I recently mentioned the fun I’m having as I work on samples for a new online class, “Sticky Fingers: Glued Fabric Collage.” This photo shows the background portion finished. (The lose fabric around the edges will later be wrapped around the sides.) Next, I decided on the design – a curvy cruciform shape, which I drew in […]
Previously, I talked about Renee Decator’s process for painting with acrylic paints. Gee, that sounded like fun! So, I pulled out my paints, and gave it a shot. What a blast! I mimicked Renee’s process: 1 – Add texture to the canvas. (I used Golden molding paste.) 2 – Randomly apply opaque colors. 3 – Randomly […]
Not only do I enjoy creating stitched collages, but I also like to make glued ones. The thing that’s really great about them is that they’re fast! Once you compose the piece, it’s done. No stitching, binding, adding hanging sleeves, etc. I love that! Plus, you can easily manipulate tiny little pieces of fabric that […]
For some time now I’ve had the idea of getting my art work onto my luggage tags. So, when I saw a luggage tag project in the 2008 Quilting Arts Gift Magazine, I decided to give it a try. Aren’t they pretty? I made three, and the photo above shows both front and back. (Click […]
Just back from a fun retreat with the Dirty Dozen Fiber Artists, my small fiber art group. We had so much fun being in the same space, creating, collaborating, learning, sewing, gabbing, eating, and laughing! A few highlights: A carrot cake, made FROM SCRATCH by Martha. Those are candied carrots used as decoration. I’d never […]
I needed some leaves for the quilt I’m currently working on. At first, I cut some from fabric and auditioned them. I liked the effect, but thought it would be even better if I added some textured ones. I knew just how to achieve that: melted plastic! I had some new plastics I wanted to […]
I recently attended a demonstration by artist Renee Decator about how she adds texture to her acrylic paintings. She showed us several techniques, including one in which she imprinted textures into heavy body gesso. After spreading the gesso onto her canvas she pressed things like doilies and produce bags into it. This gave immediate interesting texture. […]
After discovering the excitement of doing gesture sketches with charcoal, I decided that I would try to do something similar with fabric and thread. First, I set up a still life composition. Then, I did a quick gesture sketch with a very fat marker, just to practice before going to the sewing machine. (I turned the cup […]
In my recent drawing class, we spent a lot of time doing gesture sketches. These were fast sketches (3 minutes) in which we tried to capture the nature of the subject, without a lot of accuracy. Although these were initially intimidating to my classmates and to me, I eventually came to love them because of their […]
Have you ever made a “friendly” quilt? You know, one that waves? I’ve had that problem multiple times, as can be seen in the quilt above. (It’s lying on a flat table, but it has lots of hills and valleys.) Thankfully, blocking will take care of such problems. I’ve written an article on the subject, which […]
