Art Quilts Around the World

Today is reveal day on the Art Quilts Around the World blog. My quilt is called "I was hooked". I used Paintstiks on deep purple hand dyed fabric to create the moon over water background.

Other Supplies: Hand painted fabrics made with Setacolor, fish hooks & fishing line

I drew a fish shape on freezer paper to use as a template. This allowed me a window to view the fabric through until I found the right selection of color. I backed the fish with a heavy stabilizer and some batting. I machine quilted the scales and fins of the fish on my sewing machine (use a hoop to keep the fabric flat)

I then added beads before apppliqueing the fish in place. The fish is stuffed with a few more layers of batting to give it a fishy shape.

Click here to view all the other wonderful creations on the Art Quilts Around the World blog.

Tangled Up in Hue

One of my favorite new shops is Tangled Up in Hue located in downtown Eau Claire at 416 S. Barstow Street. This place appeals to the dyed in cotton hippie in my soul. I picked up a pair of shibori dyed wrap pants (seen above) for myself last time I stopped in the shop. More about the pants next week.......

I met Jamie, one of the owners, at a craft show last year when bought one of her fabulous glass lampwork pendants (I blogged about it here)

She later contacted me and asked if I would like to sell my jewelry in the shop she and her partner Erin were opening in February of this year.

The exhaust hood from this former pizza restaurant is now used to ventilate the on site workspace for lampwork and glass blowing. You can choose from items that are pre-made or custom order an item of your choice.

Until I visited this shop I did not realize how well my jewelry fit in at this shop. My items are made by combining stained glass techniques with miniature quilt blocks made from hand dye fabrics. There are racks of tie dyed shirts and groovy little skirts. Hand made purses, pottery, jewelry, metal work and artwork line the walls and shelves.

If you ever make it to town, please stop in for a visit. There is a yarn shop two doors down and a great antique shop one block north on the next corner.

Fabric Dyeing Workshop

Have you ever wanted to learn basic fabric dyeing skills? Kim of Kim's Crafty Apple and her mother in law Diane are teaching a fabric dyeing class at the family apple orchard in Poynette Wisconsin on June 20th. They are both wonderful teachers with years of experience. You will learn many aspects of fabric dyeing in a beautiful setting. Who knows you may become a dyeing addict like me. Follow this link to Kim's blog post or link directly to the dye workshop here.