Day 11 Quilted F'n F Postcards

 
 
These two cards arrived as part of a "quilted" swap: The Dresden plate from JudyB in TX USA was "left over from a doll quilt I made" says Judy.
The entire card outside the plate is stipple quilted.
The precision in the segments of the plate is great.

The second one,from FriedaO in the UK has three differing patterns forming the background:The yellow-orange section is stitched with the seam allowances on the right side and in a wavy pattern(technical term escapes me at the moment)
Central section is like a chess board and the final third put me in mind of the checkered flag used in motor racing.
Super-imposed over the background are two fussy cut Ranunculi flowers.The effect in my mind is of hot summer days! Frieda also finished her edging of the card with a wavy rotary cutter....which appeals to me as I have great difficulty in achieving "tidy" satin stitched edging.

I'm very grateful to both these ladies for swapping with me.........I can only hope they aren't too disappointed with my efforts. 

WiP.....pink goddess

 

Art doll? Goddess?
Who knows?
This pink confection is a WiP,following on from my Needle felting workshop with Rita Weisse a couple of weekends ago.
I want to add more beads and possibly fancy yarns to dress her up a little before declaring her finished....although with that headpiece she already puts me in mind of Carmen Miranda!

I'm still 'looking' at Mrs Hobbit and wondering whether quadruple amputations on hands and feet might save her.........I doubt it.
Maybe the colour is off-putting! I just can't work up the enthusiasm to subject her to cosmetic surgery;
so I'm beginning to think mrs 'obbit will remain unfinished business. 

Day 10......fractured landscape

 

Okay........it's Crazy quilted but I like calling it fractured.

But the point of today's posting was how handy my Clover mini- iron was in constructing this card!

I've owned a Clover mini iron for some time,but tend to forget to use it!

It's great for cotton fabrics,but because most of my CQed pieces feature "after-five" or delicate fabrics,and ...
I forget to use a delicate/lower setting and so I bake more than I press.

As this set of cards was mainly cottons,card making was too easy!

p.s if you're interested the photo is one of the many beautiful bays on Fraser Island. 

Women who Blog

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I joined the ranks of the “Women of Blogland” as listed in the new magazine “Quilter’s Home, For the New Generation of Quilters”.

An email today from Gina Halliday informed me that I'd been mentioned in the current issue of "Quilters Home" ,editor Mark Lipinski of Pickle Road Studios.

I've been waiting since last May to find out if I'd been included in the listings,and I still can't find a copy of the mag!

Day Nine....F'n f postcards

 

Take one fussy-cut cat,add a tatted butterfly painted with Lumiere and a short length of knitting yarn.
There is no need to go wild with embellishments;sometimes keeping 'it' simple works well. 

Day 8 FnF Postcards

 
 



Xpandaprint, is a thick creamy medium that expands when heated.
It can be applied by brush,roller,sponge or spatula.
It's non toxic and comes in black or white;I use white because it's easier to mix colours into it rather than black;But I mainly paint afterthe heat curing process.

So far I've used Xpandaprint in postcards and art journal quilts by building up the required shape with an artist's spatula and other finer implements(skewers, satay sticks)
The post cards featured today were both for the theme "Pandora's Box"...
The first one I had in mind to depict an actual box shape;
The second one should really be titled "Pandora's bed"!

There was a really good article in the Spring (#6) issue of Cloth Paper Scissors magazine:

the workshop.....EXPLORING Xpandaprint

Eight different mehtods and directions plus photographic samples were a great help to me for expanding(no pun intended) my crafting horizons. 

Day 7 f'nf postcards

 
 
NeedlefeltingThe upper postcard was sent to me from Emmy S in the Nederlands;
At the time I had expressed an interest in needle felting, and had no idea of what n/f actually looked like---so Emmy kindly sent me the card she had embellished with an embellishing machine.

A couple of months later,Belle mailed this gem .... a frangipani flower to me!
This was done by hand......one needle!
Isn't it perfect! even has a drop of dew on one of the petals. 

Day 6 FnF Postcards

 
An easy one today!
Using a plastic template over a light Tan quilters cotton,I used my favourite paints....Lumiere metallics to stencil the butterfly.

