December 2009 Newsletter

Christmas Gathering
The Christmas Gathering was a blast. Thanks to Joanne Klug for ‘volunteering’ her beautiful home. As Katy said in an earlier e-mail, the best white elephant was the box of stuff that Theresa put together. It had everything you can imagine…..more than you can imagine. Lois will have enough stuff to do things with for a long time. Joanne, we accidently drove off without it, but Lois wants you to save it all for her. Katy received a Quilting Arts DVD and watching a few episodes of that will be the January program. Karen will also demonstrate how to mold faces out of clay.

What are you interested in?
We need your program ideas and folks to volunteer to demonstrate various techniques. If you are doing something interesting, please share your knowledge with us. The next meeting is January (brrrrrrrr) 28th at the Menasha Public Library.

Dues are due!
The Dues for 2010 are due. Its $10 for those of you who want your newsletter mailed and $5 if you still want to get it via e-mail. Please fill out the form in the newsletter so we will have your correct contact information.

Artist Trading Cards (ATCs)
What are they? 2 ½ X 3 ½ inch mini works made of whatever you like, to be exchanged with friends and other interested artists. More information can be found on the internet. Karen shared the following link for ATCs several months ago.
http://www.cedarseed.com/air/atc.html

Bring your ATCs to the next meeting. Joanne brought her ATCs to the Christmas Gathering and showcased her mixed media technique of decoupaging fancy paper napkins to fabric, finishing and stitching on them. ATCs are fun to make and exchange.

Road Kill Challenge The basics for this challenge are: Walk one mile down the road of your choice and pick up anything that you can find that has possibilities. Work it into a wall hanging use anything you find, muslin, one focus fabric (it must be something you already own, there is no shopping involved in this challenge) and all of the paint, ink and anything else you want. Challenges are due at the April Meeting so that everyone has time to complete their challenge and bring it in. THERE WILL BE PRIZES!

Conversation in Cloth meetings are held on the last Thursday of each month at 6:30 PM at the Menasha Public Library unless otherwise stated. Visitors are welcome.

Talking Threads on web video

Talking Threads is posting their 30 minutes programs on the web for all to view. They meet with a textile artist and demo a technique (or 2 or 3). They take the time to go into depth. It's been a really worthwhile and interesting show so far. Enjoy!

View more here.

November 2009 CinC Newsletter

Recap of the October Meeting

* Road Kill Challenge – Karen introduced the Road Kill Challenge. She talked about Found Object Art, which Katy quickly dubbed FART (Found Art from Recycled Things).

Karen showed a pin that she had made in an art class long ago out of a piece of copper wire and a bark chip. She also showed some rust dyed fabric that she had made from found objects and muslin. The basics for this challenge are: Walk one mile down the road of your choice and pick up anything that you can find that has possibilities. Work it into a wall hanging use anything you find, muslin, one focus fabric (it must be something you already own, there is no shopping involved in this challenge) and all of the paint, ink and anything else you want. Challenges are due at the April Meeting so that everyone has time to complete their challenge and bring it in. THERE WILL BE PRIZES!

Sample "found items" with possibilites [pop cans, mylar food bags, plastic thingies ...].

* Group Volunteers - In order to divide up the work, volunteers stepped forward to take on the chores of the group. Lois Wolfe will be the Treasurer; Karen Matze is the secretary/newsletter person; Theresa Busse will coordinate the programs for the upcoming meetings.

* Dues are due for 2009. They will remain at $5 for e-mail newsletters and $10 for newsletters by mail.

*Christmas Party – There will be no November meeting. Instead, the annual Christmas Party will be a potluck at Joanne K’s house, on December 10 at 6 PM. Bring a dish to pass. Please call Joanne to RSVP or e-mail her.

Don’t forget your white elephants. You may not buy anything; it has to be something you already have at your house. Think creatively!

* Warping Party – Lynda announced her warping party for November 7.

