Yeah! Productive Day FINALLY!

So wow....life sure seemed to be in my way lately..... between my hand surgery, daytime job, traveling and just being plumb tired........ I just have not been getting in my quilt time as of late. Thankfully I have been able to putz here and there to satisfy my creative side yet that can make me feel frustrated or behind. Today though I finally got to my machine and studio area. I have been working on some of the book study assignments and then I have 2 postcards to create for the winter PC exchange. I've enjoyed making my own fabric color wheel for the one group and the other book centers on embellishment techniques so I've been experimenting with Angelina, sun dyeing, fabric dye resists, gelatin printing as my older posts show but now must try to do some mini quilts with my stuff...put them to work for me ;-)))) oh well got to make this post quick so I can get back to my machine...Enjoy!

Taking time to post!

So I am trying to keep up with my yahoo book groups.....I'm very glad I signed up.

So far for the group TT2 I have completed a lot of experimenting with different embellishment materials, I just have to find time to put my experimental fabrics into some designs now.

I am out of town though till the red-eye flight on Monday (can you imagine Tuesday morning bright and early back to school?) Then sadly my hand has been in flare up from the PT we put it through last week. So my out of town trip took place Friday evening after having to rest my hand Thursday evening and all day Friday. That has put me a little behind. Today we went to a great Children's museum with my grandson then I got to drop into my favorite quilt store in Denver CO The American Quilt Store!! What an amazing store! Possibly you can see from my photos it has so much to offer.....fabric galore for all tastes.....then books wow must have all and any about quilting. Today they had a great embellishment class taking place so I got to see lots of ideas to try. Happen to hit their great V-day sale 20% off ;-))))

Here is how my 4 layer silk dyeing came out...want to try it again with other silks....time will tell when ......

Happy Valentine Day!

Been playing today with Angelina

So I've been playing today with some of my homework assignments from my online book group. I'm probably crazy but am trying to participate in two books at once so could be an interesting ride ;-)
This week we broke open the book Fabric Art Workshop by Susan Stein.
The first chapter deals with Angelina Fiber. So my original idea was leaves, (Can you spot some?) since I was hoping to use leaves as a theme throughout? Time will tell though, lol but anyway as I messed you can see I sort of went in a different direction so again time will tell....
I still hope to work on my color wheel tonight so need to get this posting up and then break away from the computer which I am learning I use quite nicely to procrastinate!!!! EEEkkkkkkkkkk!

I have placed my Angelina samples/or experiments on some of my own hand dyed black cotton and a purchased black FQ. I hope to quilt and complete them in the next few days...(not sure if my photos will do the Angelina justice, much better in person.

I also added ink to my rusted piece and sadly am not happy with it so now have the dilemma to see if I can somehow remove some of the ink/color. Anyone have knowledge or suggestions for me?

So made a mess today

So I made a mess in the basement today! Had a productive day possibly, (time will tell) First I finally figured out how I intend to make my color wheel for later chapters homework for my study group...started then put it aside ;-) because decided today was a good day to try to overdye the glue resist I am experimenting with. Used Elmer's washable clear glue and then tried an experiment with a blue Elmer's washable glue stick? Will be interesting to see if these worked? Since this is all new to me I am not sure if my samples will be successful but heck you never know till you try??? I first mixed some thickened dye for my over-dyeing and was not sure how long I had to let it sit but decided what the heck so I've got them in the washer rinsing now as I post ;-) Then after dipping the fabric in the overdye I decided it was time to get the Knox gel printing plate out of the frig (the hubby was complaining since it's been in there gelling for weeks. ) I had tried to do mono printing on the Knox gelatin a while back but my hand just was not cooperating since it was in a cast so just left the one gelatin plate sitting in the frig for another time. Well I assume I've done the technique correctly and found it interesting but admit I like the mono printing technique I learned long ago from Bernie with latex house paint I get nicer results and lots less mess.......The only thing I liked about the gel printing was the feeling of the gelatin as you press the fabric down to make contact for the print. What is funny the printing plate is still in perfect condition for me to keep printing at another time lol so back in the frig. I've posted some examples of my work and will see if I like any of them after they dry. I used fabric inks or fabric paint. The last experiment I have going is to try out the little tube for tie dyeing I got from Michael's craft store around Xmas for 50% off....might be an easy way to dye without much mess..will let you know tomorrow after the sample is done but heck for $7.00 can't go wrong dye and activator was included for 12 items.