fabric love

Just wanted to share a few fabrics that were recently added to my hoard....I mean collection LOL

Actually, I think I have a plan for these. I just love the serene colors and the somewhat subtle designs.
Alas,  before I can play with these,  I have Christmas projects to make, and some client quilts to work on. 

Beach house - by Robin Pandolph

Martinique by Three Sisters for Moda

Fleur Nouvenu for Clothworks

part 2 - Cathi's summer art camp

Okay....so our fabric has been sitting in plastic bags with all manner of rusty things, and hopefully it is becoming fabulous. I rinsed out my two smaller pieces that were scrunched up on the cookie sheet by the end of the day Saturday and they had already been sufficiently rust dyed. I used a white on cream fabric and after rinsing it out I laid it in the sun to dry and then stenciled over it with this cool timepiece stencil  that Karen got from Karen Pharr Studios, a vendor at our recent local quilt show. I used a brown/bronze color Shiva Paintstik and a stencil brush to stencil the designs.

Linda's rust dyed and stenciled piece

This really cool looking piece is Karen's. This is the piece she wrapped around the rusty piece of rebar. It looks like fish bones or a fossil of some crustacean sort of creature....very cool

Karen's rust dyed fabric

 
I think she waited until the following day to rinse hers. Karen any insights???? Can't wait to see what she does with it....no pressure. :)

These are the other pieces Karen did and they turned out very cool too.

I really like this one of Karen's too. A lot of depth to this piece.

more of Karen's ..... see the safety pin design at the upper right.

This is the piece I wrapped around the rusty chain and put in a large plastic bag. The fabric I started with was a mottled pale yellow/pink. 

no distinguishable chain links, but a lot of great rust dye.

This was the piece I had setting under the rusty gear thingy....... it was done on a tone on tone fabric.

Linda's gear thingy piece......hmmmm

I don't have Cathi's pix yet. I can't wait to see them. When I took a peek Saturday it looked like they were rusting up good. Will post them as soon as they are available.

Fabric shopping or stash busting?

Need some good reasons to go fabric shopping?

Reason #1...... I need fabric to join in on Stitch-a-long with Linda.

Reason #2 ...... because it's Friday (fill in the day of your choice)

Reason #3 ...... I heard there was a sale (there's always a sale somewhere)

Reason #4....... the fabric I have doesn't fit anymore

Reason #5........ I need one more fabric to go with the others I'm using in the Stitch-a-long with Linda

Reason # 6....... to help stimulate the economy

Reason # 7 ...... because it's there

Reason #8 ....... I don't have enough fabric (only if you can say this with a straight face)

Reason #9 ....... I need to go buy some thread, so while I'm there.....

Reason # 10...... I better stock up now while the weather is good

Reason # 11.... there's some great links posted here.......

Fat Quarter Shoppe, Stitchin' heaven,  Suzannes quilts, Ericas, Country Crossroads,
Cotton Patch quilt shop, Quilt Lovers Hangout, Sew Studio, My Quilt shop, quiltshops.com
Jo-Ann's fabrics, pink chalk fabrics, glorious color.
That should get you started......
If those reasons don't help, you can also dig into your fabric "stash" a.k.a. "collection".
The quilt top that we'll be making in the Stitch-a-long is going to finish around 40" x 60" and it uses at least 7 fabrics so it doesn't take a whole bunch of any one fabric. It's an easy to make design and so it's a good project for beginners or a stress free, quick project for more experienced quilters. The yardage you'll need is listed below. To help get you started I'll show you the fabrics I'm using from my "collection" and why I chose them.
I chose this print "focus" fabric because it has a good variety of colors in the print.

We'll be making two sizes of 4-patch units in the quilt and so I chose a light and a dark to go with the larger print.....

We'll also be making some strip pieced units and I chose another 4 fabrics for those. I like to vary the scale and visual textures in my fabric choices to add interest. I also like to add a very light fabric and a dark fabric instead of using all mid-tone value fabrics....

So here are the fabrics I'm going to use..... I'm not sure which one I'll use for the binding yet.

Here is another "collection" I pulled together out of my stash that I may use when I make this quilt again.

