Black And White Shibori Quilt – It’s Quilted!

I quilted this with transparent thread so the quilting is a little harder to see than had I used regular thread. The quilting adds some texture to the pattern of the shibori.

You can see the quilting much better on the back of the quilt. I used that wonderful cotton/linen damask I dye for the back of this quilt.

This is a close up of the center section of the quilt. You can see the quilting clearer in this photo. I let the pattern created by the shibori suggest the way I quilt, but I do not attempt to follow the lines exactly.

All I have to do know is decide how I am going to finish the edges of this quilt and add the casing and label.

Project Plans For This Week

My schedule this week is more open than it has been the last few weeks. I "think" I only have 3 things scheduled.

With that in mind I decided to pull out the projects I hope to work on this week.

That doesn't necessarily mean I will finish each one of them.

It also doesn't mean I won't decide to work on others. These are the things that really have the highest priorities as I see it TODAY! Since my life is not controlled by goals and a rigid schedule these days, this is about as structured as it ever gets.




These are the four projects I plan on working on this week.

More, More, More Shibori

I am doing a blog post with a different browser . I am hoping it works as I can barely see the commands - even though I downloaded what it said I should. I am not a happy camper about this and hope I'll get some help to get things straightened out so I can continue to share on this blog.

This was done by clamping plexiglas squares onto fabric that I folded into 8 layers. Some of the dye crept under the plexiglas.

For this one I just started with a piece of mint green fabric, scrunched it up and wrapped it in netting. It is a very simple way to get an interesting texture.

This was done with one of my new favorite techniques I learned in Jan Myers Newbury's class "A Pole And A Piece Of Fabric." I thought this piece would make an interesting puzzle.

Dye, Dye, Dye!

Yes, I have more photos of the fabrics I dyed.

It's hard to pick my favorites as there are so many different ones.

I'll just show you "some" of my favorites!


This one came out of the burgundy dye pot. These are colors I have never dyed with before. I sure love them.


Another favorite from the burgundy dye pot!


This one has a special texture that I learned in Jan Myers Newbury's class "A Pole And A Piece Of Fabric".

I just love seeing each piece as they are all so different even though they have some design characteristics in common.

Sometimes I choose fabrics with those similar design characteristics to create my art.

More often though I find using different designs and colorations creates more interesting work. There is a fine line when it comes to putting different textures and designs together to make it work.

Zentangle, Schmen-tangle!

I stay away from controversial subjects and negative issues on this blog.

At the risk of life and limb I am going to talk about something that might be considered controversial.
I have been doing what is now called Zentangles with the quilting on my quilts long before there was such a thing called Zentangles.

In this closeup you can see how I used a different filler design on each section, leaving the "Bolt" unquilted to make it stand out.


This is a closer view of one section of the quilt.


This quilt was made by dye painting a design and then overpainting the dye painted area with paints.



Using filler designs is not unique to me. Many quilters have used this way of working for a long time - even before the popularity of machine quilting.

Basically I see Zentangles as simply creating a design with open spaces and filling those empty spaces with a design. Correct me if I am wrong.


This shows the entire "Bolt Of Color" quilt.
The border was done with a piece of hand dyed fabric that related to the painting in the actual quilt design area.
The painted sections have been extended to divide the border into areas relative to those sections.
The quilting filler designs also are happening in the dark border areas, although they are not as easy to see.

Are Zentangles the result of someone taking a basic design idea, taught in many art classes, and capitalizing on it to make a lot of money?

I've Dyed And Gone to Heaven!

Yes, the results of my recent dyeing marathon are heavenly.


This bucket contains all the fabrics I dyed or overdyed with a deep teal color.


In this bucket I am dyeing fabrics burgundy.


This is one of the pieces I underpainted and immersed in the teal bucket.



This piece is also from the teal bucket. It is a piece of damask which adds an interesting texture in addition to what the dyes creates.

I'm Dyeing!

Fabric of course!

This is my last dyeing hurrah for the season. I am making it worthwhile.


I spent several days wrapping fabric on poles to do arashi shibori dyeing.


I use large fat poles and short skinny poles.
I wrapped 31 poles and have several other bundles to add to the poles.


I am mixing dyes to underpaint some of the fabrics.


These are just a few of the fabrics I have underpainted. I lay them on the bags the newspaper comes in outside. The heat and the gentle breeze helps dry them. After about 24 hours I will be able to dye them in the buckets to get the texture that arashi shibori adds to the fabric.

I am anxious to get them dyed and finished so I can see the results. Each time I finish a group of fabrics it is like opening presents. You never know quite what you are going to see when you are done.

Yarn Restyle - Cowl To Hat

If you are a regular reader of my blog you may remember when I posted this cowl. After a comment by a reader I tried it on and realized I had used too few stitches and knit it too tight.
I still felt I could use it but it wouldn't work to double wrap.

When I went back to the Yarn Lady she had one more skein of this. I decided to knit another one correctly. I am currently working on it.


I found a pattern for a hat knit with Malabrigo Rasta and decided I'd knit it from the small cowl. My friend Kaye Rhodes had mentioned reknitting without unraveling by knitting and unraveling at the same time. That is what I did. It worked so well. I love this hat and it was super quick to knit. The pure Merino yarn is so beautiful and soft.

This will make a great set for those cold northern winters. It's 80 some degrees here today so it is hard to imagine wearing this, but I know it will be perfect.

