Quickie: Where am I? Updates & So forth. . .

Hello Everyone!
"HI!". . . No, I didn't abandon Bloggerland, I've just had computer problems out the wazz-zoo! [might be a technical term...lol]. Still don't have it all sorted out yet, but there is now light at the end of the computer-tunnel! lol.
So, here's what I've been up to:
Knitting update:
First, thank to you everyone who has written me about the shawl I'm knitting. I didn't know there would be such interest, but now that I do, I'll post my progress.
Mistake! Watching a movie on TV while knitting a new-to-me lace pattern was probably not very smart. hehehe. I made too many mistakes to easily correct, so just yanked the circular needle out of all 288 stitches, pulled the knitting back about 10 rows or so and put them back on needle to resume knitting. Oh yeah, that was a lot of fun. lol. Not! All's well that ends well, though, and I'm clicking right along. Have almost finished the main lace pattern in the central third of the shawl -- a more recent picture to follow soon.
Friends, Vacations & Play Time:
Last Wednesday I met a friend and her family at Disneyland. They are visiting from Alberta, Canada. We've known each other through emails, photos, & a couple of phone calls for several years, but never met until now. Over time we have become good buddettes. It was so much fun to finally met! We spent the afternoon strolling through the Park, taking a few rides, and visiting the Blue Bayou Restaurant in the New Orleans Quarter for an early but sumptuous dinner. Their little boy got a real delight watching the boats from the Pirate's of the Caribbean ride floating through the water that runs through the restaurant. What fun! I love that place. They brought me a box of special Canadian cookies -- YUMMO! Wow, do I love these cookies, or biscuits as they are called on the box. I am sad to say the cookies didn't last long as DD and I ravaged the box! lol. It was hard to save ONE for the picture, but I plan on snacking it off this afternoon... wouldn't want it to get lonely just sitting in the box all by itself. You believe that. . . ya?! lol

A couple of weeks ago we began exploring some dyeing possibilities at my Tuesday afternoon quilt class. First we did scribbles with markers and the following week we did 'direct dyeing' using Procion Dyes. The pic above and below are two of my efforts. The assignment was to make something in USA patriotic colors to be later incorporated into a wall-hanging appropriate for July.

I still have a bit more piecing of bits and blocks, plus borders to add, but these are the two pieces of dyed fabric that I'm starting with. I'll post a pic of this quilt later when it is complete. I'm still fine-tuning my design and will probably add a silhouette as well.

Well, that's it for now. I sincerely hope that your summer [or winter for our Southern Hemi friends] is wonderful and that you've found some time to stitch or knit. . . thank you for stopping by,

Hugs,

Cyn;-)

Dyeing With Markers. . .

A week ago last Tuesday the lecture in quilt class was "What Now?" An interesting title. The instructor demonstrated using permanent markers -- such as 'Sharpies' -- on clean dry muslin, let dry [or not, artist's choice] and then apply Isopropyl [70% or higher] alcohol using a mister, sponge brush, or pouring.



After some alcohol. . . this will change the surface based on the application method. I used a combination of brushing and pouring. Let dry & 'cure' for several days; heat set with dry hot iron; rinse, dry, and iron again.



This flower reacted quite a bit differently than I expected, but then that's part of the fun of this technique.




The outside edge of the fushia color was applied using another 'permanent' marker I found at Michael's craft store. . . don't remember the brand name. This color really ran!


I think I may do some heavy free-motion thread painting over the top of this flower, cut it out and apply to one of the canvas tote bags I use when grocery shopping. I figure I can use this 'dye-goof' to increase my free-motion experience. I have nothing to lose but some thread. . . eh?! *g*

Later, I'll post some pictures of what these 'experiements' look like after putting them through a bath of Synthrapol -- it took almost ALL the red markers out and caused the blues n greens to migrate over the whole surface. Now that was unexpected! I learned NOT to put marker-dyed fabric in synthrapol-- just rinse & heat set. Well, live and learn! LOL

Last Tuesday we shared the results of our 'direct' dyeing experiments using soda ash & Procion dyes. These turned out somewhat better... pictures to follow...

That's all for now... thank you for stopping by,
Hugs,
Cyn;-)

Tues' Class. . . Mary's Quilt

Isn't this a beautiful quilt? It is made by Mary Tabar. This is considered a 'whole cloth' quilt as there is no piecing. Mary used photo transfer techniques to make this wonderful quilt. This is high-tech quilting: Mary scans items, manipulates them in her computer, and then sends sheets of PFD fabric through a wide carriage printer. The sections are connected and quilted. Wish I had a better picture, as this is a spectacular quilt!

More later. . .
Hugs,

Cyn;-)

Tuesday Quilt Class: Value Experiments

Mary Tabar teaches quilting and needlecraft classes at Palomar College in San Marcos, California. This semester one of the class projects is making various sampler blocks to explore value and color. The above photo shows some of the blocks from this week's class.

A few more blocks... the blocks are straight and true, but are a bit wanked [a technical term?? lol] on the design wall. *vbg*... we can sew straight, but we hang crooked. lol

Above, Joy is sharing her portable design wall with fussy cut squares. It will be a cute block. The bright pink is her 'design wall'.

Here are four 3" PPd blocks using a simple PPing design. The idea here is to experiment with value and get the value changes to do the "design work." After I finish up my last couple of Special H2H blocks, I will be playing with these shapes--if anything interesting comes out of this play-study, I'll post some more pics.

Mary Tabar offers everything from Artsy/Contemporary to Traditional quilts and everything in between. As well as dying her own fabrics, Mary specializes in photo-transfers and currently has several quilts traveling in Road Shows and has been juried into some prestigous venues. Mary encourages everyone to find their own muse and I have learned a lot from her.

Okey dokel, that's all for now. . . thanks for stopping by,

Hugs,

Cyn;-)PS: classmate's pics posted with permission.