Another Busy Day! - Day 16 - 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge

Good evening!

It has been another busy day - not too much time today for creating. Cleaned house, took shells off of pecan nuts (they were already cracked), and prepared a couple of boxes and cards for mailing.

The days often go by quickly, and not every day becomes a creative one. I believe you need life experiences in order to create, so in that sense it was a very good day.

Below is a photo of some ornaments I made and gave as gifts for the holidays a few years ago. (I was able to send them with my greeting cards.) I didn't create anything new for the season this year, but I may make it to my studio, and create some holiday themed items in January. It would be a good way to extend the season.

Still have to bake a few cookies! I usually end up baking a couple of things after admiring all the photos and recipes online and in magazines. I think admiring everyone's creativity is the fun part.

Machine and Hand Needle-felted ornaments made with wool roving,
acrylic felt, embroidery, buttons and beads.

Happy Holiday Season!

Denise A. Buchwalter-Losczyk

#31DayBlogWritingChallenge

Embellishments - Buttons - Day 14 - 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge

Today I am resharing one of older blogs: 

After hearing that it was bad for old buttons to store them in jars, (from Jill Gorski, in Episode 1204: Songs, Stories, and Buttons, on TheQuiltShow.com) I moved most of my button collection (accumulation!) to an antique type setting tray I have.



A sampling of my accumulation of buttons - intended for use as embellishments - I need to get busy embellishing!

 I've started using my buttons more often as embellishments in my projects. It is hard to resist a good old button.

Pearl buttons and buckles from a Muscatine, IA button factory.

One of my aunts gave me several small pearl buttons to use - at the time I planned to make dolls and use the buttons for doll clothing, but now most of the buttons are finding their way onto my wall quilt and textile projects. The pearl buttons come from Muscatine, Iowa, and were from the button factories which had closed down. They once made pearl buttons from clam shells sourced from the Mississippi river there. I have always loved the pearl buttons.

Here is a photo of buttons I bought recently (this week!):
 


New Buttons!

I couldn't resist the small parrott buttons - looking at the large assortment of buttons at my  fabric store, I know I could get into some serious trouble "collecting" buttons! I will have to limit my button excursions there.

I have usually only purchased used or old buttons (some are old and still unused on button cards) from thrift, antique stores and garage sales, though I can see there are many beautiful new buttons available now.

You can also buy great button assortments for embellishing your projects - one of my favorite catalogs is Home Sew, Inc., and Newark Dressmaker Supply. They have a great assortment of other sewing notions and supplies, as well. Their website is: www.homesew.com.

               

If you are looking for inspiration for a project, you could design a quilt to display your favorite buttons - or use your buttons to add special embellishments to your projects.

I have an assortment of Cracker Jack toys I've collected, that I've thought would be nice displayed on a quilt, but that is a topic for another day...

                                                      1970s animal buttons from a good friend - I used them on a sweater, now they are waiting to be repurposed - too cute to throw away!

                            

A few more buttons from my collection - and some Celluloid buttons.

Happy Friday!

Denise A. Buchwalter-Losczyk

#31dayblogwritingchallenge

Resettling and Creating

I haven’t written in a while! Sometimes life gets in the way of creating and writing. We recently had the good fortune to sell our real estate property. This lead to packing boxes of belongings and donating and tossing items no longer needed. You don’t realize how much you have accumulated, until you have to pack it all in boxes. I plan to downsize some more this year and hopefully it will become a habit!

We were lucky (blessed!) to have a wonderful real estate agent who helped us through the selling process. I highly recommend Kiki Ress, of Coldwell Banker, if you are planning to sell or buy a property in the Chicagoland area. She handles both commercial and residential properties and is a very knowledgeable, caring and helpful agent. She truly takes the time to assist her clients and maintains a positive, cheerful and professional manner. Her assistance made the process much less stressful than it could have been. You can read about Kiki Ress and Coldwell Banker at: http://www.coldwellbankeronline.com/real_estate_agent/8109/Vaciliki-Kiki-Ress.aspx.

Even though I’ve been busy with moving and resettling, I find myself still needing to create – I recently finished and submitted an entry for Piecework Magazine's Annual Pincushion contest. The design I submitted is a new variation of my yo-yos cubed pincushion. My yo-yos cubed pincushion and ornaments pattern can be purchased and downloaded from the Craftsy.com and Patternspot.com websites. You can view them by clicking the links on the side of my blog page.

