Prayer Flags for "Learning"

I was asked to make prayer flags that will be given as gifts to speakers, musicians, course leaders and others at Sorrento Centre this summer and now that they have been delivered, I would like you to have a peek at them.

They were created by using hand-dyed fabric (blue) that I tore into the appropriate size strips and then dipped the bottom edge in bleach to discharge the colour ... then I painted that edge with golden and greenish textile paints to create meadows and hills.  I then screen-printed a tree on each flag and followed that with hand embroidery of a few flowers before adding the hand-lettered "learning" patch. The top edge was turned over and hand stitched to hold a twig of red dogwood that I gathered at Sorrento Centre this spring.  These are single-sided flags and all the edges are left ragged so that if they are left outside in the weather they will fade and fray away, but they will maintain their colour if kept inside, out of direct sunlight.

They were a delight to make and I love that we chose the word learning for these flags,  from their motto, Sorrento Centre: A holy place of transformation for learning, healing and belonging.

Prayer Flags

I absolutely love making prayer flags. The small size means they are quick to finish compared to most of the pieces I create and there is so much scope for creativity.  Even when I make multiple sets  of prayer flags each one is slightly different.  They are a perfect little project for taking along when you are waiting for appointments, or flying from A to B.

Most of these prayer flags have been created from hand-dyed or hand-painted cotton, although there are some that are on silk (the pinky-purple one above is silk) and some have a few beads added as well as the hand stitching.  Eventually, I will offer some that can have text of the purchaser's choice added to the flag.

I am now listing these prayer flags in my Etsy shop  so drop by from time to time to see what is new and feel free to suggest themes that I might not be covering yet . . . I think the possibilities are endless.

Northern Lights quilts published

I have just received my copy of the Summer 2015 Art Quilting Studio magazine ... with a five-page article on my Northern Lights art quilts.  It is such a delight to see my work in print in such a beautiful magazine.

I was approached by Stampington and Company last year about submitting an article on one of my purses and subsequent to that, about an article on the Northern Lights art quilts.  For this article I sent the art quilts to them in California so that they could photograph them for the magazine.

These are from my Northen Lights series of art quilts that have the sky needle felted to quilt batting and the silhouette of foreground trees is created from cotton batik. They are free motion machine quilted.

Here is a look at the cover of this magazine ...look for it at your specialty magazine shop or quilt shop.

Silk Fusion Art Quilt

You already know how much I like silk fusion and this is a piece that I created some time ago but never got around to using until now.  It is some of the silk that I dyed using blue and grape Kool-aid as the dye. 

The silk fusion, which I made quite textural with some lumpy areas and feathery edges, has been free motion quilted to a background of black dupioni silk.  I stitched the word "Trust" into the background before quilting the black silk and I painted the word with turquoise metallic textile paint after everything else was finished (did I hold my breath when taking the paint brush to the totally finished quilt ... you bet!).

This is quite a small art quilt (14" wide by 9.25" high) but it is finished with a hanging sleeve just like the big quilts and is all labelled and ready to ship from my Etsy shop (kathykinsella.etsy.com). I enjoyed working on this so much that I have already started on another with the word "Grace" that is in shades of purple :)

Painting Fabric - Purses on a Theme

 The painting bug bit me on the weekend and I found myself exploring grapes leaves and the image of grapes.

The grape leaves came to life when I used moss green and copper textile paint in a stencil that I had cut (using a neighbour's grape leaves as a pattern). I kept the paint brush fairly dry and did not try to completely blend the green and copper paints.

The grapes were stamped with the same paints using a piece of rubber glued to the end of an old thread spool ... once again, I took care to be sure that both colours of paint showed.

The top purse has been painted on a piece of natural colour linen-cotton blend fabric and the strap is the same fabric.

The second purse has been painted onto a piece of cotton fabric that I had previously painted with this beautiful lime green and metallic copper. I love the way the fabric has light areas and some that are more intense colour.  The strap on this purse has been created by stitching together a twist of several yarns and ribbon.

These are both cross body purses but could also be worn from the shoulder.

I painted on the back of each of these purses, too. It was just too much fun to stop at the front side!

Here is the back side of each of them.  There are more photos of each of the purses in the listing of them in my Etsy shop (kathykinsella.etsy.com).

