Amy's Quilt Room

Mutual of Omaha Aha Moment

2010-06-17T20:48:00.000-04:00

Well, I am embarassed to say I haven't blogged in a month. Between work and house hunting, life is nothing short of crazy. And to top it off, every time I try to pull pictures off my camera Adobe Bridge gets locked up, so no pictures. And while I just know you love to read what I write :) I know how much everyone loves to see the blog.

My big news is that today I filmed my Aha moment with Mutual of Omaha. Tuesday morning I got an email from the traveling Mutual of Omaha film crew that is on a 25-city tour taping people talking about their very own aha moments. They read my blog and asked me to participate in the campaign. Can you believe it?? Well, it's true!! I did my taping tonight. I will have a link to post with my taping in about 30 days. Mutual of Omaha will be measuring how many hits every person in the campaign receives and the top ones are moved to a national voting forum. The top picks get to be in a tv commercial. OMG!!!

I brought along "Bird's Eye View" and "Flower Power." The crew took pictures of me holding the quilts and we discussed when my quilting aha moment was and how it has changed my life.

As soon as I get the link, I will post it for everyone (including me) to see! I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I had filming it.

Here are a few pictures of both Bird's Eye View (still not finished) and Flower Power (my personal favorite.

Where has the time gone?

2010-05-06T20:15:00.000-04:00

It's been crazy around here and I just realized I haven't blogged in 2 weeks!

I haven't had much time for quilting, since I've re-entered the work world full time. But I did manage to get in a full day workshop with Aniko Feher a few weeks back and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Aniko not only has terrific techniques for making an incredible looking portrait, but her sense of humor about life and quilting entertained me the whole day.

Everyone worked on the same portrait of a girl named "Nadiia" that stayed with Aniko for a while.

I've done a portrait of Toby, my aussie, but my method took tons more time. Aniko's method is just about bullet proof. I have to try it out on a photo of someone I actually know!! haha.

I did, just tonight, finish quilting the "S" quilt. I underestimated the amount of quilting time I had left, but I'm thinking it was about 10 hours all together. Not too bad for a 76" x 86" quilt, done on my domestic machine. I used YLI trilobal polyester and it quilted up like butter! I highly recommend stepping out of the "cotton thread only" mindset and try some different threads. I also love Robison Anton thread. Both brands are 40 weight and work well, in my Juki, with a size 90 or 100 needle.

Keep quilting!

Almost Done

2010-04-22T10:52:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I wrestled with a big quilt under the Juki. I've got 5 hours into the quilting so far and I'd say another 2 hours to go. YAY! I never mark my quilts. I just start in the middle and work my way around, usually in one overall design when I'm working on a big quilt with busy fabric. For this quilt I chose a loopy flower that I made up. The flowers change in size and number of petals depending on where I am and how much space I have. I get really excited when the quilt is at this point- so close and yet so far, too. I always bind by hand and this quilt is 76" x 86" so it'll take me 5 or more hours to do the binding. But then I will have my very own couch quilt.

I made Jay a couch quilt last January just after I got the Juki. I have 3 machines now. The Juki is a TL98Q and I love, love, love it! It is a simple straight stitch machine, but it's super fast, at 1600 stitches per minute. I do all my quilting on it, and occasionally some piecing.

Machine # 2 is a new Bernina Aurora 430. It's got all the bells and whistles the Juki lacks, like fancy stitches, button hole choices, and a great zigzag. I didn't get the stitch regulator. For me, one of the best parts of quilting is the challenge of making stitches uniform in size. It took me months of daily practice to achieve consistent stitch length, of which I am very proud.

As a backup, I've also got an old Pfaff 7570 that I purchased from a quilter that had bought a newer model Pfaff. I actually bought this machine to replace my original Bernina 1090 I bought way back in 1994. I got sucked into a "Pfaff Cult" and was convinced to trade my Bernina away for a Pfaff, which I did. I regretted that decision the moment my old Bernina was shipped off to a lovely lady in Utah. After months of trying to love the Pfaff I gave up, caved in, and bought the new Bernina. I haven't looked back since and am happily a Bernina girl once again.

Since I've also been doing garment sewing I bought a Bernina Serger too. So I guess I actually have 4 machines all together!

"S" Quilt Back is Pieced too!

2010-04-13T18:38:00.000-04:00

I used a bunch of my lime and purple hand-dyed cotton sateen and paired it with left overs from the top to come up with 4 HUGE blocks for the back of my yellow "s" quilt. I made an 18" x 76" strip set, added some sashing, and presto, done!

I did get to do more dyeing over the weekend, as the weather was just gorgeous. I don't have all of my fat quarter to show you, cause I SOLD them!! to a lovely lady from the Asheville Quilt Guild. Yup, I sold some of my hand-dyeds!! Woohoo. Maureen is making one of the blocks for the Blue Ridge Parkway 75th Anniversary Quilt also. She is doing a landscape of the Blue Ridge Mountains, so I whipped up a bunch of blues/violets, and some "fall foliage" looking pieces. I managed to get some pics before she came by for them.

These are the blues/violets for the mountains in the background

A nice piece with oranges, greens, blues, browns, yellows

I played with a new fabric; a cotton/linen blend. It may become my new favorite fabric. I'm going to make a skirt and see how it sews up. One of my new quilting friends, Carrie, turned me on to it. She uses it as a base fabric for pillows and for sashing in her quilts, also.

Pinks, purples, and reds on cotton/linen

Reds, golds, rust on cotton/linen

Vera Bradley Fabric and 2 Easy and Quick Projects

2010-04-08T17:24:00.000-04:00

I dyed up a bunch of lime and purple yesterday for the back of the "S" quilt. I am going to piece the back with an 18" x 76" strip set of all the fabrics I used on the top along with giant blocks made from the lime and purple.

Lime and Purple with the strip set

It rained all day today, so I put more dyeing on the back burner. I am excited that one of my fellow guild members, Maureen, has asked me to dye some special fabric for her block for the Blue Ridge Parkway Commemorative Quilt. But the fun will have to wait till tomorrow when it's sunny and warm.

In the meantime, I whipped up a little pouch and matching pin cushion from some Vera Bradley 4" squares I bought eons ago on ebay. My original intention for the fabric was to make something for Rachel, but she wasn't crazy about the fabric, so I made something for me!! WOW!

I used some fusible interlining and a juicy red for the inside. I'm going to use it to carry my marking pencils and other small tools when I'm working away from my sewing room.

