A Project Completed.....

Okay, I'm hanging my head.....on June 11, 2013 I posted a blog about a landscape I was working on telling you to stay tuned for what I had planned.

How on earth did this piece take me over a year to finish?  Even taking into account that I did make some other pieces in between....this piece took longer than most I have tackled in the last few years.  I am "big" enough to admit that I have WIP's (Works in Progress) in my closet that are much older than this one, but most as much larger than this one.....anyway....

All along I knew I was going to turn this landscape into a triptych, but initially the thought process was equal sections, until a friend suggested graduated sizes.  Hmmmmm! The more I mulled this over the more I liked the idea, so when I finished the needle felting and embroidery out came the rotary cutter...I have to admit I did pause.....what if I didn't like it or made a miss cut? 

It hung in the booth at International Quilt Festival-Chicago last week for the first time in it's FINISHED form and I must say I am pleased with how it turned out.  Sometimes I guess we worry about how something will turn out for just a bit too long....

 

The sky is done using our hand-dyed cheesecloth.  As I began this piece the cheesecloth when laid out had these folds in it and I knew I wanted to retain them....after a bit of thought I decided that if I worked on a muslin base with a layer of Mistyfuse© on it, that would hold things in place as I worked.  That muslin base gave the sky the right amount of depth.

 Because the needle felting "suggests" different aspects found in a landscape the piece didn't require and over abundance of embroidery to enhance it. 

Sometimes it pays to listen to constructive input when working....if my friend hadn't made the suggestion for cutting it in graduated sizes I would have cut them into equal portions and it wouldn't have the impact it does now.  Don't be afraid to listen to ideas/critiques of your work, someone with a fresh outlook may have a wonderful idea that will strengthen your work.

Playing Catch-Up.....

It seems that I have been remiss about writing on a regular basis, I will "try" to do better; however there really has been a lot going on around here. 

We made it home safely from market mid-morning, basically we drove straight through from Pittsburg with a couple of stops along the way to snooze.  Think we could hardly wait to start dyeing to fill those market orders.  To say we were happy to be home would have been an understatement, the idea of unloading this vehicle was just to overwhelming....the hatch was quickly closed and we headed inside for a well deserved NAP!  This could wait till later.....

The next day we mapped out our game plan to get the market orders filled and be ready for whatever came from the distributor.  So fabric was cut and gotten ready for the dye pots, the helpers took up their positions and we began.

The very next week began summer vacation and we implemented Camp Fiber on a Whim within view of the studio.  My grandson, Tony and our employees son, Remy took advantage of the warm sunny weather as I dyed fabric.

Now Grandma probably has enjoyed this pool being within steps of the studio and some of you may have caught a photo of that......I swear the cup was full of water.....

After 3 weeks of working hard we managed to fill and ship all the market orders, playing hard with the boys....I love the foam water guns ( you can see one floating in the pool above) they are so easy to load, aim and hit your mark.  Water fights break out around here frequently....ahhhh summer time.  So we decided to play "hookie", we drove up into the north Georgia mountains (I know there is something quite crazy about us driving 300 miles and calling it relaxing), then onto Highlands, NC....with views like this we came home ready to finish our prep for International Quilt Festival-Chicago.

Ahh.....Refreshed and Ready....
Now some creative time, made another of the cheesecloth rosettes that decorated our market booth in Pittsburg...not ready to show a photo of that because it is possible that it will appear with instructions in a future magazine....got my fingers crossed for that.  For month's I kept promising to create a seascape from our Ocean Waves Texture Pack, as usual something else always cropped up, well......at market I agreed to create a piece for a trunk show at a west coast shop....first I needed to get inspired...

here is what came about when all was said and done.....

the technique booklet on how the products were manipulated in order to create this piece has still to be written...and I will not promise to have it done for Chicago, but soon...and how you can split silk carrier rods will be included.

 As I write this blog I can hear the tape gun going in the studio as boxes are being packed, if you are going to Chicago next week be sure to stop by booth #1224, introduce yourself or for those old friends...we look forward to getting a hug....see you soon!

 

Exciting News for our IQF Chicago Booth!!

Do you like to manipulate fabric?  Have you wanted to try smocking but didn't know where to start?  Are you going to International Quilt Festival in Chicago?  We are so excited to announce that award winning artist Cheryl Sleboda will be in our booth in Chicago demoing her new Heirloom Smocking Template!  Cheryl recently filmed an instructional DVD with Quilting Arts titled Quilting Arts Workshop: Heirloom Sewing Techniques for Today's Quilter.  Both of these items will be available in Fiber on a Whim's Booth #1224!!!

Cheryl will be in our booth #1224 doing demos at the following times.

Thursday June 19th from 1:30-3:30PM

Friday June 20th from 4:30-6PM

Saturday June 21st 1-3PM

Cheryl is also teaching several Make It University classes as well as being in Open Studios multiple times.  You will be able to see this template in action straight from the designer herself. 

