Meena Schaldenbrand

Rangoli, India's Folk Art

2012-02-03T17:49:00.000-05:00

Rangoli, India’s Connect the Dots Folk Art

Rangoli designs can be made from dry flour, colored rice, sand or even flower petals, and it is thought to bring good luck. The designs are created on the floor by the front door, in courtyards, around stainless steel food plates or disposable banana leaf food plates during Hindu festivals and weddings. Dots are first made using the thumb and index finger in rows and then the dots are connected and filled in to create the designs. The number of dots in each row and the number of rows are specified in Rangoli pattern books. This design is a typical one for Diwali, the Festival of Lights.

The quilt was made for the Fast Friday online group for a challenge on childhood memories. Having grown up without crayons, and other luxuries, we had fun with Rangoli, Mehndi (henna), cards, playing outside daily with jump rope, hopscotch and using our imagination in make believe plays. It was hard to select one memory from childhood and I chose Rangoli because it was creative and LOTS of fun.

The dots were made with french knots and the line designs are in chain stitch hand embroidery. Beads, sequins, shisha mirror embellishments

Heart series

2012-02-01T11:00:00.000-05:00

More Hearts

2012-01-26T23:46:00.000-05:00

Hearts with lovebirds

2012-01-19T19:11:00.000-05:00

Heart Quilt 1

2012-01-07T10:19:00.000-05:00

How Many Wannabee Snowbirds?

2012-01-01T12:55:00.000-05:00

How Many Wannabee Snowbirds?

Certainly not the snow woman who is tired of shoveling the snow but fears she may end up like the melting snowman. Answer: just one..me..I am the winter wannabee escapee!
The plane is enveloped in giant snowflakes and the snowbird is snuggled under a scarf.
Designed in Make the Cut software and cut with my digital cutter. embellished with beads, lame, net, and charms

Fan Angel

2011-12-28T09:39:00.001-05:00

An angel from a pieced and embroidered grandmothers fan, matted and framed.The red background is from a mantel cover, the white is half of a table runer, the wings are from a sheer ornament fabric and the head is a large pearls while the halo is made with wired pearls.

Cars, Trees and Traditions exhibition

2011-12-28T09:33:00.000-05:00

Cars, Trees & Traditions Exhibition

A great exhibit of 70 Years of Jeep highlighted the 55,000-square-foot Walter P. Chrysler Museum along with the Cars, Trees & Traditions Holiday Exibition. Eight decades of holiday season celebrations were paired with Chrysler vehicles throughout the Museum. Evergreens featured authentic ornamentation from the early 1900s through the 1980s.

Several Lionel O and O27 gauge model trains spanning several decades were featured among the displays. Several of the box cars, produced by Weaver Ultra Line Cars, highlight current and past Chrysler brands including Dodge, Mopar®, DeSoto and Plymouth. Others spotlight such iconic Detroit institutions as Vernor’s and Stroh’s. The Stoney Creek Model Railroad Club ran a trio of trains on a 14’ x 28’ track.

Vehicle progression from horseless carriages to enclosed, more comfortable and better engineered models that helped change the ways in which Americans celebrated the season’s festivities were wonderfully displayed.

Eyeing Opportunities, Seeing Possibilities

2011-12-23T09:36:00.000-05:00

Zentangles on cardstock, coppermesh, popcan,beads, buttons, charms,trims, prismatic foil, cotton fabric

AQ creations

2011-12-23T09:17:00.000-05:00

We had a great Adventurous Quilters meeting..here are some of their creations.
Cyn made wool 3D flowers from a spiral circle that was needlefelted. Carol made baked potato bags and angels from a handtowel and 2 napkins tied with gold cords. Wanda made paper napkin applique art on canvas. The beautiful cardinal is by Carol Ann. The colorful rugs are by Mary who used wool and Carol Ann who used fabric scraps.