Yellow "S" Quilt is pieced!

2010-04-05T16:41:00.000-04:00

I really enjoyed piecing this yellow "s" quilt top, designed by K Fassett. After doing such tedious piecing work on the lone star, this project was a nice reprieve. The hardest part was figuring out the instructions provided. Sometimes pattern writers try to save space by being cryptic, and this pattern was no exception. If I didn't have the color photo of a finished quilt, I would've been lost. I ended up counting the number of 10.5" strips I saw in the finished quilt to interpret just how to cut the strips. And the cutting of strips took me longer than the piecing. I think I spent almost 7 1/2 hours just cutting and cutting and cutting some more.

My Yellow "S" Quilt top

Road Trip to Tennessee Quilts

2010-03-30T09:08:00.000-04:00

Patsy and I were going to have a play date on Friday and dye fabrics and threads. Unfortunately, we didn't discuss our plans with the weather, which didn't cooperate. It was just plain yucky out. So, instead we headed to Tennessee Quilts in Jonesborough. Over the mountains and through the fog we went.

Patsy was on a mission to find some prints to coordinate with her beautiful hand-dyeds for a project she's working on for the upcoming Quilt Market in May. I had no agenda, but that wasn't going to stop me. We walked into the shop and BAM, there they were...K Fassett quilts draped over the upstairs balcony for all to see. I was a goner.

I bought everything I needed to make the Yellow "S" quilt in his book, Country Garden Quilts except for the backing fabric. I am going to dye some fabric for the back.

I couldn't stop there and leave well enough alone. No, no. I HAD to buy more K Fassett to go with some of my hand-dyeds so I could create my own design. So, I ended up buying another 9 yards of various dots, designs, and stripes. What fun!!

Yummy K. Fassett fabrics.

And, as if that wasn't enough, Patsy gave me a bunch of 12 weight cotton threads from various vendors to dye.

Thread, thread, and more thread!

Batiking with Home Made Stamps

2010-03-25T17:34:00.001-04:00

I got all 8 points of the lone star done yesterday as planned, but now I've got to figure out how to piece together the background fabric. I am going to applique in the background, so I've got to do that work before I finish the piecing. So...that means I am going to be blogging about other stuff in the meantime.

I decided to try batiking. I LOVE batiking! I absolutely love it! I used Malka Dubrawsky's new book, Color Your Cloth, as a guide, and spent the afternoon playing with soy wax and some home made stamps.

I went to Michael's and found a few wood stamps that were on sale for $.29. You gotta love it! Jay glued a small piece of wood to the back of each stamp as a handle.

Wood Shapes made into stamps. I also bought a bag of paper doll holders- I had no idea what they were, except I thought I could make some shapes with the circles. They worked great too. Jay used wood glue, which held up well.

I also found a bunch of small cookie cutters at an antique shop while in Berkeley Springs, WV last week. I used a potato to make stamps with a few of the shapes.

The key when working with vegetables is you have to have patience for the veggie to heat up in the wax before it can used. If the veggie isn't warm enough, the wax just makes a seal over it and you can't stamp.

My potato stamp and the cookie cutter

Stamping flowers with my potato stamp on red fabric

I started with some of my solid hand-dyed fabrics and stamped out a pattern with soy wax. I decided to go with soy wax as opposed to batik wax for 1 main reason: soy wax easily comes off the fabric in hot water and doesn't require boiling in a stock pot for 45 minutes.

Here is some of the fabric I made today with the wax still on

I love this exclamation point stamp

I'm not sure what to call this shape, but I like it!

After waxing, I discharged the red and turquoise pieces. I'm going to cut the fabric into small squares and make a placemat and/or drink coaster.

The turquoise discharged to a very pretty aqua and the red turned orange.

I discharged and over-dyed the navy, light green, and orange pieces. I don't have a picture of those yet, since they're still hanging out in the dye bath.

The Making of a Modern Lone Star, Part 2: strips and piecing

2010-03-22T16:38:00.004-04:00

I've been busy on the lone star. To start where we left off, I had to cut enough strips of each color according to my grid mock up. As a reminder: I needed 1 strip of fabric for EACH diamond in my grid mock up. I am making a 7 x 7 lone star, which basically means there are seven diamonds that travel out from the center diamond, for a total of 7 x 7, or 49 diamonds within each point of my 8 pointed lone star. I used 49 strips; 8 each of turquoise and yellow/orange, 13 lime, and 20 pink.

I decided on a 2 1/4" side strip which would give me a 1 3/4" finished size diamond. After cutting all the strips, I stacked the first set of 7 strips and made an initial cut on a 45 degree angle.

I lined up the 45 degree line on the ruler with the bottom edge of my fabric strip stack. This saves a ton of fabric.

With the first set of strips all angled up nicely, I laid out the 7 strips in order so I wouldn't get confused when sewing them together. This is a really good way to keep yourself on track.

I've lined up the 7 strips as my map tells me to do. I'm working on row 6. Pink, turquoise, pink, turquoise, pink, lime, pink (laid out from top to bottom). I sewed the strips from bottom to top! Pink, lime, pink, turquoise, pink, turquoise, pink

Sewing the strip sets was easy! I decided to use a seam guide on this project so all my seams would be consistent. To do this, I put the seam guide under my needle and brought the needle down and through the tiny hole in the guide. I then used a stack of pink post its and lined the post its up against the guide. That way, as I feed my fabric, I will have the post its as a guide. Since I'm just sewing long strips together at this point, there are no seams/points to join. Just sew a nice, consistent, scant quarter inch seam.

Once you've got your post its lined up, just remove the guide and you're ready to piece.

The fabric glides beautifully along the post it and keeps my seams very consistent.

While it's OK to wait to press open the seams, I found it much easier to sew a row, then press a seam, sew a row, press a seam. And yes, I pressed the seams open!! Not to one side. There is a trick to perfectly matched seams, and it depends, in part, on a pressed open seam.

I hold the seam and lift a bit with my right hand (since I'm a lefty) as I use the nose of the iron to open the seam.

Once I had the 7 sets of 7 strips sewn together, I had to make 2 1/4" strips of each set. I got 10 sets of strips from each strip set, although I will only use 8, one for each point of the star.

Here's a picture of my ruler, still with the blue tape guides I used before, since I started with 2 1/4" long strips, I will cut my strip sets also 2 1/4" wide, starting with a 45 degree initial clean up cut. This step is very important, so go slowly.

All my strips sets stacked and ready to piece together. Yay!

