Garden Girl by the Sea

Garden Girl by the Sea

36" x 36"

I wanted to make a quilt that celebrates the extensive gardening I have been doing. I have also been missing the ocean.  I grew up by the ocean but rarely want to drive far to visit again. Many times I have wished for an ocean front property with a lovely house, but the geologist in me does not really want that. I understand about barrier islands and hurricanes. So, I will put it here in my art, and dream of it instead. Then I remembered that I already had a quilt like that. One that I didn't like anymore, and didn't need anymore, and was stored deep in my closet. So, I pulled it out.

To transform it into my new vision, I had to remove a number of the old elements, which included glued on string, some embellishments, and some applique. The dense satin stitching was not too hard to remove, but it left damage in the fabric. The glue was harder to remove, and very visible. I tried scraping it off, freezing it, and then trying to scrap it off, and a razor (which sadly made little holes in the fabric). So, I gave up for a while.

Then I saw a video about glue basting, and how it washes out! Why didn't I think of that???  So I tried getting the glue wet, and it was so easy to remove! I guess I got lucky with that one, because without it, the project could not proceed forward. I also remembered that if you get fusible applique hot again (at least for mistyfuse), you can peel it off. It worked perfectly after I removed the machine quilting first.

On to the rebuilding, and redesign!

I wanted to add a whale to the ocean part. I love the idea of living close enough to the ocean that I could see a whale. Fortunately, I had just made a quilt with screen printing, and I still had the screen for the whale. It took all of 10 minutes to print one whale AND clean up!  

Then I dyed it, and it was ready for fusible and to add to the quilt. 

I really love how the dye powder looks sprinkled onto the wet surface.  I wish it could have stayed that way after processing.

I also wanted to add a few flowers to cover a previously blank section in the lower right corner. I opted for some pink flowers, and cut the flower centers from an old piece of batiked fabric I made years ago.

I added a garden hose, and then used some hand quilting and hand embroidery with embroidery floss to make the water coming out of it.

The old version of the quilt had a pretty frustrated, possibly angry face. So I changed it to optimism and awe for the re-do.

And the last change was a pair of kittens by the little house. Very sweet!

Now I have it hanging on my wall. I have no plans to send it anywhere. It does provide a lot of joy when I look at it though!

The Long Necked Cats and the Long Legged Bird

The Long Necked Cats and the Long Legged Bird
40" x 40"

I am happy to share with you that this piece will be traveling in SAQA's Wild Fabrication's exhibit!  It is an honor to have my work chosen!!

These cats are a whimsical take on my cats and their many personalities; the instigator, the gastronome, the skeptic and the innocent...(top to bottom). They live indoors and spend many hours watching birds through the windows. I imagine them preferring that birds can't fly, but rather run with long legs, putting their bodies right at mouth height! 

I had a lot of fun making this one.  It practically flew together!  I used a whole next set of fat quarters that I bought in La Grange while visiting the Texas Quilt Museum; lots of polka dots from Kaffe Fassett and some batiks from Marcia Derse.  These seemed to blend together in a way I wouldn't have thought possible, but I love it!  Each fabric was Mistyfused, and then traced, and then ironed into place.  I made a make-shift light table by putting a bulb on a cord inside a plastic box.  I added a piece of glass to the top.  Then I made sure to leave the light on for only a few minutes at a time.  The possibility of a meltdown seemed imminent!  So I worked quickly and then turned off the light.  There is most likely a safer way to do this, but since this one worked, I didn't look for another.  Meanwhile, I discovered that my giant box of Prismacolor pencils worked perfectly for drawing on the fabric.  I was able to pick different colors to make sure that my lines showed on the different colored fabrics.  And I drew the lines slightly larger so that I could cut inside the lines and not have the pencil marks on the fabric.  Worked like a charm!  Here is a kitty face just starting.  You can see the fabric on top of the Fat Goddess Teflon sheet, which is on top of my drawing.  It shows even better with the light turned on.

After I fused the cat bodies, I fused to the white background, and then added the dots in the background.  The big ones were cut from some batik circles I had laying around...

LOVE those dots!  All the colors are so pretty!  The little dots were painted.

