Textile Traveler

Me and Thou and A Can of Spray Paint

2012-01-12T18:07:00.017-06:00

I don’t know why, but for some reason gorgeous Central Texas weather makes me want to haul out the spray paint. I’m almost out of canvas anyway, and since Valentine’s Day is almost upon us, I decided to go with that theme.

Sorry about the pics; the harsh light outside really bleached them out, and I had too much paint on my hands to mess with the camera much :-)

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A cold front is headed our way and it's supposed to be in the 20s in the morning, so it's back to indoor activities! At least I got a little Vitamin D :-)

Oh, and thanks so much for the comments on my poppy-seed heads piece! I'm definitely going to work on darkening those up a little, and maybe adding some shadows.

Opinions Please?

2012-01-11T15:58:00.000-06:00

This is a piece that has just sort of come together a little at a time. I think I'm almost finished with it, except now I'm reevaluating whether I like the poppy-seed heads. I like the stitching for the stems, so I'm considering taking the heads off (these are made of wool) and just stitching the outlines of poppy-seed heads in their place. What do you think?

I guess I sort of think the current heads are a little cartoon-like. I would love to have your feedback!

Hey Again, Valentine!

2012-01-11T09:54:00.002-06:00

I know it seems like Valentine’s Day is a long way off, but it’s not!
Remember the stencil-painted & stamped fabric from the other day? It’s now a composition notebook cover:

And a couple of business card holders:

Here’s another comp notebook cover for Valentine’s Day:

This one has a strip-pieced heart that I made into a free-standing applique, then stitched to the cover.

I’m trying to become more efficient in how I make these items for my Etsy shop. Right now it’s taking a very long time to create anything, and I think my wage rate works out to about $2/hr.

The good news is, I’m having fun! But now it’s time to get back to work.

Hey, Valentine!

2012-01-05T07:00:00.002-06:00

Ok, it may seem a little early to be thinking about Valentine’s Day, but I’m working on a few “sweet” things for the Etsy shop. I thought I would share a tutorial with you on a quick and easy way to make your own sweet fabric.

This is a somewhat messy project, so wear gloves if you don’t like paint on your hands. You may get a few smears and spots and drips on your fabric, but that’s the look I was going for. If you want a cleaner effect, try applying the paint with a stencil brush, or use screenprinting techniques.

You’ll need the following supplies:

1. a stencil (mine is a cheap, store-bought stencil)

2. tacky spray (make sure it’s temporary adhesive, NOT permanent)
3. white paint (I like the heavy-body paint in a tube, since it’s less likely to run under the edges of the stencil)

4. a squeegee or a plastic card (you know, a credit card or that ugly old driver’s license you sanded the numbers off of, or that newfangled, plastic room key you “forgot” to give back when you checked out of the hotel)
5. rubber or foam stamps
6. a foam brush or sponge

To get started, make sure your fabric is smooth; iron if necessary.
Spray the back of the stencil with adhesive and smooth it onto the fabric.

Run a bead of paint along the edge of your card, then scrape it across the stencil.

Reposition the stencil and repeat the previous step until you’re happy with the number of stencil prints on the fabric.

Apply paint to the stamps with a foam brush or sponge, and stamp the fabric randomly or with a pattern of your choice.

Keep going until you’re happy with your fabric.

Embellish your fabric even more with fabric pens, foil, fibers, and thread.

Oh, and don’t forget to use the leftover paint in your art journal.

or on your “serendipity fabric.”

Have fun! I’m off to use my “new” fabric in a project.

Addendum: It occurred to me in the middle of the night that people might wonder whether the heavy-bodied acrylic changes the hand of the fabric. The answer is, absolutely. But I don't really find this to be a problem. Unless I'm making a garment or bed-quilt, it doesn't really matter to me what the hand of the fabric is. I've never had a problem getting a machine needle through painted fabric--and I've stitched paint on canvas. Of course, if you're hand-quilting painted fabric, you'll definitely want to use fabric paints, which will likely be thinner. Just make sure you're stencil is adhered well to the fabric, or go for the "blurry-edged" look!