Spiral Hat

I have been doing a lot of knitting recently.
I also have finished a lot of projects that just need the ends woven in or to be sewn together.


I finished sewing this spiral hat together.

It is one of those things that is easy to knit, but confusing at the same time. You can't quite figure out how it is going to work as you are knitting.

I had enough yarn for more than one, so gave some to a friend. Each time I saw hers I was confused and thought maybe she was doing something wrong. I also thought her gauge had to be off.

She was doing everything right and I'm hoping she'll be finishing hers soon too.

Since making this hat was a real puzzle, I thought it appropriate to give you a puzzle to put together for this hat!

Best Chicken Soup

I hadn't made any Chicken Noodle soup since October 2011. It has just been too hot to think about making soup. It still is hot but there is nothing like homemade soup so that is what I did last night.


When I make soup I make a BIG pot of it. This is my largest kettle. In this photo the noodles had not been added yet. I have learned not to add the noodles until it is almost done or they turn to mush!


This is the finished soup after adding the noodles.
The green stuff you see is dill. It adds a wonderful flavor to the soup. I never was a big fan of chicken soup until someone made it for me with dill and some potato chunks. Now I can't get enough of it.

I have a lot of varioius size containers of it in my freezer now. I like to share it with friends for various reasons. I also make little individual containers of it holding just a portion size for lunch for myself.

I think this is the very best batch I've ever made!

These Eggs Say Happy Easter!

From the time I was old enough to no longer believe in the Easter Bunny, the Saturday evening before Easter was the time we decorated eggs.

I hate to tell you - there is NO Easter Bunny.

The tradition continued with our children and grandchildren and I decided I want to keep it alive.

Tonight I decorated eggs for YOU!





















I hope you all have a very Happy Easter!

This Is What 114 Amulets Look Like

I wanted to show you all the amulets I just finished making this week.

Each one is unique. There may be ones that are similar, but no two are identical. That is one reason it is so much fun to create them.

I also enjoy sharing my art with my friends and their friends and that is another great reason to make these.

Some of them changed color considerably and others are very close to the colors they were before baking.


I thought you might like to see a few closeups of them - en masse.


Another close up


And one last closeup!

This is the 400th puzzle I have posted for your enjoyment!

Have any of you done all 400?

Ladies Who Lunch - And Share Fiber Art

Today Robbie Payne came to my house for lunch. I took this picture of her in front of my quilt. That is something I do with many visitors.

I mentioned a little how we "met" on an earlier post. I knew she was someone I had a lot in common with and I certainly was right.

She brought along some of the things she is working on and as usual, they are fabulous. She loves to do handwork and beading and the results are spectacular. I didn't take pictures of those things as she shares them on her blog.
http://robbiespawprints.blogspot.com/

Although we are both fiber artists, I prefer machine work and the closest I get to beading is making polymer clay beads.

I made a quiche for lunch and Robbie brought the most sinfully delicious desert.

We had no problem finding things to talk about. It was a challenge getting in a visit as she will be heading north soon. I am so glad we did.

We are both participating in the slice quilt that Tommy Fitzsimmons is facilitating again this year. We both agreed it is more challenging than the one we did last year. I believe she has made more progress on it than I have. My progress so far only includes pulling out some fabrics for it and thinking about how I am going to approach it.

Of course she got to chose two amulets, one for herself, and one for a friend. She was the first to view the newest amulets.

Quilts And Clay - Examples Using Color and Design

I was asked a question on Facebook about how clay influences my quilting. I like to think they are both coming from the same place in my design sensibilities.

As I looked at these quilts it is quite apparent I used techniques very similar to those I am using to design my current batch of amulets.


When I made Quilt 266 I started with a two color background. In working with polymer clay this would have been a Skinner blend.
On top of this I added segments of other fabrics. That would have been like adding slices of a cane.
The quilting ties it all together, as does the clay technique of making a round shape by rolling and flattening.


For Quilt 267 the background is similar to a blended group of clay colors, run through the pasta machine many times to get a smooth blend. On top of that the applique of the narrow strips could have been polymer clay "snakes" I rolled to add interest to the background. The spirals could have come from a transparent cane with a opaque design in it.


Quilt 268 is probably the most straight forward technique so similar to what I would do with polymer clay. I have a plaque I made where I have used circles extruded through a "machine" and placed on a solid piece of clay. Yes, they each look different but again the same design sensibilities take over.

And finally, it is also all about color for me. I LOVE color. I can't get enough of it.
Bright, subtle, neutral, light, dark, mottled, textured - the list goes on - and on - and on..........................

I will finish the current group of amulets today and bake all of them. I now have 104 ready to bake and will just be making about 10 more. Then I'll be cleaning things up and putting them away for the next projects.

Quilts and Clay = Color And Cutting

I find a lot of similarities working with fabric, dye and paint making quilts and creating with clay.

Of course the most obvious is probably color.
I LOVE color and both mediums fill my soul with the infinite variety of colors I can use.

Creating a variety of patterns in each medium is a challenging way to create pleasing creations.


This is a group of 20 unbaked amulets.
Making the canes, which is one of the beginning processes to make these, is like slicing and dicing fabrics.

When I bake these there is usually a slight change in the colors. I intend to keep these separate from the other ones I bake so I can show you the difference in a few days.


The milky white area on this amulet is actually transparent clay. It should become transparent and shiny when it is baked.

I hope you will stay tuned to follow this adventure in polymer clay!