Fiber Moments~~or~~Yes, This Will Be A Church Hanging!

I worked in the studio yesterday until a thunderstorm from Monsoon Land blew through--and I do mean THROUGH! The water was coming through the ceiling, so I know what I will be doing on Saturday....crawling the roof with latex caulk.

But I digress.

As usual.

Below you see on the left the inside of a cleaned snack chip bag, on the right, the same bag after heat was applied and in the center, a piece with the first coat of acrylic color. That is what has been such a stinker about drying! Since the base is completely non-absorbent, it is taking forever to get these to dry. (the roof leak probably is not helping either.....grrrrrr....)

The pieces below are all different cuts or bags, and almost all of them have four coats of different colors, so that when I go to make the creek section on the hanging, I have this wonderful variety of *water texture* to put in atop painted areas and other fabrics, and lots of light reflection. I have also ordered some oddly shaped and colored pearls, which will be sewn into the creek bed as glowing, wet pebbles. Then the leaves I have whined incessantly about will be all along the edge of the creek, and maybe if it feels right/looks right/works right, I might *float* a leaf or two. I don't know. That's just me thinking out loud. (hear the grrrrrrrinding???)

The next thing I tackled was getting some small burn samples of the two felts I have purchased. I am still debating which to place on top as they melt under the heat gun completely differently and even the melt pattern is different. The pic below is strictly felt--colors reversed so I can think which is best for a bark texture.

Then I added one layer of felt over a selection of fabrics, did some stitching, and applied the heat gun to burn away parts of the felt. This is pretty light weight, and there is some merit to it for highlighted areas of bark, but there was a lot of curl as the felt shrunk, sooooo......

I moved to sample two, with the brown and black felt stacked over the woven fabric, and a piece of black felt on the back. This was quite substantial---in fact, I was not sure I could free-motion it through the machine, but it did okay.

On the far right, you can see just the stitching, then as you move left on the image, there are areas where the heat was applied for shorter and longer amounts of time. This is one of those things I wish I could  get a really good shot of for the *feel*. It is extremely textural.....which I like. I spent some time online researching walnut tree bark and found sufficient images that I should be able to get a decent stitch pattern in my head for the tree bark sections.

Sorry about this last photo but black thread on black felt does not show up AT ALL...

This is the back of the above fiber package, with some of the felt burned out, which allows the whole to lay a bit flatter. There is still a lot of *feel* to it but not the wobbles like the first piece. The other benefit of using the felt layer on the back is it makes excellent shaded area for the tree bark.

Now I am just waiting on the canvas to arrive (it was on back order--of course!) , the pearls, the fabric paint and I should be ready to get this puppy really in gear!

Of course, I have to get the roof fixed first, because the wall I work on is the one that had water running down it.

I just love multi-tasking.....don't you???  >:-[

LOL!!!

Now go get creative and make something wonderful! Or just have a wonderful day!

Pax....

How I Spent Black Friday....And It Wasn't In A Store!

First off, I do not leave the house on Black Friday. The day after Thanksgiving is a day for me to recoup and do things here, with DH, or in the studio. I cannot take the crowds, the traffic nor do I want to end up with a cell mate called "Large Marge"..........nuff said there.

And so, the other day when I was digging--and I do mean DIGGING-- for the instructions for my felting machine, I came across this apron pattern I had purchased in the dark ages and for whatever reason, put in the plastic bag with the machine gizmos.

So I looked it over and it seemed to be a pretty quick sew, and my old aprons have or are currently rotting from age, therefore........

I dug through my scrap bag and pulled some of my favorite pieces, exiled there because I haven't quilted and could not bear to part with them. Also, one large piece that was never cut into for fear of the *Fabric Cutting Police* paying a visit to the studio.......ahem! Any others out there like that???

And, a few hours later, this is what I ended up with! A happy, bright and lively apron, that I made without consulting the instructions for the most part, so there are some things that are different......

I must, absolutely MUST, have a pocket on an apron and I pieced a scrap of batik to make it wide enough to cut the piece, then lined it with a vintage light blue flowery fabric. Yum! The flounce was to be cut as one piece but that took a LOT of fabric, and if I accordian-folded the pattern, I could cut multiple fabrics and have an extra bit of ZING at the bottom! (yes, all those pieces were hemmed with the rolled hem foot first, then pinned with the hem edge matching......and my rolled hem foot hates me, for some reason......I mean, reeeeeally hates me......)

Even the facings and neck strap were made from different favorite leftovers; I wanted all the apron to be special, and definitely *me* when worn, or just hanging in the closet! And best of all, I was able to use up or put a dent in fabric I had lying about. That made me very happy! A scrap apron that just rocks....  :-)

I have to admit I have not sewn for myself in a long time, and eventhough this did not require bodily measurements (thank God!!!) it was sort of odd doing something strictly for me. I had to allow myself to make the apron. I mean, that is NOT right! LOL!!!

Then, I sucked up all my courage and threw one old apron in the garbage and brought the other out to the studio, to try and see if I can cut a pattern from it. Then it goes. Honestly. I promise. For real!

