Pastimes and Passions

Feeling Neutral(s)

Feeling Neutral(s)

I love color, so it’s kind of weird for me to work in neutrals, but it really does make you work a little harder atcomposition. These two pieces go way back to my first collage class, probably more than 10 years ago. I had been quilting for quite a...

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Playing with paper pals

Playing with paper pals

I’ve posted about this group before, the paper pals collage club hosted by Lucie Duclos and the Winslow Art CenterIt’s one of those things that turned out to be a blessing during Covid, because I don’t think I ever would’ve had access to this group...

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Painting with Friends

Painting with Friends

In July 2021 I finally got to go back to an in person art workshop.  Even better, it was back in Atlanta with the tireless and talented Chery Baird through Spruill Arts Center.  And to top it off, my dear friend Deb Lehman was there painting right...

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Read a Book, Make a Quilt

Read a Book, Make a Quilt

I love living in Chicago, but I do miss my Atlanta quilting community. Several years ago, a small neighborhood bee I was part of decided to try an experiment, combining a book club with our quilting challenge. To keep it manageable we picked a 12 x...

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Mail Art Wallet

Mail Art Wallet

One of the perks of being in Ali Manning’s Handmade Book Club are occasional workshops with teachers she brings in. One recent Sunday, Bel Mills of Scrap Paper Circus led a workshop using business reply envelopes to make this mail art wallet.  Lots...

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Curves and  Transparencies

Curves and Transparencies

I recently spent a delightful afternoon taking a class from Carolina Oneto (#carolina_oneto) learning this modern version of the English Paper Piecing technique applied to creating tranparent effects.  I've worked with transparencies with paper and...

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Paper Pal Collage Club

Paper Pal Collage Club

Yes, I've joined another group.  The Winslow Art Center in Bainbridge Island Washington, like many other schools, offered online classes for the first time this year, and I joined a three month prototype with Lucie Duclos called Paper Pals Collage...

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Sewn Boards Book

Sewn Boards Book

I don't really know why this structure is called Sewn Boards, but I can tell you that a lot of work goes in to it that winds up being covered up.  This is another project with the #HandmadeBookClub, and it was my first experience with using...

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Adding to the Family

Adding to the Family

I've shown this paper before, apparently it's one of my favorites.  I'd already used it for some drop spine and clamshell boxes, along with a small coptic notebook, but I really like the Secret Belgian Binding too (thanks again, @barizakistudio and...

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May is for Malas

May is for Malas

I made this mala a couple of years ago, and it has seen some hard use lately (can you seen the wear and tear on the stringing?).  So, it's time to repair it.  While I'm at it, it's probably time to make use of these tassels and beads I have in...

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