Posts Tagged ‘andrusgardens’

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Colorful Fabric Dyeing Results

Tuesday, March 29th, 2011

This post will mainly show some of the fun, colorful fabrics that I dyed in the past week. I usually use paint because we have a well that is not very reliable in the warmer months. Right now, there is still snow on the ground, and with the melting going on, all the springs are running full tilt so I am playing while I can.

Windbreak Trees March 24, 2011

This is what had me in great need of some “Color Therapy”. This was what it looked like heading up the driveway last Thursday after another snowstorm on Wednesday. I started ripping fabric, scrunching it into containers, and squirting on colors while the snow fell. Thursday was the first wash-out day.

4 Yards in Dye Pan

The above photo shows one of the first batches soaking in soda ash.

Multi Color Yard 1

Here is one of the pieces from the first tub…. As you saw in the earlier photo, I just randomly squirted concentrated dyes onto the scrunched fabrics.  This is only one of 4 pieces from the first sweater sized tub. The next few pieces that I did were sample fat quarters to see what the colors I had would look like.

Cerulean Blue and Fuchsia

Fire Red and Cobalt Blue

Mixed Blues Quarter

The above piece is a mix of 3 different blues. Some of the blues ended up nearly the shade of the sky in the first photo.

Spring Green

1 Yard Brights 1

This and the next large pieces were done in the same tub. I used less colors and kept them clearer by not overlapping them much. For the green, I mixed yellow with a couple of the blues, then added it. The above photo was randomly scrunched, while the lower one was sort of fan-fold scrunched on the diagonal, then packed into the tub.

1 Yard Brights 2

Mediums Yard

The piece above was scrunched similarly to the previous one, but I diluted the dyes before adding them so the colors would be less intense.

2 yd Plus Mediums

This piece above is over 2 yards that was scrunched into the bottom of the sweater size tub. I used diluted dyes for this one, too so the colors are similar to the one before it. I was trying to get a lot of different “garden-like” areas to play with. I had to lay this on my bed to take the photo, so it is hard to see all the details.

2 yd Brights

This piece above is another bright one that I expected to come  out  much different… I guess that is one thing about fabric dyeing, you don’t know for sure what you will end up with until the fabric is completely rinsed and dried.

Fuchsia

Here is a piece done with Fuchsia, the way I scrunched it into a small square container allowed it to be deeper in some areas and much lighter in others.

Fire Red Quarters

Here are two pieces done with Fire Red. The lighter piece was scrunched and placed on top of the first piece so it got less dye on it.

Yard Spring Green

This piece is a color that I am hoping to see outdoors someday soon…. Some bright springy green would be a nice change from the white snow and brown mud…. At least I have been able to play with lots of pretty colors indoors while waiting for the gardens to bloom again.

Once I finish another big day of ironing, I will have more pretties to show. I have even dyed up some sad looking towels to give them new life as well as some white shirts and tops… A great way to update the wardrobe.

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Posted in Dyed or Painted Fabric, New Projects | 3 Comments »

Playing with Inktense Blocks Part 3

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011

It’s been a while since my last post about my Inktnese play…. Today I finally finished a batch of ATC’s made from my test pieces. Before I show the finished cards, I will show how things went when I tried the blocks on a cotton sateen fabric.

Cotton Sateen Sample 1

Right from the start, I did not get the results that I had expected. Since the sateen has a smoother surface with a bit of a shimmer, I thought it would have less bleeding trouble…. Just the opposite as the photo above shows. As soon as I got a little water on the pencil or block marks, I ended up with color bleeding badly. The intensity of the color was also not as good as it was with the cotton muslin. Before I did too much more, I decided to try coating the fabric with thinned acrylic medium in the hopes that the coating would reduce the bleeding.

Cotton Sateen Sample 2

Amazingly, the coat of medium thinned with water to the consistency of cream, did not cause more of the color to bleed on the florets I had first colored. Once the first flowers dried, the color seemed to stay in place nicely. Once the fabric was dry again with the medium on it, I ironed it. Now when I added the Inktense pencil and Block colors, they both went on much more smoothly. When I then used the blender pen to wet the color, I had no bleeding and the colors were more intense than on the untreated fabric. Lesson learned….. The left and top two smaller florets in the above photo were done before I added the medium coating. The florets middle and right are the ones I did after the fabric was coated.

