Make It University

Here is a picture of me taken while I was teaching my MIU class. We had a fun time using a real leaf to make a stamp and then using the veins of the leaf as a rubbing plate for Shiva Paintstiks. This group of friends claimed they bought the bunny ears so they could find each other in the crowds. Pearsonally, I think they harbor secret desires to become real Playboy Bunnies.

The Rust-Tex Booth at International Quilt Festival-Chicago

Here is what the Rust-Tex booth looked like before International Quilt Fest-Chicago opened. I had a corner booth and it worked out better than I expected.

The lights in the convention center gave the same strange coloring to the pictures of my booth as last year. Next year, I will have to figure out how to take pictures at the correct setting for these lights.

The next two photos show what the inside of the booth looked like. I took one photo up each aisle of the booth.DH and I spent 5.5 hours setting up on Wednesday. On Thursday I spent another 4.5 hours moving around all the stuff he had put on hooks. I call it fine tuning. He calls it a waste of time. That is why I do it alone. To take it all down and get it packed into the van for the return trip, took 1:44 minutes. Here are my happy booth workers are still standing and smiling after breaking down the booth. I was still standing but I was shaking. The hard boiled eggs that are part of my "show food" diet, froze in the hotel room refrigerator. So I didn't have a protein hit before packing up the show. Before I drove back to Madison, Nurse Peggy, had me eat a whole rack of ribs and a cup of Earl Gray tea.
Thanks to all my crew for taking such good care of me and helping me with crucial decisions like what not to take back to the van and when I should eat.

Ready to Go...almost

To get all my stuff from Madison, WI to the International Quilt Festival in Rosemont, IL, I rented a van. Can you guess from this picture which one is the van and which one is our Subaru Outback wagon? If you guessed the van is on the left you are correct! The picture below shows a fraction of the stuff I needed to take with me.
We managed to fit it all in and the van is not even half full. My assistant asked how I manage to get all that stuff into the Subaru. I told her I don't always have to take so much stuff. But with teaching rust dyeing, presenting at two samplers, teaching a class for Make It U and what I will need for the Open Studio, I just felt I needed a bigger transportation vehicle. And I was right!

Here is what the dinning room looked like after we moved everything to the van.

I have not seen that part of the carpet in WEEKS!!!!
Be sure to stop by and say hi at booth #1638. I am looking forward to meeting you, my dear Rust-Tex.blogspot.com reader.

International Quilt Festival-Chicago

The title of today's blog post is the actual name of what is locally called the Rosemont Show. I refer to it as Quilt Fest so I don't get it mixed up with Quilt Expo, which is the other big show I do.

Here is a picture of how my house looks today as I am getting ready for the show.

Being located in the Make-It-University (MIU) area I was asked to teach a class for them. It will be on Thursday night at 5:30, cost $10. It is the very first class offered by MIU and within 30 minutes of the show opening, so I don't think there will be a lottery for it. Sign up for my class called, Real Leaf Fabric. Here is the description: Using real leaves, students will make a stamp and capture the true essence of a leaf on fabric.

Descriptions of other MIU classes can be found here:

http://quiltingarts.com/cpsmag/MIU2009.html

I am also having an Open Studio on Thursday night from 7-9. Stop by and watch me make fish cards using rust dyed fabric.

My booth number is 1638. Stop by and identify yourself as a Rust-Tex.Blogspot.Com reader for a free gift.

Kingdom of Rust

Someone alerted me to a new song by the Doves called, "Kingdom of Rust". If you have 4:19 to spare and would like to watch the official video of it click on the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WS9KDL4hy34

What do you think should I add the music to this blog?

Got the taxes in the mail this morning. I don't allow myself to start rust dyeing until I finish my taxes. It doesn't seem to be much of an incentive as you can see by today's date. The other signal that I should begin rust dyeing is when the snowdrops are in bloom.

I think it might be prudent for me to wait until after International Quilt Fest is over...sigh...but soon

Collage Packs

For many years I have been buying things with the idea of making collage packs to sell. I will be in the Make It University area of the International Quilt Festival in Chicago. It is a multi-media area sponsored by Quilting Arts magazine and Cloth Paper and Scissors magazine. I thought it would be a great place to see if my product would sell. I made 5 different packs. The one below is the Foreign Language Pack. The label says that the pages were selected for their graphic quality.

