RedBarn Studios

i took pics of all the fabs i dyed last week and had all intentions of working on getting them posted in the wee hours when we were on our trip this past week. yeh, right….the best laid plans and all.  so Sat night before doing anything else i cropped and labeled them all, ready for posting yesterday.

but….best laid plans came into play again cause my mOjo somehow reappeared and ya know we gotta work when the muse hits.

so with out further ado here’s the results of my in the zone dye day, yippee!

don’t ya just love the gradation thing going on????

see the three yellow ones on the top…i actually did a 5 gradation run of  Dharma golden yellow  but this time, boo hoo.  because i did so many fabs i tried rinsing them all in the same wash in the machine (i usually separate the lighter colours).  ix-nay on that one and i should have known better.

splotchy won’t do for NC’s workshop so i’ll either over dye it or do some screen printing.  as a matter of fact, a bit of both might be in order.

the drudgery of ironing
when have lots of fabric to iron i set up my ironing board with my large studio board on it in front of my bed with the board at a comfortable ironing height and then have at it.  i figure there’s no sense in standing and shifting from foot to foot…sitting and ironing can only be a good thing…you guys should try it.

anyway that’s how I got these pics.  was trying to get a good angle on all the newly dyed fabrics all in a row and couldn’t, so tried a spiral.  love it!!!

gradations came out fairly evenly from one fab to the next.

remember this:

here’s the shirt that resulted….and i’ve worn it already i might add…..ha!

when i first brought the fabrics upstairs to begin ironing i just dumped them on my bed. Connor came in and, seeing a chance to play, dived right in throwing the fabrics everywhere.  had to get my camera for this one.

see the how excited he gets with newly dyed fabrics? Not!

my cutey pie

toodles,

Tags: hand dyed, hand dyeing, hand dyes, monday posts, pic of day by k grace howes
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When you host your own blog you decide the content that it contains…all the things that you think are pertinent to you and your readers.

Some of you may know this but each of those things in my sidebar is called a widget.

—a widget is a stand-alone application that can be embedded into third party sites by any user on a page where they have rights of authorship-– yada, yada yada

In other words I search for widgets with a code that someone else has written, plop it into a text box and that’s that! The thing with WordPress.com that I found so very restricting is that they controlled some of that content by not allowing certain java scripts (the script that makes up the code) to be embedded in my blog (mainly commercial activity widgets)

One of those widgets that I found and love for this blog is the Fun Facts widget (a WP widget). Every time you visit my blog a new fun fact is displayed like the new ones I got today….

• did you know that a person uses approximately 57 sheets of toilet paper every day (yeh, like you really needed to know that)
• that Happy Birthday, the song, is copyrighted? (so much for observing copyright on that one)
• or that in medieval Thailand, they had movable type printing presses. The type was made from baked oxen dung (Yummy!)

Now if you so choose you can keep hitting the refresh key on your browser to get new and interesting fun facts but I think your time will be better spent on art.

When you do visit my blog however, don’t forget to scroll down and check for another bit of  useless neat bits of information waiting there to fill another brain cell that could instead be used to listen to all the mindless drivel on the TV. Take your pick.

I’m going For the Fun Facts.

p.s.

Here’s are a few places I’ve found some of the widgets I used (disclaimer…I am not affiliated with any of them nor do I vouch for their reliability)

Widgetbox
Widgipedia
Google Gadgets

Tags: monday posts, this 'n that by k grace howes
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I  have been lax of late when it comes to my blog and my Facebook and Twitter pages. Let me give you a heads up on what’s been going on.

Last year in October I made a video of my studio for Cloth Paper Scissors Studios‘ virtual tours (check my studio tour here). I had so much fun taping it and even more laughs trying to put a cohesive video together with all the retakes I did.

Anyway, I knew I needed to clean –REALLY, REALLY, REALLY clean my studio (a 2nd floor bonus room).  Of late I’ve had to search high and low for items that were always readily available and that has made working on new art pieces a hit and miss thing at best.

So I mentioned to hubby in February  (okay, okay…..I whined about having to CLEAN) and he approached me a few days later about completely revamping/redoing my studio (now that’s what I’m talking bout!)

So he started redesigning use of the space and I started on my closet…figuring that in order to effectively and efficiently redesign the  studio I had to tackle the closet first.

