A Colorful Heart Quilt

I love quilting! I actually love every part of quilting from picking out the fabrics to adding the binding. This quilt came to be because applique is one of my favorite methods of making a quilt. I have collected a wide assortment of fabric and as I was sorting through some of it one day I started setting aside certain pieces. Hand-dyed fabrics have so much dimension and possibilities. As I imagined using all of the fabrics I had chosen all I could think about was a heart made with beautiful flowers. So I designed this wall quilt and named it,

A Colorful Heart.

Ringing the Twitter Doorbell!

I see discussion about Twitter twittering everywhere. I haven't even looked at the website because of fear! There are only so many hours in my day and it seems that I am finding less time to create things. I am a huge proponent of marketing and planning. I even wrote an article over the summer about the benefits of many of the different marketing methods available to us today. But Twitter is something that I haven't delved into. It's like that spooky house on the corner that your friends dared you to ring the doorbell. If you didn't get away fast enough it may suck you in...

On that note I came across an article that was written by Sarah Milstein a web 2.0 consultant entitled, "How Twitter Can Help at Work." She wrote this article for The New York Times blog in a column called "Shifting Careers," where tips and advice are provided for small business owners. I happen to have two small businesses. One that is going strong and my creative entity that I hope to grow.

She provides five examples on how to utilize twitter and who is taking advantage of this new marketing tool. Anything from sharing ideas and knowledge to building your brand and providing excellent customer service. There are links galore to places like O'Reilly Media, Zappos, Jetblue, and Comcast all companies who are exploring this marketing medium.

I suggest that you read this article and then make your decision whether this is a good markting method for you. Yes, it does take time; however, it may be a better idea then one that you are currently using.

Now I'm going to go ring that doorbell...I'll let you know what happens when I get sucked in.

When a Roadrunner Visits...

He Doesn't Stay Long...

          beep, beep!

Artist Series - Totusmel

If you are an admirer of tatting then you must get to know this wonderful tatter. TotusMel creates her own designs --they are unusual and inspiring. This is certainly not your great-grandmothers tatting! This past summer she held a tatting challenge, Tatting is not a Lost Art, with one of her medallions. I decided to enter, and while I didn't win I enjoyed creating a design using her tatted piece. I recommend reading her blog...since it's one of my favorites!

1. When did you become interested in art and did you choose art, or did it choose you?

Art has always been a part of my life. My family is rife with amazingly talented artists in a variety of mediums and I have bounced around quite a variety myself. Tatting found me at a point when I was burnt out from knitting and drawing. I wanted to do something that was different from what my contemporaries were doing, something that I could make my own and this craft referred to as a dying art was exactly what I needed.

2. You get to spend one weekend each with three historical figures, an artist, a writer and one of your choice. Who are they and what will you talk about?

This question seems designed to make me feel terribly uncultured. Most of my favorite artists and writers will not be historical for quite some time. If pressed to choose, I pick H.P. Lovecraft, M.C. Escher and perhaps one of the many ancient philosophers that I admire. They each clearly have unique perceptions of life and the world around us that would help me make sense of it all.

3. Do any of these choices influence your work?

My work is very dark and gothic, I imagine that my love of horror and bleak art has an incredible influence on me and the choices I make.

4. How has the popularity of the internet affected your work?

If it were not for the Internet I would have not only not learned tatting, but I would have had little reason or outlet for expanding my skill. I am not a particularly social person at this point in my life, so the interest has given me not only people to create for, but also inspiration to create.

5. Have you discovered any new techniques to creating your work that you can share?

I am still learning, so I often encounter a new technique while creating. Many of my pieces are simply trials along the way to more complex and engaging designs.

6. How do you overcome artist block?

I change directions. I window shop for inspiration or I simply revisit old designs and let my hands recreate as they will.

7. If I walked into your studio this moment what would you show me first? What would you want to hide?

First let me stop laughing at the idea that I have a studio. What I do have is a nice new desk with plenty of storage, though I actually do all my creating in a corner of my couch. I am particularly fond of a few of my extra large pieces, the ones I could never sell, not only because they would be ridiculously expensive, but also because they represent a huge place of growth for me. I've got nothing I'm embarrassed by, most of my learning pieces are long gone, so it's all good.

8. Describe something that comes up in your work because of a life experience.

I am a grown up goth. I spent a lot of my youth as a social reject in black listening to dark music. Though I've traded in most of my vinyl pants and corsets for jeans and a tank top, I still love the look of highly ornate gothic and Victorian jewelry. It is one design element that I think I will always embrace even if I no longer have a reason to wear my own pieces.

