GOE (Group of Eight Fibre Artists)

Back in 2006 my friend Heather and I started up a fibre arts group and this afternoon I set up a blog site for us.  Come on over to the GOE blog and see what my fibre arts group is up to.

Playing with Dyes

It's been a while since I've blogged, mostly because it's been a while since I managed to get any art done.  I've been busy gardening, walking the dog and riding my bike in the beautiful summer like weather we've been enjoying.  However, the other day I got inspired to play around with some dye and some scraps of batting and cheese cloth.  I seem to be doing a lot these days with blues and greens.  In this case, the green was provided by the back lawn where I layed the pieces out to dry in the sun.  Happily Casey left them alone so my cream coloured dog does not have blue feet!  

My next goal is to get up the nerve to play with Procion MX dyes.  What is it about Procion MX and soda ash that is so intimidating???

Sketchbook Challenge- June Theme: Pathways

This month's theme took me back to the road trips of my childhood.  We used to all pile in the Ford Galaxy station wagon and go on camping trips around Ontario.  Some of my best family memories are from those trips!  I was also brought back to the wonderful VW bug that my oldest brother used to have when he was in university.

This page started out as a paper collage that I then photographed and digitally altered before printing it on fabric and stitching it together.

Dogs Welcome!

There's a wonderful little coffee shop here in Georgetown called the Silvercreek Espresso Bar.  In addition to having great coffee (free trade too!) and other beverages and foods, they welcome their customers with dogs.  Just as you enter, before actually entering the coffee shop itself, there is a little lobby area in which they have put a table and chairs for their dog walking customers.  It's a wonderful place to stop for a rest with my 11 yr. old golden retriever, Casey, before the walk back home.  There's a post to tie the dog up while I go in and get my coffee, and they provide a water dish and doggie treat for Casey.

 I was inspired to create these two signs to replace the simple paper notes they had as a thank you for their consideration of people like me who are out with our dogs.  It's a great place to enjoy the air conditioning this time of year or to warm up in the cooler weather.  They also have a couple of tables outside for those days when the weather encourages the sidewalk cafe feeling.

Amazing Free Motion Stitching

I just had to share this wonderful video of free motion stitching.  Watch and enjoy!  If the video link doesn't work, click on the youtube link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkZfXWSFWFk

ATC Booklet

This month's theme for Lisa Fulmer's ATC swap is June Bugs so I decided to play around with an idea I got from Jane Davila and make a little ATC booklet.  I don't usually take this much time to make one ATC but it was fun.  In fact, it's really like making 8 ATCs in one!

I used copyright free images of bugs from the Internet, information from Wikipedia (printed on TAP), Inktense pencils, stamps, stitch and acrylic paint.

Black and White

I finished the beading and hand stitching on my 'stamp-painted' black and white fabric while on a short road trip with my husband.  I like to have some sort of hand work ready for in the truck so that I've got something to do now that I'm not driving.  I ended up doing a back stitch along many of the lines in the stamped design so that they would stand out better in the piece. The dots along the narrow borders are colonial knots and the other dots within the stamped design are beads.

Finally Framed

I found this cute red frame and decided it was just the thing for the painted and embroidered Aida cloth piece I did a while back.

I like how the red picks up some of the red embroidery in the piece and best of all, the frame was on sale for 50% off.  You've got to love a bargain like that!