Moving Boxes Everywhere!

My-O-My... the stacks of boxes grows every week! I knew I would have a lot of boxes devoted to just the studio but 35.... that was a surprise! The box count covers only supplies that fit into boxes; I have racks and bolts of fabric and  batting that refuse to be boxed! 

I'm twitching to get started on projects and create the designs rolling around in my brain... just another few weeks and we can unpack on the other end!!! 

Final Fabric Sale in Connecticut!

I have one final vending gig in Connecticut before I head west to Denver! Please join me at the Farmington Valley Quilt Guild's show, "We the Quilters...". Stop by my booth to say hi and fondle some fabric!

October 22 / 10:00 - 5:00

October 23 / 10:00 - 4:00

University of Hartford

Gengras Student Union

200 Bloomfield Avenue

West Hartford, CT 

I hope to see you there! 

Fresh Beginnings!

The good news is we are moving to Denver - the bad news is my studio has been packed up and out of reach until we are resettled! I have never lived outside of New England so it's a pretty big deal to head to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. It's a fabulous adventure waiting to ignite! I will resurface sometime in late November with new inspiration... see you then!

Cheers!

The Final Dyeing Workshop of the Season!

The final dyeing workshop of the season was an energetic and delightful experience! Everyone brought their adventurous spirits and some truly creative fabric was made! Once again we were hot and a wee bit slimy from the New England weather but it did not dampen the enthusiasm! 

Standing: Dayle, Diane, Dwight, Me, Cathleen, Debra, Cathy & Sue
Kneeling: Alyson, Linda & Rita

Some beautiful examples of screening with thickened dye! 

Dwight, Diane and Alyson are deciding on their color palettes! 

Rita and Linda have some great pieces in the works.
Rita chose ferns and Linda went for the abstract! 

Dwight used some garden floral as a design here but his first piece was a "snowflake" design created from freezer paper... so cool! 

Roz was my lovely assistant today!
I could not have set up and taken down without her help. 

Another beautiful clothesline filled with fabric art work! 

Sue was going for the texture of the driveway combined with grass clippings - I love the creative process! 

Of course there is always an after-party! Can you guess Roz's favorite fabric color! 

We also did some Confetti and Ice Dyeing but I complexly forgot to take pictures! There were a ton of really vibrant and fabulous fabrics made... bad teacher forgetting to take pics! 

Look What Gail Kotowski Did!

Moon over the Sound ~ by Gail Kotowski

What a beautiful and peaceful piece Gail designed! Gail told me about her inspiration and what type of background she had in mind. I created a Confetti Dyed fabric for her and I'm blown away at her finished piece!  

It's beautiful Gail! 

Fabric Painting Workshop - Another Great Group!

We had a wonderful time creating fabulous painted fabric on Saturday! The group was fearless; they learned the techniques and then proceeded to put their own creative spin on it = swoon! 

Such a beautiful clothesline! 

YES - we are hot - YES we are sweaty - YES we are happy! 

Maureen is selecting her palette! 

Rita and Bev are finishing up with the paint and ready to manipulate the fabric
for a fun effect!

Linda is placing ice cubes on her fabric to allow the sun to move the paint around! 

As always my lovely sister was our assistant - OXOX!

Dwight sees opportunities for texture everywhere! 

We have a lot of patterns being created using all kinds of surfaces to paint on!

Trisha prepares her work space for another fabulous piece! 

Polly, Linda and JoAnna are securing whiffle balls into their fabric.
We expect some great "bursts" of color from this technique! 

Kelly, Trisha, Dwight and Polly are painting their manipulated fabric!

Ahhh... an air conditioned lunch break! 

Bev, JoAnna, (Donna), Rita and Debra are back at work painting their pleats! 

Everyone created awesome sun printed fabric using foliage from the gardens but Dwight brought clamps - so cool! 

Given the warm sunshine all the fabric dried in time to be transported home!
It was a wonderful creative and productive day!!!

Look What Heidi Proffetty Did!

Look at this lovely piece titled "Erin" created by the fabulous Heidi Proffetty! Heidi's mosaic style is so unique that the design draws me in and I can't turn my head away until I look at every single element. I was thrilled to know that Heidi used my fabrics in her design! 

Heidi gets her inspiration from photos she takes and then creates a pattern in her mosaic style. Next she selects fabric to highlight the shadows and textures of the design. You should defiantly check out Heidi's website where she discusses her process in more detail!
Click here

Here is Erin coming to life. Adding quilting to the design is like magic in the way it adds so much more depth to the piece! Heidi is also on facebook - check her out!  

Dyeing Workshop with Apple Valley Quilt Guild Members!

What a wonderful group of women on a picture perfect summer day! I had the pleasure of meeting these folks last spring when I was invited to speak at their guild meeting. We arranged for them to come to my home studio to learn all about dyeing fabric and they created some truly beautiful pieces! 

Polly, me, Donna, Paula, Rose, Brenda, Justine, Nancy and Ginny! 

The ice dyeing technique was high on the list for the group so we got started right away on this method! 

Ginny and Nancy are deciding which colors to use! 

Nancy and Brenda are going for it!

No two fabrics will be exactly the same! 

Ginny is combining fucschia and yellow! 

Polly and Ginny compare notes! 

Each person dyed 3 half yard Ice Dyed pieces. They are all lined up and ready for the sun and ice to make some magic! I can't wait to see how they turned out. 

Next we worked on the Confetti Dyeing technique! 

We pulled out the color wheel to get some inspiration on contrasting colors!

My sister Donna volunteered to be my lovely assistant (red apron).
Her energy and spirit contributed to a great day! 

Paula and Nancy are creating some fun texture in their design by working on the uneven grassy surface!

Brenda is sharing her design thoughts with Justine!
This is a warm and collaborative group.

Donna is trying her hand at pleating fabric and spraying the folds to get a nice linear result!

Polly is spraying her fabric to encourage the dye to meander down the fabric surface! 

Justine combined some really bold colors!

Aren't they beautiful!  Each person took home 4 half yards of yummy Confetti Dyed fabric!

The last technique we worked on was using thickened dyes!
I'm demonstrating screen printing foliage onto the fabric surface. 

Rose and I working out some design details! 

Justine is going for it! 

Look at Paula's beautiful oak leaves! 

Nancy is happy with her pieces! 

Donna is taking home some gorgeous fabric!  

This is Rose's workshop "haul"... sooo many new fabrics to play with! 

A few of Polly's pieces! 

Paula went right home and washed, dried and pressed her new fabrics! 

More of Paula's workshop goodies = wow! 

Thank you ladies for sharing your enthusiasm and spirit with me! It is always a treat to have folks in the studio creating and experimenting! 

Come back anytime! 

There are a few spaces left in the August 27th fabric painting workshop - contact me for details!