one small part....

...of my "Trash to Treasure" book cover for a swap over at the Cloth Paper Studios Yahoo group. Ingredients = gold, copper and silver chocolate wrappers, a scrap of tulle, watersoluble stabilizer and free motion machine embroidery. The rest will be posted either later this week or on the weekend. A license to work outside-of-the-box AND use trash.......my muse is very happy!!!

tradition with a twist

Sparkly Chicken Yahoo Group - Receiver's Choice Swap updates:

The first photo is my interpretation of Jacqui's request for a Bee &/or Bee Skep block. Crazy quilted onto an 8 1/2" cotton square and then hand and machine embroidered (but mostly hand). The bees are hand embroidered with silk ribbon and little bit of black floss. The skep image was hand drawn on TAP (Transfer Artists Paper) with Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pens (permanent india ink). Then I heat transferred the image onto off-white quilter's cotton, added an extra layer of the cotton, free motion stitched and then attached to the CQ square. Would you believe that I've had the TAP for around three years and this is the first time I actually used it? I do love the effect, so you will be seeing more of this type of image transfer in the future. Jacqui wanted a yellow/gold colour scheme for her block, but I just had to sneak in a little orange!!



A little closer look at the details:



This is Cheryl's interpretation of my own botanical theme. Isn't it lovely? Despite tomorrow's threat of snow, this block gives me hope that spring will actually arrive. Raw edge applique, using a machine blanket stitch. The wording is separate.

did someone say inchies??

I joined a "Paws for Art" Inchie Swap on the Cloth Paper Studios Yahoo group, hosted by the lovely Wendy in the UK (one of the group owners). I love making inchies, but for some reason my mind couldn't get around the "Paws" part of the challenge. As I live in a no pet zone, I decided to skirt the whole issue and just make some art. Well, to my surprise, I ended up making the inchies out of leftover fabric paper, recycled cardboard, a nest of shredded paper and free motion stitching. Of course, the nest needed an egg, but what the heck kind of paws would hatch from an egg?? So my story is that this is the nest of a mythical hybrid creature. Part bird and part mammal with the largest PAWS you ever did see!!!

My first set of inchies for this swap:




A close-up!




Well, after a lot of deliberation, I decided that it really wasn't fair of me to poke fun at Wendy's theme, so I decided to make a second set of inchies and this time, I actually had an idea! My sister had given me a notepad that had cats paws running up one side. They were the perfect size for an inchie, so I thought to myself, why not use them as a pattern? So, I drew the paws (no, I didn't trace them!!) on watersoluble stabilizer, sandwiched a piece of tulle (fine netting) between two layers and then free motion machine stitched. Of course, my paws had to be just a little different, so my kitty has paws of a different colour!! The inchie base is recycled cereal box cardboard,treated with a coat of gesso for 'tooth' and then monoprinted with acrylics. I also included a little square of Angelina Fibre for sparkle.




Just a little closer so that you can see the detail.



Now all I need to do is figure out what I'm going to do with the first set! Decisions, decisions!!

a different perspective

My friend Kaite from Australia just posted a couple photos of the backsides (hee, hee) of her lovely dahlias. So, I explained how much I like to take these types of shots and promised that I would show a few that I took last year. It doesn't hurt to inject a little colour at this dreary time of the year. Enjoy!

Yellow Iris:



Poppy:



Purple Iris:



A different Purple Iris, but from the front this time and cropped:



Weed - Queen Anne's Lace I believe, but don't quote me on it: