Ice Dyeing, New Addiction
I didn’t have to wait for the weather to turn cold to try ice dyeing but that is what happened and now I wonder why on earth I kept putting off trying it!!! While the ice was melting I kept tabs on the process and …
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Sunflowers
Take one dyed vintage linen towel, post it on the design wall for deliberation while other projects are worked on, see a bench pillow at Hickory Stick, dig out some sunflower fabric from #$&+ years ago and, voila, another project is born.
Just Peachy
I have been resisting the urge to get back to my fabric dyeing but today I could resist no longer. The creative urge won! I had my color choices in mind, again drawing from nature. The Calhoun peaches first came to mind but at a recent class my daughter and I enjoyed our lunch in the Des Moines Art Center’s Rose garden. While the roses were nearing the end of their beauty they were still worthy of commemorating. First step for me is to dye some wool in colors from Cabernet to persimmon to sunflower yellow. Next step will be to decide on design. Will it be a single rose in a bud vase or a whole bouquet? Hmmm, more creative thinking time needed.
A Fun Marbling Class
It’s always fun for me to learn and to fine tune techniques and skills that can be used in art quilts. Today it was all about trying different manipulations of paint on the viscose surface of a carrageenan and water mixture and then transferring to …
Remembering Linen Towels
Remember those linen towels picked up as souvenirs from your travels? I pick them up in “trash” boxes at auctions, dye them in appropriate or related color schemes and then……And then they become something stitched, like this tote bag. What fun!!
Mystery Quilt Retreat
Evidence is gathered, clues are being followed and soon we’ll see the first block. What fun and diligent detectives!
Heirloom Protection
Care and Conservation of Heirloom Textiles Excerpted from University of Nebraska publication G1682 in cooperation with International Quilt Study Center, Lincoln, NE (full publication available online at extension.unl.edu/publications) Light—low levels for display and darkness for storage. Humidity-moist air, warmth, and lack of air circulation cause …
Storytellers of Our Past
Ragged, tattered, faded and torn but still holding memories of my growing years. This quilt was hand stitched, hand quilted and then turned and buttonhole stitched around each hexagon with lots of love by my grandmother. I surely did not appreciate the workmanship at the …
Reflecting
What a beautiful view! And in my own backyard! The birds are singing such happy songs, the sun is bright but the temperature is cool, ever so slight is the breeze and every once in a while a walnut or pecan drops from the trees. This is where I get inspired to make that next quilt project. It may have a nature theme. It may have a color theme. It may simply be reflective of my mind’s morning wanderings.
Today I am reminded that we are halfway through another year. Have I started the projects I had hoped to? Have I finished any projects I had hoped to? What shall I pack into totes for the winter trip south? As I contemplate, I most certainly will just continue to enjoy the present.
Midnight at the Ritz
The 2018 Hoffman Challenge set my mind to wandering and wondering. The result, “Midnight at the Ritz”, or I just call her “the lady”. It has been a creative journey that I have certainly enjoyed so have chosen to post some photos that give a …