Sunday, November 15, 2009

Where have I been?

Work got very hectic for me at the end of September. I was preparing for an inspection which occurred on 10/6. The very next day I came down with the dreaded flu which was probably of the H1N1 variety (Our whole county was declared a state of emergency during that time because so many people had it.) I was home for 7 days and consideraly slower than usual the next 7. So then I had to play catchup. Needless to say there wasn't much art happening!

I am very happy to finally be back to normal and my latest endeavors have been in fabric. I have decided to make a quilt for our queen sized bed since I can't seem to find just what I want. I had three thrifted sheets in the colors I am going to use in the bedroom, so I needed a design for a 3 color quilt. I wanted my husband's input, but I have to show him pictures, so I was headed for the graph paper and colored pencils when it dawned on my that I could do it faster in Photoshop. So I was able to lay out several choices for my husband and he picked the one he liked the best. Here is the start of the quilt:









This is a big project. Each block takes the better part of an hour, though I have worked on my sewing area so that I can sew and press without getting up. I also made a small flannel board to build my blocks by taking a dry erase/magnetic bulletin board and cutting up an old vinyl flannel back table cloth and using strong magnets to attach the tablecloth piece. All items I had in my stash. It is wonderful to have a virtual craft store of your own! My husband is keeping count...after I showed him the first 4 blocks together he said "that looks great, now only 45 more blocks to go!"

I do have to take a break from this and I have also been working on surface design. This all started when the local WalMart was "upgraded" and they decided to get rid of half of their fabric and craft departments. Withdrawal set in---I cannot afford to collect fabric at $9.00/yd. I loved WalMart for their choices that were $2.50 -$5.00/yd. Luckily they still do have some fabric and they have kept the basics. So one recent experiment I did was an inkjet fabric transfer to muslin. Here are the pictures:






While not entirely "perfect" that does not bother me as transfers have that quality. I am pleased with this technique because the ink does not run and it is quick (waiting for things to dry is torture for me and I have ruined many pieces with my impatience). Here is the link for how I did this: http://www.dotcalmvillage.net/nowwhatzine6/djfamilytransfer1.html

Sorry about the lighting. I take these outside to photograph because the natural light is usually better than in the house. However it is now heading into winter and the light is not as good. I really need to build small portable photo area. Any one have any ideas on this?

I did these in the center of a 5 in muslin square and now the thought is maybe to create a crazy quilt block. I have also been working on another idea for adding designs to fabrics, but I will save that for my next post when I have pictures.

Thanks for visiting, Denise