Comparison

I really liked the way  the Inktense Blocks and pencils reacted on the medium  coated fabric. This photo shows the first piece I did on the right, and the one on the sateen on the left. This was just before I wet down the background colors of the new piece. I wanted to do the two pieces nearly the same way to compare. As you can see, I ended up with the colors a bit different on each piece, but I learned a lot working with them.  On fabric, when using the Inktense blocks or pencils, coating the fabric with acrylic medium first lessened the tendency for color bleeding. On the sateen, the colors were also more intense on the pretreated fabric.

Delphiniums Stitched

Both of the sample pieces were destined to become Art Cards for an upcoming exchange. I fused the fabrics onto Peltex interfacing, then added some free motion stitching with a deep blue rayon thread. I also added a bit of texture and interest with white pearlescent paint and a touch of black in the centers of each floret that faces forward.

First Piece Cut

This photo shows the first piece cut into 6 art cards. I ended up adding the butterflies with the Inktense blocks with pearlescent paint over them to fill in the empty looking areas.

Sateen Piece Cut

Here is the second piece cut apart into 6 more cards. More butterflies added here, too.

Delphinium ATC's Group A

There is what the cards look like after I couched a blue variegated yarn on the edges using the deep blue thread. Group A above, Group B below…

Delphinium ATC's Group B

Now that I have these done, I will be doing some more playing with the Inktense blocks. I am seeing what I can do with just the blocks in my sketch book…. I am trying to use just the blocks with my blender pen. The corners of the blocks do well for fine lines, and then I can fill in with the ends. If I can get used to only 12 colors and how to blend the colors I want, it will be great to just keep my tin of blocks, blender pen and sketchbook by the couch for evening sketching or to travel with.

I will be moving on to playing with dye on fabric for a while… With our latest snow storm and more white on white or mud when the snow melts, I need some serious color around….

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Posted in Dyed or Painted Fabric, New Projects | No Comments »

Recycling Can be Beautiful!

Friday, March 4th, 2011

The ATC exchange group, “Arts in the Cards” had Reduce, Reuse, Recycle as our latest theme. With ATC’s being so small, they are a great way to use little bits of this and that to create unique art pieces.

ATC Base

For this group of cards, I began with a piece of fabric paper that I made at least a year ago. It consists of a faded  piece of fabric covered with pages from an old book, pictures from gardening catalogs, and tissue papers saved from gifts I had received. Much of the surface was covered with pearlescent medium and I had stamped some large butterflies with blue paint. I started by drawing lines for the edges of the cards so I knew how to lay things out for each card. If I had paid attention earlier, I would have noticed that the left 3 cards were drawn too small… I found that out when I was cutting the cards apart in one of the final steps…. Oops!!

ATC Base with stamp waste

The next step was to add the “waste” from a couple pages of postage stamps. These were from Hawaiian Rain Forest stamps that Ken came home with after I asked him to get me some “pretty” stamps…. flowers preferably….. The Hawaiian stamps were the prettiest the post office he went to had. After the stamps were used, there were a lot of pretty “stickers” left behind. I left many of the pieces as they were, and cut others apart. The above photo shows the paper fabric with the stamp waste applied.

Stamped Flowers and Some Butterflies Added

Once I had the stamp waste on, I tried to figure out where I was going to place some pink paper that I made from junk mail and waste paper from the printer, that I had textured by pressing heavy lace into the wet pulp.  (A little piece of the paper is in the above photo with colored in circles on it, next to the glitter.) The paper didn’t look right, so I pulled out my pearlescent medium and a flower stamp to add flowers with. The flowers were too pale, so I added fuschia colored glitter to the wet medium. The glittery flowers lost their definition, but added lots of color. I then stamped more flowers with white opaque paint, and even added white over the glittered flowers. I still wasn’t happy with the flowers, so I pulled out my Derwent Inktense watercolor pencils to add more color. I added yellow to the flower centers, and orange to the petals.

Recycle ATC's before cutting

Somehow while clearing my cutting table to work on or finding supplies, I found a piece of black sheer fabric with the glittery butterflies.  The fabric was already backed with Wonder Under, so I cut out the butterflies and added them. I didn’t have enough for each card, so I found a chunk of printed organza backed with Wonder Under with butterflies and flowers on it. I cut out butterflies for the cards that needed them and also some flowers and leaves to add to other cards that were lacking. The white organza didn’t show up very well, so I used more of the pencils to brighten them up. I added fuschia and orange to the butterflies, and made their bodies and antennae black. The photo above is what the cards looked like just before I cut them apart.

