Felted Geodes with Lynda

Felted Geodes from Lynda's private collection.

At this month's meeting, Lynda showed us how to make a felted geode that can be used as a pin cushion. Present : Lynda, Joann, Michele, and Brenda.


The moment of truth! After rubbing and rolling our geodes for over an hour, we were all excited to see the treasure inside. Here are our geodes cut open at the end of the night. We actually had to go out to our cars in the parking lot to cut them open with a knife on a cutting board. We didn't want to be arrested for bringing a knife into the public library! The Library was closing so we hastily lined these up on a heat register in the lobby at closing time to get this photo.


Here's a close-up of Michele's felted geode .... Wonder what's inside?


Inside of Michele's felted geode. Pretty neat!

July 2010 Newsletter

SNIPPETS from Conversation in Cloth

July 27, 2010

Members Present: Jo Anne, Sandy, Brenda, Betty, Karen, Jo,
Karen came late so the minutes are incomplete!

Announcements:
Sandy Ansfield introduced her guest, Karen Sutter.

Amazing Creations brought by our Artist Members (see photos below)
Jo Anne showed a bag of dyed wool scraps that she found at a rummage sale.
Karen S. showed a fabric handbag that she had made.
Karen M. showed a series of beaded tins that she has been working on, a felt ball bracelet, and a pin made of of beaded silk tie fabric.
Sandy showed her beads made out of bobbins. The technique was featured in the June Bead and Button Magazine.

Program highlights – Part II – Beaded Face Pin demonstrated by Betty.
Betty demonstrated her method of creating a pin using the face beads we made at the June meeting. You first attach the pin back and face to your backing. Then work a bezel stitch around the face bead. Fill in the forehead with beads to form a cap. The hair is fringe fill in. Many were started and few were finished. We will be finishing up at a future meeting.

August 27 Program – Lynda will demonstrate felting techniques and will provide the supplies. We will be meeting at the library. Bring an old towel, heavy duty scissors, a nylon sock and an ice cream bucket for water.

2010 Future programs:
September 30 – Lois will demonstrate how to make clothesline baskets.
October 28 – Sandy will show up how to make clutch bags from a man’s tie.
December 9 – Annual Christmas Party
January 27 – Karen will demonstrate how to get started on the beaded boxes (if the weather allows a trip from Green Bay to Menasha).
February???

Remember: a new CinC program chair is needed. It’s easy. Just work with CinC members to set up demonstration, schedule a field trip or invite a guest speaker. Without one, we won’t have the neat demonstrations that we have had in the past!

Beaded Faces with Betty

Betty's beaded face. This is what Betty demonstrated for us this month .... Thanks for being project leader this month, Betty. We appreciate your time and talents! And (once again) Thanks to Jo for taking these pictures while I was out. ;-)






CinC Members beading their own clay faces :

July Show and Share

Special thanks to Jo H. for taking pictures and excellent notes this month while I was taking down the EAA Quilt Show. Here are the 2 quilts I had hanging in the EAA Quilt Gathering Show in Oshkosh (Jo made the trek down to Oshkosh and took pictures there as well!)


Michele's Millifiore 4-patch stacked posey. I love this technique! This one actually one 1st Place for Lap Quilts in this show. What a surprise!


Michele's Twin Connection Strip Therapy Quilt made with batiks.


Karen had her wool needle case and has a few kits left. Jo requested one and someone else also wanted one.



Karen was also a beading maniac this past month. She used metal tins such as Altoid boxes and beaded them using something called Terrifically Tacky Tape. I think the tape held the beads before she sewed them. She found the directions in a beading book, but forgot which book.


Karen also had a floral pin, [apologies for the blurred picture].


Pat had a purse she made, but said she had shown it before.




Sandy made some clay pieces with a aquatic life, some pieces with inlaid clay and also did two bobbins. The directions for the bobbins is in the June issue of Beads & Buttons.


Karen Sutter showed a purse she made and has been using this summer.


JoAnn had some wool felt she bought at a garage sale.


Brenda had a free form clay face she is making. It is still a work in progress.

