Tejana Studio

Watermelon-Sandia

2012-02-04T16:47:00.001-06:00

My New Year's Resolution for 2012 - which I didn't write about here - is to finish a WIP (a Work in Progress) every time I start to work on a new project. So I started by quilting and binding a top I made years ago - a decade? - when I didn't know what I was doing. The top was supposed to look like a slice of watermelon, except I made the rind all green.

However, at the time, I had no idea about sewing with curves or the bias of a fabric. Soooooo, the green border was wavy as all get out--a complete mess. Being as my quilting skills ten years ago were even worse than my basic sewing skills, I set the top aside.

I knew it was going to be a bear to quilt--because I had no intention of taking it apart and constructing it correctly. I decided to let it be my first WIP to finish in 2012. To get it to lie flat (or, well, as flat as possible) I quilted it into submission. It's still a little wavy but all the quilting makes it feel wonderful. I love it. I can't wait to have an excuse to have a picnic.

You can see some of the problems with the curved piecing in the bottom photo, but with so much quilting, at first glance it looks like more texture. It'll never be a show piece, but it'll be fun to use and display. It is 68" across and 46" long at the center.

Oh, and since I finished this old project, I get to make blocks for the Austin Modern Quilt Guild's block exchange. Can't wait to see what everyone brings to swap. I haven't seen one thing the guild members have made that I haven't loved.

Now to decide what WIP to finish off next.

Emerging from the Hiatus

2011-12-15T21:23:00.000-06:00

Sometimes you just have to take a break. Which is what I did for most of late Summer and Fall. I was so creatively blocked due to major stress at work that I just couldn't get excited about any project. But the need to finish a long-promised memory quilt for a cousin (and some answers emerging from work--although all negative) pushed me to start trying to clear the logjam.

So I started with something easy, meditative. During the summer wildfires that plagued Central Texas, I had packed my sewing machine in a rolling case and put it by the door, in case I had to get out of the area quickly. When I was looking around for something to do, I decided to practice what I learned from Mary Ruth Smith in a class on embroidery. No unpacking the sewing machine yet.

I took a sun I had drawn and screenprinted as part of a class I took with Kat McTee and began covering it in French knots. I love the look and feel of it. I've set it aside until I can decide whether I will cover more of the white with blue seed stitches or leave it as is.

A few weeks after I set aside my sun, I cleaned up my cutting table. I put fabrics I wasn't using away and started pulling fabric for my cousin's quilt. Then I printed some photos for the quilt and set them aside. I had regular conniption fits over decisions at the office, saw myself get nowhere, and came home to see the new piles of fabric on my cutting table. I slouched on the couch and flipped channels.

I bought some striped and polka dot fabrics at a quilt store in Brenham on my way back from a conference in Conroe. The polka dot fabric was perfect for an outside border for a Virgin panel wallhanging I'd been trying to finish--well, finish the top. At some point I'll sandwich it and start free motion quilting it.

Finally, it was time to try and make something again. I took black and white striped upholstery fabric from a yard sale, cut it into strips, and made a dizzying fabric bowl with it. I took it to work and it holds paper clips on my desk. Better than the cheap plastic crap you can buy from the Office Depot catalog.

The day job continues much the same--frustrating.

I started looking through my stash again. I took a bunch of Laurel Burch fabric strips from my stash and started making nine patch blocks. I made them in two colorways and let them sit for a few days.

I finally decided on a coordinating fabric for some setting blocks and pieced the top. I set it aside. I think I will cut the remaining pink nine-patches into circles to look like bubbles floating in water. Maybe.

Work M-F. Still frustrated.

One weekend I found a neat Christmas-y striped fabric I've had in my stash for several years, cut it into strips, and made myself another fabric bowl. I like the shape and the holiday theme. I gave it away in the gift exchange (the game that allows you to "steal" an item someone else picked under certain circumstances) at the Austin Fiber Artists' holiday party. I was glad Diane Sandlin was pleased with the bowl, and more pleased when she found out I'd made it. She's such a sweet lady. There are so many talented, sweet ladies in AFA, I just love them all.

I decided to experiment with leftover binding I had from previous quilt projects and made these unfurling fiddlehead ferns. I plan to use these in a little art quilt that features a newt under the moon. Looking forward to getting that project going again.

Soon after I made the fern fronds, I saw a call for solid fabric 12.5" quilt blocks in the Austin Modern Quilt Guild's facebook page. The blocks were going to be made into a quilt to be silent auctioned to raise money for an Artists Against Cancer fundraiser. I dug into my stash and came up with this funky color combo. All the pieces used half-square triangles. Modern? Eh, not sure. Funky? Yes.

Finally, I got down to it and shopped for some new blue fabrics. My cousin's favorite color is cobalt blue. True blue. I made split nine patch blocks for her memory quilt. I bordered the photos with red fabric and a white fabric with black line drawings of roses. I pieced the center, added a border and stayed up almost all night last Friday layering it for quilting. I quilted and bound it on Saturday and mailed it off yesterday.

As I look at the photos of the projects I've completed during my "hiatus", it appears more productive than it felt. Work is still frustrating, but I've decided to stop banging my head against the brick wall. No one appreciates the effort and it leaves ugly scars. But beating my head against my creative logjam leads to some pretty things I get to give away and some I get to keep. Maybe all that beating of my head has loosened a few kernels of wisdom. But probably not. I'm kinda stubborn.

Easy Peasy Quilt Class, Saturday, September 10 & 17

2011-08-24T20:24:00.000-05:00

My first quilt class is scheduled at Sew Something for Saturday, September 10th and September 17th from 9:30am - 1:00pm. I'll be teaching a class based on my pattern, Easy Peasy Quilt, that makes a 40" x 45" crib/play quilt. The class is intended for beginning quilters who are familiar with basic sewing techniques and their own sewing machine.

