Yes, I did say that once.
I really need to remove the word "never" from my vocabulary.
These are for a swap on MQResource. They aren't due until AUGUST 31! Yes, I'm really early! The base is made from the left over bits from the box I made this weekend. I didn't have enough energy yesterday to do any quilting so I decided hand work would require less effort. These were a lot of fun to make and they will go in the mail to Carla tomorrow.
but my niece's gift box is finally done! Alana, I plan to bring it to you Thursday and it will even have the gift in it! This one, like Kim's is also done with postage stamps, dyed cheesecloth, silk fibers, yarns, angelina and metallic threads. The fabric on the inside is one of the first fabrics that I ever dyed and printed when my friend, Anne, made the mistake of introducing me to fabric dyeing!
This box was great therapy. To say my morning started off badly would be an understatement. Let's just say that it's good that we are having company tonight so that I finally found the problem in the guest house left by our last guests 3 weeks ago. After a few hours of sewing I can say that all is calm and well now!
Here's the gift box that I made for Kim. The base is felt that is covered with dyed cheesecloth, silk fibers, snips of yarn, gold thread and postage stamps. I bought a huge bag of postage stamps from eBay really cheap and I really like them used this way. I had enough if the sheet left to make her birthday postcard too.
Inside is this great stationery that I found when Sue, Summerset and I went shopping together in April. This stationery is so perfect for Kim. I had to buy it as soon as I saw it.
I pulled out a lot of my supplies Saturday to show Margie all of the cool things she could use to make postcards. Since it was all out I decided to spend the rest of the weekend making some of the postcards and gift boxes that I needed to get done. I'm not finished but I made a great start and have my two PC swaps ready and my birthday postcards caught up!
First, I made these 3 mixed media sheets. The first two are for gift boxes. Both of these are made with canceled stamps.
I bought a baggie full of them from eBay for less than $10, including shipping. These are made on a layer of felt then a layer of Mistyfuse, cut up pieces of painted cheesecloth and silk fibers, another layer of Mistyfuse, the stamps and bits of yarn, more Mistyfuse, some Angelina and a layer of tulle. There was a lot of Mistyfuse love going on this weekend! Glad I bought a bolt of white and black.
Both of the pink/red sheets are for gift boxes. This green one is made from fortunes that I've been saving from my fortune cookies for a while. It was done with basically the same layers as the pink ones. Then I fused the sheet to a layer of Pellon Peltex and quilted it with a metallic thread. I cut it into 9 postcards making sure that I had at least 2 fortunes on each card. Here's the finished card. I think these will be good for male birthday cards.
and here's part of the big mess that I have to clean up tomorrow!
I can't believe it, I finished my February Take It Further challenge one day early!
Sharon's challenges have 2 components. The theme component for February is "what are you old enough to remember?". I posted some thoughts on that here. The color palette is this group of blues and taupes.
As I looked at the colors it reminded me of going to the beach as a child. That was a time when people generally took one week of vacation - a pack-up-the-car-and-go-somewhere-else vacation. We went to Long Beach, NC for our vacations. At that time (late '60's/early '70's) that beach was desolate! As a child I hated it. The kids wanted to go to Myrtle Beach, SC where every kid in the Southeast went on vacation. Of course today I would only go to the deserted beach so I can only imagine what kind of nightmare Myrtle beach with 4 kids would have been for my parents! So I did my TIF piece about the beach using something close to the assigned color scheme.
For my technique I went back to the cavern interpretation that I did for one of my triptych challenges in January. This is made from batting, yarn and MistyFuse and that's about it! I made the base with fused layers of yarns. The base is cut into the diamond shapes and reassembled. I tried to get a light effect in the center going but my sand layer just didn't cooperate.
My in-house critic and I agree that this isn't one of my big winners but I don't think I am done trying to make this technique work. It's too much fun to do! You are welcome to leave some honest critical feedback. I would really appreciate some honest opinions.
Now I get one day rest before I have to start thinking about the March challenge!
I have been participating in a triptych challenge on the MQResource board. We were put into groups of three. Each person sent photos to the other two participants for interpretation. The finished pieces are 8.5" x 10.5". I'll be honest, I haven't even started my own piece but I will do it soon. I mailed both of my pieces today and I warned my partners that I was posting today so they wouldn't look if they wanted a surprise.
The first piece is based on this photo sent my Beth.
Here's my interpretation. Beth wanted the sailboat to be the focus. I used the same technique that I used for my Splash postcard. I had been wanting to do that technique again I knew it was perfect for this as soon as I saw the photo.
