Illusions–Finish 377

Do you like math word problems?

I have one for you.

At the beginning of 2012 I had 78 works in progress to finish.

I started 7 new works in 2012.

I finished 16 WIPs in 2012. 16 is a significant number.

14 of those were finished after June 20, 2012.

How many works in progress does Kay still have to finish?

Answer at end of post!

You said 69 – right? WRONG

I have 53 works in progress to finish.

What I didn’t tell you is I moved 16 to the lists I don’t have to count:

1. Not real important

2. Questionable to finish

3. Rework or abandon

I do not have to count anything on these lists.

I can finish them if the spirit moves me, but the spirit is moving me to finish the 53 top priorities on my lists at this time!

Surface Design Quilt Quilted

I created these fabrics and pieced this top a little over 2 years ago. It often takes me that long (or more) to decide how I am going to quilt something. The gold fabric was created with flour paste resist and then paint was added. The black and navy fabrics were painted.

I’m pleased with the quilting and will be finishing this very soon.

This is a closeup of the quilting.

This quilt is more subtle than my normal work and I like it very much.

Give Me Land, Lots Of Land (and clay and fabric) Under Starry Skies Above

As I prepare to "move house" I am trying to fit in all the things I haven't done yet. Of course part of that is getting things ready for the house sitters.
The more important part is getting together with friends and saying Farewell until we meet again! That could happen as soon as next month!
I spent a great day with a friend who showed me the horse country in Ocala as well as many other places I was unaware of.

I knew Ocala and Marion County was an important horse area, but I had no idea how many beautiful horse farms there were and how large the area they encompassed was. With so much to see I didn't get any photos of the horses or horse farms but I have some other photos to share.



I love this old abandoned building. We think it may have been a gas station at one time. At the top is says J. E. TURNIPSEED & SON 1933
I would have loved to meet J. E. Turnipseed - what a vision that name conjures up.

We finished our tour at Amrit Indian Restaurant in Ocala. It was excellent.


We had the Chicken Tandori and lamb.


This shows all the food we were served.

After mango sherbet we each went our separate ways.

After a satisfying lunch and the late nights my cousin and I had spent catching up I came home and took a nap!

After I got my second wind I thought more about my color signature. I paired clay bowls and fabric I've created in photos.
I have a few to share with you.


I love both of these pieces and they complement each other.


These look like they were made for each other.

The round shape of the bowl suggested this cut to me.

So Long Farewell, Auf Weidersehen Good-bye

I hated to see Jim and Marilyn leave this morning. Their visit was one of the highlights of my time in Florida this season.

It is interesting how much Jim and I have in common. We are first cousins. We saw each other sporadically during our growing up years as we lived in different parts of the country. We lost track of each other for 40 years.

Yet, when we get together it was so obvious that we had so many similar personality traits and a family resemblances. I am already looking forward to the next time I will see them.

Our parents spent time together in Florida many years ago and I was able to give Jim a photo of our dad's, who were brothers, when they were together in Florida from that time.

I had dinner with my friends Lynn and John at their house this evening. It was a delicious dinner of salad, steak, baked potato and corn on the cob. After dinner John had things to do but Lynn and I got to catch up a little with our lives and activities.



When I returned home I cut the pieces for this quilt and sewed them together.
I am quite pleased with it. These were 3 of the fabrics I used flour paste resist on and/or painted.


It will be interesting to see how easy it is to put the pieces of this simple, yet complex cloth quilt together.

Stranger in Paradise

While I was painting fabric today a friend wanted to place a friendly bet with me on the Preakness. This friend has lived in "Horse Country" for two thirds of their life. I chose my horse second and picked - are you ready for this - Lookin At Lucky.
Yes, I picked the winner and my friends horse didn't even show.
It makes me feel good to beat someone from Ocala where 10 of the 12 horses have connections! I won't mention that person's name because if I did they would not be able to show their face in church today after losing to such a relative newcomer to the area!

