Summer!

Summer is about over; the air has lost it's hot, humid feel and has gained a bit of crispness to it. The leaves will start to change any minute now. This may herald the end of summer and the quick jump into cold and snowy, but life should also be a bit less hectic: more time for art!

July we played with design Elements. These are basically, a small design, created with fused fabric to be used on a larger piece. The technique was learned from Melody Johnson and seriously condensed version of the concept was experimented with in our group.


The one above is mine. Below is Linda J's.




Linda K (above) got a little carried away ;o) And Margot (below) has a good start.


The idea is to work quickly and spontaneously with fabric that has Wonder-Under® fused to the back so you can just tack it all together with an iron. When happy with the final design and placement fuse it all down thoroughly (on a piece of empty WU backing paper, peel off when cool). The element can then be used in a larger design or on a shirt, bag, or journal. I did several of these in a class with Melody at QSDS in 2007 and found them to be quite addictive!

August was hot and humid but the library was well air conditioned and we had fun making fabric beads. Linda K shared her technique and we borrowed ideas from Sherrill Kahn's book "Creative Embellishments". This is great book of ideas for all kinds of embellishing in all kinds of medium. Some of the techniques are quite unique and some of the materials are down right bizarre. The book is fabulous for the adventurous :o)


Alas, I forgot my camera (again!) so, here are pictures of my beads after I got home. Actually, three of the beads were made by my DD, Ashland. She joins us when she can. I have decided this idea has a lot of potential and I had a blast doing them.


My favorite is the chartreuse - of course! :)


Show & Tell!
Barb loves vegetable prints! She is making a contemporary version of Log Cabin (ish) for curtains for the dinning area of her house. This will be a bright and cheery place to enjoy eating :)


I showed off my hand dyed and hand spun wool yarn.


Margot made a quilt for a family member who loves turquoise.


The back is as pretty as the front and the batting is actually a wool bat from Margot's own sheep.


Sandy did a wonderful amall art quilt with raw edges, superb!


And she also did a few beaded buttons. I drooled.


Our next meeting is at the school on Septmeber 17th. Barb D will show us how to do a beading technique called Single Needle Right Angle Weave. If you want to join us, e-mail me for a supply list.

Deb H