Brother XL3500 Sewing Machine and Continued Quilt Practice

If I decide I'm going to sew on any kind of a frequent basis, whether it be clothing or art, I'm going to need a new sewing machine.   

Now, in defense of this sad little machine, Brother XL3500, I bought it with the idea that I was going to play with some paper quilting collage and needed it for texture and effects.  I had previously used a machine I inherited from a mother; an inexpensive machine from the 70s that had never had it's finer moments (from my distant memory, she called it alot of different names ... none of them that kind).  I listed it on Freecycle and it was gone really fast.

To pick this machine, I spent a fair amount of time online reading reviews and had reached the decision that this one, for the $129, would meet by paper collage needs.   I realized that the site I was planning on ordering, Precision Sewing, was only a couple miles from the house (go figure the odds of that!).  So, I called them up to see if I could place my order and just drive over and pickup.   I always like the idea of bypassing shipping charges.    The man I reached, after a considerable hold, was what I would call .... UMMMM Really Rude.   He told me that I shouldn't waste my money on a piece of ***** like that and if I wanted to buy a real sewing machine that I should come in and he would help me out.    When I insisted that I wanted this machine, it would my needs, he said they didn't carry it.   (Like why was it listed on their site anyway?).    Needless to say, I was somewhat perturbed and immediately ordered it online from another company and paid the shipping.

When it arrived, I assigned it a designated place in my studio.   I played with it a little, a couple pieces a paper collage, a dress for Lilly, some clothing repairs.   Not much.   Now, about this machine.   It mostly reminds me on when my son was a teenager.   It's hard to get going.  I don't know what you call it, but if its been more than a couple days, you have to manually turn the wheel for several minutes to get it started.   Then, it takes many opportunities to get jammed up on the way.   And, on top of that, it only fills the bobbin half way, making necessary stops every time you get it going well. 

Now, I have an online shop, Todays Treasure, with close to 3000 sewing patterns in inventory and at least another 1000 waiting to be added.   I pick up some of these and have all the ohhs and ahhs of a seamstress.  Just not the talent.  Perhaps, it's time I relearned to sew.  Beau offered to buy me a new one (of my choosing) for Christmas.   I told him, however, that  before I decide on a machine, I should decide just what I'm going to do with it.     Then, perhaps, I'll only have to buy one more machine, versus go through this particular scenario over and over. 

On another note, I continued working on yesterdays practice session.    I fused the applique to my painted fabric, cut out backing fabric and batting and sat down to start the stitching work.     I didn't get too far and what was wrong become obvious very quickly .... it's bunching up.    I decided this was a result of having back the backing sheet on there.    This one I'll toss, and start over again.  

Blue Dog Minstrels, An Art Guitar

Almost finished putting together the purple guitar, which I'm naming Blue Dog Minstrels.   So let's see ...

• Took apart a blue rosary and selected some thin silver chain and created the dangles that hang from the bottom strings. 
• Selected a variety of beads, which were added to the strings, before they were secured in the upper brackets (still don't know the correct name for these parts). 
• Took 7 of the 1" wood balls to the shed and drilled holes 3/4 through; large enough to slip over the string rods, and one for the very bottom.   Spray painted them a bright pink, then added in bits of purple stencil.  Finished with two coats of polyacrylic.   Secured in place with my favorite adhesive, silicone caulk.  Finished off with some very small purple beads in the center of each wood ball. 
• Selected two pieces of art paper, cut-out and attached at the edge of the round opening.   
• Attached a few what-nots here and there.   

Well, I'm happy with the exception of the way the pink stands out on the front.    I'm thinking I'll either tone it down with a purple wash, or  ???.   Plan is to hang it on the wall (as a mostly finished piece).   When I get the perfect plan, I'll proceed.  Now, just have to make a quick stop by the hardware store to get some more D-rings, which I use to hang these. 

Fleur-di-Fish, Art Guitar in Red

I finished this guitar yesterday afternoon and attached a D-Hook to the back for hanging this morning.    Let's see ..

• Re-attached the hardware.
• Bought a new set of unmatched strings (couldn't find where I put the old strings; guess I must have thrown them out, which isn't like me at all).
• Strung some beads randomly on the strings.   
• Attached two 'found object' fish and some beads to the bottom of the strings.
• Beads, buttons strung and weaved around among the upper section (can't remember the official name of this area).  
• There's also some odds & ends added here and there ... some gold washers, a Fleur-de-Leis, round belt components, etc.  

Officially finished.   I'm not planning on putting this in my shop.   I like these guitars as wall art in my studio. 

Crown Jewels for Stella

This is Stella and this is the Crown I'm giving her for Christmas and this is the story ....

As I mentioned, I picked up 6 boxes of patterns at a yard sale two weeks ago.   I've been going through them; keeping about 10% and listing the rest in my Artfire supplies shop.   I came across a costume pattern yesterday that had a crown (Simplicity 9454, copyright 2004).  I found myself thinking about putting it together, with some of those gawdy plastic gems (that came from the same yard sale) to create a wonderful little girl Crown for Stella's Christmas present. 

Stella's favorite color is purple, so I selected a piece of solid purple fabric and cut out the two pieces as well as the a heavy interfacing.   I pulled out the container of plastic gems and started making decisions ....

The gems on the fabric was way to stark, so pulled out the container of laces.  Selected a wide lace and 2 different ribbons, decided on the place and stitched into place.

Played around and decided on the placement for the gems.  Using my handy dandy Dremel (one of my favorite tools), drilled little holes into the plastic gems.   Sewed each of them into place.  The directions on the pattern called for gluing on the ornaments, but that didn't sound quite sturdy enough for a 6 year olds' play.

Sewed the front and back pieces together, turned right side out and did some decorative top stitches.   The pattern called for sewing the ends together, but decided on attaching with Velcro instead .. easier to ship flat as well as to put away (ya right) when she's not playing with it.     And ... drumroll please ... Crown Jewels for Stella !

A Set of Painted Wrist Cuffs with sayings

I've actually been working on these off and on all week ... a couple minutes here and there. First, Lilly came to Visit for 4 days, and right before she left, Pam & Stella arrived for Jazz Fest, and, of course, Jazz Fest itself ... leaves little time to get much done.

Anyway, cut 2" stripes (of various lengths), from the painted canvases I'd created a couple months ago. I transferred writings into a photoshop document and printed out onto fusible canvas fabric. Cut felt stripes to match up with the canvas. Fused and stitched them all together. I originally planned on attaching snaps to these (bought a bunch of snaps last week), however, the snaps I bought do no line up with the tools I have (great planning). So, I went ahead with the fusible Velcro as I know I won't get back to shopping before we return from vacation in June.

I finished them up this afternoon, took the pictures and labeled them for inventory. It will probably take me a week or two to get them posted on Artfire, as I still have not finished listing the last set with the lace. (Or perhaps, some of them might sell at the Trailhead this weekend).

I like this set ... each set is just a little better than the previous. They are thin, comfortable and move nicely.

Apparently Frou Frou is not in My Possibility Curve

When I started on this set of lace and ribbon wrist cuffs, I envisioned Frou Frou. Layer upon layer of enticing lace. WRONG. I tried, but find all I accomplish is spending huge amounts of time evaluating this and that and not creating a darn thing. In fact, with this set, I'm learning that I'm most creative if I make almost no plan at all. It's just not good to overthink things. Just pick up a piece of ribbon or lace, lay it here, grab something and place it there, etc. Here's another 6 between yesterday and today. There's actually a couple more that are buried somewhere in the huge pile of ribbons. One did not turn out well and was scratched.

These are coming out as small fabric collages. I'm using fusible web between the felt and the fabric as I think it gives the cuff a little more stability.

