Good News From Altered Couture

Just received an email today from Beth at Altered Couture. The item I sent for the Spring issue has been accepted for publication. This is a partial photo of the before items. You'll have to wait until February to see my "Altered Couture Creation".

I only sent one item for the Spring issue. Guess you can't get better than one for one. In baseball that's batting 1000. (Wish our Diamondbacks could get near 300!) This just isn't their year. We went to last the game of the season on Sunday. Think all are glad to get this one over and think about next spring.

You can check out my two items in the upcoming Winter Issue of Altered Couture magazine. It's due in the bookstores on November 1st.

Also have an item in Belle Armoire magazine due out around November 1st also. It's so much fun to see your creations published in living color. They have such great photographers at the magazines. They make my work look so good!

5 x 5 Challenge Accepted by Art Quilting Studio

Just received news that our 5 x 5 Challenge quilties have been accepted for publication in Art Quilting Studio. Art Quilting Studio is one of the Somerset Magazines. Leilani was the trade hostess and she is responsible for getting the little 5 x 5's published. It will be fun to wait and see which of the quilties are actually photographed. It's possible mine won't be published but I'm hoping. They will go in the mail this week.

These were a Challenge trade on Fiber Art Traders (FAT). My Love quiltie (the denim heart) was voted the best Love 5 x 5.

Haunted House Halloween Journal Quilt

This little Haunted House is for a Haunted House Halloween Journal Quilt trade. The trade is for the yahoo group Fiber Art Traders (FAT). I wasn't sure I'd have time to make one of these little journal quilts but I was able to finish just before the deadline. The quilt is 8 1/2" x 11". I used Halloween fabric from my stash.

Another Monogram Pillow

I just finished this "G" pillow this afternoon. There is a wedding in the family next week. I decided to monogram this pillow cover and then will add candles from Pottery Barn. The candles are on their list. I still have a number of covers to monogram in the next week. They will be gifts for family members when we visit this fall.

My friend loved the pillow cover that I gave her for her birthday. She called yesterday to say how great it looked. She had purchased a pillow form for it. Since she was traveling by air, I decided to just give her the cover. It fit easily in her luggage when we went to the airport.

"E" is for Eagle

I'm trying to work ahead a little on my quilties for Fabric in Altered Art 2. We will be on vacation this fall and I wanted to still participate in the quiltie swap. This is my "E" quiltie for October. The eagle was made on my Janome Memory Craft 11000. It is one of the built in designs. I really love my Janome. I've also been making monogramed items the past few weeks using this machine.

I'm seeing a bird theme here in my quilties. So far I've done "B" is for Bird, "D" is for Dove, and now "E" for eagle. Need to think about "F".

Christmas Block of the Month

Two Creative Studios is starting a Block of the Month. I decided to use Holiday Fabric. There will be 9 blocks (one each month for nine month). I figure is I get the nine blocks by next summer, then I can have the quilt finished for Christmas 2010. I think we should get the last block in May or June. Terri's instructions are very easy to follow. The only thing is that you must make sure the patterns print out the correct size. One of my printers didn't print out to scale but the other was fine.

Faces Photo Added to flickr group

My little Faces on Fabric quilt has been selected by the Fabric, Patchwork and Quilting group on flickr. It has been added to the photos in their group. Not too bad for my very first faces quilt.

Lesson 6 - Finished Face Quilt

I finished my Faces on Fabric quilt. It's bound and ready to hang on the wall. I even put a hanging sleeve on the back. I didn't follow Terri's recommendations by binding but she did say if you had one you liked to use it. So I did. I very pleased with the quilt. Even my DH is impressed!

Faces on Fabric is a great class. I love to learn and try new things. I'm still sketching faces and will work on some more items with faces while on vacation in the fall. For now it's time to clean the studio. Can't believe how messy things get while working on projects.

Next Up are Eyeball T-shirts. I saw them on the Martha Stewart show and copied the directions. Michael's had the t-shirts for $2.00 last week.

Lesson 5

Here is my Faces on Fabric Quilt after the painting in Lesson 5. When I finished painting her, I hated her so I decided that there had to be something that I could do the save the face. I tried to figure out what I disliked so much and it was the color of her skin. So I decided to paint her skin with a flesh tone paint that was included in the kit I bought from Terri (the instructor). Now I love her. She is wonderful. I can't believe I could actually paint something like this.

Just goes to show you that some time you just have to be creative and figure out a solution to the problem.

Faces Lesson Four Completed

I'm finally back to my Faces Quilt. I just completed Lesson 4. In lesson four we stitched down all the parts of the quilt and stitched the features on the face. So far I really like the little Faces Quilt. The next step is to add the paint. This part is rather scary for me. I think I'll do a few practice samples before I actually put paint on the face fabric. Wish me luck.

By Special Request

I recently received a special request from Paula C. She had seen my Cowgirl quiltie here on my blog and was interested in a cowgirl themed quiltie for her "little camper". Earlier this week I posted some photos of my Western themed fabric book pages and she saw one she liked. The only addition was that she wanted a "little denim" somewhere. Well, this is her quiltie. She was pleased with the results and it will be on its way soon to her in Illinois.

Maybe I'll make a few more of these Western Themed quilties and list in my Etsy shop. I haven't done anything with Etsy in a long time. Maybe it's time to do something!

You can see Paula blog here. She has a wonderful blog and recently traveled along Route 66 in her camper. She describes her travels on her blog. Check it out. You might win a prize!