Another great art show

2011-12-17T14:11:00.000-05:00

First Christmas Together ornament

2011-12-16T08:27:00.000-05:00

Folded, pieced and embellished with charms, yarns, tassels and trims

Athena Ornament

2011-12-12T08:08:00.000-05:00

When Life Gives You Lemons…

2011-12-01T08:19:00.000-05:00

When Life Gives You Lemons…

The tree trunk represents my hand that wants to turn it around instead. The symbolic landscape was designed in Make the Cut Software and cut with my digital cutter.

Wedding album scapbook covers

2011-11-30T23:06:00.000-05:00

Made two fabric album covers for wedding photographs from placemats, stiffened heart doilies, ribbons and embellishments. Its hard to believe they are actually very large art portfolios that are now scrapbooks that hold assorted sizes of photos that slip right in.

Thanksgiving quilt

2011-11-25T17:40:00.001-05:00

GivingThanks, was designed in Make the Cut software and cut with my digital cutter

Marriage: Life Lessons

2011-11-18T09:33:00.000-05:00

Recently, my quilt, Marriage: Life Lessons was juried in the International Quilt show in Houston.

It was originally made as free advice for my daughters! I wanted to give it to Dave and Lisa for the wedding but it had to be in Houston prior to September. So, all they have is a poster of the quilt until it finishes touring for the next three years. It was the first large quilt I made with an electronic cutter. Thanks, Wanda!

Someone sent me a link to the quilt in Houston.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/luanarubin/6344834553/in/set-72157627991559171

http://www.flickr.com/photos/luanarubin/sets/72157627991559171/

Wonderful Quilts in Houston

Tropical paradise

2011-11-17T11:06:00.000-05:00

Instant silk dying

2011-11-14T11:50:00.001-05:00

At the Mancuso World Quilt and Textile show, Marlene Glickman shared how to dye silk scarves. Each of these scarves were done in less than 10 minutes in her booth. The best part is that the dyes were not messy! We did not even wear gloves while dying the scarves in a sandwich bag. She shared how to get the zebra stripe effect and the apprearance of squares just by how we folded the fabric. It was so much fun!

Marlene Glickman's website: http://www.silkdyes.com/

SOFA Exhibit, Chicago

2011-11-06T21:32:00.000-05:00

What an inspiring art exhibit in Chicago!

Notan challenge

2011-11-04T20:55:00.000-04:00

This was designed in Make the Cut software for the Fast Friday Notan challenge and cut with an electronic cutter. The great thing about it is that I got 2 for 1.

Water

2011-11-04T17:09:00.000-04:00

Layered sheet protector pages and sheers and burned with a heat tool to create holes and distortions. Then added fabric underneath for a challenge to simulate water.

An Incredible Estate sale

2011-11-04T08:21:00.000-04:00

We went to an incredible 6 bedroom, 10.5 bath , 22,000 SQ. FT. gated estate sale. It was an amazing house with a movie theater, bowling alley, curved built in bookshelves, gigantic closets, painted murals even on the ceilings and many other unique features inside and out. The gardens and views were magnificent from each window. WOW!!!

The majority of items were way too expensive, in great shape and fun to look at.
I love estate sales because we never know what treasures await. I found a doll with Tyvek body and polar fleece hair. Also got a small cat that meows when squeezed.

Apron ASG challenge, One Yard Jackets

2011-11-03T22:17:00.004-04:00

Wini's apron had fringe, strings of long pearls and even legs!

Our American Sewing Guild had an apron challenge and we had some great variations.Some were reversible, some with a Christmas theme, a garden theme, some with diagonal pockets, a spritzed dye apron and a Mary Mulari pattern with an assymetric top and a pocket made of a man's shirt sleeve. Karen made the other sleeve into a wine bottle!

There were also a couple of wonderful one yard jackets from Sharon's previous workshop:

Glittering Shards Mosaics

2011-10-27T07:55:00.001-04:00

Glittering Shards is a wonderful mosaic site! It has great resources and do check out their gallery.
Their childrren mosaic ideas are terrific, too.
http://glitteringshards.com/mosaic-courses/for-mosaic-makers/

A Microtome Fabric Cover

2011-10-26T19:37:00.000-04:00

I created a Fabric Cover for a histology instument, the Microtome, using a plastic cover to make its pattern.

