Happy Halloween!

Wishing you all a festive Halloween ~ be safe!

AFICC - Registration is in the Mail

Well, I did it. Took the plunge and registered for Artistic Figures in Cloth & Clay. The conference will be held in Columbus, Ohio, April 2013. It was difficult choosing which classes to take. It helped that I eliminated classes requiring a sewing machine, since I will be traveling such a long way and don't want to haul one with me.

http://www.cyndysdolls.com/AFIC%202013CntrlInfo.htm

http://artisticfiguresincloth.blogspot.com/

Three Sally Dolls (coming along)

I've been working steadily (assembly-line style) on three commissioned Suffragette Sally dolls, and I've been waiting for a block of several hours so I could gesso, paint, and sew the faces to the stuffed heads. Wait too long, and the paint has set/hardened to the point that it's extremely difficult to get a needle through.

I've only painted one coat of skin-tone acrylic paint to these faces, so I'll be adding a second coat (and maybe mix a slightly darker shade) later today. 

All that remains is the facial features, stuffing and jointing the arms and legs, painting the shoes, adding hair, sewing the hats, and making their signs. Sounds like a lot, but the most time-consuming stuff is already done (the dolls are sewn, the dresses, chemises and belts are sewn, the faces are baked, covered with knit fabric, gessoed, painted and sewn to the stuffed heads. 

What am I, Crazy?

So I've been stressing a little about the many concurrent projects I've been working on - some with deadlines, some a little more open-ended. So what do I do? I signed up for another!

Here's how I rationalized it: 

1) I can use up some of my vast fabric stash. 

2) It's for a good cause - a fundraiser. 

3) It's not a huge quilt, so it should go fairly quickly. 

4) If it turns out, maybe it can become someone's Christmas gift.

Click on the pink flower to visit Heather's website for more information about this project. The Mystery Quilt project is offered twice per year. A Facebook group allows many of the participants to share their fabric selections and progress photos.

I honestly have no idea where I saw the original link that pointed me to this project. Maybe it was on a blog post somewhere, maybe Facebook. But wherever it was, it took me to an Heather Spence's Etsy page, where for $15 I could sign up for the project:

Heather's program is a fundraiser to help cancer patients pay their medical bills. This fall she is offering one quilt in a 'beginner' or 'advanced' style. The first of five "clues" will be sent via email on October 5th. Each clue includes steps to finish the quilt. The quilt is in the modern style, using only squares and rectangles made up of three fabrics. The beginner quilt finishes at 62 X 62 inches and the advanced quilt finishes at 63 X 63. The advanced quilt is a variation of the beginner quilt.

The name of the quilt is "Jack of Hearts" named after our little recipient, Jack (who just turned 5). A very large tumor was found in his brain in April of 2012. Jack had surgery in May to remove the tumor, which was found to be benign. He is undergoing therapies to help bring back motor function. More info in Jack can be found at www.helpjack.org.  

The first fabrics I chose were entirely from my stash. I'd kind of hoped for a slightly darker tan, but this should do. I've done the cutting, and have started sewing as the clue directed.

It went pretty fast so I decided to pick more fabrics from my stashm except that I didn't have a "dark" color that went with the floral and the yellow, so I had to buy a bit more. And a new cutting mat. 

Brave Girl Art School

I've been busy these past two weeks ~ working, babysitting the grands, quilting, playing music at a summer's end party, barbecuing with friends, AND catching up on my Brave Girl Art School projects (though I'm still a little behind). This has been such a fun class, and the other women taking the class have been so encouraging and supportive of each other. This is the last week to sign up for the class, and it's one I highly recommend (click on the link above to check it out).

Here's my Funky Flowers collage project. I started with an 11 X 14 inch wall canvas. I wanted to experiment with several materials to make the flowers, so I Mod Podged fabric petals, wallpaper and silk flowers onto the canvas. I also used modeling paste and stencils to make several flowers, painting those with acrylic paints. I also used Melody Ross's bead technique for the big orange flower, and used yellow split peas to add texture as well. If I'd been thinking, I would have painted the background before adding the flowers. Live and learn!

Here are my Truth Cards. These are about 4 X 4 inches and are made from chipboard coasters, onto which I collaged fancy papers and fabric flowers. The phrases are part of the course curriculum. 

BOM ~ October

I just finshed the last two blocks for the Craftsy Block of the Month course. These blocks taught us how to paper piece (I've also been working on a quilt for granddaughter Fiona, which uses paper piecing) - what a great way to make precise blocks!

This first block is called the "Friendship Circle" block. 

This block is called the "Circle of Geese."

I used a very bright and happy fat quarter bundle called "Fresh Flowers" by Deb Strain for Moda. I think next month (November) we'll probably be learning how to sash our blocks and assemble the quilt. I really want to finish this project, but I think the tough part is still coming (the quilting part).