Sizoflor, Tyvek and PVA

I had fun with the sizoflor today. I used two colours - blue and gold, cut out petal shapes, freemotion zigzagged the edges with metallic thread, scribbled over the surface and stitched a wire to the back of each one, then joined the petals together. The stamens are beads threaded on wire. Then I attacked it with the heat gun. This is the result. I think I will have to make another one to wear to THE WEDDING in the US in July!


Then I played with some tyvek. I coloured both sides of a piece with metallic crayons, cut out leaf shapes, sandwiched them with organza and scribbled with metallic thread - gold in the bobbin and green on top. I had intended to try to only bubble the tyvek, but I got impatient and zapped it from both sides. There are lots of lovely holes in this and I think I will apply it to a base fabric. A peach colour looked good, but I didn't have enough. I need to search my stash. The piece looks different depending on which side you look at, but I used the same colour crayons on both sides.



And the PVA? I glued the stamped tissue to my box, then coated it all with diluted PVA to seal it. No photo - but watch this space.

Quilt finished, busy time ahead

I took this photo of part of the back of my QuiltWest entry under a very strong light which has washed out the colour. The backing is actually black homespun.


I put the last stitches in it tonight. The label is done and the sleeve is attached. I just need to make a calico bag for it.

I also need to label the bags I am entering and make a carry bag for them as well. Not a big task - I am planning to finish it off after the weekend. Everything has to be delivered next Friday, the 18th.

Tomorrow I have Embroidery Guild meeting. We are going to be playing with tyvek, but I am also taking some sizoflor and my heat gun to play with as well.

Friday is Contemporary Quilt Group and Saturday is Designing Women where I am running a workshop and when the box challenge is due. I am ready to cover my box with the tissue I have stamped, so I hope I will finish that tomorrow. The stuff for the workshop is all ready, except for some photocopying.

Exercise

I went to water aerobics this morning and then had a fitness appraisal. This is supposed to be a gentle introduction to the machines in the gym.

Gentle? My program involves 5 minutes on the treadmill at a pace that seems to be at least 3 times faster than our walking (even though we have been picking up the pace lately), followed by 3 sets of 12 on 3 different weight machines (I can probably cope with this) then 30 minutes on a recumbent cycle, again at a flat out pace.

The total circuit is supposed to last about 45 minutes. I really don't think I will be able to do this after an hour's water aerobics, so I will have to plan to go more often. It really helps that the gym is only 2 minutes away. When I get really fit I will run there (in my dreams!)

Today's fibre adventures were few. I designed and programmed a label for my quilt, but the stitch out was really horrible. Even though I reduced the top tension the bobbin thread kept pulling to the top. So I took the machine to Bestway. David updated it for me and fiddled with the bobbin tension and hopefully fixed it. We also solved the problem of a 4D Embroidery bonus design disk not loading.

I stamped a bit more on the paper for my box. Plan to finish this tomorrow.

Nearly there

I finished quilting my QuiltWest entry today, trimmed the edges, made the sleeve, prepared the binding and pinned it all in place. Whew!

Now all I have to do is make and attach a label and finish the binding. The hand sewing should be a good project for my sewing group meeting on Wednesday night. Then I have to make calico carrying bags for the quilt and the bags I am also entering - need labels for them too. I think I will print the bag labels on the computer, but I am toying with the idea of an embroidered label for the quilt. A good project for my new software.

I also made considerable progress on the challenge box due next Saturday. I have painted the dividers and started on stamping the paper I will use to cover the box. Looking good so far.

Getting there

The quilting on the WAQA quilt is very nearly finished - just a 20cm x 80cm border strip to stitch. Stars of course.

I gave up when my shoulders started to ache and finished off the mug holder. Then I tackled next Saturday's challenge and actually completed the box construction. I have decided that I will paint the internal dividers - I think it would be too difficult to cover a 6 by 4 egg crate type arrangement with paper. I like the experiments I have done, so tomorrow is stamping day (after I finish the quilt!!)

I have completed the requirements list and notes for the first workshop.

And I have met the 10000 step target for the past two days because we have done really long walks so that time spent on the computer and sewing machine hasn't affected the results.

