my helper Noodles everythinghereismine

" I am here to help!"

 

I got allot of help when i was finishing the 50 star Christmas quilt this week.Noodles is my cat helper.You have seen him here before holding down things and rearranging fabric according to cat standards.

                                      " what if i lay myself down here..
                                                          smells good"

                                  " why not move this closer to my face"

                                    "  this is soft  like me..... is this for me?"

" now where is that pin i just pulled out of your binding with my teeth?"

A cautionary tail.

 even older cats can hurt themselves if they get a hair brain idea to remove glass headed straight pins while you are  distracted  for even a moment.

so don't leave  your work unattended.

 i did not want an emergency trip to the vet any more than most cats like taking a ride in a crate in a car.

 labeled and ready to bring on the holiday cheer

 

all that work means yet another nap for Noodles.

may your helpers be taking lots o naps.

 

 

what are you working on for the holidays?

be well, Sonja

This post is now linked up to "Off the Wall Fridays"

thank you Nina Marie

 

 

 



fragrant friday

this lovely orchid blooms late in the year, now, for about a month and gives off a fragrance of spice like cloves only at night to attract moth pollinators.

Pumpkin painting people

Hello  October  Pumpkin  lovers!

Some autumnal  color for you!

pumpkin colored October sunset close up 

 why are these fine ladies smiling under a shady tree?? (see below)

they just painted up a patch/batch of pumpkins on fabric about the size of a postcard. i asked  them to make several after we practiced a bit of sketching on paper to loosen up. 

 they made some  to send and  some to keep .

 (even if folks don't sew one can always glue the

small original painting

 onto a card stock to make a greeting card ) 

 we also made sunsets on water and mountains and got more paint on fabric squares  than on our clothes. 

I love to demo and in doing so usually get the most paint on myself.  

oh,  i don't mind as  it eventually washes off my skin and i do wear painting clothes to class,well usually. it takes about a year to get a shirt painted good and i help it out by  often wiping my paint brushes directly on my shirt in class. 

 Erin,  Beth,  Heather,  Becky, and Aliea  shine!   

             

           a palette, a yogurt lid really, with paint on it will be applied to fabric  soon as i wind down.

after the painting class leaves,

i like to clean up the left behind paint onto pieces of fabric close at hand.

below are a few sections of cloth left to dry.

tomorrow i will iron them flat and eventually wash/iron them as i design, play, quilt and collage with these random colored cloth bits.

art cloth in the making, step one ..... above

 ironed flat fabric of  many colors to ready to inspire

After a painting session,  i wash my brushes and then let them dry flat on table before stashing them upright again

 in jars or cups for storage. 

i have some  brushes that are 30 plus years old that i still reach for!

my favorite paint to use on fabric is a screen printing inks by Versatex,

i have used these  for many decades and love them much .

i get them from dharmatrading.com

 bushes come from dick blick , my favorite one is the angled shader brush .

and i 

found one more use for my painted and clean up coffee filters.( some  colorful filters are shown in the previous Pear  Blossom post.)

 this time i did a little gathering stitch around the circumference , gathering it up with care, stuffed it with a bit of fluff, cinched closed after  inserting a  dried stem from an avocado dipped in a bit of glue. a scrap of green fabric cut in leaf shape slipped over stem and let dry.  paint more color onto finished pumpkin if you like.  might take some of that fabric of random colors and make some more. i usually make them out of fabric but that coffee filter said...pick me! and it worked!

Sunrise over Pearblossom, CA.

Sunrise over Pearblossom, CA

on the way north to the snowy mountains from the small town in southern California where i lived as a child was a place called Pearblossom. we usually arrived just about sunrise at a truck stop or ihop having left in the dark o early morning to

get a good start.

i love the name and when i read of a pear as a color trade with Artsinthecards, this is where my mind went. i painted bits of fabric the colors of fall pears. then i set up to paint some rosey sunrises also on cotton. next i cut hill shapes and layered them front of sun. simple stitch held them in place and some metallic thread made

the rays

reach out from the sun.

the circles under the cards are the used coffee filters colorful with paint from projects wiped and driped and used up on them. i use these papers to wrap up
my art cards like

a little burrito for traveling through the mail.
colorful papers to go.

Although i  admit to seeing far, far more sunsets,

i wish a happy sunrise to all!

Sonja

easy seeing green!

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Wholly Cuckamonga Batman!

                         

 the cucumber trade
with artsinthecards 

as is summer,

is almost over with my entry .

i tend to take a bit longer than usual as i have a few ideas stewing already

or i don't sign up.

all the ideas looked good in my art part brain, pretty good.

i will attempt to descirbe what i was thinking ..about the cucumber as a color prompt.

Green was top of the list.
well, it was the list.

then there is "cool as a cucumber in a bowl of hot peppers" a beasty boys lyric.

then Patty sent that frog card

and my imagination turned a corner.

