I want to thank you for reading my blog, I truly have appreciated your support and comments. I have always felt very fortunate to be able to spend my days making art, recently though I haven’t had blocks of time to really make the art that is most fulfilling to me. So I have to make some changes.
I’ve decided to suspend posting on my blog for now. My website will still be up, but I will be posting my art on Instagram and on my YouTube channel (tap the bell on YouTube to get notifications). I’m also working to get my Etsy shop open in hopes of finding new homes for some of my art.
If we aren’t already connected on Instagram and/or your own blog, please let me know so I can follow you and see what quilting and art you’ve been up to. I’m not on Facebook.
Below is my short video showing how I painted the background photo paper print painted fabric for the fish piece. I’m still thinking about how I will finish it, I’ll post to IG when it is finished. The fabric on photo printer paper technique was fun, and as long as I have the paper I will continue to explore ways to use it.
Take good care and make something that makes you happy every chance you get!
After I figured this out I noticed that other people online have used photograph printer paper in place of Yupo paper for watercolor and ink. I didn’t look to see if anyone was doing exactly what I am, which is to use acrylic paint (textile and regular) and print/paint fabric from it. When done well, I ended up with not only a piece of fabric but a piece of paper that could be used in other projects too.
I made several pieces that didn’t make it into my new videos (below). The camera was on for some of them but I’m not sure if I’ll ever edit and publish them. Anyway, it was a lot of fun and I could have painted fabric and paper for hours, just to see what would happen if…
Here are a few of the pieces.
The paint spreads on the fabric, depending on how heavily and thick it is applied to the paper.
I love the paper piece (below) from this flower piece more than the fabric. It could be stitched on, added to collage, or framed just as it is. There’s a lot that could be done with the fabric too… I think I’ll probably hand embroider on it.
I used different tools to get different outcomes. For the flower piece I used a tiny metal tip on the paint bottle and painted/printed the green. Then I used a dot tool and added first the violet color to the paper and printed/painted the fabric a second time. Then lifted it and added orange to the paper and laid the fabric on the paper for the last time.
This is the photo paper after the fabric had been lifted off.
These are just more exploring with different tools and layering. I used the tiny tip again, a mist bottle, a cheap bristle brush, an eyedropper, just poured from a little container, and of course, my fingers! I still need to heat set, maybe rinse, and press them.
I have two new videos, one shows how I painted the fabric using this technique, the other I showed in my previous post. Not my best videos but they do go through the How-to of it.
Asked how I applied the Three Hearts art quilt to the canvas, here is my answer…
I left an area in the center of the canvas unpainted (it was an already gesso primed canvas) and I applied artist gel medium over the entire canvas front and added some to the quilt back, then with the quilt face down on the table, lined the two up and I added some weight for awhile. When it was set but not completely dry I removed the weights and flipped it face up to dry completely. I hope that is clear. Next time I use that method I’ll try to take some photos.
I finished editing the video for the new way I painted fabric (that I mention in my last post), but decided I had to make the second part (applying the fish to the fabric and quilting) a separate video, so hopefully next week I’ll share at least the first if not both. Here is the piece quilted, it’s small and I have an idea for finishing it that’s not binding or facing it, but we’ll see.
Giveaway Winner of the five little hearts is Gayle C. Congratulations! Please email your mailing info to me at fiberdesignsbyann@gmail.com and I’ll send the hearts ASAP.
Two pieces that I finished are Three Hearts (art quilt) and Cloth, Paper, Fiber (Mixed media).
Three Hearts is mounted on a 8″ x 10″ canvas that I painted. I hadn’t planned to mount the piece but it fit perfectly on the canvas just at the edge of the binding so that’s what I did.
I may still put bumpers in the corners of the canvas.
Cloth, Paper, Fiber – I really like this piece, it was a fun one to make. The frame (not wooden) had damaged glass, which I removed, and some scratches on it; I fixed that and I’m working on a video showing what I did… Editing it is on the to-do list too!
It looks a little washed out here as I’m typing. I hope it shows better on your screen.
Approximately 10″ square.
Below is the teaser for another small piece I’m working on. I paint printed fabric using an unusual method (for me anyway). I drew a simple fish on paper, scanned and then manipulated it in photoshop. I’ll be applying the fish to the fabric using a water soluble stabilizer and quilting it.
Have you used fish in your quilts or other art?
Reminder: In the next blog post I’ll announce the winner of the Five Little Hearts.
My husband and I celebrate our wedding anniversary this month. We didn’t get married on the 14th and so we don’t really celebrate Valentine’s Day, instead we celebrate later, the date that is special to us. The joke around here is that we can buy flowers and chocolates for each other on clearance!
I’m not a cutesy heart kind of person usually, but still I found several hearts in my work so I’m sharing some of them here.
Our first initials and a tiny heart. Hand embroidered.
The little ring around the neck on the altered jar below, was a piece of tatting one of my grandmothers made. This was a gift for my cousin who loves hearts.