Upcoming Workshops

I will be teaching a couple of classes at the new quilt shop in Salmon Arm, B C and then a five-day workshop at Sorrento Centre's Quilt Week in April . . . would you like to come and join me?

Needle Felted Wrist Cuff ... Learn needle felting for the first time or enhance your felting skills in this short class where you will create a unique felted cuff bracelet. Using wool roving and yarn you will make a delightful base that can then be further stitched, beaded and embellished. Suitable for hand felting or needle felting machine..

Friday, February 6, 9:30 – 12:30

at Thread n Paper, Salmon Arm. phone 250-832-3937 

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Silk Fusion - Lustrous silk fibre can be manipulated to become “paper” or “fabric” that can then be used in a variety of fibre art and scrapbooking projects. In this class you will create a piece of silk fusion and explore many ways that you can use it in future projects. In the second class you will be on your way to completing an art quilt by embellishing your silk fusion with machine quilting, funky embroidery stitches, and beads and silk cocoons. It's a whole new way to play with fibre! (On the right is a sample is made from some beautiful new creative packs that include silk along with hand dyed fabric, thread, ribbon, cocoons etc.) For beginners to advanced.

Saturday, March 7 & 21, 1-4pm

at Thread n Paper, Salmon Arm. phone 250-832-3937

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Butterflies and Dragonflies

Butterflies and dragonflies have delightful patterns on their wings that can be interpreted in a variety of ways. Come and join us for five days of exploration into the designs we can create using butterflies and dragonflies as our inspiration. We will do some free motion thread painting on organza, play with textile paints and foiling to enhance some designs and experiment with additional beading and hand stitches for embellishment. We will explore artsy ways to make their bodies and attach them creatively. You will be provided with an idea for creating a small art quilt with a butterfly or dragonfly as a focal point, or you might choose to work on your own design. This workshop will be enjoyable for those who are experienced quilters but it is also a great way to jump into art quilting if you are a novice. The only experience you need is being comfortable with your sewing machine. I hope you will come and have fun with us!

April 25-29 (arrive on the 24^th and leave on the 30^th if you are staying onsite)

at Sorrento Centre 250-675-2421 or www.sorrento-centre.bc.ca) for more information and registration.

Wildflower Meadows in Felt and Stitch

Wildflowers are a favourite theme for me when I am needle felting. The felting seems to lend itself to gentle landscapes and adding hand stitched flowers and foliage seems to make them come alive.

This is the first time that I have stitched the felted landscape to a fabric background and then continued the stitching into that background.

The piece was then wrapped and stapled to a stretched canvas for hanging.

Valentine's Day Inspiration

I rarely make "seasonal" items but this week I had the urge to create something with a Valentine's Day theme. I have been having fun needle felting lately and decided to work with my red wools (with a touch of purple and orange to liven it up). The heart is silk fusion with free motion stitching appliqueing it in place. 

I love the curly locks of hand dyed wool ... and I added some funky hand stitches (knots and crosses to carry the theme) and some pretty silk yarn to the surface. Here is the result!

The final piece was wrapped onto an 8" square artists' canvas and stapled to the back. It makes a delightful small wall decor that can be enjoyed year round. 

This is available in my Etsy shop (click on the box on the right of the screen to go there).

Just for Me

This one's for me! 

You might have already guessed that I have a bit of a thing for spawning sockeye salmon ... I have worked on this theme from time to time over the past five years and never seem to tire of it. This art quilt has been created using hand dyed fabric by Judy Robertson. I love the vibrant red-purple pieces that I used for the salmon ... and the background piece made a gorgeous non-traditional watery setting. This is an art quilt that I started in a workshop with Catherine Nicholls over a year ago and Catherine really challenged me in the design and the four light sources on the rocks (and helped out when I couldn't see where those shadows should go!).  I'm not sure that I really got it right, but I loved the effect, once it was all quilted with watery blue variegated thread.

This measures approximately 30" square and is hanging over the fireplace in our living room.

Merry Christmas to You

My wish for you

Merry Christmas 

Love ... Peace ... Wonder ... Joy ... Hope

Warm Thoughts ... Happiness ... Hugs

This is the "Christmas Card" that I created this year.  My intent was to make a fibre art piece and then photograph it and have it printed onto cardstock and send them to friends and family. The first three things were accomplished but unfortunately, the cards are still sitting on my kitchen counter waiting to be addressed ... and where did I put those stamps that I bought???  Well, I meant well!!!