* Theresa B – Theresa is moving to Ohio in the future to be with her family. Until then she is coordinating the group’s programs. We will miss Theresa mightily when she leaves us, and we all wish her well. We will also need another program coordinator in the future so if you are interested, raise your hand at the next meeting. All you need to do is make sure that we have an event, demonstration, speaker or activity for 11 meetings this year.

* Show and Share – Betty brought a beautiful framed piece of free form beadwork that she had done in turquoise and copper. She also showed some of the pins that she is working on that feature doll heads. Theresa brought two books that she thought the group would enjoy: Haute Handbags, Autumn 2009 published by Somerset Studios and Cool Coutre: Construction Secrets for Runway Style, by Kenneth King. Lynda had a weaving that she had done with paint stick dyed warp and weft for the first 6 inches with a dyes wool for the balance. The first six inches were $30 an inch, the last was $30 per yard. See pictures in the post below ...

* Fabulous Fractures – Lois demonstrated this technique using multiple repetitions of one fabric. The technique is from a book called Fabulous Fractures written by Brenda Esslinger. This strip piecing technique gives a three dimensional look to your finished piece. Lois will be teaching a class in this technique in January at her studio. Call her if you are interested in signing up.

* ATCs - Bring your ATCs to the December meeting. Michele brought two that she had received as a result of her BlogSpot. Karen, Lynda, Lois and Michele traded at the September meeting and will bring theirs as well to trade with everyone else. Info on ATCs can be found at http://www.cedarseed.com/air/atc.html.

Upcoming Meetings

Conversation in Cloth meetings are held on the Thursday of each month at 6:30 PM at the Menasha Public Library unless otherwise stated. Visitors are welcome.

December 10 – Christmas Party at Joanne K's, on December 10 at 6 PM. Bring a dish to pass. Please call Joanne to RSVP.

January 28 – We need a volunteer, please contact Theresa.

February 25 - We need a volunteer, please contact Theresa

October 2009 Show-and-Share

Katy made great progress on this thread-painting piece, started in a class with Ellen Anne Eddy a few years ago.

Here's a close-up of Katy's dragon :



Betty's beautiful Turquoise and Copper beadwork


More of Betty's beadwork and the book she's using for inspiration.
Those 2 blue brooches sitting on the book are Betty's.


Michele finished the Spools Quilt Top, borders and all. Now how to quilt it?


Lynda's weaving experiment. She used PaintStiks to color this weaving.


Lois made this stump-work (?) wall-hanging.


Another of Katy's pieces : Piping Hot Macaroni made with silks from the garment district in NYC.

September 2009 Show and Share

Detail of Zebra by Lois. Every bit of this piece is covered in thread! It's incredible! She's getting this ready to send to Paducah, or other big international shows.


Full view of Zebra by Lois.


A Refracted wall quilt by Lois. It looks shimmery and 3-D, doesn't it?
Lois showed several of these refracted quilts as she will be teaching a class and needed class samples.


Refracted Flowers by Lois.


Refracted Fish by Lois. It looks like you ware seeing them through rippling water ....


Back of Refracted Fish by Lois. This is the base fabric she started with.


Refracted Quilt by Lois


Refracted Penguins by Lois.


Michele's Millifiore quilt-top. This is the 4-patch stacked posey pattern.


Detail of Michele's Millifiore quilt top


Because Michele showed her 4-patch stacked posey quilt top, Karen brought out her Christmas tablecloth WIP. Hmmmh--- kind of looks like artist trading cards in this format. Or tree garland.


Karen's covered buttons made in a class she took earlier this summer. One of them even has beads on it!


Karen's new baby : a 4-harness loom for which she paid less than $150! She's an incredible bargain-hunter and re-purposer! Last year, Karen took a weaving class at the Textile Museum in Minneapolis where she got to work on larger class floor loom. Since then, she's been looking for a loom of her own.


Karen's cat, Howard also wanted to be part of the festivities.

ATCs : September Meeting at Karen's House

The 4 of us had a lovely pot-luck dinner out on Karen's patio by candle-light. This picture is here because it resembles some of the refracted quilts Lois has been doing.


