In the category of “my favorite things” in my new studio is my ironing station. It’s the exact height I need and perfectly fits my requirements.
I’ve had these wire baskets in my old studio since, well, forever, and they have served me well. They are an IKEA product that still has several iterations available, this ALGOT style being the closest to what I have. Each of these frames is tied together with zip-ties and clips made just for that purpose so they are rock solid. I’ve just figured out that my hanging container works perfectly on the back corner of the shelves so I don’t even have to walk across the room to find my scissors or a pen.
I had originally intended to build this brilliant IKEA hack ironing table by Brooke over at the Custom Style Blog – the long roll storage she has is phenomenal. She has detailed instructions there as well as links for the Bump Cloth (insulation layer). I just bought my silver ironing board cover fabric at the local big-box place.
Because I had leftover plywood and supplies I was able to make tops for these baskets. If I ever feel like it I will prime and paint each one white. They are in three pieces because I didn’t want to buy another piece of plywood so I pieced these out of other scraps. Good enough. I’ll eventually paint the wooden legs as well… and maybe screw them down so they don’t scoot. This is what happens when you work on a project for three months that was supposed to take two weeks. “Good enough for now” becomes “done because I just want it to be over.” One fabulous thing about having to unexpectedly gut the space was that I have plugs everywhere – and this on, especially for the iron, is on it’s own circuit. I don’t have to worry about blowouts!!!
The ironing surface is 54″ x 22″ – wide enough, and exactly the same height as the banister so I end up hanging whatever I’m working on over the long stair wall as I go. It works for me. Just last week I took a sharpie to the thing and marked off inches. I have ruler marks on the edge of my sewing table, my ironing surface, and my drafting table. The cloth is just stapled on to the underside of the board. If I end up doing what I did last time, eventually I’ll just staple another layer of the silver stuff over the top of this when it gets too gross.
That might not happen this time though as I’ve been really good at using my HOLY COW sized Goddess sheet for all fusing projects. Gotta say, it’s awesome! Hmmm… I just had an idea. two big hooks with a hefty dowel layed on them – screwed onto the bottom of the left side of the board would hold the roll of misty fuse perfectly! I’ll add it to my list. Along with a wall mount for the iron. I end up leaving it on the wall and just know some day it is going to go over the edge.
Fusible Web and I are best friends. In this case Misty-Fuse is adhered to the black fabric that I will make all my “binding” out of.
I securely sewed each piece together, then carefully fused black strips over the edges. Then I zig-zagged the edge of the binding. This tote is seriously going to last FOREVER!
And there you have it! Doesn’t that make it sound effortless? HAH! I won’t tell you about the twelve (yes, twelve) needles I broke sewing through all those layers. In all fairness, I think my trusty Bernina Record 930 is a little out of whack and I’ve been putting off a trip in to the shop. It only breaks needles when backing up.
Yesterday between Los Angeles and Raleigh I sketched out several Celtic knots, listened to a great audiobook, and worked on a couple of new drawings that could be used for thermofax screen printing.
I am using Adobe Illustrator Draw on my iPad with an Apple Pencil (responsive stylus) but the free app is available on android tablets as well.
I have a fascination bordering on obsession with ammonite fossils – so when I discovered a very large rock embedded with a number of exposed polished fossils under my hostesses coffee table I had a bit of a hard time controlling myself. I did wait until people were out of the room before getting down on hands and knees to photograph the beautiful things. Once I was well ensconced in my flying tin can I pulled out my iPad. I started with cropping each image down to include only the part I wanted to work with. Then I opened the App and clicked the big PLUS sign to start a new project.
If I know I’m going to be printing the final product I choose a format with as large a resolution as possible.
Next I import the photo into the app by clicking on the little PLUS on the right and choosing to add an Image Layer.
This will open a selection of choices. You can take a photo straight from the App but I never do that. Instead I choose “on my iPad” to find the image I have already cropped. Sometimes I’ll also boost up the contrast or edit the photo in any way that might help me to better work with it before I import it into this App.