This is a little pillow that is made from a beautiful felt that has been in my stash for about fifteen years. I stitched the vintage doily, on which I had free-form embroidered a tree, to the free-form pillow shape (do you see a little free-form theme going on here) and then added stitched stars and beads to the border.  The outer edge of the pillow has been blanket stitched with beads inserted in alternate stitches.  The idea for this came from Laura Kemshall (of DMTV), who created some delightful motto pillows using similar techniques.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and I will be back in the New Year to show you more fibre art that is just waiting to be photographed.

Vitis - Art Quilt with Grapes and Grape Leaves

A new art quilt is born! 

This has to be my favourite art quilt (maybe the latest is always the favourite) . . . I love the soft colour palette and the beautiful texture that ripples and swirls with the leaves and grapes.

 

The grape leaves are painted using metallic copper and moss green textile paints with stencils I made using local grapes leaves to get the shape just right. The grapes themselves were stamped using the end of a spool of thread.

There is lots of machine quilting and then my favourite seed stitches that I did by hand . . . it was such a relaxing piece to work on. I chose to add the botanical name for grapes "Vitis" to the left side. Here is a photo of a bit of the detail.

Vintage Textile to Treasured Purse

A few years ago I purchased a piece of handwoven linen at an estate sale and I have used that piece of fabric in several projects since then.  It is fairly coarsely woven so is beautiful to hand stitch and that is just what I did when I created this little purse.

The purse came to the attention of the editor of Art Quilting Studio magazine and I was asked to submit an article and photographs of the purse for their Winter 2014 magazine.  I received the magazine in the mail today to find a beautiful three-page article on this little purse.

Printing fabric

Last month I attended a three-day workshop at Sorrento Centre where Catherine Nicholls was teaching a course on working with thickened dyes.  It was a fantastic three days of playing with fabric and dyes under Catherine's excellent guidance.

We worked on designs first and then translated those designs into screen printing and block making techniques. I will post more about the block printing another day.

This is my silk screen that is prepared for breakdown screen printing ...

And this is the metre of fabric that I printed from that screen ...

It is a gorgeous piece of fabric and I am giving lots of thought as to how I will use it.

Sale in my Etsy Shop Oct 27-30

 Some of the many purses and cuffs on sale in my Etsy shop (click on the shop logo on the right side of your screen or visit www.kathykinsella.etsy.com)

Today I want to let you know about the first-ever sale in my Etsy shop.  You can get 10% off anything in my shop until October 30, 2014 by using the coupon code BOBBIN10 at the checkout. This sale is being held along with other members of The Hot Bobbin Team so check out their stores too, for great quilts, Advent Calendars, Christmas stockings, art quilts, table decor and more. Here is the link to the Hot Bobbin Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/TheHotBobbin

More indigo . . .

Well, time sure flies . . . I had intended to post a few more photos of the indigo workshop I took earlier this month but with one thing and another, I just didn't do so until today.

These photos are of sample pieces that I dipped in the indigo vat after doing a variety of shibori techniques on the white fabric. We used a variety of fabric ... some cotton, linen, silk as well as some vintage doilies and a silk scarf that I over-dyed. 

The piece that is on the cylinder is a silk scarf that has been wrapped with cord and then pushed to the end of the cylinder before being immersed in the indigo vat several times. The resulting piece has a beautiful chevron look pattern and the wrinkles will stay in the fabric as long as it does not get wet ... must take a photo of that for you to see, too.

I am also working on a piece that was designed by the course leader, Thomas Roach. It is a prayer cloth that has been dyed as a whole cloth and then folded in a specific manner to create a very beautiful cloth that is lined with quilt batting. I am currently working on hand embroidery stitching on it . . . photos to come :0)

Dyeing with Indigo

I am taking a workshop this week at Sorrento Centre that focuses on dyeing fabric with natural indigo dye. It is such fun to be a participant in the class and to have fun of playing with fabric for hours each day.