This was the cover ready to be hemmed. The fabric does look much better than the plastic.

Art Prize 2011

2011-10-19T22:11:00.001-04:00

Another awesome Art Prize...there was amazing art on a grand scale all over Grand Rapids...on many corners, restaurants, shops, museums and parking lots.

Here is one of my favorites at the Devos Center..It was cut paper .. 9.5 ft x 150 ft! Richard Shipps created this piece with an Xacto knife.

Legos...

The piece below was made completely with lottery tickets and it even had a working clock.

Loved the colors on this landscape mosaic...

Rain....

A bench made from old records....

Rusty the giant dog made of recycled materials...

A stawberry from Juice boxes.

Some amazing felted wool textures.

Check out this bicycle rack!

This was called Eye Don't Know made from 60000 beads in tubes!

Look forward to next year's Art Prize...

Clearly, A Date to Remember!

2011-10-18T07:44:00.001-04:00

This was made for the online Quiltart challenge on using unconventional materials for a quilt.

The quilt “top” is the glass layer.

The embossed, pieced and quilted wall paper is the “batting”.

The “backing” is a cardboard layer of a shadow box.

Additional materials include:
Hardware cloth (squares)
Gutterguard (heart shapes and diamonds)
Lockwashers (on top of the letter H and in the borders)

Vinyl (text)

Washers

Wire (coiled into spirals)

Meena Schaldenbrand

Plymouth, MI

21”x 21”

Detroit Symphony Orchestra Hall and Concert

2011-10-16T09:13:00.000-04:00

What a beautiful setting and sound for a fun evening at the DSO concert. Kate Baldwin has a beautiful voice and performed Rogers and Hammerstein music and Johnathan Turic conducted the great music.

Mapping my Adventurours Quilters friends

2011-10-12T14:03:00.000-04:00

I took our Adventurours Quilters membership list in Tagxedo.com to create my entry in the shape of a US map...

What fun it was to create this map for our AQ map challenge!

CAROL FURTADO fiberart

2011-10-12T08:32:00.000-04:00

CAROL FURTADO shared some wonderful fiberart with us at Needlework and Textile Guild of Michigan. She makes beautiful needlefelted hats and scarves and jackets.

Detroit Institute of Arts

2011-10-07T17:44:00.000-04:00

We had a fun day checking out the DIA..it was so interesting!

Papercrafting fun at the Library

2011-10-07T17:37:00.000-04:00

The library supplied all the materials and gave us instructions.

We also stamped and embossed and made all kinds of cards.

And, we also received tickets to the Detroit Insititute of Arts!

Aprons in an afternoon

2011-10-07T17:34:00.002-04:00

Detroit Fun

2011-10-07T17:17:00.000-04:00

We played tourists in Detroit..some of the great places we checked out..
..the Ambassador bridge from the top of the Ren cen

View of Belle Isle from the 72nd floor of the RenCen:

Views of downtown, Hart Plaza and Cobo Hall from the top:

Some great floral textures and glass art from the Ren Cen:

Raising the Bar

2011-09-16T07:49:00.000-04:00

A Quilt From One Mom to Another..This quilt is for my daughter's MIL. It expresses my heartfelt thanks for helping us with the invitations and especially for raising a wonderful son.

Michelle Mitchell Trunk Show

2011-09-14T07:23:00.000-04:00

Michelle Mitchell presented a fabulous Trunk Show at the Needlework and Textile Guild of Michigan.
Here are some of her wonderful clothes:

Weekly Journal Quilt 2: Paper flowers

2011-09-14T07:17:00.000-04:00

The orange and yellow handle shapes were rolled into flower shapes and were cut with an electronic cutter. A paper doily forms the flowerpot.

The red rose is from the red spiral shape to the right of the flowerpot. The leaves are foam and the sun is a metallic lame circle.

