NDEBELE BRACELET

I took a class at 'Sea of Beads' in Austin, TX to learn how to create this Ndebele bracelet. I just completed it last night and this one goes to my friend Judi in NYC. I will now make one for myself and maybe a couple more for gifts. It's very relaxing doing the beading at night while watching TV.

EMBROIDERY FROM THE 1930's

There was a question on the quiltart list about embroidery with a very old sewing machine. These pieces (borders are my addition) were embroidered in the 1930's by my grandmother (my dad's mom) on her sewing machine. I have had them for years and haven't yet decided how to preserve them. Any ideas are welcome. I thought about a needle book but I would rather use them in a display. I have one more piece (someplace) that I haven't yet worked with. I wasn't going to post these until completion but since the question came up I thought maybe someone would offer some suggestions.

FLEECE REMNANTS

While making a fleece baby blanket, I had lots of remnant strips and hated to just throw them away. I joined the strips together and used size 17
knitting needles to knit a background piece. I cut out a cow remnant and some purple circles and hand embellished them to the background. I think it makes a cute little wall hanging for a babies room.


knitted background



joining strips

SWEATSHIRT JACKET

Another project finished. I started out with a white sweatshirt, some vintage embroidered runners and 2 of my mom's hankies. The hankies made a great collar. The only thing I would do differently next time is to buy a sweatshirt that is 2 sizes larger than my size. After taking it apart and re-stitching it together causes it to lose some width. It does fit, but I would have liked it to be a little looser, since it is a jacket.

ON THE FARM

I did these three small quilts in Pamela Allen's on-line class "How to Think Like an Artist". This was the most challenging class I've taken so far and learned so much. Pamela is a fantastic teacher and goes to such lengths to critique and give great feedback. Hope to take more classes with Pamela in the future.

Now I have to learn how to take better photos.

CAMELS IN TEXAS

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

The Embellisher

I'm finally finishing up some pieces I made in Linda Mathew's online embellisher class. It's wonderful working without any thread and not having to worry about a bobbin. I did some hand stitching on the top piece and added some wire embellishments. The only hand stitching on the bottom one are the beads added after painting a piece of white wool, cutting it up and weaving parts of it with hand dyed cord. I learned some great painting techniques in Linda's classes.

Handmade earrings, pendant and basket

Bead and Wire-Wrapping Class

I'm taking a Bead and Wire-Wrapping class offered by the Lifetime Learning Institute. I'm learning some great basic techniques. I'm having so much fun that I wish the class was longer than 6 weeks.

Doll Play Date

I went to a play date given by the Austin Fiber Artists group. Jen McGehan was the instructor and conducted a very enjoyable class. I am pleased with my first attempt.

Her shawl and headscarf are made from hand-dyed scrim, embellished with roving and beaded fringe. Her necklace is handmade.

Painted Fabric and Paper Towels

These pieces of fabric were painted with Setacolor paints, crumpled up and put in a plastic bag and set in the sun for about an hour. Kind of looks like colored ice.




These are paper towels that were used to clean up drips and spills of paint and dye. Will have to start cleaning up spills and leftover paint with fabric. Some wonderful colors.

Elite

Ribbon Embroidered Purse

This purse has ribbon embroidery with beads, a pure silk lining and a matching change purse on the inside. I donated it to the Austin Quilt Guild Show for the silent auction.

Art Doll

This art doll started out as a pumpkin I was making in an embroidery class. I took 2 sections of the pumpkin and decided to make the art doll instead. I used some old crochet pieces that were done by my grandmother, added some beads, and lots of embroidery.

Ozark Garden Tote

This tote was created by cutting up a paper pieced quilt that I was not crazy about. It was made in an online class at Quilt University. A wonderful class but I didn't do such a great job on the quilt. The tote has been well used.

Journal Quilts 2007

Middle C 2005