Blogging

I just wanted to let everyone who reads my blog here that I have been blogging again.  I have been only putting the posts up on my webpage.  It got to be too much to post in both places all the time.  If you would like to follow me you can find my page here: http://www.handsandharts.com/ 

My blog post for today can be found here: http://www.handsandharts.com/blog/weekly-pattern-wednesday13

Please come on over!
Janelle

Weekly Pattern Wednesday

This week I created a simple flower pattern.  I filled the petals with bubbles.  I love stitching bubbles on my quilts and I would use this pattern to stitch on quilts.  I would make the motif larger though, on fabric.

If you would like to see what all the other patterns go here.  Lynn also has a free gift this week for everyone.  

I'll see you next week with another pattern.
Janelle

Summer of Color Purple Purple Yellow

This week the colors are purple, purple, yellow.  If you want to see all the other art you can go here.

Last week I was prepping for a show and Saturday I was selling all day, so I had a very busy week.  Therefore I didn't have time to add extra touches to my quilt this week.  I'll keep working on it and show it later.  Right now it is pretty plain.  I like the extra touches that embellishments give a quilt and make it into art.

I used all fabrics that I dyed earlier this year.  I like to have fabrics in a rainbow of colors ready for any project.  The fabrics each have a tone on tone look because that is how I dye them.  I use a low water immersion technique because it gives an interesting look with lighter and darker spots.  I don't dye fabrics a solid color.  I think that is uninteresting and if I want solids I get them from the fabric store.      

Thank you for visiting and check back later to see what else I add to this quilt.
Janelle

Weekly Pattern Wednesday

I have another pattern for you today.  I created this one within a heart.  I like creating patterns within a shape.  The boundary creates a nice stopping point.    

I'll see you back next Wednesday with another pattern.
Janelle

Joyful Summer

I wanted to share the new art quilt that I just finished with you all.  "Joyful Summer" is a wholecloth quilt.  I painted it, then thread sketched, quilted, hand stitched the tyvek centers, and then added the beads.

It is reminiscent of a warm summer day watching the sunflowers blow in the breeze. 

"Joyful Summer" is 16 1/2" x 16".  It is for sale for $162.50.  You can find it here. 

Summer of Color Pink Pink Orange

Well I finally made it.  It was a really busy week for me, so I couldn't start my quilt until the end of the week.  I got it done before the deadline though, so I'm happy.  You can see what everyone else created this week here.   

The colors for the week were two pinks and and orange.  I already had these colors in my stash of fabric that I have dyed, so that made it easier to finish.

I layered light pink, then orange, and on the top dark pink.  I put all three fabrics on top of the batting and backing fabric.  I free motion stitched a pattern in black thread.  The black really helped the colors to pop.  Then I cut away bits of the top two layers to reveal the other colors.  Over time the edges will fray a bit more and look even better.  I love the rough frayed edges and leave them that way in my work quite a bit.  I don't like things to always be perfect.  That fits right in with my style of art quilting.  This is a wall hanging too, so it doesn't have to stand up to washing.

I finished the edges with a facing.  I don't like to bind quilts, especially not these small ones. I will add a thread chain to hang it and it'll be ready for the wall.  It is 7 1/2" x 10". 

I'll leave you with this background created with spray inks.  See you next week for the next color challenge. 
Janelle 

Weekly Pattern Wednesday

This week I created a geometric pattern.  It could make an interesting stencil.  I'll have to try that sometime.  They aren't perfect rectangles or squares, but I'm always drawn to the imperfect.  These will do nicely for me.  If you want to see all the other patterns for this week go here. 

I'll see you back here next week with a new pattern.
Janelle

Summer of Color: Blue Blue Green

I am participating in Summer of Color again this year.  I love how the color challenges get me creating in a lot of different pallets.  I love having a deadline to get work completed too. If you want to learn all about Summer of Color and see what everyone else has created this week go here. 

The color challenge is to use 2 blues and a green.  You can use any shade of the colors that you want too though.

I am creating small abstract art quilts this year.  It is easier for me to complete a small quilt in a week.  This one is 9 1/2" x 10".
It is done, for now anyway.  I haven't decided if I want to add anything else or not yet.  I'll let it sit on my design board for a while and think about it.

