Improvisational Surface Design

Very rarely do I abandon other projects to work on something new. Recently, an opportunity presented itself that caused me to work on something unexpected. This recently happened because of a challenge posed by the Improv group of the Portland Modern Quilt Guild. The July prompt was 'Surface Design'. My piece incorporated both improvisational quilting and surface design. This piece is mainly green because I am also working in a series with color as the focus. It felt like green should be used this time. 

This project inspired me to try a bunch of different things in one piece. For me, this is part of the fun. What starts as an experiment with materials to learn how they work together becomes an exploration of techniques and outcomes.

The first step was to see how a variety of media would work with this stencil on a piece of PFD Kona cotton. The Stabilo chunky pencils and the Derwent Inktense pencils worked as expected with no bleeding. Once the Inktense pencils and Inktense blocks were activated with GAC 100 the color did move. The Crayola Fabric, Marvy, Sharpie Stained, and Jacquard Tee Juice markers bled slightly but were easy to control. The Dye-na Flow is more challenging to control. I use water brushes filled with the dye and this can saturate the fabric quickly.

Next, after digging in my scrap box, I found several strips to sew together. Then, Pellon fusible web was applied to the back and a circle was cut using an Accuquilt die. This process was repeated on the stenciled piece. In order to have some variety with the circle sizes and fabrics, I used a set of smaller circle dies (Hero Arts) that are usually used with paper. They worked great. Both the large pieces and the additional smaller ones were attached to a larger piece of solid white fabric. Additional stenciling of circles and partial circles offers visual continuity. Adding stitched circles to the piece continued the theme. These circles were made with an embroidery sewing module using a wide range of thread colors.

I got a little carried away with adding circles and the finished quilt was too busy for my liking. It measures about 16 x 17 inches. The picture above shows it on my design wall.

Close up

The busy little quilt needed to be mounted onto a solid background to give it some space. After auditioning a number of options, I decided to use a previously painted wood panel, measuring 24" square. The sides are now painted black. I layered a piece of batting and black fabric together and quilted it enough to hold it together. The edges were turned prior to quilting. Then I attached the small art quilt to it and glued the entire thing onto the wooden frame.

The finished piece on a blue wall in my kitchen

Next month's prompt is "Sunshine". I am excited to try something with Tyvek for this challenge. What encourages you to work outside your normal process?

THIS POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS. BY CLICKING ON THEM AND PURCHASING PRODUCTS THROUGH MY LINKS, I RECEIVE A SMALL COMMISSION FOR THE REFERRAL. THE ITEM WILL NOT COST YOU ANY MORE BY GOING THROUGH THIS LINK.

Products Used:

Inktense Blocks

Inktense Pencils

GAC 100

Stabilo Woody 3 in 1 Pencils

Crayola Fabric Markers

Marvy Fabric Markers

Sharpie Stained Markers

Jacquard Dye-na Flow

Pentel Water Brushes

Jacquard Tee Juice Markers

Extra Deep Cradle Panel

Bullseye Circle Dies

Studio 2 Fabric Cutter

Hero Arts Circle Infinity Dies

Hero Arts Stacked Circle Stencil

Hero Arts - Stencils - Stacked Circles
Scrapbook.com

Sometimes I just want to sew!

I just want to sew something!

There are times when I just want to sit at my sewing machine and mindlessly run the fabric under the presser foot. I do not want to have to think too hard about what I am making. Nor do I want to pay attention to a technique that is more challenging than a straight stitch on a straight seam! This does not happen frequently, but when it does I like to use up scraps of fabric and make "new" fabric by sewing small pieces together. And then, of course, I usually cut them up again to make a quilt or maybe even potholders.

Sewing a one-block quilt

Alternatively, I will use a simple quilt block and repeat it to make a quilt.  Oftentimes, I make them out of scraps. And almost always I use the fabric from my stash. This quilt is an example of the same simple block repeated with different colors, to make it a bit more interesting. It was a very quick and easy quilt because I used a steel die from Accuquilt to cut the Tumblers and then quilted it with an allover quilt pattern that I purchased from Urban Elementz. The binding was made from a new fabric but the rest have been around for a (long) while.

Quilted with Apex 2 Design from Urban Elementz

If this quilt looks familiar, that is because it is the second one I made using a rainbow colorway. I posted about the original (here) and another, scrappy one using the same die last summer. Those two were made for charity. The one above, my teen-aged daughter claimed. 

More fun ways to 'just sew'

Making a fabric collage - of sorts

This past February, the Portland Modern Quilt Guild hosted Tricia Royal. I was fortunate enough to get a spot in her virtual class and learned new ways of using up small pieces of fabric. She introduced me to another way to just sew without too much pre-planning. I loved the class and was very inspired by her work. We made two small pieces. I combined them because I loved the busyness of one of them and the open, negative space of the other.

