Maybe it's the cold weather, but my Flirty Fedora hat pattern has sure gotten a lot of attention lately! The same week we made ours in the wearable arts group in China Grove, 2 quilt shops also ordered patterns for hat classes of their own. One of the shop's teachers, Katherine P. of Sneeds Sew & Vac in Charleston, WV, was kind enough to let me share her gorgeous hat photo with you, shown below left; I love the lace and feathers Katherine used to embellish her hat, the textures work together beautifully, especially with the herringbone wool. Thanks so much, Katherine!
I myself have been working on some of my own wearable art for a certain quilt show coming up at the end of Feb. and submitted photos and application this week - yay! Can't divulge the actual ensemble yet, but I sure enjoyed gathering up the fabrics 'n fibers in shades of apricot, pinks and desert rose. Amazingly, the fibers I dyed during our fiber workshop in Greesnboro last Nov. with Wilton icing gels were the perfect harmonizing colors to blend with the 6 silk textiles and various cottons and blends I used to create my design (see photo below left.) Maybe I'll see you in Hampton this year where hopefully my art will be on display!
Friday, January 22, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Hat Class
Our Wearable Arts Group (WAG) started our year off with a bang with today's "Flirty Fedora" hat workshop, taught by yours truly. We had a great time, and the girls really did a super job with their hats, especially considering we're not exactly milliners! Most everyone got about half-way done and I demo'd techniques on how to finish them up, I can't wait to see their finished product! Hopefully they'll bring them to the next meeting, when we make our velvet flowers to embellish them with. For those who wanted something different, one gal brought in colored feathers for accent, so cute! Of course we had the usual wonderful food and fellowship, we always have fun. Such a talented group, one of the ladies Carolyn Sweet sent me photos of her purse from our Needle-felt Sweater Purse class we had last fall, I'm posting it on the left. Carolyn's sweater was unique not only in its wonderful use of color (don't you love the teal and gold?) but also in the fact that it was a button-front sweater with grosgrain ribbon trim. When Carolyn felted (shrank) the wool sweater, of course the ribbon did not shrink but instead made this wonderful somewhat ruched effect...I love it! A true work of art, Carolyn, thanks for sharing.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Sanford Show
What a great time we had at the Sanford show! I ran into so many folks I knew, some I hadn't seen in years...including a girl I graduated from high school, still as sweet and beautiful as she was then. And I made lots of new felting friends, so many creative souls yearning to unleash their inner visions through fiber art! I totally understand, being a felting fanatic myself. I love to sew, but there's something so therapeutic about stabbing those fibers into a needle-felted work of art, or coaxing them into a different form with soap, water and a little "elbow grease".
I was also able to coordinate a couple of nuno-felting classes, so many gals want to learn to do this! And I bought some gorgeous silk scarves for my classes from my friend Lorin Fields who does incredible hand-dyeing, I'm so excited about the possibilites of these new colorways! It'll be fun to see how my students express themselves with these new palettes.
I was also able to coordinate a couple of nuno-felting classes, so many gals want to learn to do this! And I bought some gorgeous silk scarves for my classes from my friend Lorin Fields who does incredible hand-dyeing, I'm so excited about the possibilites of these new colorways! It'll be fun to see how my students express themselves with these new palettes.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Avatar!
Went to see the new movie Avatar for the 2nd time today, this time with my daughter Maxi along...what a phenomenal movie! The graphics are just incredible in this film; what I'd give to have some hand-dyed silk colored like the wings of those dragon-bird things the Navi fly around on! The story is pretty neat, too, and I love the strong female characters in the movie. It'll be interesting to see how the visuals from the film branch out into the commercial world...will there be new plant species? Navi Halloween costumes next year? Only time will tell I guess, but this is one of the best movies I've seen in quite some time.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Fresh snow
Today we're getting our first snowfall of the season! I'm listening to the tinkle of ice against our roof, thankful to have a warm home, most of my family here, and to be almost ready for Christmas, barely a week away. I ran my errands early today, found a couple of new books on tape to listen to while I sew, and I am ready to be snowed in! Well for an evening anyway, it can all go away by Sunday to make room for our daughter coming safely home.
Hard to believe Christmas is almost here! The fall has absolutely flown by, I don't think I've ever had so many shows, programs and classes, and I have had a blast doing it all. We had a wonderful Needle-felt Sweater Purse Class with those sweet Kernersville gals back in September, and I was so proud of the beautiful bags the girls made...and they hardly broke any felting needles! What a creative group. Then came the Original Sewing & Quilt Expo in Chantilly, where I taught a couple of pincushion classes, saw many old friends and made some new ones. And then, the most exciting show...Houston Quilt Market! This was my first year vending there, and I was thrilled beyond words at the response I had to my patterns, especially my Pincushion of the Month Club. I'm planning to go back next fall, and who knows? I may even try vending both Market and Festival next time, I can't remember when I've had so much fun! Or worked so hard, it was absolutely exhilarating and also very exhausting, especially that drive...but you know, it was all worth it.
Since Houston I've done some local things; the Asheboro Quilt Show was so nice, I really enjoyed being near the guild boutique and chatting with the girls there, and we had beautiful fall weather too. And one of my favorite activities was the felting classes with the Piedmont Quilters Guild in November, we had so much fun dyeing fibers and wet-felting, and what pretty fiber projects emerged from our classes! I look forward to teaching more felting and wool workshops next year.