 I hope that gives you some inspiration to begin gathering or buying your fabrics for the Stitch-a-long!

Here's the yardage you'll need for the Stitch-a-long with Linda quilt top. Have fun shopping!

*yardage is based on 44" fabric width

1-1/4 yards of a print focus fabric 
1/2 yard of a dark (I'm using the red)
1/4 yard of a light (I'm using the pink & white check)
1/4 yard EACH of 4 other fabrics  (I'm using an orange print, 2 greens prints and a pink dot)
Buy another 1/3 yard of one of the fabrics for your binding.
 Fabric needed for the backing is 1-3/4 yards
*There is also an optional step in this Stitch -a-long that will require another fabric that will contrast somewhat with the rest. You'll need about 3/4 yard.

Sweet Vintage Giveaway

I know, I know,
I have been so bad about blogging with you lately - I think I was suffering from blog block and I think it's becaue I've been buried under loads of paperwork and tax prep.
Hey  -  I still have 6 days. LOL
I told you I was a recovering procrastinator :)
But anyway, while I was working, I was gazing longingly out the window and I was thinking spring and flowers and sweet things like that. So I went into my super special secret cupboard and pulled out some feedsack treasures to share with you. I love feedsacks and have been collecting them for some time. My hubby's aunt sends me some now and then. Leftovers from the family farm and I am so honored to get them. His grandma made him and his cousins all matching pajamas made from identical feedsacks. (I'll try to find the picture) I was also given a box of quilt pieces she had started. They were tumbling blocks and I went to work setting them together in some sort of order and then I added borders. Now I just need to get off my duff and quilt it!

I also made this small wall quilt with my feedsacks using one of Darlene Zimmerman's patterns. This too needs to be quilted. Gosh, I hope I live to be really old so I get these done.

So, on to the giveaway..... If you win the Sweet Vintage Giveaway you will get these eight 8" genuine feedsack charm squares, these asst. vintage look trims (about 1/2 to 1 yard pieces), a few little crocheted flowers, a pretty flowered quilt label, a cute mini quilt hanger, my recipe for yummilicious old fashioned sugar cookies (see April 4th blog) and of course a vintage scottie dog cookie cutter.
Here's how to enter......

To enter the giveaway,  post a comment to this post. If you want to increase your chances of winning.... blog about it or share it on facebook and leave me yet another comment telling me about it. I will be announcing the lucky winner on Saturday April 24th so you have until then to leave your comments.
Good luck everyone!
Now it's time to get into the studio to accomplish some stitching :)

Shibori sunshine

I am having too much fun. Our quilt guild had a guest speaker Carol Anne Grotrian and one of her specialty is Shibori dyeing. I was fascinated with her fabrics and her quilts. Thank you Carol for inspiring me so.
What is Shibori you ask?
Shibori is a Japanese term for resist dyeing, such as tie-dye. Remember all the tie-dye t-shirts - that's just one Shibori technique.
When I got home and kept thinking about the examples I saw, it dawned on me that years ago (about 6-8 years) I had purchased a kit of special pre- treated fabric that you expose to the sun to imprint an image.
Surprisingly I found it right where I had put it many years ago and I have been having fun ever since.
I took some to retreat with me so my friends could play with it too. In fact I had just received the order I had placed for more kits and now they come in more fabulous colors. If you've always wanted to dabble in dyeing fabrics but don't have a place to do it or you are hesitant about working with dyes then this technique is for you too. I now offer packages of 8-1/2" pre-treated squares on my website. The colors available are the original white/indigo and five new colors.
I have a workshop posted at S.E.W. Studio so if you are in the SW Florida area let me know if you are interested in a class.

This is the defining block Karen did at retreat.....



Here is the block that Cathi made... don't you love the bear!



These are some I have done, along with the one at the top of the page.










In case you can't tell, I am so excited about this. I have only wet dyed a couple of times and it was fun, but much more time consuming, messier, and many more supplies are involved. Of course you can't duplicate the unlimited effects and color combining that you get with wet dyeing but if you just want to have a little fun, no mess, and be creative you can't go wrong with this technique.
More to come...........