The Good Stuff

I am sharing some thoughts on how I work in this post. It applies to all of my work no matter what the technique or medium is.
Now that my show is over it is time for me to work on new pieces.
I had an very general idea for a very simple work.
It is turning out not to be so simple but I hope it will be beautiful.
I started by pulling some pieces of beautiful hand dyed fabrics from my palette of fabrics. As I work on this I am continually adding more fabrics that will enhance the flow of this piece.
These are fabrics some people might feel too precious to use!
What you say? Use those gorgeous pieces of fabric? I can’t get any more of them and what if I want them?
They will never reach their potential sitting in a drawer because one is afraid to cut them up.
Remember, it is ONLY fabric and more can be created!
The fabrics you see here are just the beginning.
It is not going to be a quick project but I hope it will be successful.
When I start something, I have a very general idea of what I want to do.
As I work I watch when is happening and change course as necessary.
It is only then that a piece can hopefully reach it’s true potential.

It Was A Very Good Year 2016

January was a time I looked at some of the ice dyed fabrics I had created deciding what to do with them.

This piece was created in February. In this picture it has not been quilted yet…but it did get quilted.

Knitting in March lead to the completion of this big beautiful scarf.

April meant another Racine, Wisconsin Washington Park high school reunion at my house in Florida. We appreciate each other more each year.

May meant the arrival of my Minnesota son and the drive to pick him up in Orlando with my Florida “kids”.

June was a month spent finishing a lot of pieces for my 2017 solo show in Kenosha, WI.


July meant the arrival of my Minnesota family. It also is the time for the big family July 4th reunion at my brother and sister in laws lovely home on the lake. I think this year it was bigger than ever with some faces we hadn’t seen in a long time.

August meant pizza and music in the gazebo with both son’s families…at least as many of them that could make it. It sure is a fun time.



September saw us celebrating mine and my granddaughter Kierstin’s birthdays.

October saw my return to Florida and the return of my flamingo tree.
In November I celebrated Thanksgiving with my Florida family.

December marked my return to frigid Wisconsin. We celebrated Christmas day at Jeff and Heather’s lovely decorated home.
These pictures share just a few highlights of a wonderful year. I had lots of houseguests in Florida, some special visitors from near and far in Wisconsin, spent time with some super friends and met some really special new friends.
I did spend a major part of the year creating and finishing pieces for my solo show which is fast approaching.
Just because I don’t have pictures of all the highlights of my year doesn’t mean they weren’t great. Often I get so involved in what is happening I forget to take pictures.
If you are curious about more of the year you can always look back on my blog posts and see the rest of the year…so much to see….so little space to share!
I am a lucky lady who gets to enjoy life to the fullest.

What Is On Today’s Agenda?

Clue number 1

Clue number 2
This has been in the works and planning stage for a long time and it is on today’s schedule.

Sun Printing Without The Sun

I find it is more convenient to do my “sun printing” in my studio than outside.

Because the effect is really created by the way the moisture evaporates it is not necessary to have sun to do it.

It is a widely held belief that one needs a certain Brand/Type of paint for this to work.

I set out to test a different paint and it worked just fine.

I painted a large circle in the center of this fabric and then placed some foam pieces on top of the fabric while it dried overnight.

On this one I just placed two different shaped foam pieces on the different colors, but placed them paper side down.

For this one I cut up some foam shape into smaller pieces and used them to create a design.

I used a 50/50 cotton/poly blend for these pieces. It is not necessary to use PFD fabric since I am not dyeing.

I applied the paint to this fabric and then let it dry wrinkled up.

I will be doing more experiments with this paint using different fabrics.

I found there were variables that gave different results.

Some of them were how thick or thin the paint was, how well I had mixed the colors if I was using two colors to get a new color, the way the resists made contact with the fabric and how I brushed the paint on to the surface.

As per so many things there is no one RIGHT or WRONG way to do things, just different ways.

It’s a fun easy way to create your own fabric.

