Cuba? Can't Wait!

Tomorrow I am heading out to Long Island, NY, place of my birth. Well, not exactly where I am going. I will be able to wave to my town as I drive almost all of the way to the end of the island, Rocky Point. I'm visiting the Eastern Long Island Quilt Guild for a Curvalicious workshop and then to share my silk quilts in the evening.

I'll be gone three days and then I'll have a one day turn around to cuddle with my puppy before we head to Cuba. I am so excited about this trip. I can't wait to see the architecture, the old cars and of course the cement tiles. You know how I lived turning the Mexican tiles into quilts from my book !Quilt Fiesta!

I'm not sure I'll be able to post any photos while I'm gone because I'm not sure there will be internet.

When I return home, I will be working on my second newsletter and will share some photos from Cuba. Also, I will include a video for the construction of my folding fiber book from Holland. It was a bike and barge trip in the land of windmills and tulips.

Lots of people have asked me how I construct these books. I videoed a 6 part class where I share how I create each page and then how I put them all together. Plus, there will be another recipe from Don's Kitchen and more quilty goodness. If you need to sign up for my newsletter, click HERE. I'd love to have you join me on my journey.

 

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I've Been On The Road

I shared my new lecture last night with The Village Quilters of Catonsville, MD. It was their end of the year meeting and the tables were beautifully decorated. It was a potluck lunch that had 2 long tables of savory and 2 long tables of sweets. Yes, SWEETS!!! I began to salivate.

There was one tiny issue. It was warm and the air conditioning units were stolen the night before. Everyone had makeshift fans and thankfully there was some air flow. I was so glad I wore deodorant.

The title of my new talk is "Turn Travel Into Treasures ". It was the perfect talk for their end of the year meeting and the beginning of many summer vacations. Lots of my quilts were inspired by my travels, both near and far. It was a walk down memory lane, looking through my quilts and photos, while preparing this lecture.

My quilts fell into two categories. There are realistic quilts - those that look the inspiration and the other are quilts that are more abstract. Photos of lots of wrought iron from a trip to Barcelona

 

 

were the inspiration for "Filigree Fantasy".

The ladies loved my travel books. This one I made after our trip to Israel.

That's the cover. This is a peek at the inside.I use Pelltex to make it stiff so that it stands.

This is a travel book I created after a bike n barge trip in Holland.

I like using an interesting shape for the cover. For this book it was inspired by the amazing buildings in Amsterdam.

This is a peek at the inside.

I like including some type of map in each book to document the places that were visited. Here's the map from Holland.

Each location we visited is named and can you see the bicycles that I printed on organza? I also used the blue and white fabric that I bought at the market in Amsterdam.

When I create these books after a trip, it helps me to revisit the vacation and cement the memories. Instead of all the photos stored on my camera or in the cloud, they are a visible reminder.

 

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Inspiration From Key West

This week I am focusing on houses.  I walk or ride my bike with my buddy almost every morning and the scenery here is just fascinating.  The architecture is so unique.  There are several typical styles that are located on the main roads and all the little lanes.  I love them all.  And the colors can be just amazing, but if you want lots of space between your neighbor, this is not the place.  Land is expensive, so you can practically reach out and touch the house next door.

A few years ago, I played with these house designs to make this fun folding fabric book:

There is a very stiff interfacing inside that makes it rigid enough to stand.

What's A Conch?

I have received several e-mails asking me "What is a conch?"

Here in Key West, there are several meanings, all related to the conch shell.

People who are born in Key West have the esteemed title of Conchs. To differentiate between them and the newcomers, the natives are considered Salt Water Conchs and you become a Fresh Water Conch after living here for 7 years. It's a badge of honor.

There is a "Conch Republic" flag:

If you want to read about how Key West "seceded" from the US in 1982,

you can read about it here.

The conch shell is also the "mascot" of the high school. Their teams are called the "Fighting Conchs" and the girl's drill team members are called the "Conchettes".  There is a huge conch shell in the high school's parking lot.

There is a style of house down here and they are called conch houses.  Typically they are made of wood, built on pilings and have a front porch. Often they are painted the prettiest pastel colors.

They have given me lots of inspiration.

 And one last tidbit of information.  People each conch - the inside of the sea creatures, that is.

There is cracked conch and fried conch and conch fritters and conch chowder.

I wouldn't know what they taste like, but my younger son is a fan!

A Birthday Gift

A big birthday deserves a special present.

I won't say which birthday it was!

But can you read the cover????

It's a birthday book for Terry.

The Quiltinis each made a page - a little quilt.
My job was to turn the little quilts into a book and make the cover.

This little quilt was made by Sujata. It celebrates Terry's  fondness for elephants.

The elephant is appliqued. The blanket adds the perfect splash of color. It really is adorable.

Jane's little quilt depicts Terry hard at work during quilting getaways. This comical block also includes Terry's headlamp, her beloved Bernina and a very special bird.

Christine's little quilt celebrates Terry's love of cake. Check out the cupcake wrapper. It really looks like one.  And is that a flower cut from a piece of fabric for the icing?

Kelly's little quilt is covered in beautiful sunflowers. They are Terry's favorite. Lots of her quilts have sunflowers and crows on them.

The little quilts were made into an accordion style book with a few added embellishments.

This is great for display. It stands.

Terry is also an amazing hiker. Her goal at one time was to hike the Appalachian Trail from beginning to end. She has done quite a bit of it. I had wanted to depict her love for hiking, but it just didn't work for the cover, so here's the back of the book with a label:

Happy (60th) Birthday Terry!  Remember, 60 is the new 30!

 

New Tool

I am always looking for practical items to help me with my creativity. Well I now have a new tool in my toolbox. I recently read about using painter's tape for printing on fabric using the computer. So I "borrowed" a roll from my husband's toolbox. It looks like masking tape, but it's blue and is not as tacky.
My goal was to use it to tape a piece of fabric to a piece of paper to put through my printer. I do a lot of printing on fabric. The pre-treated fabric works great, but it's expensive. I also like to use fabric with designs on it and other fibers in addition to cotton.

First I tried to run a piece of fabric through my printer that was 8 1/2" x 11" taped to a pece of paper with the painter's tape.. It jammed my printer. This jammng does not upset me. I have pulled many a piece of jammed paper/fabric out of my printer without hurting the printer.

I did try it again using the envelope setting on my printer. I have never done that before, but under the properties on the print screen, I chose envelope. It went through beautifully.

But sometimes, I only want to print on a smaller piece of fabric that is not a full sheet. This is where the I think I discovered a new use for this new tool. To print on a smaller piece of fabric, I first print the words/image on regular paper. Then I take a piece of fabric that is at least larger by 1" all around and tape it onto the printed piece of paper with the painters tape, making sure I left enough room for a seam allowance. This ensures that I control where the words/image are printed. In this case I used white silk dupioni.

It's a beautiful thing. I used this technique to print on a different fabric for each line.

And used it for a page in a fiber book that I am making to celebrate the marriage of my son.

And now for Sunrise#3. Even though you might not be able to see it, the sun rises every day without fail.