Learning New Techniques

It's hard to believe I haven't posted since the beginning of August. Summer is now behind us and the crisp and colorful days of Autumn now greet us. This is my favorite time of the year! I love to take long drives or walks with my husband just to gaze at the rich colors of the leaves against the contrasting skies of varying shades of blue. Soon it will be time to start planting for the spring that will follow yet another unpredictable winter.

One of the most fun adventures I've had recently was attending classes at the Michigan Festival of Gourds. Those that know me well are never surprised at the arts and crafts I pursue. I've been decorating gourds in different ways for over 12 years (maybe longer), but I've been needing to be challenged so I could take my gourd art to a new level.

Not only did I get to meet one of the best teachers and unbelievably gifted artist, Bonnie Gibson, I took four of her classes during the festival. Before leaving for the festival, I took three gourds, two of which I drew out my designs based on the skills I was about to learn. In the first class, Bonnie taught us how to carve 3-D feathers into our gourds using our rotary tools and a variety of burs. Since I've carved Eagle feathers into antlers many times, I had a feeling there wasn't going to be much of a difference carving on a gourd. There are some differences; first is that gourds have a rounded shape, whereas many antlers have simpler curves. Another is that antler is made from bone and gourds are "woody". No matter, this experience is going to lead to buying lots more gourds!

Below is a picture of the gourd I've started with overlapping Eagle feathers. I've drawn out other elements I'm planning around the gourd, but for now, I want to show you the "before" picture of the feathers.



Hopefully you can see the defined, but not completed, feather on the right and the uncarved feather on the left. There's a lot of work yet to do before this will satisfy me!

The next class was all about carving faux basketry into our gourds. I love basketry, especially those coiled with pine needles from South Carolina. The first gourd I saw of Bonnie's on which she had carved this technique was something I knew I had to learn to do. While trying to adjust to a Dremel for this technique wasn't easy, I'm learning to adapt. I've used a Dremel for roughing in carvings on antler, but have always preferred my high speed air carving tools for the majority of the carvings!

Below is my gourd that has the center carved out with the "coils" visible. Of course, this needs further sanding and then the burning technique will give the coils the look of basketry. If I achieve what I'm after, the basketry will look real. There's a second circle on the backside for the same technique and then two other circles which will have another carved treatment on the opposite sides.



If you look closely at the top border area, you'll see that has also been carved out. There's a matching border beneath the basketry area that needs to be carved and made ready for another technique, Inlace Inlay. My third class was learning how to carve recessed areas for inlays. The Inlace is a pigmented resin product that gives the same illusion as stone inlay that jewelers produce.

My 4th class was all about learning to do 3-D carvings with cutouts. I didn't take a picture of that gourd as it still needs quite a bit of work. Plus, I need to finish drawing in the designs that will go around the rest of the gourd. With this technique, you actually cut through the gourd to create voids within the design. I chose a design with cardinals, birch trees and leaves as I love birch trees and our oak trees here are home to several "families" of cardinals. Hopefully I'll find some time very soon to continue working on this wonderful technique!

I hope the balance of September will be good for you and that you'll find something that can inspire you to learn new techniques.

Quilting and Decorating with Machine Embroidery

I've been so busy getting lots of "to do" projects done plus a bunch of customer orders and realized I hadn't posted to my blog in a while. Well, today I'd like to show you a quilting project I'm working on, and maybe you'll become inspired to create your own quilt with machine embroidery.

Yesterday I finally auditioned some embroidery thread colors for a quilt for our master bedroom. This color scheme is out of my norm, so I conferred with my DH as, after all, it's his quilt too! The fabrics are from the Robert Kaufman Floral Fusions line, Beige and Wheat. The beige has soft off white and cream tones while the wheat has a light and medium shade of golden tan plus cream throughout in a sort of mottled pattern. If you'd like to see the fabric closer, check out http://www.robertkaufman.com/fabrics/fusions_4070/ and scroll down the page, close to the bottom. (Sorry, I just cannot get these links to work!)

Below is a photo I took of the sample block next to the wheat fabric contrast. I auditioned two different embroidery colors for the flowers, a peach and a golden tan that has a hint of peach. The other colors are a light golden tan for the swirls and a heathered sage for the leaves and I will use a light creamy yellow for the flower centers.



Since we can't decide on the colors for the flowers, the project will be a UFO for the time being! My DH likes the peach flowers, I like the golden tan. We don't have peach in our bedroom, but it is a color that both of us were thinking of infusing into our room...maybe. But for this quilt, my eyes are just not loving the peach.

While I was waiting for the digital camera to charge up (so I could take the picture), I decided to tackle my new kitchen curtains that I embroidered a couple of months ago, but hadn't hemmed. Here's a close up of the embroidery.



Originally I thought I would use just two panels, but after I hung them, I realized I would need to make another panel to fill things out. The fabric is a very light creamy yellow, tone on tone print and the slightly darker creamy yellow embroidery is cutwork tulips and a cutwork birdie from www.s-embroidery.com. I fell in love with Stacy's cutwork designs and they stitch out so beautifully. I don't digitize cutwork designs, so I'm very happy to share Stacy's web site information with you :) Once I have a little time, I'm going to create that extra panel with just the tulips because the birdies are already mirrored between the two existing panels.

