Ladies Who Lunch In Wisconsin

It was so good to see my friend Robbi today. We had lunch at Seibert’s Tavern, my favorite place to eat in our area.
I left a large portion of the wallpaper visible since Robbi loved it.
We haven’t see each other in several years so we had some catching up to do.

I forgot about taking food pictures until Robbi mentioned it so this is my crab cakes with a few bites gone.
This is the first time I have tried them here and they rate right up there with those I get on the coast.
I didn’t get a picture of her chicken wrap but she said it was excellent.
Not only did we have a nice lunch but Robbi was able to get my mid arm machine threaded and adjusted for me – something that was on my To Do List for this summer.
Now I can get some of those quilts quilted. Thanks Robbi.

Black And White Shibori – Even More Compositions

I am continuing experimenting with different arrangements of some of the black and white I dyed recently.

I like this one better rotated 45 degrees. A famous quilter once told me if something doesn’t work, put it on point!

I’m liking this one you saw on a previous post better with the addition of the focus square.

And now the focus square on the larger “tree” piece.

I love being able to use my digital camera and SEE what different compositions are going to look like without cutting into my fabrics.

Whether I use any of these or not, it is good to see the possibilities.

All of these shibori pieces were dyed on wet fabric. This allows me to get very distinct blacks and whites.

Black And White Shibori–6 Similar Pieces – Revisited And Revised

I have made a slight change in the composition I showed yesterday.

This was yesterday’s composition.

I am having a hard time deciding which one I like best.

I had intended to show you even more compositions but my camera battery chose this time to need recharging.

I also want to share Deborah Segaert’s article from her blog with you. Deborah is another artist from Australia.

It is about using black in quilts and I am one of the artists who’s work she showed and discussed in the article.

You can find the article here:

http://stitchonequilttoo.blogspot.com/2013/05/black-little-or-lot.html

Black And White Shibori – Six Similar Pieces

I have done enough shibori dyeing that I felt I could attempt creating 6 similar pieces.

I am pleased with the results. Now it is time to see what I can create with them.

I think this simple arrangement has possibilities.

I could add this similar but wider piece to the top.

This is the beginning of my design process. I may revert to the first layout, but I’ll probably try many different things before I decide which one to use.

One of the best tools I have when designing is my camera and this blog. By photographing possibilities I can look at them and decide if they work, without actually being influenced by just the beautiful fabrics.

What A Perfect Present!

When I had lunch with my friend Robbie in Florida she talked about phone charms and asked if I had an iPhone.

I showed her my phone with one of my quilts on the case.

This week a package arrived in the mail containing these items.

Isn’t this the most perfect charm anyone could imagine for my phone!

She also coordinated the card and the snap bag she sent it in. I know exactly what I’ll use the bag for.

Isn’t it great when your friends know you so well and are on the same wave length?

Thanks again Robbie!

Symphony In Black And White

I am revisiting the black and white fabrics I dyed this season. I love to arrange them and see how they play together.

This group also has interesting textures with closer values.

I love these textures. There is also a value gradation going on when I put these three pieces together.

Whether I choose to use these pieces in a black and white quilt or whether I add other colors I know I am going to come up with a beautiful symphony.

What Kind Of Number Is 383,383

It’s a palindromic number, but also the thousands and hundreds are identical.

Tell me you finally care about my fascination with numbers!!!!

It showed up on 5/21/3013 at 10:30 p.m.

Wisconsin Is Green!

All the snow and rain Wisconsin experienced this winter and spring has given us a lush landscape.

This tulip is always the last to bloom. It is the only one that waited for me.

The blue spruce is looking great.

No matter what the season the Japanese Maple is always beautiful.

Looks like we will have another bumper crop of peonies in about two weeks.

If I had to pick a favorite type of vegetation between Florida and Wisconsin it would be a tie!

Grandma And Grandpa Koeper

Last week I shared pictures of our “cousin” reunion in Florida.

I want to share a few pictures of our grandparents that we enjoyed looking at last weekend.

This is our grandmother Matilda Gruenwald Koeper on her confirmation day.

This is  our Grandpa Casper Koeper. It is probably the earliest one I have, although I have no idea how old he was.

This picture shows the two of them in their house in Milwaukee. None of us remember them being this young. We all remember the house and so many details from it.

Here are the three cousins – Jim, Kay and Mary.

Do you see any resemblance between us or to our grandparents?

