Classes, Quilts, and Kangaroos

This fall a few friends and I have taken a couple of classes from a local fiber artist. She teaches in her studio at her home. It is really fun to learn new techniques with a small group of friends in a comfortable setting.

First class was Brayer painting. My sample looks different from the others because I'm holding up a different style... I have some samples that look like theirs, and vice versa.

Next class was silk screening. Here are the samples I came home with. It's always a learning process, and some turn out great while others are mistakes from which we learn. From left to right, these are shapes I cut out of freezer paper and then screen printed, shredded paper set down on fabric and then screened (the black one below is a second run, but it was too weak and on black.. it barely shows), a couple different pre-made screens, fabric color crayons that morph and run in different ways when set with a "fixer", and the last one in bottom row is color discharge which again, I think I didn't quite use enough as it doesn't show up well.

I spent all day today working on a quilt which incorporates a couple of my class samples. I am having so much FUN making this quilt! I can't wait to show it to you, but it's for a guild challenge, so I'm going to wait until after I show it to my guild in December.

Here's a charity quilt I finished this week (machine quilted by Nancy). This is not one of the pile for which I solicited guesses on my finishing date, so don't get too excited, those of you who "voted."

Here's a baby quilt I made for a friend. Luckily, I worked on it ahead of time; the sweet little baby girl decided to arrive four weeks early. She was born on November 3, and I finished her quilt today, November 5. Her name is Ruby. Here is her adorable self:

and here is her quilt:

I managed to sneak in a few giraffes. Did you notice?

Are you wondering why I mentioned kangaroos in my post title? Well, I remembered I had this sweet little picture which I found shortly after we returned from our trip to Australia last May. This is at a kangaroo rescue that helps raise abandoned roo babies. Isn't this one the sweetest you ever saw, getting its love from a teddy bear? This is not a photo I took, by the way, nor did I visit the rescue location. I simply found this picture upon my return, when nostalgically looking up more facts and fun about Australia. I think this rescue operation tries to return the roos to the wild. Let's hope this one grows up to be a happy and free adult.

Now, back to my Happy Place (sewing room). Have a great weekend, everyone!