Placemats from Fabric Scraps

A few weeks ago, I posted this image of some hand dyed, painted and printed scraps I sewed together randomly. I said I was thinking about making them into placemats for Christmas gifts, by cutting strips of these sets and mixing in some strips of hand dyed red.

Well, that is exactly what I did, and here are some of them on the design wall prior to quilting and binding.

I had enough to make a dozen placemats. Nice! Will be gifts for each of my daughters, along with hand dyed red napkins.

I really love the way they look on the design wall. Such nice movement! Seems almost a shame to relegate them to a utilitarian purpose, but too late now! Art for everyday! I think they will be appreciated.

Mail Art Project - Week Nine

Hand dyed fabrics, pieced and machine quilted make up this group of mail art.

Work In Progress - Sushi Postcards!

Today I started a new group of postcards that will become Mail Art at some future time.
This scrap of hand dyed, block printed fabric was pulled from my scrap drawer. I cut shapes from the drawer filled with fabrics that already have fusible web attached - leftovers from past projects. I have been wanting to work with sushi imagery for quite a few years . . . not sure if it warrants further exploration at this point or not . . . . . I did a bit of image research online before starting to work on this today. I love the colorful look of sushi on a plate, but am not sure it is interesting on a wall.

Next, I will layer this with batting, and will quilt it without a backing fabric - just the two layers.
Then, I will cut to size - 4 x 6" and attach to 4 x 6" cardstock with a gluestick.
After the glue dries overnight - I am ready to zig-zag the edges to finish. I'll file the postcards away until I am ready to send them out.

I must admit - it kind of whets my appetite for future food imagery Mail Art!

Satin Bed Quilt

Another scrap quilt I started as a gift, but now think I will hang onto!

This one is made of satin! Very heavy and shiny!
I never met my mother-in-law. She died before I met my husband.
She made satin pillow cases - remember how popular those were back in the 70's and 80's? Well, that is when she was making them. She gave satin pillow cases as gifts and used them on all the family pillows. I think maybe she even sold them.

I inherited her collection of rolls of satin fabric. Believe me - there is a LOT of it!
I have done a couple of satin quilts, but they are not pleasant to make.
The satin frays like crazy and the threads stick to everything - static electricity!

I used the serger to piece this quilt. It was the only way I could cope with the stuff!

Anyway. I am hanging onto it for now.
The back is hand dyed to coordinate with the front.

This is a good sized quilt - full size - I guess.

I really love the energy in this quilt!

String Pieced Scrap Quilt

A while back, I decided to try and use up my collection of commercial plaid and solid cottons, madras and homespuns. These fabrics have been languishing in a drawer for 5 or 6 years and I really wanted the space for something else.

I sorted all my plaids and solids into piles of warm and cool colors and cut them into random sized strips - ranging in size from 1" to 2 1/2" wide. I used a muslin foundation cut to 8" square. I started by sewing a warm and cool strip together across the diagonal. These two were pressed open and then I added more strips of the respective color family to each side until the foundation was covered. After trimming, I played around with the squares on the design wall until I was happy with the arrangement. I was able to scrounge enough remaining scraps to make the border. Yipee! I pretty much finished off that group of fabrics!

The backing was a good quality cotton sheet hand dyed to coordinate with the colors on the front of the quilt.

I made this quilt as a graduation gift for a nephew.
After it was finished - I decided I would like to keep it, and have rationalized my decision with the fact that said nephew is too tall for this one (he really would not be able to cover up with it!)

I hope you will forgive the quality of the photos! It is tough to get good light this time of year!

Small Works - More from the Legend Rock Series

Legend Rock #9
8 x 10" ready for framing

Legend Rock #10

8 x 10"

Legend Rock # 11
8 x 10"

Legend Rock #12
8 x 10"

Small Works - Legend Rock Series

Legend Rock #8

Legend Rock # 7

Legend Rock #6

Here are three pieces in a series I have done relating to
Legend Rock Petroglyph site in Wyoming.
The Thermofax screens are created from photos I took of the actual petroglyphs there.

Handpainted cotton broadcloth, hand dyed cotton broadcloth.
Block Printed, Screen Printed, quilted
Embellished with hand dyed yarns and petrified wood chips.