Day 1 we will cut the fabrics, piece the top and borders, decide on the quilt design and pin baste the quilt sandwich. On Day 2 we will focus on quilting, making and attaching the binding, and the importance of labeling your quilt.

Here's the sample I made for the class.

This particular Easy Peasy Quilt uses football themed fabric so of course I had to photograph it at Liberty Hill High School's Panther Stadium. Go Panthers!

Terri at Sew Something has fabric kits for this quilt featuring X-games sports like BMX biking and skateboarding in aqua, black and white and others featuring flower power fabrics in orange, pink and dusty browns. Terri is offering anyone who registers for the class by September 3 a chance to win their choice of fabric kit. And with the class size limited to 6 students your odds of winning are pretty good.

You can also come in at 9am the morning of September 10 and I'll be your personal shopper for your quilt fabric (Terri has great fabric choices). Or bring fabrics from your stash. It's all good.

Although it seems that we'll never dip below100 degrees again, it will cool off eventually. Won't it be great to snuggle that special someone under a quilt you made with love in every stitch? Nothing compares.

Come by to look at the sample and check out the fabric kits (and meet me!) at Meet the Instructor night this Saturday, August 27, 6pm - 9pm at Sew Something, 11880 Old 2243 West, Suite 200, Leander, 78641. Hope to see you soon!

Teaching in my Future - at Sew Something!

2011-07-27T21:11:00.001-05:00

I was beyond excited when I saw the sign for Sew Something! in a shopping center in Leander a couple of miles from home.

It was late on Sunday so the shop was closed. I could see that there were shelves of fabric on bolts along one wall, so I raced home and looked it up on the Internet. Turns out the shop just opened up four weeks ago. It's open Tuesday to Friday, 10am-7pm and Saturday, 9am-6pm.

On Tuesday I made sure to stop by on the way home. I met the owner, Terri Hiaumet, who is ramping up her new store and is looking for teachers. I am so happy to announce that we are currently planning some piecing, quilting, and crafting classes that will use my patterns. Terri has also agreed to sell my patterns at Sew Something! The shop is located at 11880 Old 2243 West, Suite 200 in Leander.

Terri has started her fabric collection with Moda, RJR, Michael Miller, and Windham and is waiting for new fabric shipments over the next several weeks. She also offers studio space with sewing machines (or you can bring your own) for only $10 an hour. Please stop by and say hi to Terri and tell her Diana sent you. I'll post more information on classes as soon as they're set.

Loving the Finger Knitting

2011-06-25T17:30:00.001-05:00

Last Christmas my friend Martha showed up at the Austin Fiber Artists' Holiday Party with "finger-knitted" scarves for the gift exchange. She said they were easy and quick to make. I loved them and wanted to try it. Fast forward half a year and I have just finger-knitted my first scarf. It was easy and quick to make.

I used a skein of polyester yarn I had bought at some craft store a few years ago on clearance for less than $2. I was able to knit the whole skein into this one scarf in the 35 minute car ride from our house to Marble Falls for my oldest's baseball game. It is too cute. I can't wait to make some more. There are multiple tutorials on YouTube you can look up that use slightly different techniques. Just google "finger knitting" and you'll get a huge list. Next time I go to a craft or yarn store I think I'll buy some wool yarn and knit it very loosely and make it extra long and try felting it in the washer. In the meantime, I think I'll go through my small yarn stash and make myself a scarf for every one of our cold winter days--since I live in Texas, I guess I'll need about three.

Making Cell Phone Holders and Migas

2011-06-18T12:10:00.000-05:00

This past week was busy with the day job, summer baseball, trying to stay cool in 100+ degree temperatures, sewing and cooking. On Monday I gave a coworker a cell phone holder I made for her new tiny cell phone, the Motorola Flipout. She loves sailboats so I used some sailboat fabric I had in my stash to make it.

It's 3" square, lined, with a wrist strap. Took me about an hour to make--oh and it's my design so I winged it without a pattern.

As for the cooking, I have a friend who keeps asking me how to make migas. I rarely cook using recipes (sort of how I often sew and quilt without patterns) so I've been trying to get the amounts right. So here is how I make migas.

For each serving:

2 corn tortillas*, cut or torn into approx. 1" square pieces

1 egg (or egg substitute)

2 slices bacon, each slice cut into about 6 pieces

Shredded cheese (cheddar, monterey jack, or the like)

Canola oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Get a skillet medium-hot and add the bacon. When the bacon is lightly browned on one side flip the pieces to brown on the other side. Once fully browned add a tablespoon or so of canola oil to the pan then add the tortillas.

Stir the tortillas occasionally until they are crispy. Add the egg, salt and pepper and stir/scramble. Add the cheese right before you turn off the heat. You can top the migas with salsa of your choice or pico de gallo. Yummy.

A couple of notes. If you don't like bacon (how sad) just omit it. When you are making more than one serving I add another egg for every second serving. So for two servings I use three eggs, not two.

I tried to get a good photo of the finished product but a swarm of guys swooped in and took them all.

*I prefer tortillas from El Milagro, an Austin-based tortilleria. You really need to get tortillas without all the preservatives. Good corn tortillas have three ingredients: corn, lime, and water. You can taste a world of difference in them.

A Quiet Day

2011-06-05T10:47:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a very nice day of doing very little. I walked next door to Mom's to chat with her twice. I grilled burgers and dogs for my husband and sons (and the younger one's friend). I prepared some hummingbird food and put up a new hummingbird feeder. I also cleaned an old bird feeder and filled it with sunflower seeds. I cleaned the birdbath and the dogs' water bowl. It's been so hot and dry here that we're being extra careful with the dogs and the wildlife.

