Getting Lots Done!!

I have figured out a way to continue to make progress on my work area organization and to keep working on projects that must get done!! I cleared off one small table and set up to paint some things while I was taking a break from shuffling, sorting, tossing and decision making. It worked very well and I was able to accomplish quite a bit!! I also did not leave the house to go anywhere after the dogs and I had our daily 3 mile "walkies". If I go out to run errands I find that the day just disappears!!

I am going to be making several fabric cones for Valentines Day, so I looked thru my stash and decided taht i wanted to paint some lace. So, on my clear table I set up to paint.

I simply chose some acrylics and went to town on a polyester lace panel that i had picked up at a thrift store.

This is a picture of the watercolor paper that I placed under the lace!! I love it when I think ahead and plan accordingly!! (RARE EVENT) I am going to do many different things with this paper, eventually. First off, I think that I will use a small portion to back some Heart Pins that I am working on for a Swap. ( More on that shortly!)

Here is the lace all painted and ready for cone making.

It is so beautiful! It was also really messy and fun to do!

I also checked on some of my new rusting fabric projects.

Here you can see the steel bailing wire that I coiled and bent and placed between the folds of this piece of muslin that had been soaked in vinegar and water. Pretty cool!!

Here are the afore mentioned Heart Pins that I am working on. I need to finish the beadwork on two more and then back them with my lace patterned paper and get them in the mail for the swap.

These pins evolved after I read one of the wonderful books that I got for Christmas. The book is The Painted Quilt by Laura and Linda Kemshall. They are wonderful fabric artists who paint on quilted surfaces!!! The book is fabulous!!! I was inspired to quilt these muslin hearts with purple embroidery floss. The muslin was backed with two layers of felt and the stitching was pulled very tightly to achieve deep valleys in the fabric. Once quilted, I painted the hearts with a very stiff dry brush and three different colors of red paint. I used a dry brush to avoid soaking the piece with paint. The object was to leave a bit of a halo of fabric color around the purple stitching.Once dry, I went crazy with the beads!!

There are sparkly little gold beads in the center of each quilted square andedged with glistening clear droplets. Unfortunately the flash on my camera kind of blew these details away. They look much more bejeweled and rich in color in person!

One last project for the day was to finsih up a long overdue Quilted Journal Page for a swap on my Surface Design group. Annette Jeavrons of the UK, had created a glorious page for me and I received it back in early November. I begged her pardon and asked for an extention as I was swamped!! She has been very patient and understanding and I have gotten it done. Here is her wonderful creation. The task was to create a page using complementary colors. She chose Purples and Greens.

I wish that you could see this piece in person!! The stitching is gorgeous and the flowers were made from threads and bits and sparkling Angelina fibers with glitter sprinkled on top. She stitched them together using Water Soluble stabilizer and then submerged the flowers in warm water to dissolve the stabilizer.

I decided to use a piece of my rusted fabric for a starting point . My complemetary pair was blue and orange. This is NOT a combo that I would normally be drawn to but I really wanted to use some of my Rusted fabrics.

To get the rust patterns, I used a steel gear die from an old meat grinder and a metal earring that I had found, already rusted, in a dormant flower bed at the local library. (One never knows where one will find treasures!!!) To add the color, I used the steel grinder die as a stamp and sponged it with Sapphire Lumiere paint and stamped it on the fabric. Then , yet again, I went crazy with the beads. This is like NOTHING that I have ever done before. At several points I was not at all sure that I liked this piece, but I was certainly reaching and stretching out of my comfort palette and design zone!! In the end, I am quite pleased with it and very happy to be able to send off an e-mail to Annette to tell her that my long overdue journal page is finally in the mail!!