Making Minis

I've been working on several mini quilts.

I used trimmed off parts of three other quilts to make the first two.

The pieces are put next to each other and zig-zagged together. 

Caribbean Sunrise, 12.5x12”, April 2011

The sun and it's rays were a necklace made of felted and beaded wool.

Unmasked, 13x12” April 2011

The batik masks have been on my bulletin board for years.

Sew Sari, 12.25x15.75” April 2011

 

The embroidered center is a scrap of an Indian sari. 

The green face bead us is one I made with polymer clay.

Next time, something bigger.

progress

I had fun making these wool and felt ornaments for my arty friends this year.

This cat entry for the "Quilting Arts" calendar is ready.

 

My Rusty 12x12" is in progress...

as is this commission of Murphy.

Rusty has been busy watching squirrels.

Natural Dye Demo

The Woods of Mission Timber, in Sanger is a lumber yard, sawmill and gift shop that hosted a natural dye demonstration yesterday using several types of saw dust and indigo. 

Laura and John Easterling of Denton were kind enough to show us the process.

Dye made with Brazil Wood sawdust.

Dye made with Bois'd Arc sawdust.

indigo

natural dyed wool yarn

synthetic dyed yarn

Here are the washed samples I dyed. (L to R)

Log Wood muslin & wool, Brazil Wood wool, Bois'd Arc Wood muslin & wool, and Indigo cotton batting & muslin.

Busy Busy!

Wow, it's been a long time since I posted to my blog. I've been really busy with my graphic design business and getting my son in the groove at school. There are four fiber projects I've worked on but none are finished. Here are two I can show you.

This little 12x12" still needs a humming bird.

Here's a peek at my design for the 2010 Quilter's Guild of Dallas Block Challenge, Texas Boots Baltimore Style.

I did finish a few of these wool and felt pincushions.

It's been raining for seven days.

There are mushrooms popping up everywhere.

These cute lilies showed up in the neighbors yard overnight.

Rusty is sooo ready for the rain to stop.

"Multitude of Squares" and Wool purses

Mary handed me a sack of faux leather samples last week. "To combine into some art," she said.  I ran across them last weekend and noticed that the colors were similar to this pretty square-covered ribbon and fabric sample. My Twisted Stitchers art quilt group is doing some 12x12" quilts this year so I thought I'd try this size.

Multitude of Squares, 12x12"

I used some purple acrylic felt for the batting and added old buttons from my grandmother's button tin. It was a fun exercise.

Here's a little make-up bag made from a recycled wool sweater and a donated zipper. The pink in the heart is some wool I dyed with KoolAid in the microwave. I seem to be in a recycling mode lately.

This purse is called "Red Bird Bag II". I made a grey one for the Greater Denton Arts Council's "It's in the Bag" Purse Auction. I liked the design and wanted to try it again with red wool.

This time I used pop rivets to fasten the suede and polished cotton for the edge binding.

Microwave-Dyeing Wool

I made a bunch of felted wool ornaments last fall. So when my friend Mary was given a package of white wool roving, she shared it with me. Thanks Mary! The next day Nikki Wheeler posted a blog about Food Color Yarn. I had heard about dyeing wool with Koolaid and decided to try it.

Here is the finished wool dyed with Tropical Punch Koolaid.

Last year I needle-felted wool roving onto a purchased felted wool purse in the style of Artgirlz.

The small purse below is made with felted wool sweaters. The patterned sweater in the background was given to me by Pat. It's on the back of the purse which was made for her daughter.