And I played with fabric. A few months ago I ran across a blog posting of a scrap fabric wreath. I looked for it today and couldn't find the exact same posting to credit, but if you Google "scrap fabric wreath" you'll get many blog posts, websites, and tutorials dedicated to the subject.

Every year I tell myself that I will decorate the front of the house for Independence Day. Somehow, every year, the 4th of July comes and goes and I have no red, white and blue on the porch. So today I pulled out a bin of scraps and made a 4th of July fabric wreath.

It looks nice on my bright red front door.

I had a lot of the red and blue scraps in my bin left over from quilts I've made. But I never have enough white fabrics. So I had to dig into my limited supply of white fabric stash and cut those into appropriately sized strips. The white fabrics are either solids or white-on-white patterns. The process of tying all those bits and pieces to the wire frame was relaxing.

The color on this last photo is off since I used a flash. It makes the door look tomato red and it's a much bluer red. It also makes the white fabrics look ecru. The top two photos are more accurate.

I think I will make wreaths for Fall, Christmas, Spring, and with the boys' high school colors (purple, gold and black). I know I have enough scraps for all of them.

Dryness

2011-05-24T18:17:00.000-05:00

This winter and spring have been so dry that there were hardly any wildflowers on our 20 acres to inspire my creativity. However, because of this drought, we have seen many, many songbirds and other bird species on the property and at our birdbath.

Cardinals are around all year.

The Painted Buntings are gorgeous and love a good bath.

Ok, so the turkeys don't come to our bird bath -- our dogs would go nuts! But we do see them walking across the clearing in front of our house or hear them calling from their roosts in the trees on occasion. I haven't heard the owl in a while though (hoo HOO).

Experimenting

2011-05-22T11:23:00.000-05:00

I've been experimenting with combining fabric photos with sheers lately. I've used sheers quite a bit in previous quilts to add texture to the surface as in Moon Glow.

But now I've tried "weaving" the strips of sheers through a fabric photo that I've also cut into strips. Here are a couple of photos of my first attempt.

Not very successful yet, but I get a glimpse of what I'm trying to accomplish. I plan to try it again with this photo and see if I can get it to a point where I'm happy with it.

Back in the Saddle--2011 Worldwide Comadrazo

2011-04-07T21:57:00.000-05:00

I feel like I've been so out of touch with my art quilting since I last posted in February. Fortunately, I haven't been very productive in the art quilting arena for a positive reason. My son is playing on his high school's varsity baseball team (he's no. 1 in the photo above). So this Spring has been all about baseball. Now that the tournaments are over and district play has begun (with only two games a week), I've been able to start thinking about quilting again.

I still have a huge list of works in progress. But for now I am focusing not so much on art quilts but on small projects to sell as a vendor at the Worldwide Comadrazo scheduled for the end of the month.

Worldwide Comadrazo
April 29-30
Friday and Saturday
1015 Norwood Park Boulevard
Austin, Texas 78753

I will have fabric bowls, credit card holders, bags, and some wall hangings available for sale on Saturday only. The Comadrazo is a lot of fun with a lot of wiri wiri and networking and a lot of shopping with all the vendors. The vendors sell fine art, purses and accessories, jewelry, photos and prints, food products, skin care and health products, and many different services.

For the record, a comadrazo is a gathering of comadres. A comadre is defined as: (1) the name by which a godfather and godmother address the mother of their godchild, and by which she also addresses the godmother; (2) a neighbor; and (3) a gossip. The father of the child and the godfather call each other compadres.

I hope all you comadres out there can join us. I promise you'll have a blast.

Another bowl and coasters

2011-02-18T06:45:00.000-06:00

I'm having fun making cloth bowls and other items. The watermelon red bowl I made for my friend Edith who does cross stitch. I'm glad she really liked it. I also made a set of lime green coasters. Those will also be gifted soon.

I'm going to try making a square trivet next. I think I can get it the right shape--even if the corners are a bit rounded.

Playing with Strips

2011-01-30T21:36:00.000-06:00

There are several art quilt ideas I've been mulling over in my head but I'm not quite ready to start them. So today I looked at a large stash of 2 1/2" strips I have and decided to try my hand at making a fabric bowl.

I had some cotton clothesline and directions for the project from Craft Stylish so I started wrapping the clothesline with the strips. First I cut the strips narrower. Since they're 2 1/2" wide, I cut three strips out of each one. Then zigzag stitch around and around until I got a bowl--or more like a platter. Since the blue fabric has fish in it, I thought I might call it a fish bowl. Corny, I know. But I just can't help myself.

You can see in the close-up that some of the zigzag stitches skipped--I think it has to do with the size of the clothesline. I like it anyway. Ooh, I just thought of something. If I make the sides higher on the next one it may just become a tortilla warmer. I like that idea--a lot. I still have a load of strips I can use.

This bowl may become my first handmade gift of 2011. Unless I get too attached to it. I'll try not to put anything in it.

Two year olds and white t-shirts

2011-01-26T20:35:00.000-06:00

There's a cute amusement park in north Austin called Kiddie Acres that has about a half dozen kid-sized carnival rides, a little train, putt-putt golf, and a couple of horses. When my older son Jake was a toddler he loved to go there with his cousin and ride everything at least once. One summer when he was about two years old we went there and he rode all the rides with his cousin. Because of the Texas heat I bought him an orange snow cone. Also because of the heat, he was wearing a white t-shirt. What was I thinking? His t-shirt was soon covered in orange syrup. That photo became our Christmas card later that year and has always been one of my favorite photos of him.

I finally finished quilting the portrait quilt I made using that photo. I plan to bind it using the solid aqua fabric I used in the piece. The fabrics are those I won from Clothworks a few months back and are from Kathy York's fabric line. I love her colors because they look just like snow cone colors: blue coconut, sour apple green, orange, and strawberry red.

