shirt

I have a few favorite t-shirts that are too short.

I've been searching pinterest for ideas on how to lengthen this one.

Here's my pin board.

I couldn't find exactly what I wanted so I thought I'd just go for it.

I bought a black t-shirt that was about the same weight.

I cut from the underarm to the center then straight down to the hem.

I pinned it in place and whip stitched it with three strands of black embroidery thread.

I repeated the process on the other side.

  

I decided to color the pink thread with a turquoise Sharpie.

I like the result. I think I'll try the next on with three different colors.

Thrift Store Challenge

The "Not Your Grandmothers Bee" art quilt group was challenged to purchase something at the local Downtown Mini Mall in Denton and create something inspired by, or with the thing we bought.

I found a graduated teal blue coconut disk necklace. I like one-hole disks because they offer stitching options that two-hole buttons don't have.

"Red Fish"  17.25 x 19.5"

The background is a deconstructed silk screen print that I hand-quilted. 

The fish is a gel medium transfer of a black laser-copied fish drawing. 

I colored the fish with Sharpies and machine-quilted him. 

(The dried gel medium is too stiff to hand-quilt.)

Here are the creations of the rest of the bee...

"Play While You May" by Linda Creagh. 

19 x 22 inch quilt. This whimsical  image is reclaimed from a handmade apron found in Denton mini mall. It is composed of commercial and hand dyed fabric. It is machine pieced and machine quilted.

Debbie Coates made this framed art piece with the purchased Mother of Pearl pendant. 

The backing is Dupioni silk that was gifted to her and the lyrics are from the song Meet Me Tonight in Dreamland.  Judy Nickles, a friend and fiction author was writing a mystery series inspired by the song and titled her book Under The Silvery Moon.  This framed piece was made for her birthday gift.  Hand embroidery with hand dyed silk ribbon.

The quilter bought an item that was wrapped in a scrap of red shibori fabric. 

She liked the shibori better and made this book cover.

This quilter purchased an antique dish cloth and wanted to practice her machine quilting.

Carla Hamm's inspiration was a Chico's tshirt. See it in the patterned vase, vertical stripe and flower.

...and detail

I love these challenges. I'm looking forward to the next one.

Crafty Gifts

I recently created some handmade gifts.

These upcycled candy tins are great containers for Art-on-the-Go projects. 

I glued bits of scrap fabric to the tins with thinned white glue,
avoiding the space where the lid overlaps the base.

There is an article in the June/July 2014 issue of Quilting Arts Magazine 

that describes how to make a pocket for carrying index cards, 

so when an idea strikes you have something to draw on.

I embellished small silk screened fabric scraps with fabric markers and embroidery floss.

I really enjoyed the process of stitching through the 

muslin and felt, and the gifts were well received!

Paint Chip Challenge

Members of the Not your Grandmother's Bee were challenged to create something outside our color comfort zone. We were asked to choose a paint chip without seeing the colors on the front.

I drew Stop, Kaki Shade, Sawdust and Naval.

The navy fabric was rubbed with Shiva paint sticks over a spiral texture board. 

The red is from an overdyed cotton kimono. The khaki is a commercial batik.

I fused my pieces together on a teflon pressing sheet.

20x20"

Here are the rest of the members' creations.

Linda Creagh's "Rice Bag" purse.

 Marie Mitchell's "Chickens in the Garden"

Donna M.'s mini

 Teresas Sherling's "Four Doll Dresses"

 Debbie Coates's  "Love is a Journey"

 Grace Johnson's pillow "Woven Waves"

I enjoyed the challenge. It was uncomfortable to work in the colors I drew, 

but I suppose that is the point!

More purses for "It's in the Bag" 2014

In addition to the two purses I blogged on March 31, 

"Gilded Coach",

and "Looney Dooney", I've finished three more for the "It's In the Bag" fundraiser.

 "Fun Fossil",

 "Vintage Floral",

 and "Gilded Trio".

Thank you Grace, Mary and Stephanie for providing the purses for me to embellish.

The Greater Denton Arts Council will host a fundraiser 

benefitting the Greater Denton Arts Council

called "It's In The Bag" on Thursday, May 8, 2014.

The auction begins at 5 pm at the Center for the Visual Arts,

400 E Hickory St, Denton, TX 76201

You may purchase tickets for the event here.

All five of these bags will be in the silent auction.
It's a lot of fun and the food is great!