Calendar and Sketchbook Challenge

Here is a little bit of my Quilting Arts Calendar Challenge Entry.
Yes, it is Oatis!

I first made my background from fabric and paper and paint.

I drew my cartoon drawings on vintage feed sack and thread sketched them on my sewing machine.
They are coloured with pencil crayons.

This is the back of the fabric paper. I free motion stitched around the motifs from the back.

Here is the finished 12"x 12" art quilt, called:
PUPPY ANTICS
Oatie is in a large bucket while gathering leaves at the cottage.
Oatie playing with the neighbour's black cat.
Oatie sleeping with his paws up. Yep, he really does.
Oatie standing while we dance to the Black Eyed Peas: Boom,boom,pow!
Finally a portrait!
I made this art quilt in a mere 3 days and had the photos in the mail.
But alas, I didn't make the list of finalists,
but I have a very cute quilt!

A page from my new 2011 Sketchbook.
Sketchy animals drawn while traveling in my new car.

My Highly Prized Page for the Sketchbook Challenge.
I followed a video instructed by Pam Carriker.
I am really loving Pam's art.
She has a book coming out soon called, Art at the Speed Of Life.
The little girl is a copy of an old photo I bought in Florida.

A birthday card I made for my friend Sandra Spagnuolo, a mixed media artist.
The focal point is from an old pattern I found in an antique market.
I hope you have time to check out the Sketchbook Challenge.
I am enjoying it daily!

Just Photos

Oatis and me on Christmas Day with his new toy! A Snake!

My grand niece, Maddie wearing her Princess Dress she got for Christmas.

Shimmering Ornaments!

Tags I made at Sandra's open Studio.

My Christmas Owls made from drop cloths.

Thanks to a Gentle Reminder

My Class at the Guelph Embroiderers' Guild
Embroidery by Barbara Lee

Embroidery by Erin

Sheena concentrating on her art.

Doeteke working hard.

Michelle, happy to be creating.

I was reminded tonight at my fibre art meeting that I haven't posted in awhile. Thanks Doeteke! I certainly have intended to, but I have been so busy making art and other things. I am participating in the Sketchbook Challenge and a free workshop with Pam Carriker with Strathmore Online Workshops. I have been inspired to sketch, paint and collage. On Sunday, I was making paper at Sandra's Open Studio. I love going to Open Studio to play. A new semester has started with the classes at the Guelph Embroiderers' Guild, and I am immersed in making a 4 sided vessel, fabric collage of course.
December was the end of my class, teaching at the Guelph Guild and I have some photos to share of my students and their work. It was a invaluable experience working with such creative embroiderers.
I have several pans in the fire for 2011! I want to concentrate on teaching and publishing my art. But it will be in small steps. For the new year, I will be a guest artist at The Three Creative Studios. Watch for my Technique of the Month in April. I am teaching a class on Brown Paper and Embroidery at the Mixed Minded Conference in May. www.mixedminded.ca
I am published in A Needle Pulling Thread, Spring edition. Look for my Keepsake Wallets using recycled fabrics.
Its looking like a very Creative year! Happy New Year everyone!

This and That!

It seems to be getting harder to find time to blog! I have been teaching fibre art classes this fall and going to Open Studio at the home of my friend Sandra. She teaches Mixed Media classes a couple of times a week. It is such a joy to go to each week! So I have been busy and I am trying to catch up with this collection of photos. Above is a photo of my art work from the Studio tour in October.

My friend Amanda Gonsalves, a wonderful Mixed Media artist. She inspires me!

My inchies before they were sent in to trade. They are on a background of paper recycled from my Rose Journal. I added bits of lace, sequins, and beads with a buttonhole stitch around the outside edge. The trade was with members of Cloth Paper Studios Yahoo Group. Thanks Anne Marie for handling the trade.

These are some of my Keepsake Wallets I made for Studio Tour. I sold a few of them. I sent 6 of them to the Magazine, A Needle Pulling Thread. They will be published in their Spring Issue along with instructions on how to make them! I am very thrilled to be a published author!

Here is some fabric paper I made before my sewing machine got SICK. I just love my electronic PFAFF with its differential feed. But I did not use a Surge Protector and it was somehow damaged. I was also sewing a small box using the above paper! I thought maybe my Pfaff was just rebelling. I took it to Sewing Machines Etc. in Burlington, Ontario. Nick was able to take it to the Pfaff factory for me and managed to get it fixed under warranty!!!! Yes! I am so grateful to Nick. So please patronize his store if you live nearby. I highly recommend Sewing Machines Etc.

These are some Zentangles from a workshop I ran for the Fine Arts Society of Milton. Deb Kopeschny was our certified Zentangle teacher. Contact her at deb@kopeschny.ca if you wish to have her teach for you.

This is a partial photo of my very first collage on canvas in a class at Sandra's Open Studio with Sharon Chalmers. Sharon is a very talented Calligrapher and Collage Artist. I absolutely loved doing this. It is nearly completed and I wish to add a very little bit of stitch to it. I used decorated papers, tissue paper, National Geographic images, paint, collage bits and gesso.