I added Wonder Under to the back of this piece, so I could fuse to card stock backs. When I cut the first 3 cards from the left end of the piece, I realized that I had not measured right for my first line and they were all nearly 1/4″ too short. No problem, I used trimmings from other cards to add to the short ones to make them the correct size (I thought I had all of the cards a bit oversized…. Not).

Finished Hawaii Dreamin' Cards

The cut pieces were fused to the card stock backs, and I colored the edges using a lavender stamp pad that I had never used…. One of those things I picked up from the craft store, thinking it would come in handy some day. In my excitement to get the finished  cards out in the mail to their new owners, I forgot to take photos of all of the cards in the batch…. Above is a photo of the card I am keeping for myself, and 3 extra cards. Thankfully I had a few extras or I would have only had one finished card to show.

It was fun playing with things that would have ended up in the trash or were just being ignored. I also like the images on the postage stamps and around them. Since things are so icy outside still, I could at least play with flowers indoors and dream of visiting Hawaii….  Soon, three of the above cards will be available as ACEO’s for sale in my ArtFire Studio…. I’ll add a link when they are listed…. I guess it’s time for sleep now….

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Posted in New Projects | 4 Comments »

More Playing with Inktense Pencils

Tuesday, January 25th, 2011

After finishing my little Chickadees, I decided I needed to see what else I could do with my Inktense colored pencils. I sold out of my covered mini photo albums, or brag books in early December, and really need to get more made. The covers were made using sunprinted fabric or photo transfers along with whatever dyed or painted fabric I thought looked good with the focus piece.

Brag book- Set of 4

This photo above shows a little group of the books I finished last fall. I try to use my best sunprints for the focus fabrics on the fronts of the covers, but I have LOTS of prints that just don’t have that WOW factor…. They are either not very sharp, or otherwise pretty boring.

Cosmos Sunprint

This photo shows one of the “wishy-washy” sunprints. The fern printed OK, but the Cosmos flowers are pretty blurry. Also, there isn’t much contrast in the piece of fabric. I could jazz it up with stitching and thread, but decided this was one good “victim” to try my pencils on.

Cosmos with Pencil

Above is another sunprint from a similar batch after I outlined the flowers and centers with the Inktnse pencils. I used Fuchsia for the petals, and Sun Yellow for the centers. I lightly dampened the fabric just were I wanted to add color with water, and added the pencil. Since I love all things sparkly, I decided to see what happened if I used my iridescent medium over the pencil to finish things. I used very watered down medium over the flowers, then added some thicker pearl to the flower centers, dotted over the yellow. With the water just where I wanted the color, and careful placement of the medium, I got pretty sharp lines.

Maple Sunprints

This is a sunprint of a couple of Maple leaves on nearly black paint.

Penciled Maples

This photo above doesn’t do justice to these leaves, but here is what happened when I drew the veins in the Maple leaf sunprints done on black. I started by just adding water over the pencil, but since I was playing with sparkle, I decided to add some to these… The effect gives an impression of the sun shimmering off snow on a very cold day. I kept the pearlescent medium just in the leaf areas. The actual look is much softer than the photo.

Ginkgo Sunprint

Here is one of my Ginkgo leaf sunprints on black…..

Ginkgo Cover

I tried a similar idea with the Ginkgo sunprints. I added Fuschia colored veins with the pencil, then used the pearlescent medium that wasn’t as watered down as on the Maples. The thicker layer of paint nearly covers the color completely. The camera is also picking up a lot of shine…. in real life, at different angles, you see varying amounts of the pencil color.

Fern with Flowers

Here is what I ended up with when I dipped the Violet pencil in water, then scribbled over a small flower stamp I have. The stamp gave a faint outline that I then traced over to get more color. I again used very watered down pearlescent medium over the pencil, then thick medium for the centers. The flower centers are sparkly even though they look white here.

Album Covers in Progress

This photo shows some more of the sunprints I played with. A  couple more on black, where I added color, and other sunprints I added little bits of color to. I have used some of last Spring’s dyed fabric for the remainder of each cover. The pieces used here are pretty bright and pull colors from the pencil I added. It will be fun to see how these look when I get them finished.