Great Mail Day - Trimmed Tags and Fabric Postcard

Today was a great mail day. The postcard is from Norma. Isn't it great. The Trimmed Tags are from Kathie, Cathy, and Marilyn. Both swaps are with the Fabric in Altered Arts 2 Group. It's always fun to get these little treasures in the mail. You can see one of my trimmed tags here.

"Woolie" the Halloween Gypsy Cat

Meet "Woolie" my Halloween Gypsy Cat for a swap on Fabric in Altered Arts 2. This is a one for one swap. They are due to hostess Cathy by the end of the month. I decided to use a felted 100% wool sweater as the body and arms and legs. The arms are the cuffs from the sweater and the legs are the bottom edge of the sweater. This sweater really felted well and I'm glad I was able to upcycle the thrift store find into little "Woolie".

Buntings are Waving in my Studio

We recently completed a Seaside Bunting trade on Fiber Art Traders. These lovely buntings have arrived and are waving in my studio. They are international buntings. The taffy bunting is from Canada, the oriental bunting from the United Kingdom, and sea themed bunting from California. You can see my bikini bunting here.

Exciting News

I recently received proofs for two of my articles for the upcoming issue of Altered Couture magazine. It is amazing the great things they can do to make my altered clothing look sooooo good. Both items will be technique articles. Each will have a two page spread. They both look great. I can't share the photos with you. You'll have to buy the magazine in November but I can tell you that one involves a child's overall and a vintage apron. The other machine needle felting. I can hardly wait until the magazine arrives. We receive a complimentary copy of the magazine just prior to it's release in bookstores.

I also have an item in the November/December Belle Armoire magazine. It's so much fun to see your works in print. I only sent in one item for the Spring issue of Altered Couture. Things have a little crazy this summer. I do have some ideas for the Summer issue due in December.

Monogram Pillow cover

Last week my sister and I were shopping and found these lovely pillow covers. They had a perfect space for monograms. This one is for my college roommate. Her birthday is tomorrow and she just happens to be in town from California. We'll meet tomorrow for lunch to celebrate her big day. I did the monogram using my Janome 11000 embroidery machine.

"D" is for Dove

This is my quiltie for September in Fabric in Altered Art 2. We are going through the alphabet and this month's letter was "D". My goal was to have the quiltie look like a stain glass window. I think I achieved my goal. I'm quite pleased with the little quilt. Now it goes in the mail to Penny our trade hostess.

Western Themed Fabric Pages

I had a request for a Western themed quiltie recently. She was searching with Google and found my "C" is for Cowgirl quiltie here on my blog and would like me to make a western themed quiltie. I scanned a few of my fabric pages to send as examples. I decided to also post them here. The pages are from my Cowboy and Cowgirl fabric books. Hope you enjoy seeing them. I'll try to post others later.

September Fabric Postcard

This is my fabric postcard for September in the Fabric in Altered Arts 2 group. I mail to my friend Norma this month. Hope she likes this little card. The back reads "Wishing you a wonderful fall filled with bright colors and sunshine."
I have a new fabric postcard holder. I found it at the thrift store recently. It is a pink wooden photo holder but it works perfectly for my fabric postcard collection and it's pink. My studio is pink and green. I love the two colors. They are so cheerful and make me feel happy when I enter my studio.

Dreams Come True

This is my second canvas ready for the spray finish. Paulette recommends a Satin finish. I'll go to Michaels today and buy a can. I'm working on a third canvas. It's brighter (oranges and yellows). It will have a retro fashion theme.

Canvas One Ready for Spray Finish

We were out of town on family business for a few days. I am now back in the studio working on my project for Paulette's Organic Dimension class. This is my first canvas and it is ready for the spray finish. We must wait a few days for the paint to cure before applying the finish.

Organic Dimensions Backgrounds

I mentioned earlier in the week that I'm taking a second on-line class. This one is Organic Dimension Backgrounds with Paulette Insall. It just happened that the two class I had been waiting for began at around the same time. So I'm trying to work both into my schedule.

I have completed Lesson 1 (top photo) and Lesson 2 (bottom photo). Paulette has many interesting techniques for adding dimension to your art backgrounds. So far I have learned so much about mixed media. As most of you know I'm a "fabric and fiber" gal. But I do like to dabble in mixed media. I have a plan to incorporate fabric into this project. I'll have to wait and see if it will work.

A few more embellishments

I decided to add another leaf and a butterfly to my Faces on Fabric. I am more pleased now and ready to move on to Lesson 4 next week. The colors in this photo are a little closer to the actual colors than the previous post. At least the skin has a flesh tone now.

Here she is!!!!

She is fused and ready for the next step. I'm quite pleased with this little Faces on Fabric quilt. I'm hoping the shadows along the face and neck will be covered in the next step. I trying to decide if she needs another butterfly. One to the right of the face? I have some time before I must decide. Faces on Fabric is such a wonderful class. I'm loving the instructions and interaction with others in the class. This is my first on-line class. Her name is LisAnne. Don't know where I got the name but it fits her.

Fabric Selection for Faces

I think I have finally decided on the fabrics I will use for my Faces Art Quilt. Last evening I picked out an entirely different batch of fabrics but when I saw them this morning, I decided they weren't bright enough. I want my face to pop off the background. I'm thinking this color of blue will work because the hair is shades of brown. Since blue and brown are opposites on the colorwheel, I am hoping the blue will help pop my face on the quilt. I haven't selected the fabric for the butterflies and I haven't decided if they will be one color or two colors. I think I will do my templates both ways and then I can decide. My flesh fabric really doesn't show up here but is more of a flesh tone.

We are making the templates this week and selecting fabric. The class is great. It is my first on-line class. I also began another class yesterday. I'll post about it later.