C&T, our publisher, is now packaging Liquitex acrylic paints, inks, and Inktense pencils in sizes (and prices) that are good for quilters. I got some samples to play with and yesterday took some time to do just that.

I decided to use this flower stencil, from The Crafter's Workshop, with the paint.

I have to admit that I have worked with paint and dye before and I knew that if the paint was too thin or too thick it wouldn't work with this stencil.

I tried placing the the stencil on top of the fabric and painting over it. I decided that I didn't want that much paint on my fabric.

The next thing I did was paint one side of the stencil, turn it upside down on top of the fabric, cover it with a paper towel (to absorb excess paint) and roll it all flat with a brayer. If you don't have a brayer, use a rolling pin covered with plastic wrap.

I had hoped for crisper prints but the more I looked at these, the more I like them. I know that I could get crisper lines if I used the stencil to make a silk screen and then silk screened the fabric. That's actually not hard to do – but it's not how I want to spend my time.

This was fast and fun and it's yet another good way to make your own fabric.

This event was just brought to my attention and it deserves to be shared. I am quoting an article from News-Leader.com in Springfield, Missouri, about a house fire in a quilter’s house:

“A fire in a back room in a southeast Springfield house was
particularly stubborn to extinguish because the room was filled with
cloth and quilting materials, a Springfield fire marshal said after the
early-morning blaze was extinguished.

While a sewing room
in the house was gutted, flames that
entered the attic caused so much damage that the rest of the house was
made uninhabitable, Fire Marshal Ben Basham said.

A malfunctioning electric heating unit in a window caused the blaze, he said.

Firefighters were called to the scene after an alarm was sounded at 3:38 a.m.

The
house’s three adult occupants who were alerted by a passing newspaper
carrier called in the alarm before fleeing unharmed, Basham said.

The fire was difficult to fight because of what was inside the sewing room, he said.

“The room was completely filled with fabrics and quilting materials,” he said.

Firefighters had to pull apart piles of fabric to spray them with water, he said.

No firefighters were injured, Basham said.”

Doesn’t that make you consider a sewing room clean-up!

I recently tidied up my own closet of fabric. There are currently 2 boxes with a total weight of 38 lbs of fabric heading to a friend.

As you can see, the shelves still sag under the weight of my remaining fabric, but there is space for new purchases!

It was brought to my attention last night that there is an error in the Materials section on all of the Tulips in the Park ePatterns. It's my mistake and I apologize for it.

If you bought and downloaded any Tulips in the Park ePattern before February 4, 2010 (this morning), please look at the Materials section. Do you see a listing for black border background fabric? You do NOT need the black border background fabric. You DO need the 2 1/2 yards of brown background fabric that is listed near the top of the Materials section.

Again, I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.

When I painted our bedroom and rearranged the furniture, my old nightstand didn't fit anymore. Steve had already made us a simple headboard that hangs on the wall and I got to thinking that nightstands hanging on the wall would work well with it.

I drew up the plans and Steve built them for me. I finished them with paint mixed with glazing fluid. The colors are not an exact match, but they are surely close enough. I really like the fact that they are not taking up floor space.

I did a little sketching on the trip to Hawaii – hoping to turn some of what we saw into fabric designs. Now that I'm home and have a deadline looming (there is always a deadline looming!) I'm pulling the ideas together and I thought it would be nice to share one with you. Don't know if you'll ever see it on fabric but I'm liking the way the coral idea is turning out.

Last week we were on the north shore of Oahu. In addition to the still shots of the Bonzai Pipeline, I took this movie of the waves at Waimea Bay. I was standing barefoot in the surf. You'll see Steve washing off his sandals. You'll hear the wind and and waves. It's a little bit hypnotic.