Let the Wild Rumpus Begin!

"Party Animalz"

11.5" by 16.5"

Inked and thread-painted, hand-dyes, acrylic paint, beads and assorted trims, machine stitched and quilted

Today is reveal day for the carnival challenge at Art Quilts Around the World.

I was inspired by a news story that showed a parade of pets during Carnival in Rio de Janeiro this year.  I tried to think of what kind of dogs would be fun at a party and I chose Jack Russell terriers because they seem like such high-spirited dogs.

And I thought they might enjoy the hats.  The hats are fused hand-dyes with machine stitched accents and hand-beading.  I challenged myself to use only stuff I already had and I was delighted to find this quilting thread in my stash that perfectly complemented the hand-dyed background.

A Carnival Mask

I made this Mardi Gras mask for my carnival piece.  I took a purple piece of a "Color Catcher" and glued it to a bit of heavy weight stabilizer.  I painted it with metallic paints and added the embellishments.  I used a painted disposable chopstick for the handle.

The piece will be revealed first at Art Quilts Around the World on March 31st.  Then I'll show it here too.

Gone to the Dogz

I need some dogs for something I'm working on.  I took a photo of Rosie and inked it onto some cotton fabric with fabric Sharpies and Tsukineko inks -- sorry -- I didn't take a picture.  I layered the inked image with wool batting and used Decor-Bond on the back to make it stable, then I stitched all over it with my machine.  I did iron the sandwich to make it flat before I stitched -- and I had to hit it again with the iron to flatten it after the stitching.

I drew up some Jack Russell Terriers to keep Rosie company and did the same layering thing with batt and stabilizer.  I found some great variegated greys among my stash of Aurifil threads -- those would be the two grey ones on the right side of the photo.  These are all 50w spools.

Then I covered the little terriers with thread.

I am linking up with Nina-Marie at Off the Wall Fridays.

One Finish and One Start

I finished the dragon shown in the previous posts and sent it off.  Here is a sneak peek:

I will post more about this and a photo of the whole thing next month.

And I have started on my "carnival" piece for Art Quilts Around the World.  I was toying with using Rosie as a model for a dog-themed carnival, but I have another idea that I am exploring.

In any case, Rosie is not showing a lot of enthusiasm for either of my ideas.  --is she rolling her eyes at me?!