Sunshine

One of the things that I am becoming passionate about is natural dyeing my fabric. I am working on a quilt that includes both indigo and turmeric dyed fabrics. I especially like the look of dyed linen, but I am over dyeing printed cotton fabrics with great success. I have been using cyanotypes in my current works, and I dyed this leaf cyanotype in turmeric too.

       I am quilting with straight or matchstick stitches...my favorite kind of quilting.

             The final quilt measures 20 x 20 inches and I used a knife edged binding.

I am entering this quilt in the the Fiber Artists

 of Oklahoma show in November called Fiberworks.

piece, 

elizabeth 

Qu-Aint Collaboration

I have been away from blogging for a few years, instead posting pictures on Instagram and Facebook.  I have a new, exciting collaboration to talk about, and there will be lots of things to write about, so this is the perfect time to begin blogging again!

The collaboration is called Qu-Aint, which stands for Quilt + Paint. It consists of one painter, Jason Wilson, and seven quilters(including me), that I look forward to introducing to you to as our collaboration continues!

Our first show is in Tulsa, Oklahoma in September.  It will consist of at least seven quilts inspired by one of Jason's paintings, 
Twisted Diamonds.



I was inspired by the two little hourglass(sometimes called quarter square) quilt blocks in Jason's painting. I named my quilt, Time. I am aware of how precious the passage of time is, and I am fond of the Pink Floyd song that reminds us that time can slip by before we realize it. 

I have been naturally dyeing fabrics and decided that this was the perfect "time" to start using them. I chose indigo and avocado dyed linen with an indigo shibori center. 

I am waiting to post a picture of my quilt until the exhibition begins, September 6-29. The exhibition is called Facets at Mainline Art Bar in Tulsa. 

piece,

elizabeth

100 day project

I am doing a 100 day project.  I have seen different people doing them(some are painting, journaling, writing...each day) on IG and I decided it would be a fun exercise to sew the same block everyday, so I am making Elizabeth Hartman's cat blocks.

I decided to use my black and white stash, and I am having fun doing a little bit of fussy cutting as I go.  Today is day seven, so once again I will be playing in my black and white scraps tonight!

piece, 

elizabeth

mini quilts on canvas

I have been working on a variety of projects lately.  One project has been fun and a little different for me.  I have been trying to figure out a way to frame a mini quilt, and I started playing with the idea of mounting them on canvas.  It is kind of quirky, but I kind of like it too!

I painted the heart mini canvas before I mounted it, and I like the darker canvas with the wool heart, but the unpainted canvases makes the mini quilts pop, and I like that too...decisions, decisions : )

Who knows if I will continue this, but it has been fun, and I think I will leave these mini quilts this way and either hang them on the wall or lean them on a shelf.

piece,

elizabeth

peace~~~bias tape mini quilt

I joined the Mighty Lucky Quilting Club this year.  Once a month there is a new challenge, a different skill or technique to try, and the instructor for the month will send a PDF with the instructions for the challenge they are teaching.  This month the challenge was Shapes and Curves Using Bias Tape by Krista Fleckenstein of Spotted Stones blog.

I have made bias tape before and used it a few times for basket handles in quilt blocks, but it was definitely a fun challenge that I needed to give a try again. 

Here is the design that I chose for my bias tape mini quilt: 

It was a fun little project, and I do like the peace sign!  I used a variegated thread to sew the bias tape down and it blended well with the bias tape.

I also used a variegated perle cotton thread for the big stitch quilting.  It looks great with the flax essex linen fabric and compliments the OOP Kaffe Fassett Spools in Amber fabric.

I used a very thin binding, like I often do on my mini quilts.

This was a fun project, and I am looking forward to a new challenge each month from the Mighty Lucky Quilting Club : )

piece,

elizabeth

indigo dye

We have had some beautiful days for January in Oklahoma, and one of the members of my small group(we met at the OKCMQG) invited us over to indigo dye at her home!  I was first introduced to indigo dyeing at The Makerie Sewing Retreat with Kaari Meng from French General that I blogged about here.   I have always planned to do it again, and thanks to my friend, Agnes, I got the chance : )

She bravely let us leave the vat in her kitchen sink!  We had so much fun making designs with rubber bands, popsicle sticks, pipes, and clamps.

I brought vintage lace and linen to dye, but my friends let me have a bit of their cotton fabric to play with too.

These are my indigo treasures!

I already have plans to do this again in the spring...I think my daughter and daughter-in-law would enjoy this...I know I will : )

The indigo dye that we used is in the picture below...I have ordered a catalog from Dharma Trading. 

I am now dreaming of dying with walnuts and avocado seeds...it is fun to dream!

piece,

elizabeth

friendship beads quilt

The OKCMQG displays quilts every year at the OKC Winter Quilt Show and we also have a booth to answer questions about Modern quilting.  I made a quilt with the quick curve ruler that I call "Friendship Beads."

I quilted in my go-to straight-line machine quilting and I used variegated thread to give interest and texture to the quilt.  The quilt didn't show up well on the black background of the curtains, but one of my friends said that it drew you in to see it closer and then the quilting could be appreciated : )  Aren't friends wonderful! 

I used an OOP Kaffe Fassett fabric, Organic stripe in green, that I had been saving for a special quilt. I luv how it looks on the back with the quilting.

I will be taking this quilt to the lake to hang on the master bedroom wall along with my Barn Quilt

...it is so cheerful and bright!

piece,

elizabeth