Here are a few close-ups of the quilting on the piece.

This quilt along with the Aloha Sam quilt I've written about previously will hang together in the master bedroom.

The Corridor of Art Show is Fabulous

2011-01-15T15:27:00.001-06:00

I am very pleased with the Corridor of Art Quilt Exhibit. Julie Ann Moon, my co-curator (more like co-conspirator) in this venture and I were joined by Carol McKenzie, Austin Area Quilt Guild (AAQG) President, Paige Fish, Mary Ann Vaca-Lambert, and Laura Brown to hang 43 quilts last Sunday afternoon. They range in size from 112" square to 11" square. And they are all beautiful and so unique. And last night's opening reception was a success. The quilts look amazing and the building managers were telling us that in the one week the show has been up they have received more positive comments from tenants and visitors than for any other show in recent years. Kudos to our fabulous quilters!

It seems that everyone was enjoying the quilts at the opening reception.

The main reception area had some very striking quilts hanging against a brick wall.

In addition to the wonderful volunteers who helped us hang the exhibit, we also had some wonderful volunteers who brought snacks for the reception and set up the tables. Elizabeth Keller, the AAQG Special Events Coordinator was indispensible in getting people to bring snacks. And she decorated the tables beautifully with red fabrics which worked fabulously with the quilts in the background and fantastic wooden blocks. We also had goodies brought in by Sandy Pigford, Sandra McCallum and Lynne Allen brought beautiful metal buckets to hold the drinks--and she, Julie Ann and Elizabeth stayed until the bitter end and helped clean up. What troopers! I am ever so grateful to belong to a group of talented women who give so much of themselves and are so much fun.

Some of my favorite quilts in the show are

Mosaic Heart Medley by Mary Ann Vaca-Lambert

The Land of Ah's: AKA Quilting Adventures by Dee Stewart Merrell

Moroccan Play by Barb Forrister

Black Swirls by Sherri Lipman McCauley

Red Legged Bird with a Tale to Tell by Kathy York

Les Amis (Pals) by Beth Kennedy

Self Portrait by Laura Brown

Carousel Workings by Caroline Wright

Eyjafjallajokull Eruption-Iceland by Vivian Mahlab

Group Conversations by Barb Forrister, Sherri Lipman McCauley,

Kathy York, Frances Holliday Alford, Leslie Jenison, Diane Sandlin,

Connie Hudson, Pearl Gonzalez, Jean Dahlgren

I like my quilts too, but seeing other quilters' work inspires me to improve. This first quilt is called Calaveras Fantasmas. It's a traditional four-patch with sashing which looked very flat. So once it was quilted I ran discharge paste through a screen print of a calavera that I've used before. You can see the "ghost image" of the screen print pretty well in the photo. I definitely think that helped give the piece some depth.

I've shown this little quilt before, called Calavera 2. That's the same calavera screen print that I used in Calaveras Fantasmas. I used Golden fabric stiffener to make the black and white frame 3-D.

And finally, here's a little portrait quilt I made of Sam. In the photo he was about 6 months old. Now he's 12 and stands taller than me at about 5'8" with a shadow on his upper lip and a deep voice. The fabrics are from Kathy York's first line of fabrics for Clothworks. I won the fabrics in a giveaway on Clothworks' blog a few months back and just love the vibrant colors.

I have to finish the portrait quilt of Jake soon and I am looking forward to finishing more than a dozen other projects that are in various states of completion as well as starting a few new ones. I am inspired to challenge myself.

Opening Reception for the Corridor of Art Quilt Exhibit - January 14th

2011-01-07T21:28:00.000-06:00

We're almost ready to hangs the quilt exhibit at the Corridor of Art @ 700 Lavaca St. I cannot wait. I do believe it will look fabulous because the quilts are absolutely gorgeous. Almost every style of quilt is represented: traditional pieced and applique, a crazy quilt, a Civil War reproduction quilt, folk art quilts, a memory quilt, contemporary quilts, and oh so many art quilts. We have quite a few abstract as well as representational art quilts to be displayed.

So come to downtown Austin next Friday, January 14th, from 5pm - 8pm in the lower level of 700 Lavaca Street (the building is between Lavaca and Guadalupe Streets. Lavaca is one-way north and Guadalupe is one-way south. There is street parking as well as a parking garage just north of the building (entry is on the Guadalupe side of the block). We'll have light refreshments and most of the quilters will be there. Some of the quilts will be offered for sale.

This photo shows the current oil and watercolor art on display. I'll post photos of the quilts once they're up Sunday afternoon.

More Virgencita Sightings & Thoughts on Mexican Culture in Texas

2011-01-07T21:23:00.000-06:00

I am constantly amazed where I find Nuestra Senora when I'm out and about in the Austin area. This photo (immediately below) is of a poster I saw at the REI store at the Arboretum. Really Expedition School? You put the Virgen paddling a surfboard at the lake? The next photo was taken from the doorway looking into someone's office at Strait Music in south Austin. A straw wall hanging of the Virgen with a calendar featuring the Virgen thumbtacked to it amid many music posters seemed right to me.

I took the next two photos at HEB during the holiday season. Wow, Visa is really marketing to Latinos, huh? Visa Gift Cards featuring La Virgen and a Mil Mascaras stand-in. I guess in the end it won't matter what the politicians and tea baggers say when you see the patron saint of Mexico all over Texas. I guess they just love the culture, food and cheap labor but not the people behind it all. Viva la Raza.

Sputtering to the 2010 Finish Line and Looking Forward to 2011

2010-12-29T20:41:00.002-06:00

This year I never really found myself in the Christmas spirit. I put up my Christmas tree last Wednesday and it was down and packed away on Monday. Now to get through New Year's and voila, back to normal. Don't get me wrong, I love gift giving. It is so much fun to find the perfect gift, it just takes so much time. And time is something I don't have in abundance.

