Rene Iannarelli has been a customer for several years and has made so many pieces with my fabric that she has a dedicated section in the Customer Gallery. She surprised me this week with another beautiful piece!

I'm not positive, but based on the colors I believe that the main fabric in Fall Marsh is the Woodlands Gradient.

About 3 years ago I posted an interview with Rene. I'm reposting it here in my never-ending chore to move toward shutting down the old blog.

Orange Sunset was the featured work of that interview and it's made with the Navajo and Sumner Sunset Gradients.
​First, would you tell us about the inspiration for this new piece and how you went about creating it.
Orange Sunset was inspired by your fabric and works by Elena Stokes.   While most of my experience comes from my quilting roots of accurate piecing I found a new freedom experimenting with this rip and iron piece.  I used a fusion backed heavy interfacing to just lay down the strips.  And then  simply quilted it. I found it a little flat so thought an additional smaller quilt would provide the additional visual interest.    This piece recently received a merit award at the Manito Art Show in northern Wisconsin.  I was thrilled that fiber art was recognized as art among the traditional art work.

​How did you get into fiber art and quilting?
I took my first class 32 years ago to get out of the house.  I have always sewn clothing and following the bicentennial the opportunity through community education interested me.  I was most fortunate to learn the basics of templates and accurate piecing.  I was hooked.

​Temperate Rainforest
(1st place in regional Island Walk  Art show. Inspired by a trip to Alaska.)

What inspires you?
How many bed quilts and table runners can one have?  Newly retired I found time to explore some techniques I have been reading about.  I took a class by Wendy Butler Burns in finding the art quilt within.  Off I went with embellishments and crinkles in fabric, free motion cutting and experiencing.  As luck would have it I met another fiber artist  in my area and we formed a fiber arts group with eight other out of the box quilters.  My very first quilting instructor is in our group and we are having a great time in teaching each other techniques.    Having individuals with the love of art quilts as critics is a great help to me. 

Yellow Leaves
(I wanted to create a panel that was transparent utilizing organza, some silk, etc.  It represents autumn leaves is the sun.  Branches are covered  pipe cleaners.)

Do you find that you lean toward certain color palettes?
I lend towards tones and am forcing myself to go brighter.  I rarely use pinks and purples and lean to the colors I find in nature such as oranges, greens, blues, and browns.    Autumn is one of my favorite times of the year in northern Wisconsin so the bright blue sky and changing leaves sets a tone for creation.  
Where can we find information about your classes?
 I do not have a web site and do not have one planned.  I have taught at various guilds in Wisconsin and Iowa.  Over the last two years I have a number of awards at quilt and art shows in our area.   My goal it to make a piece acceptable in a juried art or quilt show.
Thank you, Rene, for sharing your beautiful work with us.
If you have made something with my fabric I'd love to share it here on the blog. Just add it to the Customer Gallery via the Submission Form. For your generosity in sharing you will receive a 20% coupon off your next fabric purchase.

Yes, as a matter of fact, I do love vultures. If you live "in the country" you grow to appreciate them. I developed my love of vultures when a big (and probably pregnant beaver) died at the edge of the pond and I thought we (meaning Chris) were going to have to deal with it. Nope. My new best friends arrived and had the whole area spick and span in 2 days. They are fun to watch too as long as you don't get close. 

​I knew I wanted one on my wall so I put him in the upper corner where he can watch over my quilting. I think the bold blackness of him also detracts from the hideous (but necessary) pipes.

Here are all 4 of the most recent sections together. The vulture next to the flag just cracks me up!

Here's what the floor looks like after 3 sections. This annoys me so it will be cleaned up before I start another section. That will give me some time to come up with an idea for the next section too.

​This past weekend I taught the New Owner's Training at The Longarm Network.  I love doing the class. Everyone is excited about their new machine but they are also a little scared. My goal is to get them wanting to rush home and quilt. The class is always fun and I love all the people that work at TLN. Shelby works there and that's why I was in a hurry to get her gift done and ready for delivery Saturday.

This is Shelby and she loved her new plates! One of them really needs to be slumped again but she wouldn't let me take it back. I figure she will eventually relent when she gets tired of it rocking on the table. It was the last piece I made and was done Friday so I didn't have time to slump it once more. But she loved them and she's happy so I'm happy.