Quilted shapes

The photo below shows the two pieces, one on top of the other, prior to me quilting them together.

Layered pieces

Thank you for stopping by today. It has been a long break for me, from blogging. I was not ready to share what has been keeping me busy. Partly because this has been a time of introspection and re-grouping for me. I have a few more projects that I have worked on over the past few months, which I will post soon. Sending you all lots of love and light.

Beverly

Tips for Purging Craft Supplies, Tools and Fabric

Tips for purging fabric

Yesterday, I posted here a little about what has been happening with me over the past year and a half or so.  It sort of feels like the theme of this time period has been Purging and Starting Over. Downsizing has taught me quite a few things. To that end, here are suggestions/tips for purging your craft supplies, tools and fabric. 

Tips for Purging Craft Materials and Fabric

Be honest in your assessment

Really look at what you have. Pull everything together that is of the same category.  How many pairs of scissors do you really need and use?  How many markers?  What about straight pins? Rulers? Thread? Paper? Craft and sewing items are hard for me to part with and I am trying to convince myself that I do not need as much as I have. The reality is that all of it will not fit into the allotted space. So, I will have to make some hard choices about what stays. In the end, I would rather have a functioning space with fewer things, than an overcrowded one that feels unwelcoming. Clutter, for me, stifles creativity.

Are you going to live long enough to use it all?

One more thing to give some serious thought to is, what is the likelihood that you are going to get to the project that uses those materials and supplies. In realistically assessing my life expectancy, I can not get everything made for which I have accumulated the supplies. It would be better for those things to be used by someone who will make them into something.

What to do with the items you are removing

Now, here is where some people may not agree with what I am going to say. If you are able to sell your excess stuff, Wonderful!  Give yourself a deadline, though. If you keep it around with the intention of selling it and it has not been sold in six months, donate it. For me, if I haven't sold something in a couple of months, I am not going to sell it.  Truthfully, if I do not sell it immediately, upon deciding to part with it, I am not going to sell it.  Recently, there have been some fundraisers in our area for some neighborhood children who have lost a parent.  Some amazing people organized yard sales for them and I was happy to give away some very nice things that do not fit in this much smaller house. I could not think of a better way for the proceeds to be spent than on children in my community.

Whether you are downsizing or taking stock of what you have, a good purge can be cathartic. It can help you transform your workspace. Maybe even give you more space with which to work! And if you are passing your supplies onto someone else to enjoy, all the better!

Organized office before downsizing 

Do you have any tips or suggestions for downsizing?  I would love to hear them!

In a few days, I will post some before and after pictures of our house and the extensive repair/remodel we have been doing.  My studio isn't ready yet, but some of the storage areas are. Wish me luck in getting the pared-down stash to fit!

Cheers!

Beverly

Moved! Starting Afresh!

Door frame growth chart

About a year and a half ago my husband took a new job in a new state. Our large house and, more importantly, several rooms of craft supplies and workspaces had to be packed and moved into less than half of the space.  Downsizing is not easy for most people. But for quilters, paper crafters, and art supply collectors, we may as well be told that we are moving to a deserted island with no Michael's or online shopping opportunities. That is how excited I was, to be giving up my set-up.

Pre-downsizing craft room storage wall

It took a long time to figure out how to effectively store things in that house. After 10 years there, it felt Just Right. Pictured below is one of the areas that worked very well.

Wafer thin metal dies on magnetic sheet on the wall

It is a 24"x 5' long magnet for my thin dies collection. Here is the link to what I bought on  Amazon. All of the Spellbinders, Scrapbook.com, Avery Elle, etc., wafer-thin dies stick on here and are easy to see.  If I see things, I am more likely to use them. And pack them!

Items that almost got left behind!

So the adventure began. Purging and packing. Purging some more. Packing some more. After the moving truck was packed and drove away, I discovered a cupboard that hadn't been packed. I quickly threw the stuff in a box. But knew I'd have a problem with how to move it since my Ridgeline was full. The idea was that I would take valuables, food, and chemicals in my vehicle along with the dog and the 13-year-old kid.  There was no extra room for this box of crap, goodies of metal tins, cards and other papercrafting items. I am not saying that I gave away a box of chemicals to the neighbors so that I could bring my craft items on the 1,400-mile trip. However, that stuff is now stored in my garage waiting to be put away.  What? A year and a half later and you still haven't unpacked? You may be wondering what is going on here! My tale of woe continues. We moved into a house and then it fell apart. More on that another day. With Before and After pictures!

