Some say I'm a woman of few words—until it comes to sharing art techniques and ideas! This is the cover of my new book!! Yahoo!

It is available on Amazon, although it won't be available until some time in October.

Isn't the color on the cover awesome? C&T Publications did an outstanding job on the cover art as well as the chapter openers and illustrations inside!

Keep watching this blog. I'll be announcing a give-away in the next few weeks, hopefully before it's available on Amazon!

There is a CD inside the back cover of this book, as there was in the first Altered Photo Artistry. This time, in addition to the trial version of Photoshop Elements, there are displacement maps, textures, and brushes Lori and I developed in our own studio! Very cool—no one else has them!

In my opinion displacement maps are a fabulous tool for altering that very few quilt artists know about. See if you agree with me!

This is the cover of my new book, which will be released in October. I'm so excited! The cover shows the before photo and the after piece printed on fabric and stitched with free-motion stitching.

The cover piece is mounted on a canvas and the design extends to the edges (and around the edges) with paint. I'm not a painter. I'm not kidding myself, but this is really a cool way to enhance the look of the stitched piece and make it larger without adding a lot of complex finishing.

I'll be giving a few copies away in September and October, so stay tuned!

It WORKS! I'm so excited!

The black faded a little, but that was expected because the Colorant was in a shaving cream carrier. The shaving cream has to come out, but I actually like it with a little more subtlety in the black.

The Tackifier layer with the mica powder looks great. I turned the T-shirt inside out and washed it in cold water. It held beautifully.

I need to repeat the washings to see how long the Tackifier continues to hold the metallic powder...

More tomorrow! :-)

These are called "Tattooed T-shirts," just one of many new techniques using Earth Safe Finishes. It began as a rust-dyed T-shirt and then I layered stenciled images on it with the top layer an experiment in applying metallic mica powder.




The detail gives a little better view of the gold powder on top of the opaque and translucent paints. After curing, it will be heat-set and then the washing tests can begin.

This isn't exactly thread related, but it will be when I start using it on art quilts with free-motion stitching on top!

This has to be the ultimate in thread manipulation. This purse started as a piece of felt, two small scraps of velvet, several piles of roving, and miscellaneous fibers.

Needle-felting is so much fun! There is no measuring, no weighing, no timing, no bobbins to wind. Just free movement of the embellisher head with six barbed needles.

I couldn't find anything in cording saturated enough to go with the bright purple and orange, so I bought a skein of sari yarn at Quilt Festival last week and made my own!

This will be in an upcoming issue of Totally Creative, a new online magazine. The technique is also part of my Extreme Needle Felting workshop on http://www.quilterskeeplearning.com

Isn't this amazing? After Quilt Festival in Long Beach, I (finally) met my online buddy Rhoda. We planned a day away, just talking, taking photos, sight seeing, and getting to know one another.

Imagine my surprise when I walked into the hotel room and Rhoda had hung this banner! Each letter is a separate mini quilt, joined by a cording through loops on the top.

Rhoda made this as a response to some door prize goodies I sent for a conference she coordinated in March. She had everyone at the conference sign the panels and then quilted, bound, and mounted them!

I was really touched. She really put those Photoshop skills from my online workshop to good use! This is the link, if you'd like to check it out http://www.quilterskeeplearning.com

Rhoda, thank you so much for your thoughtful gift. You are an amazing person and I'm so glad the Internet gave us the opportunity to be friends!

This photo shows 31 of the 35 pieces of rust-dyed fabric drying in the sun. Some have already received the tannin bath, some are waiting their turn, and some will have rust only.

I couldn't help but think of workers in the field picking tomatoes, cotton, strawberries, or anything else that needs to be picked by hand. What back-breaking work it is to bend over for hours. Thank goodness for Ibuprophen!

OK, a little dramatic, but I was trying to empathize!

Today they will go to the laundromat for two trips through the jumbo washing machine (one with Rust Wash and one with an industrial fiber conditioner) and then a tumble in the dryer.

There is a long list of things to do before leaving for Quilt Festival next Wednesday. I'm really excited about demonstrating in the Earth Safe Finishes booth! The demo will be layers of surface design with Colorants and Fabric Magic, or with the Shimmer Gels. Very cool!

If you visit Quilt Festival, please stop by the Earth Safe Finishes booth ( Booth # 1251) to say hello!