One thing I discovered while starting these, is that the little sketch book I made and used for my bird sketches will fit just right in one of these covers. I didn’t really pay attention to the size of the book I was making- I just cut the heavy drawing paper I had and folded, but the pages ended up being 4″x6″… just the size of the photos that fit in the albums that go in these covers.

So far this year is beginning much more creatively than the past couple…. Now to get these albums  finished so I can list them in my Andrus Gardens Studio on ArtFire.

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Posted in Book Covers, New Projects | 7 Comments »

ArtFire, A Handmade Seller’s Marketplace

Sunday, September 19th, 2010

The other side of ArtFire…. Selling…

(Info updated Jan. 2012)

Artfire is not only a great place for buyers to find unique items to purchase, it is a great place to get your artwork or handmade items in front of people from all over the world to sell it. In the previous post, I showed a picture of my Andrus Gardens Quilts Studio on ArtFire.  Please pardon any rambling in this post, but there is so much I want to say…. I will have lots of links to take you right to the source for much of the information.

I heard of ArtFire.com nearly 3 years ago, and tried out that first studio, not knowing what would happen. Now I have 3 studios there. I began on Etsy and had multiple shops there, but have moved my items from there. Etsy is a great place for some people, but I have found ArtFire to be a better “fit” for me and my work. This post will let you know why I prefer Artfire for my main online sales presence.

Andrus Gardens Quilts- Art Quilts ArtFire Front Page

Since first writing this, the look of studio pages has been upgraded…. The photo above shows the new version.

The photo above is a screenshot of my Andrus Gardens Quilts Studio on Artfire, where I have my Art Quilts and Note Cards.

Andrus Gardens Designs Fabric and Pattern Studio on Artfire, Sue Andrus

Pattern and Fabric Studio

As an artist, or craftsperson, one can set up a studio and list items  for sale for very little or even no cost to try things out. There are many sites that can host retail stores or shops such as  Ebay, Etsy, and others, who charge a fee for each item listed for sale, and then charge another fee based on the selling price of the item after it sells. The great thing about ArtFire is that you can give things a test drive for a month with no fee at all if you want, Using this link. The above photo is a screenshot of my newest studio Andrus Gardens Designs, that was one of the original free Basic studios which are no longer available, and all shops now have a monthly fee and all can be personalized the way you want (since originally writing this, it is now a Pro studio and looks a lot different).  There is no playing the re-list game (and paying to do it) trying to get items to the top of pages, as items are selected randomly, or based on your tags and descriptions for search results, not by when they were listed. Every item is also submitted to Google base so they can be found in searches quicker. Anyone can also take advantage of many Tutorials and Help Guides where they can learn pretty much anything you need to know to get set up and become successful.

Andrus Gardens Quilts Studio on Artfire, Sue Andrus

Sue's Artfire Art Studio 2

Above is another pic of my Art Quilt Studio- Andrus Gardens Quilts

The Pro (or paid) account is now $12.95 per month (Jan. 2012), and that covers everything.  Since I tend to trip over my brain trying to get things into words (and to keep rambling to a minimum), here is a Link to ArtFire’s Seller Page where you can find all kinds of information and find out how to get a free one month trial.  Use this link for a referral program where you can get your 3rd month free in addition to giving me a free month too!

I also can place widgets in the right sidebar of the main page as seen in the last photo of my Art Quilts Studio to link to my other sites I would like people to go to…  (Above photo is of the old version of the studio set-up… Things are a little different looking now)

Fine Art Photography

Talk about grabbing eyes…. the above Collection is one I made from items found in both of my first studios. (Update- 01-21-2012, New Collection- Any empty spaces in the collection mean those items have sold since it was made!) Unlike the Treasuries on Etsy, the collections here can be used for promoting your own items, too, and there is an easy widget feature to help you place it in your blog or wherever, like I did here!  Collections can be chosen for the front page feature, and of course, one with all my own items would not qualify for the front page.

OK, I’ve rambled enough for now….. If you can’t tell, I am very impressed with how ArtFire is set up and run. I have even been a part of the Maven’s Team, and have been able to help test out and try to “break” new pages, and features to be sure that when new things are open to the whole community, the bulk of the bugs are worked out already.  It is a great community to belong to, and one that is ready to help others be successful, too.

