More postcards

I have done several postcards this year, given as birthday cards through the mail.  The one below used a fabric and paper background with decorative stitching and a piece of metallic mesh.

This one is one I would like to expand into a larger piece.  Often I do postcards to play with an idea, and then I can enlarge the design and work in a larger format. 

This postcard below is made using my felting machine.  I love doing felted postcards because they work up so quickly!  I used several different yarns, some cheesecloth, fabric and mohair to make the body of the piece.  I then embellished with beads.

I made this one a while back using sheers on top of a shiny white fabric.  I attached the jugs with Misty Fuse and stitched around the edges to hold them down. 

I also made this one a while ago.   It uses rusted fabric torn on a black background.  I then stitched in a square spiral and put some altered web ribbon on the front.  I painted gold Lumiere in some of the holes .  I try lots of different things on postcards; they are just too much fun! 

NC Truck Revised

I have made a couple of changes to the truck piece.  I asked for some suggestions from a friend, Ellen Lindner, who does wonderful art quilts and teaches some really fun, informative classes online and in person, ( www.AdventureQuilter.com ), and she mentioned that the background was too bright, and took the eye away from the truck.  She mentioned perhaps using tulle or a paint wash to correct it.  Well, I had already done the quilting on the background and thought the tulle would just flap in the breeze if not completely sewed down, so my alternative was to use a black paint wash.  Let me tell you, it took some courage to take that first brush stroke on the almost finished piece!  I watered down some black acrylic paint and darkened the leaves and tree, and I really think it improved the piece, don't you?  Thanks, Ellen!

I have added some FME to the fenders and the wheel well, but I think the piece is now done.  And perhaps I have the motivation to begin the larger piece.  I mounted the work onto a piece of archival foam board and will have to go out to find a suitable frame. 

An Experiment

I have a picture that I took in the backroads of North Carolina of an old, rusting truck and I have wanted to do a large quilt of it for awhile, just haven't had the time to start.  The project seemed a bit daunting to me so I decided to do a small piece to kind of work out the bugs.  This is what I have assembled so far:

I intend to mat and frame the small piece, it is 8 x 10.  I haven't completely finished it yet; I still want to add more quilting and some thread work.  I used colored pencil to do some of the shading on the truck and like the effect.  The shadow was created using a black shiny sheer with a black interfacing behind it.  The original truck was red, but I liked this mottled orange/red fabric that I have, and it sort of gives the illusion of rust.  What do you think?

Robin's Baby Quilt

My niece, Robin is expecting her first child in July.  She is a PhD and works for NASA in solar research.  She wanted a quilt with a rocket and planets, in primary colors and this is the quilt I designed for her baby boy.  It has to be quilted and my friend Irene is going to do that for me.  She has a longarm and will be able to put in more detail than I would.  As you can see, I added some coronal ejections to the sun, because of Robin's profession.  I hope she likes it!

Birthday Postcards

I really enjoy doing postcards, because they are quick, little projects.  They are also very handy for trying out new techniques.  For the past several years, I have been making them and sending them to members of my fiber art group, Seams Unique.  Here are two that I have done in the past couple of months.

This one is made using a piece of sun dyed fabric I made in a workshop.  The leaf shape came from a stencil, and I repeated the shape with machine quilting.

This postcard was made with a piece of a black and white wool skirt that I had lying around.  Must have bought it in a thrift store!  I added circles and did a machine blanket stitch around it.  Postcards are fun, and I usually send them in an envelope I make myself out of wallpaper scraps.  That way I know it is going to cost the first class postage just like a letter. 

Auction Piece for SAQA

I am donating an auction piece to the SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) online auction this year.  And I am trying a technique I've never done before.  I have been doing some tree scenes lately, so I decided to continue in that vein.  Somehow, though, the piece ended up being a compilation of the seasons! with spring in the foreground, summer in the background and autumn in the tree.  So I have titled it "Seasonal Progression." 

I created the plants by fussy cutting from several different fabrics and assembling them into a cohesive plant.  I also added bits of metallic fabric to the trunk of the tree, to give it some oomph. 

The autumn leaves are bits of different fabrics.  Everything is held down with netting and machine quilting.  I hope you will all go and check out the wonderful auction pieces at the SAQA website; www.saqa.com  The auction begins in September! 

Zentangles in Fabric

I have begun my first zentangle in fabric, and this is what the beginning looks like. 

I have used 11 different fabrics.  I thought that by using patterned fabrics, it would simulate the look of zentangles, but after fusing the fabrics down, I decided that it needed additional stitching. 

I have stitched, either with the walking foot, or free motion, on each of the fabrics.  The two lower fabrics were just outlined, although on the left side I added some dots with a permanent marker in the orange areas.  See the detail shots below:

The two larger circles are ultrasuede, with gold beads around the outside.  I still have to add antennae and I may add some more beads, not sure about that yet.  Zentangling in fabric is a bit more work than on zentangling on paper, but it is just as much fun.  It certainly takes collaging to another level! 

Zentangles

My group the Dirty Dozen this month is challenging us to investigate Zentangles.  I am starting with a drawing, and I hope to also do some in fabric.  This is my first attempt at a zentangle drawing, and because we are already in February, I decided to try my hand at a heart. 
Here is a close-up of the designs:

And here is the finished design.  The whole process is rather meditative, and I really enjoyed this little project.  Next step is to do something in fiber; I'm not sure if I'll get into color or if I will use all black and white prints, hmmmmm, so many possibilities.