Linen Thread

50/3 weight linen thread, am going to love stitching with these beauties! These came from Wm. Booth Draper.

Thomas

What do you mean you can see me??? 

Lost Thread

It's in that small plastic tub, up there at the very top you know next to the ceiling of course!

Practice Piece

And now with some hand stitching and fabric paint added to the surface, will add more paint and then some more hand and machine stitching later this evening.

Practice No. 2

Well since I lost my orginal practice piece I whipped up another one this evening. 
Cochineal dyed cotton fabric, machine stitched, wool quilt batting, aurifil threads.

I couched down more sisal to pratice some stitches with, this "x" shape I bobbin stitched using aurifil wool thread.  Above view is the back side of the sample that was facing upwards when stitching. 

Top side after bobbin stitching, the aurifil wool thread doesn't like to feed through the top on my 6500S so I bobbin stitch with it instead.

I've couched down more sisal since this shot was taken, now I will experiment with hand stitching over the sisal and then machine stitching over the hand stitching to see which effect I prefer.  This all in anticipation of finishing Bjorkboda.

Encrusting Fabric

 

The round spots were created using marshmallows and puff medium. Fabric Paints, inks, and marshmallows on cotton fabric (left) and silk organza (right).

Well I seem to have misplaced one of my practice samples, to try a technique on, so in the process of looking for that piece I found this duo from 2007. 

Old Dye Bath

It's really old, as in several years old old!!!  Yes it smells and yes that's fabric in the dyebath, which I believe is madder root.

WIP - More Hands

From this, white fabric paint on cutch dyed cotton fabric...

Red nom, nom, nom,

To this...

And this...

For this...

Now that the first layer is done it's time to push the surface even further.

WIP - Hands , Etc.

Cutch dyed cotton fabric, fabric paint and inks.

Am having computer problems again, I didn't realize how stressful this had become until I tried turning on my main computer this afternoon and once again it refused to boot.  Seems it can't remember which drive to boot from, when I go into the BIOS to reset it it then cannot find the actual HD's.  This continious bug is making me cranky, and I'm not accomplishing much these days. 

Anyway, I spent some time in my wet studio, painted some fabric, cleaned a few messes, organized, painted the fabric again, and mostly sat in front of this computer amazed at how incredibly slow it is and how badly I need to update my equipment.  But that won't be for awhile yet, so carry on and dye fabric!

Auditioning Digitally Printed Fabrics

Grids and Lines with Corn

 

I think it goes without saying that harvest is my favorite time of the year!

Oak

The oaks are turning color slower than normal this year, drought related I'm sure, but finally they are turning! 

Just over the Horizon

Is a John Deere Combine!  I love the lines left behind after the crops have been harvested.

Pattern and Grids

Corn stalks baled and ready to be used as feed.

Bread and Butter Plates - I Bet you thought I Forgot!

Bread and butter plates a potter once told me, make bread and butter plates. When I questioned his sanity, since I'm a mixed media fiber artist and not a potter, he told me to always have something small that my admirer's would want to purchase from me. 

In the Artist Conspiracy (I'm an affiliate) this past year we have been learning about managing multiple streams of income, this has been both a hard and an easy goal for me.  Easy to think up multiple streams of income.  Hard, because I often lack focus and am still working on the organization skills needed to move towards my goal. 

So what are my bread and butter plates?  Well stay tuned because those are coming soon, many of you already know about my eBooks and my fabrics,  but there's more coming! 

So what are you doing to add to your multiple streams of income?

Shop Rags

I have started giving John fat quarters whenever he stains or paints a new frame for me, the marks that are left behind are quite interesting and definately have some potential.

My shop rags aren't so bad either, these need a little bit more abuse and they will be ready for stitching.

Now to just find some time to paint and dye fabric.

Maple Tree Inspiration

The neighbors  maple had very little in the way of yellow and orange on it this year.

WIP - 101012

Trying to decide on an orientation and a focal point for this piece.

I think I may go with the horizontal presentation this time.

WIP - Hoodoos

I was going to use this piece for experimentation, adding paint and ink post stitching now I'm not so sure, will see when the stitching is finished.

Wool thread in the bobbin, this is the back of the piece, oops!

Drawing Table

From this, gobs of canning jars in my way...

To this, squash and pumpkin heaven!  I'll be spending some time tomorrow drawing pumpkins, etc., now that my other drawnig table has been emptied of Falls bounty.

Pepper

Pepper being himself~!

Practice No. 2

I think this has to be the ugliest fabric I've ever stitched in terms of texture, etc! 

Copper dyed silk stretchy crepe de chine.  Machine stitched with Aurifil wool and cotton threads.  Wool quilt batting, cochineal dyed cotton backing fabric.

Oops, and this is why it's called practice, I meant to stitch around these holes, holes that were created in the stitching process.  The two threads are the same color, one is cotton, they other wool.