Mail Art Project - Week Eight

Turkey Pair in honor of Thanksgiving Week!

This Thermofax screen was created from my photograph of wild turkeys at my birdfeeder.
Postcards will be mailed this week to Patricia in Westbury, New York and to Lisa in Boise, Idaho.

If you have not already done so, and would like to be eligible for future mailings, please send your full name and mailing address to me at my email. Please put Mail Art in the subject line.

Iron Oxide Series

Iron Oxide # 6

Iron Oxide #5

Iron Oxide #3

Iron Oxide #2

Iron Oxide #1

These are more from the Iron Oxide Series done on my handmade paper combined with rust dyed fabric. These could not be included in the One Cause auction because they contain plant material that cannot be mailed overseas!

One Hundred Collages - A Couple More

Iron Oxide # 4

Iron Oxide #7

Handmade paper, acrylic paint, rust dyed cotton, rusted washers, gel medium.
Mounted on watercolor paper.

More for One Hundred Collages

Legend Rock #5

This piece will be going to the One Cause auction.

Handpainted, block printed and screen printed cotton, layered with hand dyed cotton and batting. Machine quilted and bonded to watercolor paper.

The rock fragments are petrified wood chips gathered last summer at the Petrified National Forest.

One Hundred Collages - Finger Paint

Fingerpaint # 6

This piece will be going to the One Cause auction.

The background fabric was created with a "fingerpainting on fabric" process I have been using.

The screenprinted text is from a ledger book containing minutes of the Township Board for Burleigh County, Christiana Township, North Dakota - 1911 - 1912.

The paper and thread beads are handmade.

One Hundred Collages Art

Cottonwood Leaves #2

Cottonwood Leaves #1

I have been working on several smaller sized series, hoping to create some work good enough for the One Cause online auction for cancer.

I have two 8 x 10 pieces and 3 postcards from the Cottonwood Leaves series.

The cotton broadcloth is monoprinted using a Gelatin Plate process and "bug nibbled" Cottonwood leaves I gathered late in the summer. They have been layered with hand dyed cotton and batting, machine stitched and bonded to watercolor paper, then embellished with brass leaf beads.

Cottonwood Leaves #1 will go to the One Cause auction. The other will go off to one of my galleries.

One Cause - One Wednesday - One Hundred Collages

I am delighted to be a part of this project!

Here is a list of the participating artists:



Natalya Aikens
Pamela Allen
Laura Ann Beehler
Liz Berg
Pokey Bolton
Laura Cater-Woods
Jette Clover
Jane Davila
Jamie Fingal
Gloria Hansen
Leslie Tucker Jenison
Lyric Kinard
Jeanelle McCall
Linda Teddlie Minton
Karen Stiehl Osborn
BJ Parady
Judy Perez
Cynthia St. Charles
Virginia A. Spiegel

For more information, visit this website.

Mail Art Project - Week Seven

Fossils on Pink

Pieced cotton fabrics. Screen printed with fossils.
I have an extra postcard to mail out this week to one of my blog readers!

This week, the extra card will go to Linda in Waterville, NY.

If you would like to be included in future drawings to receive a piece of my Mail Art, please send me an email with Mail Art in the subject line. Please include your full name and mailing address.

More Sprials

Legend Rock IV
Here is another recently completed piece in the Spirals Series.

Handpainted cotton and cheesecloth. Block printed and screen printed with Thermofax screens from Legend Rock in Wyoming, Saguaro National Park and Painted Desert National Park, both in Arizona!
The quilt is hand tacked to a stretched canvas that has also been painted and printed with the same imagery.
The hand stitched rocks are covered with orange and green lichens!

Size is 20 x 16"

Ancient Spirals

New Work!
I recently completed this piece, which I am calling "Ancient Spirals".
Hand dyed and hand painted cotton broadcloth and cheesecloth.
Thermofax screen printed, machine and hand stitched.

Embellished with granite fragments collected this past summer on the trail to Timberline Lake.
Size is 16 x 20" - quilt is wrapped over stretcher bars with a hanging wire on the back.

The Thermofax screen spiral is from this photo I took at Saguaro National Park in Arizona in 2009.

Wild Turkeys

Apparently it has been a very good year for turkeys in this area.

