Take it Further Challenge for June

Here is my Take it Further Challenge for this month. I worked with the color palate which was very dark red, dark olive green, medium brown, medium gray and bone. I ran out of the original brown and bone, so had to add two more fabrics. I like these neutrals with a little color--reminds me of the desert landscape here in New Mexico. As you can see, I didn't quite get it quilted in time. I have decided to add some mother of pearl buttons and probably some hand stitching with perle cotton, so I want to do that before I quilt it, so that I can hide my messy handwork with the quilt back later. It is a fairly large piece--about 32 x 38 inches. I guess I need to work smaller if I want to get the whole thing done in a month! But I have finished all of my TIF challenges, even if it has taken me a little more time.

Beaded Inchie Dolls

My friend Holly and I had an art playday last week, and we made Beaded Inchie Dolls. We made quilted fabric inchies, and then added the embellishments, beads for the head, arms and legs, and either thread or yarn for hair. They were time consuming, but pretty fun to make. The second one went much faster than the first. I think I am going to put a pin back on them and wear them on my denim jacket! They were just making us laugh they were so cute. Its amazing to think you can make something from just an inch scrap of quiltie!

Fun with Bleach

These are some fabric pieces that I did a few weeks ago, playing around with bleach discharge on solid black Kona cotton. Originally, I was doing an exercise from Beryl Taylor's book, Mixed Media Explorations, in which she stamps with bleach on velvet. One thing lead to another, and I ended up bleaching yards of black fabric! We were playing around with this on my Artist's Circle group.

You can fold the fabric, scrunch it, tie-dye (with bleach), use an eye dropper for a dotted effect, or use a foam rubber stamp to get an image. I used regular undiluted household bleach, and stopped the bleach reaction by placing the fabric in a bath of Anti-Chlor and water. I can't wait to use these pieces in some art quilts!

Fabric and Metal 2 x 2's

I am doing a 2x2 inch fabric swap and metal swap on Mixed Media Art Friends. I posted one set of fabric 2x2s last time--here is the second set. I used a bunch of 1/2 inch scrap strips that a friend gave me from her quilt trimmings.

The metal set is done wiht the Etal metal "paper". It is really cool stuff--you can cut it with scissors, sew on it, stamp it, burn it with a soldering iron like I did here. It comes in lots of different colors and textures. I bought a sampler pack somewhere online--can't remember where now. I am working on a second set of metal 2x2s that I am hoping to get done this weekend.

Take it Further Challenge May

I am a few days late in posting the May challenge, but here it is. I went with the color palate again this time, which was a stretch for me, because pastels are not my normal palate. I combined the TIF Challenge with a a 2 x 2 inch fabric square swap that I am doing with my Mixed Media Art Friends group, and with samples that I am showing using the paper fabric technique on The Artist's Circle group, so these got triple duty! I started with the 2 x 2 inch light blue background. Handstitched the dark blue on top, and then hand stitched a heart made with paper fabric. I added beads and variegated yarn around the edges. Fun to do while we watched the 1939 version of "Wuthering Heights" last weekend.

My Quilt is in Quilting Arts Magazine!

I am so excited that my challenge piece for the Quilting Arts Magazine "True Colors" challenge not only was accepted to be shown at Chicago Quilt Festival, but is featured on page 77 of the June/ July issue! My copy of the magazine arrived last week, and I am honored to be in such good company. We had to make a 12 x 12 inch quilt, using some element of the "paper fabric" technique, which I love to do. I used the leaf motif that seems to be appearing so often in my art these days, and added beads and hammered copper wire doodles.

I made the challenge quilt, but almost chickened out sending it in at the last minute, but figured I had nothing to lose. Fear of rejection, I guess. But, I have made it a personal challenge to myself to enter shows and challenges, and so far, so good--I have also had 5 quilts accepted into 2 exhibits this year. Just wanted to share and say "Hey, that's me!" and encourage all of you who want to enter and/ or show your work but are hesitant, to do so. One of my mantras for this year has been "nothing ventured, nothing gained".