Now it's time to sew together each set of strips to make 1 complete point of the 8-pointed star. Jan Krentz has an amazing trick to help get seams that "kiss" each other perfectly. She makes a DOT with a pen or pencil on one strip and matches the dot up with the bottom edge of the pressed open seam from the other strip. I know this sounds complicated, but I've got a few pictures below to help you along with this.

Using my ruler, I made a small dot with my micron pen on strip 1, placed strip two on top of strip one, Right Sides Together, and brought the bottom edge of the pressed open seam of strip two to meet with the dot on strip one.

Can you see how I'm making a dot 1/8" above the seam where the lime and pink strip meets?

Here is another picture showing the dot 1/8" above the seam.

Look closely at this picture so you can see the bottom half of the pink/lime seam of strip 2. I have tried to match the bottom edge of the lime with the dot on strip one. I continued to match each seam with each dot for each strip!!

Once I've sewn together the 7 strips in my stack, I've got a complete point! So far, I have 2 done and #3 half done. I've been away for 5 days visiting the mother-in-law in VA, so I'm going to get right back to it. I want to have all 8 points done by end of day Wednesday.

They look kinda "bumpy" at this juncture because I am not going to press the seams until I'm done piecing all 8 points. I'm going to "block" each point, kind of like blocking when you knit something, so you can't really see just how well the seams "kiss" each other, but believe me, they do!!

Next time we'll start putting the star together!!

The Making of a Modern Lone Star, Part 1: design and setup

2010-03-13T12:49:00.001-05:00

I've decided to try my hand at a lone star to enter into the Asheville Quilt Show this August. It was a painful process of figuring out exactly what I wanted to do to make the quilt stand out and not be a typical traditional quilt. After much anxiety and changing my mind a zillion times, I am making a "modern" lone star. It's modern because 1) the color choices 2) the shape of the fabric that will surround the center lone star, and 3) the quilting design.

I dyed up a bunch of cotton sateen in fuchsia, turquoise, lime green, and orange/yellow. The background is what I call "eggplant" color. I have to thank Melody Johnson of Fibermania for helping me with the lime green. I practically went bald pulling my hair out trying to get the color I wanted to no avail. I kept mixing the same colors (taking the same actions) thinking I'd get a different result. That's the Albert Einstein definition of insanity, isn't it? While the lime green I was getting was very pleasing, it wasn't as "crisp and clean" as I wanted. I finally emailed Mel and she generously corrected the shades of yellow and blue dye powder I had been working with. So after a little tweaking, whala! Lime-a-licious, as Mel described it.

The colors, sitting on my eggplant background

I also got a copy of Jan Krentz' book, Lone Star Quilts and Beyond as well as the accompanying video. She has a few easy tricks to help ensure the diamond points kiss each other just right. It's all in the prep, which I will share with you as I go along on this project.

To start, Jan tricks up her ruler to help with consistent cutting of the strips. She scores some blue painters tape with a box cutter or xacto knife, grabs several layers together, and sticks the tape against the line on the ruler equal to the strip width. Since I need 2 1/4" strips, I placed my blue tape chunks against the 2 1/4" mark on several places along the ruler. Because the tape lifts the ruler, you can butt your fabric up perfectly against the tape, which gives you consistent and straight strips every time!

The tape is lined up across the width of the ruler at the 2 1/4" mark

I also took Jan's suggestion of 1) drawing out a grid layout and 2) using mirrors to mock up 1 complete diamond to audition different fabric placements. Jay got me a box of 12" x 12" mirrors at Lowes uber cheap and taped them together. To make your own magic mirror:

1) Lay the mirrors, face down on your work table, leaving about a 1/4" gap in between, with the top edges of the mirrors lined up.

2) Using a heavy duty tape, (Jay used black gorilla tape), connect the mirrors together with the tape at the top, bottom, and down the center seam between the tiles.

It's that simple!!

Mirrors taped together with black gorilla tape. Notice the small gap in between the mirror tiles. The gap lets you hinge the mirrors.

My grid layout with all the info I need.

Each diamond requires 1 strip. I needed 8 each of turquoise and orange/yellow, 13 lime green, and 20 pink.

After you cut up tons of little individual diamonds in the fabrics of your choice, place them in the grid layout. Then stand up your mirror and straddle the diamond mockup. Whala! You can see the entire star design with mirror magic. You won't be using these little diamonds in your actual quilt, so be sure you have enough of the fabric to both make the mock up and cut all the strips you need.

Here is my mock up. I'm showing you 2 pictures here. Jay took 1 picture in focus and another one out of focus. The out of focus picture lets me see the balance of color and value in my fabric choices.

Here is the "in focus" picture. Notice how I can see about half a lone star by using the mirrors. The star is very large, so Jay made the mirror trick with 4 mirror tiles.

I love how this "out of focus" picture lets me see the movement of the color and values.

Gotta go now and start sewing the strips together!

My etsy shop is up and running

2010-03-08T19:35:00.000-05:00

I did it! I opened an etsy shop today to sell my hand-dyed fabrics. It was pretty easy to do, but I admit I read a bunch of other seller's shop policies, etc to get a feel for what information I should probably have out there. I was able to get the name "amys quilt room" to match the blog.

I put 4 fabrics up for sale today and will post another 3 or 4 tomorrow. I did a bunch of dyeing this weekend since the weather was grand. It was in the high 50's yesterday and reached 60' today. I worked with my new fav fabric, cotton sateen. I did some mottled stuff, some shibori, and some direct dye painting. As always, I was happily surprised with my results, except for a yellow piece. It just didn't mottle very nicely, so I overdyed it by first adding purple dye to the yellow fabric, followed by fuchsia. I think it's my favorite one of the bunch now!

I'm calling it "Forest Light"

"Firestorm"

"Purple and Pink Parfait"

"Yellow and Orange Parfait"

Dogwood Panel is Finished!

2010-03-02T14:23:00.000-05:00

Well, here it is. I finished the dogwood panel that will be part of the Blue Ridge Parkway's 75th Anniversary Commemorative Quilt.

I really enjoyed making the panel. It measures 36 x 16. I used my own hand-dyed fabrics and chose invisible machine applique as the technique. For the thread play I tried and LOVED YLI Variations, a 35 wt trilobal polyester. It has a wonderful sparkle to it and quilted up beautifully. I almost put a green/yellow fabric in the center of each one, but instead decided to jazz it up a bit with # 8 and # 11 seed beads. My friend Elaine showed me the moss stitch which I used in clusters in the center of each dogwood.

