Time for Another Bra

Well, it's time for another bra! This time the bra is for my church, which is doing a "Bras for a Cause" exhibit in North Carolina in June. The bras will earn money that will go to breast cancer research.

This time I started out with a different bra - I think it was a cheaper one, because when I tried to dye it using Dy-Na-Flow, like I did before, it didn't take. It was so strange, I would go to bed and the bra would be awash in wonderful color, then the next morning, there would be a blue-green spot of color in the center and the rest of the bra would be white again. Polyester doesn't take dye well, so I think this bra has a higher percentage of polyester. Sooo, I ended up painting the bra with Lumiere paints and loved the way it came out! You can see in the picture, all the great blues, greens and turquoises. Also, that gold in there is great.


I started on the right side, with the undersea embroidery and beads, pearls, shells, charms - it's so much fun! I'm not quite finished with this side; I want to add a jellyfish at the top.

Some closeups of the sea...It's amazing, when I'm doing CQ or jewelry, I don't like the misshaped beads or the stone beads. Then, when doing something like this, those beads are so valuable. That just fuels my desire to never get rid of anything....


I'm not quite ready to divulge my plans for the left side of the bra - you'll just have to be surprised!

Happy Stitching,
Lin Moon

Quilting Arts Books

I've been looking at a couple of books on Quilting Arts, pictured above. Quilting Art by Spike Gillespie features the works and ideas of 20 contemporary quilters. Although all the artists are contemporary, the range of work shown in this book is quite extensive. In addition to the many quilts shown, there are 3D sculptures, as well as my favorite (by Mary Beth Bellah), a quilt that lays on ground, then curves upward to be vertical(!) called "Rising Water", featured at Quilt National in 2007.

When you read this book, you feel like you're visiting each artist; you hear how they got started, how they think, see how they work.... Each artist's section includes a feature entitled "Advice From ". Many of them advise the artist to "do it your own way". One piece of advice I found surprising was rather than pursuing new techniques, instead you should work on yourself and deepen your ability to express yourself through your art. I tend to get excited when I hear about a new technique, and I think this artist has a good point.

The Quilting Arts Book, edited by Pokey Boulton contains sections on many different techniques, each discussed by a different fabric artist. The first few chapters are by Linda & Laura Kemshall and talk about where they get their ideas (their most frequently asked question.) The following chapters include information on reverse applique', fusing, eco-friendly quilting, foiling, beading, wax pastels, paintstiks, discharge dying, and many other techniques. Although there are other books that include this type of information with a similar format, I really like the fact that a different artist discusses each method and suggests ways to try it out. It makes the technique seem more personal, like getting advice from the artist herself.

I love what Lyric Kinard says about being artistic. She questions why so many people think artists are simply born creative; instead of considering creativity something we can all learn and develop, step by step, similar to the way a young child learns to read simple books, and develops her ability, so she can go on to enjoy something as advanced as Shakespeare. (She says it much better, but I hesitate to quote the book, since it is copyrighted...)

I found these books both a joy to read...

~Lin Moon

Guardian Angel Art Bra Done

Well I've finished embellishing/decorating my Art Bra. I used silk ribbon, braid, yarn, beads, sequins, and organdy ribbon. I dyed the fabrics and many of the embellishments using Jacquard's Dye-na-flow. It's so easy - just paint it on! I bought a couple of exciter packs and was disappointed that JoAnn's no longer seems to carry them - but they are so good to try out the different dyes/paints in small quantities. In the case of fabric or ribbon, I washed it, then heat set it by ironing. If it was some embellishment that would be flattened or ruined by washing/ironing, I just shot it with some steam from my iron to set it. I have to say, this was one of the funnest(is that a word?) parts of the project - to be able to make whatever color I wanted. I looked for this color of pink fabric at my local JoAnn's, but could only find pale pale pink or hot hot pink. So, back to home to dye some! Besides I have boxes of fabric and really try hard not to buy any more.


Here's the angel, with her archway of mother-of-pearl stars in the sky....She was really fun to make also. The ribbon encircling her dress was pale turquoise with white stitching, so I dyed it to match the dress. The gold edging on the top of her dress is the edging on some woven ribbon that I cut off. Her breasts are, guess what, pom poms! They were just the right size and I made a little "bra" cover for them so she wouldn't have bumpy boobs! It was a good idea to use something lightweight like parachute silk for her dress, since she's rather small and I could make it look compact while still being able to manipulate it the way I wanted. That was one thing with some of the other paints by Jacquard - I painted some ribbons, etc. with Lumiere, but it changes the hand of the fabric, so the ribbon was then too stiff to gather, etc.



