SMOKE AND MIRRORS

Here is my newest piece inspired by a postage stamp. The challenge was to create a piece using a postage stamp as an inspiration. I poured over many stamps and decided to create a textile piece inspired by the USPS series on Abstract Expressionists of the 1940's and 1950's. I created this piece with a package of batik strips, made in Ghana and purchased from Cultured Expressions. I inserted a small strip in cloth into a larger strip and then created the piece by using the Log Cabin pattern.  I LOVE these batiks, I especially love the colors and the hand.
This piece is hanging at the Guilford Library in Guilford, CT along with other pieces created by my fellow  Sisters In Cloth. The exhibit will run until December 31, 2012. Please stop by.

A Bag for ME

Three predicaments confronted me today. One was snow storm....duh?! it's CT 2011.... two, my muse appears to be on vacation.... and three, the snow has held up the UPS truck carrying some fabric I am anxiously waiting for. I need to design and create two new pieces for a show opening February 2! Soooo, because it is a snow day and I can't get out I decided to gather all my African jacquard batik scraps left over from a quilt I recently made and made myself a gym bag. I have been going to the gym lately and enjoy every minute but the place needs some color! My bag will be just the thing to make me extra happy when I carry my things to the gym. Except for a few pieces of fabric used in this bag many of these luscious fabrics came from Cultured Expressions http://culturedexpressions.com I put the scraps in a pile and began making squares. When all the squares were finished I squared them off to 61/2 inches and sewed them together. I used the smaller bits for the handles, found some cotton fabric for the lining, also from Africa, brought back from Mozambique by my daughter, added some pockets to the lining then sewed the bag together. Our driveway is clear, the roads are clear and we are off to the gym. My ipod was the first thing packed. I don't think the gym would be so much fun without my music!!