Valentine's Day is Coming...

Just in time! I did some "ice dying" in deep reds and pinks, just for Valentine's Day!

These 100% China silk scarves took the dye so nicely....

I love the randomness and unpredictability of this process....

Can you see the "cat face?" I can!

Seams Unique!

Around this time last year, I was thrilled to be asked to join Seams Unique Fiber Artists (SUFA), an extremely talented collection of art quilters, doll makers, and surface design artists. We hung our annual exhibit of annual challenge art quilts today.  Here’s a photo of one of my entries.

Originally I called it “Organized Chaos” but decided it was more an “Homage to Cutoffs and Hawaiian Print Shirts.” Here’s how it came about:

Our group had taken a field trip to the Reusable Resources Adventure Center this past Spring, where I spied a bin of dozens of plastic tubes. They looked so inviting, I just had to give them a new purpose!

After cutting long isosceles triangles out of the many rayon shirts I had collected from thrift stores over the years, I married the two repurposed materials with the help of a little glue.

Rolling the fabric around the tube was easy…

And the finished tubes were further embellished with assorted yarns (the one in this photo is naked!)

Also giving new purpose to old thrift store jeans from which I cut rectangles, I sewed them together patchwork style.

Each tube-“bead” was sewn onto a rectangle, and the base was embellished at the intersections with vintage gold beads. The quilt is trimmed with small rayon squares, and bound with strips of denim from the jeans.

You can see all the wonderful works at Boutique 4 Quilters in Melbourne, Florida!

Goddess of Many Colors

Found this dinner napkin at a thrift store:

and here's what I did with it:

I enjoyed letting go and letting the designs fall randomly without planning. 

I think I'll name her "Energy."

Zipper-De-Doo-Dah....

Zippered pouches make great gifts! Come learn how to sew these at Hancock Fabrics in Merritt Island, Wednesday October 30 or Saturday November 2, 1:00 to 3:30 pm. Pre-registration and supplies are required…visit store for details or email bright_ideas_studio@yahoo.com

A Prayer Flag for Peace

Prayer Flags have suddenly introduced themselves into my life. A chance post on Facebook not long ago, then a mysterious appearance of a set of meditation flags in the yoga classroom, and finally today a story in a magazine....OKAY, I get it! Time for me to add Prayer Flags to my collection of projects.

So I made my first Prayer Flag today, using batik fabric and applique techniques, topped off with metallic thread free-motion stitching. I added fabric strips to help catch the wind, attached with tiny glass beads.

A prayer flag's purpose is to release its message to the winds that will ultimately carry the vibration around the world. I hereby send positive energy to the Universe by creating and hanging this Peace Prayer Flag.

Arcania

 

Arcania keeps her secrets hidden.

She looks the other way, pretending the secrets do not exist.

That’s the only way she can keep from sharing them,

because secrets are meant to be kept.  

The owner of secrets has power.

When you possess secrets, you are allowed to be selfish,

because once secrets are shared, they are no longer secrets,

and their power disappears.

Arcania is the result of an indescribably wonderful ReTREAT attended by our Doll Club, the Space Coast Doll Artists (see us at www.spacecoastdollartists.com ) Our talented leader Patty Briggs brought supplies, techniques, and expertise to teach us how to make a woods-fairy type doll that incorporated a variety of techniques. “Arcania” (from the word “arcane” which means “secret” or “mysterious”) is made from a soft-sculpted cloth body covered with paper clay, mounted on an altered repurposed plastic bottle (expertly carved by Patty’s husband John to reveal the inside of the “tree). The body was then painted to look like wood, and embellished with dyed cheesecloth, yarn hair, tiny beaded necklace, and altered Tyvek wings.

 

 

The base was made from a masonite panel found at the Reusable Resources Adventure Center (visit them at www.reusecenterbrevard.org) and trimmed out in balsa wood to contain a mossy ground, a fitting place for Arcania to be while guards her treasures!

I love making purses from thrift store finds!

The eyelet fabric in this blouse caught my eye and shouted “repurpose!” to me. So I did!

First I decided the fabric needed more interest, so I randomly squirted SoftScrub (the kind with bleach) on the blouse, then rinsed it in water. 

The effect was just what I wanted, and the solid color cotton lining of the blouse also took the bleach-discharge process nicely. The lining of the blouse became the lining of the purse, but I did have a hard time not using it for the outside since it was so pretty!

I used a piece of yellow cotton from my stash to make the pockets, and also as a lining between the eyelet fabric and the pretty lining, so the pattern of the eyelet was easier to see. I had enough fabric left to make 2 rosettes for embellishment.

New ribbons added just the right touch to the rosettes. My purse is ready to go shopping, and so am I!