I then shadow quilted the butterfly outline with a gold thread.

This card is now in my youngest Grand-daughter's collection 

Day 5 F'nF Postcards

 
 

Another method of representing a Landscape:
Using Vlisoflex( fusible backing) and various fabrics to represent the landscape....
The first one had whole cloth lace for clouds and silk (kimono) offcuts for mountains,with a multi dyed cotton for the stormy sky.

The lower card used commercial quilters fabric for the mountain;again the silk for foliage,and blue homespun for sky. 

Day 4 fnf Postcards

 
Receiving this card from Vivian K made me realize that printing photos on fabric could be acceptable for cards.
The pic is of the Golden Ears Mountains in BC and is enhanced with metallic as well as 'normal' thread quilting 

Day 3 fabric n fibre Postcards

 

Not strictly a postcard,but an ATC (Artist Trading Card) measuring roughly 2 by 3.5 inches.
This is what initially got me into fnf postcards:an ATC from a friend in NZ.

I don't know how the "face" would stand up to the postal system without some protective covering.......(this art doll face was made using air drying clay)and arrived in a suitably padded envelope.

I'll make and mail two cards featuring some of these faces and see what happens! 

CQed Fabric 'n fibre Postcards

 

As most of my closer friends know,I'm on a Postcard "binge" at the moment,but up until now have steered clear of CQing them.
Funny thing, but for me CQing a PC is more difficult than constructing a block.

More restrictions arise with the fabric postcard than with a block destined for a quilt:
Size: Limited to 6x4 inches,although one has the choice of either portrait or landscape format.

Thickness: Governed by what Postal authorities deem to be acceptable:e.g. No thicker than one quarter inch,or will slide easily through the slotted card used to check same.

EmbellishmentsNeed to be firmly anchored and not too free flowing or they could get ripped off by embelishment eating postal machines 

Just hangin' around

 

Another WiP completed.....okay, it still needs some tweaking,but at least (I think) it's recognisable.
My goddess!
Needlefelted with an amount of "Cheesecake" dyed Corriedale wool.

So now it's back to the voodoo board and see if I can save MrsHobbitt from becoming "Cousin It"! 

50 days: 50 fabric and fibre postcards

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Normally I hate jumping on another's bandwagon:
I'm referring to SharonB's inaminuteago
blogging of "100 details for 100 days".
Now don't misunderstand me,I'm learning heaps from reading Sharon's daily postings (she's up to Day58) and the other stitchers are presenting some interesting details too;
but my stitching skills are not up to telling/showing how it should be done.

At the moment I'm fairly consumed by/with fabric and fibre postcard swaps(the blame for that I lay at a certain NZ lady's cutting- mat ) so I thought

Why not do something similar about postcards?

The last three days have seen cards arrive from USA,Italy and the UK, and I'm in the process of planning cards for several different themed swaps.
Today,because I was having CQ withdrawal symptoms,I've basically worked on four CQ themes.....up until now I've tackled everything but CQ for cards;

and I'm learning that-----
What you can "do" as a CQed block does not necessarily work for a 6x4 inch postcard!

Consider embellishments!

When I embellish a blockI don't agonise quite so much over the thickness of embellishments because I don't have to worry about the overall depth---
(postcards are one quarter inch thick or less: as decreed by postal authorities around the world!)

I don't even give much thought to if there are "dangly bits"because I know the block will not be subjected to machinery.

Because of these restrictions,I tend mostly to mail my cards in clear sealed envelopes!
Okay!
I can hear the purists screaming that I'm not playing the game........

I put a fair amount of time and thought into making my cards, and if a clear envelope gets the card to its destination in a fairly pristine state,I'm happy.

Way back in January this year I came across a blogger's lament on Princessandthepea


and that plus post office staff advising me to use these clear envelopes made me take this action.

I now expect a tidal wave of comment!

A Postcard from Italy

 
Today's mail brought a card from Giusy ,in Trieste,Italy.
Isn't this a great interpretation of a bridge over a river!

I "met" Giusy through "Fiberarts Postcard group",and she says this is the only the second fibre postcard that she has made.
I must say,I'm looking forward to seeing her other cards,her CQ,
and,her quilting.