You know how occasionally you meet someone and instantly become attached to them? Well, that's what happened to me with Shelby. Shelby works at The Longarm Network where I teach the New Owners Training. When Shelby started there she sat in on the training as part of her orientation. She's young, cute, witty and always happy. I was struck with her lack of fear of the machine and when I sent the class off to practice some simple quilting motifs I found Shelby quilting a unicorn whale. I immediately wanted to adopt her.

Shelby is getting married soon and her favorite color is turquoise so I decided to not make her a quilt and make her some glass instead. I only had time for this one quick photo before I needed to pack everything and wrap it last night. These plates range in size from 10" to 4" and then all came from 1 beautiful streaky and iridized sheet of glass. I'm giving the gift to her this morning and maybe I can get a photo of her when she opens it.

Class is going great. I have 6 great students. Yesterday we learned the basics of the machine and today we will be learning some freemotion quilting techniques. If you are in the Richmond area and are a new longarm owner, lapsed owner or just need a refresher to get your nerve back, I'm teaching Don't Fear the Longarm Saturday, August 20 at The Longarm Network. It's open to machine owners (or renters) of any brand.

Meet Ringo!
Carol Deards is a fiber artist specializing in pet portraits. Her newest piece it Ringo and here's her description:
I love dogs. When I saw a photo of this dog I knew I had to create a piece featuring his face. This portrait was created using a fusible thread raw edge appliqué technique. I love Vicki's hand-dyed fabrics and so was delighted to find that one of her gradient fabrics set off this dog's face perfectly. Ringo was born with a cleft palate. With dedicated care, he survived and is now a happy, active 2 yea old and the light of his family's life.

​Carol used the Envy Gradient for this piece.

Just so we don't have a cat fight about over favoritism to dogs, Carol also makes cat portraits. Here's one that she made a couple of years ago using the Pine Forest Gradient as the background. You can check out more of Carol's work, and contact her about your own pet portrait, on her website.

I'm really focused on glass work this weekend because I need a wedding gift soon.  Last night I started a slumping cycle and then got this shelf ready for a full fuse today.  Then I have one more slumping cycle after that. I have several new finished pieces that I'll get in the shop next week.

Like with quilting, sometimes I think I have the most fun with the scrap. If one of these ornaments doesn't turn out it's no big loss. If one of the bigger pieces doesn't turn out it's a much bigger deal.....although it just creates more scrap glass!

Today I have lots of errands, yesterday's dyed fabric to wash out, get ready for teaching my Innova New Owners class tomorrow and get things ready for today's Airbnb guests. It's a busy day but I hope to try out a smaller vine on the Virginia's Vintage Creeper quilt this evening. My bias tape makers came in the mail yesterday,

Tomorrow we can all see how my little Christmas trees turned out.

I like to share hand dyed fabric. I also like to introduce hand dyed fabric to quilters and encourage you to use the hand dyed fabric that you buy. I realize that it's expensive compared to commercial fabric but I love using it and I like sharing it. Even if you can't afford the fabric I have several opportunities to get some for free!

Friday Leftovers is a giveaway that I do on my Facebook page ever Friday to give away a fat quarter of hand dyed fabric. Just follow the Colorways page and enter the Friday Leftovers post each week....on Friday!

In the Newsletter each month I give away 5 fat quarters of hand dyed fabric to 5 lucky subscribers. You don't have to do anything except subscribe to the newsletter and read it each month to see if you won.

Blog Giveaways are another way that I like to share fabric with you. I currently have the UFO Challenge running and a participant is drawn each month for their choice of a fabric or glass prize. Periodically I need to clear out a big stash of fabric so I have a week long series of drawings. Just follow the blog in your favorite reader service and keep a look out for one of the giveaway series. I'm feeling the need for a Back To School giveaway series soon!

Of course customers get free stuff too! Every order receives a little sticky note pad. Orders over $50 receive a free fat eighth of fabric and orders over $70 additionally receive a sample of Mistyfuse, my favorite fusible web.

So stay alert! There's frequently some free fabric just waiting to come to your house.

Let's not have a post without a photo. I think I just about have the border design for this quilt nailed down. I don't like the 1/2" stem so I've ordered a set of bias tape makers so I can try 3/8". 1/4" will be too small, I think, for blanket stitch edging but the 3/8" should work.