New Mexico

2012-01-04T12:18:00.002-06:00

Due to a series of miscommunications and interesting events, we were able to finally take a vacation over Christmas. Last time we took a vacation to Arkansas, there were deadly floods in that state. This time, we went to New Mexico, which just happened to get hit with a freak blizzard. I’m not even going to try to analyze that.

Anyway, here are some pics from our lovely vacation:

Roswell, and our 14-yr. old dog Maxine. She loved the snow several years ago in Colorado, and she loved it even more this time. She was like a puppy again!

The grandson making his first snow angel (coming from Central Texas, we don't see much snow):

Santa Fe Plaza on Christmas Eve:

Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis Assisi:

The grandson caught making a snowball:

Embroidered boots spied while window-shopping (I know y’all will appreciate these!):

My son & grandson ready for snowboarding:

And finally, a walk through the neighborhood near our motel:

I feel refreshed & recharged, and ready for great things in 2012!

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday and that 2012 will be a wonderful year for you.

Giveaway Winner!

2011-12-21T07:09:00.002-06:00

UPDATE: Dolores has kindly passed the membership on to another entrant, due to time constraints. Fortunately, I still had the names on slips of paper, threw them back into the bowl and redrew: congratulations to marshaleith!

~~Congratulations to Dolores, who won the 6-mo. membership to The Quilt Show. Thanks to everyone who entered!~~
~~There were too many entries to do a random-number generation, so I picked the winner the old-fashioned way: by drawing a name out of a hat (or, in this case, a fabric Christmas bowl, of course!):~~

~~Sorry I misspelled your name, Dolores. It was early and I hadn’t had coffee :-)~~

We’re headed to New Mexico for the holidays (assuming no more crazy blizzards and that we can get through!) so I hope everyone has a lovely Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, or other holiday, and a wonderful New Year!

She’s Finished (Well, for now!)

2011-12-19T16:08:00.002-06:00

So, I’ve pretty much finished the portrait quilt from my class with Esterita Austin in Houston at the Quilt Festival last month. I’m too scared to quilt her face, so I’m not even sure if I’ll do it. I’ll probably come back to her early next year and decide for sure what I want to do about the quilting. I’ll probably quilt the background, as well, just so it’s not so flat.

I never could get her mouth like I wanted it, and I kept trying to get her not to look so sad, but that’s just who she is, I guess :-)

Comments are welcome, as always!

And don’t forget to leave a comment on the previous post to be entered into the giveaway for a 6-month membership to The Quilt Show!

Giveaway!

2011-12-14T09:55:00.001-06:00

Once again, I’m giving away a gift certificate for a 6-month membership to The Quilt Show (a value of $24.95). Membership gives you access to shows hosted by Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson, to classroom lessons, and to tons of quilting information and other goodies.

To be entered into the drawing for the gift certificate, simply leave a comment below.

Want another entry? Go to my Facebook page and click the “Like” button: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Textile-Traveler/135028609925641

Want a THIRD chance to win? Visit my Etsy store and tell me, in a comment below, which item is your favorite (or, feel free to be honest if you don’t like ANY of the items! It’s all good): http://www.etsy.com/shop/TextileTraveler

The drawing will be held first thing Wednesday, Dec. 21, so your entries must be submitted no later than midnight Tuesday, Dec. 20.

Good luck, and Happy Holidays!

New Journals

2011-12-08T22:18:00.002-06:00

I have been working SO hard to get ahead on the items for my Etsy shop that I haven’t had time to do any “fun” artsy stuff for myself. I think tomorrow is the day I’ll “play”--oh, who am I kidding, it’s all play :-).
Here are a few of the journals I’ve created to put in the shop:

The last one is actually a sketchbook that my son and I collaborated on. I created the spray-painted background, and my son “graffiti-ed” the fabric.
Ok, back to work!

Sweet! 16

2011-12-06T14:12:00.002-06:00

Ok, so I finally quilted something other than circles and stipples, thanks to my HQ Sweet 16. It’s SO much easier to focus on FMQing when you’re not wrestling the quilt around a domestic sewing-machine needle. Here’s the quilt (awful pic, I know; more on that later):

And here are close-ups of the quilting:

I did an all-over leaf pattern, with a flower pattern on the borders. It was fun (ok, yes, I’m a dork).
I’m still having problems taking full-length pics of my quilts. I can get the close-ups to represent the colors just fine, but there are problems with lighting when I have to back up for the wider-angle pics. We’ve had rain in Central Texas (hallelujah! finally!) for the past few days, so no outdoor pics are possible. I’ll keep working on it, though.