Low productivity days ... the internet quit working and must have spent 3 hours yesterday working with BellSouth trying to get it figured out. Apparently, it ended up being some type of problem outside the house and an unknown person came here today (didn't see him/her) and fixed it. Then, they upgraded the service and some settings had to be changed, which I apparently incorrectly answered because the the router quit working ... and, one thing led to another it's been quite an uproductive time. Alas .. tomorrows not sounding much better as I promised Beau I'd help with yard work ... Alas.

Sally gets her first Bra & Panty Set

I hung Sally at the Beads & Baubels show and was disappointed in that she didn't stand out the way I had anticipated. I was telling Beau that I maybe she was just too dull and I might need to create another one. He thought she was fine just needed bra & panties to make her stand out.

Well, I was headed up to Grans Attic after the gym this morning to drop off last months accumulation of stuff, and while there I decided to check out the undies. And, found a somewhat matching set in black. Both are too big and I've got them pinned up in the back. But, by Golly, Beau was right ... this does make her much more interesting. I'll probably alter them abit next time I have the sewing machine out.

Sally, ready for her first Modeling Job

Okay, after the base coat, added some spray paint here and there and then added some of the song lyrics to "Mama Don't Allow", just for fun. Then, a few stamps in acrylic paint and abit more spray paint and a couple layers of polyacrylic and two coats of purple spray paint on the inside to seal and ... whew ... finished. Now, I think that she looks a little better in person than this picture ... which I took 4 times and they all look the same. She'll be attached to the Gridwall with a bungee band and will model the Fabric Bead Necklaces.

I'll take another picture when the show is setup on Sunday.

It's Sally, My First Model .... In Progress

I need a model for my tent to display the fabric neckaces. Something unique, not one of those ebay bought wall mannequins. I do have one of those though that I've been using to photo necklaces. I want the piece to be very light and stackable (in case an entire team gets created ... as sometimes happens with me). So, I decided to use the wall mannequin as a paper machie form.

Made a stop by Ace and picked up a new box of wallpaper paste. Beau (being the nice guy he is), shredded newspaper for me while watching basketball. Here's she is on the 2 nd of three layers of paper machie.

I'd used her as a concrete mold a couple times before (in my mosaic days). For form itself is quite thick (since it's meant to be a clothes model. I don't really like that thick look for an art piece, so I'd marked down a couple inches on the inside, so she's still 3-dimensional, but thin and sleek.

I'm working her on the Kitchen counter as that just seems a great place to be for 'Mess Control'. Cleans up nicely. After each layer, I put a fan on her on low and let her dry for a good 2 days. Somewhere between the second and third layer, I decided upon Sally for her name.

After applying the third layer, I let her dry for three days. I wanted to make sure there would be no mold problems growing within.

I took a small sanding pad and lightly went over her and then applied a layer of light brownish acrylic paint. The paint immedialy shows off all of her faults ... that lumpy, bumpy middle age cottage cheese thing going on, even if the breasts don't have the sag. Now, I've seem papier mache pieces that were incredible .. smooth like satin But, this certainly isn't one of them. I guess one could say that Sally is a model that only a mother could love!

No fret however, she's a great kid.

Canvas, Not Fiber, Beads

I've been thinking about fiber beads. It all started when I say some wonderful stringy beads on the front page of Etsy. I clicked and admired the artist' beads. Over the next week or two, I found myself looking at a variety of beads and wondering about their practicality. How well do they hold up ... okay, a necklace might be one thing, but how about bracelets, their use as buttons, etc. etc. etc. Then, out of curiosity, I started doing searches on Etsy and Artfire to see how these beads were being used in end products. And, MUCH TO MY SURPRISE, found very little useage of them. SO, what are the folks that buy these beads using them for ??? I know they are pretty, but can't imagine they are just sitting around in bowls as coffee table decorations.

I belong to the Artfire Fiber Arts Group and posted an inquiry in the forum asking if there were any bead makers and if so, what did their customers use the beads for .... not the felt beads, but those wonderful fiber ones. I didn't get any answers, but one of the artists, Unique by Karlee, told me about how her grandmother use to occupy them for hours making beads out of wallpaper and she was going to try to make some beads using some of her fabrics.