And here are the two put together...I almost think the bra is fine without the angel, but after all she WAS my inspiration, so...


All in all, this was a very satisfying project to work on - very few limitatations, very open-ended, I loved it!

Happy creating,
Lin Moon

Half of Bra Front Done

Well, I'm almost done with the front of my Art Bra. Ironically, most of this won't show because it will be covered up by the guardian angel, but I am still having lots of fun!

Happy Stitching,
Lin Moon

Art Bra Angel done

Well I've finished the guardian angel for my Art Bra. The cups of the bra are almost all done, then I just have to cover the sides of the bra and the straps, then finish the inside cups and cover up my stitching mess!

The inspiration for this Art Bra comes from an old song by Mario Lanza my mother used to play. I just love this song, although it's not the usual genre for me. But while making this bra, I kept thinking and hoping that the women suffering from breast cancer know that there are tons of women like me who would love to be their guardian angels, wiping their tears, shooing away the bears. Women who wish them hope, health, comfort, happiness, and healing and who send prayers their way constantly.

Guardian angels around my bed
Joining me in my prayers
They hush the shadows when they dance about
They shoo away the bears
Guardian angels to comfort me
If I wake in the night
They gather all my dreams
Their halos are my light

They dry my tears
If I should weep
They tuck me in
They rouse me from my sleep

Guardian angels around my bed
Standing by till I rise
There's one with shining wings that holds my hand
And shows me Paradise

Art Bra started

Well, since the angel and her wings are done, I've started working on the actual bra. It has 3 color areas on each cup and I am adding lots of texture to each area and then trying to blend it in with the next color. It is really fun to use beads, sequins, yarns, ribbons, trims and embroidery! These 3 colors are the colors I used in her wings. There's lots more to do, but it is really fun!

Happy Stitching,
Lin Moon

angel done

Well I finished my angel's head/hair - it took me hours! I painted sequins, then rejected them. I settled on a flower bead, then changed my mind. I made ribbon rosettes, then chucked them. I tried this bead, that bead, this color, that color - I changed my mind a million times! This is a really small face, so it was hard to use small enough items to stay in scale. I hope I didn't overdo it with all the decorations near her face. I was going for a sort of Art Nouveau look, and so many of my ideas didn't pan out.

I didn't really have a plan for her hair, except that I wanted a bun, and I didn't really leave long enough strands to work with, so I had to work around that. To make her bun, I wrapped a pipe cleaner into a donut shape, then wound it with floss to match her hair in case any showed through later. Then I pulled her pony tail through the donut and pulled the strands of her pony tail down over the donut. I added some parts of earring findings (bead caps) to her bun, after coloring them with an 18K gold pen. I wound 2 strands of floss around a doll needle and ironed it to make her tendrils.

Well, now it's time to work on the bra that she will grace; I painted it with some dyes and have been waiting for it to dry. Gotta get this in a mail in a few weeks, so time is running out...but I am soooo enjoying myself working on this - it's all I think about!

Happy Stitching,
Lynne

Art Bra for WtWW

Here is my angel for the Art Bra I am working on. I haven't yet figured out what I'm doing with her hair, so it's flying a little loose...She's kind of a flat doll, since she'll go on the center of the bra. I had a great time making her dress - I dyed some parachute silk with Dye-Na-Flow and wrapped it sort of free-formed over her. Her face is embroidered, with a little chalk for added color. I also dyed the ribbon under her bodice, etc. to match the dress. She will have wings, of course and a halo.

The latest issue of CQMagOnline contains a Call for ArtBra Submissions. This is a "Can't Lose" proposition. There won't be any rejection letters. If your bra is one of the best, it might make it into the calendar. But even if it doesn't, your bra will be auctioned off and the money goes to support Breast Cancer research. There's no downside! It seems like a wonderful way to support this research and at the same time to be creative. Join me and make an Art Bra!
Happy creating,
~Lin Moon

angel wings

I've decided to try designing an art bra, featuring an angel in the center. I'm not quite finished with the angel, but here are her wings. I started out with white wool-felt wings and felted on some beige roving, then proceeded with random stitches of different textures of pinks, turquoises, purples and gold. I love mixing these textures and colors - such fun!

I forgot to include these gorgeous pictures of the saucer magnolias that were all abloom at UCLA when I went the the Fowler Museum (see previous post).





Aren't they wonderful?

Nick Cave exhibit

Last week I went to the UCLA Fowler museum to see an exhibit by Nick Cave. It was soooo interesting! He is an artist with a background in dance and makes "costumes" out of fabric, sequins, buttons, sweaters, doilies, crochet - it is wild! He has a suit made of thousands of buttons; the "face" is an abacus. He has 10 people working for him, helping him craft his wonderful creations. You can go to this site and take a Photo Tour...or Watch this video. You will be WOWed.






