What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

Bloomin’ is defined as “just a casual swear word” by The Urban Dictionary, and I used a few while quilting Rhody. As I recounted in an earlier post, I have been developing an impressionistic floral piece made with fabrics I had dyed, painted, and printed.

My original plan called for an undulating circular walking foot quilting design in several thread colors. Then, I decided to create the illusion of leaves around the edges. I had already reached the limits of walking foot quilting on the circular part, so I knew FMQ was the only way I could do leaves.

It ...

First, the good news.

Our Art 2 Quilt group’s challenge quilts were accepted into the Ultimate Guild Challenge at AQS Grand Rapids (August). We were all very excited! More on that once the show is closer.

The other news is the book that inspired The Wall Quilt blocks came in at the library. The not so good news is that it didn’t jog my memory. I have a rough idea of where I was going with the idea, but I’m basically starting over.

The book contained detailed instructions on how to build stone walls, steps and patios ...

It has been another challenging week here with lots of places to be and things to do and not a lot of creative time. Regardless, I did get out the paints and darkened both the upper corners of Open Dialogue.

I’ve moved on to planning the quilting design. The original idea didn’t work out, nor did plan B. I have a vague concept drifting just out of reach, like a dream you can’t quite remember once awake. Hoping the weekend will provide the time and space to finalize a plan and start quilting.

Happy Mother’s Day! Hope you get time to do something for yourself today.

Once again, no change in the numbers.

I added paint to Open Dialogue to darken the upper right section, but once it dried it wasn’t dark enough. I will need to add another layer today.

I also cut all the pieces to make a total of nine pumpkin blocks. The final layout is still undetermined. I’ll see what the nine blocks look like and go from there.

Fabric In: 0.5yards

Fabric Out: 5.25 yards

Net Fabric Out: 4.75 yards

How did ...

Sometimes I decide to combine a collection of my painted/printed/altered fabric parts just to see if I can make them work together. Typically, I have no plan, not even a sketch. It’s a highly inefficient way to create, but I find it fun. Plus, it takes my mind off of any real world worries.

My latest mashup began with a naughty Roomba. I had unleashed it in my bedroom where it’s great for under the bed vacuuming. Unfortunately, I had stored a large sheet of lacy handmade paper between cardboard there, and the Roomba managed to ...

The last stash report of 2021. Unbelievable. I’ll list final numbers for 2021 in next week’s report but don’t expect much change.

I thought I’d spend more time in the sewing room this week, but things didn’t work out that way. I’ve been playing again, using a rubbing plate (right) to create a stencil (top) and then stencilling with paint (bottom).

Fun, and done with a purpose in mind.

Fabric In: 29.5 yards

Fabric Out: 12.125 yards

Net Fabric In: 17.375 yards

How did you do this week?

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Many years ago I took a shibori class through my Guild. I don’t remember who taught it, but I do remember she made a living through installation art and not teaching or writing books.

The best part of the class was her examples of different shibori patterns. This is what I came home with after a full day.

Definitely not the number of samples I expected. These were created using stitched resist and dye.

Prior to the class I produced this piece by wrapping fabric around PVC pipe and painting it.

I have also tried folding and clamping fabric ...

I hung this on my design wall

and a couple weeks later an idea came wandering in. It took another day for it to introduce itself.
Once we started talking, I knew I’d met something cool and interesting. It gave me something to think about.
I will start cutting fabrics today because this idea is a restless one. If I don’t offer something interesting in return, I expect it will wander off and find someone else who will.

No fabric in or out this week.

I didn’t turn on my sewing machine all week. I thought about it. And I looked at stash fabric.

This piece I painted.

This piece I dyed and discharged.
I’m still thinking.
Fabric In: 1.5
Fabric Out: 14.5 yards
Net Fabric Out: 13 yards
How did you do this week?

1 maggie f
2 Julie in GA
3 Chrisknits
4 Melva Nolan
5 Meloney
6 Mary-Kay
7 Patricia
8 Quilting Gail

Some ideas just won’t go away, and painting fabric with wood stain is one of them.
I looked it up online to see if it had been done before. Most sites discouraged using stain on fabric because of the chemicals in the stain. Since the fabric won’t be used in clothing, I did it anyway.
I used two different stains, an oil based stain (brown) and a water based stain (cranberry). I painted with q-tips to avoid cleaning brushes.
I started with the cranberry. It was a lot like painting with acrylic paint.
I moved on to the ...

As everyone knows, you need a good stockpile of cool bits to create collages. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it as I kluge fiber and paper together to build up my stockpile. First, I unearthed diluted Setacolor paint … Continue reading →

www.icloud.com/photos/ My Typical Approach To Creating My Silk Painted Art Quilts.

Fabric Painting 

It finally happened!  I learned some beginner fabric painting skills with Danit of Danit’s Quilting Studio in Tel Aviv, Israel.   I am so excited!  

We started with white fabric, water, and blue paint.  Below are results of using three application techniques.

Danit taught techniques from Mickey Lawler book, Skydyes:, A Visual Guide to Fabric Painting.   Used and printed copies are available on Amazon    It’s also available as an eBook by the publisher, C&T Publishing .

Disclosure:  I am an affiliate of C&T Publishing and Amazon. It costs you nothing when you use my links to ...

I framed out my painted roses for the pincushion on the teacup challenge.
This rectangle will transform into a round pincushion. I’m not sure how much of the green and pink will show in the final project. I decided not to add embellishments because I plan to use it next to my sewing machine. I didn’t want beads or embroidery to get in the way or snag on pins and needles. I can always change my mind later if it’s too plain.
Note to self: Make sure to have coordinating fabric BEFORE painting an image you plan ...