Painting Fabric and More

When you consider my many years of working with fibre, my two years of longarming is not a big number and my textile interests are wide and varied. So, when we chose classes at Road to California with our focus on quilting, I still was most certainly not passing up the opportunity to take a class that involved paint and brush! I have been a fan of Mickey Lawler and her fabric painting technique for a very long time, so the chance to spend a day with her was the icing on the cake, so to speak, for me.

Mickey demonstrates one of her techniques

Even though she suffered a painful injury on the first day at Road, Mickey was delightful! She was very organized and informative, the class was fast paced, and best of all, Mickey is funny! She had us laughing over and over as she recounted personal anecdotes, all the while showing us new and creative ways to paint our fabric.

Mickey’s beautiful work

Mickey’s color chart

Mickey's class was on the last day of Road and after a full week, Lorette and I had new places to go and familiar to us people to meet, so we packed up quickly and set off as soon as the class was done. My hubby had just flown into the busy LAX and while I painted, was picking up this fun Escapevan for our next weeks journey.

We were amazed by how many thumbs up we got as we travelled in our van!

We hit the road and headed out, and the next day my freshly painted, damp fabric got to dry at the Joshua Tree National Park.

The days were wonderfully hot, the nights surprisingly cold and the area incredibly interesting!

This man always keeps me laughing!

Cholla Cactus

After what was already feeling like a long winter back home, the heat of the desert was so inviting and welcome to us. 

Octillo

We basked in our surroundings and marvelled at the views, especially enjoying the sunsets. 

Sun setting over Joshua Tree National Park

We often meet interesting people when we travel. After a night in the Anza-Borrego Desert and while hiking one of the trails, we crossed paths with a lovely couple from Washington, DC who are sheep farmers. She is a spinner and weaver and we ended up having a lovely chat about fibres as we stood in the middle of the path under the hot desert sun. I love that my travels randomly put me in contact with so many people with common interests. I think the key is to be open to the possibility and to wear a welcoming smile.

Freehand Quilting

I find myself in the very fortunate position of having a number of comfort or charity quilts to stitch. These lovely quilt tops give me the opportunity to learn as I go and to practice my own longarming designs. When I am faced with a client’s top and I am still not completely sure what approach I will take, I load one of these tops on my machine and stitch away. It is always interesting because I often have an idea of what I will be quilting and then when I start, well, what I stitch is usually nothing like what I have been sketching out and practicing in my cool and handy Wipebook my sweet daughter gifted to me.

This time I did stick to my plan and I am especially pleased with this design. I love being in front of the needle on my longarm. In some ways it reminds me of my days wielding a brush and letting the paint flow!

This design is one I randomly stitched on a sampler with while at Road to California and I was itching to take it a step further and develop it into a full edge to edge freehand design.

I always tend to try to fill every space and I working to learn the fine art of less is more - for some quilts! I think it has a lovely, casual feel and yet maybe is a bit folksy as well.

A little more about Road to California 2014

This morning when we got up, the temperature was -2! It only reached a wet, windy high of 8 degrees and someone remarked to me that if it really were the fall (which it feels) we would at least dress for the weather. No one wants to pull out their toques and mitts, but really? Well, if we were sensible, we would. But, sensible does not abound in these parts apparently. Today I saw more shorts and bare feet and bare arms than I have for days. Meanwhile I am wrapped in three layers, a scarf around my neck, shoulders up to my ears and anxious to get home so I can stuff a heated magic bag in my sweater! I am still sporting wool socks and flannel pj’s to bed and any tan I might have gotten last month while in Cozumel has long ago faded to pasty white. Sigh. 

Well, I am trying to keep warm thoughts and that brings me back to California. While there I had the pleasure of taking classes with numerous instructors. Lisa Sipes and Pam Clarke were both longarmers I had become familiar with and classes with both provided me with lots of tips, techniques and possibilities. Lisa is a relaxed, casual teacher and displays obvious skill on the longarm.

Pam is very, very organized and has developed a method of marking and quilting that is pretty much fool proof. As she says, when you have quilted as many quilts as she has, you need to be organized and use a method that you know will deliver.

I also had the pleasure of speaking with the very gracious, Alex Anderson of The Quilt Show fame. She was there representing the show and took the time to speak and pose with everyone and anyone. She was chatty and gave me a friendly jab of her elbow when I teased her about the trials of being a superstar! lol

Road to California attracts a large number of Canadians, mostly snowbirds who winter in Palm Springs, and mainly from the western provinces. On the day we were to take a class from Angela Walters who unfortunately got the flu and had to cancel, we posed with a couple of fellow Canadian classmates. We seemed to meet up with Colleen (second from the left) quite a bit and always enjoyed some laughs with her.

For a group that is missing out on a class with Angela, we look fairly happy. I know we were all very disappointed, but I think unexpectedly having a free day to spend shopping here...

helped keep our spirits up.

I normally don’t pose for photos since I am usually the photographer, but I am glad I did during that trip. It is proof positive that I did attend and that I did meet those great instructors and all those wonderful quilters! Looking at each photo takes me back to the moment and that particular experience and I remember something more about it each time.

I really think meeting so many friendly, generous quilters was one of the best things about going to Road. Every teacher relayed the attitude that if they could do it, you could do it. Every person shared information, offered assistance, moved over if you needed a seat. There were smiles, lots of laughs, oodles of positive vibes, and I couldn’t have asked for a better experience.

More Quilts from Road to California 2014

I have more eye candy to share..the more I look at these photos, the more I see..