Arashi Shibori Silk Scarves

What I've been doing lately. I've been currently pretty busy with fiber work. I've been using the Arashi Shibori process to create one-of-a-kind silk scarves. Some I leave with the result of the discharge process.

They can be used in diverse ways: as neck scarves of course, but also as belts and headbands. I also plan to use some in future fiber art work.

Others I hand paint. This is a close up of part of a hand-painted scarf.

And another.

This is what the scarf looks like before painting and

I leave some like this as I love this look. It can be worn with anything.

These scarves are 52 inches long and 11 inches wide. They are perfect year round as the silk is so comfortable, adjusts to body temperature and it keeps drafts off the neck and down the back. They are also light enough for spring and summer use.

Contact me if you are interested in purchasing these one-of-a kind pieces of wearable art.

Fabulous Fiber

Want bright?
Some of the fabrics painted with Jacquard DynaFlo in Liz Berg's workshop.


I added metallic to give it a little bling.

I believe this is out of focus, but you get the idea.

This might mix with some shibori-dyed pieces I've been hoarding. All of these pieces and more are painted on a very supple Pima cotton from Dharma and they still have a soft hand. They are for wall art.

Painted Fabric

I've spent the last three weeks trying to solve a major computer crash, so Saturday's paint day was a refreshing change. British quilt artist Maureen Thomas, www.aquiltartist.com, is here visiting friends Judy Mathieson and Pat Scoville, so Judy decided to have a paint party/class and twelve lucky Sonoma County quilt artists were treated to Maureen's fabric paint techniques. Maureen uses Jacquard's DynaFlow paints and talk about instant gratification! I usually dye fabrics and use paints as a surface design, but because the paint dries quickly in the California sun and it requires no batching, fabric can be painted and used the same day!



Creasing diagonally and applying paint to the tops of the wet pieces created this effect. Little splotches of iridescent paint were dripped over the paint. Our day included a British lunch which consisted of cucumber-salmon sandwiches, tomato and watercress, basil and chicken. No crusts! Wonderful scones with lemoon curd. The British don't drink iced tea, Maureen said.



I used Liquitex fluid acrylics on my pieces. I didn't water them down as we were working on wet fabric but I found Maureen's fabric has a nicer hand so I'll try watering them down next time.



The Liquitex reacted exactly like Setacolor on my sun prints and that is a good thing to know. Dynaflow does the same. These are Nandina leaves from Judy's garden. I also printed her fern fronds.





Freezer paper resists work well also. The freezer paper was ironed on before painting. They allow the paint to wick under the paper for a soft edge. The stars were added after painting. See how sharp those edges are.

Another good piece of news, My piece "New Moon Created" has been chosen to tour with the SAQA "Fibrations" exhibit. Computer complaints: Can't find my quilt log anymore since the crash. Or my pictures, but I can't recreate those. Oh well, Back to creating art tomorrow!

Dog House

Dog House is a small, 12" X 12" piece completed for a Breaking Traditions challenge benefiting Bonnie Berguin's school for dogs for the disabled. The theme is "home" and the quilts will be posted online and then travel to different venues. Ihe doghouse is a depiction of Charles Schulz "Snoopy" doghouse to honor Mr. Schulz who lived close to me and was a huge supporter of Ms. Berguin's efforts. The dogs are painted versions of my Bichons. Enjoy.
I'm still trying to complete my large quilt and I just completed a printed portfolio. Pictures of that later.

ONWARD

This is one of the pieces I've been playing with this week. Hand-dyed fabric, paint-stamped images, foiled. I like the way this turned out although I have to clean up the exterraneous foiling.

It took me all day to load this on my longarm. I really need this other arm to come to the party! I actually quilted 2 small quilts last week for our community service project and have a couple more to finish. But this is a piece I've been working on for a couple of years. It is painted silk, with appliqued images--- so far. I wanted to add texture to the background before appliqueing my other images. Stay Tuned!

Freedom - SAQA Trunk Show

"Freedom" is the realization of a dream. A Democratic President willing to bring values back to the American people and the world. I sure hope it works. So I got my photo uploeded in time, but I misread the call and trimmed my piece to 8X8 inches. Oh no! That's the size of the opening and I needed aminimum of 9 inches square. I blame it on my stroke. I blame all my missteps on my stroke. Maybe I need to pay more attention or get someone to help me. I get confused so easily now. Oh well, I was hoping to get a place in SAQA history. Not thistime, but I'm sure proud of those who will make it. (congrats Carol, Jill and the others)

Viva Vino

I posted this picture several weeks ago, but it needed work, so I redid parts of it. I got some excellent suggestions from Quiltart members. The finished piece is below. What do you think?

I even changed the name from Autumn Splendor to Viva Vino

This piece is being exhibited at Moshin Winery, Healdsburg, CA thru February. Stop by if you are in the area.

