Week 27-30

Week 27, Tracking

An experiment with fabrics and beads

Week 29, St. Patrick's Day

Represents the fun we had going out for corned beef sandwiches and Guinness

on a beautiful sunny and warm St. Patrick's Day

Week 30, Spring

An experiment with reverse applique

I layers the color fabrics under the black, stitched the shaped,

then cut the shapes out of the black to reveal the color fabric

Febuary Pieces 23-26

Week 23: Art Doll

I was doing a unit on sewing that culminated with my students

creating an art doll, so I needed a sample.

Week 24: Five

Used 5 gum wrappers in 5 colors, a half of a $5 I found,

and metal rings recycled from bow ties

Week 25: Heart

Thread painted in sections of a heart doily from a thrift store

for Valentine's Day week

Week 26: Squares

I awoke to this vision of squares

then added the wooden beads and ribbon

January Journal Pieces 18, 20, 21, & 22

Week 18, Intention, AKA Word of the year

I started with blank muslin

Wrote in some intentions with a Pentel gel roller for fabric

Then added the first layer of color with water soluble crayons

Used a rubbing plate and shiva paintstiks to create the concentric circles

Letters were done with Misty Fuse and a sheer fabric

Week 20, Elements

 Found and acquired objects

Week 21, Two Gold Ladies

 Experimentation rubbing shiva paintsticks and lace followed by first time gold leafing on silk

Week 22

 A friend gave me a piece of felt she made and I combined it with some fabric I dyed this summer

The whole piece is hand stitched

Thanksgiving piece finished

This is a peice I started for Thanksgiving week and recently finished

I wanted to express my appreciation for opportunities,

combined with support, that have allowed me to blossom and grow.

I started with this picture

I sketched my hand with a Pentel gel roller for fabric and painted the background.

I created the flower pot using painted batting.

I free motion quilted these details

I made leaves using scraps of green fabric

After several weeks of trying to figure out how to make the flowers I stumbled across a bag of napkin holders at the local thrift store that were perfect. I added some color to them with Shiva Paintsticks.

The last step was to add some dimension to the leaves with stitching so they curled.

December Journal Pieces 14-17

Week 14, Circles

For this piece I experimented with stamping techniques.

I started stamping with the end of a pool tube.

Then used this sponge I found at the local grocery store.

I used the edges of various abjects I found around the house, including
bubble wrap. I sewed on plastic rings from milk cartons and added some hand stitching.

Week 15, More circles

I used small metal circles that I collected from disassembling satin bow-ties.

Week 16

An experiment in composition and found materials

Week 17, Christmas

I wove together neck straps from the disassembled bow-ties and

used sheers for the objects.

We had fish and a big blue bottle of wine for Christmas dinner.

FIber Arts Explosion at Marwen

This past fall I taught an art quilting class to 6-8 graders at Marwen.

Marwen is a non-profit that educates and inspires

under-served young people in Chicago through the visual arts.

I had a teaching assistant, 16 female students, and a lot of fun.

The girls loved working with fabric and sewing on a machine.

I was invited to teach the class gain in the spring.