May Program : Color Block Portraits

Oliver by Michele M. Read more about it here.

The program this month was Maria Elkins' Color Block Portraits as shown in her DVD, Making Faces.

Maria Elkins offers written instructions for Beginning Portraits on the Quilting Arts website.

Michele did a few of these portraits last summer, and CinCers wanted to know how to do it.


Self-Portrait in Blue by Michele M. Read more about it here.

I hope some of you give this technique a try.

May Show-and-Share

Here are some of the finished tissue paper-dyed silk scarves that we made back in March. Yummy colors!


Sandy took a class at the local tech school to learn how to dye these scarves.
Sandy also shared that the Annual Bead and Button Show will be in Milwaukee June 10-12.



Betty beaded these boxes as demonstrated by Karen back in January. Don't you just love how we learn from each other? Betty has also been very busy Zantangling :







Pat is back from her winter sojourn. She's been busy! She made this cat pin cushion (above) and a Spirit Doll (below) :



Here's a close-up of Pat's Spirit Doll. She explained that the turquoise-colored beads are made from something very unusual. Take a guess and then scroll down to see the answer ...
She also incorporated other natural things from the desert like dried cactus, devil's claw, and pomegranate husks.


JoAnne completed this reversible vest. She also brought this gorgeous coffee table book :




Pat did a small challenge quilt where she had to use this fabric, shown here as the quilt backing.
This is what she did on the front of this fun piece :


Michele has also been busy experimenting with Citra Solv to dissolve the ink in old National Geopgraphic magazines. Feast your eyes on some of the results :

From National Geographic and Citrasolv backgrounds

If you want to try it yourself, Diana Trout has a how-to video.

Michele also mentioned The Sketchbook Challenge as a source of inspiration and techniques to try. Each month, they offer a new theme. It's not too late to join!


Fire Fall Journal Quilt by Michele. Read more about it here.


Red-Wing Black Bird Journal Quilt by Michele. Read more about it here.

Answer to the Blue Bead Mystery : Pat's Turquoise-colored beads are made from diced, dried, and painted potato. Can you believe it?

Dyeing Silk Scarves with Spectra Art Tissue : Demo by Joanne

At the March Meeting, Joanne taught us how to dye silk scarves like these with Spectra Art Tissue and a spray bottle with water. This method is safe enough to use with kids.

Joanne provided a Kit (Kit Fee $5) containing 1 silk scarf, an assortment of tissue paper (SpectraArt Tissue Paper).

Other things to bring :
Spray bottle with H2O
paper plate
gallon-size zip-lock bag (to take it home)
rubber gloves
plastic drop cloth / garbage bags to protect the tables


To begin, you just tear the tissue paper into pieces the size you want to use.
Then just lay the tissue paper on the scarf. Spray it with water, so that the color migrates from the tissue to the silk. Keep layering the silk with tissue paper and spray it with water.

It doesn't take long ...




In this picture, you can see the "spent" tissue paper next to the newly dyed silk scarf. All the color has migrated to the silk--which is exactly what we wanted to happen. 

Let the silk scarf dry and then heat set the colors. Joanne used a warm dryer for 10 minutes. You could probably also use a warm iron, too.

Bring your scarves back next month so we can see how they turned out!

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Please note : If you try this technique and have problems, please re-read the instructions.  
There's NO vinegar and NO cold (or-hot)-water rinse in this technique.  The scarves are left to air dry on their own, then HEAT SET with DRY Heat (as from an iron or a dryer).  I have several scarves from this session (and later) and I've never had a problem with the colors running.   Just follow the directions ...   [Note added 9/22/2015]

March 2011 Show and Share

Betty beaded the hems of this silk scarf she dyed at Lynda's Christmas Break mess-making day last December.

Another one of Betty's scarves dyed at Lynda's Christmas Break play date in December.


Betty brought the basket she made after Lois' demo last October. Nice job!


Betty's beaded box.


Joanne's quilted table runner (?). A work in progress ...


Another one of Karen's beaded boxes. This is the one she keeps in her purse for pills. The beads seem stable with that type of wear and tear.


Lois's Ugly Block Challenge that she and a friend are doing together. She fractured the purple and green star block you can still make out in the corner (where Karen is pointing in the picture).


Karen's latest brooch, beaded and felted. Somehow Mop'n Glow was used on the felt, but I missed the details ...

Karen has also been Zentangling in her sketchbook. Check it out on her blog, Hanging by a Thread Studio.


Michele took a class called Beyond Meandering with Chris Lynn Kirsh at the Fox Valley Technical College's Sewing and Quilting Expo. This is a quilt sandwich to practice the designs.

January 2011 Newsletter

January 27, 2011

Members Present: Lynda, Karen, Michele, & Brenda

Karen gave a demonstration on the beaded tins and beaded beads.  Photos of the demonstration can be found on our blogspot.

