Take It Further April - Day 2

Yesterday morning, I looked at this block and almost decided to scrap it and start from scratch. I just wasn't happy with how it was turning out although I do love how it pieced up:



When I came home from visiting with my sister, I looked at it again and a famous quote by Henry Ford popped into my head. He said, "Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, either way, you're right."

Then, one of my father-in-law's 'words of wisdom' came to me. "Can't never did nothin'!"

I decided to go with the flow and see what happened.

I grabbed my tin of Dyna-flo Dyes by Jacquard and painted those lace pieces. As you can see, that seemed to do the trick. It brought everything together and now I feel as if my mission to turn Autumn/Winter into Spring/Summer has been accomplished.

Judy asked me how to go about painting lace. It's actually quite simple. First, I use the Dyna-flo dyes (which are available at Michaels) because they come in small bottles and I only paint what I need each time. I never do a whole bunch at once.

Step 1 is to wet your lace. Lay it out on paper towels so the excess water is absorbed. After a minute or so, move the lace to dry paper towels. I like to mix several variations of colors. If you look closely at the Iris, you can see that there is some warm purple in there and some soft blue-purple. I just think this adds a more interesting look.

You'll want to water the dye down with a drop or 2 of water. Remember, you can add more color later if it comes out too light.

Because the lace is wet, it will pull the color in from the brush. Keep in mind too, that it will dry lighter than it looks when it's wet. Practice on a piece of cotton fabric first so you can see how the wet fabric absorbs the color from the brush.

Once the piece is done, you can let it air dry and then heat set it with your iron or you can iron it dry. Since I have nothing in the way of patience, I put my pieces in the microwave to dry. I start with 1 minute at 50% power. Then another minute at 50% power. Then I do 30 seconds at 50% power until it's dry. Textiles will burn, even in the microwave so it has be done a little at a time. And trust me, there is nothing that smells worse than burning lace!

Keep in mind too that natural fibers take the dye much better than synthetic fibers. Polyester is not a good choice for hand-painting with dye.

If you're wanting an old, antique look, you can add a bit of yellow and/or brown to your color. It's a matter of experimenting to get the look you want. Like I said, you can practice on a piece of plain cotton fabric to get a feel for it before you try it on your appliques.

Today, my goal is to find a butterfly that will show up on this block. I don't care if it's new or vintage but that's our quest for after breakfast.

April Take It Further Block - Day 1

I started stitching on this yesterday:



I'm not any too thrilled with it so far. I'm sure some more stitching will help and I'll be painting the lace pieces as well. I didn't want to do that until I had some stitching on it. I just wasn't sure what colors to go with. I actually just pulled some Perle cottons in warm pastel colors thinking that those are the colors of Spring flowers. Stayed tuned to see where this goes.

I also have a bit of show & tell for you today. I made this little cellphone pouch for Kim who's birthday was Wednesday:



I bought the little hummingbird pin at a flea market last Summer. I've been saving it for a pouch for Kim.

I also made a few cards the other day. Commercial greeting cards are just too mushy and wordy for my tastes. I really prefer to just add a little hand-written note:



I tinted the images myself on my computer and then used some of these on CQ's awhile back.

I also made these:



As you can see, I got a little "artsy" on this set!

If you want to see closeups of anything, just click on the image to go to my Flickr site.

Button Block 15 & TIF April

I finished up on this one yesterday:



The black buttons are Victorian glass buttons. I had an issue with the big one. I went to sew it on and found that the shank was missing. I was determined to use it!

I thought of 2 different options for attaching it to the block. First, I thought about gluing a piece of ultra suede to the back and then sewing that on. That seemed too time consuming though.

My next idea, and the one I used, was to sew on a plain boring button and then glue the glass button to it. I used E6000 Jewelry Glue and it worked perfectly!

Judy asked me about the fabric at the bottom with the shiny things on it. That fabric is the stuff with the sequins glued on. It comes in a ton of different colors and because I love my glitter, I have a bunch of it.