Back to work now!

Return to Etsy!

2011-12-02T11:49:00.000-06:00

I’ve been busy busy busy the last couple of weeks getting my Etsy store set up. As many of you know, I had an Etsy store called “Dreamwork” before I got sick, but during my extended illness and recovery (almost 2 years!) I couldn’t deal with it so I shut it down.

Now I’ve reopened that shop with a few items, but I’ve also opened a store under the “Textile Traveler” name. This is my all-things fabric- and fiber-related store. Right now I have a few journals, a couple of baby (or lap) quilts, and a couple of pieces of hand-dyed fabric. I’ll be adding more items as time goes by.
I’m thrilled that I’ve already sold 3 journals!

This scrappy journal is featured today; it’s got fun stitched papers made of recycled junk mail, scrapbooks papers, and other interesting things:

I’d love any feedback you might have about the store or the items I’ve listed. Also, please follow me on Twitter (http://twitter.com/TextileTraveler) and/or “Like” me on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Textile-Traveler/135028609925641).

Do you have an Etsy or other online store? I’d love to hear any tips you have or experiences you want to share. Please leave a comment and let me know how to find your store!

Practice Makes . . . Better

2011-11-22T08:50:00.002-06:00

A child’s quilt (but not a baby quilt, since the buttons could pose a choking hazard); the first thing I FMQed on my new Sweet Sixteen (woo hoo!):

On to the next top that’s been waiting patiently for quilting. I’ll quit saying woo hoo! ~~now~~ soon.

SWEET!

2011-11-19T13:18:00.002-06:00

I just finished this scrappy quilt top; maybe it will be the first thing I FMQ! Woo hoo!

Reconfiguring the Studio

2011-11-17T08:27:00.003-06:00

This is my small sewing space; as you can see by the packages at the bottom of the pic, I have to squeeze in a Sweet 16 mid-arm machine in a 36x30 ft. table:

I did have a little extra time to move everything around, since UPS managed to damage the table for my Sweet 16 and I have to wait for a new one. I can't imagine how that happened; even if they can't read "this side up," you would think the pointing arrows might give them a clue:

My stash is stored in the wooden armoire and some of the drawers of the chests; things like interfacing and fusible and spray baste and transfer paper are stored in the tall shelving unit on the right; and WIPs and scraps and miscellaneous “stuff” is stored on the wire shelves.
So, I unloaded the wire shelves, moved them over to the left side (against the back side of the bookcases that face the tiny living room that’s left), added another wire shelving unit from another part of the house, and stacked all of my stash onto these units.

That’s all my fabric! Everything! (Ok, except for fabrics other than cotton, such as silk, sheers, wool, etc.) It’s not as much as I would have imagined, and I was a little worried about my sweetie expressing shock at all the fabric I had accumulated. She glanced at it and said, “oh that looks nice.” Woo hoo!

THEN, I moved everything all the WIPs into drawers, all the interfacing, etc. into the armoire, and all the scraps into the scrap bins in the bottom of the armoire.

That leaves this space available for the Sweet 16 (once we carry that heavy tall shelving unit into another room):

And aside from getting my Sweet 16 (woo hoo #2!), the best part about fondling all that fabric—and getting it out in the open and right in front of me—inspires me to do lots of amazing things.

Gotta go work!

Recharge Zone

2011-11-11T09:17:00.002-06:00

Happy Veteran's Day with much gratitude to all those who have served and are serving our country!

I’m back from Houston, feeling recharged and ready to create amazing things.

Unfortunately, being out of town for a week put me WAY behind in all other life endeavors, so I haven’t had much chance to work on fun things.

In brief bits of time I have been frantically cleaning my sewing studio, though, in preparation for my new purchase . . . a HandiQuilter Sweet 16! WOO HOO! I’m only mildly excited: can you tell???