9. Describe what you do, or who you are in a haiku.

Knots in thread I tie
Rings and chains connect to form
Adornments of lace

10. Is there anything else that you would like to share?

I never imagined when I began tatting by following patterns that I would ever create something anyone would consider to be art. I hope that I can continue to grow and create new and interesting pieces that speak to people. I hope my children will want to learn when they get older so I can do a little to keep tatting alive and relevant.

Best Birthday Cake Ever! Tammie Coe Cakes!

As a child I always received a birthday cake from my parents and for many of those years it came from Resche's Bakery in Columbus, Ohio on Livingston Ave. My wedding cake came from there as well. I don't know if it still exists, but if it does and you are ever in that area head there and get some of the best baked goods around.

Now that I'm all grown up (most of the time) my favorite birthday cakes come from Tammie Coe. These cakes are to die for and look how cleverly designed they are. Click on the picture and it will take you to the website and you can look at all of the eye candy cakes!

Today is my birthday and guess what is for dessert tonight!

Hoarder of Feed Sack Cloth!

I think I need a 12 step program I'm a hoarder of feedsack cloth/bags. If you have seen this cloth, or have some you may understand. I really, really want to make some quilts from this fabric, but I can't bring myself to cut it.

Feedsack cloth was produced beginning in the 1800s. The cloth comes as bags and you can still find it in tact. The bags held all sorts of consumer goods such as; sugar, salt, flour, grains, and feed for animals. They became popular to use with the advent of the sewing machine in the 1840s. The sewing machine produced a strong seam that would keep the bags from breaking at the seams as the goods were transported. Each bag is usually about a yard of fabric. After the goods in the bags were used up the consumer could either have the bag refilled or use the fabric to make clothing or quilts. Can you imagine how many farmers went looking for their bags, only to find their wives or daughters wearing or sleeping under them!


Quilts made from this fabric are so comfy and cozy. I only know this because my grandmother used feed sack cloth for her quilts and I loved sleeping under them. As the quilt ages and is washed it becomes softer and softer. There is a line of fabric out today, Aunt Grace, by Judy Rothermel for Marcus Brothers, that takes these patterns from the past and recreates them for our use today. (Since there are people like me that hoard them and you may not find them in the future) The Aunt Grace fabric patterns are generally from the 1930s and 40s. The feed sack cloth can have very subdued, pastel pattern or be very bright, bold and fun. I have about 500 bags that I've collected over the last 15 years. When I lived in Ohio I could find the bags just about everywhere and paid about $3.00 per bag. Since moving to Arizona I hardly ever find them. Recently I've seen them range from about $10 - $14 per bag.

I have this one that is very special. The pattern on the bag is Alice in Wonderland. I imagine that it is worth much more than $14. I haven't taken the time to research what these bags are really worth, especially this one. Since I want them for my own use I imagine that I won't ever entertain selling them. I can't even bring myself to cut them and make quilts --let alone sell them!

I have moved this fabric from home to home for years. You would laugh if you knew how many boxes they fill. And, I have laughed when movers have asked, "what in the world do you have in all of these boxes?"

It was a difficult decision on which pictures to show you...since they are all so beautiful and I wanted to share them all. If you ever come across any, you should grab it up and take it home immediately. But be careful...since you may become a feedsack hoarder like me.

Felting Wool and Dying with Rit Dye

My adventure with felting and dying wool began this week. I bought some wool from Jo-Ann Fabrics before it all disappeared and I also had some thrift wool jackets that I had deconstructed. It took a while to wash and dry of the wool and then cut it up into manageable pieces for dying. Somehow I ended up with a collection of Rit dye (I think it came from an auction and was part of a boxed lot) that I've wanted to experiment with for some time. As you can see one of the boxes is vintage and the rest are updated somewhat, but are still from a past decade.

I boiled the dye and water then added the wool. You could say that I cooked wool this week! The colors are tasty. Pastels, plaids and grungy rich wool!

I then rinsed and dried all of the wool again. I'm excited to use the plaids. I think they turned out to be quite rich and will make a wonderful background for my designs.

One thing I really liked about using Rit is that it's not toxic like some of the other dyes that you have to be a chemist to use. For my application the colors turned out the way I wanted. I may take some of the lighter colors and then overdye a little more to get a better mottled appearance.

It was a fun project and I will do it again, but I ended up with enough wool to last for quite a while. I should have taken a picture of the latex gloves that I wore --they were quite a sight!