Two Trips

Howdy, Fiber Guys and Gals! Funky C here, bringing you a snap shot from the past.

April 2007saw me saddled up and on the road for two weeks: one in Chicago at the IQA Spring Festival and one at AQS in Paducah. The two constants in both trips were my faithful Travel Companion and Trip Administrator Power Connie and my employment by Embellishment Village. Now, in Chicago, Embellishment Village had a choice booth location in the Quilting Arts 'Make It U' area. Standing in one spot brought by so many friends and I got to see everything going on with 'Make It U' and QA's virtual studio. It was a blur, a hubbub, a happenin' scene.

At one point, before the Chicago show opened, I found myself driving Katie Pasquini Masopust, whom I've never met, on a chaotic supply hunting trip around the perimeter of O'Hare. I was the only one to be found that a. had a vehicle (oh dear....my 30 yr old Ford 150 pick-m-up truck, stick shift, no air) and b. was deluded enough to tackle the suburban terrain. It was all very surreal (especially my driving) and Katie kept me laughing the whole time. (somehow, I ended up with 300 paper plates....huh?) But! The best....

...was this:

Witness Quilting Arts Magazine's 'Surviving the Runway' challenge.


Here, Faithful Fiber Wrangler, Kut-It-Up Kathie Briggs, giggles for the camera.


The glue hits the tables and the action begins. Rip it up....


...Pass it to to a friend. Enter Fiber Diva Debbie.....


Wha....? That's right. Dancing.


Lots of Dancing.


Only the brave, the intrepid, the Groove Shakers, were given more supplies.


Whew! Now that that's out of the system, back to work.


Taking shape.


Must..have...paint. Must...daaaance....


And voila! It's Aahhrt, Dahlink.

Isn't she proud? I was honored to be one of three judges. It was nigh impossible to decide....we only had a few minutes. This event was, bar none, the highlight of my trip to Chicago.

Now, Paducah was fabulous in a different way. Power Connie and I love to wander the river front area with all it's funky shops and galleries (and we never miss the chocolate shop). The AQS quilt show is lovely, but there's so much more to the town. I met too many Quilt Royals to count, the highlight being Libby Lehman as she strolled the show floor. (her Thread Play vest gave her away) And I did a fair amount of shopping. If I'd had $700 layin' around, I'd have come home with this:


Very Funky, Very C.

In My Free Time.....

**update**

The second one takes less free time.

Screen Printing

Don't ask where I've been. The excuses fall flat. Accept that I'm offering up this post for your perusal and try to love me in spite of my time issues.

Here we have a tie dye/screen print t-shirt project:

The shirts are dyed and ready. On the left, you can see my trial run on newsprint. There's also my beloved squeegee, a prepared screen, and some paint.

Here's a shot of the screen, developed with the writing facing the correct direction.

Use your creative inner mind to contemplate why I mention the direction of the letters. Imagine me disolving an incorrect screen with mild cursing and sighs of resignation.

Here's the result:

My husband designed the image for an event from which he just returned. I printed 11 shirts by stretching and pinning to my print table and inserting freezer paper inside the shirts. This was a good first outing for my screen printing abilities. Said abilities enjoyed the walk and are asking to be taken out again.