Quilting on the Edge

Spray Dyes on Fabric: Process

Thanks to all who commented either here or by email about my previous post and how I may have created the fabric piece.   I didn't use stencils or masks exactly, but I used picture matts.  I keep a few sizes on hand, some are even cut into halves so I have more versatility in creating triangles or other shapes.  For this piece, I began with dry fabric.  I laid the matt down and sprayed the dyes in the open areas. I did not saturate the fabric with the dye when I sprayed it, just wet it enough that subsequent colors would blend to produce new colors. I continued to move the matts around in different positions and spray in different colors as I chose, to create the final product.  After it was dry, I ironed the fabric to set the dyes, and there you go!  Below are several photos to help illustrate what I've said.......now, I did another piece without matts and with water, which I'll post on Monday and talk about then

Using Spray-On Fabric Dyes

A few weeks ago I decided to try spray on fabric dyes that I found at Hobby Lobby.....I don't have much space to set up for fabric dyeing, and don't have the time right now to do so, so this seemed like a good way for me to scratch the dyeing itch without too much hassle.  This is the piece I created........ I started with a piece of white PFD cloth, and ended with this.  I used only dyes of the primary colors.  How do you think I created this piece?  I'll wait a few days before I post the process, would love to hear how YOU think I did it.  Even if you're not right, you're thoughts may suggest new ways to do fabric dyeing that we can all use!  So.........what do you think?

Tuesdays' Ten: Summertime Rituals

With school almost out for the summer, I started thinking about how that used to feel when I was young......those endless days of summer ahead seemed like SO MUCH TIME without the pressures of going to school.  I started remembering those days, and came up with a list of rituals or routine items I did in the summer.

Here goes:

Chose a new pair of KEDS:  limited to red, blue, or white.  Sort of rotated colors each year. Usually bought them at Kinney's Shoe Store.

Rode my bike to the library at least every two weeks, joined the Summer Reading Program.

Went downtown with a girlfriend and stopped at Woolworth's dime store for fries and a coke in a booth with red vinyl seats.  Probably spent about 30 cents or so.

Read books on my bed with the windows open and breezes flowing in.

Spent many days at the City Park participating in the summer program, came home for lunch when I heard the factory whistle blow at noon.

Made lanyards out of vinyl or plastic colorful strips at the park.

Played games in the yard after supper:  red light, green light;  tag; baseball with my brother, watching traffic from the swing on our front porch.

Went to the fruit market and bought two plums for a nickel or dime.

Had popsicle or ice cream bar treats from the nearby Scholl's Dairy.

Two chores I remember:  sweeping the kitchen floor after supper, and washing the basement steps once a week.

These are the things that came to mind quickly on this topic.  I really lived a pretty simple life.........yet, lots of memories here.  This list could be longer........I remember playing with two kids from another town who came to visit their grandparents next door.  And, in another large apartment building near us, playing with another girl who lived there and running through the hallways of the apartment building.  Her grandparents had a blind collie named Patty and we often followed her around the area outside the building.  Wonder what would be on the  the lists for today's kids........I think there may be some who still are doing similar things to what I did.  No Keds for $2.99 though, I'm pretty sure.  Catch a memory today........it's fun!

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Memorial Day Thoughts

One of my favorite sites on this first holiday of the summer season is seeing all the flags by veterans' graves at the cemetery.  I recall when I was a little child, Memorial Day was referred to as Decoration Day, in honor of the task at hand:  decorating the graves of our deceased soldiers. I took this photo this morning as I stopped by with flowers at my Dad's gravesite.  There was a mild breeze, which makes the tiny flags wave and makes the whole view even better.   There were a few others at the cemetery, planting flowers or dropping off floral arrangements for their loved ones.  The next photo is of my Dad's gravesite.....and a view of the plaque on his grave for his years in the Armed Forces, and of course his very own flag.  My father received the Purple Heart.

I like how the flag is reflected in the grave stone............ I see you can also see a view of my legs as I was standing there taking the photo.

We'll make some ribs tomorrow, have a few friends over for a cookout, and be glad for nice weather on this holiday weekend.

Don't forget to remember the reason for the holiday...........we have so much to be grateful for.

Tuesday's Ten: Snippets of Lyrics

I'm one of those people who enjoys a great phrase or expression.  Often, I find those type of things in musical lyrics. I love all types of music, and often what makes a song endearing to me is a particular use of words in the lyrics. 

This week I'm going to list ten snippets of lyrics from songs that I find meaningful or of special interest to me.   Maybe you'll recognize these yourself from a song you like too. 

 

"Want to feel the warm breeze, sleep under a palm tree, feel the rush of the ocean"

"Old friends, sat on the park bench like bookends"

"We've been making hard promises to keep"

"Sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug"

"All the lonely people, where do they all belong?"