I’m also trying to finish up a couple of quilt-tops so that I can FM quilt them with the Sweet 16 when it comes in next week. Here’s one that’s ready:

While in Houston, I took two wonderful classes. The first was a 1-day painting-with-dyes class with Hollis Chatelain. I had seen Hollis in the documentary film Stitched, and she seemed to be such a calm, laid-back person. HA. She’s a firecracker! I enjoyed her and the class tremendously and learned a lot about painting fabric with dyes, and especially about blending colors; I still need practice in that department, but now I know where I’m headed. Here’s my dye-painted fabric class project (Hollis’s design):

The other class I took was Powerful Portraits with Esterita Austin. Esterita was wonderful; she’s funny and a great artist. This was a 2-day workshop, so we had a little more time to work on our portraits. Here’s my class project, a fabric portrait of Esterita’s son’s girlfriend, Layla:

I still have quite a bit of work to do on her, and I’m trying to figure out how to use paint for highlights and shadows to 1) make her look a little less sad, and 2) make her lower lip less prominent. I love this technique and can’t wait to finish this portrait and start on others.

As always, there was an abundance of amazing quilts in Houston. I’ll try to post some pics of my favorites in the next couple of days.

Sneak Peek

2011-09-19T09:59:00.002-05:00

Just a quick check-in to let you know I’m still here, and a sneak peak at something I’m working on . . .

Have a great week!

Moving Forward

2011-09-04T22:58:00.002-05:00

Lest you think I’m hiding away grieving for my old job, think again! I like to say I’m “examining my possibilities.” I really am, but it’s much more complicated than that. More on all that later.
In the meantime, I’m getting around to some of those things I’ve been putting off for years, like airbrushing fabric. This is fun! I’m going to do more of it.

Splotches are not fun, but learning to avoid things like that is all part of the process, right?

Good news: Temperatures in Central Texas will finally be below 100 this week—maybe even in the upper 80s!

Bad news: The winds were furious today; combined with sparking wildfires that quickly spread across drought-ravaged areas. I’m thinking good thoughts for my friends, family, and neighbors throughout the area.

A New Beginning

2011-08-19T23:24:00.005-05:00

Today was my last day at my “day job.” Like many who work in high tech, I was laid off. Actually, I was laid off twice: the first time was 8 years ago; I panicked, rushed into a job that wasn't right for me, and, and after a two-year stint in hell, came back to work for this one. I’ve been there this time for 6 years. I would have stayed, probably, for as long as they wanted me, just because that’s how I am. I’m easily bored with day-to-day activities, but at heart I’m a long-term gal.

I thought being laid off for the second time would be easier, but I was wrong. That sense of shame at losing one’s job runs deep in those of us who are optimistic romantics, who believe that if you work hard, life will treat you fairly and reward you accordingly.

This afternoon, I had a chance to review the projects I developed, pioneered, or worked on over the last 6 years as I gathered files together for my portfolio. I quickly realized two things: 1) I do some damned fine work; and 2) they were idiots to let me go.

I think it’s easy to forget our accomplishments, especially when it seems like no one sees or appreciates them. Often even we don’t recognize their value like we should. Perhaps our accomplishments, taken one at a time and spread out over months or years or decades, seem small or simple or incidental and routine, so they are easily forgotten, easily overlooked. When we pull them all together, though, those dull scraps suddenly become a colorful patchwork of value, a tangible reminder that we were (are) here in the world, engaged in living and working, even if no one--including ourselves--notices much.

Have you looked back over your accomplishments lately? Do you track your projects? keep a written or visual log or diary of your accomplishments? Even if you don’t, try flipping back through the photos you've taken of your work, the blog posts you've written describing it, the emails you sent announcing with pride and relief that you finally finished that project.

What do you see? What does the quilt of accomplishments that you’ve created over the last few months months or years or decades look like? Draw that quilt around yourself whenever you need a little psychic “hug.” And don’t forget to show it off; it never hurts to make sure others see and appreciate the value you offer.

As for me, I'm at the edge of the abyss, peering into the darkness to try to see where the path heads next. I'm going to go slowly so I don't trip over anything. I may need to stop and feel my way along frequently, and I'll probably rest often. And I'll carry my quilt along with me as a reminder that I'm capable of some damned fine work.

