SAQA Spotlight Auction

I will not be going to the SAQA Conference this year but I've sent in a piece for the Spotlight Auction. I really enjoyed participating last year, although the prices went up beyond my budget. The piece I've sent in for this year was a sample I did before last weeks tea bag leaf. For this one the leaf was free motion machine stitched and the background hand stitched. When I read the size requirements for the submission I found that it was the perfect size.

I added the felt back because it needed to be 6"x8". Since it will be matted for the auction, the felt will not show.

The Weekly Leaf
This week I pulled out one of my pressed leaves (I have a box full)placed it on my fabric and traced around it.

Then added lots of stitches.

Week #4

Daily Stitching updates

Gelli prints #19-#25

Sari Ribbon #312-#318

I've also printed quite a few black circles onto white fabric squares, 9" and 6", then cut them into 3" squares. So far I'm a bit discouraged with my results of rearranging them, but it's helping me realize just what I do have to print to get similar results to the small piece I showed last week. Of course those pieces had been printed and cut up several years ago and where much smaller, so trying to recreate them has been a challenge.

Linked to "Off the Wall Friday"

Playing with black and white and tea bags

I got good news this week, I have a quilt accepted into Artist as Quiltmaker XVII.

White on Black #3

78" x84"

It is one of my favorites and there wasn't room for it in my show in Covallis, so I'm happy it's getting out in the world.

I've been thinking of doing more black and white pieces so this week I played a bit with some small pieces. I had a baggy full of 1.5"squares that where cut up from larger squares of black circles on white. I did these several years ago and then never used them. There was fusible on the backs of all of them so I laid the squares onto a piece of 8"x10"batting and fused them down. Then quilted it.

I like how it came out and am thinking about how to do something of the same idea, but much larger.

The Weekly Leaf

This week I played with some of the tea bag papers I've been saving. I drew some leaves on the paper with a brown ultra fine sharpie.

Colored the leaves with a Derwent Inktense pencil.

Then used a water brush to go over the pencil.

The tea bag was then fused to my fabric with misty fuse. I did turn it over when I fused it so the leaves where curving in the other direction.

Week #3

Daily stitching updates

Gelli Prints #12-#18

Sari Ribbon #305-#311

Linked to "Off the Wall Friday"

New projects progressing

At the start of one of my year long projects I always feel some hesitation and uncertainty and this year is no different. Even though I'm still doing basically the same thing the slight changes I make knock me out of my comfort zone, and that is a good thing. The change in colors has me rethinking how I'll get the leaf image on the square and I'm still trying to figure out how I will incorporate some mixed media stuff. I am loving fusing the stitched leaf to the felt and I have purchased three more colors of felt so I now have 52 squares ready for the year.

Week #2
This week I pulled out a fat quarter that I dyed and over dyed several years ago and put it aside.

I saw leaves, and that freed me up from making a decision on what and how I was going to print.

I ripped out this section. I am ripping the fabrics into 6 1/2inch squares because I love the soft fringy edges.

Finished, after lots of stitching!

Daily Stitching Updates

Mini Gelli Prints #5-#11

I printed about three and half weeks worth of blocks one afternoon and had so much fun doing them that I forgot to take pictures. Next time I print I'll remember to have the camera with me and get some process photos.

Sari Ribbon #298-#304

Linked to "Off the Wall Friday"