Looking back on these pictures, the only one that really makes my heart constrict is the first one with the growth chart we made in my daughter's closet.  You can see on it that she measured herself (without us knowing) a couple of times over the years.  I wished that we could take it with us. And I'll tell you the truth. I actually shed a few tears when I took that picture. It was the only house she had known and she had many wonderful friends that she was going to miss in Arizona.

Tomorrow, I am going to post some suggestions about purging craft supplies and fabric.  This is mainly for my benefit because I need pep talks periodically and things are finally getting finished here so it is time to purge. Again!

All the best to you! Sorry for the long absence. In all honesty, this has been a pretty rough year and a half for me so I do feel like I need to start anew.

Fabric Basics

Here are some more beautiful ideas from CTMH using their new fabric collections.

Learn great tips and techniques for using fabric in your artwork—where to use it, how to adhere it, and how to create ruffles, flowers, and much more!

Fabulous Fabrics

CTMH now has fabric to coordinate with two of the new paper packs.

Discover how to dress up a layout with fabric! The fabulous fabric designs in the Chantilly and For Always textile collections are easy to include and really punch up the pizzazz in your papercrafting projects!

This video produced by CTMH will give you a couple of ideas to get your creative juices flowing!

Art Journal Entry - Working Through "Stuff"

White Denim Base With Gesso

 Last weekend, my family went to California to pay our last respects to my 56 year old cousin and share in her family's grief. Eight years ago she found out that she had cancer. During that time she celebrated many wonderful things.  She re-married, became a grandmother, witnessed one of her children graduating college and one graduating high school. She laughed and told jokes as she always had.

Tulle Wings and Ribbon Scarf

 I am not sure that her faith deepened so much as it was cemented even more firmly in her soul.  Her church family continued to grow.  The lives that she touched continued to feel her generosity.

Faber Castell Pitt Pen and HP Printed Text

 When I came home, I knew that I needed to process some of what I was feeling about this remarkable woman.  The part that kept coming back to me, more strongly than any other, was her indomitable faith.  Debbi was a very happy person who brought good humor and positive energy to any occasion. It was odd to be at a memorial service for someone who was so Full of Life.  It seemed surreal.

The Last Line From the Lord's Prayer

 This page is of a woman facing away from us.  Maybe looking into the light of what is to come.  She is wearing a scarf, with no hair underneath.  She sort of has wings.   Her denim skirt is simple and worn. The crocheted "belt" was made by my 7-year old daughter.  As was her paper shirt under the tulle wings.

Homemade Fabric Art Journal - Work In Progress

I was unable to work on anything else this week until I completed this page.  At least completed to this point.  Possibly more things will be added later, but it feels finished to me now.  The book is a work in progress and  I do not really know what direction it will take.

Thank you for visiting today.  Wishing you all the best!
Beverly

Life On The Farm - Art Journal Page

Could Have Been Tacked  Inside the Barn

My family moved to a rural area of Iowa when I was in elementary school.  It felt far away from everything and very hodge-podgey to me.  Nothing seemed to 'fit' together on The Farm. As we lived there, things continued to get cobbled together, just to work until the next time they broke down. There were bits and pieces of machinery in most of the out buildings. None of them worked. It seemed like everything was ancient and dirty.  My parents decided to try their hand at raising goats (for milk) and chickens.  As my dear dad was a city boy from Newark, it was a learning experience for all of us - with a very steep curve.  So with that introduction, you are probably thinking I hated it.  I did.  At the time.  Now I look back and realize it was one of the best experiences that I could have asked for as a child.

Dusting of Snow on Everything, or Dirt, Depending on the Time of Year

 The part that I am the most thankful for is that because of that experience/experiment (we only lasted 5 years on The Farm) I have a deep appreciation for the farmers of the world.  My friends and their families worked every day of the week.  On Sundays, they would rise even earlier to complete their chores in order to make it to church on time.  They rarely went on vacation.  Weather dictated so much about how they lived.

Heavy Weight White Denim Fabric Book - The Before Picture

 The quote that I wrote on my page, from Dwight D. Eisenhower, sums up how I feel:

Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil, and you're a thousand miles from the corn field.

Brilliant!

 So this mis-matched, layer upon layer of stuff, reflects The Farm life for me.  It isn't pretty.  It isn't meant to be.  If you search through the chaos, you will see some really wonderful things, like the old fashioned tricycle and the flowers with wheels on top of them - representing those that managed to grow without anyone tending them.  I am not striving for a 'beautiful' art journal. I want mine to be authentic for me.