I'm Leaving On A Jet Plane

Don't know when I'll be back again.....

Leaving you with a few of the 48 pictures of the train on my way home Thursday....

One Last Look at Current Polymer Clay Jewelry For Now

I am concluding the posts showing some of the jewelry I’m made with polymer clay for the time being with these pieces.

This is another piece that seems to go with just about anything. The pattern looks like it has been woven.

This shaped pendant was strung with semi-precious beads and vintage beads. It is also one of those pieces that goes with almost everything.

I have added those little “fans” to the surface of this pendant to give it a true 3D design.

These large earrings were made from the same palette of polymer clay as the pendant. I don’t expect someone to wear them together as they each have more impact when worn alone.

An assortment of various sizes, colors and designs of earrings. Many of them have a Swarovski crystal on the bottom.

This is one of the smallest earrings I make. You may be able to get an indication of the size by looking at the crystals.

Key chains have been one of the most popular items I make as they can be used by men and women and all ages. The colorful “beads” make it easy to find your keys. the brighter the better!

If you look at the work I have shown recently you will see a certain similarity between some of the pieces. This could be because I was using the same base color,. because I was using the same canes, or I was using canes made from the same colors. Working in a series in polymer clay is quicker than working in a series when I make quilts.

I hope you have enjoyed this glimpse of one of my other “ART” expressions.

Fabric Dyeing–Value Scales For Three Color Families - Rerun

This is another one of my most popular ever blog posts – close to 5000 views.

This Value Scale is for the Basic Color family.
I have taken several fabric dyeing classes from Carol Soderlund. I have blogged extensively about them before.
Color Mixing for Dyers: Part I is Carol's class where you dye over 1000 color formulas. With these samples you learn how to mix any one of these colors to create the exact color on your fabric.
We each made a book with all of the colors samples.
After you paste the samples in your book you still have little bits of each color left so Carol created this page where we can paste up a value scale with the colors we have dyed.

This is the value scale for the bright color family.

This is the value scale for the earth color family.
I can not recommend Carol's classes highly enough. If you want to learn to dye accurately and SAFELY take a class from Carol. You will NOT be sorry you did.
http://carolsoderlund.com/

Carol is a wealth of information and you learn much more in this class than just dyeing the samples. You will learn how to apply the knowledge and you will enjoy every minute of her classes.

Still More Polymer Clay Jewelry

This pendant was also made with the colors that were used in that favorite Blue Fish collection.

This was part of a class collaboration from a class I took years ago. I forget who taught it.

If I am not mistaken I used the left over pieces we make in the class to make this bead.

I strung this pendant with polymer clay,  glass and semi-precious beads.

I made these round beads from polymer clay. I strung them with vintage spool beads.

There is no end to what you can do with polymer clay.

I do use a lot of the same color sense and design sense I use when making quilts.

More Polymer Clay Jewelry

I have made a lot of pendants and they are very popular as they can dress up a simple tee shirt, shirt or sweater.

This is one I designed with colors that matched one of my most favorite Blue Fish collections ever.

I use no paints in any of my pieces. The colors and designs are all in the clay. I also mix my own colors from the colors of clay I buy.

The colors in this 2 section pendant make it a winner to wear with just about any color.

This is another 2 part pendant. It is strung with semi-precious beads.

Of course as I share all of these pieces it makes me want to get back to working with the clay.

But at this time I have some higher priorities on my schedule.

Another Palindromic Number Of Views

As of 4:09 p.m. EST on 5/13/13 there were 381,183 views on this blog.

I know you don’t care, but I do!!!!!!!

Polymer Clay–It’s More Than Amulets!

My cousin Mary asked to see my polymer clay jewelry but we ran out of time. I decided if I posted it on the blog she will get to see it!

I have made most of the bracelets on this display stand. You also see some commercial ones I have purchased. I have these arranged in color groups I can wear together.

This is a Potato Chip necklace, named by Pier Voulkos since it is shaped like a potato chip.

 

This Potato Chip necklace was made with gold metallic clay.  The gold metallic clay can produce some very exciting results depending how you put the design together.

I learned to make this style necklace in a class I took from Lindly Haunani. It is such a fun necklace, just like Lindly herself!

These are just a small part of the jewelry I have made from Polymer Clay. I will be showing more of them on a future post.

Many pieces I made have been sold and I didn’t get pictures of them.