A Fun Saturday With Crafty Friends

Saturday I was in a small craft show in near by Murfreesboro TN.

It's a fun little show and I met several new craftspeople.

I did want to take a moment to brag on my little sister.

She is a wonderfully talented photographer and this

was her booth at the show. She does beautiful portraits and

you can view her work here, and her blog.

I did finish the jean jacket and here is the front with the hand stitching and beading. I was pleased with the way it turned out. There was also decorative stitching on the back, but it was done with my Pfaff.

I have several other things I wanted to share but the sun just hasn't come out this morning so I didn't take any photos. I'll try to get those on here tomorrow, if the sun will shine in my little part of the world.

Jackets & Handbags

I've been in a flurry of making handbags here lately.

This was mostly prompted by an upcoming show on the 24th

of this month. I've never been fond of commercial

patterns and must admit that is due to me

not having a clear understanding of them.

So I pretty much make my own patterns for my

handbags. That works out better for me in several ways.

I also got several Lee Jean Jackets and wanted to embellish them.

This is my first one which isn't finished but I want to show

it to you as it progresses. Today I'll be adding beading to

the fabric sections I've put on the jacket. I love beads

and adding them to my fiber projects is always a good thing.

I used the same fabric on the front and back of this jacket.

I will be adding beads to the Geisha's hair and garments.

I'll also be painting on this jacket with Shiva paint sticks.

I love these paint sticks. If you've not played with them

then you really should. After the art is completed you

just let them sit for 24 hours then iron from the back.

Then poof they are permanent.

This little bag is just a smaller version of the silver oriental I did a few days ago with the addition of a flap. The strap is pleather. It's the first time I've use that and it did sew very easy.
Well I have an announcement to make - I've been about to die to get the new Baby Lock machine that just came out called the Sashiko. (Pronounced: SA-SHEE-KOE) I saw it in Quilting Arts and have not been the same since. I'd read about Sashiko quilting and was wanting so bad to learn to do this but my hand work just isn't the best. Here is what wikipedia has to say about this stitch style.

Sashiko (literally "little stabs") is a form of decorative reinforcement stitching (or functional embroidery) from Japan. Traditionally used to reinforce points of wear, or to repair worn places or tears with patches, this running stitch technique is often used for purely decorative purposes in quilting and embroidery. The white cotton thread on the traditional indigo blue cloth gives sashiko its distinctive appearance, though decorative items sometimes use red thread.

Many Sashiko patterns were derived from Chinese designs, but just as many were developed by the Japanese themselves. The artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) published the book New Forms for Design in 1824, and these designs have inspired many Sashiko patterns.

So much for your history lesson. I've found this all very interesting. I also read that some of the very first armor was found to be quilted using this stitch. There were long open areas left where sections of bamboo were inserted to give the garment strength and to protect the wearer. Pretty cool huh? Well I could just go on about this forever but I'll stop.

Don't have my machine yet. They are backordered and Baby Lock is only making 9 each day. So I'm on a list and should be getting mine in about 3 months. This also gave me time to break down the payments which is not a bad thing either.

Handbags & Brooches

This weekend I made several handbags and this

silver oriental print was my favorite.

The lining is black & while with small oriental charters.

Another thing I started yesterday and finished this morning were these fiber brooches. I'd made some of these about a year ago and wore one quite often. I swap from my hat to a shirt. I enjoy the feel of it being like sculpture with fabric. These are hand sewn, believe it or not. I just don't pick up a needle very often. It's very relaxing to sculpt the sheer fabric into shapes then add the embellishments.

Purple Victorian Lady

Silver Snowflake

Bronze Leaf

Silver Leaf

Fiber Accessories - Just for the fun of it

Fiber Brooch

Today I'm going to be making some of these fiber brooches. I love making/wearing them. They always get some good attention. I use my Baby Lock Embellisher to get them started. The beading and other added embellishments are so delicate they are mostly done by hand. I need some with fall colors to wear on my hats. They look great on jackets too. They are fun to make cause you never really know how they will turn out. On average they are about 3 inches across.

