God's Grace is Finished

God's Grace

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Where have all My NeedlesGone?

I was looking at the nice wall chart i made for all my needles to help me tell which ones were which and realized I was down to only a few.  I tend to free-motion quilt with my fingers very close the foot and often break needles.  Needless to say this is not very safe.

StudioQuilts-GoldilocksAndFriends -Bookmark exchange

These are the book-markers I made for September's bookmark exchange for Studio Quilts.  The theme had to do with reading. They are raw edge applique overlaid with mesh.  The backgrounds are hand dyed.  On the reverse I free-motion quilted the following "Good books, like good art, inspire us.  I hope the others enjoy their book markers.

 

ART CLOTH by Jane Dunnewold

I have been so busy, I never got a chance to mention that I won the Art Cloth give away.  It is a fabulous book.  Very inspirational.  I also bought the new book Eco Colour,    It is an interesting read.  I would have liked some more specific dye recipes, but I was inspired.  My front porch now contains twelve small jars packed with an assortment of flowers, bark, and leaves and a 2 by 8 test strip of fabric in each.  I am just experimenting to see if the items give color or not. The hard part is to wait a few weeks for the sun to work its magic.  There are other better ways of dyeing, but with the hot dry weather my garden didn't have the best of plants to pick over.
 

Book Review & Giveaway :: ART CLOTH by Jane Dunnewold

Book Review & Giveaway :: ART CLOTH by Jane Dunnewold

Art Cloth: A Guide to Surface Design for Fabric published by Interweave.

 Follow this link for a chance to win a copy of this fantastic book:   Art Cloth

Messenger Bags

Here are some pictures of the messenger bags I have been making,  All of the hardware is brass.

front                                                                 side                                           

                                 flap open                                    

inside pockets

Bag two uses reverse colors.

Car Bag

When I finished with my painting and sun dyed fabric, I designed this car bag for my sister's birthday.  I had to add sides and a wider bottom since she wants it to hold heavy map books.  The front and back are heavily quilted to a duck canvas interfacing.  The bag is lined with a coordinating fabric and linen  cloth.  The handle is reinforced with the addition of webbing inside the sleeve.  Two brass D rings are attached to one end of handles so you can easily adjust them when bag is hung on the seat back.

Fabric Painting

I ordered fabric to make a bag the other day.  Unfortunately I didn't read the fine print on one of the fabrics, which said fabric may not be what is pictured.  It was the focus fabric for my bag.  I looked everywhere and could not find it, so I tried a painting experiment.  I painted fabric the colors I needed and then places ferns and ginkgo leaves on the wet paint and sprinkles with salt.  Then it sat out in the sunlight until dry.  The results were alright, but the leaves were a little hard to see.  I used prisma color pencils to darken around the leaves and for details.  I also used fabric ink to draw and stamp over the cloth.  Here is the result.

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Rust Dyes - June

I left my rusty materials from last year set out and rust some more over the winter.  In June I soaked scraps of fabric in white vinegar and water. Then I wrapped them around the different objects.  Some I let set all day and others only an hour.  I did not wrap them in plastic this time.  The gray or blackish ones were then dyed in tea. Here are the pictures of the fronts and backs