June Update

I know I have been away for a while but I have been plugging along with different projects that had definite deadlines. I finished all of my postcards for the postcard exchange. They went out in the mail on last Friday. These are a few pictures of them before they were mailed.

This top postcard was made from a wax resist piece that I did about a year ago. The nice thing about making postcards is that, since they are only 4 inches x 6 inches, you can use leftover pieces, orphan blocks or experiments!
The second card is called Never Enough Time. It is stamped and I added pieces from old watches under mesh with a little saying. I really like these and did a half dozen of them.

The leaf postcard was a sunprint that I did last summer. I just added some decorative stitching and some gold stamped leaves to it.





The fish postcards were fun to make. I let the fabric do most of the work then added the fish stamp with fabric paint and added some beads and eyelash yarn for seaweed and the binding.

This was a fun project but doing 25 was a bit of work!! But I did sign on for another group that will limit the exchange to seven.

Since I had a couple of extra cards, I sent one to my favorite British blogger, Anne ,who so generously shared a project with me from across "the big pond". She is a fabulous quilter. I don't know where she finds the time with a house full of kiddies and a hubby!

I also sent a card to my good friend, Finn. Her blog is the first quilting blog I ever visited and she was one of the first to comment on my blog and has always been so encouraging. But all of you who know Finn, know that!! If you don't know Finn, drop by her blog. Finn got the ferns. She is down to earth, like Mother Nature. Her blog always has a calming effect on me. *Hugs* Finn!!

Lastly, I have posted a picture of my latest journal page. The journal pages are 8 1/2 x 11. When I started this class, I thought it would be easy since the piece was small. Boy, was I wrong!!! Working in this size requires a whole different mindset and perspective. But I am really enjoying it as it gives me an opportunity to try different techniques on a small scale.



The beach scene is for June and in anticipation of my trip to Florida. I LOVE SUMMER!! So this one was a no-brainer. The sky and water are handpainted fabric which I did about 2 years ago. The beach has real sand and little shells on it and a cool texture to it.Those bumps and wrinkles are on purpose. LOL!! This was done with expandable paint from Pebeo. I just painted it onto an ugly piece of fabric. (The fabric doesn't have to be ugly but I think it's easier to paint over ugly fabric than pretty fabric. LOL) I added the shells and sand and let it dry. The magic occurs when you hit it with a heat gun! It expands and makes all kinds of nooks and crannies. I then painted it and added a little glitter. I don't recommend sewing it, though you can, but it sure beats up the needle. I just used Steam a Seam to attach it to the water and sky piece and then secured it to the batting.

I also used my new toy, the Embellisher, to needle punch the Angelina fibers into the water to make it all sparkly! I used my favorite binding of late, the Eyelash yarn around the outside. I think it came out pretty spiffy!

I really put myself into a quilting hole by taking on a bunch of challenges and classes all at once and I am now just about out from under them all. There is so much I want to do and learn but this last month quilting was almost like WORK~ I don't ever want that to happen. Sewww, I am planning on cruising through summer with a couple of bed quilts that need to be finished and quilted and some redwork for those days on the beach.

I am headed to Florida next Thursday for my nephew's wedding. My son is a groomsman and all of my family from here in the Northeast are headed for Jacksonville. I can't wait to see my sister, Kathy. Our visits are too infrequent. So, I will post pictures on my return !