Apricot Moons

A small, 8" x 10" journal page, made from a "gelli" plate mono print. In pale yellow/gold under printing, and masked with 3 round circles, and printed with a coral/peach acrylic paint. Raw edge applique with 2 branches in rust batik, and green leaves. Embellished with 2 folded flower buds and two 4-bud petaled flowers. Beaded in the center of the flowers and around the largest moon. A thread painted dragonfly is in the top left corner, with loose wings.

Gelatin Journal Pages

I decided to work on two of my gelatin printed fabrics, my favorite fern piece that I printed at the "Art in the Garden" and a double hand print from playing with masks.

I free motion machine quilted both fabrics, outlining the print/mask and adding details, like the life lines and fingernails on the hands. The fern background was done in small circles, around the sequin waste printing, and to fill in the background. The hands background was done in a horizontal back and forth, over Angelina fibers to add "reflection to the mirror." The ferns had 3-D details added to it, a thread painted dragonfly in the top right corner, and yoyo mushrooms at the bottom, with pipe cleaners in the stems. A small bright green rubber tree frog was sewn onto the tallest mushroom. A twisted fabric branch with hand dyed cheesecloth moss was set on the right edge, embroidered French knots added more texture to the moss. Moss was spread across the bottom also.

These small 8" x 10" journal pages are fun to do, they quilt and finish quickly, and make great gifts. I love to do them, instead of getting involved with a big project that can take me months to do. I have several large projects that I work on a bit at a time, and when they loose my interest or I have to think on them for a while, I can make a quick journal page.

The Creative Blahs

I've been in a blah mood, not working on much of anything. If I sew, I have been doing pieced blocks for baby quilts, and assembling them into tops. My deadlines are gone, and I need a kick in the butt. I tried to collage some journal pages with torn strips from magazine, and the process was fun, cool, warm and neutral color pallets. But then, what to do with them. I doodled leaves on the green one, and hated it, so I painted over a blend of olive green and white acrylic, some of the doodle showed through which is ok, but now, what is the next layer? So I moved on, I layered some Gelli prints with backing and batting, getting ready to free motion quilt, but they are not inspiring me either. I've been looking through art quilt blogs, trying to get inspired, especially thesketchbookchallenge.blogspot.com and andthenwesetitonfire.blogspot.com
two of my favorite blogs to read. I have lots of projects to work on, my UFOs (unfinished objects) are growing as we speak, but they are not yanking my chain either.

I tried going through some of my photos for inspiration, flipped through piles of fabric, tried to finish a little wall hanging, just blah...... Maybe if I get out my paints, we'll see what happens. I'll let you know how it comes along.

To Finish is Divine!

I finished up a few little journal pages for the garden tour, that I had started with my "Gelli" prints. Just adding a few beads, sewing sleeves down and adding labels, all the little hand sewing chores that needed to be done. The peachy one is called "Moon Wisdom" it is a gelatin print over stamped with a foam flower stamp and gold metallic dots, it needed beads in all the flower centers. The symbol was enlarged on the computer from a rubber stamp, and hand painted onto the fabric. "Purple Apple Wren" was a stencil used on the gelli plate, it was kinda blah, but I liked the blue and lavender, and the clean lines. I added white yoyo flowers with beaded centers, and extra 3-d fused lavender leaves. It still needed something and my husband suggested the white stitching on the bird, I kept adding more stitching, until it had a lot of thread painting on it, for feather detail. I was thinking of adding Angelina fibers to the blue background to spark it up, but the 3-d thread painted dragonfly added just the right touch of sparkle. My sister got it for a fundraiser in Monroe, Washington that she is in charge of. The Beatles Challenge - "Strawberry Fields Forever" got quilted in rayon threads, and bound, so another one finished! yea!

Daffodils & Crocus, Pink Hand

I finished the quilted wall hanging "Daffodils and Crocus" it is made from my photographs printed onto treated fabric and printed through my computer printer. One of the authors I read said something about finding your own recognizable style, I had to think long and hard about that one. What is it about your quilts, that makes them instantly recognizable as yours? It finally dawned on me, it was the intense quilting with rayon threads, that tied all my quilts together. Wether it was an applique quilt, art quilt, or vintage quilt, I love the texture of dense quilting. I don't use rayon on my vintage fabric quilts but the quilting for texture is important. When thread painting photographs, I use many different shades of green, and the flower colors, I have to quilt ALL the details in the background as well. What started out as a quickie spring project became an intense quilting experience. It certainly gets my spring fever in full bloom, pun intended! I also finished another "Gelli Print" journal page, it is a hot pink hand with a blue-purple background with 1/2" circles in the background patterning. I quilted around all the circles, and added details to the hand, knuckles, fingernails and texture. It is embellished with a beaded bracelet and ring. I call it "Caught Pink Handed" it reminds me of when I use fabric dye and forget to wear rubber gloves. My hands have been many shades of different colors, I hate wearing the gloves.

