SAQA Visioning Project

I recently signed up for the SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) Visioning Project. It will be a year-long project, and each participant can set their own goal, pursue any fibery dream, big or small.

I have always wanted to have my very own fabric line, an idea that is just tooooo expensive to do on a big scale. Thanks to modern technology, I can print my own designs, directly from my computer, right onto fabric. I decided to do small pieces (about 8.5" x 11") and present them as a salesperson from a big textile manufacturer would: on headers (basically a printed cardboard piece with the company's name, logo, address, along with the pattern name/number.) I may also make a swatch book, with smaller pieces of the cloth in different colorways, like the books they have in decorating stores.

You can find out more information by going to SAQA.com. You have to be a member to sign up though, but it is only $50 per year.

These are two designs I did a while back for the Dixie "Art of the Plate" contest (which I did not win, but it was fun anyway.) I may translate them into fabric for my new line, called, unsurprisingly, Edzellinni Fabrics. Both of these designs started as doodles, which I developed into circular designs for a plate. It was fun and challenging working with a circular design, after years and years of square or rectangular formats.

Angelina Experiments

Inspired by the book Angelina, Between the Sheets, I tried my hand at working with the glimmery fiber. I started by trying to emboss my hand cut stamp designs into angelina fibers. It worked, but wasn't anything that wowed me. Next I tried cutting pieces of fused Angelina sheets, and ended up creating a checkerboard effect on black felt. Instead of sewing them on, I outlined them with squeezable gold fabric paint. I had some of my hand-rolled, recycled tyvek beads hanging around, and they just matched. The piece is unfinished, and it is temporarily pinned to a background of torn tissue fabric.

Postmark d'Art: black and white

After months of puttering, delays and interruptions, I finally finished my black and white postcards for my postmark d'Art group exchange. I made three styles: one with my own fabric design, done from a doodle, that was printed on cotton directly from my inkjet printer. It has a center print of one of my small, handcarved stamps, printed on cotton with black acrylic. The other two are done from expanded squares, and printed onto either Avery cotton or t-shirt transfer sheets. I kept the stitching minimal on all of them. If you look closely, one of the expanded squares has my daughter's initials (AKW) along with the number 2 for one of her birthday digits.