Wally Sells Sea Shells for $157.93

I am finally ready to embellish my Sally Sells Sea Shells at the Sea Shore quilt for the Fabled Fibers Challenge on Quiltart.com.

You can barely see the beads I sewed on tonight. I am hoping when it is all done, the handwork will be worth the effort.

While working on this quilt I looked for shells. Michael's didn't have them. Joann Etc. didn't have them. Old Time Pottery, Linens and Things, Bed and Bath, Pier One, NOBODY had shells.

I turned to my trusty computer and my favorite art supplier Dick Blick -- there they are.I called local Dick Blicks to see if they have them. Nope. $7.39 for a pound of natural sea shells, plus a few bucks for shipping. Hmmmmmmm. I can do better than that.

So off to WalMart with my girls in tow. I despise WalMart. I rarely shop there. In total desperation I will resort to a trip to WalMart. In this case, I felt compelled to see if they had the elusive shells.

There they were on the fake flower, glass marble, paint-your-own- styrofoam vase aisle. $2.99! That's better. Wait, we need some dishwashing soap, shampoo, shower curtain liner, bath mat, "Yes you can have those googles and swim noodles," and on and on until we had filled the basket with more than $157 worth of JUNK.

The next time I need something and hesitate for even a SECOND about ordering it on-line, or paying a little more from a smaller company I am going to look on my studio wall, where I have stuck the receipt and remember these very expensive shells!

Here is a closeup of the shells pinned to the quilt and my design board. I hope the quilt can stand the weight! A different type of finishing might be in order here -- perhaps I'll stretch it over a frame, which I will NOT be buying at WalMart!

What in the world is this?

What is this? Perhaps the question is "why this?" In either case, I started Marilyn Belford's Pictoral Quilt class on Quilt University.com two weeks ago -- actually, the class started two weeks ago, I just started a few days ago. . . .

. . . and of all the beautiful pictures I have of my children, my husband, my family, and, ahem, myself, did I select this one?

The Dairy Barn in Athens, OH and a Trip to Visit Grandparents

We just returned from a whirlwind trip to see Grandma and Grandpa in Ohio. Their summer home is on Atwood Lake.

On the way, we took a 3 hour detour to visit The Dairy Barn in Athens, Ohio. For those who don't know, The Dairy Barn is home to Quilt National, which is a biennial juried exhibition of art quilts. For art quilters, this is IT.

A Kaleidoscope of Beads: Bead International 06, a juried exhibition, was at The Dairy Barn. It was incredible. I admire the skill and patience of artists who work in this medium. The detail of these works is amazing. In the other half of The Dairy Barn was an exhibit of baskets from the National Basketry Association. The girls enjoyed both exhibits and took a moment to string some beads at a corner table set up for children.

Then off to Atwood Lake.

Sarah and Sophia had no problem digging in the worm farm for earth worms and red crawlers.

Sarah was excited, but a little disappointed when Sophia caught the first fish - this small blue gill.

Don't worry Sarah, this catfish you caught was as big as your sister!

We decided to throw it back, even though Sarah gleefully exclaimed: "Let's eat it!"

There was lots of swimming in the pond, even though it was cold. Rick and Sandra have a little sailboat that belongs to Sandra's mom who is 92 years old. They brought it from Indiana, Pennsylvania, refinished it and set it out on the pond.

The girls took turns driving the pontoon boat on Atwood Lake.

We anchored off a sand beach, swam in the lake and visited the lighthouse.

On the last day Grandpa let the girls drive the tractor. What a sight and what a thrill.

It was a 14 hour drive home. Joel had to work so I did all the driving while he slept. By the 10th hour my entire right side was pins and needles. I'm still recovering...ah but the good times and happy memories the girls had was worth every moment.

And now back to the studio before I get kicked off the Artful Quilters ring for not writing about art!

A Delightful Surprise at the Chattahoochee Evening Stars Quilt Show

While visiting the Chatahootchie Evening Stars quilt show today, I found a delightful surprise. At the end of a row of very traditional quilts was this art quilt made by 11 year old Emily Evans.

"Myself, My First Quilt" Emily Evans
Two years ago I saw my mom spending all her time working on a big quilt. I wanted to learn to quilt, so my mom told me to use her scraps and design a quilt. The pieces on this top were glued on the fabric for 2 years. Finally, my mom showed me how to use the machine to applique it. I sued the decorative stitches on her sewing machine. This is my first quilt.

Isn't the composition lovely? Some things just come naturally. Today it hung at the show. I had the pleasure of meeting this budding young fiber artist, and she is a delight.

Art is the cure for the Summertime Blues! Sun Printing with Tissue Paper.

Aaaaahhhhhh, summer vacation. The tadpoles have grown into bullfrogs and are singing their boisterous mating song. The dragonflies flit about the back yard. No rush in the mornings to make it to school on time. No nagging to get dressed, brush your teeth, get your bookbag. After a week of this, my children are at each other's throats by 9:00 a.m. Could it be Boredom?

Today I decided to try out the sun printing with tissue paper project featured on the cover of the latest issue of Quilting Arts Magazine. I thought this might be just the project the girls would enjoy. And it was.

Meet the FiberArt mini Bees!
Sarah (5), Sophia (3) and Cameron (5)


Tear bleeding tissue paper first thing! Sophia really loved this part.

We placed our torn tissue paper into a plastic box with lid to protect it from moisture while we painted and misted with water.

