In my last post I told you about my challenge to join Kawandi blocks together. Since then, I’ve come up with a better way. Note, if you’re willing to make the blocks without batting it all gets easier. I’ll tell you about it at the end. The issue when joining these blocks together is that…
Have you heard about Kawandi style quilts? They’re an Indian tradition, brought to that country by African slaves. The technique involves hand sewing patches onto a prepared batting and backing. A large stitch is used. Here’s my first 6×6 attempt. This was sewn in the traditional way. That is, the edges of the fabrics are…
I decided to make a quilt featuring this fabric. Because of the strong motif I intended to use this as my featured fabric. I wanted to combine greens and orange-reds, but my selection of greens was limited. I got this far in the fabric audition process before I had to admit that something was really…
My friend, Gabriele DiTota, and I are having a two-person exhibit in Raleigh, NC, and we’re very excited about it We’re calling it “Fabric, Dye, and Serendipity” because that’s pretty much how we work. Both of us dye our own fabrics, and then compose them with minimal planning, (although Gabriele does more planning than I…
In November I got to see a trunk show of Valerie Goodwin’s work up close and personal. And I love it! Pieces were laid across a table for us to inspect, but that made it tricky to take photos. I think you’ll enjoy them anyway. This piece was my favorite. As is typical with much…
As I was winding down on my recent dye session, I tried a very random exercise. I loosely pleated a piece of fabric and scraped on a variety of different colors, as well as some clear paste. It was a gooey mess when I finished! But, when I washed it out I found out that…
As usual, my current quilt started with a high contrast piece of hand dyed fabric. This is all I had of it. What could I do to best show it off? The additional fabrics added above provided interest, but the original fabric swatch still seemed rather straight forward. It was kinda hard to judge against…
I’m just back from teaching Design Your Own Nature Quilt at Empty Spools Seminar, in Pacific Grove, CA. It was fabulous!!! The beach side setting was lovely, complete with historical architecture, wind-swept trees, and the sound of the surf. But, of course, the real excitement was occurring in the classrooms. I had nine fantastic students who…
All quilters and textile artists face the question of what to do with their scraps. I mean, they MIGHT come in handy one day, so it would be good to keep them, right? But, that requires not only space, but some sort of organizational system so the scraps can be seen and used. And what…
Do you ever hit a creative stumbling block? Or just don’t have the mental stamina to take on something major? How about a quick little collage with magazine pages. I especially like doing this with calendar images. Since the images already relate to one another, it makes for easier going. Here’s one I did with…