"You are the wind beneath my wings"

"Preserve your memories, they're all that's left you"

"I will never be set free, as long as I'm a ghost that you can see"

"Not to worry cause worry is wasteful and useless in times like these"

"Life's like an hourglass glued to the table"

When I first started this list I was having trouble recalling my favorite lyrics,  but it was easy when I checked out my playlist on the iphone and all the words came rushing in.  I could list many more, but these are the ones for today.  Maybe the reason you love a certain song is the lyrics and how they reflect your own view of the world.  Something to think about.

Creating Original Rubber Stamps

In the April/May issue of Quilting Arts magazine are two articles about creating original wood blocks and rubber stamps to use in art work.  This intrigued me so that I had to try it! I used the technique written in an article  by Merill Comeau in the magazine.  I went to the hardware store and purchased a roll of adhesive backed rubber insulation, pictured here.  It is about a quarter inch thick and three quarters inches wide. 

My husband is a woodworker, so it was easy for  him to  cut me  several wood blocks from his scraps, on which to mount the stamps I was making.  I began experimenting with various cut out shapes to create stamps.  Below are photos of the different stamps I made:  

This one is of weeds or grasses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This one is stones or small rocks.

 

 

 

 

 

This one is fence posts or a

simple line pattern.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This one is just a pattern that

I think would be nice for surface

design on a background.

 

 

 

 

 

This one is of seagulls.  I love the water so much I'm sure I'll find a use for it.

 

 

 

 

I made others, but these are my best tries.  Of course I had to try them out immediately!  I selected one of my hand dyed greens and went to work stamping multiple layers of different colors with the grasses stamp.  Here's how it turned out, I think it's pretty cool.     I rinsed the stamps out in the kitchen sink using the water sprayer, and they dried easily without damage to the adhesion.   Now........I can make original stamps for any of my art quilts in whatever pattern or subject I choose!   Try it!

Tuesday's Ten: Things that cause Openings

Last Tuesday I listed ten things that cause holes, and promised to follow up with ten things that cause openings.  I was musing that openings implied opportunities to me.......possibilities of something happening.  I decided that openings were positive and most often, things that caused holes ended up sounding negative, or at least, not as positive.

Here's my list of ten things that cause Openings:

A Newborn Baby:  a whole new world    

Garden Gate

First Day of School

Meditation:  opening to the soul

An award or prize:  how might that change your future?

Windows:  architectural or electronic

Learning another Language

A New Friend or Job

Driver's License

Faith and Hope:  expectation of a better future

In reality, each morning is like another opening of possibilties, altho we may find ourselves taking the same familiar steps and even feeling the same ole way.  It would be a challenge to approach each day as if something different was about to happen.........like it was a day of potential for just about anything.   This would take some serious attitude adjustment for me, I'm afraid, but maybe it's something I should begin to think about.  If I have the opportunity to do something spontaneous, do I take it?   Maybe that's a place to begin. 

 

Mother's Day: The Other Side of Mom

It's hard to think of much to say about  Mother's Day that hasn't already been said somewhere else.  It's spring now, so I've been noticing lots of new mothers and babies in my drives around my area of northern Indiana.

I saw a calf with his mother lying in an open field on a large farm.  While driving by the lake the other day, I saw a new family of Canadian geese chicks scurrying around the shoreline under the watchful eye of their parents.  Maybe you've had a bird's nest in your yard and have seen the eggs hatch or the little mouths stretched upward looking for something to eat.  Once I saw a family of baby rabbits in a hole by my garden.  And the beautiful site of a fawn with his mother, grazing for food under the watchful eye of its' mother. 

A friends' daughter recently gave birth to her first child......just a few days before Mother's Day. 

So it's time to celebrate that person who gave us all our start in this world.  Being his mother isn't easy, but mothers make it seem so.

Being a mother isn't always what a mother expects, but mothers learn to hide disappointments.

Being a mother is repetitious, but mothers try to make it seem interesting when her child wants to do something over and over again.

Being a mother can be heartbreaking, but mothers learn to put on a good public face and carry on as if she was whole, and then she falls apart in the privacy of her bedroom or closet.

Whatever comes a mother's way, she somehow finds a way to deal with it that will cause the least damage. 

Besides all the doing mothers do, there's a lot of behind the scenes thinking that remains her own secret.  Fortunately, mothers know other mothers and they can talk about these special secrets together. 

One day, one of mothers' children becomes a parent, and then she watches as they too develop their parenting private life which the kids know little about.  

Happy Mother's Day!

 

 

Guest Blogger on "Inspire" today..............

http://inspire.creative-textile-and-quilting-arts.com/thinking-of-new-inspirations/ 

The link above is for my article today as guest blogger on the Creative

Textile and Quilting Arts site, for their Inspire daily post.  My article is

about Tuesdays Ten........which you already know about if you are a

regular reader of this blog.  If not, click the link above and you can

see what it is all about!  Happy Tuesday!