A Bojagi Day!

No, it's not my work!! This is a beautiful, transparent quilt made by Jill Ault from Ann Arbor. I was SO lucky today to go with my friend, Mary, to Jill's house for her to show us the 'Bojagi' technique! I wrote a post on Bojagi here and showed a small piece one of our fiber members was working on. Of course I had to get the book, Bojagi & Beyond by Chunghie Lee, and we jumped on Jill's invitation for her demo!

This is another one of Jill's transparent quilts she had on her design board. But if you really want to see some wonderful art work, in addition to Jill's transparent quilts, go to her web site. Jill is a true artist and works in several different media.

Jill started out showing the process using silk organza and the sewing machine! Who knew! I thought we'd be doing all hand stitching...not to say you couldn't but Jill showed us how to be careful and it wasn't all that difficult to stitch on the machine.

This is a piece that Jill sewed showing us how to stitch over all those layers. She didn't miss a step and made us feel like we could even make a 20 foot transparent quilt! OK, maybe just a 20 inch quilt! But I think we're able...although, I'll start out with a 10" or 12" block or maybe just some squares.

This was another piece I happened to notice on another design board Jill had. It was actually black silk organza and was beautiful!! Do you see the design in the background? Also, there are seed beads in each of the small corners. Click on the picture to see the piece up close!

And this is the back of the piece above. Jill also does shibori and she bleach/resist the design! I love this piece!! I know, you're thinking it must have been the beads!

There is something about the process and results from this technique that I am just so obsessed about. We're going to order some silk organza and yes, you can dye it. Jill said it picks up the colors beautifully. She showed us some of her shibori pieces and if you look closely at the multi colored piece in the 2nd picture you'll see some of the shibori pieces she dyed.

After our lesson, we went to Casey's Tavern for lunch! No margarita for me! But I did have a cherry pop! I haven't had cherry pop since I was in high school! Remember the good old days of cherry or chocolate coke? That's what the cherry pop reminded me of! Anyway, we had a really good lunch and I learned more about Jill. She's quite a talented lady and I'm so lucky Mary invited me on this journey! Now to get busy and finish a piece! Have to make our 'teacher' proud of us! But first, I have to watch our TIGERS play! It's 0 - 0 in the top of the 6th inning! A nail biter but at least I can work on my bead loom!

Eye Candy!

The first 'eye candy' shot is our grandson, Ian, leading the pack during his first high school cross country win. CONGRATS, Ian! A job well done for sure!! Ian's been running this summer, even in the heat so I'm sure he's in top shape!! Hard to believe he's in 10th grade already!! Grandpa sure is getting older! Not me! Just you and grandpa, Ian!


Here's some more 'eye candy'!

Elsie is one of the ladies in our fiber group who does a little of everything! I'm always in awe of her artwork regardless of the medium. This is a beaded piece Elsie did a while back on her bead loom. Isn't it spectacular!!

Here's a closeup of the detail! I think it's an amazing piece! I asked if i could post a picture of her work and she kindly agreed. I just wanted to share this with some of my bead followers. check out the beaded fringe let alone the detail in this piece!
I had a busy weekend...actually I've been busy since Friday. Doing some beading, making fiber cards, put the sleeve on my AAQI donation quilt - although that took two times! I put the sleeve on upside down along with the label! Yep, had to remove both and resew! Kids are still up north on vaca and Amber called me today to say they just finished horse back riding! She said she even passed her 'evaluation' on trotting on the horse! What memories they are creating! I told her she would have to write that in her journal, but she said she didn't have a journal! Of course, I told her she needs to get one! Can't believe me of all people haven't given her a journal yet! I'm sure I have somewhere along the line! We'll have to look for it the next 'grandma day'!

Stacy's Birthday GiveAway!

Check it out! Stacy from Scrap with Stacy has 5 giveaways going on. All sorts of goodies for mixed media. Ends Sept. 30!

AAQI donation

My AAQI donation quilt

My quilt represents the changes that come with life and with diseases. Especially Alzheimer's, which destroys the memory one worm hole at a time.
I finished the facing and just need to put on the sleeve and it's ready to mail. I've already registered my quilt (#8013) with Ami Simms AAQI. There are some really nice pieces you can still purchase or you could still donate a small art quilt!

I did start on another cuff but I'll only be showing the start of it as it's for a 'trade' I'm working on with another blogger. More on that when I've finished and she's received her cuff! This will be a fun exchange! Last night we had our fiber guild meeting. We did have a great show and tell again and I'll post pics over the weekend. As of late, we've been having major discussions as to the direction of our group. We've been together for 9 years and I think have done just about every technique there is! That's part of our problem...now we're just trying to think of things to do monthly and it's becoming more of a chore than a learning experience. I emailed Jane Dunnewold (author of Complex Cloth - and other books), who we based our groups direction on. Jane was kind enough to provide some good feedback which we discussed last night. Not sure what our conclusion was but I'll be working on the writeup for everyone later today.