There are several flocks that are roaming the neighborhood in search of food and water.
One flock is very large - about 30 turkeys - a lot of them just adolescents (below)

There were so many I could not zoom out enough to get them all in my picture!

Sewing Scraps

Literally

Every once in a while I get an itch to sort through my scrap box and sew random pieces of fabric together.

This group is all fabric that has been hand dyed or hand painted, printed, etc. by me - no commercial fabric here.

Some of my scraps end up as Mail Art.
These - I think may become placemats. I've dyed some red to mix in.
Possible Christmas gift in the making.

Glenn St. Charles Memorial Service

The memorial serve for my father-in-law, Glenn St. Charles was held at "The Cove" - which is located directly on Puget Sound with a lovely view of the Olympic Range (not visible this day, however.
The day of the memorial service was a downpour. It rained 1 inch per hour and resulted in a flood of the parking lot. People attending had to be shuttled to the building through a 12' wide 8" deep "river" that ran through the parking lot.

In spite of the bad weather, there were close to 350 people in attendance.

Glenn loved collecting old things. The room was decorated with some of his collections (Indian rugs, and furs) as well as some really gorgeous floral arrangements.
His daughters arranged a lovely display of photographs and the many awards Glenn received throughout his long and purposeful life.

Here is a picture of Glenn at age 81 with a huge Lake Trout he caught in Canada.

Glenn died peacefully at his home on September 19 at age 98. My husband Joe was at his side.

Glenn, was born in Seattle December 15, 1911. He graduated from
West Seattle High School in 1930.
Soon after graduating, Glenn took off with a few friends to Story,
Wyoming where he met his first wife Marjorie Kneisel. Marjorie passed
away nine years after the birth of their daughter Linda.
Glenn met Margaret Remick in 1948 at an archery club meeting and
married her the same year. Together they raised five children, Linda,
Jay, Suzanne, Joe and Rochelle, who in turn blessed them with six
grandchildren; Robin, Erin, Adrienne, Sophia, Alex and Ben and 3
great grandchildren; KJ, Jake and Breckin.
Glenn's love of hunting wasn't limited to the woods. We all spent many
weekends at our ocean cabin near Queets, Washington where the whole
family hiked up and down the beach hunting for Japanese glass floats.
Many in the community would remember Glenn at the Midway Swap
Meet. At times he would arrive before it opened, roll under the fence,
and pay on his way out. He helped the sellers unpack in his hunt for
treasures. He also loved to go to antique and artifact auctions as well as

gun shows, flea markets and yard sales.

Glenn's love of archery, bowhunting and the outdoors, lead him on a
life long path helping to establish bowhunting for future generations.
In recognition he received:
The Compton Medal of Honor, National Field Archery Association's
highest award
Boone and Crocket Club, Emeritus member
Induction into the Archery Hall of Fame
The first Ishi Award, highest honor of the Pope and Young Club.
The Karl E. Palmatier Award of Merit
Glenn established the Northwest Archery Company, designed
Thunderbolt and Mickey Finn Broadheads, the St.Charles Backquiver,
and the Thunderbird Recurve bow.
Along with many articles he authored two books, "Billets to Bow" and
"Bows on the Little Delta".
Perhaps his greatest achievement was the founding of the Pope and
Young Club in 1961.
This magnificent raven sculpture was carved by Glenn. He worked with wood a lot - he made archery equipment for many years.

Mail Art Project - Week Six

"Goldfinch"

Hand dyed cotton, block printed and machine quilted. Screen printed goldfinches have been fused and machine stitched in place.

The Thermofax screen of the birds is from a photo I took in our backyard. We get a lot of Goldfinches at our feeders in the summer. They are all gone now, though.

Fall Roses

Not much was blooming when we visited Seattle last week, but a few nearly naked rose bushes were bearing a blossom or two. These caught my eye.

Crows in Salt Water Park

Blackbirds or Crows?

Is there a difference?

I'm not sure . . . .but I was really happy to have the opportunity to take a lot of really good pictures of these black birds during my visit to Salt Water Park.

This one was especially busy with a worm or a twig - never did figure out what it was picking up with it's beak. Never saw it eaten so I assumed it was a twig. Now that I have seen the close-ups - looks more like a worm.