St. Patrick's Day Fabric Postcards

I finally had some time to play in my studio.  I found this cute St. Patty's Day fabric at JoAnn's last week.  I thought it would be perfect for some St. Patrick's fabric postcards.  I embellished with a little glitter glue.  The address side is bright green.   Hope it goes through the postal system without problems.  I made four of these cards but plan to make a couple more this afternoon.

Next week is Spring Break for the granddaughters.  They are excited to "Sew with Mema".  The oldest is making a simple skirt and the youngest is making p.j. bottoms.  I made samples and they tried them on yesterday.  We are going to select fabric this afternoon after church.  It's fun to see how excited they are to learn to sew.  I'll be posting about the experience next week.

Winter Fabric Collage

I've been away from blogland for a few weeks.  Sinus infection and allergies have kept me from my studio.  Today I am sharing a fabric collage I made for the Winter Swap at A Swap for All Seasons.  My partner was Jill from Oregon.  She requested something in creams and soft browns.  The brown background is actually a handquilted piece from a vintage vest.  I found the vest at the thrift store some time ago and knew that eventually I would find a way to use it.  The vintage photo is from my collection.  I added the Pendleton label since Jill lives in Oregon.  I crocheted the cream flower and added buttons and Scrabble letters.  Tomorrow I will share the lovely fabric collage I received from Jill.

"T" is for tulip

We are nearing the end of our little alphabet quiltie swap on Fabric in Altered Arts 2.  How time flies, it seems like only yesterday if was making my A, B, and C quilties.   The tulip on this quiltie is fused applique.  Letters are stamped with Stazs On ink.  I added a vintage lace from my stash and quilted with my machine.  Edges are finished with satin stitch.  I love the colors in this background fabric.  Green and Purple are my favorite colors and Springtime is my favorite time of year. 

I'm anxious for those lovely Spring Days.  We had freezing temperatures here in the desert last night.  At 10:00 am I let our little doggie outside.  He went over to his outside water bowl, stuck his head in, and then gave me this strange look.  I went over to see what his problem was -----water in his little bowl was frozen solid.  Poor little doggie had never seen ice in his bowl.  I covered my plants in the flower bed and just hope they didn't freeze.  Many have lost their landscaping this winter.  Strange here in the desert.  I know I shouldn't complain since many of you have sub-zero but I live in the desert.  It isn't supposed to freeze.

Fabric Valentine Cards

 We are exchanging Fabric Valentines on the Fabric in Altered Arts 2 yahoo group.  We are to make three cards and we will be assigned three mailing partners.  This is the outside of the card.  I haven't decided whether to stamp a message inside or leave blank and add my own greeting.  The cards are Photo Frame Cards from Strathmore.  I made a little mini quilt (batting and fabric).  I quilted around the hearts and then placed inside the frame.  Quilt was secured with a decorative multi-stitch zigzag.  I continued the stitching to the back of the card.  The only requirement for the swap was that we incorporate fabric.  Fun swap and thanks to group leader, Cathy, for hosting the swap.

September Quiltie - "Orange"

The theme for our alphabet quilt swap this month is orange for the letter "O".  We started months ago with "A" and now we on "O".  The swap is hosted by Penny in the Yahoo group, Fabric in Altered Arts 2.  I've received some lovely quilties from members of the group.  The size of our quilties are 6" x 6".

I collected orange fabric and embellishments during my studio organization and finally settled on this design using strips of orange fabric.  I  embellished with silk flower, button, felt butterfly, fabric patch, and vintage jewelry piece.  The edges are bound with vintage seam binding.

Another Fabric Postcard

Irish Blessing Fabric Postcard

I have been organizing and decluttering my studio.  It is a long process but I can see a little progress.  As I was sorting yesterday, I found this uncompleted fabric postcard.   I decided to finish it and send to friends.  We recently spent a lovely two days at their home in the mountains.  It will be a thank you card and will go in the mail tomorrow.  The gold embellishment on the card was a gift from Constance from Fiber Art Traders (FAT).  It worked perfectly for the postcard. 

