Half-Way Point---Week 26

I have made it to the half-way point of the year; it is week 26!  My piece this week is made up of cut and torn strips of fabric which were machine sewed onto the stabilizer. 

 The browns look a bit red in the photo, must have been the lighting when I took the picture.  I am ready to hit the next 26 weeks to finish out the year of weekly pieces!  Stay tuned!

Week 25

I made another square using the wonky log cabin technique, this time with some ethnic fabrics I had.  I think it might have been better if I had used a couple of additional fabrics; the repeats are a little too pronounced.  But it makes for a very different look from last weeks' piece and it is colorful.

Summer has begun in full force and next week marks the half-way point in 2016.  Time keeps marching along; so far I am keeping up with it!  Yea!!

Week 24

I was inspired by a Craftsy course I have by Judith Trager titled Beyond Log Cabin to make my contribution for this week.  I have always loved the log cabin design and have made several variations on the main pattern, but I had never tried her technique before.  I find it addicting, so you may see other pieces along these lines!

The piece is done in all greens, although the picture somehow looks very gray!  There is no quilting on it yet; if I use it in a larger format I would quilt it.  We are well on our way to the middle of the year which is week 26; can you believe half the year is gone already??  I can't!  See you next week with another piece. 

Ocean Memories Accordion Book

I just finished my accordion book, which was inspired by one of the weekly 7 inch pieces I had done awhile back.  I did, however have to alter the book's cover so that I could put the title of the book on it.  The original 7 inch piece did not offer enough space in the wavy sections to write the words I wanted to add!  Here is the finished piece; scroll down to see each panel.

The book is assembled with bamboo sticks and turquoise jewelry wire.  And of course, the title of the book is "Ocean Memories".

 The first panel is a beach scene, raw edge applique.  The palm fronds are 3-D, stitched down where the spine of the frond would be.  I have added some glitter paint along the stitching of the waves, to simulate the sun on the water.  Plus I have added a couple of "shells" to the beach sand.

The next panel is an underwater scene, with fish, coral, fabric shells and some real shells that were gathered in FL, plus some beading to create bubbles from the fish and an added beaded "coral". 

  We are still underwater here, with some fabric "kelp", sea horses (the one on top is a real dried one), and jellyfish, made out of a glittery sheer.  Eyelash yarn is used for their tentacles. 

This last panel is the sailboat sailing away from the tropical island, with the setting sun in the distance.  And so ends the journey into my ocean memories.

I have entered this book into the FAO (Fiber Artists of Oklahoma) exhibit which will be at the IAO gallery in Oklahoma City from July 15th through September 3rd of this year.  I have entered three pieces and hope that at least one of them passes the juror's scrutiny!  I won't know until July 6th if I've been accepted, so it'll be an anxious month until then!

Week 23

I gave a demo last month on Tissue Paper Fabric at my regional SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Assoc.) meeting, and in order to show how I've used paper fabric before, I had to drag out all my paper samples.  The mere act of sifting through them made me want to use one for my weekly pieces.  I like the layered effect that the papers and stamping produce. 

This piece was made with pieces of map paper and decorative napkins, with a layer of regular white tissue on top.  I then used some sequin waste with Paintsticks, and sewed some glitter mesh on top.  Have to add a bit of glitz, you know!  I have also finished my ocean book, and will post the results soon.