Rail fence

I thought I had posted these pictures but I can't find the post so here it goes.

I sewed the 1.5" X 4.5" strips together into a 4 patch block. I used like colors for each block then laid them out in a nice pattern giving me a flow of colors. I ran out of squares to make this a square by 3 blocks. I went into my hand dyed stash and found a color that blended well and made 4 four patch blocks. Can you see them????

This is all stitched, pinned and ready to quilt. I am doing this today so Monday I should have pictures of the finished piece. The binding is cut and ironed at the top of the picture.

Kiki is here

All 18 lbs of her

This is our attempt at housebreaking. So far so good.

Started a new sketchbook

I decided to put the "My Home" sketchbook aside for a while. The huge format (12" X 18" spread) is a bit daunting. Note to self: stay A5 size. The new sketchbook is one I bought from the Kemshalls. I love the weight, texture and the way it handles water. The first page is my intro page. It is a photo cut in half with the other half sketched in.

New plan for the "Rail Fence"

I started the dyeing for a "Rail Fence" patterned table cover for my new tiny table. Now that we moved down stairs we have lost a lot of room. I am moving the previous 30 X 45 table upstairs into the guest suite for company. There is also a microwave and refrigerator in that room in case you are thinking of visiting!! 
This is the new table we are using in our eating area (small). It is an IKEA buy after my last pilgrimage. It is rated "heavy duty" for commercial use.

The top is 30 X 30 giving us enough room for a shoe rack and chair near the door. This is what matters when you age (smile).

OK, this was the original plan. I made a multi-colored dye and planned to make a "rail fence" quilt our of it. The Problem? Too much yellow and red. I thought there would be a lot more blending of dyes. Not so much.

You may not know but if it isn't blue, green, purple or turquoise, I'm really not that interested. So I did a re-do:

The new piece looks pale but it is the lighting. It actually looks very nice. Today I started sewing and hope to have it done but this evening. Final goal a 45" square quilted table cover. Stay tuned.

HOT fun

Judith came over because she wanted to do some experiments with the heat gun. She also had to collect a half dozen branches from a "Smoke Tree". She wants to use the leaves for ecoprinting.

Anyway we layered up some polyester fabric and stitched them together then we let the burning begin. We used her heat gun.

Fiber College

This year I am teaching three workshops at Fiber College in Searsport ME. I am packing the containers and getting ready. This is what it looks like...

Thermofax screening

Tyvec beads and embellishments

Thermofax and Tyvec

Fabric to Batik

Batik tools and supplies

Marcella will be assisting me again. I actually met Marcella at the first workshop I taught at Fiber College. She has been my assistant at every workshop at Fiber College and at the Art Greenhouse since then.

Still working on MY HOME sketchbook

I am certainly taking my time on my "HOME" sketchbook. I did a few more pages but I'm not in love with any of these.

This was done with oil pastels with a watercolor wash over them.

These spread was a map of Penobscot Bay with acrylic painted houses and a watercolor wash. Too dark.

Above is a print from a Catalpa leaf and below are the two sides of the leaf. The spread is 12" X 18" so you can see how HUGE these leaves are.