Oh yea, see on the sidebar of this blog……>  The “Rapid Carts” are made really easily from the studios, too and can be used on blogs or websites….

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Posted in Misc | 4 Comments »

ArtFire, What is it? A Place to Buy Handmade

Saturday, September 18th, 2010

If you have read my blog(s) much, you have seen me mention and even link to my studios on Artfire.com. In case you haven’t heard of ArtFire, or have wondered what it is, here is a bit information for those who might want to take advantage of their venue as either sellers or buyers. This first post will deal with ArtFire from the buyer’s perspective, and a separate post will give information from a seller’s perspective.

Artfire Main Page

The photo above shows the Main Landing Page of Artfire.com.  What is ArtFire??  As described on the site- “ArtFire is the Artisan Marketplace home to artists from around the globe. Our community celebrates and supports art and creativity in all forms. Thank you for shopping on ArtFire, you are supporting independent artists from all walks of life. You can start your exploration of the Artisan Marketplace by choosing any of our categories“. (By the time you read this, the front page and other pages may look different, as ArtFire is updating their look as they move out of Beta- the site will work the same, just look a bit different).

Another way to describe it- ArtFire is like a huge mall full of many shops and boutiques, just online instead of in a physical building.  The shops, or studios as they are called, are full of various handmade items, jewelry, fine art, vintage items, and even craft and jewelry supplies.

If you are looking for a Unique and Different Gift for a special someone (or for yourself),  this is a great place to shop.

Unique Gift Guides Page

A great way to start browsing is to begin at the Unique Gift Guides page, where you will see collections of items curated by members of the ArtFire community (photo above, and one of the newer pages).  You can also browse items in various categories by clicking on links in the sidebar. If you are looking for something more specific, you can even search items with any keyword to narrow down the possible items to look at.

ArtFire Certified Handmade Badge

If you are someone who wants to be sure you are getting something actually handmade by the artisan, studio owners can apply for the Handmade Logo to be placed on the front page of their qualifying studios. Artists and crafters who are Pro members have to go through a review process by specifying how their items are made, sending photos of their workspaces, and works in progress before this logo is awarded. You will also find many great handmade items in studios without this logo, but there may be other items with them that are not handmade such as supply items.

Purchasing items from  the various artisans is an easy process. Unlike many other venues, a buyer doesn’t need to sign up or join in order to complete a purchase. You deal with the individual artisans, and can pay for your purchases via various methods which can vary from studio to studio. PayPal, Google Checkout, and Amazon Payments and more can be accepted. Each item page shows the payment options available.

Sue's ArtFire Art Quilt Studio

The above photo is a screenshot of my Art QuiltStudio. I have had two studios for quite a while now- One for my Art Quilts and Note Cards, and the other has my Book Covers, Jewelry, Postcards, Tote Bags, and More. I just opened a third one that will contain my patterns, my painted fabrics, kits and supplies. Each studio is like a separate boutique or shop, with the personalities of the owners showing through. All 3 of my studios have similar colors and banners that I designed. In each studio you can access more information about the seller on the artisan’s bio page where Pro members often show photos of their work spaces.

A fun way to browse is to check out what the artisans are drooling over by checking out the Collections tab. Collections are new here, and are groups of items that members have chosen based on themes, colors, occasions, or just because they like them. The new front page will be showing these soon.

My Artfire Collections Page

If you click on the Collections tab in my Andrus Gardens Quilts Studio, you will see some of the collections of items I chose (above photo). Most of these are things that grabbed my eye as I was “wandering” the site.

Fine Art Photography

Above is one of the collections I curated  and called “Glorious Glass”. It contains items that I really love from some great glass artists. I LOVE glass, and collect it (I also dream of being able to do something similar myself… yea, I said I was dreaming…), so this is kind of a wish list. By seeing collections other people curated, I get a chance to see things that I might not have found other ways. By using the widget to put this collection here on my blog, I am also making it possible for anyone visiting to purchase one or more of these items just by clicking on here, which takes you to the collection page where you click on the item again and you are ready to make the purchase. How fun is that!!

Just in case you might be interested in seeing what is in my Andrus Gardens Gift Items Studio, Check out the collection I made to show off some of my book covers below.