A dragonfly was punched out of prismatic foil.

Weekly Journal quilt 1

2011-09-03T23:48:00.000-04:00

Several of us signed up to do weekly Journal quilts. My 1st Weekly Journal quilt was creating zipper flowers.

It was fun and very easy.

Mosaic Table

2011-09-02T17:58:00.000-04:00

The glass and tile table was created for the Fast Friday Challenge to use color in any medium.

Photo quilt gifts

2011-08-27T21:07:00.002-04:00

These are some of the photo quilts I made as gifts. Some were designed in Kaleidoscope Kreator 2, printed on fabric and quilted. It was a labor of love to create so many in such a short time but they were well received.

Wedding shower scrapbook

2011-08-22T11:51:00.000-04:00

For the bridal shower, we asked everyone to give advice, share a memory, a recipe or photo. We provided the supplies including stamps, stencils, punches, quotes, markers, adhesive, embossers, papers etc. Each person made an 8 x 8 page so we had an instant wonderful scrapbook in less than an hour!

Pop Up wedding ring invitations

2011-08-17T11:02:00.001-04:00

We finally finished assembling the Pop Up wedding ring invitations with a team of 10 family and friends and am really pleased with how they turned out.

I found a design at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQ-SJjSIoSA that I really liked and made a larger size and different version of it in Make the Cut software with Sandy McCauley's help. I spent many hours cutting them out on to Recollections cardstock with my electronic cutter. I added Lisa and David's names and a layer of holographic paper to show case the names. We added Stickles for glitz on the diamond ring. We laminated the text of the invitation onto purple index cards and made a pocket on the right side for return response cards. The front of the invitation was crimped with a wavy crimper, embossed with a swirls Cuttlebug folder and embellished with pearls.

Solitude in a Border’s Time Vacuum

2011-08-12T07:45:00.000-04:00

My quilt is about is about the closing of Borders Books and Music... am feeling a sense of loss of my favorite bookstore. The book label on the side is an actual borders rewards tag that invites the viewer to check out the Border's Reward card more closely. When placed with the barcode up, it depicts a ladder where one climbs into a world of wonderful books where one loses track of time . When placed with the rewards tab up, it now depicts a sense of loss as Borders Books no longer offers rewards and ceases to exist in time.

Swaminarayan Akshardham, ‘The Seven Wonders of the 21st Century’

2011-08-10T10:41:00.000-04:00

The highlight of my trip was the breathtaking art and architecture of the Swaminarayan Akshardham temple complex in New Delhi.

In its July 2011 UK edition (pp. 46-57), the Reader’s Digest monthly magazine has selected Swaminarayan Akshardham as one of ‘The Seven Wonders of the 21st Century’. The 100-acre Swaminarayan Akshardham complex was completed in only five years by 11,000 artisans. The main Mandir is built predominantly of Rajasthani pink sandstone and contains no steel in its structure. It is 141 ft high, 316 ft wide and 356 ft long and features superb intricately hand sculpted stones. It also has a water fountain show in the evening set to melodious Indian music

According to the Reader’s Digest, on p. 52, "The Taj Mahal used to be the undisputed champion of India architecture, but a new contender has now stepped into the ring: Akshardham Temple. The biggest Hindu temple in the world, it was completed in 2005 and houses 234 hand-carved pillars, a 12-minute indoor boat ride, an Imax cinema and more than 20,000 statues including 148 life-sized stone elephants.”

Check out their photos http://www.akshardham.com/photogallery/mandir/mandapams.htm

http://www.akshardham.com/photogallery/mandir/vibhutimandovar.htm

http://www.akshardham.com/photogallery/mandir/parikrama.htm

http://www.akshardham.com/photogallery/mandir/murtis.htm

http://www.akshardham.com/photogallery/mandir/gajendrapith.htm

http://www.akshardham.com/photogallery/mandir/pillars.htm

Delhi

2011-08-08T08:19:00.001-04:00

We stayed at a lovely hotel on the outskirts of Delhi. We stopped by India Gate and also got a special tour of the Indian Parliament and Rashrapati Bhavan, the Presidential house. A member of our group got a nosebleed on a very hot summer day and was tended to by the doctor to the President! It is the largest residence of any Chief of the State in the world and we were told they employ over 100,00 people. It was built in in 19 years, covers 4.5 acres of land and has 340 rooms, 37 salons, 74 lobbies, 18 staircases and 37 fountains.

