every-single-day

Video Prompts Begin!

Hi everybody!
Today I will begin our semi-weekly I2Q Video Prompt Challenge.

Some basic yadayada.

This video challenges speaks to making marks and motifs that can be used in future projects. These marks are your personal signature and can come to be synonymous with your work and personal style.
Specifically I will ask you to make two different kinds of stamps, craft foam stamps and glue stamps, found on pages 22 through 25 of Inspired to Quilt.

During this next week, I am going to make some cloth with the stamps I make as a result of this challenge and will share them with you in a blog post.

If you make a set of stamps and/or use these same stamps, please post images to the Quilting Arts site using the TAGS: Inspired to Quilt, Video Prompt. This is important so that we can each see what the other has done on a single page of the site. If you would like to post about your project on your personal blog, by ALL MEANS do! but leave a comment here so that folks will know to check out work blog. I will also blog summaries with links to help put these links in focus.

If you have questions about the challenge ask them in this forum, this is a central place where each of us can go, if and when questions arise.

I am going to go through chapter 2, extracting prompt ideas, in these next few challenges. If you have questions you would like me to address in future prompts, please post your comments to this post and I will address them as we proceed.
What I would like to do is to help you create a basic set of motifs and to explore how to use them before we move on to building an image and creating finished pieces.

For this particular challenge you will need:

paper
sharpie marker, pencil, crayon
sticky back craft foam
Plexiglas
card board
thick white craft glue

These techniques are fully explained on pages 22 through 25 of Inspired to Quilt

Here is a tip I just learned which will help you in creating Glue Stamps: Prepare the cardboard prior to making your stamp by painting both sides with a thin layer of glue, allow to dry. This will ensure that the stamp remains flat for the life of the stamp.

so here you go:

And don't forget to sign u for my Pretty Purse Give Away.

Pretty Purse Give Away

every-single-day readers, remember I am also hosting an Author Blog on the Quilting Arts Community blog. It is a lot of work to post at both places so please forgive the grammatical tenses.

Hello All.

I know how much a give away can draw attention to a blog and as the Quilting Arts Community grows each day, more and more of you are coming to the site and finding the value in it. This is a place where we can met to exchange ideas, show each other examples of our work. ask for critiques and gain friendships from other folks who live far and wide. I think it is pretty awesome and have been wanting something just like this for a very long time. And as a new author, I really want to have the chance to get to know you and to invite you to get to know me too!

So. I would like to give this Pretty Purse away.

This purse was made specifically for the Series 300 Quilting Arts TV segment I filmed with Pokey last year. In this segment you will see how I used freezer paper as a quick and easy screen print technique. The pattern was offered in a free PDF booklet off this site. And I am happy to have been included in the eBook give away along with fellow artists Kelli Nina Perkins, Linda & Laura Kemshall, LuAnne Hedblom and Susan Brubaker Knapp.

So, it doesn't exactly come free. No.

1. You must be a member the Quilting Arts Community site.

2. You must comment on my Author Blog at the Quilting Arts Community web site.

3. If you have made a purse, post a picture of it on the Quilting Arts Community web site WITH THE TAGS: Inspired to Quilt, Pretty Purse. You may post two additional comments for each individual purse that you upload-include the link to the purse you uploaded in those comments. This means you will have more chances to win.

Those who have made the purse get more chances to win than those who choose the next option:

4. If you have not yet made the purse but want additional chances to win this purse, go to my personal web site, peruse the site. Find one piece that you resonates with you. Post and additional comment on my Author Blog stating the name of the piece you like. You may do this only once for a total of two chances.

5. If you talk this give away up on your personal blog you can post an additional comment. Include the link to your blog posting in your comment.

So there you have it. Don't forget to post the additional comments if you fulfill the criteria. That is your responsibility.

I will announce the winner on the 29th, two weeks from today. Hey! That gives you time to make a purse and post it! Blog about it too! Have fun!

So I am going to close comments on this blog, because I am hosting the give away over at the QA community site only. If you want to win it, go there to make a comment, k? k?

Working away.

True to Melly fashion I am working on something that has bird feathers in it. I can't really say what I am making but figure I can show a small detail shot. It won't give away the house, so to speak. The interesting thing with this piece is the use of COTTON thread. I usually use rayon exclusively, But was given some cotton thread and began to wonder.

Texture and differences in texture are a basic artistic concept. The layering technique that I use merges beautifully when quilted with rayon thread, but when I opened a recent shipment of sulky threads I began to think. Cotton has a low luster compared to rayon. It is also appears heavier in terms of weight. Doesn't the idea of mixing the two threads in a single piece count a difference in texture?

And, um. I do believe.

So, who amongst you plans to participate in the Inspired to Quilt Video Prompt Challenges? In an effort to gear up for that I would like to link our blogs in a "Blog Roll" so that we can each visit one an others sites. If you plan on it, please leave a comment on this post, I will take your blog link and create a list of bloggers who wish to play. If you don't have a blog no worries, you can still play.

Anyone?

