Some of My Work

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

South Padre Island Trip

I took a trip to South Padre Island yesterday, with my brother and sister in law. South Padre Island is near Mexico, about 1.5 hours away from my home. The weather was beautiful that morning. First stop was Port Isabel where I climbed the lighthouse. This photo is of me at the top of the lighthouse. I'm scared of heights by the way, so this was quite a "feet" for me!!!
Yes, that IS a railing you see my feet sticking out from under. I'm not THAT crazy!!! :)
Before noon a front started moving in and rain came down. This is the beach before the rain.








The photo below is the Port Isabel Lighthouse that I climbed. I was at the top! WooHoo!!! It is over 60 feet tall and was built in about 1858 I think. It is one of the oldest in the state.

We had a great time that day. I was proud I climbed the lighthouse and went outside to see the view!

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Persia--Art Doll Coolaberration 2009

Persia has arrived from California where Robyn did some marvelous things to Em's doll. After leaving EM she went to Jeanne and then to Robyn and now here to me. Read all about Persia on the Art Doll Coolaberration 2009 website, plus all our other dolls we are working on.
This photo is Robyn's last journal page. It is wonderful. Robyn also wrote a great storyline on another journal page telling all about how Persia got her name etc. It is very interesting.
This is a close up of Persia's face. Isn't it wonderful! I love it! This, and the hair, is Jeanne's work and Robyn added the sequins in her eyes to give them sparkle. Robyn also added paper beads to her hair. Persia has one earring now too. Jeanne and Robyn have done wonderful work to Persia.
This is how Persia looks now, after I opened up the package. Now I have to figure out what Persia wants next.
I took a trip to South Padre Island today and pirates go back many, many years in that area. I even met some that knew Persia....believe it or not!!!! :) So, it was an interesting day!

I will have to tell you more of the story later mates!!!!

Monday, September 28, 2009

How to Make Turp Paper

I made turp paper today. It was stinky but it turned out great! These photos are my favorite pieces.
You have to do this outside as this is very stinky and you don't want to breathe in a lot of these fumes, so take precautions please. Wear rubber gloves for this project.
First you have to find old National Geographic mags that are 2004 or older because the pages are clay coated and that's what you need for the technique to work. I found mine at a thrift store for 39 cents a piece. I found out that all the pages in the magazine will not turn. Most will, but not all.
You need turpentine and a sponge brush and a container to keep your magazine in while it is soaking. Also you will need freezer paper or something to put the pages on to dry.

Take the book and tear the covers off. Discard them. Take out any paper cardboard pages. Tear the book into several sections making it easier to handle. With the brush start covering each page of the book with turpentine.
I covered all the pages in the whole book and let them sit stacked up on each other in the container for 3 hours or so. Then after I knew the process had taken place, I separated the pages one by one. Do not let them dry out during that 3 hours before the turpentine has time to "melt"the ink on the pages, as this will stop the process. As the process is taking place you can smush the pages around to intermingle the colors.

When you separate the pages lay them on freezer paper to dry, which should not take long. The smell will last for awhile I have read. Then when you use them for your journals and cover the pages with sealer or paints or gesso or whatever then the smell will not be there anymore. I have read that you can also buy a product called Cytrasolv or an odorless turpentine, which I have not found either one.
I love the way the pages came out and I will be using them in journals. The paper is strong and does not get weak and tear when it is wet with the turpentine so be sure and soak it well when you are doing this. I hope you try this as it is very unique and you never know how your pages will turn out. When you peel the pages apart it makes unique marks on them. Depending on what is on the page originally will determine the outcome, so colorful pages make the best turp pages I think.

New Angels Trumpet

This is my new Angels Trumpet or Datura. It's still in the pot and it bloomed. I just bought it Saturday at the local Trade Days here. This one is a bit larger than my yellow one I posted before. It grows into a tree so I have to figure out where I will put it in my yard. Isn't it lovely!