June Newsletter

SNIPPETS from Conversation in Cloth

Meetings are held on the last Thursday of the Month at the Menasha Public Library ay 6:30 PM

June 24, 2010
Members Present: Lois, Michele, Jo Anne, Pat, Sandy, Brenda, Betty & Karen

Announcements:  Be sure to wear your nametag each month. New members and guests will have an easier time getting to know us.
 Sandy let us know that there was a tie factory outside of Chippewa Falls that sells silk remnents by the bag at a very low price. It is called “XMI”.
 There is also a ‘button lady’ that lives in Oshkosh across from Ardy’s & Ed’s on south Main St. Her name is Kathy Hoppe and she uses the O’Gosh tag line. Her web site is http://www.ohgosh-buttons.com/.
 “Everything Sewing” on Oneida St. in Green Bay is going out of business. Many things are discounted and will continue to be discounted further as the sale goes on.

Amazing Articles of Art brought by our Artistic Artists Members
Michelle had two really nice projects: Gramma Pickles which was an exercise in thread painting and samples of her latest rust dying efforts. Tips from Michelle include:
• Use half water/half vinegar solution;
• Wrap your fabric around something rusty and use plastic wrap to keep it moist. Leave it on for about two days depending on how hot it is;
• Open a tea bag and sprinkle it on the rusted fabric. It makes attractivbe nblack marks
• Wash fabric with synthrapol and hot water to stop the rusting process
Betty brought her ATCs to share and passed around her family Christmas decoration for the year which is a set of cute moccasins.
Sandy showed some of the quilt blocks that she had been working on with her silk tie scraps. The colors were vibrant and show great promise for a beautiful crazy quilt.
Karen showed a beaded bracelet that she had made for a friend.

Program highlights – Part 1 - Polymer Clay Faces demonstrated by Karen.
Karen brought two set of polymer clay molds which she passed around for everyone to use with the clay that they brought. She also demonstrated how to color the faces after they are baked at 230 degrees for 30 minutes.

I am also inserting a picture of how the faces look when they are painted with most of the paint rubbed off. The first one uses midnight brown shoe polish which leaves a nice sheen on the face. The other two are done with Luniere copper and gold paint. You can also use water to remove some or all of the paint if you don’t like the results. I didn’t have any brown paint at home, but I think that would really put a lot of depth into the cracks of the face piece.

July 29 – Part 2 – Beaded decoration for the clay faces by Betty. Betty shows us how to make hair out of beads (as for brooches) with the polymer clay faces we made in June. You can also bring a face bead if you already have one.

Class Supply List:
• A piece of ultra suede or thin leather slightly larger than your face bead
• #11 seed beads for hair in the color(s) of your choice
• Beading needle and thread
• Pin back (Betty has some extras)
• Scissors

Please Note: I won’t be able to attend the July meeting and neither will Lois. Lois will be in Niagara Falls and I will be out on the water somewhere. You will need to color your face beads on your own using the techniques that I demonstrated at the last meeting or ones that you think will give you the desired effect.

2010 Future programs:
August 27 – Lynda will demonstrate felting techniques
September 30 – Lois will demonstrate how to make clothesline baskets.
October 28 – Sandy will show up how to make clutch bags from a man’s tie.
December 9 – Annual Christmas Party

Remember: a new CinC program chair is needed. It’s easy. Just work with CinC members to set up demonstration, schedule a field trip or invite a guest speaker. Without one, we won’t have the neat demonstrations that we have had in the past!

June Show and Share

Sandy went to a silk tie factory near Chippewas Falls (You have to know someone who can take you there) where you can buy scraps by the pound for just a few dollars. She got a shopping bag full and turned the diamond scraps into crazy quilt squares.






Yummy!


Betty's handmade Christmas Ornaments, commemorating the birth of a new grand child.


Betty's Artist Trading Cards


Karen's beaded charm bracelet.


Michele's thread sketch of Gramma Pickles. Read more about it here.


Michele brought this sample from another batch of rust dyeing. This one was soaked in vinegar and water, then crumpled into a rusty cookie tin, and sprinkled with dry black tea (as from a tea bag). It was left to sit in the sun for 2 days.


This one was shibori-wrapped around a rusty pole.


Sample of the Fimo/Sculpy Clay faces we made at the June Meeting. These were made by Jo. Thanks to Karen for leading the session. Bake your clay and bring the faces back next month when Betty will show us how to bead hair for them, similar to this pin she brought months ago :

May 2010 newsletter

SNIPPETS from Conversation in Cloth

Meetings are held on the last Thursday of the Month at the Menasha Public Library ay 6:30 PM

MAY 27, 2010
Members Present: Lois, Lynda, Michele, Theresa,
Jo Anne, Pat, Sandy, Brenda, Julie, Betty & Karen

Guests: Betty introduced her friend Georgina Holden.