I laid out the fabrics and played with the design until I was happy.  Then I layered batting and a backing fabric and free motion quilted it.  After that was done, I cut the whole thing into strips and then rectangles.  I sewed them all back together using a zig zag stitch.  Here is a close up.  I used my hand dyed fabric and cheese cloth and a bit of dark blue tulle.      

I'll see you next week with another Summer of Color submission.
Janelle

Weekly Pattern Wednesday

I have another pattern today.  This week I went with a color pattern.  .I was inspired by the Summer of Color pallet today, which is 2 blues and 1 green.  I love blues and greens.  They remind me of being at a lake in the summer, or of being in the forest on a sunny summer day.  If you would like to see the patterns from the other artists go here.  

Have a great week and I'll share a new pattern next week.
Janelle

Sunflowers Galore

I have made a lot of progress on my sunflower quilt since I last shared it here.  I'm trying to get it done soon, so I have been working on it quite a bit.  I'm planning on having it done for the art show I'm attending on June 27.  You can find all the details for that show here.
After the painting was done I added thread sketching in yellows and oranges to add more depth to the petals. 

I added some white stitching for highlights. 

I added some stitching around the outside of the center.  I like what this stitching adds to the flowers. 

After the thread sketching was done I quilted around the center of the flowers.  I also quilted around the petals so that they stand out from the background.  Then I quilted in the background. 

Now I'm adding embellishments and when I'm done with them, I will finishes the edges.  The embellishments are going to complete the flower centers.  I'll share more when I get more done. For now have a great week and I'll be back tomorrow to share my latest pattern.
Janelle

Weekly Pattern Wednesday

It's Wednesday again and that means I have a new pattern to share with you.  I'm following along with Lynn and the other artists participating.  You can see what everyone else is up to here.

I was vaguely inspired by a floral theme today.  I love organic forms and floral shapes, without being too flowery.     

I'll see you back here next week with another pattern.
Janelle

Weekly Pattern Wednesday- 2

I'm here with another pattern today.  I created the pattern on top of a watercolor background that I painted earlier this year.  I used Twinkling H2O's, which are my favorite watercolors.  I love the rich colors and the shimmer, which the camera doesn't capture. While I was working on this page, I kept getting ideas for stamps that I want to carve too.  These patterns can be used in many ways.  I'm loving this challenge each week and all the ideas that are coming up.  If you want to see what the other artists are doing go here.   

Have a great week.
Janelle

Abstract Painting

A recent Lifebook lesson, by Jenny Doh, was on abstract painting. We were trying to get out of our heads and just paint what we felt.  It is a fun way to paint without planning first and just letting the painting happen.  I painted these three pages.

I really love abstract painting and want to practice more.  These paintings are just playing around with mark making on a small scale.  I want to try some large paintings too.  It is harder to get something that I love with this style of painting.  I guess I'll just have to paint more.  Now that my youngest is done with school for the summer and my other boys are almost done, it hopefully will be easier.  I won't have to follow a strict schedule.  I can let them play and I can paint.  I'll let you know how that goes.

Have a great week.
Janelle

Weekly Pattern Wednesday

Lynn Krawczyk invited people to play along and create a pattern every Wednesday and to share them.  Here is the invitation if you would like to play along too.

Here is the first pattern that I created.  It is just a little warm up. Practicing making patterns is a good way to increase my personal symbol library.  Hopefully practicing these patterns will help me to stretch and improve my other art work.

You can go here to see the other patterns created for the first week.

Janelle

The Beginning of a Quilt

I have been working on the sunflower quilt that I started in April. I have finished painting the quilt top and am ready to move onto thread sketching. I plan to thread sketch and then add the batting and some hand stitching and other embellishments. Finally I will quilt it and get it finished.

It is nice to work on this project little by little rather than having to rush.  Spring is such a busy time with all kinds of events for my kids and gardening to do too.  My oldest daughter became a nationally certified EMT this spring.  I am proud of all she has accomplished as well as the rest of my sweet kids too. It is a great time to be a mom and an artist.  I am enjoying my time as both.

Here is the painted top.  Adding thread and embellishments will bring it to life and make it a lot less flat.       