Took down the regular wired shelving, bought 2 new heavy duty shelving from local DIY and put those up. I did not, however, like the gun metal gray so I also bought a couple of cans of spray paint to change the colour to white.

Next step is to start on one corner of the studio and work our way around so that I could still work even if I had work around things for a bit. Now that I have the shelving in the closet, a lot of my “stuff” can be housed in there, freeing up some valuable space in the studio itself (are you seeing the BIG picture yet?)

As well, this will give me an opportunity to inventory ALL my supplies for business purposes of course (whooee…getting faint just thinking bout that task)…been a recent conversation on one of my art list about that. So that’s the long reason why there is no artwork to show you.

But there’s more…..

What has kept me from really pushing forward with the studio revamp is my position as Co-Chair for the 2010 NC Quilt Symposium, to be held June 3rd – 6th. This is a big event for our fair state of North Carolina AND, our guild, Charlotte Quilters Guild, is hosting it this year…..in 5 weeks! Yikes!!!!!

As well as being one of 3 co-chairs I am also the Teacher Chair so I’ve been working with a great bunch of teachers who will be teaching at Symposium this year. Look at this line-up (names are clickable):

Charlotte Angotti
Cynthia Corbin
Melody Crust
Patti Culea
Kim Diehl
Karen Eckmeier
Ellen Anne Eddy
Robbi Joy Eklow
Flavin Glover
Bonnie Hunter
Janet Lasher
Susan Purney Mark
Velda Newman
Jenny Raymond
Paula Scaffidi
Pat Sloan
Karen Stone
Carol Taylor
David Taylor
Laura Wasilowski
Elin Waterson
Terry White

We are all racing to get things finalized so that we can put on a fantastic event. We are soooo very excited to have everyone over our way.  There’s still space available in some classes so be sure to check out the website.

So now you know…I am officially tired but still keep trucking on. Ideas for art pieces still flood the brain but it has been told to put them on hold…at least till I can catch my breath on June 7th. Ha!

Toodles,

Tags: down time, life etc., monday posts, organization by k grace howes
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Yesterday I got straight to writing my morning pages and then ventured into my studio. I only had a few hours to work cause it was P-day! (Prom-Dress-Buying Day).

Anyway I wanted to try a new-for-me technique (Wen Redmond’s holographic images) and remembered that I had seen an article about it in one of the zillion Quilting Arts (QA) magazines I’ve acquired over the years.

What I decided to do next was different than my original plan. Instead of sifting thru all the the magazines searching for the article, I decided then and there to grab a few (okay about 10 or 12 of them), settle in a comfy chair and ingest some creativity.

This regular habit of mine was long overdue.

When I get the mag in the mail I usually read it front to back..no skipping pages — ooh shock horror! My friends laugh and think I’m loony but I just cannot read the 3rd article (or whichever one) first. It’s just not in me, so there… you know one of many, I’m sure, eccentricities of mine.

But here’s another thing that I do….when I first sit down to read the mag I make sure I have a pen and some post-it note tabs with me.

As I’m inhaling the words, I come up for breath long enough to write the name of the article (or a pertinent tidbit to remind me of what it contains) at the top of a tab and stick in on the 1st page of the article.

The tabs are placed in the mag in a stair step manor so that I can easily view each one. When I run out of tab room on the front, I just place them so they face the back of the mag and I have another stair step heading back towards the front of the mag. This way I can flip the magazine around to the back to see other tabs.

I started doing this before QA began offering their article index on their website. It was so automatic for me to start tagging as I read. Besides, I could just see me misplacing the printed index sheets somewhere in the abyss of my studio. With my way I just look at the top of the mag to see which articles it contains and go from there.

I did get thru at least 5 of the magazines before I had to get ready to hand over the credit card. What a morning well spent! …even if I did get sidetracked.

Tags: down time, monday posts, this 'n that by k grace howes
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Another artist I inner-viewed for my zine, The iNNer Eye, was Sarah Ann Smith. I’ve been waiting to post about her until after I had finished reading her new book, Threadwork Unraveled.

I was itching to get to it but, in the end, wound up reading it on my daily bike ride (don’t worry..it’s a stationary bike, ha!). Reading it that way, taking it in — in little bits –  was excellent because it gave me a chance to absorb ALL the information she packed into it.