When the App opens the photo it will give you the opportunity to size and rotate the image to fit your chosen format. I worked my photo until it filled up as much of my frame as possible. 
Choose the top drawing tool, double click it and hold your finger on the size button. Slide your finger up or down to increase or decrease the size of your line. Test it out with a few strokes and see if it works. That little sideways U shaped icon at the top of the screen is your best friend. If you don’t like any mark you just made click that to UNDO it.
Now, Making sure that the draw layer is highlighted, start tracing your image. You can pinch and pull your workspace larger and move it around to work on smaller details. If you create a closed shape you can touch and hold the center of it to fill the shape.
Double click the image layer every once in a while to hide it so that you can see how your drawing is coming along. Once I’m finished I will make sure the drawing layer is hidden then click the box-with-an-arrow icon to save the image to my photos. Then I can print it off or send it to my desktop via email or device sharing if I want to work more in photoshop with sizing.
I’m in San Jose, California to teach for the wonderful Santa Clara Valley Quilt Association. With a little rare free time we visited the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles. It was a great joy to finally see the artwork of Susan Else in person. 
Company
After Hours
Clocking Out
Absolutely Amazing
Lydia, the Tattooed Lady
This poor piece has been quilted and unfinished for around five-ish years. It was experimental and I didn’t love it and there were always other deadlines pressing. My tiny little Elna Lotus fit into my bin so it came along and helped me get the facing finished. I think I might have put the hanging sleeve on the bottom of this piece. It wouldn’t be the first time. And I think I’ve thought of a few more things I want to do to it.
Judy Coates Perez and I trying to figure out the bus system.
I had a print of the Matisse in the upper right corner hung for years.
Judy watching a kinetic sculpture by Lin Ley.
This photo feels so much like the essence of Christchurch to me. Scaffolding – still everywhere years after the devastating earthquake. Beautiful new architecture. The tendency to beautify everything from construction fences to plain walls to empty lots in the most community oriented friendly way possible. 
A memorial to the lives lost during the 2011 earthquakes in Christchurch. It’s a beautiful and peaceful walk along the river.
New Zealand is sheep country. And spectacularly gorgeous.
So here we are. Little guy sits and rolls the first gather on the pipe. The artist pulled the gather out of the crucible… that furnace was so white hot inside that you almost couldn’t see where the fire and the crucible and the glass began and ended.
The artist gathers another layer of glass, you roll it out again, then roll it into little shards of the coloring agents.
This then goes into a furnace and you turn it while the shards melt into the gather.
I’m telling you – even when the fan is on- they open that furnace door and it’s instant burn time! The wooden paddle he is holding will rest on the pipe and shield her from the heat just enough that she stops squawking.
Now, with a little help, giant pliers pull the edge. It’s a pretty thick and heavy glob of glass and the edges cool quickly but you keep pulling. Imagine a two pound hunk of cooled taffy. The red color is just the HOT glass.. it will be blue when it cools.
Like I said – DOING wins hands down. Our second trip through the gallery the kids were fascinated by every little detail, trying to imagine how you spun out such a heavy gather of glass into a two foot wide platter. All of us now noticed every little detail and appreciated colors and shapes in a way we hadn’t before.
Avia was married in Utah in the Provo City Center Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The building has an amazing 
Nephews and sons and my mom.
Krista and Scott Lewis – the very best in-laws anyone could wish for!
Melanie Testa
Linda and Laura Kemshall
Natalya Aikens
When you are going to make a pattern from a photo, especially a simple appliquéd portrait, You need to figure out where the darks and lights in the face are. Faces aren’t usually dark and light delineated so running the photo through a filter makes it a lot easier to see.
This will bring up your Tools. Feel free to crop the image if you’d like. I usually click on the very first tool, Tune Image.
Now you are in working mode. You can change all kinds of stuff here and if you like it you click the check box on the right. If you don’t you click the X on the left. If you want to compare your original to your changes hold the slider icon on the upper right.
Touch and hold anywhere in the photo and a tools screen will pop up. These are all the changes you can play with. Slide your finger up and down to choose what change you want to make, then slide your finger to the left and right to make the change. You will notice at the very top of your screen it will tell you which change you are making and give you a bar and number to let you know how far up or down from the original you have moved. I always start by punching up the brightness.