I am working on this:

This is a piece that I began as a project for my book, but that I it messed up and put it aside. Although I have been attending some knit groups, I have not felt inspired to knit. Instead, I bring sewing projects. I embroider, bead and enjoy the company of my fellows. This piece was taken out of hibernation, in order to sit and stitch at knit group.

So the thing I messed up is the word, Asperum. It is Latin for violent, fierce, rough and I like this as a sentiment, though I gravitate to the meaning 'fierce' the most. Originally the word was white and much too bright. In a blithe moment, I rolled some red dye over the word and fell out of love. So. I have taken the piece back in and am trying to make it work again.

So to accentuate the white organza, I stitched some cross stitch type marks. I think it helps the word sit back some too.

And then to draw attention to the printed texture below, I have done these organic lines.

But I don't think this piece is quite complete. I don't know what more it needs, but I am now willing to see the piece through.

In an effort to brainstorm what I am trying to say, at the time I made this piece we were living in a conifer forest. The weather was tempestuous. The forest had been dry for months and the rainy season, which began as thunderstorms with lightening were close, but not quite present. These lightening storms were a source of worry, because wild fires were an issue.

Birds are a personal love for me and I often read about their dwindling yearly numbers and this worries me.

So ferocity. The ferocity of weather and my love of birds and our planet.

Right now I think the piece is clean in appearance and I think I would like it to stay that way-to an extent. But. It needs more, and not the glitz beads might provide... So more embroidery? hmmm. I just got an idea! And all for writing about it.

What do you think? Do you have ideas?

It's a wonderful day...

I love Mr. Rogers (present tense)

Thought I might introduce you to my neighborhood. Here is some raw footage of my neighborhood. If you haven't been reading my other blog, every-single-day, you may not know that less than two months ago I moved from Flagstaff, Arizona back to the east coast to Brooklyn, New York. I used to live in Connecticut till about three years ago. So in addition to having a book come out, I am getting used to a whole new neighborhood and a whole new way of life. This ain't Kansas anymore! It isn't like Connecticut and it is far different from Flagstaff, Arizona too.

There are lots of people here. And dogs. And cat's though you see them less often. I met a little Pomeranian puppy, this afternoon. She was new, and she told me so over and over. She wanted me to touch her fur, her fur, her fur! I asked her if she was going to order a beer, because her people were sitting outside a bar. Her answer was confused and then focused on my bag, what is it??

The people, though somewhat less extroverted overall, are pretty neat too. I have been making some friends through knitting groups, there is a spinning guild too. I am going to go to Bernina 440QE sewing machine lessons tomorrow and hope to meet folks there too. You never know.

So this little clip gives a little idea of where I live.

Tomorrow I will video my sewing room, it is so small that a video is the only way to capture it. Though maybe I am too shy. It isn't pretty yet. I need to get things on the way. I think it needs to be creative-busy-looking. Overly inspirational, because it is so small. I wish someone could take me by the hand and show me how. Quick like. I have my eye on some lightweight metal shelves, vintage things, to put my smalls out (you know pretty chatch-is that how you spell that?)

I have been blogging out of excitement and also because tapping into my virtual community really helps me feel connected, so thanks for that Judy, Mary, Karoda, Holly, Jeannie, Mom...and everyone else that I haven't mentioned by name.

I Spoke, Sold and Teach.

Last night I went to my Alma Matter, The Fashion Institute of Techology and gave a small talk to a silk painting class. The teacher was one of my favorites when I went to school there, Zsu Zsi Dalquist. Or at least I hope that is how you spell it. Zsu Zsi would give us points for entering class with flair, like sliding in with arms out stretched and saying, TaDa!!!!!! I am a ham and loved every goofy minute of it. She was also the one who dumped me head over heals into visual journaling. Gave extra credit if we did it! I am a fool for extra credit.

I brought some work and talked about my creative path since leaving school and the how and why of the way I work. The students were receptive.

I even sold a small piece. I have started to sell more and more, This is new. I love selling work. I spoke with the woman who bought the piece and she said she would rather keep all her work than sell it. I have never felt that way. I love knowing a piece has found its home.

Zsu Zsi suggested that I teach at F.I.T, which I would love to do. She also gave me some contacts of folks she would like to view my work and see if any connections can be made. Networking and promotional stuff is the work of every artist, it would be great if we had assistants but alas. no. I wouldn't mind a mentor though.

And then the teaching part.

If you live in California, PLEASE sign up! I would love to meet and have fun with you. Jeannie?

Monoprint with Soy wax Resist
With Melanie Testa
June 13 & 14 9am-4pm
Location: San Diego
Cost: $150 2-day workshop, plus $20 materials fee
Registration: email Jane LaFazio at PlainJaneStudio@gmail.com
You�ll be asked to send a deposit of $75 to secure your space (or full payment) with balance due May 13, 2009.

Monotypes combine the spontaneity of printed dyes and cloth, creating a surface that is unlike any other technique. Each image can only be reproduced once, making your fabric unique and original to you. Combined with the use of Soy Wax, we will explore ideas of scale, motif, texture and depth. We will be using Procion MX dyes on cotton fabric in this two day class.