Two Bags Full

Noelene came round this afternoon to help organise the requirements for the HEIWA workshop I am doing at the end of the month.

The idea was we would make a leisurely survey of the yarns in Big W, then go to Spotlight and look at their range. We planned to buy about 40 balls - there are 22 people doing the workshop.

The best laid plans . . . I had a major computer stuff up and I had to stay home while it was being fixed. Noelene didn't mind - I gave her a pile of textile magazines and she spent a couple of hours happily perusing them.

By 4.30 I decided we just had to go. Leaving Kevin to hold the fort, Noelene and I dashed down to Big W. It took us less than 20 minutes to select 42 different yarns in a wide variety of colours and textures. We hope the workshop participants will like them.

Here are some of them.

Mug Holder

At last month's Contemporary Quilt Group meeting Lois shared the pattern for a Japanese style teapot holder aka mug holder. Her samples looked lovely in the Japanese fabrics she used.

The challenge for May was to make one of these bags or else an A3 quilt using a monochromatic colour scheme. I decided I might be able to complete a bag, so yesterday I went looking for fabric in my stash. No Japanese fabric, but I found a couple of bits of hand dyed cotton "baby muslin" (Spotlight label) that I had subjected to the cloque process at a workshop by Linda last year. The fabric was supposed to crinkle, but instead just thickened so that it was almost like felt. I also found an uncloqued piece of the same fabric to use as lining.


Last night I used a variegated cotton thread and meandered all over the cloqued piece. Then today, after an hour of quilting my WAQA entry and with aching shoulders and an intense desire for a change of activity, I made the bag. Easy peasy, except that I haven't yet finished hand stitching the base. The drawstring is a strip of the lining fabric, twisted and zigzagged.


I estimate I have about 3 more hours of quilting before the quilt is finished and ready for binding. Since I am working with invisible thread on a basically black background I cannot work at night. The best time is in the morning when the sun comes into my sewing room.

Oh, and this is my 101st post.

Paper and the Challenge Box

I am still unhappy with the tissue paper I painted to use for my challenge box, despite adding another layer of paint. The challenge is due Saturday week so I need to get moving.

The box is intended to hold a collection of stamps carved from bubbly corks and I was going to stamp the painted paper with them. I think the problem is that the paper is now too busy and the stamps will get lost. I will try a small section tomorrow to see.

But I now have another idea. Today I bought two packets of joss papers from the Chinese supermarket in Fremantle. One is a collection of papers in various colours. The other is an brown paper printed with a silver-gold square. More experiments tomorrow.

Workshops Looming

I will be teaching 3 workshops in the next month and I am panicking a bit. I need to make extra samples for two of them and also finalise requirement lists.

The first workshop is for Designing Women. The title is Back to Basics and I am getting people to experiment with ways to make interesting base fabrics for further embellishment. I have done this workshop before with absolute beginners - it will be a bit more challenging with more experienced textile artists.

The next one is for the Home Economics Institute of WA. This is one of the workshops I need to make more samples for. I was a Home Ec teacher before I retired and each year the Institute lets me show off things I have been playing with. I always make sure that the techniques taught in these workshops can easily be applied to the classroom. This time I am teaching weaving bags on a cardboard loom. I am looking forward to going shopping this weekend for yarn to make kits for the students. Here are some very old samples of the possible results.


The third workshop is for Catalyst. It is called Floaty Flowers and is about making 3D flowers from sheer fabrics.

Challenges

I am still quilting my WAQA entry. I have been working out from the centre, outlining and echoing the applique flowers. I was then going to continue the echoing lines at the bottom and fill in the top with freemotion stars. However, today I decided the bottom would be too boring and I have now quilted some flowers and leaves and echoed them and the bit I have done looks far more interesting. So now I will do the same thing with all the bottom and some of the top. There will still be stars though. I rashly said last week that I expected to finish the quilting on the weekend - didn't happen. Still hoping I can finish by this weekend.

Then I must tackle my box for the Designing Women challenge. I have decided on the format. I am going to use foam core and cover it with tissue paper. Started painting the paper today. I don't like what I have done, so when it is dry tomorrow I will try something else. I am not going to discard the tissue, just continue adding to it. I can visualise the finished product - the challenge will be getting there.