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!



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 . . . .

Hand Work

I'm working on a new piece and am quilting it entirely by hand. That is certainly different for me! I haven't done hand work (except for hemming pants and knitting) in about a gazillion years. But something got into me, and here I am. Even though I'm at the point of no return, I have some questions about quilting threads. For this piece I used 12-weight sewing thread, but it didn't seem fat enough. And for the background, I'm using 3 strands of embroidery floss and that is working for me. But I would really like to know what kind of thread most people use for decorative hand stitching. Can anyone help me with that?

In the meantime, here's a photo of a major component of this piece, a teaser, in other words:

This was the result of some playing I did with my needlefelting attachment. I tried needlefelting all kinds of materials from wool and silk roving to hand-dyed homespun to burlap. I had forgotten all about it and when I was getting out some wool roving to play with, I found this and my plans for my little quilt took a sharp right and something I didn't really plan to do is emerging. That's just the most fun when that happens!

I have almost finished my challenge piece, that I'll call "Go Green and Spicy." The one thing I'm happy about is that the  piece does look like jallapenos (or pickles), but I'm not happy with the stitching and some other things. I'll show it to you and to my quilting group, but then it will go in the "what was I thinking" stack, hidden in a deep, dark closet!

Oh, and one more thing. I did finish the main sample I'm using for the next class I teach (time and date to be determined).

It was a lot of fun and I'm very proud of it.

Until next time . . .

Classes

I've been teaching some beginner sewing lessons to a few people in my home. I just have to tell you about Ashley. She is a UGA student majoring in Fashion Merchandising (I think) but with plans to go to Savannah College of Art and Design when she finishes here. And she is quite amazing, designing clothes with only 2 classes under her belt! Check this out!

She is almost ready to give Project Runway a run for their money!

The Fashion Design Student Association will be holding a fashion show of their own creations in April and I can't wait!

Some weeks ago, Anita and I taught some classes for I Art Athens, a great non-profit organization that takes art to young people who may not be exposed otherwise. We worked with a wonderful group of teenage girls who belong to Strong, Beautiful Godly Girls. First Anita taught them how to make fabric beads. I only have one picture here, but you can see what a wonderful job they were doing:

For the next session working with these girls, I helped Anita teach the girls to make table toppers for their upcoming fundraiser. They used sharpie pens, alcohol and plenty of stamps and stencils and their own drawing abilities:

Their tables will be bright and colorful!

And then, I taught the girls how to make note cards out of card stock and ephemera. It was fun!

I Art Athens is a non-profit that stays busy, operates on a shoe-string and was founded by a young woman who does amazing work through her art and through the non-profit, Jillian Guarco. This month these projects and more are featured in the window of Frontier, a gift shop that carries and honors hand-crafted items, in downtown Athens.

And while we're on the subject of classes, on my next post I'll show you what I'll be teaching next. I had such a good time teaching last week that I hope to do it again and again! Until next time . . .