Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites

I don't know about you but I have had a great week!  The university is closed for winter break, so few students to assist and no drawing classes for me this week.  Last Monday, a vacation day, was a play date with the FIVE.  We each worked on our own thing and I started the binding on the Black, White, and Red All Over quilt for my sister.  As you see not done yet.

I also got to meet Laurie Brooks, another Maine Artist. She was a guest of FIVE.  She is combining fiber and drawing in unusual ways. I am excited because it is putting together the two skills I am working to develop.  I will be following her blog as she develops this technique.

With the more relaxed schedule I have gotten to spend a bit more time perusing blogs this week--one of my favorite activities.  And other artists must have been having great weeks too because here is what I found this week.

Friday Favorites:
A new blog!  The link goes to the blog rather than to an individual post. She has a post on painting with thickened dyes AND a picture of her quilt for the SAQA Trunk Show AND a post comparing low-water immersion dyeing to snow dyeing AND a post....  I could keep going.  It is worth check it out if you have not found it yet. The artist's name is Elaine Quehl.

And another new artist!  Averil Stuart-Head is originally from New Zealand but now lives in Italy.  Her blog doesn't have any tutorials but her work is right up my alley (Thank you, Beth, for bringing her to my attention!) with lots of color and texture.  Here is what she says about herself "I paint with fabric. It is my favourite medium and I love it. It is tactile and soft. I love the feel of fabric and the different ways you can manipulate it."  Can't you just see her with some fabric in her hand just feeling it and a dreamy look on her face?  I know exactly what she means!

Elizabeth Barton wrote a wonderful post on drawing for fiber folks.  Is this just like serendipity all over again?  LOL  She gives 11 tips she has learned through study and practice.  I like the last one best.  Put the work on the wall and let  it "mature."  I always need to do that before I know if a piece is finished or not.  I thought it was because I lacked skill but if Elizabeth does it then it must just be the way good artists finish a piece.

The Sketchbook Challenge is having a Sketch-In on Sunday, April 17, 10 am to 4 pm in Westford MA.  At first I thought it was an event you could drop-in to play but it is a workshop with fees.  Be sure to check out the post for details if you are interested.

The Quilt Rat gives a lesson on painting on fabric.  She is using a variety of fabric paints and inks and does not go into depth on them.  She does show a step by step process of what she painted first, second, third, etc. and how she stitched it.  It is a good place for beginners to check out.

So sorry to end on a sad note but I just learned from Cheryl about the change in Southern Belle.  Southern Belle is a white muslin that is inexpensive and a pleasure to work with. Or was. Many of us surface design folks had chosen it as our "go to" fabric.  But according to Cheryl, it has changed!  Oh NO!  Have you found that true also?  If you are in the market for choosing a favorite fabric, you might want to take a look at Un-Multi-Tasking's Great Fabric Test.   Her favorite fabric also changed so she did a comparison test of 7 different materials comparing them on several different scales.  Good luck and let me know if you find the perfect fabric for surface design!

Friday Favorites

It's been a good week for me.  I hope it has been for you too!  I am pleased with the slow progress on the Center of the Universe piece and my IT piece is finally moving.  I might even get it done in time for the reveal.  As by-products of my IT piece I have several pieces of beautiful hand dyed fabric begging to be turned into art.  And, (and this is a biggie) I have started clearing out my art storage so I can actually find things (like the floor).  Well, on to my favorites for this week.

I have thought about starting a blog where I and a couple of friends test out surface design and quilting techniques from books, DVDs, and magazine articles and report our results.  You know, were the instructions easy to understand? did I get similar results?  how hard was the process?  that kind of thing.  I thought that would be a real service to readers and would be lots of fun for me.  So, imagine my excitement when I saw that The Quilt Rat did that for a recent DVD she purchased on painting on fabric.  Okay, that DVD is now on my wish list.

Wen Redmond gives some great tips for how to prepare pictures for thermofax.  I have some images I want to send off for silk screens and found the tips very helpful.  I also have a funny story about Wen.  My daughter, Ellen, was visiting her in-laws in NH.  I had suggested that while she was there they go and see the League of New Hampshire Crafts Fair.  I knew about it from seeing it on Wen's blog.  I even sent Ellen the link from Wen's blog for the Fair.  Well, Ellen went to the Fair and excitedly emailed later to tell me she saw an amazing artist whose work reminded me of the type of work I do. She gave me the website for the artist because she knew I would want to check out the artist's work.  Yep, it was Wen Redmond!  Ellen has good taste!

A new blog for me to visit popped up on my radar this week.  Sew Much Art posted about setting monthly art goals and doing an evaluation at the end of the month.  Have you ever had one of those "DUH!" moments?  Such a simple suggestion but of course what a great idea.  I often let other things interfere with my art or I wander around side alleys instead of pursuing larger goals.  So, I will try this and see if it helps.