SAQA piece is done!

Despite my cute kitty, I got this finished. I am going to call this one FOCUS. I will send it off next week. I want to explore more abstract pieces.

I seem to have come to a standstill!

Lucy has decided she wants to help me with the quilting on my SAQA piece. Guess it is time for a break.

More on FOF

This was our lovely setting for the week.

I had fun dyeing bamboo socks.

A lovely walk on the beach:

 Here are a few more pieces that I dyed:

The next 2 are silk.. the first is silk charmeuse and the second is a silk Jacquard.

I have some others that I will probably sell off.. I will put them on my other blog in a day or so. I am also going to sell the silk scarves I over dyed in the indigo pot.

Can't wait till next year!!

Focus on fiber retreat

I have been spending the past few days down in Florida at Mary McBride's Focus on Fiber retreat. It started with an optional 3 day class before the start of the retreat which I decided to take.  The class was on advanced Shibori techniques and was taught by Linda Dawson who is a very patient and giving person. We had a blast!  I learned techniques I  never knew how to do  and found out that there are some I have no interest in doing again and some I thought I never would have had an interest in that I love. We did indigo dyeing, pole wrapping, burn off, melt off and discharge. Some of the class also did some traditional shibori stitching... not my thing. I loved the indigo, especially over previously dyed fabrics.

The retreat officially started on Monday and is well attended. Everyone came with their own projects plus group things to do. The women are all very giving and sharing. There are some very well established artists at this group including Pamela Allen, Rosemary Claus- Gray, Marianne Williamson, Patricia turner, to name a few.  I have actually done more work here in 3 days than I have done at home in the past 3 months. Happy hour starts at 4:30 daily, Yoga at 11:00, and dance at 4:00. All meals are included and we are fed very well. There is only wifi in the studios, but not in the rooms. There is a wet studio and a dry studio and many of us are using both. I have been dying up some gorgeous fabrics and selling them before I can even iron them. I even did my first mandala on a silk scarf. Now that I have done it, I haven't a clue what to do with it! I have been overdyed some silk scarves with indigo and they came out wonderfully. I even dyed up some baby socks! I really am having fun. I worked on my 12" square for SAQA and that is almost done. Enjoy the pictures.

We have a winner!

The comment left by Lyn Wolf Jackson was the winner...Congratulations. You will love it.

Review of Twelve By Twelve

Wow! Ok, I have to admit that I love art quilt books. It's the eye candy that calls out to me. However, I don't always have time to really delve into a book before I buy it so what happens is that I get it home and somewhere past the first chapter I wind up flipping through the rest of it until something strikes my fancy. Many of these books wind up in the bookcase collecting dust and not looked at again because there really was nothing past the first chapter that spoke to me.
Twelve by Twelve is not like that. This is a book that has lots in it for all of us. It is the coming together of twelve artists who, over time developed a special relationship with each other and their art. This group made a commitment to create 12 pieces of art each based on 12 themes over the course of 2 years. Each piece was 12" x12" and had a deadline of 2 months. Each chapter of the book is dedicated to a theme and we get to visit with the artist who chose the theme. We find out why the subject was chosen and get to see how the piece developed. We also get a real in depth interview about each artist and a "tour" of their studio's. Some are large, some are closet sized. Each other artist has a short explanation of the piece they created for that theme's challenge. There are also extra pages on some of the techniques used and other useful information. There are 144 quilts to drool over.
The Twelve artists are: Deborah Boschert, Gerrie Congdon, Helen L. Conway, Kirsten Duncan, Terry Grant, Diane Perin Grant, Francoise Jamart, Kristin La Flamme, Karen Rips, Brenda Gael Smith, Terri Stegmiller, and Nikki Wheeler. Their website/blog is www.Twelveby12.org.
The book is published by Lark crafts and has an ISBN 978-1-60059-666-7

Run, don't walk and pick it up. You will not regret it.

If you read my earlier post, you will know that I received this book directly from Lark. Since I was going to buy it before I got it free, I decided to go ahead and purchase it anyway and give it away to someone who reads my blog. One person will be picked randomly....However, there is a twist and a hitch. I would like the winner to make a contribution to the American Cancer Society of at least $10 if your name is chosen.I will pick a winner on Sunday, March 6th.