And what a fantastic book this is!!!!! As stated on Amazon, “Sarah Ann Smith unravels the secrets behind how it’s made, how to select the right thread for the right job, and how to use it to enhance your piecing, appliqué, and quilting”.

The book is filled with her “Sarah-isms” throughout that makes it such a fun and informative read. Sarah explains things in such a concise and direct way that gave me many Aha! moments. I now have a much better understanding of how important thread is to my artwork and how to effectively use them to enhance my pieces.

If you haven’t already purchased this book I HIGHLY recommend you add it to your bookshelf (check Sarah’s website below).

I met Sarah virtually, online a couple years ago. A comment on her website/blog probably made me laugh and I responded. That’s who she is, a wonderfully quirky, fun, helpful and endearing person and author.

Sarah is also a very accomplished art quilter. Her work has been featured in regional, national and international shows and exhibits, in galleries and has been published in local and national magazines.

My favorite piece of hers, Fields of Gold, recently won a 2nd place award in the IQA Art Quilt Miniature category. That’s the biggie Houston show people! I sometimes roared with laughter when reading her answers to my questions. Smile along with me and…

Enjoy this insightful look into a wonderful fiber artist, Sarah Ann Smith…

Marshall Point Light

Inner Eye: What informs your artwork?
Sarah Ann Smith: Everything and anything!  Ideas often appear fully (or nearly fully) formed in my head.  Other times it is as if the view is foggy and as the fog lifts and burns off, the images reveal themselves inside my head until there is a clear picture of what wants to be let out and put into cloth.

IE: Why fabric/thread/paint as a means of expression?
SAS: I have sewn for almost as long as I can remember.  In first grade, a neighbor-girl made me an apron for my Barbie doll. Why she did this (as she didn’t know me well), I don’t know but I still remember how amazed I was that she MADE the apron herself, AND that she gave it to me! I loved it! Obviously, the fiber bug was in that apron and there is no antidote.  Thank heavens!

Naiads

IE: Who continually inspires you?
SAS: My friend Kathy, whose textile art amazes me; my kids and hubby; my friend Marie, who explores EVERYTHING;  my mini-group, the Frayed Edges–I am blessed that we found each other; Mother Nature.

IE: What, if anything, precedes the full blow idea for a piece of art?
SAS: There is almost always a picture inside my head clamoring to be released into cloth–usually there are bunches of them jostling to be first out!  and not nearly enough time to make even a fraction of them.  It’s as if I need to try out the ideas inside my mind first to see if they are worth making, because I don’t have time to spend on something that’s gonna flop for sure!

Buoys #1

IE: What matters most to you about the work that you do?
SAS: All of it! And that it gets made….  I want the piece to work visually/creatively.  I want the workmanship to be flawless.  It’s nice when the image resonates with others, but some pieces are just personal and need to be made no matter what.

IE: What do you ask of yourself in terms of your art in the next 5 yrs?
SAS: Oh my gosh… that is SO precise and forward-looking and planned and demanding.  I don’t think I work that way… the pressure of failing to make a specific goal (or several) would just do me in!  All I want to do is keep making quilts and art and writing.  And I have to do it within the context of caring for my family, and maybe,  just maybe be lucky enough to win a second ribbon in Houston.

Fields of Gold

IE: If you could not pursue your art, what other way would you spend your time?
SAS: If I couldn’t make art, I think I’d be comatose or dead! I’d go stark raving mad if I couldn’t create!  Even if I were somehow incapacitated and couldn’t sew, I’d find some other way to make art…Think Frida Kahlo flat on her back, rigging up an easel above her bed so she could paint while flat on her back in a brace.  Where there is a will, there is a way!

Sarah Ann Smith

Website: http://www.sarahannsmith.com
Blog: http://www.sarahannsmith.com/weblog/
To read Inner-views of other artists click here and here.

To purchase a copy of my zine “The iNNer Eye” please check my Esty store.