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Foggy Morning on the Bay

Foggy Morning on Baffin Bay


This photo was taken by my DH when he went fishing with my brother this beautiful Sunday morning. He took it with his phone camera and sent it to my email. It's not real clear because of the fog, but it is still beautiful. What is neat is that he knew I would love it and he thought to take the photo for me to see it.

They didn't catch any fish, but they both enjoyed it anyway, and with views like that, you can understand why. Also, he says, when he doesn't catch fish, "That's why they call it fishing and not catching!" :)

Have a good day!

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Art Walk Quilt #2

We are allowed to have 2 quilts in the Art Walk on Oct. 3rd. This flower embroidered quilt I made will be my second one I will be taking. These photos were taken before the quilt was quilted.

This photo is a close up of the machine embroidery. Each block is flowers and the sash is a three sash design.
This photo is another block that has a basket full of flowers. The flowers are embroidered on a white on white block.
Here you can see my 3 sash design and the corner detail with the embroidery added in the 3rd border.
Here is the whole quilt. I added borders to make it large enough to fit a queen bed. The back is unbleached muslin and now it is quilted in an all over stippling design, done by my friend Mary Kout. I like my sashing design on this quilt and the flower embroidery in the borders. This is my own design.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Art Walk Quilt

I've been busy getting ready for the Art Walk downtown. My American West Quilt will be showing and all I have to do is put a binding on it. This quilt is one I made from 4 inch squares of all kinds, plus larger yellow squares, plus maroon flying geese. I used my sewing machine to embroider all the patterns...cowboys, Indians, eagle, bear, turtle etc. The back is unbleached muslin. It was quilted by Mary Kout, a friend of mine in Kansas, who used the all over stippling pattern.
This first picture is a close up of the turtle block. I love this block.
This photo is the quilt top before it was quilted.
This block is a close up of the Indian chief with the flying geese. I put the flying geese beside each embroidered block and also outlined each block with a little bit of black.

The picture below shows the corner detail. I included the flying geese in the second border.
This quilt was actually made mostly from scraps. It is very simple and is my own pattern. I think the flying geese blocks add to it a lot.


Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Autumnal Equinox


The full moon that is closest to the autumnal equinox is a time for thanksgiving and sharing. This moon is also known as the harvest moon. This time of year we see the glory of the changing of the leaves and it is a true blessing that the days get cooler and the air gets crisper.


Henry David Thoreau said it well---

Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of the earth.


I was reminded again today to "enjoy the little things". Go out and gather some changing leaves and frame them, pick up some acorns and seedpods to put in a bowl, make a cairn/or oobos of stones, take some pictures of your hometown area, catch some rainwater and wash you hair in it, catch some fireflies, plant a tree, pick some wildflowers/grasses, take a walk, go for a bike ride, hold hands with your husband, plant some herbs, find a labyrinth and walk the journey, go to the beach and pick up shells/stones, make some paper beads, go watch the ducks, listen to music, paint a picture, write a letter(or make a fabric postcard) to someone you haven't talked to in a long time, go to an art gallery, hold a baby, make cookies, smile, love, laugh out loud, have fun...etc.etc.
Leave a comment and let me know the "little things you enjoy" doing.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Dear Jane Quilt

Joni Harrell of the Saturday Quilters has finished her Dear Jane Quilt. Here are the best pics I could get of it the other day. She did a wonderful job and even her label is great. I had never heard of Dear Jane until I met Joni. The Two Hundred Twenty-Five Patterns from the 1863 Jane A. Stickle Quilt is one of the most beautiful quilts and stories you will ever see and hear. Go to http://www.dearjane.com to see what all the excitement is about. The blocks are about 4 inches and the pieces are so tiny but so beautiful and all designed by Jane herself. No 2 blocks are the same. There is a book you can get that tells the story of Jane and her quilt blocks. It is wonderful. If you are a quilter you will want to know about Dear Jane.

You can get the Civil War fabrics as Joni did to make it look original or you can use fabrics that you choose. You can also make it smaller of course and only make a few of the blocks making yourself a wall hanging. It's up to you. It took Joni one year to make this quilt.
Joni had it quilted by a lady in Austin. It is an all over quilt design that does not take away from the block designs. The back it just plain muslin. The edges are scalloped and that took some time to bind. This is SOME quilt! The pics do not do it justice!


