Here’s the second teaching series of postcards, plus a few more. In my previous post last week about making postcards, I showed how I build up a scene starting with a piece of stabilizer covered entirely with one fused bit of cloth. In this series, I am going to build up the background using several different fabrics. Rather than (a) waste fabric and (b) have double thicknesses, I like to use this method for most of my “scenics.” In this first sample, I have fused on the burgundy stripe for the sky and a chunk of blue for the focal point / distant mountains.

(Sidebar: I double-checked…the brand of stabilizer I used for these cards is Floriani Stitch and Shape, distributed by RNK….alas, they don’t seem to market their stuff through the quilting trade major wholesalers, although RNK does sell directly to shops. I’m hoping Maine-ly Sewing will be able to carry this product and have it on their web-shop, though. Stay tuned and I’ll let you know if Marjorie gets it in–price is comparable to Timtex, but you can buy it off the 15″ wide bolt, which means you have less waste when cutting because you can order a length that won’t leave you with scrawny strips of leftovers. No matter what, check out the website … Marjorie LOVES art quilting and has all sorts of cool stuff!)

This second card shows how I have sliced up a different, green-striped batik into shapes for the foothills and a third batik in the foreground.

Finally, you have a modern twist on Moon over the Mountains:

I made several other postcards using a layered background, and here are two using the same “colorwash” in blues. Both used slivers of fabric without fuse on. In both instances I used water soluble stabilizer over the “schnibbles” of brightly colored slivers. In Fireworks, I placed the slivers where I wanted them, spritzed one side of the water-soluble stabilizer (Dissolve by Superior Threads is my favorite…rinses out easily in cold water) with basting spray (Spray and Fix 505), then pressed the sticky side onto the schnibbles / front of the card. Then I quilted the card, then sprayed with water (a lot–if I hadn’t needed to take the postcard to a lecture the next day, I would have just soaked it in the sink…a better way to remove the Dissolve) to dissolve and remove the Dissolve.

In the second card, I cut a circle in the colorwash blues (batiks and my hand-dyes). I made a nest of schnibbles on the stabilizer, covered it with a square of Dissolve, then placed the fused colorwash over it. I fused the edges of the colorwash blues with the iron, but kept the iron off the Dissolve water-soluble stabilizer. Next, quilting by machine (heavily over the schnibbles). Then, you guessed it, heavy soak with the spray bottle and some blotting to remove the stabilizer.

Finally, I made a card using a single piece of cloth for the entire background. I placed gold and deep blue Angelina fibers over a stamp (large-ish…maybe 6 inches long) of a fern and “fused” them with a medium-temp. iron. I cut off the bottom to turn the fern into a tree. The star is a freezer paper stencil using Shiva paintstiks. To learn more about Shivas, visit Cedar Canyon Textiles. Shelley Stokes has written a very helpful book on using these stick paints, which you can also order from her.

And, being a wicked soul, I’m saving what I think are the best for last…stay tuned for the Mt. Fuji series and a mini-lesson on making freezer paper stencils (really easy!).

What a wonderful meeting…so much to share after the craziness and busy-ness of summer! This month we (an aside: “we” is four of the five Frayed Edges, an art quilt mini-group that began in January 2005…Deborah of this blog now lives in Dallas, drat, so we keep up with her on-line) met at my house in Camden. Kate arrived bearing lovely posies…coreopsis, basil and (I think) feverfew (those little white flowers)—one for Kathy for her birthday, one for the table!

As usual we had a wonderful lunch, and I actually remembered to stand in for Deborah, who has always been the one to remember to take pictures of lunch before we eat it, and take pictures. Left to right we’ve got Kate, Kathy and Hannah).

Kathy’s birthday is at the end of August, so we had an extended birthday for her, and came with gifts and the delectable super-chocolate cake that Hannah. Here’s Kath about to blow out the candles:

And then came gifts…..there was definitely a theme and color … even our wrappings looked good together, and the insides all looked very “Kathy”. I gave her a bookmark similar to one of my postcards (pics of the latter coming tomorrow), and trims and goodies to use…all in sea blues and kelp and grassy greens.

Kate gave her this wonderful hand-made soap that looks like sea glass and smelled wonderfully:

and Hannah made this wonderful mini-wall-hanging with a home filled with Peace, just like Kathy’s home!

