Several years back, the indefatigable Virginia Spiegel set out to raise funds for the American Cancer Society.  Her efforts have taken various forms, in which I’ve been able to participate as donor of both art quiltwork and cash:  fabric postcards and art quilt auctions.  This year, she’s got another great idea:  Totes filled with goodies from various fiber artists.  I’m thrilled to donate a copy of ThreadWork Unraveled, a spool of thread, and a fabric postcard (yet to be made!) as the contents of one of the bags.  The goal is to have bags with affordable-for-most donations as well as a few fancier ones.

Logo designed by Jeanelle McCall of http://www.fivespoongallery.com/

Here’s how it will work:

ToteTuesday, a Fiberart For A Cause fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, will open Tuesday, February 2 and continue through March.

ToteTuesday will feature themed totes filled with unique, beautiful, and inspiring items from the worlds of art quilting, fiber arts, knitting, beading, mixed media and surface design.

You can expect totes offering original artwork, autographed books, hand-dyed fabrics, gorgeous yarns, beads, handmade journals, fun and useful materials/tools for mixed-media and surface design, online classes, DVDs, and much, much more.

A list of the more than 20 themed totes now in progress is here:

http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/blog/archives/4265

100% of the proceeds will be donated directly to the American Cancer Society through Fiberart For A Cause. Fiberart For A Cause has already donated over $190,000 to the ACS:

http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/NewFiles/ACSFundraiser.html

Here’s what will be in “my” tote:

Please mark your calendar for Tuesday, February 2 and be prepared to be amazed!

To visit Jeanelle McCall’s site, click here.

Happy New Year Everyone!   May the good stuff from last year continue, may the icky stuff go away…as simple as that!

Someone on the QuiltArt list asked what our “word for the year 2010” would be.  I’ve not really done that before—I tend to be NOT introspective and don’t make specific long-term goals, and quit making resolutions years ago.   [I resolved that I would no longer make New Year’s Resolutions, but instead would make them when they needed making!  I’ve done that, and it is the first New Year’s resolution I’ve managed to keep for years!]

Anyway, after thinking, de-clutter, de-stress, and a few other similar concepts, I came up with

Simplify.

I need to simplify what I do, how I do it, and reserve more time to make art and allow myself to re-charge.  Since I got back from Houston in late October, I’ve been playing a catch up game, feeling that I’m in a fallow period for art.   I need time to restore myself, so I’ve been reading novels, spending time with family, and generally trying to not kill myself with work!

Along with the theme of simplify, I thought I’d share these fabric postcards, many of which I make for an online swap.  The theme was Art Nouveau/Art Deco, and I think the design is nice, straightforward, and fairly simplified!

Here’s how I made them.  First I carved my own stamp, based on a design from a Dover book (copyright-use OK).  I simplified the design which was too intricate for carving in a stamp that is just under 3×3 inches, then added a frame of vine-branches. You can see some test-prints on paper, and some test-swatches of the paints…mostly Jacquard Lumiere and Setacolor Pearlescents.

I printed onto my own hand-dyed cloth with Ancient Page archival ink:

The cards were then quilted and painted:

Next, I painted some of those leaves.  It actually took longer to paint the leaves than to quilt the cards!

Finally, I added a couched yarn edge-finish:

Here’s a close-up of two of the silvery-white roses, one with just the pale green-gold leaves, the other with two-tone leaves:

I have mounted three of these cards and will be offering them for sale, but need to take pictures.  Hopefully I’ll get those posted soon…in the meantime, welcome to 2010, to the snow that is falling turning the view out the window into a white and grayscape wonderland, and to making art!

One of the lessons learned is to  get your class a good title AND a good class description.  I clearly failed on the Chunk and Jigsaw Fusible applique!  The class had only 7 students, but I opted not to cancel (I was given the choice), figuring getting paid for seven students is better than none, and they had already planned and prepped, and I had spent more money and time on kits and materials for this class than any other, so I might as well.  In reality, the class is using fusing and other art techniques to make fabric postcards (or slightly larger) pieces in the class.

Well, it turned out we had a ball!   I decided the best way to organize things was to demo the fusing first, have students fuse up a stash of fabrics (thanks to IQA for providing extra ironing stations in the hallways….due to electricity charges and wiring you can only have two irons in a classroom, clearly not enough for full classes!), then move to art techniques in the late morning and afternoon.  I set up an “Art Smorgasbord” in the back of the room, with materials and supplies for various techniques at three tables / workstations.

At the end of the day everyone put their stuff up on one of the foam core sheets and we all took pictures (photo above).  Among the techniques we tried were angelina (a hairy fiber that is sparkly which you can emboss with a stamp), making your own stamps from rope, glue, “stuff” (such as metal washers), foam sheets (I used Darice Foamies from Wal-mart…an adhesive backed foam that you can cut with scissors), painting on fabric, freezer paper stencils to stencil, couched yarns and other stuff, making your own cording from yarn, strips of fabric and whatnot, scrunching/texturing fabric…. and finally, my favorite finish for postcards:  the couched-yarn edge.  I made sure everyone tried every technique or had some of the materials to take home and try.

Here Auian made the most adorable reindeer…she had brought many Christmas fabrics, and I am totally in love with this guy!:

and her friend Tanyel made some wonderful postcards with her to-die-for selection of African fabrics:

Marie used both African and regular quilting fabrics and my Little Brown Bird pattern to make her own, slightly larger quiltlet… wish I could see this one when it is done! I was SO excited… early in the day I did a small exercise that helps folks understand that drawing really can be easy if you just break it down into basic steps and concepts…and Marie said she actually thought that now she might really be able to draw, and she never had before…WOOOOHOOO!!!!!  I think what I love best about teaching is when I can help a student realize that the really CAN do it!

and

Our fantabuloso Janome rep (who helped with the machines, and tips and all sorts of fun stuff) got to join in the fun on Thursday since we were so few– it was truly a pleasure to have her in the classroom helping, she was everything you  hope a classroom company rep will be!

Renee worked quietly over on the side of the room and boy did she cut loose!  Her mom and dad are both artists, and you can tell she is comfortable in a creative, free-form environment.  Plus, her taste in colors and fabrics and mine overlap a lot… I loved what she has done in these cards:

Mary’s frog and lily make me think of spring.  I also shared in the class how to use some funky tape-yarn to “bind” or edge-finish a postcard.. that’s what Mary has done on the top edges here:

Stacia had fun with abstract design and Angelina:

I’m not positive, but think this one may be Stacia’s also:

Kitty said she likes to work in series, and this is part of her seasons series:

She also used the paintsticks and a stamp I had made of cardboard and glued twine (done in the shape of a tree)  with the Shivas to color this cloth for future use:

Last but not least,one more beauty from Renee:

It was a great class to end my first teaching stint in Houston.  Because the class was so small, it was very informal and we got to sit close and work together to do some truly fun stuff!

I’ve just sent in my application to teach again next year in Houston…here’s to hoping!   Thanks to ALL my students, it was truly a privelege to be able to come teach and to have you in my classes.