My SweetieHearts

Come on, have you ever seen any cuter kitties!? Our BeBop and Buddy. I wonder if Janey will draw them.

published

I got my copy of Jane Davila's Surface Design Essentials in the mail today. It's adorable! It's ~5x9 inches and full of ideas, oh and I'm on page 67!

more slow stitching

I'm teaching a one day wet felting and embellishment (and a 2 day mixed media) at Idyllwild this summer. Here's the link to the website--both of my classes are in the mixed media section Registration starts February 1.

On a totally different topic, if you're a teacher or community organizer, here's a wonderful project to help Haiti. My Mundo Lindo kids will be making them next week.

orange bird and pods ~ detail

A bit of collage. paper on paper. (and machine stitch)

memories of the silk road~ detail

Now that I've rediscovered the macro lens in my digital camera (okay, stumbled up on it) I'm taking some closeups of older quilts. I made this "Memories of a Silk Road" in 2005. Here's the entire quilt. And more detail shots here and here. The quilt is 18.5 x 15 inches and I've always loved it. (That's probably why I still have it, cuz I won't lower the price $850) It's made from used Tibetan prayer flags, bits of silk, ribbon, and hand-dyed silk and beaded and stitched. You know, I lived in Asia in the mid 80s and traveled to India among other places.....This piece reminds me of the opulence of old India and China.

slow cloth~ the details

I like this close up quite a bit! I think I might print up some notecards with these slow cloth closeups.

slow cloth

I just photographed a bunch of details from this series. See them all here. Like much of my hand stitching, I create the base during the day in my studio, then stitch on them in the evening while watching TV (of course, only educational programs! ha!)

summer of love

Here's the finished piece. I'm calling it 'Summer of Love' as a reference to the sixties in San Francisco. The only other title that came to mind was Octopus Garden (you can see I'm stuck in the past here). I welcome a new title! (Flower Power is already taken.) You can see a close up here of the stitching. And here is the inspiration for the piece, a rug I've ordered because I feel in love with the pattern. Rug and quilt will reside in my kitchen.

a peak of a tiny quilt in progress

It's raining buckets in San Diego, and I'm working on a flower covered tiny quilt. Lots more embellishment to go. (This is a small cropped section of an 8x8" quilt.)

pink circle - details

I showed you the whole piece here. But now that I've remembered the macro setting on my camera, thought you'd like to see a close up.

pink circle--detail

Another detail show of Pink Circles. (I'm teaching this "Recycled Circles" at Art Unraveled in August.)

pom story

I told you I've been working with paper on cloth for some upcoming classes. Here's one that I 'finished' (if your definition of finished is raw edges with the batting showing) that's a combination of two different pieces, that I worked together. I love to cut and paste disparate elements together and make them work.

pom story--detail

Here's a detail shot. this one is all machine sewn, with my version of free motion stitching.

felted rock

Yup, the promised 'felted rock.' It's actually very small, and totally useless.

flower power

I wish I had a more creative title for this, but as a child of the sixties, it just screams Flower Power! You know, I'm teaching a workshop this Saturday, and when I started preparing for it, I thought it was 'Cloth on Paper" so I did this piece using, yup, fabric on paper and machine stitched. THEN, I realized the workshp was supposed to be "Paper on Cloth!" so I had to start on something else!

flower power--detail

Detail of "Flower Power." It's layered and machine stitched and I think there's some paint on there too.

Universal Yes --detail

Here's a detail of the piece I'm nearly finished with. Can you see the Beryl Taylor influence? I watched her DVD and was very inspired.

Universal Yes

The piece is only 8 x 8" so I'm thinking I may add a border to it. It's machine and hand stitched and beaded, and made from paper on cloth. (I'm preparing for a workshop I'm teaching this Saturday in Escondido. I'll also include this in my upcoming Athenaeum class, starting February 1 for 8 weeks.)

my kitchen window

My new stained glass mosaic. I just bought it from my friend Virginia. I love it and love how it looks in our kitchen window.

western tanager

I did these inside the Buena Vista Nature Center today, on our Sketchcrawl. No, they weren't flying through, they were part of the display (real, but stuffed.)