Igatpuri

2011-08-04T07:55:00.002-04:00

The wedding was so much fun..catching up with LOTS of relatives, great food, a fashion show of beautiful, colorful silk sarees and lovely jewelry and enjoyed great music.

From Poona we went to Mumbai. A couple of us checked ou the local art exhibitions and shopped for great trims and fabrics for my quilts. We were in 2 of the areas 24 hours prior to the bomb blasts. Luckily we missed it and enjoyed shopping in the busy markets.

After the festivities in Poona and Mumbai, my cousin, Kirti and I went to Igatpuri by bus.
It is such a serene place during the monsoon season.. lots of waterfalls, hills, farms and is very green and lush. It was like stepping back in time..it has not changed much in 43 years. We also enjoyed long walks and three great temples including the new Jain temple with awesome glass mosaics...

Wedding in India

2011-08-02T21:15:00.003-04:00

Attended wedding receptions in 3 different cities in India. The first was at the Mahesh Sanskrutik Bhavan, in Poona. It was like being in a Rajasthani palace with its beautiful architecture..an ideal location for the ceremony and reception.

Rangoli, the colorful decorative designs of colored powders on the floor greet the guests.

It was such a lovely interior :

Many of us had beautiful Mehndi on our hands

Wedding: Saptapadi Seven Steps

2011-07-01T07:54:00.001-04:00

This quilt was designed in Make The Cut software for a challenge to use Seven.

The quilt is about the Hindu marriage ceremony and the meaning of the seven steps around the fire as a couple ties the knot.

Dye Camp

2011-06-18T08:58:00.002-04:00

We had a fun day dying fabric at Camp Echo Grove.

Even the kids walking by wanted to participate in the colorful fun!

Quilts from ties and suits

2011-06-16T19:56:00.000-04:00

What a wonderful quilt at the doctors office ....it was made out of ties and suits!

NTGM

2011-06-15T13:27:00.000-04:00

At our annual Needlework and Textile Guild of Michigan luncheon, we displayed some fantastic fiberart. Deb Gash's Paper quilt, Kathy Jacobi's self portrait, Jeanne Sarna's Felted Jacket are just some of the wonderful pieces.

Creative Seasons Meeting

2011-06-10T08:03:00.002-04:00

Some great fiberart was shared at the Creative Seasons Meeting.

KNK Retreat

2011-06-07T08:57:00.000-04:00

Attended a retreat in Columbus, Ohio to learn my new Klick n Kut Eagle. It is one tremendous die cutting machine that I got because of its huge 24x27"mat. Sandy, our extremely knowledgeable and helpful instructor was just awesome and I can still hear her telling us to cut, cut, cut! Here are some of the show n tell from the attendees and some of the projects we worked on while learning about the software and the KNK machines. Sandy gave us a very detailed book with tons of info and many, many videos to take home. It was such a learning experience and so much fun!

Indian Food Hospitality : Aromatic Spices and Complex Flavors

2011-06-01T13:07:00.003-04:00

The quilt was created for the Michigan Invitational 2011, The Art of the Kitchen. The arches, palette and text were designed in Make the Cut Software and cut with the Cricut. The foods are phototransfers on fabric. The sari is my wedding chunni (veil). I also embellished with beads, sequins, and trims.