I unveiled it at yesterday's board meeting of the guild to many oohs and ahhs. That was awesome! As this was my first time participating in a group quilt project, I was so nervous my work wouldn't be up to par with everyone else's... You really wouldn't believe how much stress I had over this. And for what?

Now I'm ready to start dyeing fabric for the quilt I've designed for the big quilt show in Asheville this summer. It's going to be held at the NC Arboretum, a beautiful 434-acre sanctuary in the Bent Creek Experimental Forest inside the Pisgah National Forest and a short distance from the Blue Ridge Parkway. I'll keep you posted!!

My Stash does not runneth over, yet!

2010-02-28T08:30:00.002-05:00

I've seen so many terrific sewing room setups online recently I decided it was time for me to organize my stash. Well, I wouldn't exactly call it a stash, at least not by most quilters' standards. I dye/buy, I consume, I dye/buy, I consume. I ended up with 4 drawers of fabric, separated as follows:

"other peoples" hand-dyeds
batiks (I love them)
prints
"my" hand-dyeds

All my fabric is tucked away, neat as a pin, for now at least, in this awesome cutting table Jay made me last year. It's 72 x 40 with 2 sets of pull out drawers and a center open area for additional storage. I've got hooks on the sides to hang my rulers and my rotary cutters and scissors fit very nicely in the top 2 skinny drawers. And best of all, he built it on industrial casters so I can easily move it around and then lock it into place. What Jay doesn't know YET, is that I do want a huge stash of thread. I just love thread and am newly inspired by how Patsy Thompson hyperquilts with luscious trilobal polyester threads by YLI and Superior. Patsy and her husband, Ernie, have created several instructional DVDs dedicated to free motion quilting and have new DVDs coming out on hyperquilting. So while I won't hoard fabric, I will absolutely hoard thread. The more the better.

I also hung some smaller wall quilts around my workroom. We are living in a 1940 stone cottage on the edge of North Asheville. All the walls are plaster and I've been too afraid to put a nail in the wall. So instead of actually hanging things where they'd look good or fit properly, I just randomly hang things on nails that are already in the walls. Ugh. Here is a fused applique/ thread sketched piece I made of my beloved aussie, Toby. It really looks exactly like him. He stares at me while I am at my sewing table. Kinda cool.

(Click to enlarge for more detail)

Gradations by Squeezing and Wringing

2010-02-20T09:47:00.001-05:00

My new and insanely talented friend, Patsy Thompson, of Patsy Thompson Designs brought me some fabric samples a few weeks ago to play with. I dyed up a small piece each of cotton/silk "radiance," cotton sateen, cotton bamboo, and egyptian cotton. Each piece was dyed in the same dye bath. Look at the differences!

From top to bottom:

cotton/bamboo
cotton/silk
Egyptian cotton
cotton sateen

Yesterday I decided to try Melody Johnson's "Lazy Dyer" technique for creating solids. She fondly refers to this method as the Squeeze and Wring.

I used a natural color cotton sateen (my new favorite fabric for dyeing) and worked with deep navy, strongest red, and deep orange to create 3 and 4 step gradations. Using the same amount of dye concentrate, each step was made by adding twice the water as the previous step. That sounds pretty confusing...let me try again. I used 1/4 cup dye concentrate Straight Up for the darkest piece, then used 1/4 cup dye concentrate plus 1/4 cup water for the medium dark piece, then 1/4 cup dye concentrate plus 1/2 cup water for the light piece.

I had an extra 1/4 yard of fabric (how that is possible dividing a yard into 4 pieces is my own stupidity for tearing along the selvedge without realizing it before it was too late!) so I did an extra piece of dark navy using 1/4 cup concentrate with 3/4 cup water. I actually LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the color!! It reminds me of a great pair of blue jeans.

Nobody warned me how addictive dyeing fabrics can be.

And I am trying to keep a journal of my dyeing recipes. You'd think since I'm a trained CPA I was meticulous and organized! You'd be wrong!!! My office during tax season used to look like a bomb exploded in there, but I always knew where everything was, well almost everything.

It's a start in the right direction at least.

check out the blue chic!

2010-02-19T07:57:00.002-05:00

My incredibly talented web designer, Laura Jane, of ChickenScratchStudio, just sent me what I fondly call "my blue chic." Blue chic is going to grace my blog header from here on out. I love her hair- it reminds me of quilting swirls.

Laura Jane has the patience of a saint. I hemmed and hawed over this blue chic for months. What colors? What fonts? What colors? What fonts? How "big" should the hair be? To her credit, Laura Jane didn't run for the hills. She delivered me exactly what I didn't know I wanted until I saw it. That's the kind of consumer I am. I know what I want, but can't always explain what I want until I actually see it. Makes for some frustration for everyone. But in the end, it works out just fine. If you ever need anything-- a logo, a header, a website, a storefront, LauraJane is your go-to person. I know she is mine.

Whimsical Butterfly

2010-02-16T12:13:00.000-05:00

After spending all that time doing invisible machine applique I decided I needed a quick project. I whipped up this butterfly yesterday using raw edge/fusing techniques. I got to use my own hand-dyed fabrics. I had a lot of fun experimenting with some cool filler motifs from Leah at DayStyleDesigns. Leah lives in NC and is blogging 365 different filler motifs for a year. Check her out!

I played with a bunch of different threads too, sometimes doubling them up for a dramatic quilting line. I think I want to try the butterfly again using piecelique this time. I find the piecelique is less tedious than invisible machine applique but gives a more polished look than fusible.

I haven't trimmed or binded it yet -

Invisible Machine Applique Tutorial

2010-02-10T10:57:00.003-05:00

I learned how to do invisible machine applique from Sharon Schamber. Sharon always has a neat twist on most quilting processes, and this one is no exception. As I mentioned in my previous post, I am participating in the creation of the Blue Ridge Parkway's 75th Anniversary Commemorative Quilt, that will hang on permanent display in the Folk Art Center on the parkway. I have a 36" x 16" panel to complete. I decided to make dogwoods, LOTS of dogwoods. I dyed 4 different mottled pinks for the bracts and green for the leaves. Here is the panel so far- all the leaves and bracts are done- I have to make the center of each flower and then embellish with beads, but the "invisible machine applique" part is done.

Panel with all the dogwoods sewn to the background fabric

Step #1

Using applique foundation (available from Sharon Schamber or Ricky Tims- these are my sources, but I'm sure there are additional products out there), trace each element/piece of your design onto the foundation.

