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extending pattern, embroidered paper

pin pricking for embroidery design

folded and stitched pages

the beginning of a hand stitched notebook

My OMG for September was to complete my Art quilt Group’s improv challenge.

I started with white fabric and added glue as a resist.

Then I painted it.

Then I washed out the glue and added texture with paintstik over a rubbing plate.

Then I added more paint.

To make it useful, I turned it into a project bag.

I had a lot of fun returning to my surface design roots. The challenge is to do something with the fabrics. This time around I’m committed to using it as I create it.

Visit Elm ...

Time to get the Improv Houses 

up on the design wall...

I was pawing through the fabric cupboard

and found these surface design fabrics...

One of my favorite surface design tools is thermofax screens. These screens are sort of like silk screens, but a lot easier to use. You need fabric paint or ink, fabric or paper, some kind of squeegee (an old credit card will do,) and a container of water large enough to hold your screen once you use it. If you clean the screen promptly it should last a while. If you don’t, it gets clogged and you can’t push ink through.

You can buy such screens online from several venders. You can also make them yourself IF you ...

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 ...

No change in the numbers.

I started quilting Punkin Patch and hope to finish it this week. It’s not a large quilt, and the pumpkins are already quilted.

I chose the next mindless sewing project, a shirt out of some double gauze I bought a few years ago. I also chose the next not so mindless project.

I pieced the blocks ten years ago and stamped leaf and various other shapes on them. I also stamped leaves on fabric pieces and pieced some blocks I didn’t stamp. I’ve always thought of this as The Wall Quilt, but ...

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 ...

developing design

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stitching a notebook

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gimp, embroidery threads and hand wrapped buttons.

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textile/surface design, recording colour.

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extending design ideas, embroidery and surface design.

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hand wrapped buttons, a colour reference tool

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extending surface design, embroidery,

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surface design

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This improv piece has been sitting

around for almost 2 years...

It has waited long enough.

The top consists of Pick Up Stix blocks...

This is a piece I hand dyed and

         silk screened.

I sliced it up and created borders...

The quilt top is ready to be basted and

go under the needle...