In addition to learning about what types of things work on fabric pages - and what are challenges - I am revisiting some long buried memories.  This journey of exploration has been helpful to me.  And it is a fun process, even if my work looks wonky!

Happy Trails!
Beverly

Frosted Designs Color Challenge - Another Art Journal Page

 It has been a long while since I posted about the art journal that I made out of white denim fabric or shared any of the pages inside.  The Color Challenge at Frosted Designs seemed like the perfect opportunity to work on some things that had been kicking around in my head for a few weeks.  The color inspiration for this challenge is this picture:

About two months ago I printed the Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Moulin Rouge poster (from a "Permission Free" Dover CD) knowing that it was for a page in my journal.  It has been moved all around on my desk until I could finally find time to use it.  I also knew that I had been wanting to try mixing dye based re-inker with modeling paste. The bricks were made with CTMH Barn Red re-inker and Liquitex Modeling Paste and a Crafter's Workshop template.  It was awesome that so many things were falling into place!

The pages of this book are all made of a heavy weight denim.  On this page I applied a layer of gesso before painting with acrylic paints.  And then the layering fun began!

Modeling Paste and CTMH Barn Red Ink  for Bricks

The words on this page relate to my constant state of worry.  If worrying could be an art-form, I would have it perfected.  I am trying to spend some time helping myself to worry a bit less... so this it what it says:

As the weight of the bricks
became too much
it occurred to her
She could dance
or
She could fret
but
she could not do both at the same time

Art Journal Page on Denim

There is a stamped image that says: "Note to self" pointing to the handwritten words, "Don't worry".  On the label at the bottom left corner it says "Be Happy!"

Maybe one day the happy will be allowed to exist in my mind without worrying that something untoward will befall someone I care about!  In the meantime, my art gives me a healthy vehicle to explore what is on my mind.

I hope you find time to make art for yourself. If it happens to follow the colors of the Challenge at Frosted Designs, we'd love it if you would play along with us!  Please link up your card, layout or off the page project here.

Thank you for visiting!  Be happy!
Beverly

Mixed Media Art Journal - Made From Scratch

* A Lot of Pictures Alert!

 Front of Book - Closed With Metal Clasp

I have been wanting to work more with collage and mixed media using fabrics and papers.  It occurred to me that one of the best ways for me to learn How to do this, was to Do this.  So I decided to make a book out of fabric and chipboard and go from there. 

Back of Book

Today's post is about the construction of the book.  This is a long post with lots of pictures. The inside of the book will be posted at a later date. The cover and all of the pages are made from 10 oz. winter white denim. I used transfer artist paper on the cover for the fleur de lis and then embroidered the butterfly over part of it.

Transfer Artist Paper Used for Sepia Petal's Fleur De Lis Image from OESD/Bernina

The back cover wraps around the front and stays closed with a clasp purchased in the button department at Joanns. The embroidery designs are from OESD's Sepia Petals. The stabilizer is large enough to be completely hooped, the fabric is hooped on the sides.
The book is about 9 1/2" wide by about 11" tall finished.

Machine Embroidered Tree On Front Cover

After embroidering the outside cover, I sewed the inside cover to the front on three sides.  The clasp was sewn to the back (wrap-around) cover using elastic sewn into the seam.  Initially, I serged the three sides, thinking that I was going to do a raw/serged outer seam.  As I continued working on it, I decided to sew rights sides together and turn it out.  I knew the bottom edge would be serged once the chipboard pieces were in place. The somewhat rough edge that the serging makes is the look I wanted for the bottom.  All of the pages of the book are also serged around the edges.

Ready for Chipboard

I hand sewed the other part of the clasp to the front and then calculated where the chipboard inserts should go. To make slots for the chipboard I sewed straight lines down the length of the book wherever seemed like it would make sense to have the book bend.  The pages of the book were to be sewn in After assembling the cover.

Inside of Book Cover with Chipboard Inserts

Once all the pieces of the chipboard were in place, I serged the bottom of the book.  I worked on the inside cover prior to assembling the other pages.  Because it was to be embroidered, it was easier to do it this way. The interior of this art journal is still a work in progress and not quite done yet.  

Front Cover With Back Cover Pulled Open

Copic Colored Fastener 

The clasp was a pewter color which did not match the embroidery threads at all.  I colored it with an alcohol based marker and it looks much better.

After the outside was finished, I sewed the pages into the book on either side of the chipboard-stabilized spine.

Please come back to see some of the pages as I complete them.  I experimented with different ways to adhere paper to the fabric, used different image transfer techniques and stamped, inked, painted, and spritzed fabric and paper as I layered and collaged it together. It has been a fun learning experience!

Thank you for visiting today!

Beverly