Friday, September 18, 2009

Inspiration Day with my Friends

On Friday mornings I get together with a few friends and we do things with fabric. We do batik, we dye fabric, we make paper fabric, we make shibori, we do all sorts of fun stuff. Another thing we do is have a show and tell of things we have done during the week. We learn and inspire each other.

Today we made some rust fabric. Now we wait 24 hours before we see the results! Next week I will show you photos.

I have been doing fabric postcards as you know, so today Brenda brought some that she did. She gave me the pink one. I just love it and she didn't even realize how much I love pink! Aren't they cute! She did a great job! The one on the right...see how she used the piece from the selvage where the fabric color dots are. What a great idea! She drew the little faces herself and she said she got the idea from the little Dotee dolls on the Internet. The other one she gave to Shirley, because she likes African fabrics. Later she brought one to Joyce, but I didn't get a photo of it. It's the same except the background fabric has little scissors on it. Very fitting for her.

This piece below is one that I gave Joan. It was paper fabric that I made and I weaved it together and then I added paper fabric flowers. She decided to add the center of the flowers to add some sparkle. I think that's all it needed.
This one below is a close up of the flower that Joan beaded. She added this flower to some paper fabric as you will see next.

Here it is. She made this piece of paper fabric and I told her to use her imagination and do something with it. So this is what she came up with. I love it!

This last one is also one of Joan's. I made the little piece and told her to think about embellishments. She added the seeds and banana yarn that I gave her and it's perfect. Joan has never done art quilts before so all of this got her to think outside the box. She did a great job! She loves art quilting now BTW!



New Website for the Art Doll Cool-Aberration Project

This is my doll in the beginning of the project.


Gail has put together a new and wonderful website for our project, the Art Doll Cool-Aberration 2009 Project. Now you can follow along and see the progress of each doll in the project very easily. This is great! So far the dolls have been to two participants and it's time to send them to the third. This is so exciting! My doll, Shimasani, will be headed to Canada next I believe, as we have participants in the U.S. and in Canada. I am just amazed at the creativity that everyone is putting into these art dolls. Along with the dolls are journals and they are just as amazing and creative.


So, I hope you follow along with us on our year long journey! You will see many different techniques from each artist involved and see wonderful and fun transformations!

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Stop, Breathe and Pause

I have been so busy lately. I'm trying to get ready for an Art Walk on the 3rd of Oct. , I have company coming to stay for a few weeks, I am trying to put together an art quilt show, I'm in the Art Doll Coolaberation Project, I'm centennial chairman for the church, and librarian for the quilt guild... and, and, and life is just busy so maybe I should just slow down a bit... stop, breathe, and pause for a moment. Soooooo... I've been thinking of my trip to Italy. Nothing better to slow me down better than Italy! I loved it there. I have hundreds of photos but will only show a few, of course. I loved the people, the land, the colors, the language, the slow pace...ahhhh yes!

I saw pots of flowers on every balcony and every staircase!
This is my little casa, with the snow covered mountains in the background, in Umbria. It was beautiful.
I was there during the olive harvest, in November.


Went to a Truffle Festival. I was surprised what they looked like and how much they cost.

The Rose Windows were beautiful, especially from the interior. There was so much beauty there and I felt like I stepped back in time.
Maybe one day I'll get to return! One of my favorite places!

Dollistic Halloween Giveaway


Dollistic is having a Halloween giveaway! See her Sept. 15th post!
I'm not showing you a picture of the little witch doll that Gail made because I want you to go see it and read to find out what she used to make it. It's very unique and clever, as Gail always is! You will be surprised!

Gail made the little witch doll for a swap on our Decidedly Different Dolls (or 3D as we call it) Yahoo group , but the size limit for the swap was 4 inches and this little witch doll was over the limit coming in at 5 inches. Anyway, that's why Gail decided to give it away. Lucky for us!