I am glad to report, however, that Rosas y Marias was finished last weekend and delivered to her new owner on Tuesday. I included beads, beading needles, and beading thread with the quilt because the owner wants to bead the quilt herself. And as usual, I didn't photograph the final product. I'll see if I can get the owner to send me a photo once she's beaded it.

I'm also helping organize a quilt exhibit for the Austin Area Quilt Guild at the Corridor of Art--literally, a corridor in a downtown Austin office building. The corridor is actually a very nice venue. The exhibit will be hung on Sunday January 9th and will be available to view from Monday, January 10th through the first week of March at 700 Lavaca Street in Austin, Texas. From the ground floor take the escalators down to the basement level (really, not that kind of basement--a very nice, well lit, comfortable sublevel). See for yourself.

The second photo shows the area at the end of the corridor picture above it. It'll be perfect for the opening night reception--date to be determined. The exhibit that was up when I took the photos was of oil and watercolor paintings by local artists. Looking forward to that and to 2011.

May the new year bring you time, creativity, health, and happiness.

Quilting Rosas y Marias

2010-11-16T06:51:00.000-06:00

I've decided to name this little quilt "Rosas y Marias" or "Roses and Marys". Here's some of the quilting I've done on it so far.

Unfortunately, I haven't finished the quilting yet. Como siempre, life gets in the way. I have a terrible head cold right now, I've been working on a fundraiser for one of my sons' schools, and I'm going out of town Wed-Fri for work. Yuk. I'd rather be quilting.

New Commission Quilt--Virgencitas

2010-11-11T21:54:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago I was approached by someone I work with and asked to make a quilt for her--I'll call her Ms. M. Ms. M recently had a life-changing event and wanted a wall hanging that uses the Virgencitas panels from Luana Rubin's Enchanted Desert fabric collection.

The collection is pretty old--I think it was first released about 2005 or so--but I still love it. Here's the problem. She wanted it shaped like a diamond and she wanted it to feature turquoise and roses.

So first to the problem of roses. I dug through my stash and could find only one rose fabric that could possibly work (top center). I decided to order four more rose fabrics to try to find one that works with the Virgencitas panels. I fell in love with the one on the left, which is a Kaffe Fassett print. I'm not usually one for blue, teal, and purple roses, but he makes it work. I was concerned that the style of the fabric and the dustier tones would not work with the panels.

I decided to audition the Fassett fabric, featuring the purple rose (you can just see a bit of it in the photo above) bordered by the black and white rose fabrics on the bottom row.

Given the strange size of the Virgencita panels (something like 9.5" x 10.75"), I decided to frame the rose off-center.

Now to figure out the diamond shape. There is no way a wall hanging will hang well with a point at the top of the quilt. And since Ms. M told me that she wanted to bead the wall hanging herself, I couldn't stiffen the quilt at the top or use a really thick interfacing. So I cheated. I cut the corners off the wall hanging to help focus the eye on the cross that's created by the five Virgencitas panels.

I used an old turquoise Moda fabric I've had in my stash for years to sash and border the wall hanging. I plan to quilt the sashing in straight lines to reinforce the cross and then free-motion quilt the roses and the Virgencitas. I don't think I'll quilt it too tightly because I don't want to make the beading work too difficult. I hope Ms. M likes it even though it's not a diamond. If not, I'll be happy to hold on to this quilt for a while.

Slow-Down Weekend

2010-11-07T21:14:00.000-06:00

I had planned on spending Saturday sharing a booth with a fellow fiber artist at the Wesley Gallery's Community Arts Festival. Unfortunately, a medical issue kept her home and I didn't have enough to fill a booth so I stayed home, too. I'm glad I stayed home because I beaded almost exclusively on Saturday. I watched a few college ball games off and on and cooked a little, but that's about it. Here's some of the beadwork I did on a little wall hanging.

Pretty simple stuff, but still satisfying. I am looking forward to having my new camera delivered Monday or Tuesday. The last camera I bought I had for about 2 1/2 months and I dropped it from the bleachers during one of my son's baseball games last March. I still take photos with it, but it causes some interference and problems so the quality of the photo has decreased. Can't wait to play with the new one.

I have Veterans' Day off (next Thursday) and I am taking a vacation day on Friday and I plan to spend at least one of those days at my friend Belinda's sewing and quilting and planning. Belinda and I have hundreds of projects planned, handfuls started, and only a few finished each year. I hope to work on one of two quilts I've been commissioned to make. One is a wall hanging using the Virgin panels (like the one above) from Luana Rubin's Enchanted Desert fabric collection. The woman who ordered it from me wants the wall hanging set on point. So now to figure out how to get a diamond-shaped wall hanging to hang with that point at the top. Should be interesting.

Day of the Dead

2010-10-19T21:16:00.000-05:00

Alexander Henry makes some of the best "latino" inspired fabrics out there. Here's an early peek at the wall hanging I mentioned earlier today. Each four-patch and calavera patch is 5" square and the sashing is 1" wide. While I did a little quilting on it tonight (brought home pizza instead of cooking), I'm nowhere near done. My goal is to finish it by the end of this week. Hope springs eternal.

This quilt will also be for sale at the Wesley Gallery's Community Arts Festival. And I have an idea for another wall hanging that I think I can get done before November 6th. I just never know when to quit.

Calavera 2 Going to the Wesley

2010-10-19T11:24:00.000-05:00

I brought Calavera 2 to hang in my office from now through the November 6th Art Fair at the Wesley Gallery since we're so close to Halloween, All Saints Day/Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Calavera 2 looks really good hanging on my dingy, institutional gray, government office building wall.