Speaking of next year, I can hardly believe that 2010 will mark the 20-year anniversary of my pattern company, Annie's Keepsakes! How things have changed since my daughter was toddling around and I was a stay-at-home mom, wanting to work from home, make a little money, satisfy my creative needs and provide a nurturing home for my family. Keeping a business alive and thriving is no small feat, and I have some exciting activities planned to celebrate this milestone event! More on that later...tonight I am just enjoying my family and being thankful for the holidays that bring us all together once more.
Hard to believe Christmas is almost here! The fall has absolutely flown by, I don't think I've ever had so many shows, programs and classes, and I have had a blast doing it all. We had a wonderful Needle-felt Sweater Purse Class with those sweet Kernersville gals back in September, and I was so proud of the beautiful bags the girls made...and they hardly broke any felting needles! What a creative group. Then came the Original Sewing & Quilt Expo in Chantilly, where I taught a couple of pincushion classes, saw many old friends and made some new ones. And then, the most exciting show...Houston Quilt Market! This was my first year vending there, and I was thrilled beyond words at the response I had to my patterns, especially my Pincushion of the Month Club. I'm planning to go back next fall, and who knows? I may even try vending both Market and Festival next time, I can't remember when I've had so much fun! Or worked so hard, it was absolutely exhilarating and also very exhausting, especially that drive...but you know, it was all worth it.
Since Houston I've done some local things; the Asheboro Quilt Show was so nice, I really enjoyed being near the guild boutique and chatting with the girls there, and we had beautiful fall weather too. And one of my favorite activities was the felting classes with the Piedmont Quilters Guild in November, we had so much fun dyeing fibers and wet-felting, and what pretty fiber projects emerged from our classes! I look forward to teaching more felting and wool workshops next year.
Speaking of next year, I can hardly believe that 2010 will mark the 20-year anniversary of my pattern company, Annie's Keepsakes! How things have changed since my daughter was toddling around and I was a stay-at-home mom, wanting to work from home, make a little money, satisfy my creative needs and provide a nurturing home for my family. Keeping a business alive and thriving is no small feat, and I have some exciting activities planned to celebrate this milestone event! More on that later...tonight I am just enjoying my family and being thankful for the holidays that bring us all together once more.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
A Milestone Week
Well, it's finally here, back to school time for all the kids. Sadly, this also marks the departure of our youngest into his first year of college, we are officially "empty nesters" now. Where did all those years go? Seems like just yesterday we were reading together, watching cartoons, and playing "go fish". I am so proud of both my kids as they continue their academic careers, but they sure do leave a quiet house behind.
Another memorable day this week, Tuesday would have been my grandma's 99th birthday, and this is the first one without her here to share it with. In remembrance of her, I took the opportunity to use several challenges due this fall to create a special little quilt in her honor; it's called "My Grandma's House", and will be featured in my guild's calendar next year for the month of April - quite an honor! It was truly a challenge for me, as I haven't done many landscape quilts before, but it was a lot of fun too; amazingly, the scene is a little reminiscent of her actual house...only instead of a dirt road, we have a street of gold, and a house in her favorite color, lavender. My favorite part of course were the wet-felted flowers, based on the morning glories growing beside our driveway, my grandma always had flowers all around her house as well. I'm posting a photo of the quilt at left, enjoy!
Another memorable day this week, Tuesday would have been my grandma's 99th birthday, and this is the first one without her here to share it with. In remembrance of her, I took the opportunity to use several challenges due this fall to create a special little quilt in her honor; it's called "My Grandma's House", and will be featured in my guild's calendar next year for the month of April - quite an honor! It was truly a challenge for me, as I haven't done many landscape quilts before, but it was a lot of fun too; amazingly, the scene is a little reminiscent of her actual house...only instead of a dirt road, we have a street of gold, and a house in her favorite color, lavender. My favorite part of course were the wet-felted flowers, based on the morning glories growing beside our driveway, my grandma always had flowers all around her house as well. I'm posting a photo of the quilt at left, enjoy!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Birthday Jaunt
We celebrated 2 birthdays today - mine (early) and Carolyn's, and drove up to Cary to see a wonderful exhibit at the Page-Walker Arts Center called ARTQUILTStransitions. If you haven't seen this exciting collection, it is worth the trip! 2 floors of art quilts showcasing techniques of all sorts: hand-dyed fabrics, beading, embroidery, 1" photo collage, phenomenal quilting, and much more. One reason we went was to see friend Karen Fridy's big beautiful landscape quilt, what a work of art - well done, Karen! Another favorite was a trio of wall hangings by Charlotte quilter Nancy Cook, oversized botanicals of soft colors and exquisite quilting. Then we had a fantastic lunch at a local cafe, followed by visits to some awesome shops in Cary. One of the most incredible yarn shops I've visited, Shuttles Needles & Hooks, was just up the street; they had the most mouth-watering selection of yarns in yummy colors, fibers, and gorgeous buttons! Heads up to my Triangle friends: I may be teaching a wool beads class there sometime in the near future. After that we headed next door to Etc. Crafts, which is really a quilt shop; Jean had such a nice collection of fabrics, I even found a piece that I think will round out my challenge project nicely. When we finally headed home, we made a surprise pit stop at my friend Sharon's adorable quilt shop, Plain & Simple Quilts. Of course the shop was all decked out with the most irresistable finds in hand-dyed wools, fabrics and even some of my patterns. We finally drug ourselves home, happy and content with a celebratory day full of inspiration and friendship; see Patty and Carolyn in the photo at left in Cary.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