Altered jar with many heartslid
I recently finished Three (grungy) Hearts below, but I’m still going to mount it onto a painted canvas for hanging. It’s just a little larger than a 8″ x 10″ canvas.
Quilled fabric
Free motion puffy hearts on silk
Kiss and Hugs Heart. Free motion and painted fabric.
The wrinkled fabric is painted shibori. Hand embroidered.
Glass mosaic picture frames.I think this would be fun to recreate in fabric.Starry Hearts, art quilt (61″ x 61″)Starry Hearts detail hand quiltingStarry Hearts back label.
If you like to color or know someone who does the below hearts “frame” can be printed out. Go to my website menu, click on “Pattern freebies” and find the PDF link. The designs would be fun to embroider too!
I make and sell MeAnndered fabric panels that can be finished in many ways. They are MeAnndered first on paper, then I laser print them on fabric.
Sometimes I print them on painted fabric…
Now the giveaway/sweepstakes…
These five little fabric hearts, all the same design, were the examples for some of the ways the fabric panel pieces (above) could be finished. After using them in a sales booth display I cut them apart and satin stitched around them. I’m sure there are many ways these little hearts could be used but I’ll leave that up to the one who ends up with them. See all three images below and the rules for entering.
They are top row – colored with marker, hand embroidered, and painted. lower row – Hand quilted and free motion quilted/thread play.
February 2 – 16 Giveaway/sweepstakes – Five little fabric hearts.
To enter: You must live in the US only (no international entries). One entry per person. Sweepstakes/giveaway begins February 2, 2022 and ends at 9pm (Pacific Time) February 14, 2022.
Leave a comment/reply on this blog post that you would like to be entered for a chance to win the five little fabric hearts and include your first and last name (or last initial).
On February 14, 2022 I’ll use a random drawer and announce the winner on my next blog post.
Winner will email me their mailing information and I will mail the five little fabric hearts ASAP. If I don’t hear from the winner within five days of drawing date, I will run another random draw. Good luck!
If you have any interest in assemblage and mixed media art or just want to enjoy something a bit different from fabric and quilt making, I recommend Ina’s Art Room on YouTube. She makes wonderful works of art, usually using surprising elements (sometimes fabric). Ina also invites subscribers and visitors to participate in her 4 Core Challenges. I’ve participated in the past and it’s fun! Ina posts her videos on Fridays.
Ina’s January 2022 #4core challenge was to use a book as the substrate and include texture, metal, and give the piece a “winter vibe.” After the deadline she posts a video showing everyone’s finished projects. The January challenge video should be posted on her channel in early February.
I decided to participate again and here is my piece; a candle backdrop featuring a fabric landscape.
I have made the inside of the book the new “front.” The votive is covered in fabric coils and has a flameless tealight.
The cover is now the “back.”
I bought the used book at the local library. The original hardcover was red and had some globs of glue under the paper part of the cover… so I scraped and tried to cover it with snowflakes. I tried a few different things to add texture to the snowflakes but in the end just painted them with a pearl white acrylic paint.
Here are few photos of the process.
First painted gesso over the red book cover and then acrylic.
Added splatters for flying snow.
I had the painted sky fabric in my stash, the white/gray fabrics are commercial, and the foreground snow is thin white batting. The fence is cut-up (used) craft sticks (tongue depressor size) that I painted, and the wire is just coated wire. I added a few little frays of silk fabric for the grass. The “snow” on the fence and wire is sawdust (for texture) mixed with gesso and some acrylic paint.
It was fun to quickly stitch up a very simple, little fabric landscape for this project.
Auditioning before the fabrics were fuse and quilted.
The fluffy border is a beautiful soft yarn and I think it worked perfectly!
The things I love about Ina’s challenges – She encourages artists to really make it their own, she offers loads of ideas, and there’s no pressure (though there is a finish-by date). I enjoyed every minute of making this project… well, all but the waiting time for materials to dry!
Winner! Thank you to those of you who entered the appliqued miniature landscape top sweepstakes/giveaway. Congratulations to the winner – Deborah F (Please email your mailing information to me at fiberdesignsbyann@gmail.com).
2022 – Many unfinished pieces have been weighing on me for far too long, so I’m going to work on actually finishing as many pieces as I can this year. I hope you’ll come by to see what I’ve done, maybe get more ideas and be inspired. There will probably be a few giveaways along the way.
Today I’m sharing four little pieces; you may have seen a couple if you follow me on Instagram. three may still be works in progress (wip). I have really enjoyed working on these tiny pieces. They are made from scraps of other projects and some on pieces of fabric I have had for ages but could never find a way to use until now.
This free motion palm tree on painted sky fabric was from my Needlevember a while back. Now it’s matted and framed.
Mixed media – Stained and painted cheesecloth, dyed silk, stamped dragonfly on silk organza, felt cups, grape wreath vine, and some embroidery.
Below is a piece of fabric I stamped, painted, and printed real and faux leaves, and I’ve have had it for years. Now I will be able to get more than one little piece from it. The one below (wip) has a paper clay leaves (rubbed painted) and beads are from gifted (for altered art) jewelry, silk, and embroidery floss stitching.