Lynda showed us a beautiful wool weaving that she had made and asked for some suggestions on how to display it. 

Michele showed some of her newest snow-dyed fabric.  There were beautiful colors in a wide array of hues.  She also brought in some of the things that she had purchased or received as gifts including:

Confetti Naturescapes by Noriko Endo

Inspired to Quilt by Melanie Testa

Zentanlge Basics by Suzanne McNeill (If you don’t know what Zentangle is, Google it.  It is the ultimate form of Doodling!)

Totally Tangled by Sandy Stern Bartholomew

She also brought in some luscious Neocolor Water soluble Pencils and Kimberly watercolor Pencils. Lots of eye candy.

Karen asked about Photoshop Elements and whether anyone had experience working on it.  Lynda really didn’t care for it.  Michelle suggested that Gimp or Paint.net were excellent substitutes.

Dues are due!

2011 dues are due at the March meeting.  It’s $5 for e-mail newsletters and $10 for snail mail newsletters.

2010 Future programs

February 24 – Michelle will bring the Maria Elkins DVD and her samples so we can learn the monochromatic portrait technique that she showed us back in September.

March 25 – Joanne will demonstrate a new technique that she learned for dying silk scarves.

January Show & Share

Lynda's latest weaving. This is still a work-in-progress. She is contemplating how to hang it so that people can appreciate it from all sides.

Hanging by a Thread Studio
Karen has started posting to her Mixed Media blog.
Visit her, and leave comments! You'll also find a link at the right side of the CinC Blog.

Both Karen and Michele are participating in The Sketchbook Challenge. You can too! The January these is : Highly Prized.
See some of Karen's January entries here.
See some of Michele's entries here, here, and here.
There's also a Flickr Group devoted to the work participants post in The Sketchbook Challenge. In the first month, there are over 1,200 pictures!

Michele brought some new snow dyes to share:

Detail snow dye Kilt Green.


A piece thrown into the catch basin. Dyes used : black, wine, havanna brown, black cherry.


Detail of snow dye with Havanna Brown and black cherry on mercerized cotton.



Snow Dye with New Black and Wine on Mercerized on mercerized cotton.

Books of Note (Any of these would be great topics for future CinC Meetings!):


Confetti Naturescapes by Noriko Endo



Inspired to Quilt by Melanie Testa



Totally Tangled : Zentangle and Beyond by Sandy Steen Bartholomew


Zentangle Basics by Suzanne McNeil

January Demo : Karen's Exquisitely Beaded Boxes

Karen gave us a great demonstration of how to make these beaded boxes. This set of 3 was made by her friend Lindi.



This is the box of samples that Karen brought for show.

You'll find the supply list in the previous post.


The instructions for this project come from this book : Getting Started with Seed Beads by Dustin Wedekind. This is the "Curiously Beaded Tin" on page 37.

Karen's advice :
Pre-strung beads make the work go faster.
Or you can use a bead-stringer tool.
There is no substitute for the Terrifically Tacky Tape. Other 2-sided tapes do not work as well. Save the orange backing to keep the TTT from picking up anything other than your beads. You can save the orange stuff on release paper so that you can get it off and use it where you need it.
Big-eye needles are great for using pre-strung beads.
Work on a tray to keep the beads contained.
Use a wooden skewer to move and place the beads.
Do not force the beads. Too many beads will bulge--they have no place else to go.


6-pound test "Fireline" fishing line is available at Fleet Farm for much less than you'd pay in the beading stores.

Here are some photos of the process :


First, string a stop bead.


I was really surprised how quickly the stringing went with the pre-strung beads. Karen used a big-eye needle and easily shuttled the pre-strung beads from their "native" string onto her Fire Wire.


This is an example of a pre-beaded piece (Peyote stitch?) that she planned to use as a focal point in this box. Here it is stuck in place by the TTT. See--they really are Altoids tins underneath!


Here, you can see more of the beads strung along the edge. You have to be careful to avoid the hinge areas, otherwise, the boxes won't open and close properly. She used dragon tears as focal points above. She will run the seed beads in strings around the dragon tears ...


Here's an example of the encircled dragon tears -- kind of like a Zen Garden!


Karen has also been beading big wooden beads, as shown above. These are called "Belted Bricky Balls." The Confetti bead in the lower right corner of the picture was inspired by a method in a book called The Art of Beaded Beads by Jean Campbell.

An Altoids box takes a full 8 hours to cover. Once it's covered, you can brush the top of the beaded box with ModgePodge or a clear glaze to secure everything. You can also cut felt or ultra-suede for the bottoms of the tins.

Once you get started, you won't want to stop! Karen says this is addicting!


One of Karen's beaded jar lids. The same general method works on jar lids. TTT is the key!


More beaded lids. Gorgeous!


Yes, that's a set of salt and pepper shakers!