Step #2

Cut out each shape, then glue, using Elmer's Washable Glue Sticks, to the wrong side of your chosen fabric

I label each piece (element) so I can match it to my master drawing later when I glue the elements to the background fabric

Step #3

Cut out the fabric with a scant 1/4" seam allowance. It doesn't have to be pretty. You are going to turn this seam allowance under, so it won't show

Here are some of the bracts for flower 14- I labeled each flower with a "P" plus petals/bracts "a-d"

Step #4

Put a generous amount of glue all around the edge of the applique foundation and the seam allowance. The glue is purple, but don't worry- it drys clear!

Step #5

Pinch the seam allowance at the outer edge of the foundation forcing the fabric to wrap around the edge and to the back of the foundation. If you are going around a tight inside curve, clip the fabric ALMOST to the foundation to help ease the fabric without creases or folds. You can also use a set of cuticle sticks (I got a pack of 150 from Sally Beauty Supply for $7) to manipulate the fabric a little at a time. This is what I usually do.

Try to "pinch" pleats with your cuticle sticks as you move around the curves

Step #6

Heat set immediately. Using a dry iron, tap the turned edges from the wrong side first, to set the glue. Then turn the piece so right side of fabric is facing up, and heat set again.

Step #7

Set up your machine as follows:

ZigZag stitch- .9 stitch width; .9 stitch length

Use your #37 foot- quarter inch foot. YES, the zigzag is so small, the movement will fit using this foot!

Needle down position

Monopoly thread in the top; loosen top tension to 2-3. Of course, the setting will vary depending on your machine

Very thin thread in the bobbin, in a gray color. I use Superior Masterpiece "L" style prewound bobbins

My supplies- most are available at quilt/hobby shops with the exception of the applique foundation

Step #8

Using Elmer's washable school glue in the bottle with a glue tip (available at many quilt shops, hobby/craft stores) run a bead of glue around the edge of the wrong side of the piece. Place on your background fabric and heat set immediately.

CAUTION! think through the entire design, because you want to glue down and then applique down the pieces that will be tucked under any other pieces first. This can get confusing if you have a lot of overlapping, so take your time.

These glue tips come in a package of 3 different sizes.

Step #9

Starting at the right side of your element, take a few stitches, then back-stitch to lock in. Then continue sewing the piece to the background SLOWLY! so you can hit the element, then the background, then the element, then the background. You will have to stop often to shift your fabric to stay on that edge. When you get to an outside curve or edge STOP and PIVOT your fabric, then continue on your merry way. With a little practice, a novice can master this process quite quickly (I did!).

When you get to the other end of the element, take a few back-stitches and smile- you are done-

now wasn't that easy!

Notice that I've traveled from the right edge, around the heart-like shape of the bract, and will finish at the other edge

After all your elements have been appliqued down, you can do thread play, quilt, etc. Because the applique foundation is hidden between the background fabric and the elements, you don't need additional stabilizer to do thread play.

Here are 2 completed flowers (without their centers)- notice that there is overlapping, so I first glued, then stitched those pieces down first, then glued and stitched the overlapping pieces second

You can leave the applique foundation there forever OR, if you wash your quilt, it will disintegrate into fibers into your fabric. Ricky Tims product doesn't disintegrate like Sharon's.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. It is my first attempt at one!

-Amy

Blue Ridge Parkway 75th Anniversary Commemorative Quilt

2010-02-02T08:57:00.001-05:00

One of the coolest activities here in the mountains is a drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway. The turning of the leaves was breathtaking in October. I haven't quite figured out how to capture any of the 500+ pictures we took, but I will, eventually.

What I AM working on is a 36" x 16" panel of an 84" x 100" quilt that the Asheville Quilt Guild has been asked to make to celebrate the parkway's 75th anniversary. The quilt will be on permanent exhibit at the Folk Art Center, located on the parkway.

I've decided on a spray of pink dogwood, since dogwood is our state flower/tree- it's really a tree, but looks so much like a flower! I'm using 4 different pinks that I hand dyed last week.

this is my drawing of the dogwoods

here is my inspiration photo (left) and the drawing (right)

108 dogwood bracts (petals) ready to be machine appliqued onto the background fabric

quilting talent is everywhere in North Carolina

2010-01-29T08:00:00.000-05:00

First thing I did after we moved to Asheville was to find and join the local quilt guild (well, ALMOST the first thing I did). We've got an awesome and active group of ladies (and men too) over 300 strong! I've jumped in with both feet and am the new assistant program chair this year. That means I get to build the 2011 workshop schedule and then be program chair in 2011. While it is a lot of work, it's tons of fun and best of all, I get to choose the artists to fill our calendar. The way it works is we have a lecture during our meeting and a full day workshop the following day.

Given the weather is unpredictable in February, we have our annual quilt show in August, and the international Quilt Festival is in October, I need to find artists fairly local that won't be deterred by a snowstorm or have conflicts with the shows. It was easy to find local talent!

I've found incredible talent throughout the state. We've got Patsy Thompson www.patsythompsondesigns.com, Susan Brubaker Knapp www.bluemoonriver.com, and Lyric Kinard www.lyrickinard.com coming in 2011 to share their techniques and talents with us.

Speaking of quilt shows, I am driving myself crazy deciding on a design/technique for my show entry. I'm leaning towards a wholecloth, since I love, love, love the quilting part of quilt making the most. I just can't decide on WHAT design to quilt. The theme is "Stars over the Mountains" but does that really matter? I saw pictures of past shows and most of the entries had nothing to do with the theme, so WHY is it driving me crazy?? Mountains, flowers, what?

Art Quilt- Bird's Eye View is almost done

2010-01-26T09:03:00.001-05:00

It seems I've been working a long, long time on my "bird's eye view" quilt top. All I have left to do is the bottom left corner- it's not more than 6" x 8" but it seems to be haunting me. I am going to get it finished today!!!

Here's a peek of how it looks.

Fabric dyeing; a rainbow in plastic cups

2010-01-24T11:25:00.000-05:00

I found a fantastic site the other day dedicated to fabric dyeing. What I loved most about the information was how simple the dyeing process was laid out- IF you follow the steps and prepare, prepare, and prepare some more. I dyed a 9 color rainbow using fuschia, turquoise, and golden yellow with just scant amounts of dye powder and was able to easily dye 2 yards of fabric.