The sails are made of silk and they are padded with some batting to give them dimension and to keep the background from showing through.
Here's the photo that I received from Judy.
This one was more challenging for me. On my first attempt I tried to reproduce the photo. What a disaster - a funny disaster, but a complete and total disaster. Every time I showed it to Chris he just shook his head "no" and quietly went back to reading his book. I put that aside and slept on it. The next morning I had the solution and two nights later I had this.
It's the same yarn technique. The backgrounds of both pieces are made of layers of yarn arranged directly on batting. In this one I sliced the finished piece into diamonds, rearranged the pieces and zig-zagged them back together. the final step was couching black yarn over the seams.
In two days the next Take It Further Challenge will be posted. I will work on my own Triptych piece (my photos are doors) during February and it would be so nice if it fit the TIF theme or color palette! I'm also started the Art Quilt Workbook in February. I would say that I need to stop signing up for things but I do learn a lot through these exercises and challenges.
I did it! I actually completed my January Take It Further Challenge! I admit that about a week ago I was having some doubts and regrets about signing up for this. I wrote about my initial thoughts and inspirations on this project here. My thoughts for a piece to properly honor my Grandmother turned into something that I couldn't complete in time. I plan to come back to that later but wanted to get something done for the January project. It was then that I started looking for my sketchbook. I couldn't find it anywhere so that meant that my project should BE a sketchbook.
Here it is and it does still include some references to my Grandmother but primarily uses the color palette of the TIF challenge. The base is a silk dupioni. The purple lace is a piece of lace curtain that hung in my Grandmother's house. I've had these for years and have wanted to do something with them. I love the floral motif in the lace. I painted a section purple and fused it to the base with Mistyfuse. I used ric-rac to trim the sketchbook to keep within the '50's - 60's time frame.
The buttons for the closure could have actually come from her button bag which I "inherited". There's a large mother of pearl with a green flower Bakelite button on top. They are attached with embroidery floss.
The book is trimmed with a satin stitch in the light green and the edged with dark purple baby ric-rac.
The binder rings are dressed in left over bits of ric-rac and embroidery floss.
The pages are 7.5" x 9.5" and by using binder rings I can replace or add pages whenever I need. I added 3 book marks made from ric-rac with large mother of pearl beads attached. The pocket on the inside front cover is made from an orphan block from my Great-Grandmother's quilt box. I folded it in half, added ric-rac trim to the top and stitched pockets between the blocks. The first sheet in the book is a pocket page to hold sheets of tracing paper.
Now I am ready for Sharon to issue the February challenge - I have a sketchbook to work in!
I made this for a Chirstmas gift but couldn't show it until I gave it to Kim. She got it today! It's basically a giant envelope. I made it as the packaging for a sewing book but wanted her to be able to use it as a project folder. For the base fabric I basically used the technique in the Fibre&Stitch Checkbook Cover. It's a free project on their web site. I used Timtex as the base and determined the size of the envelope from the book.
It's very pink. I'm over pink.
I took a break from the sewing room today for Christmas with my family. We had a great time seeing everyone although my niece had a cold and didn't feel up to any festivities. There are a couple of sewing-related gifts to report. First, my Mom got me the Myrna Longarm Ruler Organizer. We saw this at Houston and I almost bought it there and have been wanting it ever since! After I finish this post I'll be setting it up with all of my templates and rulers.
The second gift is really one that Chris received. It's the Coleman Hands-Free Utility Light. He really should put this thing away somewhere because I got very attached to it on he ride home! I was able to use it in the car and start the pink and green braid that you see in the photo. I started the other braid last night and finished it on the ride to Mom's house.
This Kumihimo disk is lots of fun and you quickly get in the rhythm of the braiding steps. These braids are all the standard round braid. Next I want to try a couple of other braid methods. What fun! Why didn't someone tell me about these earlier?
Tomorrow it's back to real work........
I promise, I am ALMOST done with the boxes. This one is for my friend Denise. She lives in California and I have not mailed her Christmas gift to her yet because I didn't have the box for the gift made! I talked to her today and she wanted me to open my gift, which she sent on time. I told her we will open them together on the phone when hers arrives. At least I now know it will go in the mail on the 24th.
This one sort of fits in the stash control category too. 