Thank you Guisy for posting this to me! 

Histoires de boites �couture: Histoires de boites �couture

Histoires de boites �couture: Histoires de boites �couture

Building a tree

 
After I decided that my needle felting attempt was not going to produce a satisfactory tree,I started with "planB".....using Xpandaprint.

Xpandaprint is a thick creamy medium that expands when heated.It can be applied by brush,roller or sponge(I chose brush and spatula)
It comes in black or white and is non-toxic.
I used both a heat gun and a domestic iron to activate the medium.
It can be painted before heating,but I chose to do it after.

The pic shows the challenge, a rough outline tracing, and the first layers of
Xpandaprint laid down and cured.
I added extra layers as I felt necessary .
Mainly I was after achieving a rough outline,no dainty or interlacing branches as I felt I did not as yet have sufficient knowledge of the product.

Having decided to stay fairly minimalist the only way I could avoid blue paddocks,was to remove tree from background fabric and applique it to another background;I chose to use the sunprinted fabric because it supplied a hint of foliage.

Initially the tree was painted with Neopaque /Jacquard paints and then layers of Lumiere Metallics and Pearlescents were added to highlight texture. 

Quilting completed

 
Last night I finished the hand quilting around the printed leaves,and said "finito" 

Mission accomplished

 

I'm not happy with the photo exposures,but this will give some indication of my Challenge quilt 

Art quilt Challenge

 


Back in December 2005 I accepted a Challenge on one of the sites I visit regularly:
The mission,should I choose to accept ,was to reproduce my version of this picture!
Today,(except for needing a tad more quilting to emphasize some of the leaves)I'm declaring my Challenge is done.

I chose to work with the journal quilt format (8.5 x 11 inches) in order to include it in my folio for Aus_NZ_artquilters group.

The quilt has been a long while getting to a nearly complete style because I've been trying out new(for me ) methods as well as other projects.
It bears little resemblance to the pic provided,but I'm happy with the results and adventures along the way 

Samadhi and the Goddess

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I had in mind to attempt "something like Samadhi" and call it a self-portrait!

These two ladies were created by Rita Weisse who was conducting a needlefelting workshop over the weekend down Murwillumbah way.
The post prior to this shows the results achieved by the students....and I'm not saying which is mine.!

Voodoo

 

Actually it was Needle felting,but as my frustration grew,it felt like sticking pins in a voodoo doll!
The occasion? I met up with an online friend and took part in a Needle felting Workshop by Rita Weisse

The aim of the workshop was to learn how to create a figure.
My goal was to attempt something like Samadhi but the result was more like a combination of Mrs Hobbitt with the Hag or Frankenstein!
As usual my ambitions exceeded my capabilities,so it's back to the drawing board!

BTW.....the two embellished figures belong to Rita;the others belong to the students! 

Icy morning

 
As result of a "four seasons" Postcard swap,this striking fabric Postcard , "Icy Morning" by Ruth Nunn,arrived at my home this morning.
There would appear to be at least three layers of fabric forming the card.....black shadowy background,superimposed with snippets of silver and black & silver fabrics;covered with a (holographic?) metallic mesh and tulle netting,
and finally,the stark outline of the tree.

Unfortunately,there is a wee bit of damage,possibly caused by bulk mail sorting,but thankfully insufficient to detract from its general attractiveness.

(Do you get the impression that I love it!)
Thanks Ruth! 

More pot mitts

 
Nothing exciting today!
Just a couple more sets of pot mitts! This time I recycled some denim off-cuts.

I also completed two fabric 'n fibre Postcards for one of my Swaps.....
For these,I went back to my old love,CQ...........

pics, "later" 

Roosters and Hens

 

Some redworked pot mitts,made for craft stall at a forthcoming school fete.
Each red worked mitt will be paired with a plain (no redworked) mitt in similar fabrics. 

What started it all............

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It was a simple butterfly like this,that I painted with Lumiere Pearlescent and added to a "Cat" postcard in a recent swap and which the previous posting referred to.
It's amazing how a coat of paint can jazz things up.
Hopefully,the recipient may take pity on me and send me a pic for my album.

Needle tatted butterflies

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