Link to my blog

Here is a link to my new blog location: http://karenworksart.com/

Please join me there.

Karen

My blog has moved

Check out my new blog at www.karenworksart.com.

I am very excited about my new website.

Let me know what you think!

Whats going on?

It has been one of those crazy weeks when I did a lot but don't have much to show for it. My friend, Denise came to visit and we cut 20 balls of yarn into 4 yard cuts and then knotted them together randomly and rolled them into this big ball. Now I have to figure out what to do with it! I am open to all suggestions. We also spent time in the dye studio with Debra and here are some of the results. I dyed silk and polished cotton and did a lot of overdyeing of yucky fabrics.
I also spent time fusing Wonder Under to the back of fabric and slicing it into different shapes in preparation for a "summer" series. It has been hellishly hot here so yellow, orange and red seemed appropriate with a touch of purple to cool us down.

My daughter is in the editing phase of a novel and I am chief editor so I have spent a lot of time with a red pen this week. I love it but it does take me away from my quilting. So....hopefully next week I will have a finished project to share. Thanks for your patience.

Phoenix Rising

Okay, I can not tell a lie. I made this quilt 5 years ago to celebrate my 50th birthday. As you know, the Phoenix rises out of the ashes and is reborn. So I figured that was a good way to start the next 50 years. This piece hangs in my studio and watches over me while I sew. It measures 58 x 70. Each feather was free hand quilted and the purple feathers and head are wrapped around timtex so they stand off the quilt. I put in 20 hours satin stitching the flames alone. They whole piece took me 65 hours and I do remember that it was pure fun.

I have lots of projects in process right now but nothing quite ready to show. I am also working on a new website that will feature my quilts instead of my patterns. I will let you know when it is up and running.

Circles and Crop Circles

Recently I was introduced to Perfect Circles, an easy and quick way to make fabric circles for my quilts...and as you can see, I am hooked. After making a number of circles I had to ask myself...what the heck am I going to do with them? Then it dawned on me...crop circle inspired quilts.

I had seen crop circles in a magazine 10 years ago and I had to buy the magazine just for the pictures. After a little research on the internet, I was hooked. The designs are so beautiful, intricate and precise. I truly can't believe that they are being created by humans. They appear overnight without a trace of human involvement. And there are lots of them appearing each summer in England and now in Italy. For great pictures check out this site: www.lucypringle.co.uk

This is just one of the many fabulous patterns. Needless to say, I am inspired. How about you?

Fabric paper

I have been reading about fabric paper and although I did it once with my quilt "Reaching for Torah", I wanted to try it again. The weather was gorgeous so I set up a work table outside covered in plastic and put down my piece of muslin. I watered down white glue and merrily sloshed it onto the fabric using a foam brush. I did small areas at a time so that the glue didn't dry before I was ready for it to. I placed tea bags randomly onto the fabric and covered them with a coating of glue. My friends and I had saved tea bags all winter and after they are used and dry out it is easy to open them up and dump the tea. I love the colors that the tea stains the paper. You can see that I had a few circular tea bags and a coffee filter too. I added some mulberry paper that had similar colors and let the whole thing dry. The next day, I covered it with a teflon pressing cloth and ironed both sides and it flattened out beautifully. I may cut it up or I may quilt it as is. For now, it is hanging on my design wall until I get a brilliant idea.

End of the book

So now we come to the final pages of the book This is a picture of my parents at UCLA where they met. Needless to say we are steadfast Bruin fans.

I used clear buttons and handmade lace pieces to highlight this snowy scene.
I love this picture of them sitting on the car.
And this is my favorite of them all. Couldn't my Mom have been in a Betty Crocker commercial? Here she is with her first Thanksgiving turkey. The picture just screamed for rickrack!