Field Trips in Fiber - Adventures in quilting, hand dyed fabric and fiber art.

Bits and Pieces

"Bits and pieces" are my words for the weekend because I've spent the entire weekend working on my Fiberactions challenge. The theme is Communications and  I decided on the first challenge that my entire series will be done as an exploration of kaleidoscopes and symmetry.

This photo shows all of the fabrics I am using and some of the bits that will not be in the final piece. I'm doing the technique very differently this time and it took a while to figure out the best way to do it but it's all coming together now.

I still have a lot of cutting to do but I will get it done on time!

One thing I have learned on this project is that Mistyfuse is AWESOME! It even fuses slivers really well....as you will see in 15 days.

Drafting some placemat patterns

Do you remember these napkins and fabric from Thursday's post? I want to make placemats to match the napkins and I want them to be very simple.

I worked out a few ideas in Electric Quilt. When I make placemats they must be simple and quick because I use them and don't want to get upset if one winds up with a big tomato stain. Here are a few ideas. I think that for these fabrics I like D and E but any of them would work. I could even make one of each since I have 6 napkins. Not sure when or if these will happen thought but they sure would be a nice antidote to the gray winter weather!

Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival

Isn't it amazing how much easier it is to get up early for a fun day than for a work day? I was out of the house by 8 am (EARLY FOR ME) yesterday to pick up Kim and Anne and head to the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival in Hampton, VA. We met up with my Mom and her friend, Rita there as well. It was a day trip for all of us. One of the things I like about that show is that it really is doable in a day trip. The quilt exhibits were very good. The quality of the judged quilts seems to get better every year.

I don't have photos of the quilts because I was busy injecting fuel into the economy. There seemed to be less people at the show but the ones that were there did seem to be buying. We did our part!

Anne and I almost always start off at Handloom Batik. Last year I bought the red, black and gray fat quarters and have an idea percolating so I picked up 3 1 yard cuts to blend with them. We love this vendor. This lady works the booth by herself and always has some interesting new fabrics. She is very nice and attentive and love to chat with you when she has time.

This was sort of a frivolous purchase because I liked the lizards but many of them are symmetrical images so I can use this fabric in my kaleidoscope blocks!

I was primarily on a mission for symmetrical fabrics and I found the mother-lode at Batik Tambal. This booth had a lot of unique batik fabrics and it was difficult to limit myself to these. It was nice to discover that they have a full web site so I don't have to wait a year to buy more!

My totally random purchase was these two batik fabrics from Maine-ly Sewing. I love the bright colors and when we .were told that these were on sale for $5.50 a yard I had to have them - 4 yards each of them! Anne picked up two others.

EVERY year one of us just has to go back to Handloom Batik for one more thing and EVERY year we both buy something else. I picked up these two 1-yard cuts of handwoven fabrics. They are heavier than the normal cottons and I think the one on the right needs to be a handbag.

I don't know about Anne and Kim, but I was exhausted.....in a good way!

New in my Etsy shop

Here are 6 of the 10 new fabrics that I added to my Etsy shop this week.

 

My vintage linen habit

My friend, Cindy, is crafty and talented in lots of ways. One of her great talents is finding the very best deals at estate sales and thrift shops. I have a weakness for vintage linens - especially napkins that I can dye. In the past year or so Cindy has been keeping an eye out for me for linens that I can dye. I love making placemats and I like having old linens that I can dye to match. Recently she brought me a huge haul and today I finally got around to washing them:

 

No, I don't iron them until after they are dyed. But there are lots of great things in here.

 

There are sets of napkins tha tare in great condition and are perfect for dyeing.

 

Some are polyester and will not dye but I think they will be fun to paint. I can either use them as napkins or ctr them up and use them in some of my mixed media projects.

 

Some of the items are either stained or torn. They are perfect to dye and cut up the good parts for projects.

 

Then there were these cute napkins. I liked them just as they are and thought I should keep them as is and maybe make some placemats to match. Which made me think....

that I had this Mary Engelbreit fabric that I bought a couple of years ago. It matches perfectly! Cool!

Now to dream up some placemat pattern options. But not tonight or tomorrow. Tonight I have fabric to load to my Etsy shop and tomorrow I will be at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Show in Hampton, VA. I'm hoping to run into a few of my blog friends there and to not spend too much money. Ha!