Fiber art before and beyond: Off to a good start

So far the new year is full of little projects to finish as well as fabric both new and old.

Discontinued fabric samples make for great bags, purses and all manner of other stuff not yet began. One of the things I love about the fabric samples is designing a bag or something for the size of the piece. Old Jim Thompson handkerchiefs sent to me years ago have been waiting to become something, and now they are a quilt top, inspired by Muumu Heaven's use of vintage Hawaiian prints. I happen to have a best Aunti ever who lived in Southeast Asia in the 50's and 60's accumulating fabrics. With the exception of the blue GVH Hawaiian print all of the fabrics for that quilt came from Indonesia or Thailand. I've been taking a Skinny Quilts class once a month for the past year, a great way to brush up on long forgotten techniques and to learn new ones, not to mention using up the stash. The most recently finished quilt is all silk, including the back, I just could not whack it into small pieces because the fabric is like a painting, now it is quilted waiting for binding of some sort. And best of all I was invited to hang a piece of my work at the Secretary of States Office and now I am an officially treasured artist, this makes me smile.