Rose Petals

2011-08-13T18:26:00.003-05:00

Thanks to everyone for your kind comments about the Rose quilt that I blogged about yesterday: http://textiletraveler.blogspot.com/2011/08/roses-not-on-my-table.html

A couple of people asked this: how do you get the curved/wavy outside edges on the roses? Unfortunately, I didn’t take pics of the process as I went, so I’ve reconstructed the steps in (very primitive) drawings to try to illustrate the process. It’s harder to explain how I did it than to actually do it, btw.

As I mentioned in the previous post, I used a typical crazy-quilt type block. I started in the center with the pink or red fabric for the rose, then kept moving out until I switched to green and completed the block. At that point, I had a 5-sided “rose” that I wasn’t crazy about because the edges were straight:

To add a wavy edge to the rose, do the following:

1) With the block right side up, lay a piece of “rose-colored” fabric right-side-down against the block, along one edge of the rose
2) Stitch the fabric down to the block along the straight edge of the rose
3) Flip the stitched-down fabric back and press

4) Trim the stitched-down fabric so that’s wavy.
5) Sew the next piece of rose-colored fabric down along the next edge, flip, and press
6) Continue to add pieces to each of the 5 sides of the rose

7) Once all the rose-colored pieces have been stitched down, pressed open, and trimmed, sew the edges down to the block with matching thread. I used a zig-zag stitch.

I hope that helps! There’s probably a simpler way to do this, but this method worked for me :-)

Roses (Not) on My Table

2011-08-12T02:54:00.002-05:00

A while back there was a discussion on the Quiltart list about using scraps to make quilts. I’m a compulsive scrap saver, and sometimes when I’m too nervous to cut into that gorgeous fabric I bought, or when I’m not really sure what kind of quilt I want to make, it’s easier for me to start playing around with stitching scraps together.
These blocks were made in crazy-quilt fashion. I initially moved right from the red & pink of the roses into the green, but the flowers looked too blocky. I ended up stitching another layer of pink or red to the edge of each flower, then flipping it open, trimming it into a curvy shape, and stitching down the edges. I like the softer, curvy edge of the flowers better than the original “crazy-quilt” block.

I quilted each block as I went, then put them together using Fiona’s Quilt as You Go (QAYG) tutorial. I love putting quilts together this way, because I don’t have to wrestle a large one under the needle of my small machine, but I’m still having some problems with the stitching. My walking foot a,nd feed dogs don’t really “grip” the multiple layers of fabric well and move them through the machine at an even rate, so any of the stitching that shows can look very uneven. I had a lot of this bad stitching showing on the back, and unfortunately it was white thread against a pink background, so I ended up painting the thread to match the fabric. You can still see the stitching, but you have to look more closely now :-)

Not bad for a bunch of scraps, dont’cha think?

AchOOO

2011-06-16T13:59:00.001-05:00

The bad news is that I finally had to take to my bed after 3 days of this cold. I thought I might get off lightly, but it dragged me down after all.

The good news is that I’m not feeling too bad, so I’m using this opportunity when I’m forced to “be still” to catch up on things like my blog.

I’ve mentioned a couple of times lately what a tough time I’m having getting anything done art- or craft-wise, so I signed up a few weeks ago for Quilt U’s Log Cabin class. Here are some log cabin blocks I’ve created:

The one above is a “traditional” log cabin. Here’s a “courthouse steps” version:

And a “curved” log cabin block (where the dark strips are wider than the light strips; this results in a curved or wavy look when they are pieced together):

I’ve been playing around in Photoshop Elements with these blocks, trying to decide how I want to piece them together. Here’s one idea for the blocks I have currently:

Right now I have 16 blocks that are 10-1/2” square, so I’m actually thinking I’ll make some more blocks for a larger quilt. We’ll see how I feel once the cold abates a little.

I’m also taking Elizabeth Barton’s Quilt U class, Working in Series. I’ve dug my design journal out—something I’ve neglected a while—and started working methodically through some ideas. It feels good to slow down and take things step-by-step. I don’t have anything to share yet, but I will soon.