Handmade Gifts

I have many more items available in this studio, but the collection is a way for me to show off related things easily.

As you can see ArtFire has made a wonderful marketplace to shop at. They have also made it very easy for artists like me to sell our work. The things that make shopping easy for the customer, also make this a great place to sell from. I will have a  post tomorrow with more information on the selling aspect of ArtFire, but if you don’t want to wait, just follow this link to ArtFire Getting Started as a Seller page.  There is a lot of information about the options available for paid (Pro) and free (Basic) selling accounts. Also, if you would like the chance to try a Pro account with all the bells and whistles at a super locked in low rate, check out the ArtFire Group Deal page.  ArtFire is a wonderful community with lots of support from other sellers as well as a customer support staff that actually answers emails and phone calls from you if you have any questions about anything- from buyers or sellers.

I better end this thing before I keep rambling on and put everyone to sleep…. Be sure to check back tomorrow for more information about being an artisan studio owner, and how easy it is to set up your online shop.

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Posted in Misc | 1 Comment »

Two More Little Quilts….

Monday, September 13th, 2010

I finally finished another Fast Friday Fabric Challenge! This time I ended up with two pieces instead of one…. even if it was by mistake :)

Black and Gold Blooms

This  is the quilt I meant to make… “Black and Gold Blooms” is 8.5″ wide by 12.5″ high, and is available for purchase in my Art Quilt Studio on Artfire, (just click  on the name of the piece to go directly to the listing). I wanted to use one of the sunprints I did during my latest sunprinting sessions. (This post shows some of the fabrics I printed, and this post shows more of the process of creating the sunprints.)

This month’s Challenge was to incorporate metal into our quilt in some way. I have had a roll of the gold metallic ribbon for quite a while, and decided to use it for a bow “holding” the bouquet of flowers in the sunprint. I had also collected a set of metal letter charms that I thought would work nicely, too. I used a sheer fabric in gold with metallic accents for the section beside the sunprint.

Black and Gold Blooms Detail 1

Here is a detail shot showing the butterfly made from Angelina fibers with details stitched with gold metallic and black threads. The centers of the Nicotiana flowers are parts of snap jewelry clasps that I had collected at some point in the past.

Black and Gold Blooms Detail 2

This detail shows the bow made from the metallic ribbon, and hand stitched into place.  The hearts and vine design was free motion quilted into the lower black panel, and the veins of the leaves and flower details are also stitched with the same gold metallic thread. The letters BLOOM are hand stitched onto the gold side section.

As I mentioned, I made two pieces instead of just one…. The mistake I made….. I grabbed the wrong sunprint to use. I had two prints cut to nearly the same size, and had the one I wanted to use pinned on my design wall with the other pieces ready to use. For some reason, I grabbed the other piece I had cut that was just lying on the ironing board.

Black and Gold Dream

This is the piece that got made by “mistake”….“Black and Gold Dream” is 7.25″wide by 12″ high, and is also available for purchase in my Studio on Artfire.

I really wanted to use the heavier ribbon with the less delicate sunprint. For some reason, I didn’t realize I had the wrong one in the piece until I was quilting with the gold thread and something didn’t feel right…. I happened to look at the design wall, and there was the sunprint with the Nicotiana flowers that I wanted to use…. I almost just finished this piece and let things be, but the other sunprint was telling me it wanted to be used, so I did them both. The sunprint in this piece is of lacy Queen Ann’s Lace foliage and Pansy flowers. I found a thinner, more delicate gold ribbon to use for the bow on this, and used the word DREAM along the side.

Black and Gold Dream Detail

This detail photo shows a couple of the flowers and the gold butterfly beads flitting above the flowers. I used small confetti butterflies in the sunprint, and thought the two teeny-tiny, and one small butterfly beads fit well.

Both pieces are similar, with the same fabrics used for the side and lower panels, but they each have their own personalities.  Sometimes “mistakes” end up turning out pretty well!

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Posted in Art Quilts, Available for Purchase | No Comments »

TWO Quilts Finished!

Wednesday, August 18th, 2010

OK, I am excited, and they are both small, but just finishing anything this year is an accomplishment!