For my entry in the Piecework contest, I used fabrics I had hand painted, and added hand embroidery embellishments. I plan to experiment with painting additional fabric in the weeks/months ahead, and I hope to post photos of the results here on my blog.

I love creating and entering challenges. I believe I’ll complete some creative projects this year, even though life has gotten busy in a good way. Taking the time to create art can also bring joy to life and enhances it in a very good way.

Hope you will take time to create and enjoy life!

Denise Buchwalter-Losczyk

A Great Resource for Craft and Art Supplies

I'm sharing a Craft resource today www.Blitsy.com - it's a craft supply website I recently found out about. They have supplies for alot of different crafts, including paper crafts (scrapbooking, card making, etc.). Also, some sewing supplies, and art supplies - I love looking at the supplies they have posted, it is very visual! And they have great prices! I haven't ordered yet, but will try them out soon! They also have a nice blog (click on the link in the upper right hand corner of their web page).

Have fun shopping and creating,

Denise Buchwalter-Losczyk

Studio Tips and Guest Blogging

Today I am a guest blogger on the Bella Crafts Quarterly Blog.  I am sharing some studio tips and a work in progress. While there, check out the other creative posts!

Happy Creating!

Denise Buchwalter-Losczyk

http://bellacraftsquarterly.com/bella-blog

A Fun Creative Resource - Bella Crafts Quarterly

Today I'm sharing a fun crafts resource I recently discovered: Bella Crafts Quarterly. They are a free online Crafts magazine. I found out about the magazine from the Creative Living with Sheryl Borden television show (another fun source of inspiration for daily living).

I am being featured today as a guest blogger on the Bella Crafts Quarterly Blog. You can read the blog at: http://bellacraftsquarterly.com/bella-blog.

The Bella Crafts Quarterly Blog and the free downloadable online magazine are a great source of inspiration for creating crafts. It is fun to see the projects that other designers are creating. You may find some inspiration there for your next project, or for holiday gifts and home decor.

You can subscribe to the free online magazine at: http://bellacraftsquarterly.com/subscribe, and check out their website and past issues of the magazine at http://bellacraftsquarterly.com.

I hope you will enjoy the guest blog I've written for them, as well as the other resources and inspiration you will find there.

You can visit the Creative Living with Sheryl Borden website at: http://kenw.org/programs/creative-living-sheryl-borden.

Be inspired and have fun creating!

Denise A. Buchwalter-Losczyk

Following the Quilted Path



A detail from a quilt made by my mother - one of my
early quilt inspirations.

My first quilt inspiration was my mother’s yellow quilt. Yellow was her favorite color and I believe this quilt was made out of 1930s and 40s fabrics. I remember sleeping under it when I was younger and being fascinated by the many small cotton prints on the quilt. I think they may be feedsack or dress prints. My mother usually followed patterns for creating, and I would love to know where the pattern for the quilt came from. 

I wish I had asked her questions about the quilt, but I didn’t think about it at the time, I just knew that it was a part of our life and environment. Mom would wash it in the washing machine, then hang it out to dry on the line, and later when the quilt became worn, it was put into storage in her cedar chest. I now own the quilt, and keep it folded and displayed on a quilt stand in my bedroom, where a look at it inspires me on a daily basis.

 


Another section of my mother's quilt - the quilt includes fabrics
from the 30s and 40s, I believe

My first quilt-making experience was as a teenager, at age 16. While visiting my Country Grandmother, she taught my cousin and I how to make a quilt. We chose fabrics from her scrap box - left over fabrics from sewing clothes. I chose pastel gingham fabrics for my quilt, I remember pink, lavender and green pastel checks - there may have been some yellow as well, and a floral fabric to tie the gingham fabrics together. (I had wanted to include a photo of my first quilt top in this blog - but I haven't located it yet! It is in my storage. I did enjoy a trip down memory lane whilst searching, looking at my wedding photos...now back to the quilted path....) Grandma suggested a good beginner’s block, a 9 patch, for my quilt. She prepared cardboard templates for tracing and cutting the block pieces out of fabric. This was in 1973, prior to the invention of rotary cutters and rulers for cutting fabrics. We traced the templates with pencil on the fabric, and cut out the pieces with sewing scissors. I remember asking whether the blocks could be sewn together by hand or machine. She said either way would work fine, so I sewed some of my blocks by hand and some by machine. When I had completed all of my blocks, I purchased a green fabric (green was my favorite color at the time) for tying the quilt together. After it was all sewn together, I didn’t feel the quilt top “worked”, so I haven’t finished that first quilt. I still hope to finish it one day. I may take it apart and reassemble the blocks with different fabrics, and with a different layout. (Once I locate my quilt top, I will update this blog with its photo!)
Grandma always tied her quilts. Several years later I made this hearts and hands wall quilt, and tied the layers together using threads and beads:



One of my early wall quilts - I tied the quilt
with thread and beads rather than quilting it,
the way my Grandmother finished her quilts.

My Grandmother always created her own designs by laying out the blocks, rather than following a set pattern. This was also an inspiration for designing my own quilts. Since I learned to create in this way, I didn’t think of designing the quilt as a difficult thing to do. She liked to use the snowball, bears paw and maple leaf block patterns.

Quilting and needlework have always inspired me and have been one of my passions. The quilts I make today often include needle felted appliques, embroidery (machine and hand) and beaded details. I have started including tatting in my work, inspired by the early memories of my other City Grandmother’s tatting and my uncle’s tatting (a subject for another blog!).

The traditional blocks are sometimes an aspect in my work, but I also love creating my own appliqued designs. I have explored many facets of art: drawing, painting, ceramics, metalworking, silkscreen, photography, video and audio, but have found my home in creating wall quilts out of fiber, inspired by those first quilt experiences.

More of my wall art quilts can be viewed on my website at: www.dbl-art-design.com.

Note: My Following the Quilted Path blog entry was created in response to a Blog contest with www.quiltingdaily.com. As part of the contest, you get to pick 5 items from www.Interweavestore.com. Here are the 5 items I found that I would love to win - who doesn't love virtual window shopping!:

Inkle Loom Kit - this kit includes a Schacht Inkle loom, Schacht Belt shuttle, Inkle Weaving A-Z workshop DVD, and an Inkle Weavers Pattern Directory. Before I looked on the website, I didn't even know what Inkle weaving was! I found this very inspiring page on PinInterest, by googling Inkle weaving: https://www.pinterest.com/aspinnerweaver/inkle-weaving/. It looks like a fun, new adventure!

New Tatting, by Tomoko Morimoto - I would love to check out this new tatting book.

Burda Style Spring 2014 - currently on sale for $7.50 (through April 17, 2014, I believe) - Did I mention, I've ventured into sewing some of my own clothes in the past year? I've always liked the Burda magazines, which include patterns for sewing.

How to Sew Like A Pro: Create, Construct & Embellish with Tricia Waddell - download - (I need all the sewing help I can get!)

Sew Wild Download, by Alisa Burke - this just sounded like fun.

If you haven't checked out the www.quiltingdaily.com website, or www.interweavestore.com, I would highly recommend their sites, as great sources of inspiration for your creative endeavours.

Happy Creating!  - Denise A. Buchwalter-Losczyk

Welcome to my blog!

I hope to share my creative work, thoughts and inspiration here, and also encourage others to be inspired to create.

A little about myself - I have been creating artwork all of my life (even before I knew what it was!) It is in my nature to create - something I do without realizing I am doing it sometimes! I currently enjoy creating textile art and sharing my work by exhibiting at quilt shows and entering contests. Some of my most rewarding experiences, though, have been when I've created artwork and shared it with family and friends. In 2012, I completed a long promised wall quilt and presented it to my sister at a family gathering. It had just been displayed at the 2012 Wisconsin Quilt Expo - but I was rewarded even more when showing it to family members - many were experienced quilters and they appreciated the work, design and stitching that had gone into the creation of the quilt. It was a joy sharing it with them and my sister loved the wall hanging, too. The quilt is a log cabin design, and had been promised to her several years before, when we picked out fabric together to use in making the quilt - my design skills improved and I was finally able to design and create the right quilt for her. I used additional blue and orange fabrics in the quilt, which I remembered were one of her favorite color combinations.

How do you share your creative work? Here are some photos of the quilt, Patti's Log Cabin Garden:

 

I hope you will endeavour to share your work - you will inspire others with the beauty of your own creations!

More of my artwork can be viewed on my website at: www.dbl-art-design.com.