I tried to put the items in the pack so you could clearly see what you are getting. Be sure to look at both sides.

I love the clear cellophane bags they are packaged in.
Here is the front of the Fun and Games Pack...

...and here is the back.

I won't be selling these through the store at Rust-Tex.Com only when I vend at shows.

What an incentive to get yourself to Chicago next week-end!!!

Call for Entries

A display of juried international entries dedicated to promoting using rust dyed fabrics in contemporary quilts. Jurors will select works that represent a variety of techniques using rust dyed fabric and fibers, good design, and excellent craftsmanship.

The Rust-Tex Collection, will premier at Spring International Quilt Festival in Chicago April 16-18, 2010. It will also be displayed at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, England August 20-23, 2010. Other venues to be announced as arranged.

TIMELINE
Deadline for arrival of entry materials: January 10, 2010

Notification to all entrants by email: February 10, 2010

Quilt Delivery Deadline: March 1, 2010

Exhibit Opens at Spring International Quilt Festival: April 16, 2010

REQUIREMENTS
If your quilt is juried into the show:
Your entry must be available until March 1, 2011
A hanging sleeve (2” for small pieces less than 12” wide, 4” for all other sizes)
A fabric label containing the quilter’s name, address, phone #, and title of the quilt must be placed on the quilt’s back.
An appraisal is recommended for your entry as proof of its value

Definition of quilt for this show: Three layers of textiles stitched together.

Size: Quilts can be up to 45 inches wide and 60 inches high.

Entry Fee: $25 for up to two works submitted by check, credit card or Paypal.

Entry by digital image only:
Two views required, full and detail
Image should be sized to 1200 pixel tall.
Please label the digital file with your last name, first initial, name of piece, full or detail
Example: Doe-J-Rusty-Full
Register online, attach to email or send on a CD.
Be sure your image is a clearly focused JPG.
Digital image should be cropped to show binding, but minimal background. CDs will not be returned.

Shipping: The artist is responsible for all costs relating to shipping and insurance of work while in transit to The Rust-Tex Collection. The Rust-Tex collection will pay for the cost of return shipping.

Insurance: The Rust-Tex Collection will cover the cost of insurance for all pieces while they are part of The Rust-Tex Collection.

The Rust-Tex Collection reserves the right to disqualify any work that varies from the digital images submitted.

JURORS
Deb Menz has been involved in fibers for the last 30 years. Color has always been the focus and fascination of her work. She wrote the books, “Color in Spinning” and “Color Works”. She has been traveling and teaching extensively across the country for 20 of those 30 years. Since she scaled down her teaching schedule, she has been able to participate in many group and invitational shows. Her work can be found in corporate and private collections.

Mary Jo Scandin began her career as an art teacher. She later devoted her time to creating and exhibiting her own artwork. For nineteen years, she operated Serendipity, a studio/gallery in Door County, WI. In 2002, she sold her gallery and moved to Madison. She continues to teach surface design classes each summer at Sievers School of Fiber Art in WI. She maintains a studio in Madison and currently exhibits her work at several WI galleries.

CURATOR
Lois Jarvis made her first quilt 38 years ago. Since completing college she has pursued a career in fiber art. In 2003 she began rust dyeing fabric. In 2006 she started selling them under the name, “Rust-Tex” and promoting the use of rust dyed fabrics. Currently she is combining her love of working with rust dyed fabric, found objects, traditional quilting techniques, computer technology and the sewing machine to create one of a kind fiber pieces.

To enter online or download entry form click:

HERE

Another Question about Rust Dyeing

Via email I received a question about using a natural dye bath on silk after rust dyeing. Here is my answer:

Most natural dye recipes are for cotton and recommend boiling the fabric for an hour. Those high temperatures will kill the sheen of the silk. In my humble opinion, that luster is what silk is all about.

Here is the "cool dyeing method" from the book, "Wild Color" by Jenny Dean.
1. Extract the dye from its source

(for those of you who have the Rust-Tex Instructional CD follow the instructions for "Make Sumac Juice" )

2. Cool it to room temperature

3. Add the silk

(If you make sure there is enough water in your dye bath to cover the silk without it being scrunched up you will get and even color over your entire piece. If you want to add interest to your piece crumple it up, tie dye it, clamp it or use low water dyeing techniques.)