It appears many groups end up in this dilemma needing a new direction. A lot of consideration has to include facilities, meeting time(s) and a direction that meets every ones interest...and with up to 13 women that's a tall order! Hard enough to get 3 women to agree on something! I think we'll figure it out and continue on. There's so much talent in our group that you hate to miss seeing what they have to show at the meeting. Personally, that's the best part seeing what folks have worked on. Our problem is, we don't take the time to investigate or have the artist talk about their process in creating their work. We seem to rush through show and tell and don't ask questions. Isn't that how you learn? hmmmmmm

Just some more tangles

Before I show more of my tangles...here is the Humbug bag I made for my friend as a BD gift. Karen does a lot of hand work in addition to her art quilts so I made her bag a little larger to hold all her different threads she might need to carry around. I just noticed my bag I made over a year ago is sitting in the background. I use my bag for carrying my needles, threads, small scissors...all the essentials for hand applique or just sewing on binding. I think Karen will use hers as well...let's hope!
Here is the 1st tile I did in class on Monday. I have tiles I ordered before and I was looking at the work I did on those and the work I did on Monday! huge difference! I can't believe all the tips I got from the class with Sheryl!

This was my 2nd tangle. I think we did learn seven different tangles.

Sheryl showed me two pieces of shrinky dink she had tangled and then beaded! So on Tues. I got out the shrinky dink and did a small 3" square of different tangles. Here's the piece shrunk! I'm putting it on the front of a note card. My hubby said I should make a necklace but I don't think I would wear one...but who knows!

And while I sat outside in our beautiful Michigan weather yesterday I tangled two more note cards. I made up a set last Sept. for my daughter of note cards in black and she really liked them. They make great little gifts.

No tangling today! It was my last full day with the kids until after school starts. We ran some errands and then played 'putt putt'. It was fun and we had a good time. Tomorrow is our CCC fiber meeting and lots going on there. I hope to have some good show and tell to inspire you with on Friday!

Zentangle 101

For those who have followed my blog, you know how much I love to 'tangle'! Last night six of us from our fiber group attended Zentangle 101 class held by Sheryl Lamarand a certified Zentangle teacher at the Edge Gallery in Fenton! Sheryl was great and this is one of her pieces which I think is beautiful! Sheryl had so many examples of her work but I was too busy looking at her art work and only got a few of her pieces photographed.
Sheryl gave us each a kit which included a pen, pencil, stump (for shading), black paper and of course our Zentangle tiles.
And off we went tangling our little hearts out. We learned 7 different zentangle designs and it was so interesting to see how one design was done by everyone in the class.

These are some of Sheryl's Zentangle art work.

These were our class tiles. We each did four different patterns.

Here are the remaining tiles by the class and these were our first lesson.

My little tile starting out

I was too lazy this a.m. to take pics of my finished tiles. I'll post those later. Sheryl lives in the Lansing area and does classes all over! She is also a wonderful beader and we were fortunate to see some of her beautiful beaded jewelry. If you're interested in contacting Sheryl to find out where she's teaching next, just go to the Zentangle teacher web site here and look up her name or contact the Edge Gallery and ask when Sheryl is teaching next!

Paintstik workshop

Last Friday I taught Shiva paintstik workshop at our local quilt guild. Ladies seemed to have a good time and actually created some really nice rubbings and stencil pieces. Enjoy..busy day today...Mandy hasn't been up to par of late so she's going to vets.

I'm also going to a Zentangle workshop with my bud's tonight, after dinner at the French Laundry in Fenton!

Working in black and white

This is the black and white Microsoft picture I posted about a few days ago. I know it looks pink but honest it is black and white. It's a picture I use as the background on my desktop. I've always loved this picture and thought it would be fun to try and replicate it in fabric.
So after doing some laundry and making a humbug bag for a gift today (I'll post pics after I give it away) I started playing with my own black and white!
First I drew the branch by painting it with Liquitex (soft body) and a little textile medium mixed in.I did layer batting and backing to the piece above then I continued on. I wanted to use some type of sheer material and I found a sheer bag (actually I found two of these!) that appears to be some type of organza. I removed all the stitching and ribbon, then ironed the fabric and traced out some leaves. Kinda hard to see but I think you'll get the drift! Just look hard!

Next I cut out the leaf but I kept a good 1/2 or more around the edge of the leaf then stitched it down. Once stitched I used some sharp scissors and cut carefully! around the stitching line. I did try cutting the leaf shape out on another one and just stitching it but I'd prefer to have the excess fabric and then cut away.

After I stitched a leaf, I then free motion quilted the veins then stitched on another leaf and FMQ'd and yada, yada...

And my leaves all stitched down and my piece is black and white (not pink!). Now to do some free motion quilting to finish the piece. It's only a small piece around 11" x 13" but I wanted to play with the technique before I made a bigger one.