Appetizers: Bhel Poori, Chhaat, Pakoras, Papad, Samosa

Breads: Bhatura, Chapati, Naan, Paratha, Poori

Main: Rice, Tandoori Chicken, Chhole Dal Makhni, Raita

Desserts :Gulab Jamun, Halwa, Jalebi, Kulfi, Laddoo

20”w x 24” h

Space Shuttle Positive Negative Quilt

2011-05-20T10:46:00.000-04:00

My latest Space Shuttle quilt designed in Make the Cut software created as a tribute to the astronauts, scientists , spacewalks and modern technology. Currently , Endeavour's STS-134 mission is so amazing but appears so routine.

Ties into Purses

2011-05-18T09:00:00.000-04:00

We learnt how to transform Ties into Purses at our ASG meeting.
Andrea Sertage made these wonderful purses!

Free motion workshop

2011-05-16T11:11:00.000-04:00

Several of us in the Needlework and Textile Guild of Michigan took a workshop with Suzanne Gregg . Here are her wonderful figures which she creates with two different threads in the needle and a free motion zigazag. My project is still a UFO!

Fractured waterlily, group quilt

2011-05-03T09:21:00.002-04:00

We started with this picture:

The framed waterlily is my completed quilt

Here is a detail of my quilt:

I added Anglina and sheer fabrics to the waterlily. I created the leaves with felt and organza that were heated with the heat gun to create texture and holes. They were then needlefelted together . I then added machine embroidery and free motion quilted the quilt.

The right side of the quilt is Lynn's art work and the bottom center of the quilt is Christine's art work.

Below is Lynn's waterlily prior to fracturing:

Below is Lynn's final quilt:

My quilt in Machine Quilting Unlimited Magazine

2011-05-02T08:49:00.000-04:00

My quilt, Glimpses of India, From Architecture to Zari is on page 49 in the May 2011 issue of Machine Quilting Unlimited Magazine in an article on Religious Symbolism in Quilts by Eileen Doughty.

DC trip

2011-05-02T08:16:00.000-04:00

Paper crafting

2011-04-26T07:52:00.000-04:00

These are some of the cards we made at the Plymouth Lib last night with the paper crafting group. Wanda and I had fun with her vibrant colored markers,and my newest embossing toy, the Cuttlebug as well as all the great supplies provided by the Library.

Sacred Threads 2011 exhibit

2011-04-23T23:19:00.002-04:00

Am excited that my quilt,Savor Every Second, Value Every Day , has been selected to hang in the Sacred Threads 2011 exhibit June 22 - July 4, 2011 at the Church of the Epiphany, 3301 Hidden Meadow Drive, Herndon, Virginia 22071 www.epiphany-herndon.org

Fibergroup crayon batik

2011-04-23T23:13:00.000-04:00

We melted crayons on a hot plate in cupcake holders and we also drew designs on foil on the hotplate, let them melt and transferred the design to fabric. The crayons were the resist . We painted over them and ironed the designs between newspapers to remove them.

IQA Susan Shie class

2011-04-14T08:35:00.001-04:00

We started with a white fabric and drew free hand with Sharpie Rub a Dub markers. We then painted with Jacquard textile Paints and wrote with the airpen and quilted with the Babylock Symphony on the third day.

more IQA quilts

2011-04-14T08:22:00.000-04:00

Inspiring quilts

2011-04-11T11:54:00.000-04:00

These are just a few of the wonderful quilts at the IQA show in Cincinnati...

Inspiring Thoughts

2011-04-04T09:08:00.000-04:00

What an excellent, thought provoking article!

http://www.austinkleon.com/2011/03/30/how-to-steal-like-an-artist-and-9-other-things-nobody-told-me/

Classical Indian Dancers

2011-04-01T23:30:00.000-04:00

The Classical Indian dancers’ movement of hands, feet, and expressive faces tell a story set to soothing, melodious music.

The fused dancers were designed in Make the Cut software.

Hand embroidery, beads, bells, trims, Paintsticks, watercolors, and machine quilting

It is 36”w x 12” h

This quilt was created for the Fast Friday challenge ..this month's theme was dance and movement.

Greeting card fun

2011-03-30T08:02:00.000-04:00

The Plymouth Library has a scrapbooking and card making session once a month. These are my creations this month.