This is a fabric that I bought several years ago at the International Quilt Festival in Houston. I've been "saving it for the right project". I think that has become a very bad habit so I've been trying to breal it. I cut the fabric so that the pattern matches around the box. The box is about 11" x 8.5" and 2.5" tall and the lid is attached in the back. I added 3 rock beads (from an old necklace) to the front of the lid. The inside is a commercial fabric that looks hand dyed.
It's been way too long since I last posted. Things have been very strange here at the Welsh home. We've had a social life this week! Mom was here last weekend and we had visitors Tuesday and Wednesday evening. I'm still in shock! Who knew that people wanted to visit us? LOL! OK, Mom doesn't count, she just wanted to play with Willie. The rest of the Christmas holiday will be quite relaxed. We have a Christmas Eve dinner to attend and will celebrate Christmas with my family on the 26th. In the mean time I will endeavor to finish making boxes for my gifts - several will be very late!
This is the one that I have been working on for DAYS! The box design is from Sue Blieweiss' Mixed Media class at joggles.com. She is teaching this one again starting in January. If you are interested in Mixed Media, I highly recommend this class!
This box, called "At a Loss For Words?" is for someone that I work with. We both have a lot of odd jobs. She coordinates all of our corporate charitable giving but I know her well because we run an associate networking program together. She also write speeches for the President and other executives. That's how I developed the idea for the box.
The mixed media sheet is made on a piece of light blue felt and covered in silk roving fibers. The white paper are torn dictionary pages. Next I added snips of fibers and yarns and light blue tulle. The words are stamped with Stewart Gill paints - Colourize mixed with Alchemy.
This box has over 30 pieces! It took about 5 bobbins to do all of the stitching. But it's well work the effort. It's quite sturdy.
The box is for her to use when she hits a creative wall. She can choose from three drawers: "nouns", "verbs" and "profanity". And inside the drawers? What we all need when we hit a creative wall - CHOCOLATE!!
Now I'm off to the store to get the fixins for Chex Mix - I got a craving for the treat last night. Later I will post all of the postcards that I've received recently and maybe another project. This one is the most complex for the season!
My weekend list is still mostly undone. I've been busy all weekend bit things are talking longer than planned! My Mom is here and is quilting her THIRD quilt of the weekend. I feel like we're running a sweat shop! All I accomplished is these 2 boxes for Christmas gifts. I'm really please with both of them but they sure took a long time! then cool thing is that I used some yarns and specialty fabrics that I've had in my stash for a while and had not used yet. I didn't use much of them but I did use them!
In the stash control front I made 2 purchases this week: a pillow form for a specific project and this lame gadget. It was only $10 and I thought I might be able to use it to sew my backing fabrics onto the zippers for the longarm. I hate using pins because I always stick myself at some point in the process. Don't bother to try the Sew Quick, it didn't work for the leaders. I think next I will buy a curved stapler as recommended by Jessica Schick in a class at MQX last year. Fabric wise, I used about a yard of fabric for my gift box projects and Mom shopped the stash for some binding fabric. Not much usage but no additions either!
Back to box and gift bag making......
I suppose I've happened upon my craft theme for Christmas 2007 - packaging!
These two boxes will go to my hairdresser today. A few years ago I gave her a couple of glass ornaments for Christmas. Little did I know that I started a tradition! She loves them and leaves them out all year. Her signature color is pink (even the outside of her house is pink) so I usually buy her ornaments that aren't in Christmas-y colors. I've never wrapped the ornaments in any special way before and knowing Donna, the box is likely to become a new tradition as well.
Here's the inside. I just love the long skinny one for the icicle ornament! it's about 8" x 1". To all of you that have done the inchie charms - you have my deepest respect! Those tiny end pieces were very fiddly. I can't wait to deliver these this afternoon.
It's still the basic box pattern from Fibre and Stitch. Here are the ingredients - from left to right. It's all done on a base of dark red felt. The first layer fused is the gradient pink-to-purple silk chiffon (from the stash - it was there so I used it!). I tore off big pieces and let it pleat across the felt foundation. Next I added a layer of Mistyfuse. I cut squares from the pink sparkle dot remnant and tossed them around the piece and then added loads of the pink and purple acrylic threads, cut pieces of the Superior metallic silver thread and finally loads of sequins sprinkled everywhere. Another layer of Mistyfuse to hold all of that in place and a final layer of pink tulle was fused on top. I wanted these boxes to be sturdy so I added a layer of Timtex between the felt outer layer and the green lining. It's nearly impossible to fuse the Timtex to the felt layer so I quilted the outer layer and the Timtex with Superior Glitter Hologram in silver before I fused on the lining.
