Buried Treasures- - -What I have been doing in 2008

Seth Apter of http://thealteredpage.blogspot.com/ has started a challenge to find buried treasures in our blogs. I think this is a great idea as it is so hard to look back through just found blogs. This one of my favorite posts that I have done.

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This year has been a breakthrough for me. I am trying new things and trying to release my inner muse (it thinks I have lost it).

I bought a new tiny camera that I can easily take with me wherever I go. The week I bought it I headed to Kauai and took over 1200 shots. I was in heaven!

I make a lot of what I call "stones". They are small things that I can build on. I normally have no idea of what I am going to do with them but I can't seem to stop once I begin.

Fabric beads (mostly polyester) rolled and heated with a heat gun.

Made with fabric and glue.

Pipe cleaners wrapped with fabric.

My second group exchange was a post card challenge. No theme to this one, but since I had just come back from Hawaii fish seemed logical.

All the cards are made from cotton scraps with just a few emblishments.

I participated in my first art exchange with my mixed media group. It was a "skinny book" and our theme was "woman".

I used paper towels and dyed them with old markers. Then I drew on them with india ink and added crystals.

I have a wonderful source for upholstery fabrics. I made a number of purses, designed one myself, sold a few, and taught a couple of classes.

I discovered felting machines. A friend came over for a play day and brought this wonderful machine that she had found at a quilt show in Chicago. She let me try it and I was hooked. I bought my own the same week. This is one of my favorite things to do. I haven't done much quilting since I bought it.

These are all 4" by 6".
I used silk on some and polyesters on others.

In our mixed media group we do some mini workshops. One day a member, Debbie, show us how to do a type of free form quilting. We worked up rectangles and then slice them up and put them back together.

I found some wonderful silk leaves and made some small art pieces.

Most of the leaves are silk but the backgrounds are a blend.

The Year 2007

2007 was a time to relook at my artwork.

On a trip to California and Nevada I started to do macro photography. I love seeing what is inside of things we take for granted. I started taking pics of green things and just couldn't stop. I'm not sure what I will do with all these images but a few art projects are floating in my mind.

Recycle was in my blood before it ever became part of everyone's lifestyle. When I would take a class I would see people throwing away bits of gorgeous fabric. I asked for them and such began my fabric scrap addiction. I love making scrap quilts.

Postcards are so small. They are a perfect way to use up more scraps.



Still worked with my wonderful Sweet Charity group. We began making love quilts. We have gone far afield of the original style and it continues to evolve. This group made over six hundred quilts this year.