Using Paint

Hi all, Happy Monday!

This quilt is my latest addition to Etsy. I wanted to write about this one because when I posted it, I sort of revisited with it and liked it very much!
It had been hanging in a little gallery called Oh My Gallery and I sort of forgot about it. When I took it back I looked at it and realized this is probably one of my more successful merges of paint and fabric! I did this as a result of taking Velda Newman's class 3 years ago at QBL. At the time it seemed like a lot of fussy sewing, but the paint techniques I learned I find I'm still using, especially adding detail with watercolor pencils. And the sewing doesn't seem so fussy anymore....
I still fight the battle of realism vs. abstract. I am a good realistic artist, yet something keeps pushing me to go into the abstract, probably because I don't think I'm good in that style. Crazy? Yes.This was an appropriate topic because of my current project, my Hydrangea dream pillow series. The flowers have a realistic feel to them, something I have shied away from, and I am liking it!And I am using paint and dyed fabric to get that effect, so I feel this is another successful collaboration. If I can do It I will put a photo at the end of this as an example.
My goal is to have 25-30 pillows done by December for the Plymouth Center for the Arts Christmas sale, but in the meantime they are going up on Etsy, and I have 3 commissioned pillows to do. So, yes, I am busy! But I love this.
Till next time!

Hi all!
This is the first in my new dream pillow series entitled "Hydrangeas." This is for you, Paula! And thank you for the wonderful idea! What a fun thing this is going to be! Hydrangeas have always been one of my favorite flowers, and I really like making these pillows. I love the idea of functional art, especially in this rotten economy. I feel like these pillows do double duty: you get a mini quilt and a comfy, pretty thing all in one.
The quilt, is, of course, a pocket that holds an herbal sachet. In making the blossoms I have used only hand dyed or sun printed fabrics. When I dye fabric I sometimes scrunch it up to get a great mottled affect. Sun printed fabric is white cotton treated with a sun sensitive paint. You paint the fabric, lay objects on top of it, ( in this case, hydrangea blossoms) and leave it out in the sun till it dries. You get the most wonderful image of the object on the fabric. I have had this particular fabric for almost a year; I am so happy to be able to use it! This particular quilt is only lightly stitched; I don't know if that will change or not. I was a little afraid to lose the intensity of the flower image in this one. I am having fun with highlighting and adding detail with my watercolor pencils!
You know, I really love flowers, and I have always shied away from working with them in my art. That reminds me of something I read a long time ago. It was about an artist who never painted flowers although he or she loved them, and it was because it was it was such a cliche kind of subject, like ALL artist painted flowers, so I'm not. Isn't that stupid, and that's exactly what I've been doing. Like it's too girly to work with flowers, or something equally dumb. NO MORE!!! I am out to conquer flowers, and I'm starting with hydrangeas. Look for 7 more pillows. Later!

The Start of Something Hydrangea...

What a busy weekend it was! We celebrated
Mike's birthday on Saturday with a beer and food pairing dinner, with LOTS of beer! It was really fun, and I think he really enjoyed it. The next day was my nephew Mark's 7th birthday party, with LOTS of screaming little boys! I don't know how my sister does it; I have lost all patience for little kids. But, then, I'm old! ( Not, really...) I took an extra day off this week to recover--
And here's what I did with it! Got a good start on my next batch of dream pillows, this one titled "Hydrangeas."Here you see some of the pieces I will be using for the motifs. The motif will be on the pocket, and, of course, the pocket will hold a lovely herbal sachet. There will be at least 6, with my friend, Paula, getting the first one. This is her commission, and so she should. This is truly a project of love, as this flower is one of my favorites. Especially blue ones. A fabric I am using for this series I made last summer with a sun sensitive paint, very cool. You paint your piece of fabric with this paint, and the blue I have is VERY close to hydrangea blue!, place stuff on the fabric you wish to get a sun print from, and then leave the whole thing in the sun till it dries. You get an image of what you placed on the fabric in paint, as the paint lightens around the object. In this case I used actual flowers and leaves, and got some really beautiful images of hydrangea clusters. I am SO glad I saved this fabric. If the sun ever comes out again I would like to do another batch. There are some dried clusters on last years plants that look very promising....
Well that's it. I hope to have a picture of a completed one for next time! Think SUN!!!!!!!!

Winter Moon

Hi all!
Pictured there on the right is one of four "Winter Moon" dream pillows I posted on Etsy last night--TWO are left! My friend Donna bought them; I couldn't be more thrilled! I also had someone see them on Etsy and post it on her blog. That was very cool and I felt very honored. I think these really came out good! My friend Paula has also commissioned one-she wants a hydrangea motif. I have always wanted to do something with hydrangeas, so that will be my next series, hers being the first, of course! I have also fallen in love with dupioni silk! It is great to work with, is surface washable, and has the most luxurious look to it!

Now that I seem to finally have found my focus--what a rough year it has been so far!--I think it's time to buckle down and a make a plan. I've decided to try to get away from TV a bit in order to give myself more sewing and planning time. Not all! I still need my soap and horror! But one thing I did that I've found very beneficial is moved my sewing machine out of the kitchen and into the office. I think I needed to get out of the hustle and bustle of the house. In the office I have the computer. I can use that to either listen to music of watch a movie. Plus, I feel like it's more of MY space, which is so important to me. I am trying to plan things for smaller amounts of time, as I don't have a lot of time! So I am trying to plan small to-do's. That way I will get SOMETHING done instead of nothing at all! I guess it's like inching forward, which is better than standing still. In addition to more pillows I am planning a quilt for a special exhibit at Art Guild. It is for the vision impaired as well as for people who can see, so all the art in this show has to be touchable. But more on that later! :-)