Finished my Spool Story squares!

This morning I finished up the squares that will become the basic pieces in my Spool Story piece that I created in the Carol Wingert workshop last Saturday.  I am so glad they are all done!  I loved doing these small fabric collages.  Next project is to assemble and finish up the entire spool to share with all of you.

I so love the colors, the variety of fabrics, and the final finishes on these squares.

The square at the upper right is actually a pocket for photos, precious letters or notes, or whatever you want.  The technique for the clock square was new to me and I love it!  Hint:  ribbon and glimmer mist.

Since I love to sew, the top left square is one of my favorites!  All three of these have pockets and the one at the top right has a lacy tag to tuck in the pocket.

The square at the top left has beautiful trims on a small piece of fabric to form a pocket on this page as well. 

Please click on each picture here to get a closer view of the all the squares and the lovely fabrics, trims and techniques used on each. 

Collage Camp

Those of you who have followed my blog for more than a year know that I was very excited about taking the KC Willis Collage Camp online last year.  I created a lot of collages and submitted several to Sew Somerset in January of this year and they chose several of my collages and a fabric book for publication.

I will be listing pieces of my art work for sale in my Etsy shop, Vintage Recycled.  I have so many that I need to let go of some of them.  And I want to start another project using the techniques I learned in Collage Camp.  Here are the first two:

"Little Ruby"

Little Ruby Culbertson notebook.

"Best Friends"

A collage on a vintage log cabin cutter quilt square.  Check them out in my shop.

I don't know if you feel like I do, but letting go of something I love and created myself is often hard for me to do.  It's like giving up a part of me.  How do you feel about your work?

Saddle up for an adventure!

Saddle up and ride over to KC Willis Collage Camp! The Collage Camp is wonderful!! And KC she has reduced the original price of the camp from $98 to $75!! But you must act quickly because this offer will expire soon! Ride on over to KC's Collage Camp here and take a look around the camp. Or you can click on the KC Willis Collage Camp button on the right of my blog.If you have been reading my blog regularly over the past year, you know how much I enjoyed Collage Camp! And you will enjoy it too! KC packs her videos with all her techniques for creating the fabric collages she is famous for. You don't have to be a cowgirl to enjoy this Collage Camp!!! The techniques she shares with you are applicable to any artwork that you may want to have a vintage time-worn look! Or not!! The collage techniques are good for any fabric collage art work!

So, don't let the prairie grass grow under your feet! Ride over to KC Willis Collage Camp and have a look around the spread! Join in the fun! You won't be disappointed!!

It's Friday

Time to show more aprons. These are going to Merchant Square on Saturday. I just love them! The top row of three aprons are called "workday aprons." I think that is because housewives wore them while doing housework. The bottom row of two are "party aprons." They were usually made of voile or netting. The white one is flocked. Not useful fabrics if you are doing housework! All of these are vintage.

I have been buying Country Living magazine again. I used to subscribe but quit over a year ago because I think they have gotten away from their "roots" -- which is country living. Somehow a loft in New York City decorated in stark "country" style is not country to me. But they seem to be getting back to country lately. The September issue does have a nice article on lockets. I love lockets! I buy them when I can find them. They are a reminder of my childhood. I had a pretty locket my grandmother gave me. I don't know where it is now.
These are in my stash right now. I have been using them lately in my fabric collages for KC Willis Collage Camp.

This locket can be found on my "Ruby" collage. I noticed in the image of Ruby that she was wearing a locket.

This locket is on the most recent collage I did, Lady in Black.

Do you have a locket from your childhood? Did your mother or grandmother have one?? I think they are wonderful keepsakes. I am going to continue to look for mine. It has to be somewhere around here!

Howdy!

I did this collage yesterday along with the Lady in Black that I posted last week. I used another square from the log cabin cutter quilt. The cowgirl turned out feminine as well as rustic. Love it!

Sweet Things fabric book

I started this next fabric book over the weekend. Kim has told me that customers at Mystic Paper that have asked if I am going to do a fabric book. The answer is YES!! And Sweet Things is the first one. I wanted to do something totally different from the Prairie Doves fabric book. This is where I started. Lots of girlie fabrics, lace, whites and off whites, and plenty of color. There will be lots of neat ideas tucked inside as well. I will update you as I get pages done. Once this one is completed and on Mystic Paper's class schedule, I am going to do another one very similar to Prairie Doves for all the cowgirls out there!!

