Monday, November 28, 2011

Chaos reorganized

No, it's not a Martha Stewart makeover, but I just had to stop this morning and do something about the chaos caused by stash spilling off the work table! I had stacked fabric by color, but I got so caught up in putting together squares and strip sets, that everything was all muddled up, so...
I resorted and put some of the stash in spare shoe boxes and bins, but I'm off to see if I can find some more containers... meanwhile, here's how it looks at the moment:
Better than it was, but I definitely think more containers will help to... contain it! Yuk, yuk...

Sunday, November 27, 2011

More freeform

I'm having so much fun! Today, I did 2 framed squares and a neutral strip set:
This square was made with fabrics I created in '07 when I took Melly Testa's class in surface design techniques... hard to believe it took this long to use them!
I'm not sure if I painted the center square of this block, or used sharpie colored markers... at any rate, I found fabrics in my stash to create the borders... some hand dyed, some commercial.
This strip set was a real challenge... I don't have many 'neutral' colors in my stash, but luckily I found enough to make a good sized piece, and I have some more set aside that should make some other color combinations. I can tell I will be at this awhile before I have enough blocks and strips to do anything with them, but fortunately I am enjoying the process! More to come...

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Day two - freeform quilting

I made some squares from slices off the strips I created yesterday:
This was the first... a simple border using strips from two solid color fabrics. You can see the original strip above the square.

On this one, I cut a slice in two and inserted a strip of purple hand-dyed fabric after flipping one side top to bottom. I'm sure I will do more to this one... maybe add border(s).
I cut a slice of the original strip here, then added borders to all 4 sizes, log-cabin style. I'm really loving that I can use both commercial and hand dyed fabrics to create these blocks!
I'm not going to give away all of Rayna's secrets, 'cause I really think you should buy her book, but at least you can see a little of how easy these are going together! I have no idea if or what I will use these for... right now, I'm just enjoying the process!

Friday, November 25, 2011

Time for a new project!

Last week I got my copy of Rayna Gillman's new book:
It's a real easy read, with lots of great photos to go with her instructions, and it's available now at amazon.com.
Today, I started to follow her instructions on cutting and stitching strips. First, I cleaned my workroom, putting away lots of things that had accumulated on my work table, sewing machine, etc. I forgot to take a picture afterward, and there's little chance it will look that good for some time to come! Here's how it looks now, after I pulled a bunch of fabrics, organized them by color, then started to put together my first 3 strip sets:
I'm real glad I have a door I can close when I leave the room... it's utter chaos now!
But I did get 3 strip sets cut and sewn so far:
I have no plan yet for how I will use these... just getting used to cutting and sewing them. There are some other techniques I will be learning which I haven't tried before, so I'm pretty much in play and learn mode right now. I do know that I am enjoying 'therapy sewing'! I have so much stash I have accumulated over the years that it's really nice to be using some of it up! And I'm getting a chance to combine some of my hand dyed and surface designed cloth with commercial fabrics... I like how they look together! So stay tuned... I will be posting more pix as I go along, and I hope you will buy Rayna's book! She makes everything so fun, and her instructions are easy to follow, which is saying a lot for me, since I don't usually do instructions very well!

Sunday, November 13, 2011

A great show!

No pix today, just a great big "Thank you" to all who attended the Mountain Campus Holiday show this year! And a special "Thank You" to the volunteers who were there to help us unload to set up on Thursday, and came back yesterday to help us transport all of our stuff to our vehicles at the end of the show! I think we must have had half the football team out there... was a very welcome relief to know that we would have help! Just one more reason I love to do this show every year... the folks who put it together ROCK!! And another reason is it raised funds for the Northern Arizona United Way... win-win all around! Can you tell I'm amped?!!


Saturday, November 12, 2011

Mountain Campus Holiday Show

Yesterday was the first day of this year's Mountain Campus Holiday show, held at Northern Arizona University. It's my last show of the year, and one of the 2 biggest shows I participate in.
Here I am with a set of my notecards, a new product I worked up for this year's show:
It was a long day yesterday... 9 hours! Sales were okay... hopefully the wind won't keep people from coming today! Here's a shot of my booth:
Funny how different things sell well one year, and not the next. I have had fabulous sales in the past with my silk and silk/rayon scarves, but only sold one yesterday!
My friend Cinde was set up next to me... she does beautiful beaded jewelry, and had a large supply of beaded snowflakes this year:
Good think, because she sold lots of them! Okay, time to get ready for today's show... I'll catch up on my rest tomorrow!