And last night, I had transferred Kate’s herbs and flowers to the perfect-for-them “vase/mug”, and at dinner remembering our wonderful, sharing, laughter-filled day:

On Saturday, I gave a talk about making fabric postcards to my local guild chapter, the Coastal Quilters (one of the many, many, MANY regional chapters in our state-wide Pine Tree Quilt Guild). Fortunately, I think it went well…when folks are asking questions at the end, that means they were interested, paid attention, and are thinking…all of which are really cool things! Here’s a picture of my set-up…rudimentary but functional! And I had fun…probably talked a bit too long, but it was fun and folks seemed to enjoy it.

This talk ended up serving triple duty: first, it was this talk. Second, Marjorie at Maine-ly Sewing asked me—when I told her I was doing this–to turn it into a class (it’ll be on October 21, Saturday, at the shop in Nobleboro, Maine). Third, it got me to get my keester in gear and make some more postcards for Fiberart For a Cause, a fundraiser for cancer research.

First, I talked about the supplies one uses. There are several great tutorials on the internet, including here at Deb R’s blog, at Kathie Briggs‘ blog, and Pamela Allen’s. I decided that for my class, I needed teaching samples, showing progress from blank stabilizer to finished card. Here’s the first of two “sequences”:

Here’s the start..a single fabric fused to the stabilizer (Floriani Stitch and Sew I think it is called), with a few stems and flowers:

Next, more stems, grass and flowers:

Third: finished, version 1, which will be donated to the FFAC sale at Festival in Houston:

Fourth, finished version 2, with a few more beads:

It’s now REALLY late at night … well, OK, it’s late for me…. I’m halfway to becoming a Mainer. Mainers are very early risers. Which means they also must go to bed reasonably early too. I do the go to bed early bit. The alarm goes off and wakes me up at 6, which I find unreasonably early, only to find that some of my true Mainer friends are already up and have already read my blog! Eeeek! So, I’m off to bed. I’ll post the second sequence tomorrow (I hope), and add more photos as the week goes on.

Yes, the fur-creatures now outnumber the humans because I am a weak, weak, WEAK woman. Or maybe just smart? Here’s how it began (ps..the reward, the photo, is at the end….):

I went to the bank to deposit a small check for a small sale (the turtle mini-quiltlet mounted on canvas). Our bank has a cage/crate with a cat from the local shelter every Friday. Well, it was Weds. and they had one in there! She is white calico, with light grey and light caramel. She was friendly. One of my favorite employees at the bank was visiting her so I went to say hello to both of them. She walked right up to me, bumped, purred, and spoke to me. I listened. She has MANY toes. We haven’t yet been able to count since she is still a bit touchy from a recent spay operation, but we are guessing at least 24-26…..poor sweet dear looks like she has a foot and a half on some paws….

That means most of the rest of Weds. was spent filling out the adoption form, dropping it off at the shelter, calling the friends I put as references to let them know I had done so, then when we got the “OK you’re approved” call, calling the vet to schedule a quick check-up (to make sure she didn’t have anything she could give our other kitties, bringing her home, setting up a temporary poo pan and food/water dishes in our bedroom (letting her get used to us and the house before introducing her to the others).

So….there has been some minor hissing between the cats, but no serious spats. The first night, she came to sleep with me in the crook of my arm, and now follows me about the house. She even–gasp! a cat?!!–comes when called! Maybe she can teach the other cats? So now, we are:

Paul (daddy)
Sarah (me)
Joshua (#1 son)
Eli (#2 son)

Yeti, the wonder dog (aka canine horse)

Zeus, the 9 year old Siamese from the shelter in Friday Harbor, Wash.

Tyger Dumpster, the 8 year old orange tabby from a shelter in Burlington, Wash. (he was found tied into a bag inside a dumpster!!!! some people shouldn’t be allowed to walk the streets!)

Hannah Chan, the tabby Paul and the boys rescued 6 years ago–some neighbor kids had found her far from any houses at about 4 weeks of age, but the boy was highly allergic. So she was named for the Hannah family, in whose hayfield she was found, and the Chan kids, who found her but couldn’t keep her.

and the newly Christened
Thumper Flightfoot: Thumper (thanks to our vet, who also suggested Snowshoe, but that’s too hard to call out!) because her hind feet look like a rabbit’s, with oddly long toes (many of them), and Flightfoot because she looks like she’s about ready to take off wtih those big feeties:

More pictures when I can…slamming to get postcards done for a lecture to my local guild chapter tomorrow. Pics of the postcards as well as the cat before too long…..