North Coast Needlers in Ohio having a good time with Transfer paints

Thanks to North Coast Needlers Quilting Guild in Cleveland Ohio, I made the 500 miles drive to spend a few days with a great group of ladies. Winter still the season there,  but I could see that spring and summer will be beautiful there, it just comes a little later than here in Tennessee!

First day, as usual, lots of painted papers all over the floor. The workspace was huge, with lots of floor space for the papers to dry.

Shirley' bright colors stands out for sure.
This is a great color combination, and I know the green leaves were a fun surprise.

Janelle created some very delicate scenery, planning a 4 seasons piece. She is very knowledgeable about trees, and helped me with a few tree names. It is really fun when someone can give me such information, as I tend to just look at shapes and colors, and not what is botanically correct. 

          

I met Karen several years ago at Ripley, WV. She has been in several of my workshops at Quilt Camp there, and brings her own style and creativity to every class. In this workshop she concentrated on small pieces, something that could be used as labels. I hope she will not put everything on the back of her quilts, as they really deserve to be center stage. She used stencils and paint sticks for added depth.

How great it is to see finished project from workshops! Karen made these blocks in an earlier workshop, and added lots of detail with embroidery and paint sticks. Great setting!                 

Millie brought in some very nice leaves that she had  had for a long time. They were still good to use. She had a few nice surprises on the way, as well as bright colors. The pink and green glow. 

                 Janet spent some time with stencils, which can be tricky with paint. Her patience was rewarded as her Bible verse was very sharp when transferred. One of my favorite pieces is below, with a beautiful blue  background and orange leaves. Just the perfect combination!                                        

Helen was quite experimental, and use the solid crayons for strong definition. She used the crayons on the leaves, on the paper and on the fabric (I think). She got it to work! The crayons we use are made for coloring paper and then transfer that design to fabric with heat. There are different crayons you can use directly on fabric.

The owl is just too cute. Helen tried a stencil and transferred it to "Minky", the super soft fleece fabric we use for baby blankets. The paint will not leave any build up on the fabric, so this could be great for a baby blanket.  

 Carol was the most wonderful hostess while I was in Cleveland. Loved her studio and house, and got to sleep under a very special quilt. She is a very giving and engaged woman, and shared many of her ideas and projects she has done. She is also a lover of bright and strong colors!

Is'n this spectacular? Carol saved a few leaves from a house plant and used them for the resists. The blue and green from one gave reverse deposits on the other. This is what I call happy accidents or surprises.                                                                                                                         

Anita left before I got pics of all she did, which was quite impressive. She created distinct leaf shapes on the fabric, but many of her pieces were of an over-all character with just awesome color  combinations.                                                                                                                

For our dinner, the restaurant in Cleveland (Joe's) had the biggest Napoleons I have seen! So naturally I had to have one, and it was delicious!   Thanks for a wonderful time in Cleveland, long drive but so worth it!                                                                                                                           

                                                                                                                      

Felted Bags at Appalachian Center

Spring has come and gone here in East Tennessee. We has a few beautiful weeks where everything was blooming, even the violets in the cracks of my porch bricks. However it turned cold again, and that was a good time for a felting class at the Appalachian Arts and Craft Center in Norris, TN

Seven ladies were ready to get going on various bag projects. A little demo was in order, especially since there were a few beginners in this class. All had a very successful day making at least two bags and tackling using resist to create a bag without seams , and strong enough to carry with you.                                                                                                        

Lynn, Nancy and Marian are all more experienced so they are tackling larger bags, and they turned out great. See below for the results.

Jane is a beginner, but she for sure got the hang of laying out the wool rowing.

Adonia, choosing my favorite color, and trying the C1 wool batt, which is different from the Merino tops, it is coarser but will make a very strong bag.

Erin laying out yellows for a circular bag. She might turn this into a backpack.

Our first samples, can be mug rugs or needle cases.

Nancy, Marian and Lynn's production! It's amazing what can get done in one day.

Jane, Amalie, Kim, Tone and Adonia, with some very creative samples and bags. When the bags are dry, and a strap is attached they are ready to be used.

Adonia's crop!

Erin's circle and triangular bags.

Jane, Amalie, and Kim wonderful pictoral pieces. Beautiful!

Thanks to all for coming! Looking forward to seeing all of you again.