Making Faces

I finished my little "Spooky" ATC's for the swap. They were fun. I always try new techniques on this little quilting guinea pigs. I played with the Cedar Canyon paintstiks, markers and dimensional paint. These were my first ATC's with no quilting! Just used steam-a-seam.

I ordered the How To DVD from Quilting Arts by Maria Elkins and watched the whole thing on Tuesday. I was so excited after I finished watching this and couldn't wait to try some of her wonderful techniques. I've never been very good at drawing faces and when I do I normally draw and erase repeatedly till I get it right. On fabric you just can't be erasing so it was a little scary to just put that water color pencil to fabric and start. Little samples like this are kept and dated so I can later see how I've improved. So even thou this isn't very good I was still very happy. I tried the technique and found it easy. On Maria's DVD she goes over the basic layout of a face. This was information I'd been told before but it was over 30 years ago in art school - since I don't draw faces I'd just forgotten everything I'd been told. So getting this information again was a tremendous help in making this first attempt. Also seeing her draw a face from scratch was very helpful. I had to go back this morning and look at all her quilts, which WOW me each time I see them. So I'm going to be playing with making faces and at least now I'm not afraid of the blank fabric.

What Was I Thinking?

Little Vamps Are Scary Too

What was I thinking trying something with fabric sections this small, I just don't know. His little hands are just a bit bigger than the end of the pencil. I was about to get the tweezers to get the backing off the steam-a-seam - and I was going to make these for my Halloween cards! Crazy girl - I'm switching to jack-o-lanterns.

Great Finds In Centerville

Yesterday while at the Centerville Quilt Show (my first time there) we checked out several gift shops and went to a crafts show. The small town was hopping. As soon as we parked at the square we spotted a cute little gift shop where I was so happy to find this precious little piggy. I might have mentioned I have pigs in my kitchen - just a few now I've recently down sized the collection cause they were taking over the place. But I just couldn't not bring this one home.

Another find was this paper towel holder that really made my day. I though it looked great with the counter/backsplash and I'm a total sucker for pottery and, well it was just going to be mine - nuf said.

OK now for the quilts.

This wall hanging was my favorite and got my vote for people's choice. This was about 24" square at the most and has over 541 pieces. It was made by Ruth Smith of Dallas Texas. I love it.

A postage stamp quilt that looked like it had been fussy cut. I wish I'd taken notes to remember the age of some of these. This show wasn't just for showing the quilts you had made but also to show the quilts you've collect. Some of these were very old and made by the grandmother or other relatives. The one rule for this show was you had to live in the county.

I've seen wall hangings made from ladies hankies before but this one really caught my eye. The stitching was wonderful and the buttons were a nice added touch. Paula had seen this hankie design but hadn't seen the buttons before. It might have just changed my mind about this type of quilt, it was very sweet. I will have to admit thou that the shape of the butterflies did remind me of oriental - I'm hopeless.

This was my favorite big quilt. I really liked the off centered pattern. The colors are right up my alley too. I'd really like to make a full size log cabin one of these some day. Guess I'll put in on my list right under the crazy quilt.

This was the only contemporary quilt I saw there. It would have stood out to me even if there had been many more. Loved the fabric/design. The quilting was very nice too, it fit the quilt well.

Hickman County Quilt Show

This morning early Paula and I headed out to the Hickman County Quilt Show. We'd never been and saw it as another of our "adventures". The weather was perfect for an outing. This year the show spotlighted the log cabin block (my personal favorite). There were over 200 quilts. Some were new and contemporary and some were very old with a touch of age showing. The guild had done a wonderful job of sharing the story behind every quilt. We took our time and read almost every one. They were all very sweet and gave you a heart felt look into the quilters life and their creations. One thing I found very interesting was the history of the log cabin block. I always thought it was very American. I thought it was first popular during the civil war. What I did find out today was that a log cabin block was found on an Egyptian mummy. Paula is great at knowing all the quilt patterns by sight and if I didn't know one she was quick to fill me in. The ladies of the guild were dressed in period costume and also were quick with answers. It was very interesting and we left very inspired. There was also a craft show which we both found wonderful treasures at and even got some yummy baked goods. I'm very pooped from the drive and all the walking, so I'll post the photos tomorrow. Now I'm thinking about my chess pie...yum