Ice Dying and Finished Quilts

10-27-2012

Today I went to the Ice Dyeing class at Inspirations of Art.  It was so exciting to see Julia's samples of what she has done in her dyeing career. The thing I did not know about this class was that it would be a day or two before we actually see the fruits of our color choices.  My containers of fabrics are sitting in a secure place in the house, slowly warming up as the ice melts and the chemical reaction takes place. When I have finished the final step, I will post photos.

Here are the photos of my finished quilts from Thursday's quilting session.  The Halloween table topper is so colorful and cheery on the dining room table.  The squares and rectangles quilt just pops with color now that it is quilted and washed.

Halloween Table Topper

Squares and Rectangles Throw

Woven Rails Kids' Quilt

 The Leaves Wall Hanging is a design I created based on the class I took from Susan Purney-Mark at the AQS Show in Grand Rapids this past August.  The class was based on the book Give and Take Fabric Applique.

Just for show.  Isn't this fabric so cute.  It is a knit fabric my daughter found at a large fabric store she went to in Taiwan. I look forward to visiting this store when I visit Taiwan at the end of this year.

 I have some more quilts to finish binding and I will post those.  I am working on a table runner from a snowflake fabric collection.  It will be kitted and for sale at The New Ewe during the Idea Week scheduled for the 2nd week of December.  Every day there will be something different happening.

Some Quilting Is Done

10-25-1012

I was able to use the Sweet 16 HandiQuilter at Inspirations of Art Studio today.  It was a lovely, warm, sunny day in Grand Rapids and Dana had the door open for the fresh air to gently blow in.  One of the quilts was a baby quilt for a friend's new born daughter. I meandered on that one.  The next quilt I used leaf/vines which I had learned in Sally Terry's class at the AQS Show this past August. I am only just beginning to work on this technique, so it appears that I was quilting in a briar patch. It is a larger quilt and I am not sure of its recipient.  The last one was a small Halloween-themed table topper which I meandered.  I later thought I should have sewn pumpkins and vines all over it to keep with the theme.  Now I have bindings to add and finally wash them to give them their character. I will post photos tomorrow when there is more natural light to use the camera.

I look forward to attending the Ice Dying Class on Saturday at Inspirations of Art Studio.  Have the thought of trying this technique on some silk fabric and making scarves.

Nearly November....Where Has October Gone?

October 22, 2012

October began with our daughter flying in from Taiwan to visit for 11 days.  And they were days packed with so much.  Her main project with me was to make a dress.  I haven't sewn clothing for a few years--especially such a dress, but with her help on some of it, we got it done.  I was hemming it the night before she flew back.

I am working on a book proposal and got stuck on one pattern design's measurements, so took a bit of a break and worked on class teaching samples. Here are some of them and I look forward to teaching others how to make these. 

Trees in a Square Table Topper

Dresden Poinsettia Wall Hanging

Paper Pieced Trees

I went with 3 friends today on our own short shop hop.  Had a wonderful time.  I enjoyed visiting 3 different fabric stores and each one has one or more differences in what they sell or display that makes shopping exciting.  I found a few pattern companies I had not heard of before--Vanilla House Designs and Common Thread Designs interested me.  Both had patterns that are whimsical and useful (thinking Christmas gifts) that I could make using many of my scraps.  I hope I can find the time to whip up some of the items before December. I look forward to the day that I see posts on other blogs about people finding my patterns interesting to them.

We had a wonderful lunch--the food was luscious and the presentation spectacular!  Service was very personal and the facility warm and friendly.  If you are ever in Reed City, MI, do plan lunch at Pere Marquette Catering Company at 102 East Upton Ave.  They are open for lunch Monday through Friday (later hours on Fridays).  Definitely a treat.

Off to my personal creation station with the goal of posting very soon information and photos of my projects.