You may recognize the painted burlap in this last piece from a previous post and the metallic paper too. I’ve also added fabric coils held on by French knots, and more floss stitches, all on black cotton.
I have been scanning some old quilt related photos. “Old” as in before camera phones so we didn’t know how good (or not) the photo was until it was developed, so please keep that in mind as you look at these images.
I got into watercolor style quilts after meeting Gai Perry, the guest artist at our local quilt show. Oh my gosh, it was fantastic to see her quilts in person. I had a copy of her book – Impressionist Quilts by Gai Perry (Soft Cover Book 1995), but I think I gave it to a quilt guild. It is still available in a few places online.
I’ll admit that some of my pieces do stretch the technique a bit or are combined with other quilt/patchwork styles. I don’t have any of these pieces and didn’t keep good records. Some were finished and sold or given away and others were sold as tops only.
This was my favorite and I think the most successful.
I loved the challenge of finding fabrics that would “reach” to the next for a smooth transition.
Where the contrasts come together to create a hard line can make a good frame or shape.
For my parents – Mom liked teddy bears and dad accidentally collected pigs.
I took an easy road to finishing by using large triangles in the corners of this piece. I did finish this and my folks kept it on the back of their rocking (the grandbabies) chair. I don’t have a photo of it finished but I did hand quilt it; that was before I did machine quilting.
My tiniest watercolor sold at a guild auction and was won by one of my Continuing Ed teachers.
Cat on a Mat (top only). I have mixed feeling about this piece but it was fun to use all those cat fabrics.
With the piece below – the fabrics don’t “reach” into each other, so technically not a watercolor but still has a little bit of that feel. Made before I bought Gai’s book.
The next two photos are the same quilt but the first one shows that it is quilted (hand quilted). The upper area in part was inspired by Margaret Millers Block Bender style and the lower right area is watercolor. My thought was an abstract quilt of birds flying over the ocean. A lot of hours of play/work!
Below is not a watercolor quilt but a cathedral window that my late aunt made for one of her daughters. She came out for a visit and I gave her hundreds of squares of fabric (I think 4.5″) and this is just one of the quilts she made with some of them.
Now for the sweepstakes giveaway…
The winner of the 6.5 inch squares is Julie K.
and the winner of the hand painted fabric pieces is Cherie M.
Fabric winners please email your mailing information to me and I will send your fabric as soon as possible. If I don’t hear from you within five days I will draw again.
I’m wishing all of you a safe and happy New Year, with time to art around!
I learned a lot while painting these fabrics so there are plenty of things I may do differently even though I really like the results. A couple of the techniques I will absolutely make again, probably for use behind embroidery work.
Here again are the painted fabrics in the giveaway and the video is below.
And here are the 6.5 inch squares (96 of them), also in the giveaway.
I hope you’ll share this post with anyone you know who may be interested in a chance to win either of these fabric bundles.
Reminder – The giveaway/sweepstakes ends on December 27, 2021, and I’ll post the two winner’s names on this blog December 29th, so if you’ve entered, please check to see if you are a fabric winner.
I’m so happy that I have been able to share my artwork, thank you for supporting me and commenting. I’ve learned a lot from many of you too.
I received two surprises not too long ago, one was an email from the kind person who purchased one of my painted and stitched panel. Below is the project she made with it; prefect for this season. Thank you Lynda! I love seeing how others incorporate my art into theirs.
The other surprise was happy mail from Karen G, who sent me a large piece of her own eco dyed fabric. The background is more a taupe color than shown in the photo but the photo does show the wonderful texture she achieved. Thank you, Karen. I just don’t know how I’ll ever be able to cut into it! If you have a question for Lynda or Karen leave a comment and hopefully they will see it.
A couple days ago I painted fabric using some different objects and techniques, and though I did film the processes I haven’t had time to edit the video. I hope you can get an idea what the fabrics look like from this photo. The smallest piece is approximately 18″ x 12″ and the largest 19 1/2″ x 15″. The darker blue is 28″ x 8 1/2″.
I will be giving the newly painted fabric and 6 1/2″ squares of commercial fabrics away to two separate winners later this month. The winner’s names will be posted in the December 29 blog post. I hope to share the painted fabric video next blog post (but I’ll be getting my booster soon, so we will see).
The commercial squares will be six pieces of a rainbow of colors along with some black and whites. Here is a sampling… Pinks, reds, and greens.
Sweepstakes/giveaway begins Dec.15, 2021 and ends at 9pm (Pacific Time), Dec. 27, 2021.
To enter: You must live in the US only (no international entries). One entry per person. NOTE: (If applicable) If your name is drawn as the first winner it will be removed for the second drawing.
Leave a comment that you would like to win the painted fabric either/or the fabric squares and include your first and last name (or last initial).
After December 27th I’ll use a random drawer and announce the winners on my next blog post.
Winner/s will email me their mailing information and I will mail the fabric packages ASAP. If I don’t hear from the winner within five days of drawing date, I will run another random draw. Good luck!
