The 2017 Newport News Fall Festival of Folk Life

I absolutely love this festival!  I grew up in Newport News so coming back to do the festival just warms my heart.  I have been on the juried side in the past, and my mom has been on the marketplace side BUT since they are moving to Wisconsin I decided that I wanted to be in my mom's place this year.  My mom has taught adult art classes through the NN Parks and Rec for 40+ years so she has a huge following in Newport News.  Since she is moving I wanted to do this for all of her students who want to keep up with her and my dad and their new adventures closer to my brother and his family.

Because I was on the marketplace side this year I was able to combine my sewing and painting talents under one tent.  Had I been on the juried side I would have to pick one category.  I realized a long time ago that my brain doesn't work like that, I am definitely all over the place when it comes to my artistic endeavors.  Here are a few photos of my tent at the Fall Festival:

 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

My new website: October Cat Studios

Without further adieu, here is my website.  I will still keep blogging here but my website is for those of you who just want to see my work without listening to me ramble on and on.  It still needs tweaking but here it is!

http://octobercatstudios.com/

I made the name plural (October Cat Studios) because I have many creative outlets and in my mind each one is a different studio, but sometimes they  like to visit each other.

Two of my "in progress" art quilts

I cannot believe my favorite upholstery store is going out of business!!  This store was a hidden gem for me.  When one first enters this shop it seems pretty small, then there are swing doors to the second part of the store.  The first room housed most of the upholstery, the second room had mainly trims and tassels.  Then there was a third room in the back!  This is where I get super excited because they have bins and bins and bins full of remnants... CHEAP!  When I started making art dolls years ago I would use these remnants as their clothes.  Some upholstery is very textured and rich in colors and there are different types of patterns that you can't find in a traditional fabric or quilt shop. 

Since my artistic endeavors change like the wind I can usually find various uses for my art supplies.  Sometimes if I'm working on two different projects in two different mediums they will overlap, hence my love of art quilts.  Art quilts combine traditional quilt methods with a modern twist, usually adding unexpected objects to beautiful wall hangings. And this is where my ideas overlap... I could use my upholstery remnants as a base to creating unique one-of-a-kind art quilts!

This was one that I started a few months ago:

Of course it was 2-D until I added beads, yarn, ribbon and puffy paint to it.  I also made some of the centers stand out by using extra upholstery and stuffing it with cotton.

Then I found some of my old sculpey beads that go almost perfectly with these colors!  I probably made these in the early 90's.

(circular bead in the bottom right hand part of the photo)

Again this is not finished yet.

Last week when I went to this upholstery shop again (they aren't closing until at least December) I found this remnant that I fell in love with!  The moment I saw it it inspired me.  The dark brown part of the leaves are velvet and feel oh so soft!  Here was the picture I took a few days ago after quilting it and hand sewing a row of gold beads:

As you can tell by the photo there are gold accents on the beige background part of the upholstery.  When I quilted over this it seems to disappear so I wanted to make that stand out again... fabric markers to the rescue!  I have also added decorative yarn and turquoise beads.

I have a huge collection of beads and usually I can find the right colors to go with my projects.  Here is a photo of everything I've used so far:

As with the first one posted here I like to work on these for a while then walk away for a few days. This is why I could never be on Project Runway, sometimes they only have one day to complete a challenge!  Anyway, when I return to a project it is with "new eyes" and I am able to be inspired again.

Rubber Ducky You're The One...

You make bath time oh so fun!  My good friend Amber is having a baby and her shower was last weekend (hosted also by me and another one of our friends).  I am not really a pastel girl, I wonder why people think pastels when they think of babies?  Anyway Amber's nursery is Rubber Ducky themed.  Perfect, bright yellows, oranges and blues.  I found the perfect ducky fabric and then used a simple quilt pattern to showcase this theme.

The quilt pattern I used was called attic windows and here's how it turned out:

I free form quilted it

And for the backing I used the same ducky fabric:

For the baby shower I was in charge of either making or buying the corsage.  I love a good challenge so I made it.  I cut out one of the ducky's from the fabric then I used fabric stiffener to help it keep it's shape then worked around that:

I can't wait till "mini-Amber" arrives so I can give her lots of kisses and help out "first time mom" too!  Congrats Amber and Tommy I love you all so much!