Specialty threads have really come a long way. Starting with the postcards this past weekend and now the two boxes, I have used a variety of acrylic, Wonderfil (poly and metallic) and Superior (metallic) threads and have been using a standard 80/12 needle with no problems at all. I remember when you had to have a special needle and say a lot of prayers to get Sliver or one of the other early metallics to sew properly. Thread technology has certainly come a long way!
There are several more boxes (and some bags) in my future. These are loads of fun to make and everything is coming from the stash!
but if you were getting birthday gift Wednesday would you rather have the gift in the plain white box or the black box with the red and silver dots?
I made this for my friend's birthday gift. She doesn't generally read the blog on a regular basis so I hope she keeps to that habit this week. I basically used the Fibre&Stitch Box tutorial. The inside fabric is hand-dyed. The decoration is foil fused to the box. I cut a top piece big enough for the top and sides and fused WonderUnder circles all over it and then fused the foil to the circles. I cut out the individual pieces after the foiling was done. I have one of those Clover mini-irons and it was really useful on this project. The thread is Sulky rayon that has been in my thread stash for years and the black fabric was a scrap piece just big enough to make the entire box. I love it. I might have to make one for myself! It took less than 2 hours start to finish.
I have seen references recently to Wonderfil threads. I've only recently heard of them. I don't know if that's because they are new or because I live under a rock (which I do most of the time). I was asking Sue B about them and she offered to send me a couple of spools to try. I used the 40wt rayon last night on my checkbook cover. It sewed beautifully. I mostly use Superior threads because that's what I've been buying for Willie. I use them for all of my sewing. I decided to start off my day today with a bit of testing to see how the Wonderfil and Superior threads compare.
I have left all of the photos large so that you can click on them to see the full detail image if you want. I didn't determine that either thread is better than the other. I'd be happy with both to sew on my DSM. It does appear that the Superior threads have a much tighter twist and the Wonderfil threads feel "softer" on the spool. I haven't tried yet but I suspect that the Wonderfil would not run so well on a longarm.
The Wonderfil 40 wt rayon is comparative to Superior Highlights.
The Wonderfil DecoBob appears to be an almost exact match to Superior Bottom Line
The Wonderfil and Superior Metallic threads also seem to be an almost exact match. The Wonderfil sample that I have is a really nice variegated. I do not think that Superior has a color similar to this one.
This isn't a sewing sample. Wonderfil has a decorative thread called Dazzle. It seems to compare to Superior's Razzle Dazzle but the Razzle Dazzle has a much higher metallic content. Both are good depending on the effect you want.
I assume that these thread lines are developed for different uses and different markets but there are good comparisons with certain products (above). I have a few other samples of Wonderfil but nothing on the Superior side that really compares. I like these Wonderfil threads and can see that I'm about to start collecting some of the non-Superior-like lines! Here are the links to both company's web sites:
Mom reminded me to post about a tip that we picked up in the Jean Wells Keenan class at Houston. One of our classmates brought this one to us. It's a tip to help isolate and match colors in small quantities in photos or fabric (or whatever). All it takes is an index card with a 1" (more or less) square cut into the card along with a very small hole at least an inch and a half away. In this example I have placed the hole in the card over a small patch of an orange daylily. With that color isolated I can then place fabric or color chips under the larger opening until I find the matching color. I thought this was just brilliant!
I should be working on some tasks or one of the many project that I have underway but I wanted to play with my new paints. I talked about these in my Houston - Day 3 report. The paints came with a really nice book showing how to use the paints and even has a page with directions for making a test swatch. it was a good exercise because I got to try out a little of each paint. Where I had comparable paints, I also did the test with Jacquard paints to compare the brands.
The Stewart Gill Colourize compares to Jacquard Textile Colors and behaved similarly in the painting test. The SG MetaMica compares to Jacquard Lumiere but the glitter in MetaMica might me finer than Lumiere. That's about where the similarity ends - at least with the jacquard paints that I have used.
This sample at left is made by painting a layer of SG white Pearlize and then painting over it with a blend of Pearlize with red Colourize. I just scooped a tiny bit of Pearlize into a plastic spoon and gradually added drops of red to get the gradient. I love the shimmery effect of this paint.
The sample below is made by painting a layer of Colourize and then painting over it with Alchemy. The 4 colors are White Mist, Opal, Seaspray and White Hot. I painted it straight out of the bottle but I think it could be thinned. Isn't that a great effect?
