What I've Been Up To...

I have been working on an art quilt the last couple of months but I haven't been able to show it because it's for a competition that won't be revealed until May. So I thought I would show you a couple of other things that I've been doing lately:


Getting ready for a weekend retreat  -  This is the pile of projects I am taking to the retreat. I am bringing way more than I can possibly do, but I never know what I may want to work on.




Finishing up a beaded bird - This is my latest.  I started it months ago and just recently pulled it out again. I'll show photos of this from other views for another post. But it's nice to have it done!

Painting classes - I've been doing a plein air class one day a week, and a studio class one day a week. I'm trying to paint with oils outside and watercolor inside. Here are photos of a couple recently completed paintings:

 Watercolor from a photo a took in the Rocky Mountains.




A plein air oil painting from Crystal Cove ( I think that's where I was!). I started it on site and finished it at home.











Gardening - It's spring and that is a great time to garden.  I've been converting my garden to more drought tolerant plants over the last few years. It's starting to shape up to something I like. 






















I look forward to posting my most recent project soon. Thanks for visiting my blog!

Barrel Cacti from White Velour

This post will show you another example of using non-traditional fabric in a fiber art piece. In this case I have used a white, stretchy velour fabric for the barrel cacti shown in the foreground.





I wanted this piece to cause the viewer to touch it, so fabrics with nap, shininess and texture appealed to me. I had some white velour in my stash so I gave it a try for the barrel cacti. It is a knit and it stretches. A stretchy fabric can be troublesome, but if you put a stabilizer on the back of it, it is manageable. I used a light weight interfacing for the stabilizer.







 Once stabilized the shapes are cut out and easy to use. The white was a little bit transparent so I added a fabric behind each cacti to make it opaque. It is hard to see, but I used a blue disappearing pen to mark the quilting lines on the cacti.






 Once they are arranged correctly, I stitch them to the background using free-motion quilting stitches. Some beads on the crown of the plant add a finishing touch.

Thanks for visiting my blog!

Using Trim as a Design Element

I love using unconventional items on my fiber art pieces, so I thought I would show you how I used some trim intended for clothing construction on this landscape. The black leaf shapes on the lower right bush are what I am referring to. I have a close up of this bush below.


















To make this bush I cut out a variety of leaf shapes from white and black/white fabrics and arranged them to look like the bush I had in mind. I put a fusible on the back of the fabrics before cutting so I just needed to press the arrangement once I got it the way I liked it.



 


I wanted to add something a little out of the ordinary to give the bush more interest, so I found a bit of black trim in my stash. You can see it below:











I cut out three short sections of the trim and played around with them to create the leaf shapes I was after.





Once I had them the way I liked them, I used a tacky glue to secure them to the fabric. The bush was placed on the landscape background and I began stitching the fabric leaf shapes to the background using free-motion quilting. The black trim leaves were secured with a Zig Zag stitch. I had to switch to my domestic sewing machine to do that.


Here is a detail that shows the stitching on the leaves. I think the trim gives added texture. They make you want to touch it to see what it is!

Thanks for visiting my blog!