4. Leave it for 24 hours

5. If after 24 hours it is not dark enough you can leave it longer, up to several days.

(Be sure to remove it before the natural dye bath gets moldy. Ask me how I know!!!)

Iron is a mordant and will make your colors darker in any area that are dyed with it.

No picture today...sigh...

What I Did This Week-End

No rust dyeing for me this week-end. My YD (Youngest Daughter) and two of her art school friends came here to learn something about fiber art from me. I am thrilled that the next generation is interested in fiber art and welcomed them warmly into my studio and by the end of the week-end into my heart. One of the young women was taking embroidery thread, a hoop and fabric to her figure drawing class as her drawing tools. The next two pictures are examples of what she did in class.

Very cool!!!

But hand stitching takes a very long time. I taught her free-motion machine embroidery and here is what she did with it.

She was talking about taking a sewing machine to class!!! They are students at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design so I am pretty sure she would be allowed use it.

The picture below is another piece by her that she wanted some advice on. I told her to join the Quiltart List and Studio Art Quilts Associates because I don't think she needs ANY advice on how to make fiber art.

Buttons, Buttons Everywhere!!!

Yesterday my studio assistant helped me finish sorting the loose buttons so I can bag them up to sell in my booth at International Quilt Festival, April 17-19, 2009.They are going into 3" x 3" bags. Here is one all finished up.
Here are 9 all finished up.

That makes 9 down and 9 zillion to go. Wish me luck.

A Gift

The husband, of a friend of mine, made the pen pictured above from an acrylic block. She thought it looked so much like my Rust-Tex fabric that she insisted he give it to me. I am very thankful to have a friend with a good visual memory and a talented husband! This picture shows the sparkles in the depth of the acrylic as the sun was shinning on it when I took it picture.

If you would like my friend's husband to make you a Rust-Tex pen you can contact Mary at this address: nonfiction43 at hotmail dot com

Tell them Lois sent you!

It Is Good To Be Back

I try to post as often as possible during the rust-dyeing season which here in Madison, WI is mid April to mid Oct. I did a rust dyeing activity this week I think you should know about. Through the store at Rust-Tex.Com someone ordered a packet of rust dust. It is used with tannin, rust flakes and a rusty pan to make what I call "Stormy Skies" fabric.

Stormy Skies Fabric

I had rust dust but it was not bagged up and ready for sale so I decided I would bag some up in the indoor Rust-Tex studio in the basement as it was too cold to work in the outdoor Rust-Tex studio on the deck. I put on a dusk mask as I usually do and started to process the rust dust. I noticed it settling on EVERYTHING. My laundry room is the next open space over from the Rust-Tex studio so I quit after I had enough rust dust to make a 1.5oz bag. When I blew my nose I knew it was time to invest in a respirator!!!

I did some research on what kind to buy. I went out that night and bought a particle respirator. I was able to work outside the next day. After fitting the respirator carefully to my face I made 7 bags of rust dust and 12 bags of rust flakes. When I blew my nose after an hour and a half the tissue was perfectly clean. Good investment!!!

A Strange Weather Day

At 11:50 am, I went out to get the mail and bring in the garbage cans, it was starting to snow. You could hear the sound of sleet hitting dry leaves.

Around 12:10, when Eldest Daughter (ED) and SIL arrived for lunch, the big flakes had started to fall.

By 12:30 The boiling water from our pasta lunch had steamed up the kitchen windows, obscuring the view and it looked like a full blown blizzard.

When ED and SIL left close to 12:45 the sun was shinning.

What a strange transition from fall to winter we experienced today.

Stay at Home Challenge

You can see all the quilts that were created for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative, including the ones created with the Rust-Tex fabric I sent, by clicking on the link below:

http://dianedidit.com/stayathome.html

...

The Rust-Tex ones are pretty easy to pick out, with the exception of #3324 "Fox in the Flowers". Tobi saw a fox head in the random patterning created by the rust dyeing. She enhanced what she saw with a bit of color pencil and then surrounded the fox head in golden flowers and leaves.

Another one you might not think was made of rust dyed fabric is #3301 "Faded Glory". I sent Diane a piece of Stormy Skies fabric and she made it into big gray flower.