​What do you think of this layout?

I've been a bit lax in sharing new fabrics lately but that's because I've been doing a lot of custom dyeing. Last week and this week I'm back to stocking the store and I'm starting with 2 of the most popular gradients.

Abundance is back this week! If this isn't the single most popular fabric in the shop, it's certainly in the top 5.

Right up there with Abundance is Under The Sea. 

Did you know that I can customize any gradient for you? I can arrange the colors any way you wish or swap out colors. The minimum order for a custom gradient is 2 yards ($36) simply because of the methods I use for dyeing, but you will get the exact gradient that you need for your project.

In other news, I got all of the pieces (except the black border) cut for the Rainbow Quilt last night. I had pulled a big collection of fabrics and just kept cutting until they were all gone.

That's why I now have enough pieces to make TWO quilts! Whenever I get done I'll have a king and a lap quilt.
​Oh well, why not? Right?

Of course I'm most intrigued by the scraps but I behaved and put them away with the quilt pieces for now. I'll work on the Rainbow Quilt again in August.

Someone perusing my blog for the first time would quickly determine that my approach to "making" is completely scattershot. I cant' seem to focus on one thing for more than 2 days straight.  I'm completely OK with that but it must look awfully disorganized from outside my own head. Fortunately I have the space to have several projects easily accessible at any time. It allows me to suddenly feel like doing mosaic or glass or longarming or dyeing or cutting or sewing or.......

work on Ashley's Rainbow quilt. 
Truthfully this project is reserved for once a month when I sew with my Country School Quilter friends at the Montpelier Center. That was this weekend so this is the monthly update for this project.

I only got to go on Friday this month because a friend and I went kayaking Saturday at Lake Anna. It was hot as blazes but we had a great time.

I just started working on the Rainbow quilt last month so my time is spent cutting and sewing. I have 50 blocks made so far and I just had to come home to put these on the wall to get an idea of how it will look. My favorite block so far is the 1st one in the second row from the top. I just love the orange/yellow center. I am loving the blend of textures and "solids".

To do cutting at the center I have to take my rulers (because different brands of rulers measure differently) with me so I've decided to go ahead and cut all of the fabrics here. I didn't feel like doing anything else yesterday so I made great progress cutting out the pieces and will have this wrapped up and put away tonight.
I still have to dye the black fabric for the border blocks and cut that but I have a while before I need to make border blocks.

Is this not the pretties trash ever? Plans are formulating for these!

This week is a busy week. I'll be teaching new owners training at The Longarm Network this weekend and have a lot of chores but I'm planning to get in some serious time back at the longarm too and tomorrow I might have the final border idea for the Virginia's Vintage Creeper quilt.

I have so many petals left from that vintage flower quilt that I decided to take some of them and make some postcards.

These are from the bag of unmatched/oddball petals; little orphan petals that had no where to go. I matched them up by color groups and arranged some little blossoms. Wasn't it nice of the lady who made these to baste them all for me?

No hand blanket stitching here! This is a job for the machine and it makes a mighty fine blanket stitch.

I even did a simple straight stitch edge which is unusual for me. But I felt that a black satin stitch would be way too much black.

Six postcards of no-longer-orphaned petals!

Today my kayaking friend and I are taking our first kayaking trip to lake Anna (about 45 minutes from here). Hopefully we will not roast in the heat. I'm packing lots of water and sunscreen.

Getting in the mood to do glass work in the summer isn't the brightest idea in the world but you have to go with the muse when it hits. Yesterday, when it was over 95 outside, was the perfect day to fire the kiln to 1425 inside. I open the basement door (right next to the kiln) and use a fan to vent out any burn off so the basement was quite warm and muggy all day. It was good that I postponed dyeing until today because it was too hot to do anything down there yesterday. Today, after I clean the Airbnb unit, you can find me in the basement trying out a new gradient idea.

Here's the kiln before firing.

Here's the after. Soon I'll have a couple new quilt sun catchers in the shop and some new bubble plates after these go through a slump process. The blue piece in the middle was my first experiment with piping glass powder, like cake decorating. I'll be doing lots more of that.

​Notice the 2 pieces on the lower right. Both of those were stencil experiments. They didn't turn out quite like I expected....but I learned and that's what's important. The little square pieces will be magnets.

But not today. Today is dyeing day!