I really have enjoyed KC Willis Collage Camp and strongly encourage you to look at the link and then sign up. You won't regret it!

Prairie Doves 2

Here are the next two pages in the Prairie Doves fabric collage book. I have used this image in another collage, but I really like it. A little bit of black velvet and lace, a little bit of red silk, and part of an old child's dress.

Two new fabric collages

I have been working on two new fabric collages using the techniques learned from KC Willis in her Collage Camp. You can check out the website by clicking on the KC Willis Collage Camp badge on the right. This first one I have called The Silversmith's Daughter. She is Navajo and probably lived at one time on the large Navajo reservation here in northeastern Arizona. There is an old postcard that has her tinted image on it and describes her as the Silversmith's Daughter. I have loved this image for a long time. I incorporated this sepia image into the collage. I used silver doo-dads as well as some turquoise to give the feeling of the jewelry and beadwork she must be wearing. Lucky girl to have such a talented dad!

This collage is called Hopi Daughter. Another image that I find intriguing! The Hopi Indians also have a reservation in northeastern Arizona. Their reservation is entirely surrounded by the Navajo reservation.

What I liked about this girl is her hairdo -- remind you of Princess Leia?? Did me!

My doll Jane

Here is my latest fabric collage. I have wanted to incorporate this doll dress into a fabric collage for a long time. I actually transferred the tiny picture to the dress and then hand stitched tatting and tiny buttons to the picture over a year ago. It is a picture of a little girl beside a chair with her favorite doll all dressed in white. There is a tiny doll bib that I attached to the dress and made a pocket out of it. From the pocket I draped a tiny pink pearl necklace. Perhaps you can see (it's awfully tiny!) that the little girl in the picture has on a pearl necklace. I used lots of vintage trims and old fabrics. The lacy piece on top of the ticking is an old dresser doily. The coffee dyed it up great.

I am headed to Virginia early on Thursday morning to visit my grandchildren. June 1st is little Ryan's third birthday. The festivities begin next Saturday. What fun!

Also, while I am in Virginia I am going to visit my favorite store, Lucketts General Store, located in Lucketts, Virginia about 7 miles north of Leesburg. It has been a favorite place of mine to visit and shop for years. They are having a spring sale next weekend! Shabby and chic!!

Mary collage

I am so "into" the collage camp. Here is Mary. She is a fallen angel.

Here is the top of the collage. I layered black lace, bird's nest paper, bits of fabric, a clumpie, and an old rhinestone pin.

This picture of the bottom half shows the cool fringe trim at the bottom plus all the bits I added.

The quote says "I like my petticoats white and my stockin's black. So do my men. -Mary"

Ruby Culbertson collage

You may have seen Ruby before when I did the bingo card swap at Mystic Paper. I love this image. Ruby is just way cute! That's why I decided to use her in a fabric collage I am doing for the collage camp (click on the badge at the right to visit KC Willis Collage Camp).I wish I could recall where I got this picture of Ruby. I didn't find it in my stash the other day. Will continue my search.

This is a close up of the top of the collage. I used an old locket because Ruby is wearing one in her pic. The vintage earring looks like a ruby. The button and tassle are from an old Victorian frame that had fallen apart. The white fabric on the left is from an old child's dress that is in tatters. It looks like it might have been from one of Ruby's dresses. The quote at the bottom says "I may be the smallest cowgirl in the world, but one day I will grow up. Then I will be just like Annie Oakley. Ruby Culbertson."

Little Buckaroo collage

This is the second fabric collage I have done in the collage camp. I love this picture of this little cowboy!

The quote says, "I love ropin' calfs and ridin' my pony. Someday I'll be a rodeo star."
This is the original photo. I forgot to reverse it before printing it on transfer paper, but, hey, does it really make any difference?? I love his sleeves -- see how they are rolled way up? He has some growin' to do before that shirt fits!

Here's my first collage from Collage Camp

This is my first collage using the techniques of the KC Willis Collage Camp. KC Willis has done a great job of putting together videos of her techniques so that students can achieve the great look of the Old West. Visit her website at Lipstick Ranch to see her work.

The photo identifies this cowgirl as Nora Wadeley. An internet search didn't turn up a lot. She was an actress in the mid-19teens. The dates are from 1906-1922. Obviously she didn't live very long. Which is sad, really. But I love this picture! My quote says "I am an actress first, but really, I want to be a cowgirl."