Friday, May 31, 2013

Reveal Day - Out of Asia

Today is reveal day on Art Quilts Around the World, with our theme "Out of Asia".  Since I have a shibori obsession, I thought I'd use some of my shibori fabric scraps from pieces I've dyed over the years and create something with an Asian theme.  Shibori is a Japanese technique, involving wrapping fabric around poles before or after dyeing, or wrapping with strings, or folding and using resists to create patterns.

This piece uses four different pieces of shibori fabrics, mostly in blue/white, and measures 11.5" x 16".
While searching through some of the bins of fabric I've created, I found lots of great pieces that I've forgotten about, like these, that I really should use!
And another rug hooking project in progress, this time with starfish.  I'm dyeing all the blue wool for this one, and having lots of fun with it.

Getting hot and humid here in NC again, we had a cool stretch of weather that's apparently over now.  Summers are not very pleasant here--good time to stay in and do some quilting on weekends.

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Is it Friday yet???

Another month has gone by, and I haven't posted...still feeling "unfocused", if that's a word.

I did finish my rug, and I'm very happy with how it turned out!  It was a learning experience, and the best part was learning how to dye wool, a process different than dyeing cotton.  The finished rug is about 24" x 35".
So last weekend I worked all day Saturday on this mess--starting with a piece of natural colored wool felt, then adding layers of wool by needle felting, and then resorting to adding pieces of netting using my sewing machine.  And it just looks like a mess!  What a waste of a day!  I think I already threw this out, if I haven't I plan to.
And this is another thing on my design wall, from the Judith Trager Craftsy class I've been viewing.  Each square is around 10", so it's pretty large at this point.  I'm just using up scraps, which I have way too many of.   Her class is pretty good, for anyone who gets those half-price or discount emails.
And my niece is having a baby girl in September, so I'm making the crib bumper pads and skirt for her, she wanted the colors of baby blue and lavender, which I seemed to have a lot of already.  I picked up the foam bumper pads at Hancock Fabrics yesterday, so I can get these done soon.
And here's Leo, not stressing out at all.  I think he slid right off the couch pretty soon after I took this picture.