My daughter took pictures of me while I was working on it, so I thought that I would share one.

I had some leftover fabric paint that didn't want to be wasted.  I started adding surface design to these two small piece of fabric. I'll keep adding to them when I have leftover paint or feel inspired. 

Have a great weekend,
Janelle

Silk Painting

It has been really busy here the last two weeks.  Last week I spent two days in a silk painting workshop with Nancy McKay.  It was a wonderful experience and I learned a lot about silk painting.  I would recommend that anyone who has an interest take a class with Nancy.

This week my oldest daughter came home from her university for a few days and my youngest celebrated his birthday.  Around all this activity my family was dealing with colds and tummy bugs too.  All in all I have had two great weeks and hope to continue on with a lovely spring season.

We used crepe de chine 12mm that had been treated with sizing to better control the flow of the dyes.  We used H. Dupont Dyes which bond to the silk fiber when they are steam set.  The colors are beautiful and easy to use.  Here is one place that you can buy these dyes:  http://www.dharmatrading.com/dyes/dupont-silk-dyes-french-silk-dyes.html

This first piece was the practice piece that I did to get used to the process and how the dyes would work. 

In this workshop we drew our sketch onto the silk and then painted it.   This girl is the first one that I painted.  I love making whimsy style girls.  Now I want to stitch on top of her to add texture and depth and to modify areas that I don't like.  I love how the stitching really adds to a textile piece. 

I also want to add stitching to this sunflower. 

We dyed a silk scarf in class as well and steam set the dye in the microwave.  This was a shibori style that was wrapped and tied with a string to create a resist.  I love these colors and the process. I could happily make many more of these scarfs.    

Textiles add so much to our daily lives.  I love manipulating fabric to create beautiful items and make the environment even more beautiful.  I hope that you too appreciate the beauty of textiles.  Have a wonderful end to the week.
Janelle 

Sunny Sunflowers

I started a new quilt this week.  I am painting sunflowers. We had a couple of nice warm days and then it got cold again. I decided not to wait for the summer flowers to show up, but to make my own flowers.  I love sunflowers of all kinds and have planted bright sunny yellow ones and also the autumn colored flowers.  Maybe I should try planting them again this year, when it finally gets warm.

I am still working in my art journal and have completed a couple new pages.  This page was just about playing with a couple of techniques.  My journal is getting really full, so the pages are harder to photograph.  That's okay with me though because I love having full chunky journals.    

This page is from a Lifebook lesson.  It was fun playing with gold leaf.  It adds a lot of shine to the page and I really like shiny on my art journal pages. 

My art quilting group learned about fabric painting this week. I sketched the flowers out on cotton fabric before the meeting.  I have been working on painting all week.  I still want to add some more details to the flowers and I need to paint the background too.  After all the painting is done I will start thread sketching and then quilting.  I'll keep sharing my progress.   

Have a great weekend and live your life creatively.

Janelle

Art Journal Groove

I have finished a couple more lessons from Lifebook that I wanted to share.  This one was all about celebrating your favorite things. It is always good to remember the things that make life good.  The background for this page was created with watercolors that feel chalky when they are dry.  They do make a nice soft look and were good for this page.  

The next three pages were lessons from Lifebook also.  They were all quick exercises in intuitive painting without worrying about the end results.  The point was to tap into your inner child and have fun with the process.  They all has time limits as well.  They were painted at 15, 10, & 5 minutes respectively.

This first one was a finger painting with the addition of a few more tools.  I used my basic acrylic paints. 

This one is painted with Golden acrylics with a brush and a rubber painting tool.  

This page was painted wet into wet with Twinkling H2O watercolors.  They have a beautiful shimmer that the photo doesn't capture at all. These are my favorite watercolors and are so fun to use. 

I created this page using my church bulletin after Divine Mercy Sunday last Sunday.  I used a stencil from Artistcellar that went perfectly with the subject.  It is done with modeling paste and the colors from the background colored it slightly.  

I have been having fun painting in my journal.  I am getting close to finishing this one.  I'll probably be making a new journal this summer some time.  I love filling up these journals, it is so relaxing to have a safe place to practice and process life stuff.
Have a wonderful weekend,
Janelle