Stormy Sky Finished

I finally got time to finish the quilting on this one… Made for last month’s Fast Friday Fabric Challenge.  I had all but the sky quilted, but was unsure how to continue, so I uploaded it to the FFFC Blog anyway for some ideas. We then left for GA, and I finally got back to it. I used clear thread, and did have to do a bit of touching up of the needle marks in the sky. It finished at 10″x10″ with the black suede yarn binding.

Stormy Sky quilting holes

When I finished stitching, the holes from the needle really showed up a lot…. Not good! (the above photo shows them fairly well, it also shows more shine than the piece really has) So I pulled out my thinned gel gloss medium, water soluble wax pastels, and a stiff small brush….. I tried to match the color of the medium to the area of the sky I was working on, and it worked nicely. I did have to add a new back over it to cover the mess I created there with the color running through the holes, but I like the effect much better now.  The only thing that jumps out at me now is the “A” in the sky… not sure what I was doing when I zigged instead of keeping things rounded…

Stormy Sky Finished Detail

Here is a closer look… I also am not sure how I ended up with the tree top leaning so much, but I could say “the wind was blowing”, even though it wasn’t at the time I took the inspiration photo. Maybe it only bothers me….

Orange Echinacea on the Rocks Finished

This is the second piece I finished…. It has been in the works for much longer. This is 12″x12″ in size with the fuzzy yarn binding. I had the lower right rocky section beaded, then stopped. As shown in the preceding post, I finally got it back out while on our GA trip. I am really glad I put in my “travel bead studio” last minute…. I almost went away with no hand project at all to work on…. That’s how bad things have been quilt wise….

Orange Echinacea on the Rocks detail

Here is a detail shot showing some of the tiny shells, bug beads, and gemstone chips I added. I also added beads to the flower center for more texture. “Orange Echinacea on the Rocks” is available in my Andrus Gardens Quilts Studio on Artfire.

Now I even have a few more pins beaded since my last post!

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Posted in Art Quilts, Available for Purchase, FFFC Challenge Quilts | 3 Comments »

July in the Gardens and it’s HOT!

Thursday, July 1st, 2010

The very first few days of July were nice, with warm days and cool nights, then the heat arrived….. We are now in day 3 of a heat wave with temps in the mid 90′s.

(Today’s date is July 7, but the blog seems to think it is still July 1st..?.?.. I guess I’ll have to figure out what is going on…. Later….)

Front Door Garden

There has also been no measurable rain in a loooong time… The lawn is pretty crispy, but the gardens are doing pretty well with the hay mulch on them and occasional waterings. I have been lugging hoses all over to keep the newest plants growing well.  The Front door garden is pretty colorful now with the Phlox coming into bloom along with the Daylilies and Echinaceas. You can also see the mildew on the tall late blooming Phlox in the photo above. The lower growing varieties seem to be much more resistant to the nasty white powder that makes the plants really ugly.

Van- Not a Good Sign

Since my last post, I went back to Fillmore, NY to see family and had a bit of trouble getting on the road….. The van really needed new brakes, but during the repair things didn’t go all that smoothly. A few more parts were needed, and after an extra day of waiting, I now have brakes that stop the van very smoothly! You can see that the Maple Tree Garden in the van photo, with the Annabelle Hydrangea in full bloom.

Mom's Deck

The main reason I went back to my hometown was to see my grandmother who has ended up in the nursing home again… another fall. My sister was also visiting from TX, and I wanted to get some plants that I had taken up earlier in the spring planted for my mom. It was a busy visit, and the garden around Mom’s deck and patio is looking much better. The Hosta, Phlox, and Echinaceas I took from my gardens are now in their new homes. Amazingly, there was a lot of rain the day before I did Mom’s gardens- over an inch- we got nothing in PA….

Baby Kitties at Gram's

My sister and I stayed at my gram’s house and did some cleaning and preparing of things for her to come home when she is able. The first couple of days, there were not too many cats around, but by the last day there were cats and their babies showing up. Here are a couple that I lured out with some milk. They were pretty skittish, there was also a gray one hiding behind it’s mom.

View from Wyalusing Rocks

I had an appointment with my Rheumatologist in Tunkhannock the first day I was back home, and while driving back up RT 6, I decided to “play tourist”. I stopped at a couple of scenic overlooks along the road and took a bunch of photos of the Susquehanna River, farms and surrounding mountains. The above photo was taken at the Wyalusing Rocks overlook, and shows the river curving through the valley. Here is a link to some tourist info for Bradford County, PA. More info about our area can be found there.

