SAQA

Well, it's been a while and my fingers are itching not only to sew but to write something....Holidays, company and yuk....being sick and on antibiotics have held me back. I belong to SAQA and there is a satellite group in the Asheville area that has started to meet more regularly, even found a great meeting place. This little group started with 3 people and has grown to around 15 very talented women.

 Since we haven't met that often until now, I'm still learning names and faces but I have permission from all these lovely ladies to show their work here ....so on with the show! The above piece was very vibrant and I love the random piecing within each block.

 This lovely piece was created by my good buddy Mary Stori. I love everything she does and this is no exception. Mary has been creating her own fabric for a while and all this fabric is Indigo. I love the use of white mixed in and the very graphic quality to the design....such great balance.

 I first saw Kathie Briggs work on Pinterest when she was living in the midwest...How lucky for us, she came east and to Asheville...no less. Kathie is known for her intricately pieced designs and love of nature themes.

 Amazing!

 This is another piece by Kathie...so very different but I think it is stunning!

 I love this very happy piece and do not remember the gal's name who made it....I love her sense of color and fun.

 This piece blew me away with such soft coloring and intricate piecing. I'm not a piecer so sewing many many small squares together would be quite a feat for me.

 And a detail...she had to have dyed her fabric!

 I'm such a tree person so of course this piece just grabbed me.

 I loved the scrappiness of this quilt but still very sophisticated.

And Susan Lee who does fantastic work did this very dramatic piece.
You see...I wasn't lying when I said this group has talent...indeed they do....

More Eco Printing

I've been doing a lot of eco printing knowing that the end is in sight with leaves rapidly falling from the trees, it's been great fun. I first tried it at Fiber Junkies but found I can do it at home on a smaller scale. I use a designated smaller pot (16 quart) and work in my kitchen as all I'm using is water and white vinegar.

 When I'm with Fiber Junkies, I get caught up in all the enthusiasm and don't pay attention to what's happening...just want results...but working on my own allows me to document more carefully the papers, leaves and other effects. I have a list of leaves that work from an eco printing workshop but decided to add others to the mix. The paper above shows the top leaf printed and the bottom 2 real leaves not yet removed...a really good print. I also laid yellow tissue paper on top so the color would bleed onto the watercolor paper.

 I love the way the ferns in my garden printed...not only was it a good print but imparted a lovely green color to the paper.

 Here is a mix of different Maples, Eucalyptus, Red Bud and Oak Leaf Hydrangea.

 I really paid attention to the different paper I used and made samples along with the larger prints. I used an inexpensive water color paper from Michaels....printed well but not enough texture.

 I also used a Stonehenge and Arches watercolor paper which both worked really well. The Arches was a cold press paper which provided a nice pebbly texture and is my favorite look.

 My son also gave me his deckled ruler so I was able to finish each edge (and it was very easy and quick to do). I'll go back and use a wood burning tool to char the edges a bit.

Another fern which I love...the edges have naturally colored from the process. I just saw a video on using teabags in art and am thinking that might be fun to try and incorporate with eco printing.

Visiting Old Friends

I used to live in Marietta, GA where I was part of some wonderful fiber groups. One such group was "Friday Group" which met on ...you guessed it....fridays. We stitched, ate goodies, showed off our latest projects and did a lot of laughing.

This month I was in Atlanta visiting my daughter which also coincided with a meeting. Loyce who hosted the meeting loves Halloween and goes wild with decorations. She served us a yummy lunch at this amazing table with a goodie bag on each place. Lots of Halloween decorations everywhere you looked.

Mary Ellen was wearing a huge necklace, earrings and spider pin...

along with crazy socks. Like she said...only a short time each year for wearing this fun stuff.

Barbara Butler who was one of our most talented artists has always created her own fabric. This is one of her pieces which is wonderful in person.

Barbara showed us a bowl she purchased in an antique store ...made entirely of spoons...This is looking down into the middle of the bowl.

