Roy Winner, Play Date & Great News!

The winner of the VIOLET Challenge Fabric is... Cindi!

Congratulations, Cindi...if you would please email me (threadborn@gmail.com) with your mailing address I'll get this piece of fabric off to you soon.

I thought I'd also post a few photos from Thursday's play date with my friend, Kathy S. This is the second annual studio play date with Kathy. Last year, we did gelatin plate printing. This year, we made animals.

Kathy's been an admirer of my wrapped wire animals for a while now. She keeps asking, When is the book coming out? This time, I had to tell her...well I guess it will be my second book! For those of you who don't know, I just got a book contract with Quarry Books! The book will feature creating fabrics using supplies from the kitchen. The title: Fabric Printing at Home: Quick and Easy Fabric Design Using Fresh Produce and Found Objects. Publication date is October 2014. I'm very excited, nervous and will be very busy...as the book has to be written by mid-December! Needless to say, I will be on hiatus from many activities over the next four months (but will continue teaching classes).

But I digress...
Kathy decided that she wanted to make a giraffe after seeing my green giraffe with the sweet face. I also made a giraffe to show her the step-by-step.

Kathy's giraffe

And once again, Kathy provided a scrumptious lunch (with help from her equally talented daughter, Abby!). She even brought the bouquet of flowers for the table!

We had steak salad.

Brownie pie with whipped cream as well as fruit salad so we didn't seem completely decadent!

Kathy managed to get her giraffe completed with the exception of sewing on the bead eyes. We decided that he was definitely the Male of the family!

Kathy's orange and blue giraffe.

What a great time we had!

Searching for Roy G Biv II: Violet Update #3

My Search for VIOLET took place over last weekend while visiting my good friend, Laura and her family in Virginia Beach.

VIOLET could be found in the vegetables in Brian's ever-expanding garden.

Here are some pole beans still on the vine...

...and fresh picked. When they are cooked they turn green and are delicious with a bit of melted butter.

Also from the garden...onions. First in their beautiful translucent skins (almost coppery)...

...and then without the skins...a vivid VIOLET.

On the garden tour, I spotted this leaf with VIOLET spots.

Brian's solution to keeping the sweet potato vines trained was to form a sweet potato tunnel! A cool respite from the hot, muggy afternoon.

The sweet potato is a relative of the Morning Glory with flowers spiraling open in the early morning. This one was already dying in the heat of the day.

There are some subtle VIOLETS in these photos of the sunset that came after a storm. This beach is on the Eastern Shore. We drove over the 20-mile long Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel just in time to see this beautiful sight.

We then drove into the town of Cape Charles and visited a cooperative craft gallery called the Stage Door Gallery. Laura fell in love with this little ceramic plate by artist, Vesna Zidovec. I was so happy to give it to her as a gift and memory of a great weekend together.

Here is the VIOLET Challenge Fabric. Since Laura and I had so much fun printing with vegetables, I decided to use some to create this design.

I hope you will join in with your own VIOLET  photos. Please post them and leave a comment here or on Jennifer's blog and we will link to your blog. You have until midnight (Eastern USA time) Saturday, August 17 to post and comment. If you do, you will be eligible to win the Challenge fabric when a name gets drawn from the cap on Sunday morning.

The color VIOLET reminds Charlton Stitcher of her very Victorian grandmother. She provides some beautiful and varied VIOLETS from her travels and a Roy G Biv surprise!

Fiona at Paper Ponderings explores the senses (especially the sense of smell) as it pertains to books. A lovely bowl of dried VIOLET petals brings back memories.

Kim at Letting in the Light made a precious VIOLET book to celebrate the last color of the rainbow.

Check out Jennifer's eclectic mix of VIOLETS...love the yarn bombings!

Visit Lisa at arzigogolare for a look at her VIOLET finds from the seaside and view an exquisite sunset over Venice.

Cindi at The Organic Manic has joined in with her Alaskan VIOLETS...just gorgeous!

Maya at Million Little Stitches found streets of petal strewn VIOLET and a VIOLET house (VIOLET and purple are Vaastu colors in India).

Searching for Roy G Biv Challenge II: Indigo Update 3

Is this Indigo? Well maybe not exactly, but I couldn't resist a photo of these inky blue-black berries!

This month's search was a bit tricky for me. What is INDIGO? Is it a fluorescent violet color? Is it a deep almost black-blue or a soft worn blue like Indigo dye? Very perplexing! Just as we did for Roy I, Jennifer and I have left the color INDIGO up to your interpretation.

