Knees, Fails, Paint and Pops!

This week feels like a new season. I had several gigs reschedule and/or go to virtual presentation. It feels good to work again and talk to people that want me to visit! So the gauntlet has been thrown down and it is clear to me, if I want to work right now, I must go digital. Onward I go, researching and attending Zoom meetings on how to Zoom. I am the benefactor of the work of several who have gone before me that are teaching the rest of us how to teach virtually.

You may have heard, AQS (American Quilter’s Society) has cancelled all shows through the end of this year. Yikes. Houston is still a go at this point, almost 5 months away, so a lot of good can happen in the meantime. I know, I know, I am being optimistic and really hope it is a safe go.

My biggest project this week:

Hubby’s knee replacement and recovery is going well so far. I am blessed in that he is a Good Boy, doing his PT, doing what the Dr. asks him to, avoiding what he is not to do and just being an all around Model Patient. IMHO, knee replacement takes at least 2 people to be successful. He needs ice, food and other comforts of life that he cannot provide for himself for a little while. He won’t be able to drive for 6 weeks so we are joined at the hip for a few weeks. But I hope for the two of us to be upright for the next 30 years.

I’ve had a few fails this week and that is okay. In order to make good art you have to make crap art so I am catching up on my quota of less-than-stellar work this week:

At first glance, you might say, well what is wrong with that? In the photo it looks like there are some deep wrinkles in the stripped silk background but in reality there are some blue wash-out (BWO) marker stains that will not go away. I’ve tried copious amounts of water, Blue Line Eraser (which stripped the sheen off the silk) and baking soda in water. I have not used any soap or heat.

I used BWO to mark the design from the back. The silk was unhappy.

Spray baste was the only way to get these layers together. No Misty Fuse or anything permanent would do.

Cutwork in process, isn’t that silk gorgeous?? You can’t tell the deep sheen of the silk from the photo. It is beautiful.

Silk is fussy, I knew that BWO pens were iffy on silk and I just forgot. What works on cotton does not work on silk. That silk was so pretty with that hand-dyed wool (by Linda Waddle). So that one is not going anywhere. The quilting is not completed on it but it’s not a go anyway so I will just take my loss and go forward.

But I’m taking this same design-ish and trying a different tack:

I decided I wanted to play with paint on silk organza. I have a ton of silk organza from my garment-making days. I wanted it to be splotchy because I was going to do cutwork. Splotchy fabric makes for beautiful cutwork because so much of the fabric is cut away. I painted 3 layers:

It’s kind of hard to see the 3 layers so I put a red dot on each. The bottom layer is subdued, the top layer colorfully splotchy and the middle layer a beautiful mottled blue.

I did not want another BWO disaster so I marked my design on Golden Threads paper and stitched through it.

I’m not done yet but this is a glimpse of my work so far. I love those saturated colors! If I like it, it will become my SAQA Donation quilt.

An aside:

Both of these were previous attempts at a SAQA donation quilt. The top one has a few tiny bits of errant paint and that bugs me. The bottom one, well none of those borders were working so I abandoned ship. I sure hope this one works, 1 out of 4?

No worries here, you really do have to make some clunkers in order to arrive at that one spectacular piece. There is nothing lost here, lots learned.

Ohhhh, and I have a New Toy, Applipops:

This is a fun story. I noticed the work of Ellen Rosenbach on FB and I was blown away. Her work is traditional, not my preferred style, but it is exquisite work with stunning piecing, fabric selection and design.

Ellen was determined to make turned-edge appliqued circles foolproof so she invented Applipops. It’s a brilliant design: the concentric washer-like pieces nestle into each other, giving just enough space in between for the fabric. The washers are precisely beveled and sized so that fabric can be sandwiched in yet the washers hold tightly. To use the Applipops, you take 2 nesting washers and layer: washer, fabric, washer and push the top, smaller washer into the hole of the larger. Roughly trim excess fabric and wet the edges with undiluted starch. Smoosh the edges into the center, iron, cool and remove the washer for a perfect circle. It is somewhat of a variant of the starch technique but darn near foolproof.

I bought both the 3/8″ set and the 1/4″ set and pressed them upon my Steady Betty board.They are pretty darn near perfect….from MY hands, first time through!

A few in-process shots:

Wet with undiluted spray starch.

Coaxed and pressed to the center.

Popped out from the washer.

Look how thin they are:

thinner than a dime.

If I’m not careful with the tucks on back I get this:

See how that wee imperfection there? That means I did not do my tucks well on the back side. Learning curve!

I am NOT an applique person but I do love appliqued circles so I’m excited about Applipops. I am no expert yet and there is a wee bit of a learning curve but dang, look at this:

Lookie dat, perfect 3/8″ circle, impressive for a non-applique person, no? She tells you buy more than one set and I wish I had. You have to let eah one cool before removing the washer to start on another and you do. no. want. to wait because you’re so excited about the next one. The jury is still out, I need to work on these a little bit, but I am excited and have a project already planned.

Maybe next week I’ll have something to show using my Applipops. Stay tuned. I’ll link up with Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday.