Artist Trading Cards....

Okay.....it's been about two months since my last post.....so what's going on?  Life happens and creativity sometimes has to take a back seat.

In the meantime....I've had to tend to my garden....both literally and figuratively.....by the way, all these photos are all taken with my camera....

Which brings me to only having time to create ATC's, artist trading cards.  These are 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" size quilts or cards.  They look like business cards & may even be used as a business card.  I belong to an ATC group of 10 very creative and talented women.  We exchange these cards with each other every other month.  I won't go into too much detail about how I make these cards at this time.  If you google, "How to create quilted artist trading cards", you'll find tutorials for this.   

I basically use two pieces of 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" white cotton muslin fabric.  You'll need a black & white drawing or image of your choice.  Remember that your drawing/image has to be no larger than the above size. The picture below is a drawing done in pencil first then, darkened by going over it with a sharpie thin marker... 

Take the drawing/image and place under a white cotton muslin fabric & trace the image.  It will look like the next photo where the image has been traced on to fabric...

You will need an assortment of fabric markers if you would like some color in your image.....

How you color your image is left up to your imagination, or you may use a photo as a reference or whatever you would like to do.  This is about creativity & you may express yourself in whatever way you choose....

Continue adding color.....

Once you're satisfied with color, you're ready to embellish with beads, hand or machine stitching.  If you need to stabilize your fabric with interfacing or batting you can do this before add your embellishments....

After I added beads, I fused double sided inner fuse with my iron to the front & back, using the second white piece of muslin fabric that I initially cut out.  Inner fuse is similar to Timtex which is product used in tote bags or purses to give them stability.  Inner fuse is sold at your local fabric & craft stores.  You may just use batting if you like but, I prefer the stability of inner fuse.  After my beading was stitched on the front, I fused both sides together & then satin stitched around the edges of this ATC...

Here's the finished ATC...

I don't have a picture of the back side of this ATC but, you may sign & date the back, along with the title of your card, if you have one.  I made ten of these & traded the other nine with my ATC group.  These are really quick to make once you decide what you want to create.

Thanks for stopping by to visit & I hope you enjoyed this glimpse of the process I use for making artist trading cards. 

Until next time......

Fresh Cut Roses.......

It's been slightly over a month since my last post.....even though there is inspiration everywhere you look.....I have to confess that I too often come to a creative road block.   It doesn't matter the why......we just have to find a way to work through the road block and find our way back to creating again.

While I don't have anything new or ready to post.....I will post pictures of my fresh cut roses from my garden & the roses art quilt that I created a few years ago.....

This one rose had a nice hot pink color....we all feel this strong & vibrant at some point in time during the day.....

This next pic is from the same rose but about two days or so after I cut it.....looking a bit paler.....does it needs vitamins???  

Snapshot below of the roses done with fabric & quilted........

Notice that the fabric, in the quilt, with the hot pink in it was a commercial fabric that was hand dyed with a range of yellows, splatters of orange, and light pink to hot pink color.....all in that one fabric I bought a few years ago......a great piece of fabric that I have now used up........I'll have to dye my own in the future....

After a few days......a rose begins to age......like all living things.....but even though it's aging......there is still beauty showing through......

their lovely petals begin to fall & curl.........and they still look pretty......I usually leave them at the base of the vase.....they have the shape of teardrops....but not in a sad way......

Here's a yellow/orange version for those of you who prefer yellow roses........

If you're a quilter or a painter.....you can make a bouquet of roses last much longer by creating your subject in fabric or painting on a canvas..........below is the quilted version I created a few years ago........all done in fabric, subtle value changes, machine quilted.......no fabric paints....

Not the best picture because it's taken with my IPhone....guess I need to figure out which app will give me the highest resolution for taking great pics with my phone.....I'm open for suggestions...

I've already heard from followers of my blog.....who by the way are not officially registered as followers because your picture would show up under my followers section......

I know....I know....I need to stay on top of updating my blog every two weeks or so.......I will do my best.....sigh!

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend......

Until next time..........

Coneflowers...

How do you decide what you'll do next?  

This seems to be the question that I get asked the most.   Always do what you love & you'll enjoy the process.  

First,  I typically hold auditions.......this usually brings in many models as you see below...

Some of the models are vertically challenged, while others are vertically enhanced.  They are all pretty & they all want to be selected...

So begins the process of elimination, much like the auditions held for American Idol...

After a long & tough selection process.....a top model is born....

Now that you have a model to work from, the next step is to decide how you get this picture converted to a pattern you can work with.  The fastest way is to use photo software.  I used Adobe Photo Elements to speed up this step.  Below is the enlarged paper pattern.  

I begin to select fabrics that I see in the original photo.  As is usually the case, I never seem to have all the values I need so, I decided to hand dye some fabrics.  I used RIT Dye below & followed basic formulas with adjustments here & there depending on the values I wanted.   You can find basic formulas for dyeing on www.ritdye.com.  

Fabrics are pressed & ready to be used in the photo below.  I only used the pinks, mauves & greens from this stack in addition to other commercial fabrics which you'll see in a moment.  What did you say?   A lot of work?   Remember I mentioned to do what you love & you'll enjoy the process.  No, this wasn't a lot of work for me.

Fast forwarding to paint touch ups for depth on the stem of this coneflower.

Close up of dense quilting done on the petals.

Below is what the backside of the quilt looks like. By the way, this whole process took several weeks to work on.  I did not magically whip this up in one afternoon....

Guess what?  I found a broken thread that I have to repair.....sigh......just when I thought it was done.

To see the front side of this art quilt, scroll back up to the top, click on the tab....Gallery-Floral to see the completed piece.  

Hope you enjoyed this post & thanks for stopping by to visit.  

 Don't forget to carve out a little time for creativity in your day...

Sue Benner Quilts

It may seem as if I fell off the face of the earth because I haven't posted in a while.  Life just takes over & I lose track at times.   I've quite a few quilts in progress but, nothing to write about just yet.  

Instead I'll share some of the pictures I took of Sue Benner's presentation during our guild meeting the other night...

Sue Benner in her fun polka dotted stockings.

Lesley, our program coordinator showing Sue's hand dyed fabric.  My picture doesn't do this justice.  This was a beautiful color in person.

Hand dyed scarves (silk & velvet) available for purchase...

Small landscape quilt...

Larger quilt with floral applique...

For more information about her hand dyed fabrics or scarves or classes, check out her website at www.suebenner.com.  She also has a gallery of her quilts.

Thanks for taking time to visit my blog.  I should have another post in a couple of weeks or less.  

Stay tuned...

Houston Inter'l Quilt Show 2012

Here's some wonderful inspiration from the quilt show...

Below is a beautiful quilt called "Une Belle Amitie`", by quiltmaker Cynthia Williford & designed by Harold Williford (her son).  This quilt was inspired by Baltimore Friends Album by Mary Simon.  

I enjoyed meeting them both & hearing about their inspiration, design, & completion.  Scroll down for a full view of the quilt. 

A labor of love...

A closer look at center block...

You can't tell from my photos but, there is quite a lot of hand beading.  

For more details about this quilt & the house in the center block visit Cynthia's website at www.cynthiawilliford.com.  If I remember correctly, there are wonderful close up pictures of more of the blocks on this quilt on her website.  Cynthia is also available to teach & lectures as well.  In person, her quilt was breathtakingly beautiful.  

The next quilt is another beautiful traditional original design by Sharon Schamber called, "Once Upon A Time".  It also has a lot of hand work & is machine quilted.  Her work is also beautiful.  Again my pictures do not do these quilts justice.

Close up of the center...

Close ups of the border...

I'm so inspired by these quilts that I'm going to close this post for today & actually make some progress on my own quilts.  

Carve out a little time each day for happy hour in your creative areas...

Thanks for taking time to visit my blog.  I hope today's post inspired you in some way.

Until next time...

Houston Inter'l Quilt Show 2012

Today is a dreary cloudy day.  However, that shouldn't stop anyone from finding inspiration.  Sometimes just admiring other artists work is inspiration enough to get us motivated.  

Below are a few photos of original designs by artists work exhibited at the Houston International Quilt Show 2012.  

Below is a quilt titled, "Hidden Treasures" by David Taylor (hand appliqued & inspired by Sandy Corbin's photo).  Isn't it beautiful?

Next quilt is, "Natsumi On Her Bike", by Hiroko Miyama (her inspiration was her beautiful granddaughter).  Hand applique & many, many dimensional small flowers.  Beautiful work of art in person.  

Next is, "Little Girl & Dog", also by Hiroko Miyama.  Again, her granddaughter was the inspiration for this beautiful piece.  

Next is, "White-Throated Sparrow", by Barbara McKie (image transferred to fabric then, thread painting & applique).

Next is, "Heidi's Schlowers", by Andrea Brokenshire (handpainted silk applique fused to confetti background).

Next is, "Synergy"by Nancy Sterett Martin & Karen Sisteck (hand painted on silk).

My pictures do not do these beautiful art pieces justice.  This is why it is such a special event to attend in person, if you're able to do so.   I'll post more later when I have a little extra time.  

I'm currently working on my own original  but not yet ready to post anything just yet.   In the meantime, I hope you found the above photos inspiring.   

I'd love to hear your comments...

Until next time...

Bluebonnets...

So happy to have finished something I actually started earlier this year.  

Here's a peek...

Closeup of leaves...

Closeup of tip of a flower...

The picture below is what started this art quilt...

I took this photo while taking a walk in my Mom's neighborhood.  During our walk, my Mom was telling me how clear everything looked to her.  She was recovering from having cataract surgery.  We stumbled upon a field of these bluebonnets & my Mom said, "Oh how beautiful!  So many bluebonnets in one field".  So I named my quilt, "Vision of Beauty". 

For a look at my bluebonnet art quilt, go to Gallery-Floral.

If you're interested in seeing the process of how I created this quilt, see my July 3, 2012 blog post labeled Bluebonnets...

Stay tuned because I still have to post pictures from the Houston Inter'l Quilt Show.  I'll try to get around to it during the early part of next week.  I like to include the quilter's name if I post a picture of their quilt in my blog.  This usually takes a little extra time.  

Hope you enjoy viewing my quilt & the process it took to create it.

Thanks for taking time to visit my blog.

Enjoy your weekend!