So ... off I went to try my hand at beads with the painted canvas.

1st set: Cut 1/2" x 2" pieces. Smeared up the blank side with E6000 and wound them up on a coffee straw. The E6000 is quite toxic and believe I was abit high before done. I wouldn't say it is a great adhesive for these ... the canvas is just too heavy ... the ends did not stay closely set against the bead.

2nd set: For these, cut the canvas strips at 2" x 3/4". Decided to try the high tack adhesive spray. Layed them out, blank side up and sprayed. Again, rolled them up on the coffee stirrer. WOW ... is this adhesive every tacky. It is so tacky that I had alot of trouble getting my fingers off the canvas. Had to stop a couple times and soak them in a little finger polish remover to get the sticky off. But, it works much better than the E6000.

3rd set: I found myself thinking about my old 'favorite' adhesive from the mosaic days ... clear acrylic caulk. Broke out a tube. Cut canvas strips the same as set two and smeared a thin layer of the caulk on the blank side. This time, rolled them up on a piece of 16 gauge wire .. for a smaller hole opening. Worked wonderfully !!!

Now, these beads are certainly not those wonderful fibery art pieces I saw on Etsy, but these are pretty cool looking and I think I might try them on a bracelet soon.

Canvas Wrist Bands/Cuffs ... In Progress

Painting Layers onto Canvas for Wrist Bands

I've was looking at the placemats last night and thinking how this canvas would make sturdy and colorful wristbands. They'd also be quite washable. SO..... this morning, cut two 12" strips off the roll of canvas before Beau put it back under the bed.

• Cut 8 pieces of canvas at 12" x 12" and the two end pieces ended up at 10" x 12".
• Selected 8 bottles of paint from the garage and painted the 10 pieces of canvas. Set out to dry.
• Took all the canvas pieces outside and applied spray paint using a variety of stencils and lace pieces; Left a couple hours to dry.
• Brought in and added writings or symbols to all but two using permenant markers.
• Started adding stamps and marks in corresponding acrylic paints.

Of course, I have to do more book pages at the same time. How it works is I invariable pour a little more paint than I need. So, after I do the color on the canvas, I continue on misc. paint pages until I run out of the particular color, then clean the brush, pour another color and repeat. What it means is I have papers and canvas in progress spread all over the floor. Which further dares the cat to come in and lay on top of them. Today he was quite close to being a multi color cat .... Again.
Time today is really hatched up. Had to force myself out of the house at noon to go to the gym. It was a case of 'if I don't go now, I'm not going at all'. Then, of course, it being Thursday, took MIL grocery shopping in the afternoon and brought her home for family dinner. I'm taking Nikki to lunch tomorrow and picking up Lilly, so there will only be a couple hours to play in the morning. I'm already looking forward to it.

It's More Than A Placemat, It's a Little Art with Dinner

Last night Paul's 'new potential girlfriend' came by to, I guess, meet the family. It so happened she arrived right at dinnertime, so we quickly pulled up an extra chair and invited her to Gumbo. She says "Oh, how cute, you all eat together".

Cute ... it brings back that memory about 4 years ago when one of Alex friends asked if he could stay over for dinner as he'd never eaten at the table with everyone all together and wanted to see what it was like.

Anyway, almost finished the placemats. (I'm liking these !!!). Tomorrow I'll apply a couple coats of Polyacrylic.

• Cut the canvas down to 6 pieces at 14" x 18".
• Brought the sewing machine up to the workbench and straight stitched all the edges.
• Pulled out the 1" seam tape and the iron (my mother would be so proud I still own one) and under taped all the edges.

Canvas Painted Placemats (PM2)

Last summer, when I first started playing with the layered paint style I made a set of 4 placemats. These quickly became my favorite placemats. The 2 things I like the best are .. 1) they are colorful and different and 2) they wash off with a cloth ... no washing, drying, folding, etc. Think I'll make some more.

