I have always enjoyed playing with colors and shapes and with my love for textiles it was a natural metamorphosis to use fabric to "paint". Working with colors for me is instinctual. I create families of colors and take out those that don't feel right or jar the harmony. Sometimes, depending on my mood I create intricate pieces using the same color mixes. and at other times want a meandering flow of color. The color family is the same, the look and feel of these pieces are completely different. The first is planned and the second is random yet still structured by use of pieces from the same color family. Using a pixel - crumb technique I am able to create very large abstract fabric pieces wh

After moving our studio I am now unpacking and coming across all sorts of treasures that I had organized and made over the years. I found my box of color sorted remnants for creating wave art quilts and pulled a random packet out. Red wine. How many different types of red fruit flavored wines are there? Scrolling through the internet I came upon this site which explains in detail how to discern wine varietes with red fruit flavors. https://winefolly.com/tips/red-dark-fruit-flavors-in-wine/ Gamay, Pinot Noir, St Laurent, Grenache, Lemberger, Barbera, Nebbiolo, Merlot, Zinfandel to name a few. The fruits used are strawberry, raspberry, tart cherry, red cherry, cranberry and plums. My selection

Over these last few months I have uploaded a number of tutorials for reusable fabric masks. After many days and weeks of wearing masks for hours on end I find this pattern to be the most comfortable. I have made myself 10. I wash them together with regular washing at 40 - 60 degrees after every use which is more or less once a day. This is the basic pattern and can be adjusted to face width and height. Start by drawing a rectangle of 16 x 14 cm. Draw a line at the centre height. At the top mark 14 cm and at the bottom 12 cm. On the right side from the center point mark 4 cm up and down and from there 3 cm to both corners. Draw a line from the 14 cm mark to the point between the 3 and 4 cm ma

The first thing that I taught the students to make was masks. 3 types of no-sew tie masks and 3 types of sewn masks. I drew patterns and diagrams on the whiteboard and they copied them to their notebooks. Some of course had forgotten their notebooks at home so hopefully they will transfer their notes to the notebooks at home. The first mask they chose to do was the no sew t shirt mask in the top diagram and the second was the 2 layered sewn mask in the bottom diagram. The students always create a prototype first. To learn the technique, and if necessary to make pattern adjustments. We use upcycled sheets for this. After wearing this type of mask I told them to add 2 cm to the front part so t

One of the things we do for students is check out their sewing machines. Many of them have machines that have skipped a generation and been handed down to grandchildren. Parents want to provide the children with a working machine and especially enjoy using the ones that their parents used. There is a large amount of sentimental value attached to grandmother's or grandfather's sewing machine. I should know, I have one. This Necchi machine which was made in Italy is a workhorse. It came with a booklet in English, which was wonderful, as many times they come without booklets or in a language where I have to use google translate to be able to decipher anything. The instructions are super clear s

Now that we have moved the studio I can begin the process of unpacking my fabric, button and bead boxes. I am finding a whole lot of surprises. Color packs that I prepared from remnants and sorted in the past. As though they have been waiting for me all this time to be created... I decided to work randomly. Without even looking at the packets I put my hand in the box and pulled out the first one that I touched. Most appropriate. Pastel, sherbet, sugar fluff colors for these hot summer days. I had created fabric beads from very small remnants in the past and now made some more. Created some summer wave art. Then top stitched on my vintage machine. I love working on this machine. Slow, steady,