Thursday, November 5, 2009

Love song for Singer 6105



Oh, happy day. My sewing machine is back in action! And working better than ever. I continue to be surprised by how attached I am to this machine. The thought of learning a new machine positively horrifies me. And, I guess, it's also related to the fact that this was my mom's machine (until I "borrowed" it 10 years ago), so I've always imagined I'd make my children's clothing on it... Or at least puppy costumes. Speaking of puppies, things are finally starting to settle down at the homestead. Violet is doing well (see puppy montage - my favorite kind - below!), and Baby is starting to enjoy her new little buddy, despite that constant gnawing feeling in her ears, lips, legs, face, bum....

With the ensuing calm, I've had a little time to create. Gosh, the place didn't feel like home until I got to be creative here. The first experiment was printing my own fabric with cardboard cutouts: based on an idea I saw in a magazine, I cut out strips of cardboard, glued them in a stripey pattern on another piece of cardboard, put paint on the strips, and pressed them onto the fabric. Easy, fun, and that imperfect look I've learned to love.

Then I used the printed fabric as a background for these little red corals. I don't know why sea life - kelp, coral, greenies - keep popping up. I live in the mountains; I suppose I should be making pine trees and mountains instead, but... I do like this little mini and it's the first of a little series I have in mind.... we'll see where it leads.

2 comments:

  1. your little minis are just so beautiful. i especially love the three teensy little loops at the top of the stitched arch!

    i like your cardboard printing idea. do you remember what magazine you got it from? What kind of paint did you use? Did you apply it with a brayer or a brush?

    lovely, lovely, lovely.

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  2. Thanks so much! Yes, I'm pretty addicted to those little loopies. And I think I saw the article in Quilting Arts magazine, maybe the holiday issue? I just mixed acrylic paint with textile medium and used a foam brush to put the paint on the cardboard stripes. I'm not sure how washable the paint is... might be worth some experimenting.

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