Batik Vase with oil paint stick flowers

Well, I added some oil paint stick to the flower shapes and it is better. Next I am going to add some Angelina fibers to the base of the flowers and see what that looks like.

But that will have to wait, because I am off to the IQF Long Beach show today! Hope to see you there!

Batik Vase

I am currently working on some small pieces that I plan to sell. This is the first of two that I call Batik Vases.  The background fabric is a batik with all the colors of the vase and flowers in it. The vase is a organza, and I put fusible on the back of the flower fabrics and cut them out. The white flowers are sections of a piece of lace. Next step is quilting.

This is the coordinating batik vase. The background is the same and the vase fabric is the same. I used the lace on the vases to add some additional unifying element to the pieces.

I have couched yarn to make the flowers and stems. The flowers look a little ghostly at this stage. I am going to fill them in with oil paint stick and see if that helps. Then quilting.

 I will post photos from the next stages soon.

A Budding Artist

This is the Yearbook Cover for an Elementary School in the Central Coast. Why would I show it here? Because it was created by my nephew, Shane Tryon! Shane is only 8 years old and won the yearbook cover contest for the entire school. I am obviously very proud.

I think he did a great job with this artwork. In particular, I love the multi-colored dots placed around the school logo. Great job Shane!






Desert Sunset 1 got a ribbon at the Fair

I haven't been to the Orange County Fair yet, but I submitted this art quilt in the FiberArt division and I just learned there is a ribbon on it! Yippee!

I don't know what the ribbon is for yet so I will have to check it out Thursday when I am there. This Thursday I will be working at the Flying Geese Quilters Guild booth from 4:30 - 7:00. Stop by if you happen to be there at the same time.

And thanks to my Sister-in-law Melodye for letting me know about the ribbon!

Bridges Exhibit at the Long Beach IQF

If you haven't gone to the International Quilt Festival in Long Beach the last few years, you have really missed a wonderful quilt show. The exhibits are overwhelming, and they have a large number of vendors that allow for some fun shopping!

This year I have a quilt in one of the exhibits called "Bridges". This is a Quilts on the Wall Exhibit, and the image at the left is the postcard for it created by Jo Griffith. The postcard is a compilation of parts of each of the fiber art pieces in the exhibit. I am prevented by IQF from showing my quilt here until after it shows in Long Beach. If you make it to the show I hope you check out this exhibit, and have lots of fun too! And congrats to my friends who have quilts in this show.

I didn't get to finish this post the other day due to technical difficulties!

Anyway, after rolling the quilt up, I tie it keep the roll together, and then slide it into a bag I made to keep the dust off. The photograph below shows the quilt in the bag. I make the bags from light-weight, "slidey" fabric so it goes easily over the cotton fabric of the quilt.

Then I prop the whole thing up in the back of a closet. I think it works pretty well. I actually first learned to roll my quilts face out during a class from Hollis Chatelain. I guess if it's good enough for her, it's good enough for me!

Storing a Quilt

I don't like to store my quilt folded up. I either hang them on a skirt hangar in the closet, or roll them. When I roll them up. I put the top side of the quilt facing out, so that the wrinkles or creases from rolling show up on the back. I roll them around something like this pool noodle. I wrap batting around the noodle, then roll, roll, roll!

Bird Of Paradise is Done

I finished my Bird of Paradise painting. It is done in watercolor. I now have to look for some other tropical subject matter to paint, since I like to do things in a series. I think this may also end up as a fiber art piece at some point.