And yes, for those of you wondering, I do have fabrics MUCH BRIGHTER than these.....I was trying to keep from glowing in the dark...well, I do have glow in the dark fabric too, which might have uses for candle lit evenings......

And then there are all the psychedelic prints.....and the skulls and Dia De Los Muertos fabrics.....it is not a bland studio, to say the least!

Hope you've had a few creative minutes yourselves over the holiday, and I am going to have to get the house tended to for Christmas really soon, as my life will get interrupted. Pooey.

Now off with ye, and have a creative day, whatever you get into!

Pax.

Candles All Aglow....or....I Sew, Therefore, I Am

Well, after waking sick yesterday and deciding that the dreaded "Allergy-From-Hades" season was upon me, instead of giving up, I managed to get some serious work done in the studio. Not nearly as much as I would have liked, but when your left ear and sinus cavity are pounding out a thumping rhythm that would propel a proper Conga-Line........there is only so much that is going to get done. At least, done where it is acceptable to those who are paying for said banners.
Sometimes, you have to know when to stop and take a break.
I did.

If you look closely at the reddish violet candles, second set up, you can see they have had the first round of zig zag with the rayon thread. I don't care HOW MUCH I have sinned in the past, this is penance above and beyond. Plain and simple. Don't move, don't twitch, don't take your eye off the needle, thread, where the whole thing is headed........there is nothing fun about this part! It is just necessary, and needs to be close to perfect. (and after all my whining, it usually is....)

The metal gold organza halos turned out nicely, even after considerable fighting with the thread in the machine. I hate stitching with metallic thread; they all act different and generally have me saying bad words......... I was, though, completely pleased with the iridescent *wax drips* on the white fabric. It shows up enough without being overpowering. These, the Christ Candles, will have beads or pearls sewn on at regular intervals, following the pattern of the fabric. This is what I had used in the altar cloth and stole----I love it much as it is not too bad to work with and is still affordable, which is becoming a thing of the past with traditional liturgical fabrics.

Finally a close up of the vintage Korean silk I used for the rose colored candles, since the other I ordered was sold out by the time the company was informed they had sent me sheer olive green??? I was a bit hesitant to use this; it was a gift to my mother from a friend but hey---it's perfect. You can see the holographic fabric for the flames a bit better here. I think, when it is all put together it will be gorgeous from a distance! And the B.G. fabric is in the shipping process so I am a-okay! (well, other than the allergies....and the mental stability is questionable too, but you knew that!)
So, hopefully today will be a bit more productive! Morning is such a peculiar time as I am not sure what state I'm in until a copious quantity of caffeine has entered my system and awakened the vital organs.......
Hope there is something out there that awakens your creativity today and gives you the punch to make art!

Pax.

P.S. I think, sadly the bug has it's grips on me. Posted this yesterday after working.......today I can neither talk nor breathe, so it is NOT going to be a fun Labor Day weekend here. I may be off-blog for a few days of R&R.
At least at this point I can still knit.

Calm Before The Storm (or; the bedlam before the banners)

(click these pics to see the MESS I work in while trying to get it all together in my skull....)

I have to admit that I thought all the different pieces I had ordered for the banners would be here today, I would be able to bridge the gap between the worktable (disaster you see above) and the sewing table--which you don't see, and be semi-happily cutting lengths of fabric.
Hmmph! Not so.
The three purple fabrics for the candles arrived, along with a sheer olive embroidery.....???? To which I might add I did not order that. So that forced some rooting on my part and thankfully I found some beautiful rose vintage silk for the fourth candle. Yes, I ordered pink sturdy silk and got olive......sheer.......embroidered. Oy.
The jacquard for the Christ Candle has not arrived but I ordered it a day later, so that's okay. The two of those will probably be the last two I do since they will have beads sewn on. The other candles (two of each color) will be quicker. And remember those words because I will be eating them at some point in the construction. I'll keep the hot sauce handy......

I'm still looking for fringe, even though if you click on this photo, you'll see fringe. That was the Easter Banners that got waylaid due to me having to play mosh pit with the garage floor.
Oh! This is all too confusing!
So, since I don't have any progress to post on this project, I decided to take enough photos of doing a paper background like I did with the Madonna artwork and will try and post a quick tutorial on here. Uh huh, like I don't have enough going on as is, but I feel the need to get work done, and there is little I can do on the sewing now.
Also, and more importantly, today I received the darling painting I ordered from Pam over at yoborobo and she put in a delightful little print of *The Bird Lady*...which I swear is ME----one parakeet on each side! (except the printed ones are well behaved, and mine are not......) If you've not checked her store---and I'm pulling a blank here---it's on her blog, run over and have a look-see. There are exceptionally nice quality Halloweeny items and Day of the Dead; fine executed work and no detail missed in the packing. I should have photographed THAT but I was too busy tearing open my package, like a little kid at Christmas! What fun!
So in the mean time, as I sit and tap my foot trying to think up things to get into that won't get me arrested or thrown into a very hot place for a long long time, let's all go enjoy our day ahead.
Have fun, work hard, let your creative spirit soar on little parakeet wings!
And as always, from my heart, I bid you all,

Pax.