Blueberries...are they Indigo? I don't know but the ones from the farmer's market were certainly delicious!

My search had me heading to the local farmer's market last Saturday. It was about a 30 minute walk from my home and when I got there the produce did not disappoint. I'm realizing that I may have a thing for photographing fresh produce!

Is this Indigo? A luminescent Morning Glory.

Hope you will join in with your interpretation of this ever elusive color. To play along, post up to five (we are very lenient about this!) photos on your blog (or website or Flickr page) and post a comment here to let me know you are joining our blog hop game. I will link to your posting. If you do not have any of the above and would still like to play, email me some photos and I will post them here. The game continues until 12 midnight (Eastern USA time) Saturday, July 20. I'll continue to post updates as new entries come in.

Indigo fabrics from my stash.

As mentioned in my previous post, the Challenge fabric this month is actually a trio of fabrics. Play along and you will be eligible to win when I put the names in my husband's baseball cap on Sunday morning.

Hop on over to my cohort Jennifer's blog to view her beachy INDIGOS.

Charlton Stitcher has a lovely array of INDIGOS some from as far away as Thailand and some as close as her sewing basket.

Kim Henkel at Letting in the Light created a pair of INDIGO earrings for the occasion. Her wooden giraffe makes a handsome model!

Fiona at Paper Ponderings explores the concept of process in her weekly Thursday Thoughts along with a meticulously stitched piece of INDIGO Sashiko.

Cindi at The Organic Manic brings us beautiful Alaskan INDIGOS.

Lisa at arzigogolare has some amazing musical INDIGOS and a bit of history about the color...hmm  maybe we should be searching for Roy G Buv?!

Christine Mauersberger has the INDIGO vat going and some gorgeous scarves! 

A late entry by Maya at Million Little Stitches. Glorious INDIGO skies from way up high.

Celebrating 333 and Indigo

 My last post was #333. So to celebrate, I decided to make three Roy G Biv Challenge fabrics this month.

Here they are:

If you play along in the Search for Roy G Biv this month (starts tomorrow), you could be eligible to win this packet of three indigo fabrics.

The rules are here. Join us!

And the Winner is... And Another Roy Update

Maya! Congratulations for winning this month's Roy G Biv Challenge fabric. I will send it off to you soon.

Next month's color is Indigo...a tricky one. I will leave that open to your interpretation! Post your photos on Thursday, July 18 (third Thursday). Don't worry...I always send a little reminder.

We've been busy creating down here in Savannah and having fun celebrating my parent's 60th anniversary. I will post more soon.

This just in...due to funky computer scheduling Ersi's entry was a late comer...but is well worth a special visit to see her evocative blues. Please check them out!

Another late entry but please take a look at these beautiful blues from Carol at Barnacle Goose Paperworks.

Searching for Roy on a Rainy Day

I was down in Old Town Alexandria for a meeting with my group, F.I.N.E. (Fiber in Nearly Everything). 

Old Town is a great place to walk around...lots of color, texture...little secluded gardens. So after the meeting and lunch, I went for a walk with my friend Ann in search of Roy (blue to be exact).

I did find some blue which I'm saving for Thursday...though searching for blue on such a gray and very rainy day was a bit challenging. Also a challenge was taking the photos themselves, trying to balance my umbrella under my chin and at times shooting photos one-handed (a skill I've gotten quite adept at!).

Along with blue, I found the full spectrum in a window display of tile...

and a cheery grouping of pin wheels.

I finished the blue Challenge fabric last night. Hand painted, salted then printed with a Confectioner's sugar resist and finally printed with fabric paint with some hand painted details. This fabric will go to a lucky participant in Thursday's Search for blue. Hope you plan to take part (tell others...the more the merrier!).

Searching for Roy G Biv II: Green Update #3

Love this little green bird on her green perch.

Green fence and shadows.

Soft greens from a neighborhood walk.

Luminous green.

Luscious green grapes from the Farmer's Market at the Ferry Building, San Francisco.

Green tomatoes also from the Farmer's Market at the Ferry Building, San Francisco.

It's that time of the month again! Time to post your photos for this month's Search for Roy G Biv (the colors of the rainbow). As you can see this month's color is GREEN.