Tags: Art, Inner-views, monday posts by k grace howes
4 Comments »

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Yesterday I had a chance to spend some time with some friends and frolic with fabric.
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Nancy Cook decided that she needed to purge some the the fabrics she no longer uses so she invited a few of us over to help her get her stash in order.
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Six of us sorted and sized and labeled …and talked and laughed and perused her fabric for most of the morning.
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It was fun fondling someone else’s fabric because it was all new to us.
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Well most of us.I was sitting at the table with Elizabeth (a wonderfully fantastic and funny friend) and I had to laugh because every 5th fabric she recognized as a fabric that she owned as well.
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One of the bonuses in helping Nancy was that we got to choose a “bundle” of fabric for ourselves for helping her out.
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Everyone took home their bundle and some even purchased a little more\’a0 than that (see part of Elizabeth’s stash at left..hee hee).
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At midday Nancy’s husband, Don, treated us to a scrumptious lunch that included something I”d never had before, bird’s nest vegetables, sorry I forgot to take a pic of the meal but OMG how good were they! And I know where I can find them too…..Trader Joes.
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Anyway, all this is to redirect some of that fabric into someone else’s stash. Soon she will announcing her fabric sale. I think she will do the grab bag….fill a gallon bag with fabric for a nominal price. Look for her announcement on her blog soon.
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See ya next time “In the Hayloft”,

Tags: Art, community, monday posts by k grace howes
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This past Saturday wrapped up our guild show. What a hoot we had! We are a small group (about 55 members) and did we put on a show!\’a0 And to boot…I won a few awards.
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Here’s the wrap up….
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This was our regular group picture taken just after the show closed and before we do Take Down. Michele Sheets (reclining in front) was our Show Chair so we gave her a special space in the pic. These are some of the best bunch of ladies and am so happy to be in this guild with them. We have way too much fun together.
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My group, Pandoras, won 1st place in the Group category, and below as we accept our ribbon. From L – R: DeLane Rosenau, me and Susan Brubaker Kanpp (missing is Lushorn Millsaps).
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I won Best Innovative Quilt for Red Moon (below). What a nice surprise!
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Here I am accepting my ribbon for it. Liz always cracks me up with her hilarious stories but, for the life of me, I can’t remember what she said here that had us giggling so much. Considering that this happened only 2 days ago, one would think I was having an early senior moment.
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“At Odds” won a 3rd place award in the Art Quilt category. Yay!
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A couple of pics of the quilts hanging….
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Donna Loebs looking at the “Roots”Challenge pieces,
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DeLane and her\’a0 “Birds of a Feather” jacket that won an Honorble Mention in the Wearable category,
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Here’s our ribbon table. The smaller ribbons below the large ones are yo-yos that Jean Newman made as a new thing this year. Each winner got one that corresponded with the ribbon they won. We pinned them on our name tages so that show attendees could easily see who the ribbon winners were.
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My husband brought my youngest son to see the show. He walked around really looking at all the quilts and came back and literally pulled me from my duty at the admin table to show me his favorite quilts.
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This next quilt by Jeane Knick won Viewers Choice Award and a 2nd place prize for large bed quilt. This was one of the ones he pulled me to. He was so very animated as he told me how he loved how the colours moved in this Bargello pattern. It was really a beautiful quilt.
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Sandy Palmer’s quilt “Shake Your Tail Feathers” was picked as Judge’s Choice by judge Scott Murkin. He absolutley loved it because he thought it was “ridiculously cute”.
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“Till He’s Cute” by Joyce Mullis won a 2nd place ribbon in the Art Quilt Category. We all had a good laugh when we saw this one with the martini glass.
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Towards the end of the show I realized I hadn’t gotten many pics of our guild members working the show so at one point I turned to see Liz (on right) and Jean checking out some quilts.
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I couldn’t get a clear picture to I snuck around to the back of the quilt they were looking at and poked the camera thru. I surprised them and they both burst out laughing but, I got the perfect picture.
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One of the new things we tried this year was a thing called “Playpen Frenzy”. We loaded a playpen (quite a few times too) with lots and lots of fabric (books, magazines and ribbons too).
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Quilt show attendees got to fill a gallon size bag for $3…BUT…. it had to zip completely closed to count. This was a giant hit! Guild members got to recycle some of their stash and some lucky quilters got some “new” fabrics.
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The Flight of Fantasy Doll Club set up a table at the show. I wish I had taken more pics of them but I just had to get the Witche’s trio. Look at how innocent they look.
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…and what about this little elf popping out of the tree stump…he was way tooooo cute. (I apologize for not recording the names of the makers though).
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and because the last day of our show fell on Halloween we had people walking around in costume (check our our one Charlotte Sloop as Reggedy Ann in the group pic at the top of the post). My son decided to dress as a “cool” vampire. Here is in full make up and in character…
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Cool huh!
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See ya next time “In the Hayloft”,

