In the zone

It started with this new chunk of fabric

And then I added a few others, mostly hand dyed with a few commercial ones thrown in.
And I was just minding my own business making something for my kitchen to replace the winter scene that just has to go.

And something really unexpected

started to happen

and I found the flow

and I got lost in the work

and remembered...

why I do what I do.

Yeah.

Quilts in the Sun

The sun came out finally, and I was able to catch a few snaps of these quilts. This red and white quilt is one I worked on all during the musical “Shenandoah Moon.” The red is a reproduction of a vintage red from the 1930’s and the play was set in 1933 so I felt like it was a good fit. There are also ecru parts in the design that are a little harder to see in this photo. I consider it a modified Irish Chain pattern.

I hand quilted it during practices and hemmed it during dress rehearsals between my scenes. I did about half of it by hand and other parts are machine quilted, which may seem a little strange but it actually works quite nicely in person. I will keep it as a reminder of the amazing people I enjoyed getting to know. I would come in to the green room, sit down and quilt, and my new friends would come and keep me company. It was good. The show is over and I miss them.

Baby quilt for Harlen (and Misde, my constant companion)

I used the quilt during the show. I entered folding it a number of times, as if it just came off the laundry line. It turned out to be too much to wrap the baby in, so I never was actually able to use it for its intended purpose but that’s ok. The second to last show it was draped over the porch railing in one scene. By the final show it remained on that porch railing through a number of scenes. I made a rag doll for another scene in the show out of the same fabrics. I think I’ll see that back one of these days, at least I hope so. They said they’d mail it. Thankfully the character that I played is long gone but the quilt remains, along with the memories.

These two small pieces are the first ones to come out of my first experimentation with procion dyes. They are a combination of cotton, silk and linen plus some dyed white on whites and I’m delighted with what the added texture does to the composition though it’s difficult to tell any of that from the photos.

The silks... oh they are soooo pretty! They are not finished, I need to bind them and that should do it unless I decide to add something more but I don't think it's needed at this point. I would like to name them but their mood perplexes me, not sure what all is there emotionally in these two. I was surprised at how somber they looked finished.

Dying for Color

In between all the adventures of the last week or so I dyed some fabric. It was stolen time in between everything else, just me in my studio playing with the things I love best... colors and more colors. I ended up with 22 silks:
24 white on whites, these were an afterthought and just tucked in to containers that already had fabric in dye so they only got the leftover dyes and attention. Some of them actually got some color and others are much softer but they make nice contrast with the vivid ones.

I also came out with 32 cottons; none of them are perfectly solid which makes me happy because I really wanted the hand dyed look. They are completely delicious!

I have 14 multi colored chunks of fabric in a bunch of different color ways. Some of these are really marvelous and I can't wait to sink into them.

I have 20 chunks of a heavy woven linen that took the dye in marvelous swirls and blends. These are so pretty and I even like the frayed thing that started to happen around the edges.

As all of these went through the dryer I also ended up with the most beautiful dryer lint, bet you think I'm joking. I've saved it, it will turn up in something but I don't know what yet.

I need to spend a little time mixing up the colors that are missing in these color ways. It was a good experiment with the 26 ready made procion dyes I was working with, now I need to see what can be done about mixing up the other colors that I would like to finish out the blends.

Plus, I have the seaweed and flowable paints and I'd like to try marbeling some fabric. Sometime soon, but not likely today. I'm still trying to recoup from last week. Seems like I feel every one of my forty years right now. So I am trying to take it easy. But color... nothing restores my soul like color.

A Pair of Floral Quilts

Yesterday I had to get in the studio for a while just to have the feel of something in my hands. Creating isn’t just my therapy, it is who I am. And I can’t stay away from the studio for long before it starts to take a toll. So yesterday I put aside the lengthy “to do list” and spent some time in Studio B.


A local (well… it’s 45 minutes from me) art store is closing and they have all kinds of fabric dyes and paints at discounted prices. I counted my cash and then carefully spent every dollar I had. A few days later I went back and did it all over again, only BIGGER! Plus I’m expecting a huge order from Dharma tomorrow. I am prepared to explore marbling and procion dying in addition to a few interesting brands of fabric paint and metallics. Oh, nothing is as good for my spirit as color! And once that box gets here from Dharma, all bets are off for me getting anything done that doesn’t involve color and fabric! (Did I mention that “to do list?!” (I prefer writing a blog post to marking things off that list!)

I also found some old linen in my stash. More cotton and silk are in the box from Dharma. I love the textures of these things and can’t wait to see and feel these fabrics.

So in the process of painting one fabric, I put a layer of wet linen beneath it. It took whispers of the color in the places where the paint seeped through creating a very unique (and entirely accidental) effect. So two chunks of that linen formed the basis for these two 8x8 inch quilts.

Linen and cotton, some hand dyed fabrics and some commercial batiks. They are fused, machine pieced, machine quilted, embellished with glass E beads and MOP coin beads plus some hand stitching with embroidery floss. $65 each, $120 for the pair.