The program for September was Artist Trading Cards (ATCs). People were supposed to bring 14 Artist Trading Cards to trade with other CinC Members. Here are some of the ATCs laid out for trading. We could use any technique as long as the finished product was 3-1/2 in x 2-1/2 inches.

Here's a sampling of the ATCs traded that night :

Felted ATCs by Lynda


ATCs by Lois


ATCs by Michele


ATCs by Karen

Only 4 of us were able to gather this month at Karen's house, which means we all have a lot of ATCs left to trade.

Hi all,
Can I get a count of how many will be coming to Thursday's meeting? I am making sloppy Joes and want to know how much to cook. If you respond through the Yahoo group, you don't need to respond again. Call or you can send an e-mail. I am not putting directions on the website as this is an open site, however Michele sent out a member list not too long ago. I will either give them to you when you call or e-mail them to you.

See you Thursday!
Karen

August 2009 Show and Share

Sandy transformed another bra into this piece called Hooters!
She does these for a Breast Cancer Recovery group called Casting for Recovery. This group teaches women to fly fish.


Joann has been working on this beautiful piece to commemorate her in-laws 50th wedding anniversary. She has been mastering machine embroidery through the Creative Expressions Embroidery book. The butterflies are 3-D!


Lynda's experiment with the polypropelene (sp?) she shared with all of us. If you color the poly with oil sticks (Paint Stiks), and layer it on another piece of fabric, and melt it with a heat gun outside (it smells so make sure you have good ventilation), the poly melts, leaving the textured bits of color. This piece has also been embellished with stitch.


Lynda's Felt experiment. She has a piece of batting in between the felt. Since this seemed to work, she is going to try for a colorful winter coat. Can't wait to see that when it's done!


Work-in-Progress by Lynda. It's a woven piece, originally meant to hang, but the buttons make it too weighty. She was looking for suggestions on what other direction to take this piece. Suggestions included a scrim or organza stabilizer on the back or having it lay down (as seen here) to accentuate the puckers. It's like sand and shells ... We'll see what she eventually does with it. ;-)


Lynda also brought in this piece she did as a student. It's about Time, and the past being part of the present. It includes fossils, and shell embroidery, and a spider web.


Michele did a batch of paper clay medallions. See and read more about them here.
These are intended to be closures and embellishments for more journals.


Michele has also (finally!) found success with rust dyeing. See and read more about it here and here and here.

Art Quilters not to Miss

Lynda says look at these :



Hollis Chatelaine




Carol Shinn

August Meeting

Hi Everyone,
Our meeting on Thursday, August 27 will be at the Menasha Library with a 6:30 starting time. Karen will have a houseful of company on that day so we will converge at her house on another date.

Michele will show us how to use Yahoo and access our blogspot. Because she can teach these skills quickly, I would like to suggest the following topic: Playing with Paintstiks

I will bring along my collection of Paintstiks, rubbing plates, masking tape, a roll of paper towels, newspaper to protect the tables, a few stencils, and cardstock sheets.

You can bring your Paintstiks, stencils, a thrift shop tee shirt (to decorate), and/or plain, light colored fabric.

Bring your playful mode. We will not make art quilts ready for submission in competitive events.

Sandy

May Show and Share

Thanks to Sandy A. for diligently taking notes and pictures, while Michele was absent in May.


1. Sandy's bra purse with matching hat

2. Sandy's messenger bag and small bag with metal ruler closure

3. Sandy's checkered garden hat with a size 48 DD bra for the top of the crown

4. lining of the garden hat with misspelled word in the title (bra decorated fabric)

5. partial photo of Lynda's woven piece

6. beaded bracelet made by Karen

7. beaded earrings made by Karen

8. Julie's make over tote bag with new fabric pocket

9. Lois' technique for creating new fabric covered with netting

10. Lois' tote bag using newly created fabric; window in the side of the bag

11. Lois' recycled corduroy bag with prairie points on the exterior

12. Julie's red bra purse

13. close up of window in Lois' tote bag