Something About Nothing

What is a quilt show without a fabulous vendor mall?  I love seeing all the new and old products and playing with the new sewing machines.  So much fun and so much money! I fell in love with these antique thread drawers.  I suppose it was a good thing that my money and space were limited. I could have gotten myself in some real trouble.  Of course along with the vendors comes seeing old and new friends: Utah Peeps: Bonnie , Emily , Shannon , Lisa and Terry Frieda Anderson  Laura Wasilowski   Ricë Freeman-Zachery And along the way I collected a lot of paper: business cards, brochures, coupons and dreams.   I also spent a little money here and there:  I felt as if I restrained myself fairly well. I did throw a couple things in this photo that I didn't buy at a booth: my paintings from the Tsukiniko Ink class with Judy Coats Perez and a photo transfer on felt that Lesley Riley gave me when I was helpi...

I'm finally getting through the hundreds of photos I took while at International Quilt Festival in Houston.  In case I haven't mentioned it already this trip was a special gift to me from my sister and husband for my birthday (a big birthday - one of THOSE birthdays).  I am so spoiled! So, where does one start? How about with the wonderful hotel I stayed in: Hotel Icon. The hotel is downtown, a little ways from the convention center but they have a shuttle that will take you anywhere in the downtown area of Houston.  I took full advantage of the shuttle!  My room was enormous!  I believe I could fit my entire family in this shower (although that would have been very awkward).  The shower had a rainfall shower head on the ceiling and a regular shower head on the wall. Outside the bathroom was a good sized closet (not in photo) and a small butler pantry area with the usual coffee maker, ice bucket and mini fridge underneath supplied with ...

I am in Houston having a fabulous time learning, buying cool stuff, and meeting new peoples.  This is my first time at the International Quilt Festival and can I tell you, they really know how to put on a show!  That said, I thought I'd share a little bit of Houston with y'all by giving away this special issue of Quilt Scene magazine: I have two patterns in the magazine: Unexpected Treasure and Renegade Chevron Notebook Cover. I'm sure you will enjoy making these and all the other lovely projects inside. If you would like to enter for a chance at receiving this little piece of the International Quilt Festiva l then leave a note in the comments telling me:  Who you would love to take a class from if you were at Quilt Festival? The drawing will remain open until midnight, (Pacific Time), Friday, November 9th.  I will draw a name and announce the winner on the blog on Saturday, Nov. 10th.  PLEASE MAKE SURE I WILL BE ABLE TO EMAIL YOU IF YOU ARE THE WINNE...

I have been online friends with Judy Coates Perez for . . . a very long time. I admire her painted quilts and have wanted to learn all I can from her. I have her two DVD's, regularly read her blog and ask her questions which she is always generous enough to answer but I have wanted to meet her in person and take a class from her but we seemed to keep missing each other. Today, this long sought after goal, finally came to pass in Houston! This is Judy and her very talented daughter, Indigo. The class was called: Tsukiniko All Purpose Inks and we learned how to paint with these inks on fabric.  I liked my leaves and sphere from the morning but my flower making needs some work. And this is my piece from the afternoon. I really learned a lot from this little guy. One of the most important things I learned was that thread play covers painting mistakes. hahaha I'm looking forward to using the Tsukiniko Inks more! I'm linking up this week to Off th...

The antibiotics are working and I was able to rally myself to the studio and make 10 ATC's (Artist Trading Cards) to take with me to Houston tomorrow.   So excited to be able to trade these babies.

Here's the Gelli Plate Tutorial you asked for! My Gelli plate has been well used and well loved. 1. Place Gelli Plate on a flat, covered working surface, and place small dots of paint onto the plate.  My demo photos are with me using acrylics and paper but it works exactly the same with fabric paint and fabric.  I like using Jacquard Textile paint when I make fabric prints. 2. Use a brayer to spread the paint evenly across the plate. 3.  I used the leaves as a resist for the first print. 4. Place the paper/fabric on top of the printing plate and smooth it out nicely to get an even print. 5.  Carefully lift up the paper/fabric. Found a photo from when I printed the fabric - see same process. This is a first print. 5.  I know that MONOprinting means ONE print but seriously, when you remove the leaves from the plate there are these beautifully textured leaves left on the plate just dying to be printed.  I couldn't ignore t...

I made this quilt from a Riley Blake jelly roll I purchased from a friend.  She thought the jelly roll was "ugly" but I knew it could be beautiful.   I was a little obsessed with Jelly Roll quilts at the time and wanted to try to do something a little different by adding a second jelly roll of solids.  My friend was surprised and said, "You made that with the ugly jelly roll you bought from me?!?" Yes, indeedy.  It was an Unexpected Treasure and so that is exactly what I named it. I then sent photos of the quilt to Quilt Scene and was pleased as punch when they accepted the pattern for my Unexpected Treasure to be published in the 2012 edition. Wahoo! Stay tune and next week during Quilt Festival in Houston I will have a giveaway of a copy of Quilt Scene on my blog. In the meantime, I am entering "Unexpected Treasure" in the Blogger's Quilt Festival over on Amy's Creative Side blog.  This is a fun event I have entered in th...