I was attempting to get a very mottled look for each piece so I tried different ways of scrunching or folding or twisting the fabric before placing it in the dye solution. And while it was suggested to let the fabrics cure for 3 hours, I left them overnight (about 12 hours).

I love the results, but will certainly have to do this many times more to find some consistency.

So, what do you think?

chocolate stout beer anyone?

2010-01-22T11:07:00.000-05:00

Micro breweries are a huge deal here in Asheville. At most restaurants you can find a pretty big assortment of beers made in town by local breweries. It kind of got Jay thinking he can brew his own beer too. So, off he went to Asheville Brewers Supply right up the road. He came home with a complete brew kit and was off and brewing.

Here he is bottling his 2nd batch of beer. This one is a chocolate stout. It sure did smell great, but I just can't get myself to drink beer...

He got 44 bottles out of this batch! Now he has to wait 2-4 weeks for it to be ready to drink. Yum.

Red/Orange and Tangerine. Yummy!

2010-01-17T08:15:00.000-05:00

Here's the batch of red/orange I mixed with tangerine. This time I used squirt bottles to apply the dye to the scrunched up fabric, alternating the red/orange and tangerine. After applying the soda ash mixture, I used a bit more of the red/orange concentrate and dripped it over the top of the piece. I love it!

Since I've got so much turquoise I'm going to try "overdyeing." I'm going to divide my yard in half and try some deep navy on one half and some lemon yellow on the other half. I'll let you know how it turns out.

I think I'm getting addicted to dyeing.

dyeing fabric

2010-01-16T18:43:00.000-05:00

Like the rest of the eastern half of the US, it's been mighty cold here in Asheville! We've been having temps under 32' for weeks now, with many days at less than 15', so I haven't rushed into the cold, dark basement before today. We've got a week of warm weather ahead of us so I finally got into the basement and dyed my first 3 batches of fabric. I only had enough dye to do some turquoise and deep navy, so I ended up doing 2 batches of the turquoise and one with turquoise and deep navy together. It was a lot of fun, once I got off the protective mask I wore while working with the dye powders. As I breathed, it fogged up my glasses and drove me crazy.

It was a lot easier and tons more fun than I thought it would be. After some stumbling around, I got a bit of a routine together. First, I scrunched up the fabric into the tubs. I set them aside and measured out my dye concentrate for each batch on my nifty new digital scale. Way Cool! Then I made up 3 separate pints of the soda ash mixture, one for each batch, and I was ready to apply the dye.

I applied the dye, scrunched the fabric a bit, added the soda ash mixture, pushed down on the fabric to be sure the soda ash got into the batch, put a lid on the bucket, and set aside.

Then I waited, and waited, and waited some more. I actually waited too long for one of the batches. I wanted to have 2 shades of turquoise, but I left the lighted batch to sit too long, and while my eye can tell there is a slight difference, you folks out there won't be able to see a difference. My favorite batch was the one I dyed half and half- turquoise and deep navy, and then I put some deep navy in drips on top of some of the turquoise. It came out great!

I'm going to try some red/orange and tangerine next. Yummy!!!

Sewing Heaven

2009-11-17T16:17:00.000-05:00

Since we landed in Asheville a mere 4 weeks ago I've been in sewing heaven. For years, and I mean years, I've wanted to learn to sew garments. I know what you're thinking. Everybody wants to sew clothes since Project Runway hit the airwaves! It's true!! Here in Asheville there is actually a fabulous garment fabric store called Waechter's. They have yummy silks, wools, brocades, batik rayons and silks, corduroy. They have it all!! I am going to the shop every Friday for what is called "sit and sew." This is a brand new activity at the shop and is a well kept secret, so far. I've been the only one there for the last two Fridays so I get one-on-one with Elaine, a wonderful seamstress, teacher, and quilter too!

So far I've made a Gore Skirt with 6 godets (aren't you impressed that I even know these terms?!!) out of silk noil, a full length robe to wrap myself in after a shower, made out of a luscious knit (my first project on a knit) and this Friday I am embarking on a lined Parisienne Flapper Coat circa 1930's designed by "Decades of Style." I'm using a Persian Lamb fabric with silk for the lining. Could you just die?!! Oh, I also whipped up a set of lined curtains in silk dupiani for the living room. Since I'm a seamstress now, I NEEDED a serger, of course. So off I went to the shops in town that sell these scary little, yet powerful machines to see which one to get. After much angst, I am happy to be say I am the proud owner of a Bernina 800DL, 4 thread serger. It actually arrives the end of this week. What is great when buying a Bernina product is the support from the local shop. I went to Asheville Cotton Co., the Asheville quilt shop extraordinaire, and Robin, the owner, hooked me up. I'm getting all the serger mastery classes a girl could ever ask for, for FREE!!

I've included a picture of my skirt, and also of the Persian Lamb I am going to make the coat from. If only you could feel the fabric. On the retreat front, things are happening there too. Our first Energy Retreat with Sharon Schamber is next month, so I'll be off to Payson for 4 days. My new website design is up and I love the blue chick logo Laura Jane from ChickenScratchStudio designed for me. Check it out! www.silverrainmgt.com

Until next time, Amy

We're in Asheville

2009-10-19T16:33:00.000-04:00

We did it! After nearly 40 years in Florida we have moved to the mountains of Western North Carolina. This is a picture of our new home!!

It's been completely crazy for the last several weeks, hence my lack of blog updates. Moving from one side of town to the other, which we did only a short 10 months ago, was a piece of cake, compared to moving out of state. There's a science to packing for a long move, but science wasn't my strong subject in school! Jay can't find the remote to the TV and my special box with towels, sheets, and other essential "must haves" for the first night in our new home ended up in the basement behind 40 other boxes in the basement. YES!! We have a basement. I've never had a basement. Well, not a real basement. In Florida, we have garages that are lovingly called "Florida Basements" because cars never make it in the garage, just all the stuff we have no room for anywhere in the house lands there. Now we not only have a garage, but a basement too!

I've also been busy putting together lots of retreats for Sharon Schamber, Gina Perkes, and Terry White. Sharon and Gina live only a mile from each other so we decided to have a series of retreats in Payson, AZ in late Feb-early March 2010, May 2010, and Sept 2010. Jay and I , and Toby, of course, can't wait to be in Payson,, working with Sharon in her brand new studio for her retreats, as well as with Gina, in her retreat location. I've got specific dates on my website so check it out. www.silverrainmgt.com

And, speaking of websites, I've been working with an incredible graphic designer, Laura Jane. She's put together a new look for Silver Rain. I can't wait till it's up and running- hopefully in the next week or so. So please check back soon. And check out Laura Jane's other work at: www.chickenscratchstudio.com She is so talented!!