Take care everyone, and try to stay healthy! Oh, and if you’re Central Texas, where we’ve had 64 days over 100 degrees so far this year, try to stay cool!

The Haul from the Dye Bucket

2011-05-30T08:28:00.002-05:00

Every time I run across David Taylor’s work, I’m inspired to dye fabric. Not because he dyes fabric—he doesn’t, as far as I know—but because the hand-dyed fabric he uses in his work is so beautiful.

I guess some part of me thinks that if I only had the right fabric, I could create something fabulous.

So, here’s the latest haul from the dye bucket:

Not enough to really inspire me yet, but it’s a start!

I hope you're all having a lovely Memorial Day weekend!

Any Excuse!

2011-05-05T10:13:00.001-05:00

It had been a little over a year since I had a hospital stay, so I guess it was time.

I called my doctor Monday morning because my blood sugar was crazy high all weekend (500-over 600). She told me to go the ER, and of course they admitted me.

Turns out my poor, tired pancreas may have finally given out. After the pancreatitis three years ago, the doctors were surprised that it was still producing insulin, so this wasn’t unexpected.

The good news is that Type 1 Diabetes treatment has come a long way, and with the improvements in monitoring and medications, it seems like it’s possible to live well with this disease as long as it’s managed well.

The other good news is that I had an excuse to create a new bag to carry around my test kit, my insulin, my log, etc.:

This was a piece of “leftover” fabric I created by adhering scraps to batting, adding a layer of sheer fabric, and quilting with lovely heavy thread. My bags are still somewhat rudimentary since I’m still trying to get the hang of zippers, but it will work just fine, I think!

Zippety Doo Dah!

2011-04-08T07:27:00.001-05:00

So, as I was getting ready for the yoga retreat, I went to pack my little art-supply kit. You know, that ugly plastic box that all the pencils and things rattle around in.

What I really need, I thought, is a lovely little fabric bag for my art supplies. You know, the kind with a zip . . . zip . . . zippppppperrrrr (that's me shuddering). I've never put a zipper into ANYTHING, and I've never understood how to put a zipper in.

How does a zipper foot work? How do you get the zipper the right size? Why does the foot have to be skinny? Oh, I've read all about putting zippers in, numerous times. But I've just never really understood the concept.

This time, though, I decided that I just needed to jump right in and create a bag and put the darned zipper in. I started with some painted fabric I've had forever, layered it on batting, and free-motion quilted it.

Then, I just rolled the rectangle over so that the two long edges were touching. I put one long edge right sides together with the zipper and pinned it. I got out the zipper foot for my Husqvarna Viking machine (which doesn't actually look like any zipper foot I've ever seen)

and put it onto my machine. I spent about 30 minutes trying to figure out how to sew with the foot, and finally took it off and just put a regular foot on (with a channel underneath for the zipper teeth). I stitched one side of the zipper to the long edge of the rectangle, then realized that somehow I had sewn the zipper on upside-down, backwards, and inside-out (or something). I ripped the seam out, started over, and managed to sew it correctly this time. Then I sewed the other side, turned the tube inside-out (and unzipped the zipper half-way, stitched up the sides, and trimmed the zipper.

Voila! A zippered bag! Not the most perfect zippered bag, but zippered nonetheless! I happily went to transfer my art supplies into the bag and realized that it was too small. I had measured for the length of the pencils, but didn't measure the size of my little watercolor pan set. Back to the drawing board. . . .

This time I started with a small UFO that has been driving me crazy for a very long time; sadly, my photos are SO disorganized that I couldn't find a before pic. At any rate, I used this UFO to create a larger bag; this time, I made sure that everything, including my small sketchbook, would fit. Here are both bags together:

Hurray! Two zippered bags. I feel like a whole new world has opened up to me, and I can't wait to make more!

Fruits of Spring

2011-04-07T08:22:00.002-05:00

A couple of weekends ago we took the grandbaby (ok, he's 11, so the babyhood has passed; maybe I should refer to him as our lovely grandadolescent) to Sweet Berry Farm to pick strawberries. Here's our haul:

We ate quite a few of these luscious berries and froze most of them. Last night, I finally had time to can some strawberry preserves:

And now, I'm off to toast some bread . . .