Dye Day with a friend

Inspiration hits..sometimes friends help.

I had a friend over to dye with today. Sometimes dyeing with others is not ideal but this woman just brings out the creativity inside of me.
So chilly and it rained off and on. Normally a horrible day for dyeing and one I would have avoided. Thank goodness she was here because I wouldn't have dyed otherwise.

Art Group Exercise on Anasazi Art Work

We worked on detail, using a piece of white cotton adhered to freezer paper. Why? So permanent and fabric pens wouldn't mush the fabric. The paper stiffens the fabric.
What you need;
1 White Fat Quarter
1 piece of Freezer paper
Permanent pens---they tend to run so act with caution but     they are good for bold lines.
Fabric Markers with different tips
If you want to fill in the white or are making a scene and want to color it Dyna flo and Lumiere paints work really well. Just remember to use a textile extender with the Lumiere paints.
Iron on the freezer paper (wax side to the fabric) to the fabric med. heat no steam.

Picture of ears of corn. The presenter had an example of  corn of the time.

A piece of pottery.

I like this one for a quilting design.

Once you start drawing you realize the absolute symmetry these artisans had.

Memorial Day

Every year for the last 4 years in Colorado Springs we have held a BBQ, today is no different. The only difference is we are having cancellations from families at the last minute. What to do? Tons of food and prep work....already done in anticipation of a large crowd.  What am I doing about it? Vodka. Vodka in my Arnold Palmer's.
I am stressed out and cant cope.
Tomorrow. I have a teeth cleaning scheduled and a maybe root canal. Friday she wasn't sure if it was a root canal procedure or a filling that needed to be done. Looks close to the nerve she said as she showed me the x-ray. To me it did not. But alas I am not the Doc. They couldn't schedule for the maybe root canal until the 4th of June, however they could do a cleaning on the 28th. after much bitching they said maybe they could do the root canal/filling after the cleaning. Did I mention this is a new Dentist. Did I mention we are an Active Duty military family that is scheduled to PCS in a month. That my husband just received his orders last Tuesday? That they were messed up as usual. That Monterey housing is blique at best with some of the worst schools in the nation?  $2900 a month for 1800 sq.ft.? First, last month + deposit. The Air Force does not pay for move in amounts...and our taxes are not back yet. $9000 to just move in to a place, when we find one. I am cleaning and getting rid of stuff--been doing this for awhile. The moving survey team should be here today or tomorrow.
I am however thankful for friends who are going to be taking care of the girls this week. The ones who are catching my every misstep. I suck at good-byes, I cry alot. 12 years and numerous moves later it has not gotten any easier....I will keep going and try not to worry about all the household items that will be broken,lost or stolen by our excellent movers and which we will be paid 40% on the dollar to replace.  I will not worry about our current landlord giving us our deposit back in a timely manner. I will not worry that one of our cars may or may not make it to CA. I will breathe. I will just keep saying that as I enjoy my drink of the day.

In the Shop

Finally!

"Arizona"

Just in time for summer vacation travel. I hope everyone tries one and sends me pictures of their finished products!

Discharged fabric with a gelatin monoprint fabric textile overlay.

My  babies, I hope they find good homes!

Art Quilt Kits

All the kits are now listed. 

The last days of school are upon us.

We move in 1 month....if my husbands orders ever get here.

The summer is planned and busy. 

The orders better get here soon or it messes up all the plans, new house, new school, time with extended family. That 60 day notice they tell you about in the military? Crap. We have never been given our notice 60 days notice in 13 years of being a military family. We know we are moving but when its not official you cannot get the go ahead to do anything until it comes through. Here is to crazy and trying to ignore the future.

Passageway

"Passages"
Thread can make all the difference! Gold metallic, beading, variegated green DMC, Coats and Clark rayon variegated green Invisafil in tan and  Valdani variegated threads in browns. This was done without a hoop and as you can tell I am still figuring out my beadwork!

Inspiration

Mountains, trees, life, dinner, time,sitting, space, love, family, togetherness, green, blue, brown, change,glass, mirror, plentiful, messy, full, glass houses,trendy, moving, wind, rain, stars and snow.
Inspiration. Where does it come from? How do you pick just one thing to move forward from? Life is your oyster. Is that not what we tell our children, each other and ourselves. Now days it seems to be all about being a winner. Not being a loser. Learn to fail, it will happen often. Be gracious and giving. Do your best but sometimes it will not be good enough.

My absolute favorite way to get inspiration is from a book. The 15th page of my favorite book on the 7th sentence.  You can pick your own book or have someone pick it out. Look for the 7th sentence on the 15th page. How does that sentence effect you now? What is going on in your life that, that sentence has value?

My second way to move forward on a project is to get down a dictionary and close my eyes, open the book, meander around with a finger, open my eyes and like magic there it is.

I have done this since I was a little girl. Spin a globe placing your finger on the surface lightly, where did you end up? What comes to mind when looking at the place that you have arrived at.

A true artist tells you that there is never failure, only opportunity for a broader spectrum of interpretation.
A quilter will tell you its a failure, cutting is wrong, stitching etc. what they wanted did not come to fruition. So move past that my fellow quilters and become an artist.

Crazy Quilting in Little Steps

Starting with a 4x6 piece of Muslin

Adding on a 2nd piece, you stitch through all 3 pieces fold over , press and repeat

My moms mothers day card

Turn into a card or finish a few and make a pillow or finish alot and make a blanket

My favorite stitching book that I still don't own...

Art Quilt Kit Before

Discharged Fabric with Gelatin Monoprint using textile paint

Metal Chains and Wool Roving

3 yarns

Sulky,Aurifil,Beading thread Beads and  Silk Square

Indigo Dyed Dryer Sheet
Commercial Fabric
Hand dyed Fabric

Kit as a whole
All the kits will include things you see here. They are all individualized though, so no two have the same things in them. Excluding the thread, but I will talk more about that at a later date...
All are easily transportable.
You provide the batting, backing fabric, binding and border fabric and needles.

The Art Quilt

The art quilt is a new endeavor, a chance at something new. I started making art quilts in 2005, at first I was just unsure of what I was supposed to be doing.  I like traditional quilting and felt and still feel that it is therapeutic to follow the rules and have an item that is purposeful.

After the 3rd art quilt I made, I just gave up. I went into the next one with no goal, only the intention of learning new skills.  This turned out to be the way to travel...finally letting go and just working on new skill sets. I have fallen in love with this kind of quilting and wanted to share it with everyone. A traditional quilter gone rogue...

This is a current art quilt I am working on.

I am going to sell pre-assembled art quilts in my shop Burnt Toast Ranch.

For this project I picked a word --Passages and sewed until it looked like a passage. 

My life, my soul for others to see.

"Passages"

Zombies

This is what I worked on this last week--250 zombie cookies. 2 days to bake and 2 days to frost. This was a fun gift to give to the students as a subtle reminder to keep their zombie plans close to the surface.
I purchased them here www.etsy.com/listing/109116006/zombie-cookie-cutters-halloween-themed?ref=shop_home_active

They are formed out of copper and can be rebent to make the zombies all look a little different-fat, thin etc.  The hatchets were my favorite and are from the early 1900's.