fun in the kitchen - don't assume I cook~!!!!

This is a "Technique Week" on the Yahoo Group Fiber Art Traders - we are having 'fun in the kitchen' this week, experimenting with 'natural' dyes - so if roses and kool-aid count, I'm in!

Here's my progress so far:

Black Cherry Kool-Aid makes awesome dye - 4 pkts per quart w/T salt

Red Rose petals steeped in salty water yielded a beautiful pink/purple dye bath

results of black cherry kool-aid

I did socks, too... this is still wet in this pic.

turmeric make a really intense yellow dye - a little goes a long way!

Lutradur does not take the dye very well... boo!

but I kept trying anyway!

the jar has half  turmeric, half b-c/k-a

and the results:

wet - after microwave heat setting... turmeric, black cherry, red roses

finished, pressed and folded - ready for art - Lutradur, muslin, Kona pfd, old socks, and cotton batting scraps

The pieces at lower right were dyed with a small jar of "leftovers" to get an orange transition - and the pink blotches on the pieces at lower left.... that's where the roses and the black cherry made friends while still wet...

Today's process... resist!  Of course I can't resist resist!

Hoping to have time to post more results later ~ bye for now!

June's Journal page

Here it is... my humble offering for the journal page swap...
theme this month is weddings...

The front is a wedding dress, a scrap of lace, a bouquet and a ribbon waistband... all on a painted scrap of cereal box with a ribbon tab.  The back is a piece of wallpaper from a sample book.  Lots of glue & paint on the page this month! 

I've quilted 7 small quilts this week - the 4 blue & brown (Moda fabrics - yums!) and a Mickey Mouse, and a bright one with smaller animals - all waiting for bindings!  The last one is a wall hanging for a friend.  No pics of these at the moment - I may edit this post if I get pics of these - they don't look very photogenic without their bindings, ya' know!

Shop Hop Marathon

Hi all,
For the past two days, I've been on the roads of Western PA visiting 11 quilt shops - up, in only two days.  My friend's new car has a LOT more miles on it now, and she has had lots of practice using her new GPS, too!  Happy to report that her new car is comfy and the a/c works great as temp both days was in the mid-90's!

This morning I poured out all my purchases and sorted into tools, patterns, small fabric precuts and fabric yardage.  I think there's enough here to keep me occupied well into next year.  I will not publish any additional incriminating evidence. ;-)

This afternoon, I'm going to The Quilting Grotto (my basement sewing & craft room) and quilt on a bunch of those Quilts 4 Kids quilts - and maybe play with my die cutter and lay out a journal page (or two) for June.

Watch for more pics as soon as those quilts are done - the tops are beautiful!  All from the same fabrics.

Nature always has the last laugh

Have you ever not asked yourself "Where has the time gone?" 
It just doesn't stand still... no matter what, no matter how much we try to slow life down, it just rolls on. 
Sometimes leaving us to 'dust off' and get on with our lives even when life throws us on our backsides. 

The good part of all this is that time does not drag for the caretaker who is not hospitalized.  I've hardly been home for the past month except to unpack and repack the car, do some laundry, grab a snack and go - to teach, to nurse, to nurture...  and hoping that I don't fall asleep at the wheel!

So, what have I been up to? 
learning how to blog with the 'new and improved' blogger... again!
researching drug interactions (not for myself!) and driving hubs back & forth to hosp & dr visits
finished a beautiful quilt on commission...

teaching 50+ active youngsters ages 3 to 10 for a week of craft projects

 ...these are the kids in the t-shirts that I silk screened...they added the colors!

these are some of my 'best boys', above....

making a few quilted postcards...

making a few of these class samples...

 
prepping a couple dozen kits for Quilts 4 Kids (similar to these, for others to sew, hopefully!)

Greensburg Modern Quilt Guild with their quilts for "Quilts 4 Kids"

and two quilts for new baby boys ready to deliver soon to Jonathan

 and... Wyatt

such precious little bundles...

making a big batch of paper clay for molding faces, etc.... not very photogenic stuff, really!

adding to a 'round robbin' online/mail quilt exchange

 I just added that simple bit at the bottom... click the link above to see others in progress.

...and this being the season for weed pulling - which I know is futile, as Nature always has the last laugh, but mostly Nature laughs in flowers. In my yard, morning glories....  And that reminds me - I have more seeds to plant!

 loving my pink petunias!  yes, planter is an old work boot...  now for sunflowers and nasturtiums!

bye for now! time for lunch with friends...

Art Quilt Wednesday

In about an hour, I'll be taking my traveling DSM, picking up a friend, and heading to a day of art quilting fun with my "creative quilt guild sisters".  Not that all quilters aren't creative! 

Today's project will involve random strippy piecing ala Rayna Gillman.  We are following the directions in her recent article for Quilting Arts Magazine. 

Each of us is taking a bag of scraps... I'm just hoping I don't bring home more than I take!

This issue of Quilting Arts, btw, may be the best issue since the first issue - don't miss it!  It is jammed with fun and inspiration for fiber folk.

maybe later I'll post some pics - be good!

love, granny

A Tip for Marking Quilts with Blue Chalk

well, first of all, don't mark quilts with colored chalk - not the kind used on a blackboard - it just doesn't wash out!

But if you are using a blue chalk pounce pad....  you probably already know how hard it is to get that blue chalk out, too!

The solution - from the HQ16 webinar - dilute the blue chalk powder with plain baby powder (not the kind with corn starch) - use 2 tsp. blue chalk to a cup of baby powder (or other talc) and the color comes out much easier.  It is still plenty blue enough to show up, don't worry!   I was surprised to see how easy the chalk and talc mix together.

That makes much more than will fit in a pouncer, of course, so you'll need to store it in a labeled plastic bag or other waterproof container - clearly marked!  It might help to date the mixture, too, so you'll know how long it takes to use it up.  I've been surprised to see that my pouncer chalk supply has already lasted a couple of years.  It seriously goes a long way!

To remove the chalk marks, turn the quilt face down on a fluffy terry towel and 'spank' them right into the towel!  That's if any chalk remains by the time you are done with the quilting, of course..... 'cause if you are quilting right over those lines, there won't be much.

Now, I am overdue at the quilt frame.
Quilt happy!
GGS

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Hello all,

First, a little greeting from the "Graphics Fairy"....  Erin Go Bragh

A whole month has gone by in a flash - just coping with hubs and his health issues (he's getting better - at last!) and keeping up with my own tendency to 'over-commit' myself. 

I won't get to be in Lancaster this week - but I will be in 'Amish Country' - Smicksburg!

Sew - here's what I've been up to in the studio lately (or nearby, as it were)
silk scarf dye workshop:

a table runner class:

designed a pretty quilt

this is with the new MODA Pappillon collection - wonderful big florals - and a juicy red!

..and I enjoyed a wonderful retreat with quilting friends - and finished 2 UFO's plus a purse and a new thread catcher/pincushion, too!   I'll have to post pics of them later, tho...  there are more silk scarves waiting for me on the pressing table.

Enjoy the links!
GGS