View From Marie Antoinette Lookout

The photo above here is from the Marie Antoinette lookout. There is a lot of great stonework, and you can see for miles around.

View From Marie Antoinette Lookout 2

This is the view from the other end of the lookout area, showing more of the stonework and more of the river and mountains.

View From Marie Antoinette Lookout 3

This photo shows some of the farms in the valley. I will be using these photos as inspiration for some new art quilts and quilted postcards.

Back at home, I have been taking walks through my gardens with the camera.

Mound Garden Echinacea and Hostas

This photo shows the Mound Garden in the back yard with the Echinaceas and Hosta in full bloom. So far these plants are doing well in the dry weather.

Echinacea with Bees

Here is a close shot of one of the more popular flowers with a couple of visitors on it. The honey bee tried to chase off the bumblebee, but I caught them both sharing the flower for a bit.

Baby Corn

It might be hard to see them, but there are some sweet corn plants in the veggie box. I think some critters helped themselves to many of the seeds…. not many plants came up. This bed has always been very dry, so I hope with the hay mulch I won’t have to water very often and hope these plants will take off.

Front Door Garden 2

Back around to the Front Door Garden, and more Echinaceas, Asiatic Lilies and Hemerocallis (Daylilies). I also have some Gladiola bulbs planted in the bare spots in this garden for late summer color and flowers to cut and take indoors.

Pair of Daylily Flowers

This is a closeup of a pair of Daylily flowers.  Many of the Daylilies lost their buds due to the late freeze we had, or that is what I think happened. I have found lots of shriveled or deformed buds.

Hemerocallis Ice Carnival

This is my favorite Daylily variety… The white color shows up really nice in the evening, even as the flowers are fading after their single day of bloom.

Hemerocallis Pandora's Box

One of the few flowers this plant will have this season. Most of the buds died, but this variety is supposed to be a rebloomer, so maybe I’ll get a few more late summer. The photo makes it look bigger than it is… this flower is half the size of the other varieties.

Raspberry Petunias

I love pink, and I really love these pink Petunias- Raspberry Swirl, I believe. I have one plant in one of my large square planters along the front walkway.

OK, this is getting long….. I have more flower photos, but will save them for a later post. I may be wilting in the heat, but the flowers are still blooming!

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Heart Pins as Valentine Gifts

Thursday, January 21st, 2010

With Valentine’s day arriving soon, I have been beading more of my heart pins. Yesterday, I delivered a batch along with other shapes to the local PA North Country Artisan Center and Store  in Towanda.  November and December were good sales months, and I really needed to restock.

Group of pins beaded Tuesday

This was the batch I beaded on Tuesday. I am liking the new heart shape a lot. This new shape will be perfect for Valentine’s Day sales, but is great for wearing any time of year.

Heart Shaped art Quilt Pin

Wonky Heart Pin in Black & White, Red and Pink

This photo shows my “Wonky Heart” much larger than it’s just over 2″ height and just under 2″ width. I was playing with the shape to give it some character, but am not sure if I sill do many more of these or not. This one gave me the most grief during the beading process. I usually don’t have very large sections of single fabrics, and ended up removing the first attempt at adding beads to the large upper left mostly white section. I like try number 2 much better… This along with the following pins are available for purchase in my Artfire Gift Items Studio- Andrus Gardens.

Heart Pin Pink Lime, Sue Andrus Andrus Gardens

Heart Pin in Pink and Lime with Butterfly

Heart Shaped Art Quilt Pin available in Artfire Studio, shown with Hershey Kisses for size reference.  Chocolate is also needed on Valentine’s day, too isn’t it?

Heart Pin as Pendant

Hot Pink and Black Heart Pin as a Pendant

The last pin of this group is shown hanging from a black satin cord. Most of my pins can be worn as pendants by simply pinning them to a chain, cord or simple necklace. This way they can be worn in more than one way. This mainly Hot Pink and Black Heart is also available on Artfire.

Any of my pins would make unique gifts for Valentine’s Day or any other occasion. If you would like to check out a wider selection of hand crafted unique gift items, there are lots of goodies to look at on Artfire. Click this link for the Valentine’s Day Gift Guide, or this one for the Unique Gift Guides.

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