See up at the top? I’ve now also punched up the contrast by about 51%.
Paper Camera by JFDP Labs is an app that I use to begin the journey from this:
You go girl! We only work on construction of the portrait in the last hour of my Playful Portraiture class and she went home and finished this hunky boy all in one evening.
OLD PRINTER filter. Lots of dots. Kind of cool. If you are going to take a selfie next you need to look for the little camera icon with the circling arrows in the top right corner of the photo. See it? Click it and the camera will turn to the front of you device so you can see your own funny face.
Hello there! Just for practice take a picture. You do that by clicking the blue button with the picture of a camera on it on the far right of your screen. If you are right handed this is very convenient, no?
Click it and it will turn green and open up your device’s photo album. Click the photo you want to open it in the app.
Now you can click the arrows through again until you find old printer. Slide the little slider-thingies (that’s an official word!) back and forth until you have an image mostly in black and white then click the green down arrow. (Up arrows in a box usually mean send, down arrows in a box usually mean save.)
If you click on the green set of three photos icon in the top left here you will then see ALL of the photos you’ve taken. If you want to email yourself a picture to print click the blue box in the upper middle with the send arrow.
You can also double click the “home” button to go back to the home screen or to bring up all the apps you currently have open. I have my photos app open so I click on that. In my photo album I can see both the unfiltered original picture and the filtered version. I find it easier to send photos from the Photos app than from Paper Camera. 
Kathy Ackerman
Kathy Ackerman … again! Sew girl sew!
Becky Harbour
Cris Brookheart
It’s been a while since I’ve sewn something to wear. I took pleasure in going slow. Well – actually – I almost never sew slowly. Perhaps deliberately is a better word. You can do “deliberate” pedal to the metal, right? I sewed interior French seams beautifully finished and pressed even though I had a serger sitting right there next to me. Although honestly – I probably just didn’t want to mess with changing the thread from black to white. And here’s a tip – do you use an edge stitching foot when making hems or topstitching seams? It’s the BEST. I end up sewing almost the entire garment with that foot on.
So after wearing it around for a while I think I’m OK with it. I had no expectations of perfection and knew I was taking a chance without making a muslin first. The V neck spread wide instead of down so the arms and the hood are shifted back farther than I’d like. I thing I have just enough left to make two ties so that I could attach them at the front of the hood and tie them if it bothers me. The pocket openings are cut on the bias so they are gapping as well. I sewed clear elastic inside the hem there but I might add a decorative tuck. I sewed the same elastic inside edge of the hood because I didn’t feel like making a long linen tie and threading it through. Deliberate and lazy at the same time. Or – I just know where I choose to intensify my efforts and where to take short cuts.
When it is very dark outside I love to look up and see that the sky is still there. Sometimes I can see a familiar constellation – sometimes it is just a twinkling smattering of light. When I can see the stars I can see beauty.
Children wish on stars. (Anyone else singing like Jiminy Cricket here?) I have wishes and hopes and dreams. I choose to hope, to believe in good triumphing over evil. Perhaps it’s childish but it helps me through the days.
I decided that making an origami star was a great way to use the maps and tour guides from various trips. I’m not sure if this picture shows the Paris Subway star or the Mesa Verde, CO map star. Then – one day while I really should have done something else…. I went entirely overboard.
My youngest daughter and I got a lot of work done on cleaning up a beautiful treadle singer and it’s cabinet. It’s not quite done yet.
We all really, really love the beach.
Supplies consist of things you already have at hand so you won’t be time or money shopping for things you might not use again. The most important supply is an adventurous willingness to explore, grow, and play as you learn to see and create within the framework of abstract design. Doodles will be scribbled, eyes and minds will be opened, and fun will be had. Won’t you join us?