I jist finished watching the Barbara Walters special on Patrick Swayze and his wife Lisa. Boy, if anyone needs inspiration on how to deal with tragedy, this will help. The man is amazingly courageous and BW did a great interview.

Vote 2008

So. When I go shopping, my public knows my politics. One of my Art quilt groups (Pointless Sisters) have a challenge going to make some kind of green shopping bag. So I decided to combine the challnge with my desire to have Obama elected. Someone on the Art Quilt list posted about a Move On challenge. Maybe I'll check it out. I stencilled the letters with Shiva paint sticks and painted the photo with Setacolor paints. I made extra long handles as I need to shlep things over my shoulder on my good arm, or else everything hits the floor.

I was extra lazy today and watched movies. I had lower intestinal ouchies which seem to have made their way out of my system. I plan to work on my Black and White challenge tomorrow. I'm supposed to be working on my Olympic challenge but the marathon is so boring, I'm bailing until something more exciting comes along.

An aside, the baby quilt above was delivered last night and was well received. Thank goodness! Ta ta till next time.

Another failed experiment

Caran d'ache neocolors on Lutrador doesn't work for me. I like the design, not the technique. I wonder what I'll do with it next?

I spent today trying to stay cool. The San Francisco Bay Area homes are not built for this kind of heat and many of us have no air conditioning. 104 degrees is just too much for me unless I'm in water and I can't swim anymore, so I stayed inside and melted. It's after 6pm now, I'm sitting here with a frozen ice block down the front of my shirt and it's still 99 degrees. I have several things I am working on, but unfortunatelty they are at a stage that needs ironing. NOT TODAY. So I printed out some images I'll be using in my Pointless Sisters shopping bag challenge. Enough for now.

Anyone for Acrylics?

I've been exploring painting landscapes and taking a break from abstracts. I am fortunate to live in Sonoma County, California. It is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Lovely vineyards and a short drive to the ocean and I still have room to breath, yet I'm still close to San Francisco. So I joined an artist's group and we have a show coming up at the end of the month.


200 acres of Gallo's premium Chardonnay grapes are at the end of my road, but I chose a red variety for the color contrast.



The marguerites are all in bloom, so I made up a little still life of those. I don't think it is finished yet. I'd love some feedback on these, so feel free to comment.


I see a misshapen vase. It is interesting that I ddidn't really notice that till now. Guess what I'll be doing tomorrow.

Boo hoo. Michael Johns got booted off AI tonite. I hope he gets a record deal. Great voice.

On to reading email. Don't forget to say hi.

Resist some more

This is one of the pieces I experimented on with flour resist. I originally used a very watered down black Seta color and let it sit for 3 days. Upon inspection, it didn't look dark enough so I added Versatex black to the mixture and overpainted it and let it sit a few more days and then rinsed it out. It is a little muddier than I expected, but thay may have been from the overpainting. The original piece was dyed with Procion MX dyes then discharged. Am I finished with it? Who knows. I'll have to let it simmer in this crazy brain of mine. I'll do some more of this. I still haven't done the potato resist yet. I will soon.

I completed Lesson 4 of Liz Berg's Better By Design online class and the homework for Lesson 5 gives me a chance to put what I've learned to work while making a couple of small pieces. Great teacher, great class.

Butterfly Parade

Butterfly Parade is my entry for this year's Pointless Sisters challenge. It is due next month, but I showed it today at our annual luncheon at Pat's house. We were told we had to start with white fabric and it must measure 8" X 42". The fabric is a silk/cotton mixture that I love. It has the luminosity of the silk, but the cotton makes it much easier to work with AND it doesn't fray. I dyed the fabric with Procion dyes and painted the details with Tsusineko inks. Each butterfly was fused individually then machine appliqued and machine quilted. All the pieces will be hanging in the Rincon Valley library show in March. To bed. Class homework tomorrow!

New Year, New Stuff

Well, I have survived another year and another birthday. I survived the New Year's storms with only a few downed branches, but I may not survive the bill from the pump and well company who gave me back my water (no flushing). I have been creating consistently since the holidays. I completed one piece, hints are in the pictures, and am working on another. So, what's the problem?


Part of my problem is that the house is still decorated for the holidays and I have to wait for help to UNdecorate it! My workrooms are full of all the things I moved to make room for Christmas. The birdcage is on my surface design table and my kitchen table is a poor substitute.
Too cold to paint today. I'll try to do some tomorrow. I've been missing it. I've been thinking about doing some artwork in my guest bathroom.I'm not sure I'm UP to it, but I may be able to get part of it done. (the lower part). I've also been making some new stamping materials. I have decided that I will experiment with several of the techniques I've learned but haven't put to use yet. More on the pictures later...