Until next time,

Amy

Sharon Schamber Retreat Success

2009-09-16T08:50:00.000-04:00

We did it again. Another incredible week with Sharon Schamber doing an Art Quilt Design and Construction retreat. I almost can't describe it, except to say it was exhilirating, creative, exhausting, fun, and inspirational too. Nine ladies spent the week with Sharon, Jay, and me creating their own works of art. Now that we've done two of these retreats, I understand

Quilting Retreat with Sharon Schamber Redeux

2009-09-03T08:23:00.000-04:00

I promised everyone that I'd post more pictures from Sharon Schamber's Art Quilt Design and Construction Retreat. Without further adieu, here they are.

In my last post I told you how Sharon Schamber not only changed the way I will quilt forever, but also changed my life. That is an understatement! Welcome to the new and exciting and zany world of quilting retreat management and business agency. Jay and I have launched our new business, "Silver Rain" which encompasses custom retreat design and delivery as well as business agency services. We've been working around the clock and have loved every minute of it.

Sharon is returning next week for a second Art Quilt Design and Construction Retreat. We are hosting 9 quilters for a 5-day intensive retreat with Sharon at the helm. Kathy R and Natalie C loved the first retreat so much, they are coming back for the second retreat!! These ladies have some incredible design goals and it will be amazing to watch them during the week as their art comes to life. We expanded the retreat this time around and added some after dinner time with Sharon plus additional independent work time.

To top it all off, Jay and I (and Toby too) will be managing 3 retreats for Sharon in her Payson, AZ studio in late Feb and early March 2010!!

If that isn't enough, we are privileged that Terry White, a gifted thread painting and embellishment quilt artist and teacher, has given us the green light to create some unique 5-day retreats for her!

I've been taking a stab at designing a website for Silver Rain. So far, I've only managed to put some text into a canned template. But, it's a start! Now if I could only figure out how to...

Until next time,

Amy

Design & Construction Retreat with Sharon Schamber

2009-08-23T15:19:00.000-04:00

Top left: Nat's original with her piece on right. Center- My piece. I was working on shading around the eyes, and Bottom: wide angle shot of our work space.

It's been a while, again, since my last post. This past month I've been busy putting the finishing touches organizing our 5-day design and construction retreat with Sharon Schamber. I am so lucky to have had this opportunity to spend a week with Sharon. She has changed my life forever. Not only will my quilting be forever changed, but more importantly, I have changed how I see the world around me. I can't quite put it into words, at least, not yet. Suffice it to say that life at the Harry home will never be the same again.

The retreat was a new concept that Sharon and I put together after we met at a guild sponsored class in Lakeland, FL last November. We were talking about how I'd love to come to one of those Quilting in the Pines or Desert type event that she teaches at. Sharon suggested instead, that she'd come to me, if I could get a small group together. That way we'd only have to cover Sharon's travel and lodging, etc instead of paying for a group of 7 to fly to her. Well, that's all it took for me to be off and running. I called her husband, Gene, Thanksgiving Week 2008 to beg a block of Sharon's time and he told me he had Sharon booked well into 2010. Then the following week Gene called and offered a week in August 2009 that opened due to a cancellation. I couldn't believe how lucky I was!!

My friend Kathy and I handpicked 5 girls to participate with us in this adventure. Sharon gave me cart blanche to design the retreat around any theme or technique we wanted to learn. It became a 5-day intensive retreat on design and construction of an art quilt.

The first morning of the retreat, each girl presented her drawing as a basis for an art quilt they wanted to make, but didn't know quite how to execute. The first step was for each of us to talk with Sharon, one on one, about our vision for the quilt. What was so amazing to me, was that Sharon saw things in each project, that none of us saw. After initial discussion, Sharon got us working on our master copies. She worked her magic on each of us, and by the end of the 5th day, seven gorgeous art quilts were coming to life. Now, I am making it sound so easy, but believe me, it was anything but. It was intense and completely mind blowing. But worth every second. No one wanted the week to end.

It was incredible how Sharon was able to move around the work room from one project to the next and know EXACTLY where each one of us was, what challenge we had, how to help us, and guide us. More incredible, actually, since each project required different techniques.

Evyonne drew a "gaudy fish" and, with Sharon's knowledge of movement and color, Evyonne redesigned her water and used piecelique to create unbelievable background for her fish. She also put patchwork inside some of the waves using piecelique- something none of us would have thought to do. Evyonne used Shiva paintstiks to add dimension to her fish, and did some amazing thread play too.

Barb sketched out an orchid scene and was off and running using piecelique, applique, micron pigma pens, Shiva paintstiks, and thread play too. It was great when she let out a happy squeal after seeing how easy and fast it was to make elegant and flowing stems using piecelique.

Natalie recreated a stone sculpture of a woman using only shades of gray fabric and black and white shiva paintstiks. It looked so much like the real sculpture that when Sharon sent a picture of Nat's quilt to Gene, he called and asked why we sent him a picture of the sculpture, not the quilt!! Natalie will NEVER look at anything the same way again. She has learned to read shades and light and everything with dimension. WOW!!

Sharon loved the 5-day retreat concept and doing art quilting. so much so, that I am going to organize more 5 to 6-day retreats for her. So, for those of you that want a life-changing week with Sharon, give me a call, or email me. I will get Sharon to your hometown for an experience of a lifetime!

As the girls finish their art quilts, I will post pictures for everyone to enjoy.
Until next time,

Amy

to dye for

2009-07-05T08:42:00.000-04:00

I finally mixed dyes and prepared fabric for painting and dyeing. It was a lot of fun playing chemist. I used Melanie Testa's new book, "Inspired to Quilt" for various recipes needed to get fabric and dye ready to create art. I love her book because it gives step by step directions for exact measurements of all the stuff you need to do this. There are many steps! First I mixed the pro print paste, since it has to sit for at least 1 hour before you use it. Dyes are the consistency of water which makes it very hard to paint with so you need to thicken the dyes by mixing them with the print paste mixture. While the thickener was setting up, I made a batch of soda ash, urea, and water to soak my pfd- prepared for dyeing fabric. The fabric has to be prepped to accept the dyes by first soaking for 30 minutes then drip drying. Finally, I mixed up dye concentrates of 5 colors with fiber reactive dye powder, urea, and water. This is how Jay and I spent our 19th wedding anniversary!! What fun.