Tags: artful creations, community, monday posts by k grace howes
9 Comments »

I’ve been struggling these past few weeks to really get my head around my art. I keep starting on different pieces but nothing much happens to inspire me to continue. Yes, I am definitely in a rut.

I have ideas and sketch but I when it comes to implementing it, I stall. I refuse to push it though cause I know I won’t like what I produce. So instead I wait….

Struggling with fiber art I am but I have been making more journals and have experimented with something new.

Most people use bookcloth for the spine but because I like the luxurious feel of it I use ultra suede (if I can find a matching colour).

Here’s my latest filled to the brim with 5 signatures of wrting paper.

The cover is, as usual, quilted and I’ve sewn small beads on the spine.

The closure for this one is a button I found a few months ago.

I had to do a little bartering with my daughter to to be able to use the metal charm I sewed on the front cover. It says…

The words are apropos for my situation right now don’t ya think?

I have also been experimenting with boxes. This is my first attempt. The top is covered in a beautiful chinese themed fabric and the edges and sides in a red bookcloth.

What I’ve found out is that making the inner compartments is a bit tricky but I really like how it turned out. An elastic that hops over a buton keeps it closed tight.

I will be adding the journal to my Etsy Shop this week. The box I wanna keep for a little while longer.

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See ya next time “In the Hayloft”,

Tags: journals, mixed media, monday posts, paper art by k grace howes
6 Comments »

Try this. I forget where I saw it but loved it and knew I had to blog it. Copy into a new blog post and paste your answers to suit you. Have fun!

Yourself: Authentic

Your partner: Funny

Your hair: Short and RED!

Your Mother: Strong

Your Father: Missing 

Your Favorite Item: Digital Camera

Your dream last night: Weird

Your Favorite Drink: Water

Your Dream Car: one the gets me from A to B

Your Dream Home: 10 acre lot near a stream w/ a barn-like structure for my studio

The Room You Are In: Studio

Your fear: Mmmh…I’m thinking

Where you Want to be in Ten Years? master artist

Who you hung out with last night: computer

What You’re Not: Unreal

Muffins: Banana nut when interested

One of Your Wish List Items: Successful kids

The Last Thing You Did: Clean up Studio

What You Are Wearing: Flip flop flirty skirt

Your favorite weather: Warm with a light breeze

Your Favorite Book: Anything I’m reading right now

Last thing you ate: Hard salami  w/ Ritz crackers (ha!)

Your Life: Getting there

Your mood: Content

Your Best Friend: Me

What are you thinking about right now: Filling this form out

Your car: Red baby, red

What are you doing at the moment: Blogging

Your summer: College visits

Relationship status: Married

What is on your tv: Nothing…nice and quiet

What is the weather like: Warm but cloudy

When is the last time you laughed: Everyday

Tags: life etc., monday posts by k grace howes
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Every once in a while I check out the cluster map of visitors to my blog. I love hearing form each of you when you post comments but as usual it fascinates me when people stop by to say hi and I see where they are from.  At the bottom of my sidebar is a widget that just pops a big blob of red for their location but I need more than that.

So I copied and pasted the stats below, not to show how many I have (believe you me, that number has never interested me) but to show how far away people are yet we can still be so close. Technology like this rocks wouldn’t you say?

Check it out below….and a big, BIG thanks to all y’all who have visited my little corner of the world (I’ve been in the South too long, love to say y’all now) and continue to follow my journey, I love having you along for the ride.

If you see your country below give me a shout out in the comments section and let me know what kind of art you do. I’ll pop on over to your neck of the woods and check things out. Would love to even post about your work on my blog.

p.s. even my home country, the Bahamas, is represented though it’s probably all my family checking in.  But hey….family rocks too!

This is so way cool!

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See ya next time “In the Hayloft”,

Tags: Art, community, monday posts by k grace howes
1 Comment »