On top of a portable work surface, layer pieces of wet fabric in between sheets of plastic wrap or trash can liners. We used disposable cookie trays and the top of a 66 quart plastic storage container for our portable work surfaces.

We used diluted Setacolor Soleil in yellow, blue and Orient Red.

Using large brushes, we painted our fabric.

Cameron is very careful with her painting. This composition is entitled: "Butterfly".

Jackson Pollack look out. Sarah always likes to use as much paint as she can get away with. She preferred to dribble the paint from about 18 inches above the counter.

That's my circle and wonky lines.

Careful placement of tissue strips. . .

Or willy nilly.

We misted the top of our tissue with water and then patted flat. I would like to have used more Setacolor on top of the tissue for more color saturation. If Jackson Pollack worked with tissue paper, this would be his.

Here is one of my pieces, on top of a kitchen trash can liner, on top of the lid to a 66 quart storage container. I slid the top layer off and was ready to paint and tissue the next layer (beneath).

Here are pieces in the sun drying. It took about an hour to dry.

And then AAARRRRGGGGG, the batteries in the camera are dead and in the charger. Finished works will be posted tomorrow!

All in all this was a very fun project. Very do-able with young children. Not as messy as you would think. The cleanup was easy (dump paint, wash containers, wash portable work surfaces.) Do again? You betcha!

Liqui-Fuse to the Rescue

Summer is tough for kids who are used to their mommy doing all the "work of the family" while they are in school. Today I dragged the girls on three errands, but they are good girls and went along with only a mild whine.

One of the stops was to purchase more Wonder Under. On the way to the bolts of Wonder Under, I got distracted by fabric, and then two yards later we were out the door -- without the Wonder Under.

After putting the girls to bed, I continued working on Sally Sells Sea Shells and guess what? I ran out of Wonder Under.

In recent weeks there was some discussion and several recommendations for Liqui-Fuse on quitart.com. When I was in Michaels a week ago I picked up a bottle for future testing. Tonight was the night.


Terry Grant was the original poster on LiquiFuse and she has an excellent tutorial on her blog www.andsewitgoes.blogspot.com.

I am a bit sloppy and always in a hurry, so running a bead of Liqui-Fuse around the edges wasn't working for me. I got out one of the girls paintbrushes, dipped it in water, used the cap of the Liqui-Fuse as my palette and dipped the brush in. Voila. A nicely filled brush of diluted Liqui-Fuse. Then I spread it on the area I wished to fuse.

Before I could finish, the Liqui-Fuse had dried and let me tell you -- when you press it with an iron, it is fused. And it does leave a nice hand to the fabric. Soft and pliable and not heavy. I love it!

The members of Quiltart.com are always so generous with their techniques and information. It is the best resource. If you know a quilter who does NOT know about Quiltart.com, tell her. It will be the nicest thing you ever do!

Sally Sells Sea Shells by the Sea Shore

Sarah (aka Sally) on the beach at Hunting Island, SC

I had several more quilts on the design board to follow LOST. After the emotional turmoil of showing and talking about it so much, I thought it was time to move onto a lighter subject.

On our recent camping trip to the beach, Sarah and I found lots of shells and fiddler crabs.

So here is a first draft of Sally Sells Sea Shells by the Sea Shore, or perhaps I should call it: Sarah Sells Sea Shells by the Sea Shore. Will add many shells to the inside and around the bucket, some tulle for water effects and I am thinking of making polymer clay fish upon which I will paint the words to this tongue twister.


Border fabric

LOST can be found at the Lowell Quilt Festival and the High Museum of Art

LOST 2006

I am doing a happy dance. LOST was accepted into the Images 2006 Open Hearts Open Hands Exhibit at the Lowell Quilt Festival. Laura Cater-Woods selected the pieces that would appear at the exhibit.

LOST will also hang at the High Museum of Art June 16, 17, and 18 as a special exhibit with the Gee's Bend quilts.

I posted my Happy Dance on quiltart.com and received many emails from members commenting on the quilt. Everwhere I go and show this quilt to a group of people, I hear stories about others who have loved ones who are homeless, or who have been homeless. How can so many people have loved ones with homeless? And still there are so few resources to help them?

Shhhhh. Don't tell the librarian what we're doing!

Wheeeee! Here we go!

I am surprised we were not evicted from the library. The second meeting of the Contemporary Quilt and Fiber Arts Alliance was a fun and wild ride! Tonight's member-led workshop was Exploration in Surface Design and Sharon Ahmed took us on quite a trip. She set up stations for members to play with Shiva Paintstiks, DynaFlo, and an assortment of pastel and watercolor pencils.





Our alliance has artists of all levels and it was thrilling to see some of the more experienced artists discover something new through this journey.

Best of all, it is all done within a friendly and welcoming group. Listening to members chat and share techniques, information, comment on work, equipment, hopes and aspirations makes all the hard work of putting (and now keeping) this together worthwhile.



Show and tell was incredible. Members took the time to share process and techniques with eachother.


Shiva Paintstiks were used to do rubbings on stamps, texture mats and a variety of household items.

Using Shivas with a stencil brush and stencil yields lovely results. Try it on velvet.

Dyna Flo Dyna Flo, gotta try that Dyna Flo. How about this, Shiva Paintstick rubbed over stamp. Dyna Flo next. Shiva acts as a resist and the results are incredible.



And for anyone who has made it this far into my blog. One shy member hates to have her picture taken. Can you guess who it is?