I'm a MAC

2009-07-01T06:53:00.000-04:00

Well, I finally did it! I became a MAC. I am sooooooo happy. It didn't take me long to get comfortable on the platform and the experience is second to none. Why did I wait so long?

I've been busy getting the house ready for Sharon Schamber's visit in August. She is staying with me for 7 days to teach me and 6 friends quilting design construction and implementation. Sharon is one of only 24 "master quilters" in the world. And best of all, she is humble and generous and excited to teach. In preparation, I've made a queen size quilt for the bed she'll be sleeping in and I've begun on a second queen size bed quilt for the other guest room as well. All my quilts, except for the 2 on the sofas in the family room, hang on the walls. What kind of quilter would I be if there weren't quilts on the beds?!

I just finished an alocasia leaf wall quilt as part of my leaf series. I've got the monstera you all saw last month sitting on the fireplace mantel. I still have a banana leaf to do, then it will be a real series, with 3 pieces.

I still have to mat and frame the water color paintings I did in class last month. I really enjoyed myself and found the experience very relaxing. It was a good launching point for me to start painting with textile paints and dyes on fabric. Jay has come up with some very cool design ideals which I will trace onto PFD- prepared for dyeing- fabric, paint, then quilt. It's great that he is so supportive of my quilting addiction.

This Saturday, July 4th, is our wedding anniversary. We're starting our day at the beach to watch the sunrise with mimosas in hand. Then in the evening, we'll watch fireworks on the docks in downtown Stuart with some friends. The city always puts on a fantastic display.

Until next time- which I promise won't be too far off.

Amy

I'm a Painter too

2009-05-28T20:10:00.000-04:00

I've been buried in old issues of Quilting Arts Magazine Judie was kind enough to share with me. It is amazing how creative and uninhibited quilt artists are. Since I have a hard time finding commercial fabrics that inspire me, I decided I am going to paint my own canvas, if you will. I purchased some PFD (prepared for dying) fabric and textile paints and all the assorted goodies that a painter needs and I am embarking on designing my own fabric. I even got some Tjaunting tools to draw with batik wax- way cool stuff. After painting and dying, I will draw with my thread to add dimension and detail.

I think it was Judy Coates Perez' blog that pushed me over the edge to bite the bullet and plunge into painting on fabric. Her work is incredible. You can check her out at www.judyperez.blogspot.com

I'm also studying color theory with her. We are doing an online interactive 6 week class using Setacolor transparent paints on watercolor paper to make our own color wheels, combinations, etc. It starts next week, and I can't wait.

And if you know me, you know I usually don't do anything half way, so to get a shot of self confidence before putting paint to fabric (which can get expensive) , I've spent the last 2 Wednesday nights at a watercolor painting class, where I am just about done with my very first watercolor picture. It's called "View from a Window" and depicts a set of shutters open with a view towards the water, where a sailboat sits, with the mountains in the background. I am doing a second watercolor of the Jupiter lighthouse next- Jay doesn't know about this project, since I want to give him the painting for his birthday in July....so don't tell!

I'm happy to report that while my hip is still on injured reserve I am back on my bike and up to 7 miles in the morning time. Gotta love it!

Until next time,

Amy

domestic diva

2009-05-13T14:00:00.000-04:00

It's been some time since my last post. I really don't know where the time has gone. When I worked I couldn't imagine how I'd fill my days. Now that I'm not working, there isn't enough time in a day to get done all the things I want to accomplish. Time seems to be rushing by.

This post is called domestic diva. I guess I've become one of those...I can actually cook. I've been chastised for years that I can't cook, but I've discovered I can. I even made a chutney with pineapple, dried cherries, almonds, and various other goodies that I put on chicken. Jay went wild- he couldn't believe I made it. I am, however, a utilitarian cook for the most part. I put a well balanced meal on the table (well, sofa- since we sit on the sofa to eat as I hate sitting at the table) every week night for dinner. Mark taught me how he makes salad dressing and I make my own, fresh, every night. It's got flax seed oil, organic apple cider vinegar, organic soy sauce, lemon juice, olive oil, agave nectar, cayenne pepper, ginger, and garlic. If that doesn't qualify me for domestic diva status, I don't know what would.

I had a slow week with my quilting as Rachel was home for 10 days visiting in between semesters. Since I couldn't get any uninterrupted quilting time, I decided my sewing room needed some color. Our new home is currently "beige" on "beige" on "beige." I am NOT a beige person. So I pulled out Jay's 8 ft ladder and painted the room, one wall at a time. It took me 3 days to complete (I did 2 walls in one day). I love it. Two walls are a lime green and the other two are a soft lavender.

Rachel left on Mother's Day morning and I've been back in my sewing room quilting away. Toby's face is just about done. I need one more white fabric to complete his chest then I get to start thread painting. I just taught myself thread painting. I found a book with progressive lessons and off I went. I've done lessons 1-3 and can say without hesitation that thread painting rocks!

I'm excited that I get to spend the day with Kathy tomorrow. We've formed a Thursday quilt artist group and will work with various mediums doing lots of experimenting. Natalie and Judie are also in our group. I can't wait to show everyone the stuff we work on.

I've put up a few pictures of my thread painting lesson pieces and an updated Toby face. I also finished a lone star quilt that I free motion quilted with wild feathers and I made a monstera leaf quilt using invisible machine applique as the technique. CLICK on any picture to see the details. Hope you all like them.

Until next time,

Amy

Portrait of Toby

2009-04-08T20:23:00.000-04:00

I've been busy in my sewing room the past week and haven't been back to blog. As I mentioned last time, I wanted to let everyone see my progress as I put together a quilt of Toby. I've been trying to learn how do some simple editing in Adobe Photoshop Elements with the pictures my official photog takes of my work (Jay). I can do some basic editing, but it's going to be a slow and painful learning curve for me. I just can't plant myself in front of the computer long enough to sink my teeth into the program for a whole day.

I took some headshots of Toby and manipulated the photo into black and white layers. I then projected the picture using the overhead projector onto the wall and traced the main layers. From there I labeled everything and assigned fabric selections to various layers. I am still working on getting my colors right and putting together the basic shape. Here are some pictures of the tracing, the transparency I made to trace the piece, a real picture of Toby, and the beginning of the fabric. Hope you enjoy it.

-Amy