If you listened to my last podcast, you'll know that I'm heading into major reconstructive surgery on June 21. I had hoped to record a mid-June podcast, but didn't get to it, and I apologize.
I'm not sure how long it will be before I feel up to recording the next podcast -- I'm hoping mid-July. I do have some project sheets written, so maybe I'll just post one or two of those without a podcast.
Anyway, I wanted to let you know that I haven't abandoned my podcast and blog! Nothing can stop my creativity, and I sure hope you're all being creative, too!
Here's a photo of a small portion of the mysterious quilt I've been working on. This is fused and blanket stitched, and the little images are all freehand machine embroidered. The fabric for the cat is all Ricky Tims' hand-dyed fabric (except for the black, which is Kona cotton). The sky background is my hand-dyed fabric and is English paper-pieced. The checkerboard floor is entirely hand pieced. I promise to reveal more after recovery! (Many thanks to artist Phil Lewis for permission to make a quilt of his illustration, The Joker!)
Until then, always remember, creativity isn't a race, it's an adventure!
CLICK HERE to listen to Podcast 017. Right-click on the link to save it to your hard drive, or better yet, so you don't miss future podcasts, subscribe via iTunes or PodBean using one of the links on the right side of my blog.
You can skip to whatever segment interests you -- check the minute markers for each segment.
INTRODUCTION
The bumper music for this podcast is The Gift of Love, in keeping with my theme of Weddings. (Yes, this is the same melody as Podcast 002's bumper music, The Water Is Wide, or Waly, Waly -- same tune, different words!)
Here I am 31 years ago with my matron of honor, Pat, and my flower girl,
her daughter (and my Goddaughter, and my son's Godmother) Kristin.
Here is my small design wall in use.
These are just a few of the blocks I've made for a Baltimore Album-style quilt,
which will eventually belong to Teddy.
Tips:
You can buy Styrofoam insulation sheets at most home supply stores. I bought two sheets that were 2 inches thick and measured 4 feet x 8 feet. Because our ceilings are fairly low, I had the salesman cut my sheets down to 6 feet and I made a small design wall with the leftover portions.
While you can buy flannel by the yard, I suggest you use flannel sheets instead. If you do that you can avoid a seam. Make sure your flannel is plain white or off white.
You can use quilt batting if you want, but I don't think it's as sturdy as flannel.
Click below to open the Design Wall project sheet. You can save or print the file from within the viewer.
OK, so this silly virus has me feeling particularly uncreative, and so my podcast will be delayed a few days. I have most everything done, but need to finish writing the project pages.
In happier news, I am pleased to report that my new design wall is a HUGE success. (And yes, the upcoming podcast has instructions so that you can make your own if you don't already have one!) Every time I walk past my design wall, I get inspired to work on my current quilt.
I am not going to share much about my current quilt -- I want it to be a surprise. A few of you do know about it, but everyone else will just have to wait!
But I'm going to share one teeny piece of the quilt. Here's a close-up of one small area. This particular area is made of fused applique, and I'm doing machine blanket stitch around the edge of each piece. The fabric you see is Ricky Tims' hand-dyed. The bobbin thread is Bottomline, and the upper thread is King Tut variegated ("Pharaoh Tales"), both by Superior Threads. The pieces were appliqued using Steam a Seam 2 Lite, and the stabilizer is that gold paper that comes on a roll. This piece and two other that are similar will be needle-turn appliqued in place. VERY pleased with the quilt progress.
Don't despair! The podcast is in the works!
'thann
I'm working on a very large art quilt that requires a wide array of special fabrics. As you recall, I bought 10 pieces of Ricky Tims' hand dyed fabric at the seminar a few weeks ago, but I still didn't have two pieces I needed for this quilt. One was the sky, which I dyed last week, and another was gray fabric to make a stone wall.
So this morning I dyed a yard of my handy dandy Kona cotton (which I buy by the bolt). I used a combination of Tsukineko alcohol-based ink in Cool Grey, Adirondak alcohol-based ink in Butterscotch (neither of which is actually a fabric dye, but in my experience they are colorfast when treated properly), and finally Pebeo Setacolor in Black. The cool effect that you see was caused by using a LOT of large-crystal salt as explained below.