To play along just post some GREEN photos by midnight, Saturday, May 18th (Eastern USA time) and make a comment here. I will link back to your blog or  website or Flickr. If you have none of those, feel free to email me (threadborn@gmail) with your photos and I will post them here.

Looking forward to seeing all the variety (remember, tints and shades encouraged!) of GREENS today.

Here again is this month's Challenge fabric. The drawing will be on Sunday, May 19th. In order for your name to go into the hat, you must play along.

Be sure to take a look at my Roy co-host (or is it cohort?!) Jennifer's blog for D.C. GREENS.

Kim at Letting in the Light has created a lovely bit of GREEN.

Fiona at Paper Ponderings is pondering a great Picasso quote and abstract GREEN this month.

Some lovely organic GREENS from Margaret over at Charlton Stitcher. 

Maya at Million Little Stitches has a selection of hot summer GREENS. 

Lisa at arzigogolare has some edible psychedelic fractal GREENS (perfectly legal!). GREEN Part 2 features getting up close and personal with olive trees...with a Part 3 yet to come!

Deb at saltbushstitch has some gorgeous sea glass GREENS.

Searching for Roy G Biv Reminder

Detail of green Challenge fabric.

Yes, believe it or not this Thursday is the next installment of the Searching for Roy G Biv (the colors of the rainbow) Challenge! Green is the color this month. For those of you who haven't played along before, click here for more information.

As usual, I will be offering a chance to win a Challenge fabric. This month's fabric is made with a Confectioner's sugar resist followed by a layer of printing.

Green Challenge fabric.

 Looking forward to seeing lots of green on Thursday!

Winner Chosen for Yellow Challenge Fabric

Congratulations go out to Kim (Letting in the Light)! Your name was drawn from the baseball cap this morning. I hope you enjoy this fat quarter of hand printed fabric. I was particularly pleased with how this one came out.

Kim, please send me an email with your mailing address and I will get the fabric off in the mail to you soon. (threadborn@gmail.com)

Thanks to all of you who played along this month. I was truly inspired by your selection of yellows. By the way, if you haven't seen Lisa's second installment of yellow...it's a mouth watering one!

I hope you all will play along next month. Get your cameras out and about to search for GREEN (tints and shades appreciated). Be sure to post next month's photos on Thursday, May 16th (don't worry I'll remind you!).

Searching for Roy G Biv II: Yellow (Friday Morning Update)

I'm looking forward to seeing the YELLOWS you'll be posting today as the search for the colors of the rainbow continues.

Love these crazy pieces of farm equipment! Very inspirational YELLOW from Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Interesting shadows.

Theses words painted on a building in Harrisonburg conjured up YELLOW.

I inherited this old jar from my grandmother. It has a satiny patina.

An art piece from Alex Lockwood using recycled lottery tickets.

Up close in the garden. The design in the center in the shape of tulips!

Gourds from the local farm stand photographed last October.

YELLOWS orchids from the Farmer's Market in San Francisco.

To play along, just post a comment here and let me know that you have some YELLOW to share. I'll be updating this post throughout the day and will link to your blog. If you do not have a blog, feel free to send me your photos in an email and I will post them here. I'll be updating this post until midnight (Eastern U.S.A. time) Saturday, April 20.

Here is this month's Challenge fabric: A full fat quarter! I used a salt resist and overprinted with moldable foam and carved blocks. In order to have a chance to win this fabric, you must play along. Drawing for the fabric will be on Sunday, April 21st.

To see more YELLOW, visit Jennifer Coyne Qudeen's blog.

Maya at Million Little Stitches found YELLOW all around her this month.

Fiona at Paper Ponderings is pondering a quote in her weekly Thursday Thoughts. Her YELLOW contribution this month is a Braille bus stop sign!

Deb at SaltBushStitch takes us for a walk around her neighborhood with YELLOW highlights (I'm in love with the pale YELLOW stones!)

Check out the YELLOWS from Margaret over at her blog Charlton Stitcher. Love that last photo and the pipes in primary colors.

Be sure to take a look at Karen Anne Glick's YELLOW Pinterest  Board.

Kim Henkel at Letting in the Light has a buttery YELLOW journal to share along with some subtle YELLOW still lifes.

Lisa at arzigogolare has stacks of Nancy Drew YELLOW and an audio from U2 (which I'm enjoying as I type these words) and this is just the first YELLOW installment!

Susan at Tracemarks has the happiest YELLOW tin with cats!