And after completing all the machine quilting with Masterpiece threads, I went back and added the black line satin stitching and a little hand embroidery on the faces. 

I'm guessing you can probably see where my inspiration for this quilt came from now?

Innocence

Innocence
16" x 16"

I finished my entry for the Quilt Alliance.  Every year they have a contest to raise funds for their fabulous organization.  The quilts are donated and exhibited and then they are put up for auction on Ebay.  I don't always enter because sometimes the theme does not appeal to me, but this year really pulled at my heartstrings.  It was easy to come up with an idea for Animals We Love!

I am also hip deep in home repair (again!), and have had very little time to sew.  Spring is calling me outdoors (the live oaks are dropping leaves again!), and I long to return to the pool and my bicycle.  The weather is absolutely perfect here in central Texas!  And so, I cherished the opportunity to make something small that wouldn't take me too long.  I finished this little kitty in 3 days!

And if you are curious, the quilt was made with 100% Mistyfuse.  All the pieces were cut into their shapes and fused into place.  I then quilted it by machine, then satin stitched in black, and add a few touches of hand embroidery.  The vase is transparent, I used some light blue dyed silk organza (Mistyfuse works perfectly for that too!).

The kitten's story:
We found him at the Humane Society, only 1 of 2 kittens there.  I preferred to adopt an older cat, but my daughter was smitten with this cute boy.  He is actually a tuxedo boy, so handsome in his black and white.  We already have 3 adult cats, all siblings.  The 4th died from bleeding out from a surgery.  He had eaten an object he shouldn't have.  The vet told us it was a sharp wire and that it really needed to come out, so I gave the okay.  It was not actually a wire at all, but a hair band.  If I had known that, I would never have authorized the surgery.  I am still grieving the loss of our Smokey cat, complicated by my part in his death.  I thought I was helping him and it unfortunately led to his premature death.  Anyway, with 3 cats in our lovely household, I falsely assumed my daughter would attach to one of the other cat-boys.  But, she did not.  Eight months later she was still not making any progress.  So, I surprised her with a trip to the Humane Society.  I was determined to find a way to integrate another cat into our cat society, though honestly, it was the last thing on earth that I wanted to do. 

yes, his eyes are really really round, perfect circles!

A year later, the sweet kitty boy is the charmer of the household.  He has filled our hearts with joy and healed our grief.  He is a hilarious ball of energy and spunk.  He quickly found his place with the other cats and held his own, despite being the smallest and youngest.  And regardless of the trouble he gets into, he never really believes that he is doing anything wrong.  After all, he is just being a cat!  Oh YES, we love him so!
I hope this little quilt earns a lot for the Quilt Alliance.  I put my whole heart into it, so much so that I might just bid for it myself!  I am even considering making another one just for me, or possibly marketing a pattern for him! 
I also did an recorded interview with the Quilt Alliance years ago for their project Save Our Stories.  If you are interested in mine or a large selection of other wonderful quilters, you can find the stories here.

Cat Hats

Cat Hats

My daughter and I have been playing a "game" involving her toys and specifically these 4 beanie baby cats.  It involves secretly placing the cats rather life-like positions and waiting until the other person finds them....and then laughs hysterically.  My favorite was this one of the cats left in the refrigerator sniffing my salmon!  Too funny!

Or maybe this one?  of the cat sleeping upside down on one of our cat shelves?

These two poses were her gifts to me.  This is one of mine to her....climbing the tulips kitty....

For Christmas, my daughter let me know that she was expecting something interesting for the cats.  Drats!  I hadn't even thought that far ahead! I finally came up with this at the last minute.  I knitted scarfs for each cat and made them little hats.  I had intended to make red and white Santa hats, but I didn't have any red felt, so I improvised.  I actually like the individualized colors better.  It looks so cute!  And it was fun to have a little secret project to surprise the young teenager!

What I learned:  if you knit tiny scarfs for cat toys with tiny knitting needles, it still takes an unreasonably long time to do it!!  Must use larger knitting needles!

 

First day back to school, the kitties sit by the window....waiting....

Kitties "play" the guitar, or play on the guitar?

