How do you dye 10 yards of fabric at once

with a bunch of kids .....I will be doing the Annual Artrageous event this coming saturday and I came up with this wild and crazy idea to have kids help me create art quilts....well you need special fabric for that so...We will be creating a maze of fabric inside a tent...that the kids will walk through with a variety of painting and dying techniques....at the end of the day we will unveil what we end up with.

Some of the kids will be blindfolded so they can experience the surprise of what they are doing...some will only use their mouths,,, or one hand or stand on one leg ....etc you get the idea.   Spray bottles with koolaid for dye (its safe)  acrylic paints for brushes ...markers ....what ever we can find to "DYE" fabric.  any thoughts anyone might have that we can use please email or post ...thanks

I will cut some fun sections out to frame and sell at the auction the following night ...and the rest will be used to create a Art quilt for the following year to be auctioned. 

The Project is called SPONTANEOUS CREATION ART QUILT   I know the kids are going to have a blast..

will post photos when it is all done...

Ok so now where have I been

Things have gotten busy around here Art Wise and Life Wise and Job wise. Art Wise when I was working on the piece in the previous post it lit a fire under me to finish a few UFOS and create some new pieces.

                                                                   "Looner Love"
                                                     copyright protected 2010  LLChambers

I finished one quilt which is pictured here called "Looner Love" a funky little art quilt from one of my first art quilts designs I ever created and still love to make every now and then. I sold this piece yesterday at the Manteo Farmers Market that I work every Saturday morning from 8 am to 12 pm selling my art, my jewelry and meeting wonderful people.

My son Louis-Andrew , Drew for short came from Florida for the summer and is living and working here. We have not had any real time together since 1999 so this is great the time we and his sister is getting together.He has been working on things around the house that needed repair that John would have handled had he still been with us...So I am proud he has grown into such a amazing young man.(21 years Old) He will going back the end of August and I know it will be hard when he leaves.

I have been having a blast making more fabric postcards....truly an addiction and more wonky house art quilts and PCs....along with my ornate beadwoven bracelets (I posted Pics of these earlier on here). I started working Memorial day weekend at the local pool as an attendant so I am outside 4 days a week there and really love it. I am to take stuff to work on and lately have been working on my bracelets. Which is good for me when people talk about them and how beautiful they are.

                                                         "Having a Ball at the Beach"
                                                copyright protected 2010 LLChambers


This is another piece I created it 18 inches wide by 12 inches high. I had this great sand looking felt I used for the background.and the pieces are raw edge applique I just love the whimsy.



The "Ghost of Kill Devil Hills"  24 inch by 24 inch Art Quilt created using my PAS technique.   The sky and sand were created using batik fabrics I have collected and then free motion stitched using the stiple setting on my old brother machine (may it RIP)  I just love the piece and its gets people to stop at the farmer market who recognize the building . It is a drawing of the old Coast Guard Station that was lived in by the lady of Kill Devil Hills who donated land for most of the school and municipal centers  and always kept a Christmas tree in the tower it was the one building people came to love and thought or at least I did when I saw I knew I was home , even when I was on vacation.  Unfortunately it was torn down in 2004 and replaced with big ugly mcMansions , A huge heritage loss for the Outer Banks.

"Ghost of Kill Devil Hills "

copyright protected 2010 LLChambers

I will be posting a few more pieces tomorrow...Please offer me some feedback.

what I have been up to

This is a picture of the Art Quilt  23 inches by 24 inches I created for our local Community Care Clinic which sees people when they have not other source for medical care. They had a SHAG OBX weekend and SHAG being a beach dance and it was lessons, dinner and silent auction.   I don't know how much the quilt managed to make for the group but I know all the people who saw it loved it . This was the beginning of May.  I sold one of my PAS Art Quilts at the Art show portion and had a great time. 

The Quilt was a lot of fun to make and I made good use of some musical fabrics I had as well as some beachy batiks.

My Weekend of Healing

I spent a wonderful weekend with friends and positive energy while I participated as Storyteller, teacher and vendor at the Dancing Moccasins Pow Wow here in Frisco , North Carolina.  Frisco Native American Museum has been energizing the spring every year for the last 12 years with  this Pow Wow. I have missed the last 3 years because of John's illness and then passing one year ago today.  I just didn't know how much.

We had an amazing new dance circle , which my daughter Larisa (aka Beaver ) spent most of the weekend dancing in with all of the other wonderful dancers that traveled near and far to be there.  A Pow Wow is a gathering to honor the Creator and Mother Earth and share fellowship among each other.  We wear colorful regalias (not costumes) that many times have been passed down from our ancestors. Each has a meaning and purpose.  I am part Cherokee , My great great grandfather coming from the Eastern Band Cherokee on the Tennessee/North Carolina Border.  and my children are half Taino as their grandparents from Puerto Rico were descended from the first nation to encounter the European .   So their vast history is very important to them.

I taught children how to make Personal Pouches ( PC term for Medicine bags) and had a wonderful time doing it ...each child was allowed to pick a shell from a vast collection for their treasure to put in their bag.
I also did Storytelling of stories I wrote over the last 20 years.  The kids were so anxious to learn, there were many other classes available soapstone carving, feather painting, primitive weapons, weaving and more.I also sold my jewelry and leather bags and rocks specimens.