This creation is a set of 6 placemats. I'm going to complete the painting on one piece of canvas and then cut it down into seperates.

• Cut a piece of artist canvas at 28" x 54".
• Applied one layer of dark blue paint; set aside to dry.
• Mixed a nice light blue with glaze and painted on. Added a line design with a paint comb; set aside to dry.
• Took outside and applied a variety of stencils with spray paint in maroon, yellow, green and white. Allowed to dry.
• Brought back in and appliedwriting/scribbles with permenant markers and stencils and texture with acrylic paints.

I think there's enough design on here, but I'm going to let it sit overnight and will re-evauluate in the morning.

Book Pages

Since I had a few of the paints and stamps out for the Blue Stool decided to do a few of the book pages at the same time. There are 7 of these books now; 2 completly finished and 5 in varying stages. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with these (since my original concept of paper quilts didn't quite work out), but they are quite fun to create, so here and there, I just do.

The Stool Continues ... which I'm now going to name Grafitti Blue

Well, it's been well over a week since I applied some spray paint layers to the Blue Stool, which I don't think was documented because 1) I was feeling a bit lazy and 2), the batteries in the camera were dead and had to be recharged.

The double line challenge is almost up at Artfire Queen and I decided on double line writing as one of the layers for this grafitti Blue Stool. Taped two permenant markers together in black and brown and put writings on the stop of the stool. Then, started applying some stampings over the top.

I ended up putting it all away ... there's still a good three layers to go here ... but Thursday is MIL grocery shopping and dinner day and I didn't want to leave the whole mess out.

The bar stool goes Blue

I've been having this lone bar stool out in the kitchen for a good 7 years now. I remember getting it ... I had taken a load of stuff to Grans to donate and they had put this stoole over by the garbage (as they don't typically accept furniture). So, I left my donations in their window, and loaded the stool into the vehicle .... Brought it home and washed it up. It was in excellent shape, other than the really boring paint.

I've thought a bunch of times about doing something with it. A couple times over the last year I'd ask Beau if he'd do a light sand on it for me so I could paint it. But, if he doesn't write it down on his to-do list, things often don't happen.

So, I moved the stool out of my way this morning to paint the floorboards (Beau cleaned then yesterday) and found myself muttering about when was he going to get around to sanding this stool. When ... a big lightbulb went on ... uh duh .... like I'm not perfectly capable of sanding it myself .... like just how many years am I going to grumble about this.

So, after finishing the BK room floorboards, took the stool out to the garage, sanded and washed it. Selected the blue paint and applied two coats. Sat it aside to cure up for a couple days and then I'll proceed with the design.

Paper Quilt

Stitched it all together and painted the dowel rod.

Finished .... but I don't like it. Up close it a bit interesting, but anymore than 2 feet and it's way to busy ... it melds all together with no focal point. Just a conglomeration of color.

I'll either cut this up something (???), or just toss it out.

001 : Paper Quilt

Technically, this is the 2nd paperquilt, not the first ... but, since I threw the first one away ...

Again I've been thinking that I need to do something with all this paper I'm painting (or quit painting it ... which I don't want to do as I really enjoy the painting).

Decided the quilt will be 11" x 20". Selected 5 different sheets with corresponding colors. Cut down to size and started stitching together. (2nd pic didn't turn out ... will be it updated in tomorrows listing)

Picture Frames for Nikki & Scott

Learned that Nikki & Scott are getting married in the near future. As I have one of their photos here and well as a couple of frames that have been pending a project for a long time, as well as a little bit of spare time, decided to make these frames and give them along with a 'congratulations on engagement card.

Took apart the two frames (purchased at a yard sale quite awhile back). Took them outside and sanded them to remove the finish.
Painted front and back with black acrylic paint.
Took outside to the paint box and added silver Spray Paint.
Brought inside and added stencil designs in white, red and green
Took back outside to the paint box and added black spray paint in random checkerboard.
Brought inside and applied two coats of polyacrylic
Put the frames back together.

Hope their marriage will be as happy as ours.