If you are following me on Instagram, you may have seen how the beanie baby game has changed slightly to the sharky game.  Stay tuned, I will post those photos here too!  Or you can follow me on Instagram at kakiyork.

Pet Postcards

Pet Postcards
4" x 6" 
Pokey Bolton has organized her second fundraiser for the Friends for Life, no kill animal shelter in Houston, TX.  The donated quilted postcards are sold at the International Quilt Festival in Houston, TX.  They sell for $20 each, and all the money is donated.  Last year they sold out of all their postcards and raised more than $20,000!!  As a personal challenge, I decided to try to make more than I did last year.  Last year I made 6, with the help of my daughter.  This year, so far, I have 11. The first series, of the dogs, was super fun to make.  I love how colorful they are, and that they use some of my batik fabrics.  I can honestly say that I did not enjoy cutting out the little dog from fabric 7 times, but I love the way it looks, especially the little ears!  Next time, I may consider using a screen printing technique.  But they are fabulous, yes?

And, I made a cat series to go with it.  These were taken from photographs of my cats....which were a litter of rescue kittens that I did not find homes for.  They are named the flying cat boys because late at night they would run and chase each other, practically FLYING over my king sized bed.  All, while I was trying to get to sleep.  Such is the nature of cats. 

I made one image of each cat, and an extra one as a tribute to Smokey.  He died this summer and we miss him so much it still hurts.  He had an operation to remove an object from his tummy that he swallowed.  It was supposed to be routine and a quick recovery.  Instead, his blood didn't clot, and he died within a day of his surgery despite heroic efforts on the part of his health care team at the emergency animal hospital.  It is never easy to lose a pet, and this one was no exception.  We were lucky to know him and to love him.  He will be missed.

A tisket, a tasket, a kitten in a basket.

A tisket, a tasket, a kitten in a basket.

All grown up.  This is my kitten before he was my kitten.  Weeks after discovery and when we were still looking for homes, for ALL of them.  He looks so cute in the basket!

 Same basket, 4 years later.  He's the biggest cat in the bunch, weighing in at 18 pounds.  And both of my human kids, at ages 15 and 11, are now taller than me too.  How did this happen so fast?

What I've been UP to, Cat Shelves

What I've been UP to, Cat Shelves

I have been watching My Cat From Hell on television.  I wish I could say that it was just a curiosity, but the truth is that my four boy cats might qualify for this show!  They are aggressive with each other, and my guests.  I usually lock them up in the bathroom when I have company.  But, after watching the show, I have hopes.  Each segment gives me new ideas, and I implement them ALL! 
This week, instead of quilting, I have been adding cat shelves to my walls.  It is intended to give the cats a high perch so that they feel safe, and a place to just hang out!  I started with a beam from the top of a book shelf to a stack of milk cartons.  It was a good idea, but too wobbly.  This brought the investment up a notch.  The beam was easy enough to cover in carpet with staples, but actually bolting these things down when the cats just around is a different story.  Here is a photo of the beginning of the project, and a plan for more shelves (for easy entry and exit).  I used painters tape to mark the placement of the shelves, which I moved around a lot until I liked the arrangement.  I must say that it is harder than I expected to plan something for the cats abilities and their bodies.  I also used a stud finder so that the shelves would be anchored in studs, and that put some artistic limits on the project. 

When I decided to add the white shadow boxes from the container store, I knew I was on to something.  I just love the white squares against my aqua walls.  I plan to put some art inside these, but for now, I like the simplicity of the white squares.  FYI:  This also added significantly to the cost of the project.  Rats!

Last you can see the flying cat boys exploring their new territory.  The last one is happy cat.  It just makes me wonder, seeing him licking his lips, if he is planning to make a meal out of me, from high atop his perch?

Working Big

Working Big
Here is a glimpse of a new project I have been working on.  The cat gives a sense of scale doesn't it?
It is king sized, bright and bold, fun and energetic, fresh and just lovely!!  Brings a smile to my face every time I see it.  Can't wait to start quilting it, so many ideas!  However, it is 4th in line, other projects are awaiting my attention. 
Isn't it funny how cats know instinctively what you would prefer that they Not jump on?
This precious Pumpkin did no harm, so he got a free get out of jail card and a kiss on his noggin.

