I'm back

It's been 20 days since my last post. We had houseguests and times were interesting. As much as I enjoy having company, it was a bit constricting -- didn't always have access to the computer room. Also, because our routine was off, I didn't have enough studio time.
Anyways, no more goats and hopefully back to normal-ish.
Oops, later than I thought.
OK. Notes to self for next post: work done since last post, Textile Museum.

Departure from creativity

Or maybe just creativity of another kind.
I'm spending this weekend is cleaning. I know, I should have warned you to sit down first. But we're having company this week and I have some catching up to do...
I have divided the house into zones -- upstairs, main floor, family room. And interspersed, laundry.
My mission for today is the upstairs. On the upstairs level I have three rooms, a bathroom and a hallway.
I started with the bathroom and not only is everything clean, I also went through, organizing drawers and throwing out junk. There's still some stuff that DH has to part with, but hey -- it's coming along.
The computer room with a sofa bed aka spare bedroom is clean, except for setting up the bed and making it.
The next room is our bedroom which isn't terribly difficult. I'm not touching my studio until everything else is done because if I go in, I may not come out.
The sore spot on this floor is the hallway. It where stuff which is no longer needed (i.e. childrens' books in Hebrew, old tapes, miscellaneous books, a no-longer working laptop, etc.) sits until the decision is made to finally get rid of it. That decision may just happen today.

I did have a creative week. Last week I posted about the iris folding circle. I made two additional circles. One is chocolate brown organza sewn in ripples. I actually envision different types of threads, ribbons, etc. covering the rows of stitching. The other is five or six waves of various hues and textures of brown. The problem is that none of the three circles are really compatible with the others. So I may just forget about the challenge and make three separate small pieces (each approx. 14" square).

I am also just about finished my FibreArt Toronto bag challenge. I received a gift of Bo-Nash from Larkin from the QuiltArt list. And did some foil transfer. I need to practise in order to know how much to sprinkle, how hot the iron should be, how long to iron, etc. But it did give a nice shimmer to the bag. I sewed the bag together. Still need to add the grommets at the top. I have grommets I've been practising with on scrap fabric but haven't yet gotten them to close without leaving sharp edges. I also want to put some braiding on the four edges which will gather at the bottom in a tassel.

And I must finally sit down and do my fabric postcards. Oy, there's the theme of Purim/Pesach/spring but I still don't know what to do.

So I'm off to laundry now and if I finish all my tasks for today, I may still get in a little studio time.

Iris folding

Yesterday afternoon, while pondering the coffee/tea challenge, I started thinking about fusing fabric to a coffee filter and doing origami folding. I headed to the internet for instructions and couldn't find what I was looking for. I did, however, find instructions for iris folding. It's usually done with coloured paper.

I downloaded a circular pattern and got Menachem to enlarge to the size I needed.

This morning I started. Instead of folding the fabric strips in half, I just folded under about 1/4 inch. I placed the strips face down following the numbered order and pinned everything. Then I flipped it over and stitched down the pieces.

Now after having done it, I think the next one I will strip piece, sewing onto paper or press and seal and remove the paper/p&s when finished.

I now have to decide what and how to attach it to a background and what else to do. I have some thoughts but am not sure yet. That's why I have all day to play.

I guess it could also be done with ribbon (no ends to fold under). I might just try the Magen David (Star of David) that someone posted on IJQ.

Challenge

I have been pondering making something for the Grounds for Change challenge posted on the Quiltart list. On the one hand, I question my creativity, especially since I am not (as yet) into all the new techniques involved in painting/dyeing/etc. coffee filters and/or tea bags. On the other hand, if I don't jump in, I'll never take part in any challenge.
So far, I have no idea where I'm going with this one other than coffee beans are brown. So I stopped off at Fabricland and purchased some brown sheer fabrics, some brown netting and some brown ribbons. I have some brown duppioni silk, silk ribbons, beads, etc. and tomorrow I shall play. And hopefully come up with a plan I can be happy with.

Adar Aleph Finished

This is my Adar Aleph piece. The new moon is my nod to the monthly artistic effort. The fish are my nod to Pisces. The top and bottom fabrics are the same. The top is the reverse side, the bottom is the right side, covered with organza. And the binding is the same fabric, right side up.
My nod to experimentation is in the manipulation of the organza and the foil transfer using steam-a-seam lite on the new moon.

Still waiting for the Bo Nash or Texolit to continue foil transfer applications.

I got the first magazine in my Quilting Arts subscription and am very pleased. There is an article in there about finished art quilts with irregular edges by facing them. Judy Morningstar had mentioned this method in her YRHG lecture but didn't elaborate on the nitty gritty of how it is done. QA mag does. There are also many other ideas to explore. So that's good.