Linen fabric

A couple of years ago I went to an auction and bought several boxes of fabric and sewing-related things, you know, one of those auctions where they're trying to clean out a whole house, and you get the boxes for $1.00 or so each. Well, there were about 10 yards of a white linen fabric in one of the boxes, and I pulled it out the other day and decided to dye it. It wasn't a plain white, it had a floral pattern in it--reminded me of a tablecloth that my mother might have used. I cut it up into several smaller sections, and this is what I ended up with after a dyeing day:

I've never used linen in quilting before, so it will be a new experience. Now I just have to think of something to make with it--any suggestions??

It's been so hot here for the past two weeks or more, every day it's 95-100 degrees, and we've had absolutely NO RAIN. Might as well live in the Arizona desert, that's what it's turning into here in central North Carolina. I stayed in Sunday and quilted this piece of batik I had made a while ago. It's literally still on my sewing machine table--waiting for me to get home from work tonight.

I finally have this quilt almost done, just about 10" more of hand sewing for the binding, and it's done. It was some batiked fabric that I quilted heavily, then I decided that I didn't really like the white outlines of the flowers, so I spent almost two days painting in the flowers and leaves. It was about 97 degrees both days, and I was working in my garage, what a sweatshop it was, even with the door open, yuck. But I love how it turned out, here are some more pics but the lighting was too direct so the colors look freaky.

This is another batiked piece that I quilted and bound, I'm trying to decide whether to include the starfish & sand dollars, they're just taped on.

Again, the color looks totally different in this picture: (and you can see the lines I drew for quilting it, which of course I didn't follow)

A quilt that I just sent to my daughter on Saturday for her Martha's Vineyard summer job (and vacation)--I've had this all finished for about a month now, I totally forgot about sending it to her.

A new batik, and some jar-dyed fabrics for the next projects.

4-Day Weekend For Me

Last weekend I dyed some plain white cotton. One piece was dyed a Kiwi Yellow/Green, but turned out a little too light for my taste. It was almost a pastel color. I rolled the entire fabric piece with some of this paint (which are the ones I use all the time, it seems) in random places. The roller was just a regular 4" disposable sponge paint roller from the dollar store.

Then, I glued some foam pieces to a small wooden box, the kind you get at craft stores for 50
cents:

I rolled some of these shimmery paints onto the foam, then stamped on my fabric.

This was the finished product--it looks a little more red in the pictures than it does in person, but overall I'm very happy with it.

I had another piece, a light blue, so I used my setacolor paints again, and then stamped with a potato masher. Instead of a roller to apply the paints, however, I think I just used a sea sponge.

This is the finished product, another one I'm happy with.


I'm taking Friday and Monday off this weekend, I can't wait to cut into these fabrics!

Quilter's Attention Deficit Disorder

I wonder if I suffer from Quilter's Attention Deficit Disorder? Always starting a project, having about 15 things going at once, sitting all day at work wondering about which project I should work on when I get home.....

Things are getting away from me at home, too. This butterfly bush is probably 12-13 feet tall, and about 10 feet wide. I should have trimmed it a bit over the winter, I guess, but was too busy in my sewing room.

Believe it or not, the birds LOVE these two dishes that I have on my cement slab (see-ment, as they say here!) I keep them filled with fresh water, and some days there are about 20 birds hanging out, all waiting patiently for their turn at a bath. The "see-ment" slab was in my yard when I bought the house, not sure what the previous owners used it for, but I mosaic tiled it so it looked a little more decorative than plain cement.

Carol Taylor Workshop & Symposium

Pictures from the quilt show last Friday in Charlotte (North Carolina Quilt Symposium)! The symposium is a state-wide, annual thing, that moves around the state each year. Charlotte is 60 miles from where I live, so it was a short enough drive that I didn't have to spend the night.

I don't think any of these were award winners, but they were the ones that caught my eye!

There were classes on Friday & Saturday, with teachers like Karen Stone, Bonnie Hunter, Robbie Jo Eklow, Laura Wasilowski, etc. I only took one class, Sensuous Lines & Curves, with Carol Taylor. I'm not a great workshop taker, I guess, because teachers tend to want you to create something just like they've done. I want to learn the techniques, but make it w/my own spin, not make something exactly like 25 other people are making. I learned how to couch, and bought some crazy-expensive yarns from the teacher. (She also sold threads, aurifil, and I bought one spool of it, love it already!). This is the center section of the quilt, it's about 30" x 25". I still have to add more couching, then the outside consists of two different borders, one of which I didn't even get to in the class. More pictures of this as I get more done.