Quilt Festival!

Slightly unfinished ATC

Tomorrow morning I'll set off for my first trip to the International Quilt Festival in Houston, TX. I hate crowds, jostling, and loud talking and from what I've heard from others who have attended the Festival it is made up of crowds, jostling, and loud talkers. My friend Colleen persuaded me to go by offering a chartered bus, uh, motorcoach trip. Someone else drives, handles luggage, lets us out at the door of the hotel, and takes us to and from the Festival each day. And, we'll only be at the Festival for one evening and two days. I think I can handle that arrangement in exchange for fabulous shopping. Yes, I know it's a quilt festival, but I am interested only in the crazy quilts and art quilts -- a small part of the exhibition. Shopping is the big draw. Over 1,000 purveyors of all things textile selling their fabrics, laces, ribbons, and more. Buttons galore. Things I've probably never even heard of but desperately need. Colleen and I have even made Artist Trading Cards for the big swap over by the Quilting Arts magazine exhibit. I hope that I run into old friends in the aisles, wouldn't that be a great surprise?

Think of me in that crowd, jostling and being jostled, screaming to be heard above the din as I smack another woman's hand to get that last package of gorgeous lace. I'll let you in on my acquisitions (that word sounds so greedy, doesn't it?) when I return.

Time to finish those ATC's.

Digital Poppies for Houston ATC Swap

I took time out from stitching to work on a few Artist Trading Card designs for the ATC swap at the Houston quilt show in November. I plan to print this on fabric, probably draining every drop of ink from my printer's color cartridge, iron it on to peltex, and embellish with beads and embroidery. I'll iron a fabric back on it, and finish the edge with a machine zig zag stitch or a hand embroidered buttonhole stitch. I love the colors, and I hope my printer will duplicate them as vividly as they show up in PhotoShop.

I started with a layer of solid fuschia, then added layers of brushstrokes in various colors. I added the flower photo (taken in my front garden in the spring), and placed it between layers until I got the effect I wanted. The green floral design across the bottom is a brushstroke, and I even tried some embroidery stitch brushes (didn't like the effect). PhotoShop brushes are fabulous, and with so many free ones out there it's easy to build up a large library. Some of my favorites are French handwritten script, kanji symbols, floral designs, and abstract designs.

violetness

I love the process of making these journal pages but I am getting bored with the format. It's much more fun to do this work if I can share it with others. Starting tomorrow, I'll be offering some different sizes of high res images -- cigarette silk, atc, and post card -- that can be downloaded and printed. I am taking requests. If you have a theme, a particular (non-copyrighted) image, or just an idea of the colors you want, let me know in the comments section and I'll see what I can come up with.

For now, I am limiting this to the first ten people who reply. I don't think it will happen, but I don't want to promise more than I can deliver.

So, what'll it be? Your name, a lovely geisha or Victorian woman, maybe your kitty or your dog? (You supply the pet images, of course, I'll make the collage.)