As I sort fabric, I have identified a few pieces that I will use for fabric postcards.  I'm still attempting to use my stash whenever possible.

"N" Quiltie - NIGHT

This is my "N" quiltie for the Alphabet Swap on Fabric in Altered Art 2.  The letter for August is "N".  The fabrics are recycled from items in my studio.  I'm still working to use my "stash" whenever possible.  I used my Janome 11000 to quilt the work "night" across the sky.  I'll be mailing this little quilt to Penny, our hostess, later this week.  Penny mailed our "M" quilties this week.  I can't wait to see which beautiful quiltie I receive.  This is a fun swap.  Much thanks to Penny for coordinating it all these months.  I think we are halfway there!

July quiltie M is for Monkey

This is my July quiltie for Fabric in Altered Arts 2.  We are doing quilties for each letter of the alphabet and July is "M".  I purchased a fat quarter of each of these fabrics at a little quilt store in Danville, Ky last fall.  A few weeks ago I made a small tote from the fabric and decided the leftovers were perfect for a Monkey quiltie.  I added the selvage with the fabric name "Monkey'n Round".  I embellished the quiltie with a card from a box of child's alphabet cards.  Luckily the M was for monkey.  Quiltie will go in the mail next week.

Fourth of July Fabric Postcard

This is a fabric postcard that I made for a friend.  It was very simple to make.  The base is Peltex.  I printed the address and a quote from President Eisenhour on the reverse side.   I found the image on the web.  The site has a number of vintage postcards for the Fourth of July.  The star fabric is from my stash.  I think it was left over from a flag quilt I made for my son.  I used my Janome 11000 to do the satin stitching.  I think it does the best job of all three of my machines when it comes to the satin stitch. 

Our family is looking forward to a wonderful Fourth of July.  We will be attending events in downtown Mesa tomorrow evening, fireworks after the baseball game on Saturday evening, and lunch after church with the granddaughters on the 4th.  Back to the ballpark to see the Chicago Cubs play on Monday afternoon.  Busy next four days.

"J" Quiltie - Jack of Diamonds

This is my April quiltie for Fabric in Altered Arts 2 Yahoo group.  We are doing quilties (6" x 6") with letters of the alphabet as the theme.  Penny, our hostess, selected Jack of Diamonds as the theme of the "J" quiltie.  I decided to focus on the Jack as also representing the number 11.  Since the Jack of Diamonds is red, I used red jewels instead of diamonds as embellishments.  Other embellishments are from my stash of game pieces.  The background is needle felted fibers and trims on a red background fabric.  I continue to work on my goal of "Using stuff in my studio" for my projects. 

Quiltie will go in the mail to Penny today. 

Fabric Valentines

These are two of the Fabric Valentines that I made for friends.  The vintage Valentines are copies from my collection.  They were printed onto fabric and fused to the fabric heart.  I used Peltex as the batting on these Valentines.  Edges were finished with a satin stitch and a narrow silver trim was sewn inside the satin stitch. 

Vintage Linen Pillowcover Completed

Just completed the pillowcover.  I'm quite pleased with the results.  I decided to add some of the lace from the vintage tablecloth around the edges of the pillow.  Hardest part was removing the lace without cutting the edge of the lace.  The lace had been attached to the tablecloth with very small handstitching.  Now to purchase a pillowform for the cover and the birthday gift is complete.

I'm so pleased that I completed the entire project by using items in my studio.  That's one of my goals this year.  So far I'm having fun using my stash.  I organized my studio over the weekend but now you can hardly tell it with projects going on!

Purple Vintage Linen Pillowcover

Today I am going to work on a vintage linen pillowcover for my daughter-in-law's birthday.  Her favorite color is purple.  I found these vintage linens in my stash.  Each contains purple and were purtchased at thrift stores.  I decided to use new quilter's cotton as the background.  I also backed the cotton with a piece of cottton duck for stability.  This photo shows the final  placement (I think) of the linens.  Once I have attached the vintage linens, I will add a pillow back of the purple fabric.  I will describe my attachment method in a later post as it is a work in progress.  My concern is to attach the crochet items without having stitches pullout where it was cut.  This is my first attempt at a project like this.  So far I'm happy with the way it looks. I hope to have a finished pillowcover to show you later today.  Wish me luck!