Here is what I did:
I washed the Kona cotton with Synthrapol to prepare it for dyeing, then I splotched the two inks all over. That created a sort of pastel gray base.
Then I splotched (I think that's a technical term!) the Setacolor paint all over and squished it all around.
I laid the fabric on the lawn outside in the sun and sprinkled a LOT of salt all over it.
After it dried I washed it in Synthrapol again, and dried it on hot.
After I ironed the fabric, I cut it into strips and then created a sort of brick effect. Each "brick" is 5 x 2 finished. I think my stone wall turned out absolutely perfectly. What do you think? (I'm not showing it on the quilt in progress because I want to do a Big Reveal when that quilt is done.
One of my templates is featured in a very clever way on the Hero Arts blog today. Tami Hartley, the featured blogger, used my Square Petal Card template to make a graduation cap.
Here's a link to the Hero Arts blog page, just in time for you to make a gazillion cards for all of the graduates in your life! (I'm so green with envy -- wish I had thought of this first!)
I brought out a picture that I'm making into a large wall quilt and pinned it to my design wall. (YAY, design wall!) I received permission from the artist years ago to make a quilt using his image, and I took it to Kinko's to have it enlarged. The enlarged picture has been rolled in a tube since then.
Well, with my new design wall (YAY, design wall!), I am inspired to get going on this sure-to-be masterpiece. Part of the image is a summer sky, and I didn't have an appropriate fabric in my considerable stash, so I decided to dye a yard myself.
I buy Kona cotton in white, black, and ecru by the bolt because I use it for so many projects, and it's really versatile. So I tore a yard of the ecru and washed it to remove any sizing, and then I used four colors of non-traditional dyes (Tsukineko all-purpose ink, which is colorfast) to make large blotches all over it, then squished the ink into the fabric. Then I laid the fabric on the lawn and sprinkled sea salt all over it (which creates a lovely blotchy effect). After rinsing the fabric several times, first in white vinegar and then in cold water, and then drying it in a hot dryer, I ironed it with a hot iron.
Here is the result, and it's just perfect for my quilt. I'm going to cut it into circles and do traditional English paper piecing for the sky areas of the quilt.
CLICK HERE to listen to Podcast 016. Right-click on the link to save it to your hard drive, or better yet, so you don't miss future podcasts, subscribe via iTunes or PodBean using one of the links on the right side of my blog.
You can skip to whatever segment interests you -- check the minute markers for each segment.
INTRODUCTION
The bumper music for this podcast is Brahms Lullaby, in keeping with my theme of Babies.
Hey, don't forget to use my Amazon.com store links at the top of this blog for ALL of your online purchases! I get a small commission for each click-through purchase you make. Please help me pay for my increased cost of hosting my podcasts. (Or you can make a donation via PayPal using the link along the right column of my blog.) Thank you for your support.
Here are some items you might be interested in purchasing after listening to the podcast today.
Yours Truly with Ricky Tims. I don't think I could smile any bigger if I tried!
The stage set-up. From left to right: Libby Lehman, Alex Anderson, Ricky Tims.
You can see how huge the screen is on the right side.
This was taken from my seat, so you can see how close we were!
Ricky the night of the concert. Yes, that's a cowboy hat.
He's a Texan (now living in Colorado), complete with a drawl.
Ricky at the piano during the concert.
It was beautifully lit, with two of his famous quilts as the background.
Ricky playing a song, and the screen showing an accompanying video.
In this case, it was the video of the studio session making the recording of the song.
He has several CDs.
CLICK HEREto see where future Ricky Tims Super Quilt Seminars will be held -- try to get to one if you can!
CLICK HEREto check out Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson on The Quilt Show.
My name is Ruthann, but family and good friends usually call me 'thann. I am a wife, and a mother to one fantastic young man. In my former life I was an instructional designer. Now I fill my days with crafts of all sorts, reading (mostly mysteries), and cooking. I am the designer of the world-famous Mirkwood Designs templates. I am also a vocalist and fingerstyle guitarist and the music you hear in my podcast is performed by me.
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