If anything, I can donate to Ami Simms AAQI. In fact, so could you!! Ami is looking for more quilts that will be sold on the AAQI web site and be taken to Houston to sell. Do check out the blog post here and read about the request for more quilts. They are small in size but huge in return for this initiative!

Friday is our local quilt guild meeting and I'm one of four putting on a workshop in the afternoon. I'll be showing the ladies how to use Shiva paintstiks. We're going to be playing with rubbings, stamps, masking tape and anything else I find in my stash! I love using the paintstiks because you have instant results! Hopefully, I'll get pics from the workshop and post this weekend.

What a day!

Before I post about our day...have to mention "out of the mouth of babes". As we were driving to the park, I don't remember why, but I aksed if the kids had heard of the saying "there but the grace of God, go I"...Amber said, "no, grandma" she hadn't heard of this and guess what our Nick said! "Grandma, you go to church too much!"! I almost had to pull off the road I was laughing so hard. Just another little 'saying' to put in his BD letter for this year!

Today the grand kids and I did the paddle boat 'thing'! And what a hoot it was!!! I took this picture just as 'grandma' was getting ready to unhook the tie rope and jump on the boat! It was great! Kids and I were laughing and screaming the entire time!! It did take us a little to adjust to steering the boat but did manage to get out of the dock and not hit anything!

It was a beautiful day and you can see some of the lake and docks above. We had a blast on the boat then decided to eat our picnic lunch we packed.

And then! Grandma surprised the kids by packing their fishing rods and tackle boxes in the car! I stopped and pretended I need gasoline so I could stop and pick up worms!

So here the kids are fishing and they had a ball! Who knew..Amber said "I'm not a girlie girl, grandma, when it comes to fishing! Duh!

She certainly isn't! Man, she was cutting those worms right beside Nick with no hesitation at all. She finally told me to "chill out, grandma and sit down". "This is what you do when you fish".

This was one of many fish Amber caught!

And this was one of many Nick caught! Yes, we put them all back, very gently! And we even fed some of the fish just pieces of worms! How gross, but sweet!

We had so much fun on the paddle boat that after the kids fished we went back out for another 1/2 hour!! For $5 (each half hour) you can't beat it! Just a fun, fun day..then back to the house to play 'hot potato' with an old balloon the kids had! By the time my son got home, I was dripping from sweating! He even checked the thermostat thinking his air must be off!
So tonight, I'm pooped but it was all well worth it!! Just another memory to put in my head and I hope the kids!
The video's are a hoot..the paddle boat was is mainly of my fingers!! The sun was shining and I was taking the pics with my Ipod! I forgot where the little camera was so I ended up covering it up!

Happy Birthday Jeff!

Yes, we have another golfer in the family! This is Jeff, our SIL and he's turned another year older today!! Yippee!! So nice you're trying to catch up with me, Jeff!!

Jeff will stop reading now because there's a space between paragraph. He has a short attention span! so I can talk about how nice he really is! Jeff is just a happy guy with a great attitude. I can't even hold it against him that he's a golfer! He and Dawn make a great couple and good friends to Darrin and Kris.
We really are lucky to have Jeff in the family and I hope he has a great BD today! Hopefully, we'll get to see him on Wed. The kids love their Uncle Jeffie! And so do we! Happy Birthday!!

One finished and two more ready!

I finished my cuff last night while 'toggling' again between the Tigers and Pittsburgh football! A gal's gotta do what a gal's gotta do! Right!
I do wear quite a bit of beige and orange so this will fit right in with my outfits! I do love these cuffs and this design is my favorite. A lot to keep track of but I honestly didn't find a mistake in this one! Yippee!!
I will be starting on another one after a trip to the bead store on Wed.
Muggy, drizzly day today but Mary and I still met up at the market. My veggies are all washed and I made some dip for us along with white chili (with chicken) for dinner tonight. We haven't had lunch due to my having a migraine this a.m. In fact, I stopped at the high school on my way to the market to take an Imitrex. I try not to take them but I was getting really sick and had to get to the market and grocery store. I'm feeling better now thank goodness!

So one project down and some more on the way. Hard to see the design but this is my next BJP project. It's going to be a beaded butterfly. This particular butterfly is from Hawaii..the name is quite extensive but it's black and red so should be fun to work on. I have to quilt the background then I'll be ready to start beading.

And this is another project that I'm anxious to start on. This is the wallpaper on my desktop and the picture is from Microsoft. I printed it out and this is how it turned out - pink instead of white. I want to make this using some translucent material for the leaves. I think it will be a stunning piece. So that's on my 'to do' list. I need to think it through carefully or I might just dive in and make a small piece (6" sq.) to practice.

This afternoon I did get all my supplies and samples together for our oil pastel workshop that I'm presenting at our quilt guild this week. There are four of us putting on different workshops and the last time this was done everyone had a great time. I'll take pics as I don't remember what the other three workshops are! So now off to get dinner on the table. No lunch makes for hungry people!