Go to Dollistic and see what makes this little doll so unique. Enter to win it and if you want to join us in the 3D group we'd be glad to have you. We sure have a lot of fun!

It's all on Dollistic!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

An Indian Prayer

Photo taken in Glochester, Massachusetts.
I love sunsets and this photo that I took a few years ago made me think of this
Indian Prayer.
O' Great Spirit,
Whose voice I hear in the winds,
And whose breath gives life to all the world,
hear me, I am small and weak, I need your strength and wisdom.
Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes
ever behold the red and purple sunset.
Make my hands respect the things you have
made and my ears sharp to hear your voice.
Make me wise so that I may understand the
things you have taught my people.
Let me learn the lessons you have hidden
in every leaf and rock.
I seek strength, not to be greater than my
brother, but to fight my greatest
enemy--- myself.
Make me always ready to come to you with
clean hands and straight eyes.
So when life fades, as the fading sunset,
my spirit may come to you
without shame.

Paper Beads

Paper beads are so easy to make and fun too. All it takes is paper, a skewer, and glue. You can use whatever else you want to embellish your beads, but it is not needed as they look pretty on their own.
The paper I use is usually from a magazine because it is colorful and shiny. You can use gift wrap, or just about any kind of paper you can think of, even newspaper. Try different kinds to see what effect you get.
The photo below is just simple magazine beads strung on yarn with some other beads and put on a little art quilt that I made awhile back. You can put them on journals, dolls, or even make jewelry for yourself.
First thing I do is cut the long triangle strips. Depending on how long you cut them will determine how large and fat the final bead will be. Also the width of the paper will determine how long the bead will be, so you may want to think about those things when cutting your strips.
I use a wooden skewer to roll my paper on. Don't roll the paper too tight or you won't be able to get it off the skewer. Put glue dots as you go to hold the paper in place and one glue dot at the end to hold the bead together.
Take your bead off the skewer and embellish, if you wish. You can paint it, add yarn, add beads, whatever you want. You can leave it plain and seal it with a spray sealer to protect it.

Here are some beads I made. Some I painted, others I wrapped with wire, added small seed beads, small pieces of cloth or yarn or used markers to add color. Use your imagination to create some unique and beautiful paper beads! But most of all have some fun! If you make some paper beads I'd love to hear from you, to see them and know how you are using them.
Happy creating!!!


Monday, September 14, 2009

Thread Painting

I've been trying to learn how to do thread painting. It's fun and it's addicting! You can do any design, from trees, birds, faces, anything!

First I gather my supplies...
water soluble stabilizer,
rayon thread for the top
a good matching thread for the bobbin,
a hoop,
darning foot
sewing machine
water soluble marker

I set up my sewing machine for free motion quilting, so follow the instructions for your machine. You may need to loosen the tension. You can use an embroidery needle too. I use rayon thread for the top thread because I think it is pretty. I use regular, cheaper thread for the bobbin, just something that matches in color. For this tree example I used dark green, variegated brown and variegated medium green. I am using a 7 inch spring hoop that I purchased from Lady Hawk designs dot com. The stabilizer I'm using is made by Solvy, just be sure it is water soluble.

First step is to draw your design onto the stabilizer. Use a double layer of stabilizer and draw the design on the top layer. Hoop your design (both layers).
For the tree I started sewing the trunk first using the brown thread. Fill in your design just like you are coloring or doodling. It's free motion sewing so do it in a fluid motion to fill it all in like you want.. Each layer of stitching has to anchor the layers of thread previously applied so it will all be held in place, so overlap often. This is the secret to thread painting. Next move on to the next color and the next until it is filled in like you want.

Next step is to cut away the excess stabilizer after taking it out of the hoop.
Take it to the sink and wash away the stabilizer until it is all gone, which doesn't take long.

Put the piece between layers of paper towels and press excess water out.

Shape the piece and let it dry. Attach it to your art quilt or whatever you will use it on by using just a little bit of stitching here and there, tacking it in place.

You're done! Try different designs!