Transfer paint fun in Florida

Trip to Florida in March to meet with some very creative  fiber, paper and mixed media artists. Good friend Candace gathered ten women who's attention was on trying new ways to enhance their art. For me it was a new experience to work with paper products as well as fabric. I know there was a reason why I have all this different papers in my studio, and not really knowing what to do with it. One more door is opening, thanks to your creative energy!





Beautiful flowers outside Candace's dads house.

 As usual the Transfer Paint workshop starts with making paints and painting papers. One afternoon resulted in lots of papers lined up to dry over night. Many plain papers and many not so plain ones, with lots of texture and  landscape images. Mary did some quite interesting painted papers, that was even better transffered to fabric the next day                              
A quick sit down session at the end of the workshop gave everyone a good idea of what was made, and good feedback on what worked and what didn't work as well with paper or other things.

Sandy S. worked with paper only, and most of her papers ended up very light. Usually that is because of the heat from the iron. She still got very nice definition on the shapes. She brought in loads of ferns to share, my favorite, and as you can see she got some beautiful imprints.

Bonn S. got strong colors, and did some nice mixed colors. Browns and oranges is the perfect compliment to her chosen leaf shapes. She will incorporate this into her mixed media art. 

Cynthia B. is an excellent paper artist, who loves to experiment with new media, and this is one of her "background" papers layered with different colors and textures.

Mary S. has created art for a very long time and I just love her whimsy with everything she does. Painted landscape papers transferred onto fabric in brilliant colors, and I cannot wait to see  what she will add to them. Never tried this before but Mary transferred onto real bird feathers, and it also worked like a charm. Next day she gave me a card made from handmade paper and this feather. Think I will have to keep that for myself!

Esther B. worked on fabric. She is an art quilter and will use this for a special quilt. Colors are somewhat soft, but with outlines in stitching or paint, she will have a great beginning.

Candace T. worked with both fabrics and paper, and this will be used for her wonderfully creative mixed media pieces. I don't think there is much that needs to be added to this one, it has both depth and a 3D effect just like it is.                       

Cathie R. prefers paper I think, but had a good time with the fabrics as well. The circle is a used coffee filter, stained from coffee and then using the transfer paint to create a very detailed image. The black and white (paper) is one of my favorites, it looks like an old negative photograph. The ferns created beautiful shapes and overlays.

One more of Candace's creations, the design is from using a stencil with the paint. The transfer created a very neat fabric. Bright saturated colors.

Jane N. has a favorite color, I think it is green! She was very successful in mixing her yellow, blue and turquoise and got bright crisp green color. She used stencils and leaves as well as textured painted papers and had a small collection of  fabric pieces to work with later.

Janet B. also is an art quilter and was using fabrics for the transfer. Some of her colors were also soft, and this is mostly due to the heat on the iron. She did get a lot of detail, and can add detail with stitching.

Karen D.  mixed  some  really great green color, used some ferns, and other leaves, and now has several beautiful pieces of fabrics to work on. Strong colors and good proportions, these should be fun to finish.

We were so lucky to have a very large workspace for this workshop, and that makes everything easier. Great tasting pot luck lunch from all these women made it two very special days for me. I would love to go back. Now I cannot wait to dig into my paper stash and find out what I can do with it. The new heat press will get some use this week!

Felting hats at the Appalachian Arts Craft Center

A small group joined me for hat making at the Appalachian Arts Craft Center in Norris, TN!  So much fun to make the hats in any colors you like, and in any style you like.                                                          

 Mary from Knoxville has the ball inflated , and started the first layer, coiling thin strips of merino/silk top onto the ball. This is the first time she is making a hat this way and it is going really well.

 Miriam from Knoxville has done this before, and she has a plan with decorating the inside as well. Nice fall colors.

 The second layer is draped from the top with shorter strips of the wool.  You want an even complete coverage all over the ball. Hippy hair. Lynn  from Knoxville blended white, grays and black. The colors will blend well when it is felted.

 Miriam's second layer is coming along really good, and making sure the layers are thin which will make for a comfortable hat. With all layers on the ball, it is wrapped with a few pantyhose tops to keep everything in place securely.

 Saturday was the perfect day to felt outside, so we bounced the balls to get the felting started

Here are the final results from a fun day. Different colors and styles make them all pieces of art, and art to wear! Thanks to the Appalachian Arts Craft Center, a wonderful place to have a workshop.