My new mantra became

"Wholly Cucamonga Batman, it's easy seeing green!"

i just had a time of it getting my eye glasses the correct strength, but not too strong.

(my very first pair of prescription glasses
 came with red frames and i always loved them.)

i am seeing pretty good now with my new pairs of glasses.

while thinking just what my card might look like, i took a cucumber end slice, mixed some golden and navy ink and started stamping card stock for
 back of cards and envelopes.

(this round i used old stationary envelopes instead of a sewn up calendar pages.)

for the lens fabric i took more paint and finger painted circles on cotton then i sprinkled salt into center and let it dry.

i cut out the circles and placed them on background cloth and free motion sewed the lenses in place and doodled out the red frames.wabi sabi.

i added a bit of red paint and a bit of glitter paint to the frames and i was almost done. to get a bit of a shine to lenses, i painted a few coats of min wax over them.

i sewed backs to fronts after a little trimming to 2 1/2" by 3 1/2"
which is the standard size for ATCs artist trading cards
.

i hope you like my new cool shades of cucumber

 and the remains of your summer
.
what color are your glasses?

after the fair is over...

Everything here is mine, said Noodles.

after the fair is over is a grand time for a cat nap.
This quilt did not get finished because as you see, Noodles has occupied my work in progress.
cats do that.

A July evening sky

I brought my camera  along,  alas i never took it out at the fair.

we had a constant flow of trade winds and visitors and shoppers.
 endless conversations of art and color and laughter,
 always laughter!

 little bits of the shading acacia tree flowers floating  in looking like little eyelashes.
and music filled the air.
 Mahalo to all who stopped to say HI and all who shopped my art fabric booth.

i am resting up a bit this week from all that going on.
in a hammock
with a lemonade and a book

Mango stars quilt

Yesterday a customer came out to pick up a quilt she fell in love with last weekend. at HAF
 i  took a few pictures of it before it left .the quilt was all the colors i paint and sew and quilt and sew some more. i also made a little pillow case from some of my hand painted yardage  to put the quilt in as it is a gift for grand baby that is coming early next year.
Congrats to all!
 below
doing a grateful happy dance

happy summer!

Haleiwa Arts Festival

It's Almost  time  for The Hale'iwa Arts Festival!

Saturday, July 21, 10 am-6 pm ; Sunday, July 22, 10 am -5 pm

Celebrate the Arts and Rediscover
Your Inner Artist

Spend a special day with your family and friends at the Fifteenth Annual Hale'iwa Arts Festival Summer Art Fest, in Historic Hale'iwa Town, on Oahu's beautiful North Shore

Saturday, July 21, 10am-6pm & Sunday, July 22, 10am-5pm
at Hale'iwa Beach Park 

on the North Shore of Oahu.
Free Admission and
Free Entertainment.

The Arts Festival features 128 fine artists with original works, limited & open edition prints, traditional & contemporary, in oil, acrylic, watercolor, ceramic, sculpture, photography, fabric, jewelry and glass.

The Art Festival also includes performance arts featuring original music and dance, with audience participation encouraged.( I love the Bagpippers on Saturday morning!) Also included are cultural history trolley tours of Hale`iwa town, art demonstrations and displays, and a host of "hands-on" children's activities

Be sure to pick a program guide at  Information Event HQ tent,

this will have a map and help you navigate your way around.

this is a wonderful event for all ages, locals and visitors.

I'll be in my booth #111  near  main entrance, first aid, and

Information Event Headquarters .

stop by and say hi.  Aloha, Sonja

A Painting class from Japan

My first painting class this summer came all the way from Yokohama Japan!

they have visited my booth at quilt shows for many years

 and this was the year they wanted lessons.

fortunately art is a lot like laughing to me .

 we all do it in the same language, mostly.

they wanted to paint flowers and fabric and so we did.

 for two days.

 each day they took the bus out from Waikiki and we painted up a storm.

 i did allot of demos instead of words and they did a great job, as you can see.

 now these ladies have fabric that they painted to use in their own quilt designs.

they also now have good brushes, little pots of paint, and many, many ideas to play with.

these  sessions  are  my  most  favorite  kind  of  days!

  

                                

nice palette!

Which one is yours?

Color in many forms

                                                       finger painting fabric dots


   

Aloha ! Sonja

prayer flag for June

Mahalo
is a word for ThankYou.
it is a one word prayer
of being grateful and aware of all beauty around you.

I took one of my prayer flags that had the word stitched on and collaged it with some of the pieces of fabric that i am thankful to find in a box,

colorful bits waiting to be useful.

after i decided upon an arrangement i free motion tacked them down , overlapping.

after a freemotion quilting session, i painted some parts
that wanted more color.

the addiiton of buttons and ties complete this project.

 

this is held up to the morning sunrise.

 

i have left the edges raw on purpose.

perhaps they shall join up at a later date.
As for now they are free.
Mahalo, Sonja