On the Road Again

Rob and I are on our way to Kirksville, MO for Rob's 45th high school reunion.  We are having breakfast at the Saint Louis Bread Co., approx. 20 miles from St. Louis.  Hope the see the Arch.  Stay tuned!

See The Forest from the Trees

Do you have a piece of hand dyed fabric that's shot with wonderful color and you're not sure what to do with it?  Well, I took inspiration from Design Matters TV and cut a yard of hand dyed fabric that I've been cherishing for some time now into 1 1/2" x 4 1/2" strips. I then sorted the pile of strips into groups of like colors, four strips per group. Each group was machined stitched together to create a 4 1/2" block. 

Once all the blocks were made, they were sewn together using the traditional rail fence pattern but... not in the traditional color scheme.  I placed the lights together, ran the mediums and the darks through the design to create a look of reflections on water. I then quilted expanding circles throughout  the wall hanging. 

When that was done I thought it looked a little flat and needed something, so as is my custom I left it on the design wall for a few days and just looked at it.  Then it dawned on me, perhaps I could stitch in some metallic thread, I tried it, but it did not work.  I then tried Shiva Iridescent Paintsticks, darking the darks and highlighting the lights.  It was too subtle.  It needed sparkle, so dusting the quilt with 007 Bonding Agent, I foiled the quilt.  I did not want the sparkle to stand out, I wanted subtle flecks of light dancing through the quilt. The foil did the job.

Although this piece started out as reflections on water, when all was said and done, I called this wall hanging, See The Forest From the Trees.  The piece is reminiscent of the deep forest with the light filtering through the leaves, reflecting off tree trunks and pooling on the forest floor.  Enjoy.

Embellishments

Embellishments: a decorative detail or feature added to something to make it more attractive.
The Oxford American College Dictionary.
There is no end to the possibilities for what an embellishment can be.  They can be made of paper, fiber, clay, metal or a combination. It can be painted or hand/machine embroidered. They can be treasured or found objects, one is limited only by one's imagination.

Embellies as they are called in the quilting and scrapbooking world can be used on hand-made cards, quilts, (art quilts are also included here), hats, clothing, etc.  I use embellishments to personalize some of my gifts, as in the card with the whisk. The young woman for whom this was made loves to cook.  The card was machined stitched, the Grungeboard heart was painted with acrylic paints and the whisk (embellie) was attached. The quilt is machined stitched and the glass "life preserver"(embellie) was hand stitched to the base fabric using metallic thread. Seed bead were then sewn onto the quilt. Enjoy.

  

Beading Bracelets

It did not take my sister very long to discover the bead shop, amysfunkybeads.com  five minutes from the house.  Within ten minutes of walking into the shop we were signed up for a couple of classes.  Allison and I are both self taught bead queens and so we felt that a beginners class would fill-in some of the holes in our knowledge and introduce us to new ideas and explain how some of the basic tools are used.  That afternoon we learned wire wrapping, which was always a challenge for me, how to use the crimper, explained the bead board and introduced us to the bead stopper.

 Now I know what to do with all these beads, pearls, gears, etc. Did I mention magpie?

Armed with all this new found knowledge, we were off to the next class - netting and in our case, a bracelet.  After choosing our seed beads, crystals and clasps we settled in for two and one half hours of beading fun.  Allison made a red and gold to my green and blue bracelet.  As it turns out, we're pretty decent beaders.

 Enjoy!