What to do when the project fails
Recently, I was commissioned to create fabric for a comforter and pillow shams; seven yards total. The request was for a creamy fabric stamped with leaves in blue, purple and green. I thought, “no problem”. I hadn’t thought through how I would get the soda ash to combine with the dyes without mixing them. And ...read more
New Arashi Shibori
February 13, 2012 There has been a lot of talk on the QuiltArt Internet list about Arashi Shibori dyeing. (pole wrapping) It was sparked by Kay Sorenson taking a class from Jan Myers Newbury, a leader and teacher in this ancient Japanese art. I’ve always loved the quilts Jan makes with her fabrics. And her ...read more
Ice Art
February 6, 2012 Last week we had a three foot snow. That was interesting enough, requiring hours of running the snow blower. Last Friday was a snow day in the Denver area because of the amount of snow. But with snow, at least at our house, comes icicles. This time they are enormous but also ...read more
Arashi Shibori fun
January 19, 2012 Sometimes I think we all get in a rut, doing the same thing over and over. Not so bad if you’re learning and growing. Not so good if no progress is being made. So, every now and again, I return to something I’ve done before and it’s all new again. This week ...read more
Another I Spy Quilt
January 15, 2012 My first finished quilt of the new year! This time it’s for a little girl – Penny. She’s the three-year-old daughter of my son’s fiance. She and her mother like pink, so it became the dominant color. Although it doesn’t show in the photo, it is quilted with pink variegated thread. The ...read more
All new leaf airbrushed fabrics
While the autumn was still warm, I did more airbrushing. I used a variety of leaves, some coming all the way from Kansas to Colorado! I tried a new shadowing effect that I think turned out beautifully. Here are the results: ...read more
Shadow leaf airbrushed fabrics
October 25, 2011 In these last few warm days of fall I’ve been airbrushing. I’m happy to say these fabrics were popular at the booths I had this year and I needed to replenish my inventory. While the camera doesn’t capture the rich beauty of the metallic paint on black fabric, when seen in person, ...read more
Retreat! Retreat!
October 11, 2011 For a number of years my quilting bee has been going on a fall weekend retreat to the mountains. Recently we have been staying at the YMCA of the Rockies near Estes Park, Colorado. We rent a large house that has a beautiful living space upstairs and a large room in the ...read more
Luke and the “I Spy” quilt
October 9, 2011 I spent the last four days at the YMCA camp at Estes Park, Colorado with my quilting bee. I’ve been a member since 1989 and have made many good friends through this group. We’ve been doing a fall retreat in the mountains for many years, and this year was a great one. ...read more
I Spy for Luke
October 3, 2011 How much fun is it to make a quilt for your favorite little one?! When my grandson was an infant, I made a “touchy-feely” quilt of various fabrics such as terry cloth, chenille, faux sheepskin and microfiber. At that stage, it was a good way to stimulate him. Now Luke is 18 ...read more
Successful sun prints
September 10, 2011 A few days ago I wrote about my “failure” when sun printing. My paint was too light for the hand-dyed base fabric. But there were three successes the same day. I thought I’d share those here. In each piece, I used a multi-color hand dye. I especially like the green piece with ...read more
Another lesson learned
September 5, 2011 As evidenced by prior posts, I’ve been playing with sun printing on cotton fabric. Yesterday I made four new one-yard pieces, with one “failure”. I learned a lesson: The color of the paint must be significantly darker than the fabric it is on. Using a paler hue will not allow the shapes ...read more
Two more sun prints
September 3, 2011 Experimenting with sun printing has been interesting and fun. This time I used highly diluted paint in a blue/green color. I had paints left over from an earlier project that I mixed giving a unique color. I used a whole new batch of leaves gleaned from my trip to Topeka, Kansas. One ...read more
There’s always a quilt in there someplace
September 1, 2011 Yesterday I wrote about going to Kansas to make and can tomato soup and salsa. There are some beautiful photos of the process and the result. But, there’s always a quilt going in my life. And this trip was no exception. My friend Jan is also a quilter (big surprise!) and she ...read more
Cooking is an art too!
August 31, 2011 Last week I was in Kansas with my good friend Jan for our annual tomato cooking and canning event. It’s always good to return to my home state and experience the heat and humidity that’s lacking in Colorado. Some may consider that weather uncomfortable, but it’s the climate and soil that grow ...read more
Beginning Sun Printing
August 3, 2011 It’s been a long time since I’ve blogged. Family has kept me busy, but I’m finally back to work and trying new things. I’ve begun sun printing. I started by following Sue’s tutorial on the Andrus Gardens website. Previously I read that Setacolor was the paint to use for this technique. I ...read more
Hand vs. machine quilting
June 8, 2011 It’s been a long time since I hand quilted anything. When I recently made a small wall quilt. I thought it would be easier to hand quilt around the applique, and so I began. Boy was I wrong. I am no longer able to make those tiny even stitches I used to ...read more
Monkey Wrench – now an “FO”
Prompted by posts on the quiltart list, I got out my large plastic bin of UFO quilting projects that are years old. There were about 8 quilt tops in it, most including the backing and binding. They just wanted quilting. For my first project I chose a Monkey Wrench made from my gradation hand dyes. ...read more
Another way to use up scraps
May 3, 2011 Again, lots of people tell me they have purchased some of my hand dyes, but they are hesitant to cut into them. They say they’re just too pretty! I say, “cut away!” Make those quilts and enjoy the fabric. And with your scraps, make some beautiful treasures. I blogged before about the ...read more
Oops! An Edit mistake in Quilter’s Newsletter
May 3, 2011 Recently I had an article published in Quilter’s Newsletter. It was a workshop about airbrushing fabric. The article looks wonderful and the staff at QN is great. Unfortunately, there was an important error in the text. When using a compressor to power the airbrush, the pressure should be set at 30 psi. ...read more