Joyce's Rockets

2011-03-17T07:22:00.001-04:00

When Joyce saw the rockets I created with Make the Cut software, she thought her grandson would love them. With one click of the mouse, she cut them with my electronic cutter and created instant appliques for this wonderful quilt!

Fibergroup screenprinting fun and inspirations

2011-03-16T10:43:00.000-04:00

We used paints, stencils, screens and decolarants. Karen and I finally opened our screenprinting kits. Cannot wait to see the finished projects!

Needlefelting inspirations

2011-03-12T23:58:00.003-05:00

Susan, Cindy and Gail's needlefelted creations

Curvilinear Challenge

2011-03-05T21:01:00.004-05:00

I designed this Curvilinear Pinwheels Quilt for The Fast Friday Challenge using Make the Cut software. It was then cut with the Cricut and quilted to emphasize the 3 dimensional design. It is 11"x 19".

Adventurous Quilters' meeting

2011-02-19T18:53:00.002-05:00

Cindy's needlefelting

Karen's quilted coat

Wanda's Cricut quilts:

Fiberart meeting

2011-02-16T10:45:00.001-05:00

We had a fun time learning all about needlefelting and sharing our work.
This is Susan's Dolly, the Frazzled Mother of the Bride.

Jeanne's needlefelting and creative art is always inspiring:

Jeanne's web page : http://www.pageadditions.com/

Different Points of Views

2011-02-06T11:18:00.000-05:00

Different Points of Views

Scanned in an optical illusion in Make the Cut software and cut fabric with the Cricut.

More Art Inspirations

2011-02-04T15:40:00.000-05:00

Art inspirations

2011-02-04T15:33:00.000-05:00

Savor Every Second new fabric frame

2011-01-21T09:15:00.000-05:00

Created a fabric frame to surrond the circles challenge quilt

Travel bags

2011-01-17T09:01:00.002-05:00

Created two travel bags to fit under the airplane seat:16x14x12 from two different types of bags.

For the brown bag, I used the zippers, pockets, handles and other areas from a suit carrier and simply added tapestry fabric for the sides.

side view

Wrapped tapestry fabric around the light weight blue totebag to form the pockets and give it some body and added a zipper to the top.

Clever removable embellishments

2011-01-10T10:53:00.001-05:00

These clever removable embellishments were created by ASG member Leneva, who loves to work with ultrasuede and other fabrics. They were fringed and attached to buttons that were sewn on to a blouse. It is such an easy way to wash fragile embellishments and fabrics. I can see making fancy, removable flowers and other shapes that can be attached to buttons for wearing on clothing as well.

2 for 1 Cricut quilts, Dream Rocket Project

2011-01-03T11:54:00.000-05:00

I got 2 quilts out of 1 cut from the Cricut for the Dream Rocket Project.

I will send the Positive image quilt , Soaring High and one and keep the Negative image quilt for me. I fused and quilted them on 2 different sized backgrounds . The positive quilt is 24x24" and the negative is 31 w x 27 h"

I pixel traced 3 different space shuttles views into Make The Cut software and cut out the shuttles with the Cricut Expression. I was literally jumping up and down when I got the horizontal shuttle with over 17,000 nodes (after simplifying) to cut with the Cricut!

A New Birth Announcement! Grab Bag Challenge with Zentangles

2010-12-29T12:00:00.000-05:00

A New Birth Announcement!
A photo of 3 calves sent with a ziploc bag of fabrics was the inspiration of this quilt. Used the Poster Edge filter in Photoshop and enlarged the design to create the appliques.

The calves’ bodies were embellished with Zentangles doodles. The black frame was cut with the Cricut Expression machine.

My additions: painted cheesecloth hay and the cows charm announcing a New Baby.