Heather was able to make 4 quilts from the 10" square of Rust-Tex I sent her. Yeah, Heather!!!

Rusted Hearts Still Hold Love Debbie Krueger

I didn't mention, in my post on Nov 4th that shows some of these quilt, that not only did I send out pieces of Rust-Tex fabric to use in making these quilts, but that I would also make a donation to AAQI for each quilt finished by a certain day. The Stay at Home Challenge group completed 22 by the deadline. As the email I sent each person who asked for rust dyed fabric said, "Together, we can make a lot of money for Alzheimer's research."

And I was right!!!

Indoor Studio: Success

The move of the Rust-Tex Dye Studio to the basement has been quite successful.

Yesterday I set up a black dye pot .

Today I rinsed out four silk scarves that will be perfect to include in the new travel scarf kit that I will soon be offering for sale.

These scarves have not been washed, so I saw no point in ironing them just to make the picture look good. My friend, the photo stylist, might disagree with me on that point.

Escape Plan Foiled

My DH nailed a piece of wood over the hole Keekum has chewed in the back of his cage.

Will this simple act begin the magical transformation of my DH into a patchworker? I hope so!

A True Story for Election Day

Ami Simms began the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) because she thinks it is possible to make a difference, one quilt at a time. She asks quilters to make "Priority Quilts", so named by the requirement that these quilts must fit into a cardboard USPS priority mailer without folding. They are small works of art no larger than 9 inches by 12 inches. All the money raised from the sale of these quilts funds Alzheimer's research.

Rusty Leaves Jenny Williams

These small quilts are sometimes sold outright at selected venues across the United States. Ami took 1,000 PQ to the Houston Quilt Show and I am hoping she didn't bring any back with her to Michigan.

Wine & Cheese Under the Stars 2 Beth Hartford

What?

You were not at the Houston Quilt Show so didn't get a chance to buy a PQ in person????

Relax!!!

You can buy one on the auction page of the AAQI and you are in luck because the auction starts tomorrow, Nov 5!!!!

Free Spirit Everlasting Kathryn Kistner

I have been supporting the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative, not by actually making quilts to be auctioned off, but by sending pieces of Rust-Tex fabric to members of the quiltart list who accepted the Stay At Home Challenge. (We stayed at home instead of going to the Houston Quilt Show...sigh...)

All the quilts in today's post were made from the 10"-11" square of Rust-Tex fabric I sent out to those who requested it.

Catch A Falling Star Ann E. Ruthsdottir

One member of the SAHC wrote this:

Back in 2002 my siblings and I realized that dementia was seriously affecting both of our parents. My mother had classic Alzheimer's symptoms, but my father's symptoms were not as clear. As part of the process of having them both diagnosed, I took them to see a geriatric psychiatrist. I sat with each of them as the Doctor ran through all the typical questions:

What day is it? Mom had no idea.
What are the names of your children? Dad got 4 out of 5.
Who's the President? They each independently answered this question exactly the same way: "We don't know, but we don't like him."

Faded Glory Diane Petersmarck

And that's why I support the AAQI and Ami's effort to change the world one quilt at a time.

PAQA Vidcast

The picture of the day is in celebration of a beautiful fall day!

Click on the link to see what a meeting of the

Professional Art Quilters Alliance is like:

http://www.bonniemccaffery.com/vidcasts/028.html

...sorta.

Follow this link to see the PAQA website:

http://artquilters.com/

Keekum, Are You Planing To Escape?

We keep our pet rabbit, Keekum, in a cage that we bought used more than 20 years ago for our first pet rabbit. Although it has served three pet rabbits well, the wood is starting to weaken. So when my DH first showed me this hole in the back of the cage, I thought someone had punched a hole through the wood. On closer examination I could see that Keekum has been chewing on this board.

I am not sure if he is trying to ventilate the back room where his litter box is kept or planning an escape. Either way I think we had better get a patch on it soon because I don't think he would know what to do if he met a predator in the night. He knows he is at the bottom of the food chain. When threaten he totally surrenders.

Lasting Impatience

While I was packing up the outdoor studio I moved this impatience near the front door. I thought I could extend its life by bringing it in at night when the temperature was below freezing. So far it has been out every night and seems to be thriving. I even saw some buds on it yesterday.