I should also have a new 25"x25" wall hanging with the Day of the Dead theme using Alexander Henry fabric and hand dyed fabric I bought at the AAQG Quilt Show's Boutique that was donated by friends from the Austin Fiber Artists group. I hope to have the quilting finished on it soon so I can show you photos.

A Little Progress

2010-10-10T18:41:00.000-05:00

I made only a little progress in preparing for the Community Arts Festival at Wesley Gallery. I played a bit this weekend and made the three credit card holders pictured below. I also played with thread painting the coraz on. I think I'll use it as an embellishment on a wall hanging. We'll see.

I also came across an old favorite of mine, Virgin Icon. I think I'm done hoarding this one and am ready to let it go. So it will be priced to sell at the Wesley.

Hope to see you there on November 6th.

More Ladies of Guadalupe; Going to Dripping Springs

2010-10-07T21:57:00.000-05:00

I've been so busy with family and day job obligations I haven't had much of a chance to play and create. I really need to though because I've agreed to share a booth at the Wesley Gallery's Community Arts Festival on November 6 from 10am - 5pm. The Wesley Gallery is in Dripping Springs, Texas and you can find a map of its location here. They are expecting about 30 artists/artisans to offer their paintings, giclees, drawings, photography, sculpture, ceramics, pottery, fiber, glass, metal, woodworking, print making, jewelry and other handmade items. They'll also have local companies selling food and beverages (of the adult kind, too) so please come by and support your arts community.

I will have my small wallhangings there and hope to have a surprise product using wool roving. I won't tell yet until I experiment some more and make sure I get it right. I am excited at the prospect.

In the meanwhile, there've been more Lady of Guadalupe sightings around town.

She's on the east wall of El Milagro Tortilleria (The Miracle Tortilla Factory). Not sure why Cupid is depicted on the bottom right.

She stands atop the sign at a small strip shopping center just north of UT on Guadalupe Street. Guarding the ice cream or guiding our way to it?

If you see the Lady of Guadalupe where you are, please snap a photo and send it to me.

Our Lady of Guadalupe/Virgin Mary Sightings

2010-09-30T06:51:00.000-05:00

I really enjoy working with traditional Mexican icons in my fiber art. One that I've been working with the longest is the Virgin of Guadalupe. Years ago I bought many panels of the Virgin fabric designed by Luana Rubin. Right now I'm working on beading a panel I worked up into a simple pattern for a wall hanging (or pillow front) for The Urban Attic (my now defunct contemporary quilt pattern partnership).

What I really want to do is design my own Virgen de Guadalupe. I've been doodling faces and body styles for years now but am still not happy. The designs I've seen in other artwork and around town all seem pretty similar except for a design I saw yesterday outside El Milagro Tortilleria (corn tortilla factory). It's a bumper sticker that was placed on a side window of a van parked outside the tortilleria. I really like the stylized design and that the design is from above the knees. Should I assume that the book tucked under her arm is the Bible? A missal? A prayer book?

I took a class with Ginny Eckley recently on painting on fabric. One exercise she had us do was to draw a relatively simple thing like a fish or a tree with
resist on a couple of different fabrics and then paint it using Setacolor. Of course I couldn't just copy one of the designs she brought for class use. I had to draw one of my Virgencitas. I do not like the outcome of this at all because I had such a heavy hand with the resist. I couldn't for the life of me move fast enough with the squirt bottle of resist to get a steady, narrow line. Here's the better of the two samples I made. I have a lot of work left to design a Virgin that I'll be happy to share. In the meantime I keep doodling and keep my eyes open for more sightings.

Austin Area Quilt Guild's Show

2010-09-17T20:37:00.001-05:00

I was able to get out of the office a little early today so I booked it to the Palmer Events Center to check out the quilts before I have to work (as a volunteer) at the show on Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon.

It was nice to see my quilts hanging with such wonderful works of art. Unfortunately, I forgot to take my camera this morning so I only took photos with my iPhone so they're not great. But I still want to share them with you.

Here's Texas Drought (top). I feel good about it.

Here's Sunspots hanging above Little Blue Bird, a lovely piece by my friend, Barb Forrister.

And finally, Moon Glow, hanging below another of Barb's pieces (a three-ribbon winner!), Little Rascals. I'm disappointed in how this quilt blends into the gray drapes. I didn't even think about the drapes' color. But I am glad I am in such great company. Barb's work is fabulous.

There are so many quilts at the show, it's overwhelming. I couldn't finish seeing all the quilts in 1-1/2 hours today so I have a lot to look forward to this weekend.

To Fringe or Not to Fringe

2010-09-14T22:34:00.000-05:00

I took a few more steps towards finishing Calavera 2 over the weekend then had to stay up late last night to attach hanging sleeves and labels to my Austin Quilt Show entries that were due today. The show starts Friday at a new venue for the Guild, the Palmer Events Center. It is such a better venue than the previous one (which shall go unnamed).

But back to Calavera and fringe. I finished quilting the wall hanging and finished the edge by couching yarn (the black Tribble yarn) and fibers to the raw edge of the quilt. I left the tails hanging off the ends of the yarns and I can't decide whether to cut them off or leave them. My in-house art critic (my husband) thinks the fringe tails are overkill and I'm leaning towards cutting them off. But first I thought I'd post a photo and see what you think.

You may not be able to notice from the photo above, but the quilted border has been shaped for a 3-d shadowbox effect. I used Golden products' fabric stiffener on the border and loved how it stiffened the fabric and gave it a nice sheen. I need to paint the back of the border with it to make sure it holds the shape but I really like it. Here's another view.

I just love the depth. I need to play with the Golden some more and see what else I can make and how stiff I can get the fabric.

