Photo Illusion

I had an article published in the July 08 issue of American Quilter about using photos printed onto cotton and silk organza. The technique is about layers of colour showing through the transparency of the silk and creating additional views and illusions.

Peggy Jebavy of Virginia Beach VA, made a quilt for a friend using pictures of Hibiscus flowers from her yard. I think she was very successful. Thanks Peggy!

Pacific Northwest Quiltfest

Its almost here! Its almost here! Come and see the "best in the west! Almost 300 juried and judged quilts from the best quilters in the Pacific Northwest! Over $40,000 in cash and awards! Special Exhibits, Gala Banquet and Auction, Vendors Mall, Lecures and Workshops!

Don't miss a moment! Its August 8-10, 2008 at the Washington State Trade and Convention Center (that's the one in downtown Seattle)! See the website for further information http://www.apnq.org/

My Little Box of Secrets

Fabric Collage Made Fun!
Stiff interfacing is a great product for making a variety of three-dimensional vessels and boxes. It keeps its shape, and can be stitched through. Use paper or photos instead of fabrics, add all sorts of embellishments such as buttons and beads and be creative!

Supplies Needed:

12” x 18” fusible stiff interfacing (Fast2Fuse is a good brand)
fabric scraps to equal a fat quarter
fat quarter for backing
variety of decorative threads-rayon, polyester, variegated, metallic
bobbin thread to match
appliqué pressing sheet or parchment paper
large button and wool bead for handle

1. Cut the scraps into small (2”-3”) pieces and layer on top of the fusible interfacing. Overlap pieces of fabric so the entire surface is covered.
2. Cover your ironing surface with the appliqué pressing sheet or parchment paper to keep the fusible web from adhering to the ironing board.
3. Place layered fusible on top of the sheet and cover with another sheet to keep any fusible from creeping to the top and sticking to your iron.

4. Iron well using a dry iron to fuse all layers together.
Stitch randomly across the surface of the fabric collage. Use a variety of threads. This is a good time try out all the different stitches on your sewing machine, try different widths and lengths. Stitches should be no more than ¾” apart.

5. Fuse the backing fabric on the reverse side of your stitched collage.
6. Cut the collage into the following pieces: four 4” x 6” rectangles for the sides, one 4” x 4” square for the base, one 4 1/4” square and four 4 1/4” x 1 1/4” rectangles for the lid.
7. Set your sewing machine to a medium width zigzag stitch and use the same colour thread in the top and bobbin.
8. Stitch all around each piece of collage twice.
9. Layout the top and bottom pieces as shown in the pictures and using a wider zigzag stitch join the pieces for the lid and for the box separately.

10. Using doubled thread to match and a sharp needle, whipstitch the edges of the box and lid together. This is must be done by hand.

11. Centre the button and bead on the top of the lid and stitch through all layers to secure.

12. Tuck some special little secrets or surprises into the box.

Note: You can vary the sizes of the boxes and lid to what ever interests you. Make certain that the lid is always ¼” larger than the box so it fits on securely.
Please send me pictures of your “little boxes” and I’ll post them on my blog!

I'm a Monoprinting Mama!

I just can't stop playing with paint....did I not have a happy childhood, was my early artisitc talent stifled? NO, but its so much fun and just a darn good way to play and try new ideas. This picture is made with acrylic fabric paints and some hand dyed stuff that just cried out for fun. I think the circles in the borders work well and gave me an opportunity to play with the quilting designs.

I'll be teaching monoprinting next month in Nashville for AQS, I can hardly wait! Go to http://www.americanquilter.com/ and see what other classes I've got! Hope to see you there!

More Batik Fun!

My friend Joan and I spent yesterday morning creating wonderful pieces of fabric with my favourite product---soy wax! the weather was perfect, a soft breeze to dry the fabrics and sunshine but not too hot. Joan did some wonderful work and she enjoys working with bright primaries.

I had a piece that I had dye painted quite some time ago with the intention of over dyeing with a pole wrap technique. That's it ready to go on the table, the colours might look a little odd as it's in shade. The second picture is the piece almost finished hanging on the clothes line to dry.

The best part about the soy wax is that you can just wash the wax out with hot water and a bit of Synthrapol.....too easy!

I had some left over dye solution so did a few pieces in Low Water Immersion so they're ready for more batik!

Retreat last week

Several friends gathered last week at my cottage and we had a mini quilters retreat....our friend Cathy Miller brought her guitar and sang a few of her (and our) favourite songs from her CDs. You can learn all about Cathy at her web site http://www.singingquilter.com/ Cathy has a huge fan club and meets people from all over the world. Some of her friends came to visit us at the cottage. that's them preparing dinner for us! What a treat and a great chance to meet quilters from other places inlcuding BC, Oregon, Washington and Australia. The world isn't such a big place when there's quilters around!

Who Says There's No Free Lunch?

It's not a great picture but we had two woodpeckers on a fir tree at our cottage. They were very noisy little guys but have been using this tree (probably 700-800 years old) for quite some time, as seen by the multitude of holes on the trunk.

My husband said he'd never seen woodpeckers before (such a city guy!) but I expect we'll be seeing a lot of them.

By the way, have you noticed more dragonflies than usual this year? We seem to have lots around our place, too hard to photograph though!

A Pattern Wall

My friend, Cathy Miller, took this picture at My Sewing Room in Calgary, Alberta. This is an amazing collection of my Stained Glass patterns and the owner Anne Dale is showing them off! Wow!

Daphne and I have been designing patterns for several years and the Stained Glass designs have been a run-away success, our book using the same technique is due out this fall. I'll keep you posted on its progress.

If you'd like to see the full range of patterns go to our website at http://www.patchworkstudio.com/