This is the outside of the bowl...it was truly fantastic.

And a finished piece from Mary Ellen ...made with ethnic fabric from her Little Quilts shop. Mary Ellen was part of the 3 person team who owned the wonderful shop and pattern company - Little Quilts.

She also knitted this lap throw using a variety of yarns...

really cool.

And a redwork piece which I loved.

 A group shot at lunch...

and onto Loyce's studio where she is the creator of the most unique and fun cards...

such an amazing assortment of supplies

and work space....It was a wonderful day with old friends...I had such happy feelings that stayed with me for days...

5 Little Monkeys

My PTA group recently had their Oct meeting...this time a field trip to downtown Weaverville in North Carolina.....The main objective besides the usual talking and eating ...was to visit a new quilt shop! Hooray!

5 Little Monkeys is a wonderful new quilt shop; when first walking in....it was hard to believe it had just opened - soooo much fabric and quilting supplies to select from.

Fabric, fabric everywhere and like Angie said...she wanted to stock all kinds of fabric for every kind of quilter...

and that she did with tremendous success.

Antique cupboards hold fabric and other quilting supplies

and add to the charm of her store.

Angie also has a long arm quilter and provides a quilting service to the quilt community. I was impressed with the beautiful quilting on this piece.

There is a yummy section on batiks and lots more to see....please stop by and say hi...It's a lovely shop...and Are you wondering where the name came from ? Angie is the mother of 5 and yes indeed..they were little monkeys way back when. It has been a dream of Angies to open a quilt store..so glad for all of us, it happened!

and our very happy group...

who ended up at the cafe/bakery right down the block...such a great day!

Gelli-Printing with the Fiber Junkies

This month at Fiber Junkies, we were working on a great indoor activity -  Gelli printing....great fun as always. We had lots to try; Denny brought several different kinds of printing surfaces along with many masks/resists. We all had lots of different paints along with some silk screens I brought. They often work nicely on top of a dried gelli print.

But first...a quick show and tell....

 I love this new piece by Kate - lots of beautiful stitching and great autumn colors.

 Another whole cloth piece which has been hand marbled by Kate. It has a great watery feel with lots of movement.

 Another huge and beautiful quilt made with orphan blocks. Denny did a great job with color... as always....

and a detail....

 Denny showed us samples of fabrics dyed with Indigo mx and then compared them to fabrics dyed with preduced Indigo...some luscious prints. Denny is the experimenter in our group, always trying new things and always so sharing!

 This is a beautiful piece made by Gen with some great thread work on top.

 This is one of the "plates" Denny brought to try - a piece of blue foam board with plastic cling wrap on top to protect the surface from absorbing paint. It had an interesting feel to it when printing...not quite as "springy" as a gelli plate but it still worked well.

 Denny also made her own gelli plate which has a very different feel than the purchased ones.

 Here is another purchased plate that Denny brought - 12" x 12" -  a nice size.

 Mary was doing some printing on felt...

 using a fork...how clever!

 Denny brought her tree stencil which is fun to use. I laid it down to see how it would look...

The front....

 and the back which I was surprised to see it bleed through to the back for a more subtle but nice print.

 I also tried printing on a harder surface - had a slight texture to it which made it interesting on the surface....think you might be able to see it.

 Kate created this print and then did some silk screening on top.

 I really liked this piece of fabric, but it needed more. I coated the gelli plate with blue paint and laid down some circle shaped masks

 and also used the circles and green paint on this piece of fabric.

 This piece I used a silk screen on top...

 This piece also used circles (made out of file folders) to mask off areas.

 This piece was a combination of both gelli printing and a silk screen.

 This looks like a bit of a mish-mosh but the right side has some potential.

But there are some pieces that should have been left alone - like this one...I made it worse, so this might be hopeless although there are some in this group who would say...Never give up! You know who you are...

A wonderful, fun and productive day...this is just part of Denny's pile of new treasures...