Something About Nothing

Finished experiment number 2 I have a journal page I need to complete for an exchange. I decided to experiment with crayons and watercolors. My first attempt was to draw a face (below) and after wetting the watercolor paper I splashed it with random colors. It is just Eh. Not really what I wanted. Finished Experiment Number 1 Next I drew a face in crayon and purposefully painted it with watercolor. I need to work with watercolor more. I've forgotten how to use the medium, and the brushes. I've become accustomed to acrylics and working from dark to light. And if you mess something up you just paint over it! Not so easy to do with watercolors, but I am satisfied with the results. Experiment Number 2 mid-experimenting  The background on my hand stitched fiber art is finished. I'm now working on stitching inside the hands. It's a big experiment in itself and I'm not going to share photos now until the hands are complete.  I picked out the French knots on the half circle...

And the Stitch goes on. . .  -think Sonny & Cher -  hope I just passed along that little ear worm.  You're welcome. Swirly, twirly winds stitched in to the sky And now, The Hands... One Hand Two Hands Three Hands Five Hands Sometimes I know how to count. Each hand was traced with a chalk pencil then stitched using a basic outline stitch. These stitches go all the way through all three layers.  The back side so far. And although it is a basic stitch, each hand took a little over an hour to outline. It doesn't help that my carpel tunnel has been creating a lot of pain and numbness in my own hands.  Next it is time to fill in the back ground! I'm also dyeing more fabric for another project. I always have at least three projects going at one time  so I can bounce from one to the other when I get bored.  How do you work?

FYI: In an attempt to catch up the blog with the last year AND stay up to date, I'll be attempting two short posts a week. One that will show what I am currently working on, and one that will be back dated. Hope it doesn't confuse anyone too much  (myself included!) During the Pandemic I couldn't concentrate on the projects I should have been working on. I still felt the need to do something productive, even if it had nothing to do with what I "should" be doing. I used my birdie stamps as inspiration for a garden embroidery on Essex Linen .  First stamped birdie embroidered, and flower garden begun. I had no idea where I was headed. I stitched whatever felt right. All the pretty colors. Wonderfil Perle Cotto n, 8 wt. Although things were locked down a bit, I still chauffeured my daughter to her doctor appointments and waited in the car. I needed something to keep my hands busy. About a month after I started, I decided it was done. For some reason I really love the...

I've always had a desire to try out English Paper Piecing with hexagons. I love the look of these quilts and wanted to give it a try. I watched a few of Sue Daly's videos about how to stitch them together, bought some stuff to work with and got busy.  I'm not sure what pattern I will stitch them together. Some sort of modern pattern?  A more traditional Grandmother's flower garden? Hmmm, who knows. The best part of sewing these hexi's is that I can still do it with a cat in my lap!

My friend, Lynn Krawczyk  of Smudged Design Studio, wrote an awesome book this year. I really admire Lynn's ability to let her art brain fly. She gets a fabulous idea and she just goes for it! I spend too much time telling myself why the idea won't work, but Lynn thinks up fabulous stuff and then writes a book about it. I want to be more like Lynn. The Hand-Stitched Surface is all about creating great mixed media art with hand stitching. I've been doing a lot more hand stitching lately thanks to her book, and I have a tip for you: As I've quilted straight lines on my Thunderstruck quilt and the lines aren't always straight. They are straight-ish. I suppose that is part of the charm of this style of quilting, however as I am finishing the quilt I discovered an easier way to make straighter, better spaced lines and I want to share this simple idea: Fold the fabric over, and finger press (or iron) a line.  You now have a straighter line to follow...

Liz and Ruth introduced me to Wonderfil threads. I have had a good time using them in all my hand stitching, and even some machine stitching too. I can't show the machine stitched piece for another year though!  I will have to make more I can show. I am enjoying doing big stitch hand quilting with them in my Thunderstruck quilt I started last year in Victoria Findlay Wolfe's class at Craft Napa . I love the texture the big stitches and thicker thread give to the quilt. I have also been using the thread in the pieces I am embroidering for the  Social Justice Sewing Academy.  The kids who are putting these blocks together are amazing!  They really come up with great ideas. My job is to get it all stitched down so it can be pieced into quilts and machine quilted. You can find out more about their program at this link . And then maybe volunteer to help embroider a block or five.

This was my first trip to Portland and I loved the view of Oregon out the window as we flew in. I didn't realize Portland was so far from the mountains! During Opening Night at Art and Soul , I taught a make and take.  The ladies used my hand carved stamps, Gelli plates , and Artistic Artifacts Fluid Textile Paint to create their own wristlets to carry supplies in. Teresa created a lovely design we both loved. Lara decided to use the plate and stamps to decorate her tote bag too. Roxie found some faces which she felt represented her  and her friends to commemorate their time at the retreat. Ruth Chandler invited me to join her classes (and schlep stuff about for her since she was going to have back surgery the following week). I eagerly agreed to help! The first class was from her book " Modern Hand Stitching "  and we were creating a stitch sampler book. These beautiful trays of  Wonderfil Threads   mak...