Purple Bellflower, and Orange Sherbet Leaves

Oh, what fun it was to play with the Gelli Plates. I love the fabric I made, I immediately wanted to make something with several of the pieces. I really like making "Journal Page" size pieces, they go together quickly, and can be finished, I have a problem finishing things. So the 8" x 10" Gelli size was perfect. I guess I could've added borders, that would have made it more "quilty" but not as "arty" It is strange how our perceptions work like that. I added a raw edge applique of a purple bellflower to the teal print, with the silver lattice. A few beads in the center of the flower helped, and I am still thinking of doing a thread painted dragonfly on it. The second piece had subtle orange sherbet colored oak leaves masked out, with a medium green overlay. It quilted beautifully with a delicate orange rayon thread to outline and add veins to the leaves. I echo quilted the background with a light green rayon, but it did not differentiate between the leaf and the background. A small stipple in the background would have made the leaves pop out more, and create a textural difference. So it needed something else. I had a collection of leaves I had made with painted Tyvek and Lutrador, that had been melted with holes and bubbles, and then free motion stitched into leaves. They made a very 3-D addition to the page, I thought I had a closer color match, but the redder leaves are now the focus, not the subtle background. But that is ok, the background should BE the background. I can't wait to do a few more pieces of "Gellied" fabric!

Mini Photo Quilts

I never posted the photos of the first mini photo quilts that I made as gifts, for the "Pay it Forward" project. I printed photos on fabric with the computer printer, then thread painted them, with matching rayon threads. Darla got a ferny, mossy, butterfly embellished quilt, cousin Dawn got the purple Iris from my garden, cousin Joy got the Lace Cap Hydrangea, and my sister got the Sunflower, with 3-D petals and beaded center. They are just the perfect size for gifts, 8 x 10, the detail of the thread painting is amazing, and a few beads bring them life and sparkle! I know everyone loved the surprise in the mail!

"Gimme Three Steps"

I finished a small photo quilt for my Mom for her birthday/Mother's day, it is an 8" x 10" photo that I printed on fabric on my computer printer. It is a photo I took at her place of a small wooden step stool, that she had painted purple, and then was so happy that the petunias she planted near, were the exact same color. I thread painted it with free motion quilting, in matching rayon threads, to outline and color in the photo. I added hand dyed greenish cheesecloth to the bottom area, which was boring gravel, and added small green seed beads for texture and sparkle. Each of the flowers also has a purple bead in the center, and it has a purple binding. The name comes from a song by Lynyrd Skynyrd, "Gimme Three Steps"

"Pay it Forward" Projects

Right after New Years, someone on facebook decided to start a "Pay it Forward" project, the first 5 people to sign up got a handmade goodie from that person, and had to post the challenge on their page, and make handmade stuff for the next 5 people to sign up with them. I managed to get signed up with Sue Cutsogeorge, and Darla Shannon to make me something. I am making stuff for, my friends Tisha, and Darcy, and cousins Dawn and Joy, and my sister's best friend Darla. I'm also making something for my sister Vicky, after all she is my sister. I started making these cute little pouches, got the fabric cut and made a few, but wasn't real happy with them. I will finish them and give them also, but I decided I needed to make something more "Me." I am taking one of my original photographs, printing an 8" x10" image onto fabric, and I'll free motion quilt and embellish all the photos, to make a small wall hanging. Picking out the photos to use for each individual was very special, I asked them for favorite colors and favorite flowers. I've got two almost done and I will take them with me on my trip to Seattle next week. I am not going to post photos yet of the finished pieces, cause I want to give them as gifts first, so I'll post later. Working in the small format of 8" x 10" is fun, just big enough to get good detail, but small enough to be easy to finish, and the embellishment doesn't get carried away, tho I am adding a lot of beads to one of them. Quilters call this size "Journal Pages" from the "Journal Quilt Project" from a few years back, when people signed on to do a page a week for a year. Using a photograph makes it very personal, and fulfilling.