Announcements:  Be sure to wear your nametag each month. New members and guests will have an easier time getting to know us.
 Newsletters will be posted on the blog starting next month.
 Bring your ATCs if you have them to share in June
 Michelle passed out a final membership list. As it is now on the CiC blogspot, we will no longer be printing these.
 The group voted to suspend Julie’s dues as she does all of the work getting the facility and equipment lined up.

Results of the Road Kill Challenge
7 members brought their Road Kill challenge pieces to show. They were all very versatile and innovative. The artists and titles are:
Michelle – Rich
Brenda – Whimsy
Lois – Which Road Will you Take?
Lynda – Found Yarn died with pomegranate, onion skins and oak leaves
Betty – Plastic Bag Sandwich Purse
Pat – Self Portrait
Karen Self Portrait
Photos and more detailed explanations can be found on the CiC blogspot. If you do not have access to this site, please check with Michelle.

Show & Share (with pictures) is posted on the CinC blog at http://conversations-in-cloth.blogspot.com/. Items included Pat’s Cochina Man; Theresa’s Star in Stars Quilt; Michelle’s Mayfly; Sandy’s clutch purse made from a man’s tie; Karen’s clothesline basket; Lynda’s conventionally dies wool balls, Georgina’s afghan and Betty’s beaded art piece. Brenda shared a copy of a new magazine called Quilt Life published by Ricky Timms and Alex Anderson.


Upcoming Programs:
Theresa reported on the work that she has been doing to coordinate bringing Karla Spinks to the group for a thread painting workshop. The event is scheduled for Saturday, October 16 at a place to be determined. We are also working on finalizing the cost for the workshop which we think it will be very reasonable.

Karen also announced that Phyllis Cullen will be coming to a Women Who Run With Scissors workshop on November 13 & 14 at Goodwill in Green Bay. There are several openings and the cost will be $135. The topic is expected to revolve around the styles of the old masters, quilts from photos and what makes a good photo for a quilt. You can visit Phyllis’s website at www.phylliscullenartstudio.blogspot.com to see her work.

Next Month – June 24: Polymer Clay Faces demonstrated by Karen. Bring the following:
 1 block of FILO or two blocks of Sculpy clay. This will make 6 to 10 faces depending on the size you make.
 Cutting board or cardboard to cut on.
 Craft knife (e.g. Xacto) or pocket knife
 shoe box lid or other box to carry your beads home in.
We will be using the face beads for a pin demonstration in July by Betty.

2010 Future programs:
July 29 - Betty shows us how to make hair out of beads (as for brooches) with the polymer clay faces we made in June. You can also bring a face bead if you already have one.
August 27 – Lynda will demonstrate felting techniques
September 30 – Lois will demonstrate clothesline baskets
October 28 – Sandy will show up how to make clutch bags from a man’s tie.
December 9 – Annual Christmas Party


Remember: a new CinC program chair is needed. It’s easy. Just work with CinC members to set up demonstration, schedule a field trip or invite a guest speaker. Without one, we won’t have the neat demonstrations that we have had in the past!

May Show & Share

Karen made a clothesline basket at a class run by Lois.
We'll probably be making these baskets at a fall CinC meeting. Lois says buy your all-cotton clothesline NOW. It's a seasonal item that won't be available in fall or winter.


Inside Karen's Rainbow clothesline basket.


Karen's felted clutch bag, made at a May workshop run by Lynda (our resident Felter and Fiber Artist).


Betty beaded an amazing Ocean "to use up some old beads." She used 1500 yards of Fireline in this piece. See if you can find the squid - brain coral - and seaweed.


Detail of Betty's Ocean.


Betty's Paisley bag.


Michele's thread sketched Lakefly postcard. It is May, after all!


Sandy's Neck Tie Bags made from Fox Valley sewing instructor (coach) Donna Teagan's pattern.


Georgina (guest) is knitting an afghan.


Lynda's varigated dyed wool yarn (which she does with a canning jar set-up).


Theresa's Family made a Star-within-a-Star Quilt.


Pat made a set of Artist Trading Cards.


Pat's Indian Dancer Quilt.


Brenda discovered a new magazine that is worth a look. Click on the picture to learn more ...