The Boxing Sisters
Prayers
Feed the Birds
The Society Lady
A Funny Little Guy
Anna Pavlova
Fierce Cheetah Girl
Sweet Little Girl with Hat
Dragonfly Beauty
Little Clown Boy
Diva
“Sacré-Cœur is built of 
“A mosaic in the apse, entitled Christ in Majesty, created by 
“Though today the Basilica is asserted
The climb up to the top is long…
But there are surprises you would never be able to see from below.
Beautiful and rewarding glimpses all along the way.
The cloth for this bear is very subtly dyed then screen printed with an image of the handwritten notation of a fiddle tune collected by a folklorist in the Appalachian mountains. This cloth was also used as the background for Bach Suite I, my favorite quilt creation so far. It features a hand painted cello with the same wings as my bear… beautifully patterned but tattered and worn. 
One interesting bit of information. I think I remember listening to the audio tour and it mentioning that ballerinas had to have “patrons”. They were paid so little, regardless of their fame, that they had to find a “sponsor.” As a result of this, they were looked upon as little better than prostitutes because the sponsors were men (of course) that, well, you know… expected certain favors in return for their financial patronage. Of course, the famous men as composers needed patrons too but didn’t have the same reputation. I’m hoping that, at least, has changed in our world. 
We couldn’t go in, but we did see famous door to box number 5 where the Phantom of the Opera played Mr. Creepy Stalker.
The library was heaven. I love this place and want it in my home. Those folks are looking in on models of sets from various famous productions.
If I knew my opera better I’d probably be able to tell you what opera this was.
looking up
looking down
up
down
up
down
up
down (now this… I looooooove!)
UP… love this too. The guard didn’t love the way I took the picture though. 😀
The entire place is a stage. The grand staircase with balcony after balcony that allowed for society to present and to view itself is a stage. 
I love taking it in just a piece at a time. It is the same as good design in gardening – my favorite being creating paths for the eyes and rooms to experience. In a place like this that is overwhelming with detail I like to pull in and look at smaller views.
I love this beautiful statue, the Pythia of Delphi, sculpted by 
You can’t look up or down or sideways in this building without being bombarded by decoration. Sometimes a small bit of that decoration can be amazing! I’m glad I’m not in charge of cleaning this place.
One of the lobbies.
But if you zero in and look a little closer….. there are delights everywhere you look.
Find wherever your programs Brightness/Contrast controls are hiding and give it a click. Up will pop a window with two sliders.
Play around with the sliders until you can see that the image is as bright white and dark black as you can get it without losing parts of your image.
I also often play around with Levels instead of brightness/contrast. This is the most complex of the three methods but it isn’t a big deal. Remember that control+Z is your best friend. It is the UNDO button. 
There are three sliders in the levels window to play with. I’m certainly not a photoshop expert so I’m not sure I can explain to you why these work or how – but they do. First I mess with the slider on the right under that funky mountain graph looking thingy. It usually makes the white background whiter as I move it to the left. Next I work with the middle slider. This one is more fiddly – I move it back and forth until I’m happy with how black my blacks are. Sometimes I mess with the far left slider but not often. 
The last and sometimes quickest tool to use is the Threshold filter. It’s also the tool that is hidden in different places in every digital editing program so you might need to type it into the Help bar to find it.
There is only one slider to play with and you get ALL black and white immediately. You need to slide the little pointy button back and forth though. I really didn’t want all that shadowing on the upper right to show up.
So slide that slidy slider around and see what happens. In this case – moving it around too far got rid of the shadows but lost some of the lighter circles in a different part of the doodle. Again – play until you are happy with what you have.
Here is a middling image that doesn’t have any messy bits and has enough of the circles intact to make me happy. What do you think?
… you might need to furt
The crop tool will probably open a box over your image that you can then pull or drag along each corner to get rid of all the extra white.
Now you can change the width and height to whichever size you prefer, so long as it fits within the guidelines for a small, medium, or large thermofax screen.
Waning Crescent Meditation by Deborah Boschert
Green Bowl by Deborah Boschert
Horizon Embraced by Deborah Boshchert8 x 8 inches
Guadeloupe Woman by Augustus Sherman
Russian Cossacks by Augustus Sherman
Scottish Boys by Augustus Sherman
Dutch Children by Augustus Sherman