20” x 20”

Alzheimer's Quilt, Mixed Emotions

2010-12-21T09:39:00.002-05:00

detail

detail: trims, washers, hardware cloth,text

Mixed Emotions, Full view

My Alzheimer's Quilt, Mixed Emotions came home after touring the US the last five years. The exhibit, Alzheimer's: Forgetting Piece by Piece was seen by over 200,000 people. The quilt reflects hearbreaking experiences and effects of Alzhiemer's on my MIL. Sadly, she is no longer with us.

A CD and book were sold highlighting the quilts and the stories of the quilts.

The 112-page full color book, Alzheimer's: Forgetting Piece by Piece, with photographs of all the quilts in the exhibit was completely sold out. A computer CD narrated by the artists is for sale at http://www.alzquilts.org/cd.html All profits from the sale of the CD and book is used to fund Alzheimer's research.

More Art Inspirations

2010-12-18T17:08:00.003-05:00

Aventura mall train exhibit

2010-12-17T09:30:00.001-05:00

Details include bridges going up and down to allow large boats through while the trains wait, railroad crossing stopping cars for trains, people excercising at gym, miniature stores, planes, citiscapes,and landscapes. It takes at least 20 minutes to see all the movement and activities around the entire set.
How fun!

A fascinating train exhibit at Aventura mall 19501 Biscayne Boulevard in Aventura, FL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQPdVLXcqmY

Art Inspirations

2010-12-16T09:26:00.007-05:00

Savor Every Second

2010-12-15T15:51:00.001-05:00

The challenge was to use a single repeating shape. I painted and quilted circles to form a color vision test that emphasizes 86400, the number of seconds in a day.

Creative Clothing Club decorated shoes

2010-11-26T09:57:00.000-05:00

Members of Creative Clothing Club decorated shoes..some included mosaics, stuffed animals, candy and many other items!

Haiku House

2010-11-24T13:13:00.002-05:00

This House Quilt is a housewarming present. The family name on the the welcome mat was designed with Make the Cut softwear and cut with the Cricut. The name of the residents are in the windows and real windowscreen is on the window and an OM on the door. The Haiku was printed on acetate on the chimney.There are also beads, sequins, and dangles.

Macuso show in West Palm Beach

2010-11-22T09:30:00.001-05:00

Some wonderful quilts:

Safehouse quilt 2010

2010-11-19T08:29:00.000-05:00

This is my quilt for Safehouse. The shelter for dometic violence gives a quilt to every child that comes through.

Fort Myers Sand Sculptures

2010-11-18T09:33:00.000-05:00

The Sand sculptures were creative and inspiring.The rules included:

20’ x 20’ plot, eight cubic yards of sand. Nothing added to the sand except water.
No power equipment, screw guns or machinery,templates or molds were allowed when sculpting.

Brad Goll won first place at the 2010 American Sand Sculpting Championship Festival with his art called 'Headache'.Details include cracks, the eye popping out, and a bottle of aspirin

SOFA: inspiring art show

2010-11-13T08:41:00.000-05:00

Check out this fantastic, inspiring show we saw in Chicago...there are 28 pages of wonderful art!
It was the annual international Sculpture Objects & Functional Art (SOFA) exposition.

http://www.sofaexpo.com/pages/photos.htm

Shirley Adams

2010-11-12T14:06:00.000-05:00

It was Shirley Adams' final trunk show before retirement for our American Sewing Guild chapter.
I learned so many things from her TV show over the years...I will miss her.

Smithsonian inspirations

2010-10-27T15:48:00.000-04:00

Some of the highlights of the American History Museum

Elephant mosaic

2010-10-22T09:37:00.000-04:00

Embellished an old elephant planter found at a garage sale with jewels, shisha mirrors,sequins, beads and trims

Before

Burning fabrics

2010-10-18T10:31:00.001-04:00

We had a wonderful time burning synthetic fabrics with heat tools, heat gun, soldering iron and even a curling iron with the Adventurous Quilters on Saturday.

Another awesome fiberart entry from Art Prize 2010

2010-10-12T09:59:00.000-04:00

The huge tree and 4 panels of the four seasons was made up of mini scraps, yarns and threads. It was very lacy looking and you could see right through it.