This workshop is led by Thomas Roach who is a talented textile artist from Vancouver and he is preparing vats of dye for us and teaching us all about indigo as well as shibori stitching techniques. I have never worked with indigo before and I love the way it turns from green to blue once it comes out of the vat and hits the air ... who knew!! For two days we have been creating samples on cotton and silk and tomorrow we will start work on a larger piece, a personal prayer cloth, using some of these techniques.

Here is a photo of Thomas and a couple of the participants dipping their samples into the vat . . .

I will try to remember to take some pictures of our samples and post them later ... they are gorgeous!

Mini Art Quilt / Mug Rug

This mug rug (in actual fact, just a mini art quilt) was recently commissioned by a neighbour who asked if I could make something for her husband from a treasured shirt that had fallen to pieces.

The grey plaid shirt was particularly special to him but by the time I got it it had been worn and washed so often that parts of it were literally in shreds. There were still a few sections of fabric that were solid, though, and I used them to create this little mug rug. I wanted to retain as much of the essence of the shirt as I could so part of the fabric that I used came from the placket of the shirt and I also used the buttons.

The grey and orange fabric is cotton from Nancy Crow's line and I used it as the back of the mug rug as well.  I added the recipients initial with Shiva Paintstiks and then free motion quilted it in blocks of straight(ish) lines and bound it with black cotton around the edges.

The mug rug measures about 6-8" and was made to fit on the table beside his favourite chair.

A Walk in the Meadows

Today we went for a wonderful walk at Neskonlith Meadows and saw myriad beautiful spring wildflowers in bloom. The meadows are about a fifteen or twenty minute drive from where I live and at this time of the year they burst into bloom. The hills are carpeted in blooms, predominantly yellow balsam root and avalanche lilies (also called glacier lilies) and in some areas it is totally impossible to avoid stepping on them.

I don't even know what all the wildflowers are called but some of them are balsam root, shooting stars, violets, skunk cabbage and avalanche lilies (not all included in this photo collage) ... I will do my homework this weekend and figure out what the rest of them are. 

This walk might be inspiration for many art quilts to come . . .

Blessings Prayer Flag

Blessings . . . this prayer flag has many blessings flapping from the lower edge of the flag. It has been created from some of my hand dyed and monoprinted fabrics and was destined to be an example for my upcoming prayer flag workshop but . . .

I  have a friend battling a brain tumour and I felt that this was the week he needed to have this prayer flag so it has already headed off to Vancouver.

This is a very free-spirited flag ... you can see that it is not "square" and there is an asymmetrical and casual balance to the flag, which is how I see life taking us sometimes. The soft purple fabric is a more densely woven cotton than the fabric with the blue and purple monoprint on it, which provides a soft contrast in texture. This is a single thickness of fabric so if it is left outside (or handled a lot) the edges of the fabric will fray and soften with time.

The narrow strips of purple cotton have been printed with many of the blessings I wish for my friend at this time. There is a knot at the end of each blessing and they are attached by a purple bead to the main part of the flag.

One of the techniques we will experiment with in my workshop at Sorrento Centre starting this weekend, is monoprinting ... I'm sure that the participants will feel like they are back in pre-school as we play with paints on gelatin plates and transfer the designs to fabric ... fun! There is still space if you want to join us so just call Sorrento Centre and come along!

Prayer Flags ... Hope

I am working on prayer flags in preparation for the workshop I will be teaching next month but I seem to be getting hung up on all the people for whom I would like to make a prayer flag. I have several people in my circle who might be uplifted by a handmade prayer flag and they were in my thoughts as I created these two "hope" flags yesterday.

I started off with end pieces of some hand painted cotton and I used the irregular shapes as part of the shape of the flag. The fabric looks very much like a landscape so I used a thermofax screen to add a tree (tree of hope) to which I later added some hand embroidery stitches. At the moment I am making samples using a variety of techniques to add text to the flags, so one of these flags uses stamped letters and the other uses hand-printed letters.

These flags are one layer of cotton (the stitching is visible on the back) and I have left the edges all unfinished and I even started to unravel some of the threads so they would look a bit ragged. If left out in the weather, they will slowly fade and unravel.

I hope to create several more prayer flags or inspiration flags in the next few weeks. If you would like to know more about my upcoming workshop, it is at Sorrento Centre from April 25-30 and there is more information by clicking on the link or by phoning Sorrento Centre at 250-675-2421.