My Newest Fabric Designs Available On Spoonflower

I have added two new designs that you can purchase on Spoonflower.

Each is an original designer fabric I created.

Vivacious Violet is an image of a quilt I pieced and quilted. It is a larger than life image of the quilt. This is another one of my designs that could be used as a whole cloth quilt or wall hanging. Maybe you want to try and use it for a One Block Wonder, or just cut it up into blocks and piece them with alternating plain or print blocks? If you choose to quilt it you can follow the lines I created when I quilted this.

Red & White and Black All Under began as a shibori resist fabric I hand dyed. You can get the look of a one of a kind hand dye at a fraction of the price you’d pay for the original. Think of all the possibilities of ways you could use this. How many designs can you create that radiate out from a circle in the center?

You no longer have to create quilts, wall hangings, accessories and decorative items with Ho Hum fabrics. These limited edition Designer fabrics are available for you today on your choice of fabric from Spoonflower.

Many of my designs are also available as wallpaper, gift wrap and decals.

http://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/kaydesignsfabric

This link will take you to all the fabrics I currently have available for you to purchase. Many are limited editions so don’t wait as they might be gone soon.

Fabrics I Have Created For You On Spoonflower

I have added several new fabrics to my Spoonflower store.

This one is called Playing Plaid. Like most of the fabrics I design it is suitable for a whole cloth quilt, a border on a quilt, and it will also create mirror images.
The fabrics I design are not like anything you can buy in commercial fabrics. They are special artist designed fabrics.

Smoke Gets In Your Eyes is a large full width print suitable for use as whole cloth, borders, kaleidoscope cut up or just about anything you'd like. It is an original hand dyed fabric.
For those of you who are not quilters or sewers you can order one of these in one or more yards and hang it from a rod on the wall or in a door opening.
Can you image what a gorgeous whole cloth quilt this would make? The pattern also lends itself to fabrics they offer that make wonderful clothing.

Proud As A Peacock is another one that would make a spectacular whole cloth quilt or wall hanging. It runs the full width of the fabric.
Half the width could also make a stunning border on a bed quilt.

This version of Proud As A Peacock runs across the width of the fabric.
Think of the possibilities using this fabric. Perfect for Kaleidoscope quilts and exciting in a One Block Wonder.
Most of these designs can be ordered on any of the 15 different fabrics they offer.
Some of them can also be ordered on wall paper, gift wrap or decals.
To see all of the designs I currently have available go to:
http://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/kaydesignsfabric
You can also find the link to my fabrics on my blog:
http://quiltspluscolor.blogspot.com/
These fabrics allow you to make a designer quality quilt or garment in a very short time. Great for gifts, baby quilts, wall quilts, throw size quilts, full size quilts and wearable art.
If you keep several lengths on hand, you’ll be able to make a last minute gift that the recipients think you spent hours slaving over.
You can order a swatch, a fat quarter or any amount of yardage.
Many of these would be prefect designs for drapes or other home decorating items.
Because of the time it takes me to create each design I introduce fabrics on a limited basis.
I’d love to see a picture of what you create from these fabrics.

My Next Whole Cloth Quilt Fabric

This is the newest fabric I have designed as a whole cloth quilt fabric.

No need to cut up fabrics and sew them back together for a quilt.

You will save time and money using my designer fabrics to make quilts.

Of course it is perfect for a wall hanging too.

One of the things I love about this one is the quilting stitches are visible and you get the dimension from the quilting.

It is not yet available to purchase.

When Does 1 - .95 + 2 - .8 = ONE?

This may make sense to you if you follow my blog!

The quilt I made with my fabric I designed used about 95% of the fabric I had.

The quilt I made using my hand dyes used about 80% of that group of fabrics.

So when I put the leftovers from these two quilts together I got ONE new quilt.

The red strips in this quilt are a scant 1/8 inch wide. I put the pencil in the photo to give you a reference point with the lead from the pencil.