Tribbles and Calavera 2

2010-09-11T08:32:00.001-05:00

I was working on selecting fibers to add to the Calavera 2 piece when I noticed that the ball of silky black yarn looked just like a tribble sitting on my cutting table. You remember tribbles. From the original Star Trek tv show? You'd get one and it would start multiplying faster than rabbits. Perhaps that's why my yarn stash seems to be multiplying. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Calavera 2

2010-09-11T00:18:00.000-05:00

It's too late so I only have time for a quick post of my latest "finish-it-up" project, Calavera 2. The calavera (or skull) is my design from a thermofax screenprint. I made my first foray into screenprinting with Kat McTee's class at The Stitch Lab last year. Lots o' fun!

Hope to have it finished Sunday.

Texas Spring - Mountain Laurel

2010-09-05T22:06:00.000-05:00

As I've met more quilters and art quilters I've found that they fall into two types when purchasing supplies. The first type is disciplined and buys fabric, thread and notions only when they need it for a specific project. My good friend Belinda is one of those disciplined buyers. When I go over to her house for a play date her sewing room closet is lined with boxes and bins--each filled with fabric, buttons, beads, thread, and other notions for a specific project.

I, on the other hand, am a compulsive purchaser. I see it, I like it, I usually get it. Because I may use it in a project some day. Or to experiment with a new technique. Or simply because it feels so darned good. I'll take it out occasionally and pet it. Which is why I found myself wondering how I could use a beautiful piece of Ellen Anne Eddy's hand-dyed fabric in gorgeous deep purple and blue colors (I bought this from Ellen Anne at a workshop she taught for the Austin Area Quilt Guild a couple of years ago) and two of Laura Wasilowski's hand-dyed cheesecloth lengths in butter yellow and a lavender and sky blue mix (I bought these at Houston Quilt Festival last year).

I decided to use a photo I took of one of my Texas Mountain Laurels blooming. If you've never seen a Texas Mountain Laurel, they're beautiful, native, understory trees. They're drought tolerant, evergreen, and oh-so-slow growing. And their beautiful purple flowers smell like grape Nehi or grape Bubble Yum bubblegum. No, really. I love it. And bees and butterflies swarm to the blooms.

So starting in a mood of experimentation, I took the butter yellow cheesecloth and ironed it to an 8-1/2" x 11" sheet of freezer paper and printed the photo on the cheesecloth just like that. I didn't pre-treat the cheesecloth with anything (like Bubble JetSet, which I've had in my sewing armoire for years). Then I layered that cheesecloth over the purple/blue cheesecloth over the purple fabric. Then I used a stamp I carved of a butterfly and stamped white butterflies over the entire piece. I've had this part done for months.

Today, I layered it for quilting. I used polyester thread and quilted it very simply with straight lines using a long stitch on my sewing machine. I didn't want a traditional finish so I found yarn made from sari waste that I bought from Kipuka Trading at the Austin Bead Show last summer and had stashed in a bin. (They have a booth at the Austin Area Quilt Guild's 2010 quilt show at the Parmer Events Center, September 17-19.) I cut off purple, green, and white sections of the yarn and layered several lengths on each raw edge. I used a long zig zag stitch and left each corner with the yarn ends hanging. I finished the piece by adding cube beads I had left over from my days as co-owner of The Urban Attic. I think the piece came out quite nice. I'll have to check on the lightfastness of the photo given that I didn't pre-treat the cheesecloth. I just bought a new product from Golden (at Jerry's Artarama) to stiffen fabric and I may try that and see if it seals in the ink. But I'm such a texture junkie I don't know if I can do that to all this lovely texture.

The piece is about 8" x 11".

It feels good to have finished a piece I started on months ago. One down, too many to count to go.

Moon Glow, Again

2010-09-04T18:15:00.000-05:00

This is Moon Glow

It will be showing at the Austin Area Quilt Guild's biennial show, Changing Gears. The show will hang at the Palmer Events Center, 900 Barton Springs Rd., Austin, Texas from September 17-19, 2010. Show hours are 10am - 6pm on Friday and Saturday and noon to 5pm on Sunday. Sun Spots and Texas Drought will also hang in the show.

Moon Glow

2010-09-02T22:19:00.000-05:00

I finished the beadwork on Moon Glow, one of my entries in the Austin Area Quilt Guild's show, Changing Gears. Here are some close-up photos of the quilt.

After I layered sheers over the heavily quilted piece I attached beads through the layers of sheers and the quilt top. I cut the sheers around the beaded areas and then burned and singed them with a heat gun. The fabric gets very crunchy and full of texture. It leaves the quilt covered in shadows and shiny highlights. I really like the look of it. I'll post a pic of the full quilt another night when my internet connection isn't so slow.

Urban Landscapes and My Boys

2010-08-29T21:48:00.000-05:00

I was so excited with my new Clothworks fabrics that I just had to use them this weekend. I'd been planning on making a couple of wall hangings using photos of my sons when they were babies/toddlers. There are two photos of the boys that I just love.

This photo was taken when my eldest, Jake, was 2 1/2 years old. It was in the summer and my sister and I took him and his cousin Lauren to Kiddie Acres in north Austin. It's a great little carnival with about 10 kid-sized rides (including a kid-sized ferris wheel) that are perfect for toddlers. I don't know what I was thinking when I put a white t-shirt on Jake. But he sure did love that orange snow cone.

I've had this photo printed using Electric Quilt photo fabric for a while. I think the EQ photo fabric gives me sharper results. I didn't like the background so for the wallhanging I cut off the background. To make sure that the background fabric I was using wouldn't show through the photo fabric I fused the photo to muslin. I pieced together primarily the orange and turquoise pieces of Urban Landscapes fabrics I'd won and then satin stitched Jake's photo and his name to the pieced background. Once it's quilted I'll add buttons (probably white to tone things down) and I plan on foiling the orange spots on Jake's shirt as well as adding clear beads. Here's the top.