I also bought Byzantia but the sample just doesn't photograph well but it is a beautiful superfine glittery paint. I love it too.
Now to come up with a good project to use them! Speaking of which, since coming home I've become a little overwhelmed by lists running around in my head. On top of that I got two more work projects assigned this week. Time for lists! I made a work list (still overwhelming and long but at least it's in one place) and a sewing list. It's long too but here are the things that I have to focus on first:
If you've read this far be sure that you post a comment on this post to be included in my Blogiversary drawing this weekend!
Look at this great wrapfolio that Sue B sent to me! This will be my dye diary.
Pardon me while I head off to my dye room to transfer my notes into this book......
I don't have much to offer in the way of my own projects this week but I had a fantastic mail day when this package arrived in the mail from Sue B.
Isn't that clever wrapping and I love the cording. I think it's made with the Diva Cord Maker and I've got to get one! Here's what was inside....
This is from the 4th lesson of the Joggles Mixed Media class. I stil can't believe that the base for this is painted paper towels! Kim, this one is yours - hope you like it!
It's supposed to be WIP Wendesday but today, for me, it was "work finished" Wednesday for a change! Aside from finishing the QOV quilt I also made these photo album covers using the mised media techiques I've learned in the Joggles Mixed Media class. These are photo albums for my niece and nephew that recently graduated from high school. I used their graduation announcements and commencement programs. For cheap Dollar General photo albums I think they look pretty good!
Yesterday I picked up some pre-dyed silk hankies. My Mom picked the color to match her bedroom. Here's the result. I split one hankie into 4 layers and this vase is made from two layers. It's about 5" tall.
The weekend is here and it's all creating all weekend! Things got off to a good start last night. I finished all of the blocks for the Friendship Star QOV while my Mom quilted her Quilt For an Hour quilt. (She will kill me when she sees that I posted a picture, I had to sneak to take it).
The photo was actually this morning while she was on her last row of quilting. While she did that I worked on some mixed media surfaces - this stuff is so addicting! Two of them are collages for photo book covers for my niece and nephew - made from their graduation announcements and programs. The other two are painted paper towels for Joggles Mixed Media Class. These are for lesson 4. I admit I though painting a paper towel was kind of lame - now that I've done it, I GET it!
All of these photos are of the surfaces still wet. This afternoon I'll start putting the QOV top together and Mom will start her second quilt. Then we will go meet some friends at our favorite LQS. Not a bad day, huh?
This was an interesting (read messy) one! It's made from a painted silk cap. I didn't think I was going to be able to get it off the mold but it worked in the end. It's about 10 inches tall. I will have to do more of these!
What do I do with my mixed media leftovers? Why, make a tissue box cover! I had a big piece of my mixed media sheet left over from the box that I made yesterday so I had to do something productive with it.
Lesson 2 from the Mixed Media Class is this box with a surprise inside!
This was a fun project and I love the box - but it sure was time consuming!
I finally finished the first lesson of the Mixed Media class at joggles. This is a sketchbook made from a surface of torn pattern pages ant then painted with some Radiant Rain. After cutting the mixed media page apart and positioning it on the felt, it is covered with tulle and then zig zag topstitched around all of the shapes. The thread is a Superior Metallic. I enjoyed this one!
Next up is the box with drawers. I just painted organza for that project and will get started once it's dry.
I finally got one of my mixed media sheets made into something. My first project was an album for some of my fabric postcards. I used the torn paper/thread sheet. The base for the front and back covers is cardboard from a USPS Priority Mail box. I covered the inside of each board with a batik fabric and wrapped the fabric to the front for about 1" all the way around. It is fused to the cardboard. I cut the mixed media sheet with the wavy rotary cutter and made the shee slightly smaller than the cover so that the batik would show around the edges. (Can you believe that I've had that wavy cutter for about 5 years and I've never used it!) I drilled holes for the grommets and used 4 large binder rings. The lettering is stamped on using some alphabet stamps that I picked up at a discount store. I need two more postcard books for the rest of the collection!
I also got in my new joggles order and have my fusible web re-stocked so I can get back to the other projects.
I started the Joggles Mixed Media class this week. It is being taught by Sue Bleiweiss. In the first lesson we are making three different papers and two projects. I don't have my projects done yet but I did finish the papers. These are great fun to make. I did have one little problem - I'm allergic to one of the products. I think it's the gel medium but might be the paints. Going forward I'll be wearing gloves! Here are the first papers:
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