Materials include 2 yards prepared fabric for dying, fiber reactive dyes and soy wax and tools.

Some Blog Crushes...

You know, we all surf around, sorta aimless, often to the same sites?

I have been checking out some really notable sites lately and figured I would share some of them with you. These are blogs whose artwork really gets under my skin, makes me look forward to reading them and I even sometime savor them and don't go there for a few days, just so a few posts pile up and I can really partake in the goodness.

Jude Hill over at Spirit Cloth, had a profile done in Quilting Arts Magazine recently. The aesthetic she has, the manner in which she uses cloth and stitch and line. Yummers. I have always appreciated our allegorical quilt heritage, but Jude's work goes even further than that. It embraces a middle eastern, folk art perspective (at least color-wise and sometime in construction), and then veers away too, playing with white on white, darning stitches, using stitch as a statement. She just knows how to play and really uses her voice. She speaks deeply from her creative center, you gotta love that.

Sara Lechner at The Fabric of Meditation is new to me. This post is what got me. Then of course her exuberance, which is one of my favorite words.

I have been watching Camilla Engman for a while. Her latest posts make me want to sit and eat with her-just to get to the bottom of the plate! Heck! I would cook for her in order to do it, but I love cooking so it wouldn't be an imposition. She knows how to draw but does it with a very personal flare.

Then there is Mimi Kirchner, one of my first projects after getting my first sewing machine was a ...Peace Bailey doll. I forget her first name. Eleanor? I got into a cloth doll phase for a while. Mimi makes me long to return to that form of art making. Creating form to have fun and make statements with cloth. Not to mention, I would love to own one of her dolls.

I do have a cloth doll, not one of Mimi's, made by a woman out in Oregon. Bought almost 20 years ago. Her name is Morgaine, and I love to stuff her under the covers so I might find her when I wake. A childhood game that persists. I had a book called The Best Loved Doll when I was a little girl and I see it is still around! I should buy it for myself and read it again. Shucks.

Then there is Kate Davies over at Needled. She can take some photos and last year she made a pact with herself not to purchase new clothing- to make and remake. That was fun to watch.

Ysolda is exuberant knitter. And I do love to knit too. And perhaps because I try to temper my involvement in too many loves, I cannot seem to pull myself away from either knitting or....

I could steer you over to some insane spinners too. (Un)fortunately, for better or for worse, I haven't decided which; I have also come to love spinning. So that that is my whirlwind tour for today.

And to update... This is a cross post, I suppose. I am also keeping a blog over at the Quilting Arts Community site, as an author. I will post the same entries to both places, but encourage you to read where you choose. I do not know quite how to keep two blogs so will try this out for a little bit. Not sure how it will work out. And because you are my readers and have been for a while, if you say you don't like it. I will listen and evaluate.

Pinch!

Cloth, Paper, Scissors just came out with their latest magazine and whose art, might I ask, graces the cover? Well, mine. This is my first article for CPS, and I think it looks pretty awesome.

Not to mention the fantastical Critter Stuffies by Diana Trout. That is a challenge I would like to partake in. They are adorable.

Holly Knott just updated my web site. Go to: Melanie Testa!
I love it.

And then we come to these.

I have not yet found my coffee shop. I keep trying. I like Naidre's. The food is great, the coffee, less strong than I like it and the atmoshere is terrific, very journal-friendly-take-your-time-comfortable. I got an americano, sat down and set up shop. It was my day to paint in my journal.

Another journaler sat two tables away. An elder couple sits between us marveling that we both chose a book instead of a computer to record our messages.

I don't know what made the woman ask but she looked at me and said, 'Do you batik?'

'Yes, I do.' I say, suprised. Do I have fiber artist, soy wax afficienado, textile diva written across my forehead?

'I put out some tjanting tools in front of the house and no one knows what they are', she says.

I double take.

I look at my coffee and say, Where are they? You are going to make me leave, just like that?"

She tells me where they are, tells me they will watch my things, and off I sprint. They were two blocks away. There is an awesome freecycle thing that happens here. When folks want to get rid of something they just put it out on the stoop or sidewalk. There is lots to be had and interesting stuff too. Books, clothing, fabric, chairs.

They were closing on thier brownstone of 42 years. I asked about Brooklyn during that time and they told me about the dock workers, called themselves 'settlers', said it has changed a lot. I bet it has! It was sweet to meet them.

So.

I have been making some headway in the friend department. The Tuesday night knit night that meets at Sweet Melissa's also has some members who meet up to knit and spin! at Brooklyn General on Friday mornings. This week, I did both. I met one magical person, whose initials are T.C. She was super fun.

And you know about the Quilting Arts Community? If not, go join!. See you there, and here!

Other things? I continue to clean house, the blog isn't quite complete, I have placed a link to 'friend' me through facebook and invite you to follow me on Twitter. As I progress through these next few months, I have some fun things planned. So join me! Look over to the right and scroll down some.