There is a very small amount of the fabrics from these quilts left so don’t bet on seeing them again soon!

This is another one that will not be quilted until I have time to study it and decide what I will do.

Rotating Cube - Variations Of My Fabric and Quilts

MySpace Generator

It has been quite some time since I shared a rotating cube on my blog.

This just seemed like a perfect time to use it.

Colors Change

One of the fabrics I have available to purchase on Spoonflower is a great black and white design that can be used in so many ways and with so many colors.

http://www.spoonflower.com/fabric/1826928

I decided to show you how it could work with several colors.

I made a quilt with the fabric and showed it to you on this blog.

I am using the same quilt to show you what the fabric could look like with different colors.

Lime green looks great with this fabric.

A deep green is also so effective used with this fabric.

Turquoise used with this fabric makes a WOW quilt.

Red always is exciting used with black and white.

No matter what design or pattern you choose for your quilt you make with this fabric, the possibilities of what you can combine it with are endless.

To me that is what makes a GREAT fabric that WORKS!

And just in case you forgot, this is the original quilt that I made with this fabric.

Knowing how the fabric works with so many things I have more on order and can’t wait to get it.

Please share your projects with me using this fabric and I will post them on my blog. Thanks.

Elegant Spirit Quilt Created With The Fabric I Designed

This quilt top is done using the fabric I designed. The fabric is available to you to purchase through Spoonflower: see the link at the end of this post.

This is the fabric I started with. It is the one I designed and had printed at Spoonflower.

I made these 4 cuts which gave me 4 strips of fabric to use for borders. The remaining fabric was used in other parts of the quilt.

I put the borders and the blocks I cut for the middle of the quilt on the design wall.

I then tried to decide which of these fabrics I would like to use with the main fabric.

The fabrics I pulled from my fabric palette first were not the ones I used.

The final answer for me was to use only this mottled dark blue.

I built the quilt from the center out adding blue strips and more of the black and white.

Eventually I added the final border and filled in the open center to create the quilt top.

I choose black and white for the design as it is crisp, interesting and airy. You can combine this fabric with any color  that appeals to you.

You can create your own design utilizing the fabric in your OWN way.

This makes a great whole cloth baby quilt which is great when you need a quilt in a hurry and don’t have time to piece it. Babies see black and white first so it’s a perfect choice.

If you don’t sew you can mount it on a stretcher frame, foam core board or put it in a picture frame to hang on the wall for instant wall art. Every home has a place where you can use black and white.

This fabric would also make a perfect duvet cover, pillows, drapes, a table cloth or many other household items.

You can order this fabric in a quilting weight cotton, silk, cotton sateen, a cotton/silk blend,  a linen blend, canvas  or an organic cotton knit.

What a smashing scarf it would make printed on silk!

To order it just click on this link and it will take you directly to the page to place an order.

http://www.spoonflower.com/designs/1826928?view=for_sale

I can’t wait to see what you design  with this. Please add a picture of your project to the page where you ordered the fabric when you finish it.

I just made time to design a puzzle for this quilt.

The Beginning Of A Quilt With My Own Fabric Design

If you follow this blog or my Facebook page you know I am working on designing fabric.

I would like to share the beginning of the quilt I am making with one of the fabrics.

I cut the fabric between the design rows. By cutting it like this I have 3 border strips on the left and one on the right.

This will allow me to have complete design units from the wide strip.

I have the border strips loosely pinned to the design wall to give me an idea of how the border will work.

I haven’t trimmed 2 of them to the width yet. Disregard the different colors on the strips as that was caused by the lighting in the room.

I realize it is unusual to design a border first, but this is what the fabric is telling me to do.

Stay tuned as I will show the quilt as it progresses.

This is the fabric I designed and had printed at Spoonflower. I had asked your thoughts on whether or not I should have it printed and available for you to purchase.

Your responses were so favorable I have decided I will make it available. I will let you know as soon as I have make the necessary arrangements.