Quilted Expressions at the Blanden

Join me this Saturday

the

Quilted Expressions Opening!!!

Blanden Memorial Art Museum, Fort Dodge, Iowa

January 28th from 3pm to 5pm

Artist Talk 3:30pm

Exhibit runs January 28th thru April 15th

Stitching Again

It feels good to be stitching once again, whilest awaiting layers of drying paint to cure.  This piece is about 8x10 inches in size, machine stitched with green Aurifil thread, wool batting; I also used my Black Birds in Tree Stencil with acrylic paint onto fabric painted cotton cloth.

I shall stitch a few of the birds next, to bring them forward, and add a few beads and then this piece will be done.

On My Sewing Table

Thinking, contemplating my next move, lots of ideas rambling through my head seemingly too many some times, but then it occurred to me that I can marry several "themes" I've previously worked on for a greater continuity.

More to come later.

Natural Dyed Hexagons

Natural, compost (bundle), and rust dyed cotton fabrics.  The dark red was obtained using a Turkey Red recipe.

I started these hexagons using my natural and compost dyed fabrics in March of 2005, the weekend my mother died actually, and found them last night while I was looking for a missing stack of colored papers.  This couldn't of happened at a better time as I am currently working on a new body of work called "Faded Memories: Stitched Stories of the Prairie and Plains" for an upcoming solo show at the Sanford Museum in Cherokee, Iowa.

This new body of work will encompass both traditional and digital techniques, and to say that I found these hexies made up already would be an understatement! The hexagons are from a pattern known as Grandmother's Garden, which seems rather appropriate for this new body of work!

Auditioning Fabrics

Found some folded points, etc., in a box of vintage fabrics I picked up along the way and am now auditioning them to use in an upcoming body of work. I think I may rust dye some of the red and white gingham as it's too clean and too cheerful.  

The netting and metallic mesh was in a box on my shelf. 

Black Friday Sale!!! eBooks, DVD's, Academy, and More!

Black Friday Sale 2013!!!

 

Mark Making with Nature

DVD Set $69.95

Digital Download $39.95

eBook Combo $19.95

 

The Natural Surface Academy

Black Friday Membership Sale!!!

$299.00 (non-refundable)

Join me and other artists in 2014! 

We will be taking fabric from ordinary to extraordinary!!!

 

Stitched Stories, Mix Media Prints,

Fabric Bundles and More!!!

Available in My Shop

 

 

 



WIP's Corn 2013

Corn No. 1

Corn No. 2

Corn No. 3

Natural dyed cotton fabrics, timtex, machine stitching, aurifil threads.

WIP - Greg with More Beads

Greg is in a holding pattern now, I added some 13/0 delica's to her eyebrow section and then put her aside so I can work on a couple of other projects.  The last bit I want to work on, on this piece, is to take the trim out further, more fringe like. 

WIP - 022213

More later... natural and compost dyed silk fabrics.

Sample of Wonder

This sample piece is working on becoming something special, after dinner I will retire to the wet studio to surface the pink piece which may or may not be of the same colors as the one in the lower left hand corner.

Dyed and painted cheesecloth that coordinates beautifully with my sample piece.

A basket filled with coordinating threads, trims, constructed yarns, etc.

Clay Paper Fiber Show!!!

Hoodoos No.2 - Accepted!!! So love it when the phat email arrives announcing my work has been accepted into a juried show!

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.

Auditioning Threads for Bjorkboda

My YLI waxed cotton threads.

Some Habu Textiles Threads

More Habu Textile Threads

Some natural dyed raw silk yarn, indigo and cochineal dyes.

Indigo and tannin dyed cheesecloth.

Untitled WIP

Natural dye painted and rusted silk organza over cochineal dyed wool batting.

I'm off on a couple of tangents, now that I know I won't be entering Quilt National.  Hopefully the next time QN rolls around they will have either changed the image requirements, of 300DPI or I will have a new camera capable of taking that high quality images.  Until then I'm content working in my studio.

If you'd like to learn more about dye painting fabrics with natural dyes check out my eBook Mark Making with Nature!

WIP - Bjorkboda

I'm almost ready for the hand stitching, I filled in a bit more of the piece with machine stitching to reinforce it's structure.

The forgotten dye note text now dealt with which resulted in more brown scraggly stitching being added to the piece in a random manner. 

Some verticles.

I've started thinking about the cottonwoods and how stoic they look when shrouded in the ice fog of deep winter. 

Bjorkboda Marsh

Went out to the marsh this afternoon for a much needed infusion of inspiration!!!

Now to spend some time in the studio this evening working with a fresh mind!

WIP - Bjorkboda

On my sewing table so that the stitching will pop.

One Work Many Views

A FB friend asked me if I was viewing a WIP from multiple directions, as from the one direction it looked like an old ship.  Yes, and I almost always photograph them in different directions especially when I'm experimenting with different layers as I tend to forget what I did previously.

WIP - Untitled

I started this piece a good eight or nine years ago and completely forgot about it, well this week is it's week to come to life. 

Layered rust, indigo, and compost dyed, silk, cotton, and cotton linen blend fabrics.