But best of all the energy that surrounded us despite the threatening rain which eventually gave up was so healing for those of suffering from broken hearts and souls.

 But I felt my Hubby there saying you belong here, you love this as you loved me and let it heal you as you need to be.  I know you will never forget me ever.   I had my moments especially yesterday at 1:11 pm and again today as cards came in the mail, or phone calls.

I am stronger than I have been in awhile and will go forward as I need to , looking towards the farmer market and art events this summer.

Have a Blessed day and enjoy a few of the photos of me and the things I was doing this weekend


I am wearing a traditional shirt called a ribbon shirt which has a matching skirt for dancing when I am in full regalia. The next picture is of my daughter at our booth in her regalia, then pictures of some of the dancers.
The last pic is of one my tables with some of my jewelry and beadwork. 

SAQA Regional Meeting April 11th

 This event took place on April 11, 2010 I am sharing again because there were some amazing artists there.


On April 11th in the wonderful town of Rocky Mount , North Carolina 13 women who some of us have never met gathered in a church hall to share our lives and our love of Art Quilts.  Painting with fabrics and all mediums possible to create Art Quilts is what connects us and makes us the glorious artists we are.

I have been to regular art museums all of my life and galleries but there is just something about being in a room and seeing the vast variety of Art Quilts created , then to put the face and soul with it at the same time is a experience there are no words to explain.  The women who I can now call friends are walking a path of art each their own and I saw many ways to create and enjoy all the things , from hand stitching, to beads, paint, recycled objects and much more. Themes from beautiful faces, to nature to watercolors turned into art quilts One of the Artist husband reads to her as she creates. Some gather in groups  and support each other in their endeavors, others like me work individually which sometimes leads to frustration because we don't have someone who will help us when we find ourselves stumped or unsure of how to progress in our art. 

I taught and shared a technique I developed PAS talked about in the previous post and all loved the possibilities of it.

We then went to lunch at the Imperial Art Center a block away and if you have never visited this museum , please do it is an amazing building that used to be a tobacco factory that now serves as a beautiful well executed art museum.   The large rooms are spacious and allows you to enjoy the art from afar and near.
.

I am anxiously waiting to see what they have done with what I taught them. 

Fabric is just not for Bed Quilts and clothes anymore....create your Art Quilts today.

Some of my recent creative energy

I made all of the above Fabric Postcards for a swap group I belong to.

The first one is Winter Landscape, I finally got to use that fun sheer fabric with the shiny silver stars on it.

the mountains are a piece of fabric I found at the local QS, and I put some lace "trees" across the bottom for dimension.

 The second is a one on one swap...I just loved the "flowers" that showed up in the batik piece I used for the background, and dragonflies are my signature.

And the last is a Snowbird for the snowbird swap , I wasn't sure what anyone expected but I only kept thinking about my neighbors  in Virginia that as soon as the weather turned cold headed to Florida calling themselves Snowbirds , flying south where there wasn't any snow.  This one has her ticket and suitcase and is ready to go.

I love creating the fabric postcards, I am expanding them into birthday cards and anniversary cards now.

So much fun and people love getting them...  Enjoy

Don't sweat the small stuff, Create it....We can do whatever our hearts desire

When My husband first started going for his cancer treatments in 2006 I knew there was no way I could sit for hours on end doing nothing , I am just not that type and reading doesn't cut it either.  So I put a bag of magic together that I could sit and sew small pieces of Art in those many long hours.  This picture is some of the many Fabric ATCS  I created and gave away to the people I met who were either going through treatment or supporting someone who was.  I have no idea how Many I made in the 3 years we fought the battle.  I even did some small quilts by hand and one larger piece for a auction for the CARING HOUSE in Durham, an adult cancer care house.  So why am I sharing this today.  Because even tho John and I lost his battle with the Beast  almost a year ago ...people are revving up for relays for life and other cancer support events.  If you can't give money do the next best thing give a piece of art they can sell or your time.  You will feel a wonderful sensation in whatever little thing you can do.  If you are blessed enough to meet a survivor then take in that blessing and enjoy the gift they have received.  If you meet someone like me who lost their love and soulmate just take our hand and say nothing  or give us a hug.  There will never be words for the pain we feel...and no we never get over it.  As people so often tell me lately, well its been almost a year , John would want you to get over it.  What, you want me to forget the most wonderful thing in my life next to the birth of my children or the family I was blessed to be born into.  It can't and won't happen.  But I will find a path in my life that allows me to continue on ,  Part of that is finding a way to get my store back open and I have decided when I do , the basis of the store will be spontaneous learning...taking classes when you have a couple of hours one day...instead of waiting 6 weeks.  I used this in my first bead store and will now expand it to every medium I can do, and there are many plus get other artists to come in and teach.