Composition Journal Cover

We recently had a composition journal trade on FAT (Fiber Art Traders).  This is the front and back of the journal I received from Merrie Jo.  Isn't it lovely.  We were to decorate the front and back of your standard composition journal.  I plan to use the journal when we are on our Mexican Riveria cruise.  It will be inspiring to write in such a lovely journal.  You can see to journal I sent to Merrie Jo  here. 

Glitzy Garment Quiltie

One of my Yahoo groups, Fabric in Altered Art 2, is having a monthly quiltie swap. The theme has been letters of the alphabet. Our hostess, Penny, decided to throw in an additional theme for the "G" quiltie - "Glitzy Garment". This is my little Glitzy Garment quiltie. The dress and accessories once belonged to Barbie. I purchased them at the Goodwill some time ago thinking I could use them in my altered art and now I have! (goal to use "stuff" in my studio in my fabric art) I added the gold bead necklace from my bead stash and the purple background is from a purple jacket I purchased at Dollar Days.

The outfit also included a pair of black boots but I couldn't figure out a way to include them on the quiltie. Maybe someday I'll do something with Barbie shoes!

Click here to see some of my other quilties.

Journal Cover

Diana of the Fiber Art Traders (FAT) is hostessing a Journal cover trade. The journal photos are to be posted by tomorrow. Here are the photos of the front and back of my journal cover.

I finally decided to use some of the "stuff" in my studio (a goal for 2010) to make the journal cover. The cover is made of leftovers from a Cowgirl fabric book my sister and I made a couple of years ago. The "stuff" was still together in a box. I'm quite pleased with the journal cover. It is removable and the pocket on the front could be used to hold a pen, pencil, or other journaling items. We will receive our trade partners on Wednesday. I'm anxious to see which journal I receive in return.

Snowy Sahuary

I designed this little sahuaro cacti a few months ago. The cacti body is painted batting. I didn't have the correct green for the sahuaro, so I mixed acrylic paint and painted the batting. I really liked the resulting fabric with a wonderful texture and the perfect color. I drew my cacti shaped pattern and cut the front and back from the painted batting. I then stitched the spines with my sewing machine. I used a decorative stitch and silver thread. I then cut out the mouth and added brown fabric with a reverse applique technique. The snow is white novelty yarns that were attached with my embellishing machine. The two pieces were stitched together with wrong sides together. Sahuary was stuffed with batting and a base of painted batting was added. Buttons were added for eyes. Last a chili pepper necklace was placed around his neck. I've very fond of my Snowy Sahuary. He will be added to my Christmas collection.

Christmas Purple

This is a stocking I made for a stocking swap in one of my yahoo groups. My partner likes the color purple. I found this light purple fabric in my stash of Christmas fabrics. I made placemats and napkins from the fabric a few years ago. There was just enough to make the stocking front and lining. I made my own pattern and used fusible fleece as the batting in the stocking. I'm very pleased with the results. The stocking will be stuffed with purple items for Kathie to use in her altered fabric art projects.

"F" is for Face Quiltie

In the Fabric in Altered Arts 2 group this month's letter for our alphabet quiltie is "F". I decided to use one of my sketches from the Faces on Fabric class. I completed the class recently and had a number of sketches to choose from. My "F" includes a Face and Flowers on Fabric. Guess that qualifies as an "F" quiltie. I sized the sketch to the correct size and printed on an ink jet fabric sheet. Color was added with colored pencils. I added a spray finish to the fabric before adding backing and batting.

Altered Couture "Apron-All"

This is my second item in the Winter Altered Couture magazine. The Apron-All was made from a pair of thrifted child's overalls and a vintage apron. I removed the pocket from the apron and added to the bib of the overall. When I purchased the apron, I thought it was a child's apron but I've since learned that many vintage aprons are smaller than those of today. I did make the waistband smaller to fit the waistband of the overall. I also used a red sharpie to add detail to the buttons. This item will be available in my Etsy store when it is returned from Stampington's.