Monday, May 15, 2017

Covering Hangars

In my last post I showed you how I used a piece of trim on an art quilt. Today I'm going to show you another use for trim. I happen to have a great deal of lace and other trims as a result of inheriting my Mom's collection. Mom was a very creative person and had plenty of supplies for her various hobbies and clothes making. I am always looking for ways to use some of this supply.

One of my pet peeves is when my clothes slip off the hangar. I have purchased some hangars that are coated to prevent that, but why not make my own?

I found that if I wrapped lace around wire or plastic hangars the lace did a fantastic job holding the clothes on the hangars.

Here is some of the lace I used.



To the right you see the finished hangars. I just did a tight wrap, starting at the base of the hook. I went around the body of the hangar and then up around the hook and back to the base. I put a dab of glue at the end point, and tied on a piece of ribbon.

These are very useful in my closet, keeping my clothes off the floor! They look cute to me, as well. Thanks for visiting my blog!


Monday, May 8, 2017

Bird of the Night - Trim

  The upper and lower parts of this art quilt are separated by a piece of trim. It is the long series of circles you see above the leaves. This pieces was originally white, and I painted it to match my design. I'm going to show you how I changed the color on that trim.


This is the way the top looked before the trim was put on.



I didn't care for the way the stem of the flower just ended. I needed an element to fix that. I pulled out my various trims and found one that was essentially a string of circles stitched together.

This  is the trim, all piled up. It is next to a piece of yarn that is a pale yellow green color. I wanted to make the trim the same color as the yarn. I pulled out my inks and other paints, mixed a few colors and found something that would get me to my desired color. These are the colors I used:



Here is a photo of the test painting process:



I painted the trim on top of a "white on white" fabric, figuring I'd get a painted fabric out of the process as well. That turned out to be a good idea because I always have leftover paint.

Here is the trim drying:



I was very happy with the color I got. I stitched the trim to the top using a clear, monopoly thread. I used a basting glue to hold it in place while I stitched so it didn't shift around.

I cut the trim in a couple of places to leave a gap where the leaves popped up above it. I was careful to completely cover the end of the flower stem.

Overall I'm happy with the way that turned out.

Thanks for visiting my blog!




Monday, May 1, 2017

Come to see me at the Beyond the Edge reception!

Beyond the Edge Fiber Artist's "Expressions in Fiber Art" reception is this Friday. I hope you can be there!  Here are the vitals: Center Gallery - 250 East Center Street, Anaheim, CA. 5 - 6:30 pm. 714-765-4311.