Jake's 15 1/2 now and a junior in high school. He's 6'2" and a pitcher on his high school baseball team. He'll be going away to college in two years [sniff, sniff]. Here he is on the mound last spring--a young man. Excuse me while I get teary-eyed. He'll always be my baby.

If I made a quilt of Jake, I had to make one of Sam, my youngest. I decided to use this photo of Samuel Eli because he is just so damned adorable in it. This is his Hawaiian phase. He was six months old in this photograph. He was such a smiley face and oh so squeezable and kissable. I scanned this photo into my Mac and again used EQ Printables photo fabric. The background is so boring I also cut it off.

For Sam's quilt I used primarily the blue fabrics and pieced a simpler background. I plan to embellish this quilt with little toys--Sam loved little plastic animals and still has his collection of dinosaurs, sea creatures, African animals and the like--hundreds of them. I don't think I could get him to let me use some of those--I'll probably have to buy new ones.

Sammy'll be 12 next month and as of this summer he's taller than me (I'm 5'6" so he's at least 5'7"). I swear my boys are monsters. Sam's in 6th grade now and has started band. He's learning to play the alto sax and he'll be playing basketball again this winter. Sam has always been a character. Here he is on a tour boat in the Lower Laguna Madre off South Padre Island during our vacation this summer. Where'd those cheeks go?! Where's my Hawaiian baby?! Oh no, another sniffle.

I'll post photos of the quilts once I've quilted and embellished them. I'm so glad I got the Urban Landscapes fabrics to use for these quilts. The fabrics are exactly what I needed to frame the two photos of my boys.

We Have a Winner!

2010-08-27T16:12:00.000-05:00

Have I ever told you I love fabric? I have fabric in my closet (my husband's side--sorry babe), in an armoire, in plastic bins, in an old sideboard, and my latest acquisition is in a Clothworks bag sitting on my desk at work.

I won a small stash of Kathy York's Urban Landscapes fabric line by commenting on the Clothworks blog. Brandi, one of the bloggers, got the fabric to me in two days. I am loving it. Thank you Brandi!

Oh, and I made a joke to Brandi about being glad I was getting a zero-calorie splurge since I was on a "No Fabric Diet". She replied that no one should be on that kind of diet, so she sent me an additional stash of Clothworks fabrics she'd been using for a project she's using on her blog. The line is Luna Blooms by Sue Zipkin, another Clothworks designer.

Now to use it. What to make? What to make?

Real Life and Art

2010-08-21T13:41:00.000-05:00

It's amazing how real life overwhelms you leaving your art to wither in your studio. This summer was crazy but I am back in the studio picking up where I left off. I have entered three art quilts into the Austin Area Quilt Guild's biennial quilt show, Changing Gears. The show is at Palmer Events Center, September 17-19.

Sunspots was in the Austin Fiber Arts Exhibit at the Austin-Bergstrom Airport last year.

Texas Drought was juried into the Texas Museum of Fiber Arts Show in 2009. I've decided that I want to add more quilting and embellishment to it so I have to finish that additional work soon. It will be for sale at the show as part of the new consignment sales area.

Moon Glow is close to being finished. This is the quilt that has languished over the summer. But I finally got back to it late last month and have layered the sheers over the quilt and finished the edges using a satin stitch. Today, I started beading over the sheers. I hope to have all the beading finished by tomorrow. Then all I'll have left to do is decide where to burn off the sheers to expose the quilted surface underneath. Oh, and then I'll have to attach a label and sleeve, too. I'll post a photo of it once it's completed.

I hope that Sunspots and Moon Glow are hung together in the show--they're meant to be a set.

Vintage Finds and a Full Moon

2010-05-16T11:20:00.000-05:00

I attended two estate sales on Friday morning and found some wonderful bits to use on my art quilts and collaged pieces.

The vintage buttons were going for a quarter a card so I bought 40 cards. The sheet music is great for collage pieces and the textile decorating book from the 1930s has amazing graphics.

All these lovely vintage fiber goodies inspired me to start working on a collaged quilt I had layered months ago but hadn't quilted.

The pieces of fabric were pinned together and free motion machine quilted. The next step is to layer several sheers ranging from white to silver to black and maybe a little light blue or pink and attach them to the quilt top with beads. After that I'll burn through some of the layers of sheers to show the quilted fabric beneath. The technique will soften the harsh lines of the fabrics and give the piece a much softer look. I hope to post photos of the next steps soon.

Saludos!

2010-05-11T21:18:00.000-05:00

Saludos! Welcome to my new blog with my new name, Tejana Studio. I'm looking forward to migrating my musings on fiber art to this blog that matches my etsy store name. I've just started loading items to sell on Tejana Studio so please bear with me if it looks a little bare right now.

Tejana Studio will feature fiber art and quilted wall hangings inspired by the following themes:

Mexican/Latino Iconography & Culture
Nature, especially Texas' landscape, flora and fauna
Family

I am very eclectic (since I get bored easily) so I don't work in just one style or primary medium. However, I do like to work with sheers to create collaged pieces; use photos in my work, especially of family and friends (and clients); mix commercial fabrics with hand dyed/stamped/painted fabrics; use bright colors; and use embellishments like yarns, buttons, beads, and foil. While I do plan some of my pieces, I like to change things up as I go--sometimes to overcome design dead ends and other times just for the surprise factor.

My more "arty" projects often sit on a back burner and stew a little while I work on home dec and accessory projects for myself, costume making for my younger son, and gift making for friends and family. I have about 15 art projects and 10 other projects in the works right now. I hope to finish at least one art project and one other project each month starting.....now!

I will try to post regularly and share tips and techniques I like to use. I will always try to attribute tips and techniques that I may have learned from someone else--it's amazing how much information is already out there.

So thanks for stopping by and please introduce yourself via comments.

Hasta luego!