Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Tests, a Doodle and Introducing Kitty!



Introducing Kitty..........Kitty, a hooded rat about 4 weeks old is my newest little rattie girl.

I have been working on an idea for a whole cloth quilt but am a little nervous about actually marking the fabric..........will the marks really all come out once the quilt is done? While at the Creative Festival in Toronto a couple of weeks back, I picked up some Clover eraser pens to test. One is strictly a tool to erase marks made by water soluble pens the other is double ended, with one end having the ink for marking and the other, the eraser. I like the idea of not having to submerge the entire quilt in water so I do hope these work. I plan to stitch this piece and leave it sit for a few days before removing the marks. I'll post the results next week.
Normally I thread baste by hand but I have been trying some of the neat little things that my new Janome can do, this piece was basted by machine.....I LOVE it!


............and finally, my response to this week's word for the Creative Prompt Project, Spirit.
This is what I imagine my spirit guide might look like.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh Kitty is precious! I quickly showed my son your new little one.
Once again, no disappointments on the creative front!
I recently watched a video from Linda Taylor (longarm quilter) about removing the blue markers with distilled water. I learned the hard way of NOT IRONING before removing. You know, I'll be back to see how it went.

Diane J. Evans said...

Your creative spirit is ethereal and beautiful -- I'll bet she looks like you (maybe except for the hair . . .). And Kitty is adorable!!!!

I've been looking for that Clover eraser in Joann's, and they're continually out of stock. Linda McTavish strongly recommends it, so I'm guessing it'll work great. Thanks for running interference for the rest of us!

Diane

Lisa at Sun Naturals said...

Your spirit guide is beautiful!

sewnut said...

That is a great doodle!

Lynz said...

Aw, Kitty is a cutie!!! *grins* My poor old girl (our only remaining furry friend) is getting really poorly. I think the rainbow bridge will be calling before Christmas. :( Now, I always swore I wouldn't have rats again, we've been so upset with their health issues and short lives but seeing your little girl? Makes me rethink my plans.

I'm also watching your marking pen endeavours with interest. I've had mixed results but like the sound of yours!

Quilts and Cats said...

Your spirit is beautiful. I can see the essence of you in it.

Anne Huskey-Lockard said...

HELLO KITTY!!!
Oh, she is so cute!!! And seems to be shyly posing for the camera too...
I have had mixed results with the markers. (granted, that was the older versions) Most did not come out, some came out and then came back with a nasty dirty yellow shade, so I finally got to the point I would mark the back of a piece with a silver pencil (there are quilters silvers, or you can use one of the various French Greys from Prismacolor pencils---they're great!) and go from there. It's a thought.
Prismas are always good to have on hand as they are soft and work well on fabric, but then I like art supplies..... :)
Will be interesting to see how your marker does.
Good luck!

XXOO!!
Anne

Sherri said...

You certainly have the "spirit" in your post! I have tried so many markers for both light and dark fabric. I know lots of folks don't like chalk but that is what I use. I have the pen-like chalk marker that has different colors of chalk inserts that you can use on different colors of fabric. (http://www.sewdirect.com/acatalog/Equipment___Accessories.html) scroll down to see it.

Mary-Kay said...

That's a cute um.... rat! Whatever you do with the pens, DO NOT iron them. It makes it go brown amd never comes off. I tried this once but I can't remember what it was on or for but all I remember is never iron before you remove the ink.

Quilter Kathy said...

I'll be interested to hear about the results of your test.
LOVE your creative spirit!

Sharon said...

Your little rattie girl is a real cutie-pie! What a sweet face...and love those whiskers.

I think your spirit guide is beautiful...how could you go wrong with a guide like that?

Jaye said...

Your creative prompt is fabulous! I love the way you have captured the 'spirit' (LOL!) of the word. Thanks for participating and sharing your work.

Mary Helen-Art Saves Lives said...

I love you spirit image...it is so exquisite! Anne sent me to your blog and I am now going to be stopping by from time to time to learn more about you. Imagine and Live in Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart

Jan said...

I love your rat photo, miss Kitty looks happy. I like the background behind her too, I thought it was a very colorful quilt and then I realized it was her rat cage. Love your doodles. Also have had mixed success with the markers. They barely work and seem to dry up so fast. I only use them where they won't be noticeable if they don't disappear entirely. Mostly I use whatever else I can find, always with mixed results. The disappearing pens are about the same, they disappear before you want them to and come back when you don't want them to!

Copyright Jill Buckley