Tuesday, March 21, 2017

"Bird Of The Night"







I decided to make a second fiber art piece for Beyond the Edge Fiber Artist's  "Put A Bird On It!" exhibit.

This is that second piece, and I call it "Bird of the Night". It measures 40" x 40". I'll show in my upcoming posts how I made this piece. It is currently on display at the Rancho Buena Vista Adobe Gallery in Vista, California, along with over 30 other fiber art pieces.






Here is information about the exhibit:




Textile Translations
A new exhibit from Beyond the Edge Fiber Artists

Textile Translations will be shown from March 7 through April 3, 2017 at the Rancho Buena Vista Adobe Gallery (Rancho Buena Vista).  The Gallery is located at 640 Alta Vista Drive, Vista, California. Phone (760) 639-6164. The gallery is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday, from 10 am to 3 pm.




Saturday, March 18, 2017

Favorite "White" Markers

Linda Friedman, of  Linda's Art Quilts  fame, recently asked what marker I use on a dark fabric. I understand her question because I've had a hard time finding a good marker for dark fabrics myself. Many of the markers do not come off easily, or they are too hard to see or they don't last long enough to be of use. So for this post I'm going to show you my three favorite methods for marking on a dark fabric.

This first photo shows many of the markers I have for dark fabrics that I have tried and found wanting for one reason or another:



As you can see, I have tried many. Here is one of my favorite markers if I need a thin white line:

This is a mechanical pencil filled with BOHIN white pencil lead. The lead is strong enough to not break easily, and its' line has lasted for a few months on a piece I was handling a lot. By the time I got done quilting an area the lines were mostly gone. A little wet towel removed the residual. You can buy this lead at a quilting store or on line. BOHIN also sells mechanical pencils if you don't already have one.








My next favorite white marker is a General's White Charcoal Pencil, shown here:



The line made with this pencil is a little thicker, but it is easily removed with a damp cloth and seems to last long enough for machine quilting.

But this is my favorite white marker, and it's very cost effective:



You are looking at a sliver of Irish Spring soap. I like to use them for washing until they are very thin, especially on an edge. I let them dry out completely, and then they are great markers. Their marks come off easily with a damp cloth and their line lasts. If they get too blunt, I pull out a new one. I never seem to run out of them.

So there you have some choices for dark fabric markers. Thanks for asking Linda! As always, thanks for visiting my blog!

Thursday, March 9, 2017

Textile Translations Exhibit at the Rancho Buena Vista Adobe Art Gallery



I am a proud member of Beyond the Edge Fiber Artists. Our group has an exhibit entitled "Textile Translations" at the Rancho Buena Vista Adobe Art Gallery. The exhibit runs from March 9 through April 3, 2017. The Adobe is a historical site, with old buildings, gardens and an art gallery. It's a fun place to visit.

I've posted a few photos from our set up day at the gallery.









 I hope you have a chance to see the exhibit. Here is more information::


Textile Translations
A new exhibit from Beyond the Edge Fiber Artists
Textile Translations will be shown from March 7 through April 3, 2017 at the Rancho Buena Vista Adobe Gallery (Rancho Buena Vista).  The Gallery is located at 640 Alta Vista Drive, Vista, California. Phone (760) 639-6164. The gallery is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday, from 10 am to 3 pm.



Thanks for visiting my blog!


Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Tough Old Bird Final Details

Here are some last images for this piece before I move on to another project:


I used a blue horizontal and vertical strip to anchor the Tough Old Bird on the background.






I used bias tape and straight stitched it on.












































Face stitches:




shirt stitches:



hat stitches:






Thanks for visiting my blog!

Saturday, March 4, 2017

More Quilting - The Stitched Bird!

I'm still showing the making of my "Tough Old Bird" piece. Today's post is about the quilted bird I put on this piece. You can see it in the upper left corner of this image:



Why a stitched bird? Well, something needed to be placed in the upper left corner to add some balance, in my opinion. I also wanted an actual bird of some kind on this somewhere.

What kind of bird? This Marine required a bird of prey, hence the hawk.

How did you do it? I drew an image of the hawk and then enlarged it to the size I wanted. The image was cut out and placed on the fabric.















I used a white pencil and traced around this.

















And then I stitched around and within the lines.

















Thanks for visiting my blog!