Wings Of An Angel

It's been awhile since I have posted as I have spent much time with a dear friend who is terminally ill. It's just been so hard to believe that someone that shares the same interests with you, will be gone soon, so I have spent a lot of time quilting her quilts to leave reminders to her family of her behind. Besides her quilts it seems that every thing I have touched lately has turned to feathers as symbols of angels that lurk among us. May there be a quilted heaven.

How to have a meltdown

At the request of another quilting art friend, I have decided to post the makings of one of my postcards that I had entered into the art card event. It was a fun process and can be quite addicting in experimentation. Below are the steps I did to make the post card. I am missing a few steps but you will soon figure it out when I explain it. I started with drawing out a design on a recycled tyvek envelope that I marked with a water soluable marker. Then I cut out a peltex piece post card size and fused on black fabric as my background. (a step not photographed) I laid the tyvek on top and stitched through all layers. Then I used Dye Na Flo and colored in the areas with a mop brush. I let it dry and then took a heat gun and melted away as much as I wanted to and even some as much as I didn't want to! lol (Notice I was too busy melting away to get a photo of this step!) I also melted angelina between teflon sheets and cut out any extra designs I wanted to add and stitched them with metallic thread. Lastly I fused crystals on and satin stitched the edges with rayon thread. I entitled this piece Galactic Melt down.

A few extra feet

I have enjoyed having the granddaughters here the past week. They are such a joy in my life and I miss them terribly when they live 4 hours away. They have had a lot of fun playing with iphoto and computer programs, a wonderful oppertunity that they have now compared to when I went to school. We also had the best time dyeing and couldn't resist tie dyeing so that we would have matching tshirts and socks. It's hard to believe how tall that they have gotten as well as the size of their feet! Kitana, the youngest, wears a size 7 shoe. It's the same size as I wear! She will be 11 this month. The other two, Hayley who is 14 wears a 9 in shoes and Kristal who just turned 16 this past week wears a size 11 shoe! Just how did they get so big? I remember when I was 21 and I wore a size 5 1/2 shoe. At 52, I wear a size 7. I can't imagine the granddaughters when they get to be my age! Unfortunate of all, gone are the days of the pitter patter of little feet, sigh!

Gallery Showing

I belong to a fiberart group "Off our Blocks" from Columbus Ohio. We periodically show quilts in various galleries. For the next couple of months it will be viewed in Logan, Ohio at the Logan Art Gallery. Be sure to stop by anytime or join us at the reception, the first Sat. in September between 6-8 PM during Late Night Logan.

What's Old Is New Again!

There are so many fabrics we end up with that no longer appeal to us, so by over dyeing you can created some new beauties without alot of added expence. Here is a sample of a quilt finished with many new over dyes. The quilt is called Star Struck. A scrappy and snappy new piece:) Click on the photo to take you to my webshots to view more of my quilts and customer pieces.

My Friends dyed and are now in heaven!

Below are more shared pieces from from the dye classes. Mary was so excited that she dyed everything she could get her hands on! She had purchased a slightly mottled cream colored sweatshirt at NQA this year and made herself a cat shirt. After her class in dyeing, she was so thrilled with the results, that there will be more cat sweatshirts in her future! LOL Isn't the green one gorgeous? Joan also displays her "dye"namic tshirt that she was wearing on her trip to Florida. She said she had so many complements and they want one too! They will be off to another dye class here next week. I will also have another full day of dye classes on the 22nd of Sept. if one would like to get in on that one as well. Here is the info below. You can take either full or half day workshop. Be sure to view photos of dyed pieces in the previous posts.

DYEING TO TRY IT: Working with Procion MX dyes. In the morning class you will work on 8 step gradations of dyeing. This will also include scrunch dyeing. By afternoon, we will work on surface techniques where we will be doing some stripping, skinny dipping, streaking and who knows what all between the sheets (of fabric, of course!)

We will begin with PFD fabrics (2 yards are provided) but you can also purchase extra yards in class. You can also bring tone on tone white fabric and ugly duckling fabrics to revitalize to create some beauties! You can also bring bleached/ unbleached muslins to play with. Perhaps no more than 6 yards or so and you may even bring a tshirt or sweatshirt or anything dyeable! Items you bring on your own, you will need to prewash in a hot soap detergent. Tide works well.

Other things you will need : are to wear old clothes and shoes, Bring rubber gloves and zip lock baggies that can range from sandwich size to gallons. You will also need a container to carry your fabrics home in. The excitment begins with the fabrics that you will be able to view and pet right away while others will need to cure overnight before you can see the finshed results! You are guaranteed to have a good time!

The class is $40.00 and will be held at my home, 35884 Moore Rd. in Union Furnace, Ohio.

Email me to reserve your spot and if you need directions. needlewings@mac.com

Bring a pot luck to share, beverages provided.

Color my world

It was a gorgeous day today and I took the oppertunity to go out and photograph some summer color.

Attached to the front deck is a thistle feeder that attract 4 finches that come daily to feed. Usually when animals stick around long enough, they are given a name and these birds were no exception. The 2 females are Mona and Lisa, while the males are Michaelangelo and Leonardo Da Finchy! Unfortunately I couldn't get all 4 in the shot at the same time. It's much like photographing relatives. LOL

My butterfly bush was loaded with blooms and not only butterflies were attracted, but I captured a hummingbird hawk moth that was busy at work. It's the kodak moments like these that one wishes they had a faster shutter speed.

My mystery lilies were also in full bloom. I adore their irridescent pink, yellow, lavendar and periwinkle glow in the sunlight. Unfortunately they don't last very long by their natural lack of longivity. It quite possibly is their defence from not being discovered and devoured by deer!