Bookmarks sold at the Studio Tour. I sold quite a few items and loved being in Waldies Blacksmith shop with 6 other artists.

Lastly, my forgotten inspiration page spread for my Rose Journal. I need to get back to my journal and finish it! So busy, so little time. Its hard to believe I am RETIRED! But I am loving living an art-full life!

Surjeet's Workshop

October 23rd and 24th I had the opportunity to take an embrioidery workshop with Surjeet Husain of the UK. She visited our stitchery guild in Oakville as part of her time in Canada to visit family and two other guilds. Surjeet is a very talented Indian embroiderer and painter. We learned about the textile industry in India and about Surjeet's journey as an artist. Eleven Million people in India are involved in textile industry in some manner.

Here is Surjeet instructing Danielle and Jayne. We each were given individual instruction and Surjeet wanted each of us to do an individual project. We worked on sheesha (mirrors) embroidery, pulkari and kantha stitches. It was a challenge for most of us.

Here is a lovely little bag that Surjeet brought from home for us to see. She brought many pieces of embroidery to share, all so beautiful!

Surjeet is showing us a small tree stitchery that has fabric appliques.

This large art embroidery is based on a painting of an Indian girl by Surjeet.

Overall, I had a great two days. I have admired Indian embroidery for a couple of years and have attempted a few embroideries myself. Now I have acquired a few new stitches to try on my future Indian embroideries. Thank you, Surjeet.

My Summer Obsession

Do you remember summer?
This is a photo of Port Burwell Beach on Lake Erie in late summer.
Gorgeous sky!

This summer I couldn't remember what I did. Oh yes, I went to Sandra's classes on Art Journaling at her Open Studio. I became possessed with this project which is still under construction. It is called 'The Rose Journal'. I was inspired with a doodle I did of roses and of course my mom's name is Rose ( sentimental meaning) . My favourite saying is: Take the time to smell the roses! This is the cover made of paper and fabric and machine quilted and hand embroidered. I added stitch to almost all the pages.

This is the back cover with only free motion stitch added.

Page 1
All of the edges of the pages are collaged and embellished.

I did a lot of collaging and painting on each page. Here I added a small stitchery on woven rug canvas.
Here I added a page of journaling, a drawing and a quote about roses on a paint chip.

One of our classes included a calligraphy lesson with Sharon Chalmers. R is for Roses.

Another stitchery from painted fabric. Every splash of paint became a stitched rose.

I love this painted and stamped page, the metallic paint just shimmers. I also added a painted and woven fabric stitchery. I embellished with embroidery of course.

Another rose embroidery and real rose petals collaged around the vintage photo. The painted and stamped page has small saying about roses in each frame. Do you like the button border?

This spread the one of the first I completely finished. It has vintage laces attached.

This page reminds me of 'Me!" I had blonde, curly hair when I was young. I now have that Passion for Art. The background is painted, collaged and painted again and again! The white paint pen is just the right touch.

This was the first page I worked on and it was totally frustrating. It has numerous layers of paint and collage. Sandra says that it must get ugly before it gets beautiful. Well, it was so ugly I almost painted black over the whole page until I stamped squares on it to integrate the images together. Integration is so important!

You can see the small elements in each of the windows.

This is a Close up of the back inside cover showing the freemotion stitching designs inspired by Leah Day's 365 days of Free motion quilting. So you can see how busy I was this summer and I still have a lot of details to add. Now I see I missed the centrefold page that has my inspiration doodle. I'll post it next time, hopefully all finished. Off to do Studio Tour for the next two days. I made 25 fabric collaged book marks and now my Pfaff is sick. She won't do zigzag for me. Next week the repair shop. Good thing I have my old Pfaff machine that still hums along nicely to finish all my bookmarks. Until next time, keep stitching!

Studio Tour and Inchies

These are my small wallets or purses for sale for the Fine Arts Society of Milton Studio Tour taking place on October 2 and 3. I have been working hard to complete as many as I can. I used recycled scrap fabrics from a costume maker in Toronto. They include decor fabrics, silk, linen and organza to make the base on top of a stabilizer. I have really loved making them.

I chose a variety of lining fabrics, but I really like the natural linen. I have found out it is hard to find natural linen since I have run out. I zizag the edges, freemotion quilt the whole base fabric and add hand embroidery and some beads.

This is the back of the one I made for me! I added my word of the year, 'Inspire' and my initals.

This is the front with my little leaves, a button, some beads and french knots on the decorator fabric.
Finally, my collection of inchies for a swap with Cloth Paper Studios social internet group. The inchies are scrap from the paper cover I made for my Art Journal I made this summer. Each is embellished with lace, beads, vintage lace or appliques. Such fun! I really miss doing my Stitch a Long one inch embroidery every day. I finished my 100 days a while ago and I plan to have it framed in the near future. It became more of a journal of my 100 days. Photos will follow soon.
Happy Stitching!