In the meantime, now that I've caught up with all my large orders, I can get back to digitizing the Baby's World designs I started weeks ago.

I hope you have a wonderfully creative day!

Must Read Interview for Quilters

I read the most fun interview today and wanted to share it with all my friends and fellow quilters. Hopefully the link above will take you to the Connecting Threads blogspot page where the interview is displayed.

Quilting is a passion I wish I had so much more time for. I can't tell you how many books I've collected over the years, but there's one more I must add to my collection. Connecting Threads has interviewed a wonderfully talented quilter, Anita Grossman Solomon, who has authored a new book, "Rotary Cutting Revolution". When you check out the interview, please notice the fantastic quilt on the upper left with the book. The quilt is called The No Waste Windmill, made entirely from scraps! Now that's my kind of quilt.

Something else that I'm drawn to is Anita's style for pineapple quilts. For those of you who know me, my love of log cabin quilts is over the top. Well, pineapple quilts are log cabins with the blocks of fabrics turned in a different pattern. To see her variations of pineapple quilts, you need to visit her blog - http://makeitsimpler.blogspot.com/ . Sorry, I can't make that a clickable link. I've already saved her blog as a favorite and became a follower so I can visit time and time again!

If you are looking for a new and simpler way to quilt, read Connecting Threads' Karen Johnson's interview with Anita and then head on over to her blog for more inspiration!

Happy Quilting :)

Hawaiian Goldwork

I can't believe it's been a month since I last posted to my blog. It's been busy around here, that's for sure.

I've added two sizes to the Hawaiian Goldwork design patterns that have been on the web site. It gives the options to create more projects, from small bags and even your own tropical tee shirts using the new 3" designs, to quilts featuring the 6" designs.



I'm busy drawing motifs to add to the corners of the 8" block designs, but I may just leave these designs the way they are. It would allow the user to add echo stitching, which is the way most Hawaiian quilts are enhanced. As soon as I have decided, the designs will be released.

Summer arrived this past Monday, so I've been busy making and embroidering aprons for a long list of happy customers, just in time for the outdoor grilling season! It seems that aprons have continued to be a very popular kitchen "staple". I've been promised photos of those who have received an apron I've custom made for them, and as soon as they arrive, I'll upload them here.

Enjoy the rest of June, and I'll be back with more great ideas for decorating your home and fun gifts for those hard to buy for people in your life!

Shari

New Apron Set - Correction

I'm not sure how it happened, but the picture of Ava in her apron set didn't get posted (it was there in the preview). So, let's try again! Here's a picture of my adorable 4 year old granddaughter.



Maybe it's me, but the photo of the embroidered apron ties didn't make it either, so I've uploaded that again as well.



There, that's better :)

Shari

New Apron Set

I have been swamped with apron projects lately, but one that I was excited to do was for one of my darling granddaughters as a birthday surprise. Ava loves anything related to fairy princesses, but she also loves purple and dressing up to play.

Here's a picture of Ava modeling her apron set and below that is a larger image of just the apron and hat.


I used two different fabrics in the same color family, but the contrast has some sparkle, something required by every princess! Unlike her cousins' apron sets I recently made, this one has a rounded bottom section and gathered pocket.

Another recently apron project features a nautical theme. The original design needed to be edited slightly to mimic the owner's boat a bit more realistically. The boat name was added to the design and the tie ends were also embroidered with the owners' first names.





With cooking shows gathering more audiences these days, people are finding pleasure in spending time with their families cooking up fun and wholesome dishes, indoors or out by the barbeque. Aprons, whether simple or decorated, have grown in popularity over the past few years and I don't see the trend fading anytime soon.

Why not check out some of the design ideas we have on our web site, or have us embroider your own idea? There are so many fun, washable fabrics to choose from, we're sure to find something novel for you and your family! Our aprons are adjustable and can be outfitted with your choice of one or more pockets, or even a wide single pocket that is divided. And if you're not into cooking but love to garden, we have lots of different apron options for whatever hobby you're into.

As Julia Child would say...bon appetit!

Shari

Night Fairy Designs

I've completed the Night Fairy designs and have uploaded the images to my web site so you can start dreaming how to use them in your own project. I've done them in two different color schemes so you can be inspired to choose different colors, giving you lots of design options. And, I've also used Swarovski hot fix crystals to add some bling to the designs. I can see these designs on curtains for a little princess' bedroom, or even on a fairy princess dress for that sweet little girl in your life.

The designs are quick to stitch, consisting of a fill for the fairy and a triple stitch for the decorative lines. I use Swarovski hot fix crystals from Design By Dawn - www.designbydawn.com - as they are the best quality crystals. If you've never tried them before, Dawn also sells the tool to apply them, along with easy to follow instructions. Careful though, adding crystals to your projects is very addicting!

The designs are on a special introductory price through May 31, so you'll want to order them before the price goes up. You get 20 designs in the complete set, one each in small and medium. The individual design prices is also lower during the introductory price period, and for each design you purchase, you'll get a small and medium for one low price!

For those who don't embroider, but would like to have these lovely designs stitched on something for you or as a gift, please email me with your idea or request at sharianndesigns@comcast.net.

I welcome you to stop by and browse around.

Shari