I haven't used it too often because my electric machine has a cow every time I do. Electric machines are pretty fast and I think the friction of the needle going through the fabric melts the sequins and gums up my needle.

The treadle machine is a bit slower and couldn't care less what it sews through! So you'll be seeing more of that in upcoming projects.

I'm going to take a break from the Button Crazy Quilt and do my Take It Further April block next:



As I mentioned in my first post the other day, Sharon's concept is "How Do You Feel About Change?" Basically, do you welcome it or avoid it?

Well, I welcome it. As long as it isn't the change of Autumn to Winter!

As with all of my blocks for this project, I am working with both the concept and the color palette. When I saw the colors, I immediately though of Autumn/Winter. My intention will be to change this block into Spring. At this moment, I have no clue about how I'm going to do that!

I did decide that instead of a bird as a focal point, I'm going to use a butterfly. Butterflies are the epitome of change. They also represent "hope" and "freedom".

I went through my vintage jewelry pieces and I have some beautiful butterfly pins but they don't show up well on this block. Scott and I are going to see if we can find something usable this weekend.

Stay tuned. This one is a real challenge!

Crazy Quilts By Cindy Brick

Scott and I made our weekly stop at Borders bookstore on Sunday and I found a new book on my favorite subject:



Crazy Quilts By Cindy Brick is a wonderful reference tool if you're interested in the history of crazy quilting. It is well researched, well organized and well written. This book fills in the (unnoticeable) blanks found (rather, not found) in other books on the history of crazy quilting. Basically, there is more information here than in other CQ reference books.

There are many beautiful color photos of antique (and new) crazy quilts in this book, ones not seen in other books on the subject.

If you're interested in the history of crazy quilting, this is a great book for your collection.

Cindy also covers basic techniques for making a CQ but if technique is what you're interested in, I recommend The Magic Of Crazy Quilting by J. Marsha Michler.

Cindy's book is an absolute must have if history is your cup of tea! If you would like to visit Cindy's website, you can find it here.

And speaking of crazy quilting, here is my pink & black block:



I'm going to go park myself in front of my Cubs game shortly and do the beading on it. I expect to finish this one up today and then I'll start my April Take It Further Challenge block.

Take It Further Challenge - April

As is the norm on the first of each month, Sharon B. released the concept and color palette for the Take It Further Challenge. The concept for April is "How Do You See Change?" Basically, is "change" welcome or avoided?

Until recently, I avoided change. I was set in my ways, very routine and regimented and I resisted it. Over the last couple of years though, I've come to welcome it. We can't avoid change. Every thought, every idea, every desire, every fear, every bit of information we gather and every observation we have contributes to change. We expand whether we want to or not. It's evolution and it's inevitable. It's the nature of reality.

That of course is "internal change". But our outer world is a reflection of our inner world. As above, so below. It's Manifest Destiny so to speak.

I have already chosen my theme based on Sharon's concept. The color palette that Sharon chose reminds me of the rusts and browns of Autumn and Winter (when there isn't any snow on the ground). Because I have come to welcome change, the title of my piece will be "Winter Into Spring".

As always, I will work with Sharon's color palette. This time I will use it only as the foundation for my block. My stitching will reflect the pastel colors of Spring as new life gradually emerges from the dark days of Winter.

For those of you who like to work with the color palette as well, here it is with the DMC Embroidery Floss #'s:



Please keep in mind that I matched these based on my monitor settings. All monitors are different. At first, that dark color looked like black to me. When I looked at it in my image software, I suspected that it was actually dark green. I let my computer figure that one out and yes indeed, it is a dark green.

I'll be treadling today. I want to get this block pieced up and ready to stitch. I haven't decided on a focal point yet. I'm thinking of bird, maybe a robin. I'm going to go through my vintage jewelry pieces and see what I have that I can use. If I don't have anything that will work, I may just embroider a robin on the block.

Stay tuned to see where this goes!