Friday Favorites on Monday

Last Friday I posted my Friday Favorites and they evaporated into thin air.  I don't know where they went but, darn, I had some good thoughts in there.  LOL  Anyway, because I am just that dedicated, here is my second rendition of last Friday's Favorites

Lisa Kerpoe posted a shortdiscussion on "Is it done Yet?"  My friend, Debra, and I have had that conversation many times. She has a tendency to throw everything including the kitchen sink on her quilts and then to remove till she thinks the piece is finished.  I do as Lisa does by adding one piece at a time and asking if it is done.  Either way works to find your balance of "finished."  I think I have gotten better over time and practice to know if a piece is really finished or if I am just done working on it.  Unfortunately the two rarely meant the same thing for me.  With experience I am starting to tell the difference more readily.

The second dilemma I have with "finished" is that I look at pieces that I "finished" early in my art quilt life.  Now I can see that they weren't really quite done yet.  A little more layering, or coloring, or quilting, or something would make all the difference to the quality of the piece.  Do I go back and fix them?  I debated and decided if the addition would make the piece show quality then maybe it is worth it.  Otherwise, it is fine to respect my growth, leave the immature piece alone to show my progress, and move on.  How do you handle that problem?

Karen S has a lovely tutorial on piping. She shows the piping on a little dress but there is no reason you could not use the same technique and put it on a quilt for some texture.  She certainly makes it appear effortless enough to try the technique.

Now for the rest of the Friday Favorites.  Some weeks it seems that everyone is posting on the same subject.  Like last week I found lots of things on hand stitching. This week I found lots of things on dyeing.  I am never sure when I see more posts on a particular subject if it is because I am interested in them so they pop out or if there is just some serendipity going on with bloggers.

Lotta Helleberg at "inleaf" has unveiled her eco bundles.  They are to die for. Great leaf prints! Even more exciting is that many are leaves that I recognize meaning, unlike Eucalyptus leaves, I could go in my back yard and find them for free.  While you are there (not in my backyard but on her blog), check out her avocado dip.   We had an avocado in our salad last week just so I could try the method.  I am new to her blog but have become a follower of hers now. 

From Lotta's blog I went to other interesting blogs on dyeing and eco-dyeing that I had not found before, like "wake robin."  (I do love when bloggers post their favorite sites to visit.  I have found some of my new favorite places by following those lists.)  I think it was also Lotta's blog that took me here to Cassandra Tondro's archives on eco-printing.  Her blog has moved on to other things but I love this link with all her eco-prints in one place.

I included this post  called branches and leaves not because it is eco dying but because I like the pictures she drew.  I thought I could start with a lovely eco print and add ink gel doodling along with other immigrant medium to produce some wonderful fabric like that.  I want to give that a try.  I LOVE it when I find ways of combining techniques to produce a finished art cloth like here. As I am experimenting with my immigrant medium, expect to see attempts of this combination soon.

Lynn Krawczyk tried a new dyeing method where she rips her cloth before dyeing rather than after. She claimes to be in love with the results.   Points to the benefit of experimentation, doesn't it?

Last for this week  I love this slide show on jello monoprinting.   Sit back, put your feet up, take a deep breath, and let your mind wander while you enjoy the pictures.

Judith