First stitch paper project

I meet once a month with a bunch of wonderful fiber and mixed media artists, and we are challenged each month to make a project based on a theme. October's theme is "Fright Night". I started to think about what a "Fright Night" is for me and how to use the stitch paper techniques I have been playing with for the last three weeks.

Long ago, I had a lapse in my formal education. My family moved when I started the third grade and I went to the school in our new neighborhood. We had a teacher for about the first six weeks, then she left, and we never had another regular teacher again. My mother says there was a long string of substitutes including the school custodian and parents willing to come in and help out. Consequently, I didn't learn much that year. My parents then sent me to a private school for fourth, fifth and part of sixth grade. I loved this school. There were only about 50 students in the whole school, first grade through twelfth. So there was a lot of mingling. I must have had some regular classes with my grade, but I remember sitting in on a lot of high school English and History classes. I was behind in math, having missed out on multiplication and division the previous year, so I just didn't go to math class. For some reason, no one seemed to mind.

In the middle of sixth grade my parents realized that my sister and I were not getting the education they were paying for. We transferred to a school in our old neighborhood, and I was happy because I was around all my old friends again. However, I was woefully behind in math. I had multiplication and division tables to learn, the concept of the decimal point, fractions, long division, story problems. I developed a bad case of math anxiety. Eventually I caught up, but I never got over the fear of math tests. My interpretation of Fright Night; it's the night before the trig test. The ghost is made of stitch paper using pages from a trigonometry textbook.

addicted to making stitch paper

This may show up on a family valentine next year.

For this piece of stitch paper, I added color as I glued the papers to the fabric. I ran out of glue today, but I'll be back in business tomorrow. I need a bunch of sheets completed by the time we start week 2 of the book study. I'll do more to this piece as I am inspired.

more stitch paper

This one was made with a world map, security envelopes and assorted tissue papers

This one was made with raffia, pattern tissue and tea bag papers. Can't wait to see how this looks when paint is added.

stitch paper

Today I cleaned my studio enough to play with fabric, papers and glue. I’ve joined mixed media art friends on Yahoo, and we are doing a book study of Kelli Nina Perkins book, Stitch Alchemy.

I made four sheets of the basic paper, and put them out on the porch to dry. Next week we will paint them. Can’t wait. I may have to make some more between now and then so I’ll have plenty to play with. These sheets are about 15”x20”.

For this one I used security envelopes, pattern tissue, church bulletin, origami paper and a French dictionary.

This was the lining from a greeting card envelope, tissue paper and some dictionary text and pattern tissue

Wedding quilt

It’s done. The bride and groom married in April, just as warm weather arrived in Florida, so I had the summer to finish their queen sized quilt. A cold front is moving in this week, so maybe it will get cool enough to bundle up.

The couple has two poodles, so I couldn’t resist putting a poodle in each of the corners.

here’s another detail

and a motif from the church

Studio Tour

I use a spare bedroom for my studio, but the space often has to serve other purposes such as a guest room, staging room for parties, and most recently storage of items from my mother’s apartment.

The sewing area has my machine and cabinet, plastic drawers for threads and notions and my design wall. It is thick styrofoam insulation that my husband bolted to the wall. I covered it with a piece of cotton batting. The project on the wall is now a set of placemats. My sister found a vintage Mexican tablecloth that was in bad shape, but many of the images could be salvaged.



Behind my machine is one of my storage areas. The red tool chest came from a hardware store. It stores many of my small paint jars and drawing tools. My parents' vintage leather luggage is on top. I keep my button and bead collections in them.


Next to the bookcases is my work table. I use it for everything, just changing the cover as needed. I use it as an ironing board, a cutting table, and a surface for painting and design. Although not pictured, I have four plastic drawer units below the table that I can roll around as needed.

I took out the closet hardware and installed shelving. Normally the curtains are open so I can see what’s in there, but when I want to neaten things up, I close the curtains.

Last year two friends came and stayed with with me for a week. I was able to set up two extra sewing stations. The room was tight, but we had a lot of fun.