Gift for Pumpkin

Pretty Patchwork

Pretty Patchwork

This is a pretty little quilt that my daughter started a few years ago.  It turns out that she doesn't really like sewing, or maybe, she just doesn't like it at this point in her life.  It has been sitting on a shelf for quite a while and I thought it might be nice to finish it up for her.  She was in perfect agreement!  And...as an added bonus, it was something easy enough to do while I am trying to get my strength back.  I can't even begin to tell you how great it feels to start working again, and this sense of accomplishment for finishing a small project.  The quilting was hard to do, (by machine), but my darling daughter does not require perfection from me, so it worked great for both of us!
And, here is the back.  The center is made from a piece of fabric my daughter batiked and dyed.  I cut it up and rearranged it (with her permission).  It think it makes a lovely center, and it is framed by at least two of my fabrics from Urban Landscapes. 

Part two....I always wonder what my cats are up to while I am working away in my studio.  Here they are right outside the door....just waiting for me to show up.  They are seriously cute!!

Guest Blogger

Guest Blogger 

 Hello! Today I am a guest blogger at Subversive Stitchers: Women Armed with Needles. I love the title, don't you? Featured today I ask myself, "Why?" especially as it relates to some of my more elaborate and time consuming projects. Here at home, it has been a quiet month. I have had no real work to put on my blog in a while. Soon after I got home from Houston, I was busy with my fabric line, and then quite by surprise ended up withdrawing my son from school. He is learning at home now and though I have been reluctant for years to homeschool, I am finding it was the best decision I ever made. That's what he says too! Now, the trick will be to find my balance again and learn to multitask art and teaching. With a couple of months under my belt, I will say that it easy getting easier to get organized and balanced. And, since I can't blog without photos, you may be wondering what the Flying Cat Boys have been up to.... Well, Vanilla Bean has been studying physics and Pumpkin wants to learn to read and write. Smokey and Garfield are either preferring chores, or interested in tumbling objects, I'm not sure which. Enjoy your day!

Flying Cat Boys

Flying Cat Boys
To celebrate my 100th post, I am writing about my kitties today. At the end of May, my flying cat boys turned one year old! They are happy, well adjusted, healthy kitties. Here is a photo of the day we brought them home. Aren't they just so adorable? Makes you want to reach out and touch them!

 Here they are in my studio. I have opened the door for them with just the screen closed. This is also what I call "kitty round-up". They are not usually allowed into the studio because they like my pin cushions. But when they sneak in, they run under the sofa and dig in their claws. It is hard to extricate them. So I open the screen door and they eventually wander over. I let them look for a while, and when they start getting bored, I slowly pick them up, one at a time, and lovingly escort them out.

They have also learned to hunt bugs. And in the summer that is a wonderful thing! Sometimes at night a fly will get in. A picture is impossible, what I need is a video of them as their movements are as erratic as the fly's. It is hilarious, but also useful. They CATCH the flies!! Thank you good kitties! Here they are at the window. Almost all my pets are in this photo. You can't see the guinea pigs, but their cage is in the background. And my sweet and old Weimeramer just happened to be awake and alert for this one! That makes 7 out of the 8 pets. I'll save # 8 for another post.

Last one, kitties sleeping. Why do they line up like this? Some unknown kitty ritual? It is definitely cute though!

Stressed?

Stressed?

 I have decided this is what cats are good for, aside from being cute. They have a presence about them that can totally lower your blood pressure and drain the tension right out of your body. Looks like Pumpkin already knows this! Look at that happy face!
And because I read somewhere that denial makes people happy, I will leave you with this wonderful illusion that cats are only calm creatures.

Pretty colors!

Pretty colors!
I was going to say, "yummy" but I think that one has already been taken. I love playing with color. On days that I get to dye fabric, I am jumping out of bed and running to the garage. This is my kids' zip line. I have sort of taken it over for my work, sadly they haven't really noticed.
Watch out, I did what I said I would NOT do. Is there anything cuter than a sleeping kitten?