A couple of years ago one of the vendors at Hannibal’s Folk LIfe Festival had a marvelous display of mums in every color combination one could imagine. I took several photos thinking I would one day replicate them in some way, shape or form. Today …
NOthing like doing yoga in the morning on a deck at Kinderhook Retreat overlooking the lush farmland of Illinois. Relaxing and energizing, ready for a day of sewing with friends. People said shen I came down stairs I appeared to be a woman on a mission. I am, yoga relieved my back pain and I am ready for 12-14 hours of sewing whatever I choose. Have a great day.
Three years have passed since retirement. I have been enjoying doing what I want pretty much when I want but I am missing one aspect of my professional career. Having been an educator for over 35 years I am itching to get back into the …
Saturday I had the pleasure of taking daughter and friend to the starting point of RAGBRAI 2015, Sioux City, Iowa. The Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa draws thousands of bike riders from across the nation. I saw license plates from California to …
Anatomy of a Leaf
A group of quilters in the Hannibal, Missouri area are exploring artistic techniques using the leaf as subject matter for learning to create different textures in their creative quilting. The first session was thread painting. The second session was using Tyvek and paint to create texture. The third will be using cyano-type processes as well as other painting and dyeing techniques on small pieces. The fourth session will be testing some improvisational techniques so I am working hard to finish an idea that was inspired by quilting designs and zentangle doodles as seen on the internet. Right now it’s title is “Anatomy of a Leaf”. One large pieced leaf will be the focal point with other leaves done in the techniques from the sessions I have been teaching. Photos below are a preview of the progressbeing made—I still have eight more sections to complete and my deadline is August 21. A contest seems to be my best motivation for completing ideas and inspirations and Reiman Gardens/Iowa Quilt Guild Show provides my deadline this time. If you are close to Ames, Iowa on the 18-20 of September it is a show filled with garden themed quilts. You will find art quilts, modern quilts and traditional quilts as well as the gardens themselves to provide even more inspiration.
Denali Dreamin’ was made from a photo to keep us focused on our upcoming trip to Alaska. Next year at about this time we will be crossing over into Canada on our way to Dawson Creek, the starting point for the Airstream caravan through Alaska. …
A simple gift bag made from a hand dyed vintage linen napkin. Make this bag and tuck in that special gift, two gifts in one! Especially nice for handing down a family heirloom whether a tea cup or a piece of Grandma’s jewelry. Try a …
Tyvek Play Day
After some dutiful sewing on a landscape quilt I needed to play so tried some ideas with Tyvek. In my mind the butterfly was going to be beautifully iridescent with the outline left after pressing/melting away the stitched on Tyvek applique. However, not to my liking but wondering if it would work the reverse way. Melt the painted Tyvek and then cut shapes and applique, hmmm. Also in the photo is the product used in house construction to see how it might differ from the product envelopes which are much lighter in weight. At this point I don’t see a significant difference in how it melts or how much heat it took to bubble the envelope and the house wrap. Note: not all housewrap is Tyvek and some only hardens into an ugly impenetrable blob when heat is applied. More experimentation needed!
July Block of the Month Patriot’s Star The July block is my design and could easily be repeated for a four block quilt for the Honor Flight quilts. With multiple repeats of this 16” block a patriotic throw for 4th of July picnics …