DVD &

Template

As an extra perk.......Cheryl will have on hand a few pieces from her Sewing Skull line!!!  If you don't have a skull yet, here is your opportunity to get one!

Sale of the Week: 10% off Hand-Dyed Variegated Silk Ribbon 3.5mm

Next Show:

IQF Chicago June 19-21 #1224

Spring Quilt Market Booth......

We are ready for Spring Quilt Market...tired, but ready.  Take a peek at our booth.  Before we left Georgia we raided the house for pieces to use for display, some we bought this past Labor Day when we went to the Hillsville Flea Market in Virginia and a few  other items we recently found on our quest to dress up our market booth.  As you can see we are in a dark corner, so on the way back to our hotel room we went to IKEA for some battery powered lights and a rug.  These should help make it more inviting.  We are the last booth on the 100 aisle so we left down the end wall to make it feel open....this also helps with cross ventilation....hope it's cooler tomorrow! 

 

 Isn't this little pink 50's ironing board just too cute!  It is so handy for displaying product that it has made an appearance many times in our booth's.

 Our little seating area includes 2 of our quilt designs and a vintage green step stool as our table.

  The child's chair, vintage carpenters ruler star and dough bowl add such charm....think these may have to make another appearance in our show booths as we travel.

A wagon from my childhood makes a cool display for our Kona and Osnaburg.  We are introducing the new paler Kona colors on the table between the wheels.

 This bench usually sits on our screened porch....after a good cleaning.....it now holds several of our sewing pattern projects published by Cut Loose Press.  Hopefully a shop by you will soon be carrying them...Burlap in Flight, Burlap Ditty Bag and Rose Garden Pouch.

Isn't this pillow adorable, it was finished just in time to put it in the car...the pillow is made from 2 of our Dulce de Leche burlap fat quarters, the roses are made from tea-dyed cotton organdy.  The pouch was screen printed using our new poppy Thermofax screen.

A few finished pieces and News

We have now entered our second week of residency here in Paducah.  We've gotten quite a bit done but still a lot more on our list to work on.  We'll see how successful we are!  We can't wait to see those of you coming to Quilt Week here in Paducah. 

We are located at 621 Madison St, Paducah, KY inside A.I.R. Studio.

We are just blocks from the convention center and better yet closer to BryerPatch Studios!  Keep in mind this is Caryl's last year here in Paducah as she is closing the studio and moving to WA.  This is your last chance to see it if you haven't yet.  We will also have information about other vendors around town to stop by and see.  This year has the largest number of vendors outside of the show floor sprinkled throughout Downtown & LowerTown.  Tons to take in and see.  There are still openings in the classes this week.  You do not need any supplies as they will all be provided for you. 



Paducah Classes

Finished Art Created

Sonoran Dusk I by Girod Rodriguez $50

 Purple Mountain Majesty by Girod/Rodriguez $60

 Spring I by Girod/Rodriguez $60

A Sense of Peace by Girod/Rodriguez $40


Sale of the Week: 10% off Multi-Color Hand-Dyed Cotton




Thanks so much for all your support!

Fiber on a Whim
Blog
404-705-9164404-705-9164

Call

Send SMS

Add to Skype

You'll need Skype CreditFree via Skype

We Have Arrived in Paducah....

We arrived in Paducah, Ky for our 2 week residency at A.I.R. Studio late on Sunday, managed to unload our vehicles before the rains came but not much more before falling into bed.  Here is a peak at what things looked like when we woke up and what we managed to get accomplished before joining PFA (Paducah Fiber Artists) at their monthly meeting held at Bryer Patch Studio for the last time.  It was a great time seeing old friends, meeting new ones, interesting conversations/information and tons of laughter.

Lots of blank walls yet, maybe after lunch we will hang some quilts and artwork......

Awesome Quilt Using our Osnaburg!

Soooooo.......I guess you can tell we fell off our Tuesday and Thursday blogging schedule quite a bit.  We have been running around like crazy which is a great problem to have.  The bad problem is that not everything is getting done....like the blogging.  We are seriously thinking we need more helping hands then we already have.....once again a great problem to have.  These next two weeks we are home and gearing up for our time as artists-in-residence in Paducah, KY at the end of the month.  We are doing a lot of dyeing but every once in a while you have to sit down right?  Well this is what I found when I sat down to check our email....

This quilt designed by Reets' Rags to Stitches titled Jump for Joy uses a several colors of our osnaburg.  It gives the quilt a great texture!  We thought it was absolutely adorable and we are making one up in a little brighter colorway.  Once we do we will have a kit available for purchase.  In the meantime, you can purchase the pattern directly from Reets'.  She is fabulous so we hope several of you go to her website and support her great designs. 

Reets' Rags to Stitches