But there will be one more thing anyone who is fighting cancer or is a cancercaregiver will be able to come in and take classes for free.  They need that creative outlet , Fighting any illness is hard , but the battle with cancer does not play fair, it makes you sick, even if you are not the one with cancer. It causes you stress and worry beyond your control , that you cannot show the one who has cancer , you must always have a positive attitude.  One of the things that came out of John and I's battle was I wrote a simple cancercaregivers journal with things caregivers need to know.  I want to get it published but right now I am trying to figure out how to do that.  I want it to have fabric quilted covers so that it will give comfort in just holding it.  and pages for those scary thoughts to be written down so you can get rid of them.  In Order to get this done I have decided in 4 weeks I will be placing ATCS on my etsy store and Fabric Postcards all the money I raise from those special items I will use to make up as many journals as I can and get them to people who need them.

So don't sweat the small stuff Create it.   Please check back and when I have everything ready I want all of you to help me get the word out.  I try to never ask for anything ...but this is one time I need help to get my dreams to come true.  Blessings to all of you and always remember to ask for a Miracle .

Why make ART QUILTS????

Many people look at my work and say oh those are nice...but what are they????

I proudly tell them Art Quilts and try to educate them as to what they are and how they are made.

I still receive a quizzed expression on their face , so I ask why .
Their response is well if you are such a artist why not do paintings with oils, acrylics or watercolors.  The same design would look lovely that way.  that way???

What makes my way wrong...or not to their liking...Does Fabric make it less art ???does fabric mean its not acceptable as art.

I love my art quilts and making them because I love the feeling of the fabrics and the look of the fabrics , the textures the way maybe a piece will cause a little pucker , making it not perfect,,,but I can't make it perfect , only God can make things perfect.  

Native American Artists always make a "mistake" in their designs on purpose.

When you create a Art Quilt you are taking something you had no control over the color or texture(Commercial Fabrics) yet it inspires you to put it together with other pieces that somehow emerge themselves into something beautiful and glorious.  but then sometimes they turn out a little funky , and wonky... but they will bring a smile to those who see them.  I love to hand stitch some pieces such as the parrot I have included the pic of ...I spent an entire weekend  finding the right fabrics then designing and cutting out the pieces then hand sewing them to the bacground and finally hand quilting the entire piece this one was 20 inches by 24 inches.  I didn't have a sewing machine to do any of the work.

Look at nature and the multi color crazy patterned fish you see ,,,are they any less of a fish  because of their individualistic coloring. 

That is what Art is all about , the individual soul being opened for others to see and feel and bring a joyful smile to their face.

So why do I make Art Quilts because my soul demands it and I have no choice but to listen as it allows my heart to heal (never completely) and my life to go on with a meaning all its own .

Think outside the box and Paint with some fabric today.  Having a creative block ...go outside with your camera and just start taking pics of interesting things,  don't allow yourself to think why in the world am I taking a pic of that then when you  get back inside just pop them on the computer and you will I am sure find something that will blow up that creative block.  Have a great day

Some of my earlier works for swaps

These are some of the designs I have created over the last 4 years since I discovered fabric ATCs,Postcards and journal pages. The chicken is made using paint chip samples from Home Depot.

That was alot of fun.

The other pieces are based on themes I had to do for swaps.

Recycle, Creative,Monet

Belonging to a group or groups that swap our art is great I have the

 most amazing collection of little art pieces from all over the world.

And it inspires you to think outside the box.

Tales to share

Since I have no more new work to share just yet...I have been blasting the studio...VBG

I decided to share another of my talents with you . 

I am a 16th Cherokee and because of it I learned to do storytelling from a Cherokee Elder.
I worked many pow wows (Native Gatherings telling my stories to young and old alike)

So now I want to share some with you , they all have morals at the end

The Turtle and the Coyote

Once when the moon was full the coyote was so tired he slept through it all.  And as we all know they are suppose to howl at the moon every night .  Some say it is to pray and some say it is just to let everyone know all is right with the world.
The next night when he was suppose to howl at the moon Coyote tried to stay awake but just couldn't.
He saat there mumbling during the day as to what he could do to stay awake...Turtle heard him and asked him if he could help.
I don't know how you can help you are just an old turtle who sleeps all day.
But Turtle said then I can help, coyote laughed because he could not see how.
Well today when you go to sleep , let me sleep under your chin and when the moon rises I will let you know when it is time to get up.
Well Coyote didn't trust that Turtle could help..but he agreed to the plan.
He let Turtle crawl under his chin, but Coyote tried to stay awake because he just couldn't trust Turtle.
When Turtle tried to wake up Coyote by talking to him , Coyote would not not wake , he was so tired from trying to stay awake that Turtle could not wake him.
Now Turtle knew Coyote would be mad if he let him sleep through another night , so he reached up opening his mouth and gave him a great big bite.
Coyote jumped up with such a howl that his head went back and looked as you would see him howling at the moon.
Well Coyote was so upset with Turtle that he did not sleep that night and next day he slept and woke up when the time was right.
From then on Coyote is always awake to howl at the moon and Turtle is there to remind him that he has 13 panels on his shell to keep track of each full moon, and you should always trust your elders.

By Lorri Arakuna "Raccoon"

Its a new year, a new day and a new minute to think

Gezzy and Winston

We all  just want to wish you a very happy new year 

and to let you know we all love you .

Here's to a great year without Procrastination.