Challenge Completed! - Day 31 - 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge

Hooray! I've made it through the #31DayBlogWriting Challenge. 

It was definitely a bit of a challenge, though I did prove to myself that I can easily blog more often on a regular basis. I plan to commit to blogging at least once a week for this year, and most likely beyond! It is good practice for writing, and also a nice way to collect your ideas and share your work with others. 

Thanks again to Cheryl Sleboda of www.Muppin.com for setting up this event. You can visit the blogs of the other participants in the challenge by going to http://muppin.com/wordpress/index.php/the-2018-31-day-blog-writing-challenge/. 

It has been snowing here today, something that doesn't happen very often in our part of the country! Here is a little photo of the Pecan tree in our yard with snow. I have been working on a little quilt with a drawing of our tree, called Pecan Tree in winter (title may change once completed!). I started it last year, but may have to add "snow" to the image now! 

Pecan tree with Arizona snow!

As promised here are some images of the Angelina Fibers I have been working with. I have had it in my art supplies for a long time (years!), and got it out to use on my little "Heat it Up!" Reader Challenge quilt.

Angelina fibers before fusing. A non-stick pressing sheet is used 

to protect the iron when fusing.

Angelina Fibers enclosed in non-stick pressing sheet.

Angelina Fibers after pressing - the fibers stick to themselves and 

form a sheet of fabric, which has an iridescent quality. You can cut 

up the sheet to use as embellishments, or to 

create appliques to use on a larger project.

Fused sheets of pink and lime green Angelina Fibers 

on a blue paper background.

Detail of fused fibers - I combined pink with 

another color to get a mixed result.

Angelina Fibers used as a sewed on embellishment 

on my little quilt (in the middle of the photo).

You can find a lot of information on how to use Angelina Fibers on the internet by searching for Angelina Fibers. I still need to do some more experimenting. I enjoyed working with them, though they are a little messy. The fibers are a bit static in the dry air and want to stick to your clothing a bit! They were fun to fuse and use for embellishing. The fibers change color somewhat when you fuse them. They won't fuse to other surfaces (paper or fabric), so you need to glue them or sew them in place. 

I have read that you can use them with needle-felting, and they can be mixed in with roving. I like to machine and hand needle-felt, so I will most likely try that next.

A quick search found many places to purchase Angelina Fibers, so you can definitely comparison shop for them. I will order some more in the future, they are fun to work with.

Happy New Year 2019, and Happy Creating in the year ahead!

Blessings,

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

INSPIRATION

Needle-felted ornaments with embroidery, beads, buttons,
acrylic and wool felt, and silk fibers - which I made as gifts
for this past holiday season.

Inspire yourself!

Where do you find inspiration for your projects? Here is one idea:

Last year I was very blessed to have an article accepted in Quilting Arts Gifts 2013/2014 magazine for machine-needlefelted ornaments I had made about 2 years ago. At the time I had made them for my Christmas wreath, so it was a nice surprise to have them accepted for publication.

Shortly after submitting my article I was working on a

Holiday Wallhanging for the
Push the Envelope Contest at
the 2013 American Sewing Expo.
The wallhanging received an
honorable mention.

design for a wall hanging for a challenge I was entering. The ornament designs I had made previously were born again as embellishments for my quilt project. I decided to make a striped black and white cotton and colored dupioni silk background. The simplicity and execution of my design was inspired by the current modern quilt movement.

Today I am imagining a new tote bag for myself, inspired by my striped wall hanging and embellished with needle-felted shapes, or I may create a series of small black and white quilts this year.

So, when you are creating or looking for inspiration don't be afraid to look at the world around you and also at your own wonderful creations which you have made before. When one project ends, it opens doors or windows for many more!

The magazine my work was published in is Quilting Arts Gifts 2013/2014 and in it you will find many inspiring projects for your holiday gifts and decorations, as well as year round gifts. There are even some Spring projects! Information about the magazine can be viewed at:http://www.interweavestore.com/quilting-arts-gifts-2013-2014.

           Holiday wallhanging detail

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.