Friday Favorites

I took a Thanksgiving vacation from the internet so my Friday blog is several days late.  I have a long list of things for which I am thankful but here let me say that I am thankful for the many new friends  I have made through blogging and through coming out of the "art quilter's" closet.

Friday Favorites' Links

Cheryl shows us how to do sticker resist and LED lights on quilts.  I like Cheryl's Technique of the week blogs.  I am glad she is one of the artist who will play on "And then we set it on Fire"

The Quilt Rat posted a second blog on TAP.  Okay, so maybe I will need to try it. But believe me, my doodles never turn out as good as hers!

Tallgrass Prairie Studio is participating in a raffle to raise funds for World Vision.  She and many other modern quilters have formed Modern Relief and have donated 19 quilts to be raffled.  For the price of $10 you can feed a child AND have a chance to win one of the gorgeous quilts.    You just need to go to the link above and click on the pay now button at the bottom of the post. Now that is a thanks giving effort!

Arlee shows us how to build a tree by throwing stuff (not the same technical term she used) into dissoluble layers, stitching it, then washing out the  dissoluble stuff.  Pretty cool. Follow this link then click her arrows to the next two posts for steps "4,5,6, looking like sticks" and "7,8,9, looking mighty fine"

I hope your Thanksgiving was as warm and renewing as mine was!

Friday Favorites

This week has been busy with preparing my  new blog that is technique driven.  We have 9 artists who are willing to take the lead in experimenting with different techniques and to report back.  I have the banner and the logo ready to go (you can see the logo on this blog).  Another week or so and I will be ready to unfurl the banner, show off the blog, and see if anyone wants to follow it.

Haven't heard anything from the No Holds Barred jury yet but it is very early.  I did go on the SAQA site and print off the directions for 3 or 4 more SAQA shows that I might consider entering.  I did run across one blog post that said she had entered quilts for 7 years before she got accepted.  I hope it does not take me that long.

On to Friday Favorites!

I love improvisational piecing.  I do it between pieces that require attention and fussing and  detail work and annoy me to death.  It feels like taking off a way too tight corset.  I thought I had invented it because I was doing it at home in a vacuum.  Now that I am more in the art quilting world I see all these other folks doing it too.  Maybe I should have copy-righted the idea years ago when I first thought of it. (LOL)  Anyway, Malka Dubrawsky gives 10 tips for improvisational piecing that I thought were really good.  The link takes you to the tips in Quilting Arts but Malka has just published her book that gives lots more techniques that she uses in improvisational quilting.  I have not seen the book so I can't comment on it but the title is Fresh Quilting: Fearless Colors, Design, and Inspiration.

Speaking of copy-righting my improvisational piecing idea, Kathleen Loomis at Art with a Needle wrote an interesting article on sharing quilts and quilting techniques.  You know, this is not the first time I have blogged about Kathleen.  I like what she says.  I also like that she states it is her opinion and leaves room for others to have opinions that do not agree with hers.  I find her posts generally raise questions that I may not have thought of but should consider as I make my way in the art world. What kind of artist do I want to be?

I have tried to ignore Arlee with all her ecodyeing blogs.  Yea, it looks interesting but I don't wanna go in that direction. Then I made the mistake of dying that fabric I showed you earlier in the week--the one with the rose leaves and the other one with the mums.  Remember?  Okay, now I am hooked.  What was I thinking?  Now I want to strip the woods and yard and see what I get from dyeing with the material.  Anyway, Arlee shares with us some more of her experiments with really good directions.  Don't look unless you don't mind another addiction. ***sigh***

I found a new blog this week.  It is Simply Robin.  She has a great tutorial on flat fold fabric dyeing.  The process sounds really interesting but it takes a day of hot sun.  That is not a problem in Maui where she lives.   I live in Maine and it is November.  A day of hot weather is probably 7 months away.  I will get to snow dye long before I get to try this method.  But I do want to try it on the 1 or 2 days of summer we get per year!

And, last but not least, my fellow 5 artist has posted a tutorial on soy wax dyeing.  Yes, she makes it sound so simple and the pictures she has posted of the results are so beautiful that I clearly need to go home and heat up my electric skillet.  I think that is what we are doing this coming Saturday for our play date.

"And Then We Set It On Fire"

I think that will be the name of a new blog dedicated to mastering different surface design techniques. That is the motto that Rosalita and Beth have for their play dates.  In other words, anything goes in their experiments for surface design.  First they dye, overdye, paint, stitch, glue resist, paint again, flour resist, dye again, silk screen, stamp, thermafax, bejewel, stretch, shrink, sprinkle, Smooch, and fuse, then they set it on fire using a variety of heat tools.  Magnificent!

Here is the format I have in mind for 10-12 creative folks who like to play:

1.  Every month there will be a technique we will all try together and report our results.

2.  We'll take turns choosing the technique for the month.  If it is my month to choose then I will give as much direction as possible or tell you where the directions can be found.

3.  Participants may follow the directions given or, if they have their own preferred method of the technique, they may use it and explain their method.

4.  Participants will post 2-3 times per month showing their process. Posts don't have to be long and can be scheduled in advance.

5. Finished products are not required but would be nice occasionally to show what can be done with that gorgeous fabric just made.  Posts can also include failures, mistakes, and comments like "I will never do this
again."

6.  Followers will be encouraged to try the techniques and send us links to their results.

Beginning date is projected to be Jan 2011.