Dyeing in Tennesse

I am in Franklin TN again to do a two day dye workshop. We are going to start off by discharging black fabric and t-shirts and then move into gradation dyeing and finally experiment with different kinds of direct application dyeing.

I will post more pictures as we work. I know we will have a great time and everyone will be flooded with color.

Student work

I always tell my students that if they finish their pieces from my class and send me digital images I will post it on the blog.
So I got this from my recent class in FL from Ginger. She made both sizes of the Tulip quilt and got them finished and quilted. Fabulous job!!! It only took her a couple of weeks.

Large version 16" x 20"

Tiny version 8.5" x 11"

Shooting the DVD

Yesterday I shoot a DVD to accompany the paper pattern for Autumn Mums. This is a new direction for me, and a big step. The DVD will be available on line by Houston Market. Don't worry I will send out emails to everyone I know when it is ready for purchase.

It actually was a lot of fun doing this. My friend Todd Underwood is filming it for me. It was just like teaching a class.

What a ham I am!

And my good friend Laura was the producer. Of course the animals had to get in on the act. I hope they make the final cut into the production. Stay tuned!

Dog Days of Summer

This week the DAMES took a few days to lounge at the lake. Our friend Randi has this fabulous lake house and she invited Deb, Betty and myself to visit. We (Deb, Betty and Randi)brought lots of good food and wine to help us relax. I want to thank Randi, Deb and Betty for making me stop and smell the lake water. I have been so wrapped up in getting ready to shoot my DVD and preparing fabric and kits to go to England, that I have hardly enjoyed the summer. But this was a great break, and I even got a little bit of tan to prove it.

Breakfast lounging.

The view from the house

My next fun summer activity will be visiting Mrs Mel. I can hardly wait to see in real life her fantastic new home.

These are what memories are made from. I hope everyone is out there enjoying their DOG DAYS of Summer.

Using Adobe Illustrator

Linda in Sarasota asked why I use Adobe Illustrator and not some other draw programs. I thought I would comment to all.
I first started using Coral Draw, which I liked very much. Caryl Bryer Fallert uses it and I took a class from her on how she uses it.
Several years ago I decided to take a class at the local community college with the idea of getting into graphic design. The industry standard is Adobe Illustrator, and Coral Draw is not taught or used. I also took a class in Quack a page layout program. It has now been replaced with Adobe's
product InDesign.
I find the product pretty easy to use. Getting used to the beizer tool took some doing, but it really isn't that hard. I certainly don't know all the ins and outs, but I have an easy time getting around. There are lots of great books out there on how to use the program. Periodically I take one out of the library and do the exercises in it. That really helps. But my version is older and I need to update it.
I keep meaning to take a class in Photoshop, because I know I would really use that. Maybe next year.
The programs are expensive, but if you take a class you get to buy it a student discount, well worth it I think. Think about what you pay for your sewing machines etc..

4th of July Special

Firecrackers, hot dogs, potato salad and RED & BLUE. Happy 4th of July. To celebrate I am offering a gorgeous combination of 1/2 yard of Brilliant Reds and 1/2 yard of value graduated Blue for the special price of $23. That includes shipping. You can never have too many blues for all those patriotic projects. And what a beautiful blue it is. Check it out today.

Process

This is my line drawing for Whispering Pines. I scanned in my sketch (which I can't find) and placed it in Adobe Illustrator. I opened up layers and and put the sketch under template. That let me add layers on top of it and using the biezer(?)tool draw around my sketch, moving from the back to the front as I worked and creating new layers for each step. Doing it that way allowed me to draw freely and not pick up items I had already drawn when I wanted to move or re size something. By putting it in Illustrator it also let me add color and move elements around. Once I was happy with the line drawing I then printed it out and took it to Kinko's and had it blown up. Or I could have project it with my digital projector and laptop onto the wall and drawn it out to any size I wanted. I like taking it to Kinko's it's faster and easier, as I don't really have any large blank walls to project onto.

This was my first effort at making the quilt. I love the trees but I got lazy and tried something different with the backgrounds. When I fused it to the batting it had problems and I was terrible disappointed in the end results. Then Melody came over and looked at it and accidentally spilt coffee on it. It was doomed.

But it allowed me to remake it. I am so happy I did. I stayed with the original detail in the borders and used silk behind the trees. I am much happier with the results and it has won awards to boot!