Even the first piece of fabric I painted today was reminiscent of the Black-Eyed Susan, the state flower of Maryland. A blanket of Black-Eyed Susans is draped across the shoulders of the winning horse. Yes, it's all about color here at Qults + Color!
This is the same piece of fabric that I showed you on Friday when I first experimented with flour paste resist. I added another design layer to this piece today and I am very pleased with it. I created two additional pieces to use with this in a wall piece.



This piece of fabric was created to complement the Black-Eyed Susan piece.



This is the other piece I created to complement the Black-Eyed Susan fabric.

Stay tuned to see what I do with these fabrics.

I also painted a lot of smaller pieces of fabric today that I will share with you at a later date.

We've Only Just Begun

I think this fascination with flour paste resist is just the beginning of another love affair with fiber!

Today I finished 5 more pieces of flour paste resist fabric.
All images are clickable to see a larger version of the photo.


This was the remainder of the aqua piece of fabric I did yesterday. The crackling was even more satisfactory on this piece.



I was so pleased with the patterning of this piece.



The crackling on this piece created several very large crackled areas which I feel work well with this piece.
This cotton fabric had been previously painted and this was an additional layer of pattern.



This piece was created with a similar prepainted fabric to the previous one. This was silk. The patterning was similar on both of them.



This piece was a full 1/2 yard. I love the patterning in it. Some areas have more dense patterning and others show a lighter touch. Had it been the same all over it would not have been nearly as interesting.


I found there are a lot of variables that affect what happens with this technique.
Some of them are:
1. The amount of flour paste resist you put on the fabric
2. The amount of paint you put on top of the flour paste
3. The fabric you are using which can include weave or fiber
4. The amount of other processes that have been previously applies to the fabric
5. The amount of cracking of the flour paste you create

It is a technique that lends itself to experimentation. There are no mistakes, only different ways to be creative!

Flour Resist Fabric continued - Puzzle Number 300!

This is my first piece of flour paste resist fabric I started yesterday. I used a relatively thick layer of flour paste and a relatively thin layer of paint. The paint was all purple. I am quite pleased with the resulting fabric. I may or may not add additional layers to this.
To see the patterning better you can click on either one of these images.



This piece of fabric is a full half yard so I folded it up so you can see some of the patterning. I used a variety of paint colors and got differing results depending on the color I used.
I feel like I used too thin a layer of flour paste and too thick a layer of paint on this one. It was extremely hard to rinse out.
It definitely needs more to make it a satisfactory piece. I do have some ideas.

I learned from these two pieces and that gave me the guidance to do 5 more pieces today. They are being soaked and rinsed right now. I tried different things on them and used different types of fabrics.

I also have used up almost all my white flour so that will be it for now. I may try to use some of my rye flour and see if it gives satisfactory results.

With the posting of this puzzle I have now given you 300 different puzzles to do on my blog.

Wouldn't It Be Nice - Flour paste resist on fabric

Yes, wouldn't it be nice if these trial pieces of complex cloth that I am using flour paste resist on turn out!


These are 2 pieces of fabric that I have applied a mixture of flour and water to. I am doing this for two reasons.
1. I have a lot of flour and I am trying to use some of it up!
2. It is a technique I have been itching to try.



I worked outside on my lanai and worked directly under the fan to speed the drying time.



When they were dry enough to handle I moved them out in the sun on the grass to speed up the drying time even more.

Before I applied the paint to the fabric I crinkled the fabrics up in my hands to break of the resist which then will create a crackle effect when I paint them.



I got out the supplies I need to paint these fabrics.



This shows the first piece of fabric after the paint was applied. I let the paint dry thoroughly, first outside and then I brought it in the house where the air conditioning is on.

It now is soaking in a bucket to remove the flour paste. I have changed the water several times and it is coming off well. The paint looks like it did a great job of showing the crackle created with the flour paste resist.

Tune in again to see the result after it is all washed out.