Classes

I made a discovery today--blogspot does allow for separate pages!

So I created a page for the classes that I teach--if you or your guild or local quilt shop is interested in any of my classes, just send me an email at maryannmauney@gmail.com
 and I'll get right back to you!

Currently I am scheduled to teach my "Capturing Nature" class at the Dragonfly Quilt Shop on June 11th, 10 - 4. Call or visit Dragonfly for the details and to sign up.

Hand Work Is My New Old Passion

I used to do a massive amount of handwork--crewel embroidery, needlepoint, counted cross stitch, hardanger, pulled thread, etc., etc.,etc.

And then I thought my eyes were too old and I didn't have the patience to do a piece that takes so much time.

But! Things do change.

I think it might have been watching my friend, Anita, do her turned applique handwork to pass the time. I, all of a sudden, got the urge. I thought I would start with some needlefelting, and as I was getting out the stuff that needlefelting is made of, I found this:

I decided that this needed to be a part of my next project. So I cut out some shapes (some say they look like surfboards, I think they look like shields, but what they are supposed to look like are LEAVES!). I buttonhole-stitched (not sure if that's really a word) around the shapes to attach them to the background fabric. Added some beads. And then did a LOT of chicken scratch hand quilting and added a binding.

Voila!

I like it (in it's own way). I plan to do more with some different shapes and different types of embroidery. It was fun and got me started in a new direction.

I've been in a slump--I haven't really been able to create any machine stitched works--whatever I try to do just doesn't work out. So I'm happy the hand-stitching bug has hit, because I'm still making art, but just in a different way. Yay for all the different ways to see and create!

I also began an online class with Susan Sorrell, "Creative Embroidery, Organic Designs," and finished my first week's lesson. I really, really, really enjoyed making this piece and if I do say so myself, it's very pleasing to my eye. Only, I think I liked it better before I added the beads, so they may come out any day now. I've started a second piece, smaller, and not part of the lesson plan, but fun, fun, fun.

And I think this is my favorite part:

As you can see, I used different types of threads--embroidery floss, pearl cotton and wool. I'm now on a mission to find even more types of threads and REALLY mix it all up.

Thanks for visiting, come back again!



Fiber Frenzy

Today my Fiber Frenzy group had our monthly meeting--what a bunch of accomplished artists! I gave the program, just talked about threadwork (thread painting, thread sketching) and it was fun. But we also got to see the challenge pieces that were due this month. The theme was "Go Green." And it's amazing how different each of our works were.

Jodie used Inktense pencils on hers and it was quite wonderful:

Shirley did two that were really great:

Frances used water soluble oil pastels and caught the green icky sky of a tornado. It is wonderful:

And last, but certainly not least, Sue got creative with old neck ties! It's lots of fun!

You've already seen mine. It was the "Go Green and Spicy" jallapenos that look more like pickles. Yuck, I'm hiding that one--maybe some day I'll cut it up to make something I like better.

One more thing, I have finished the stargazer lily, complete with binding. I like the way it came out.

Bye for now!

Experiment

I am not a painter. I don't even do well when painting walls in my home, and to try to paint something with a steady hand and a good eye, I just don't do well with it.

But I have these wonderful media that I've wanted to try, and so I did a little experiment in comparing neocolor water soluble crayons and water soluble oil pastels as well as the tool that I used to apply the colors.

I started out with this photo of a stargazer lily:

And then I traced the flower on to pfd cotton sateen. For the first test, I applied the crayons to the fabric using a q-tip. The results, pretty, but not at all satisfactory for painting the lily--way way way too much bleeding:

On the next try, I applied the neocolor crayons with qtips again, but this time I squeezed out the excess water. Better result, but still not what I wanted to do, not enough control:

For the next one, I used the neocolor crayons with fantastix (the "brushes") that come with tsukineko ink. It was much better:

But I decided to keep on going. On the fourth try I used the tsukineko ink with the fantastix. It was too "inky" and not enough "water colory" for my taste. And I couldn't get a very smooth texture:

 And finally, I used the oil pastels and applied them with the fantastix and we have a winner, ladies and gentlemen!

This one did not bleed much at all and blended the best. So now it's become:

I also used the pastels on the background of the fabric--4 colors of blue  and a purple. But then, the flower looked flat and boring. So I quilted lots and lots of leaf shapes on the backgroun and filled in a few with more thread. Now all that's left is the binding. I hope to teach a class using this sample at some point in the near future.

Until next time . . . .