~Lin Moon

Inspired by a color

A friend gave me this blouse. I just loved the color and the velvet trim around the neck and sleeves. It was kind of plain so I pressed some iron-on interfacing around the neck and embroidered it with silk thread and beads and added the pink flower.


Then I decided to make a bracelet to go with it.

I got these great beads at the Pasadena Bead and Design show recently and made the earrings.

Then, I decided to make a small scarf to go with it! I just love wearing every single piece. It's so fun to be inspired by a color like this!
Happy stitching,
~Lin Moon

Trip to the Getty

When my daughter was home from college for the holidays, we took a trip to the Getty Museum. It was very interesting and inspiring. Here are a few pix:
This is a chair that was partially embroidered and mostly embellished with ribbon that twists and turns. The interesting thing to me was all the little pleats in the ribbon as it went around the turns - those pleats were made into part of the design...


Wouldn't you love to go to bed to THIS every night?



I wanted to see how the center of this "flower" was made. I don't know exactly what it was made of, but each "petal" just seems to be bent in the proper shape to form this flower - I've never seen anything like that...

Christmas Ornaments

Well it's that time again and I am making Christmas ornaments for our church Boutique. I am having foot surgery next week and have been using mostly felt for my ornaments so I can work on them with my foot propped up. I used stiff white felt for the cut-out snowflake and it's a lot easier to cut than regular felt. I also used the stiff felt for the back of the round ornaments, with a little circle of fleece inside - this seems to give them a little puffiness and helps to keep their shape. The snowflakes are my design, but feel free to copy them if you like.... Do you recognize this house ornament? It's not my design - I saw something very similar to it on a blog or somewhere and can't find it again. I'd like to give credit where credit is due and wanted to ask the person who designed it if I can make a bunch for our Boutique, but don't know whose it is....but it's very cute!

Happy Stitching,
Lin Moon

Earring Crazy

It all started with a trip to the Pasadena Bead and Design Show. I bought some flower earrings and just fell in love with the vintage lucite flower beads they were made from. That began my quest.... I have been having such fun playing with flowers and beads! Luckily our church Boutique is coming up and they can sell the earrings there. But I will have to keep one or two pair, I must admit. Here are some pix of the earrings I have made....

Embroidery with Nails

This embroidery is for SharonB's Stitch Explorer 2009. This month's challenge was to incorporate something you don't usually use in your embroidery. So I chose to use small nails. First I stamped my blue cotton background with various leaf stamps in different shades of blue and turquoise. I used stamps with maidenhair fern and ginkgo leaves. Then I arranged the nails in this swirl pattern. I just love curves - my favorite CQ seam treatments are the ones that curve, twist and twine. I stitched over the nails using ribbon floss, then added the sequins and beads. This was really fun!

Even More LB Quilt Pix

The Gita Maria booth was on my list to visit. They had a lot fewer buttons and jewelry and a lot more shawl pins. Maybe that's because their new thing is shawl kits made with lots of gorgeous fibers, water-soluble stabilizer and machine embroidery. Here's a picture of the shawl they had on display. Some of the fibers in it were wide organza ribbons with patches of gold thread woven in - it was fabulous! (P.S., since some of the pictures get so big when you click on them, you might want to hit "control -" (that's minus) to get them to a better size)


This picture was taken at the igolochkoy booth. I talked a little with the woman at the booth and she told me they make their own needles! She said she likes to support the artists that use her special needles, so buys their work to support them and to show at her booth, so others could see the possiblities. This piece was wonderful!


This is Susan Fletcher King's entry for the Journal Quilt Project II.




I stopped at Mary Jo Hiney's booth and had a very nice conversation with her. She displayed this quilt in her booth; it is featured in her book called "Quiltagami". I really like the bottom of it, with the shapes and the beads hanging down. It was quite special.


This quilt is called "Midnight in the Garden of Hearts and Flowers" and was made by Judith Roush Knorr.




Diane Ricks made "Pacific Ocean Underwater Wonders". It is quite beautiful. Check out the stitching on the gold fish and the wonderful texture at the bottom of the quilt.


This one is called "Praise Ye Now Our Gardens Green" and was made by Sonia Grasvik.








I apologize for the fuzziness of some of the close-ups; as I kept visiting vendors my bag got heavier and heavier and it was hard to hold the camera still! (Such a terrible problem to have!) I had such fun there!
Enjoy,
~Lin Moon