Just entered a new arts competition entitled America's Next Master Artist.

Here is my needle felted Guadalupe which was featured at the Mexican Consulate in 2008.
You can vote for my link on the title above.

New summer flower pins on my etsy. I even found silver from SIAM, and a victorian baby bracelet today.

Colcha Embroidery

The Spanish word colcha means coverlet or counterpane: however, New Mexicans typically call any bed covering a colcha. Textile enthusiasts use the word colcha to identify an embroidery stitch or a finished piece of embroidery in which the colcha stitch is extensively, if not exclusively, employed. Sabanilla labrada, or wool-on-wool colcha embroidery work, is distinct because it may be one of the few textiles developed and made in New Mexico during the Spanish colonial period.

The colcha stitch is similar to the basma stitich, an embroidery stitch used by Jewish women making fine silk altar cloths, and to the bokhara stitch, an embroidery stitch used in Turkey prior to the Muslim conquest.

There are many theories as to how colcha embroidery evolved. The colonists may have been inspired by the flowers and leaves they saw on East Indian chintz, or indianilla. It is also possible that the Oriental silk shawls imported to isolated outposts of Spain's new kingdom inspired the settlers to imitate the pretty floral shapes using available, albeit coarser, materials. Many of the designs used in New Mexican colchas, including the double-headed Hapsburg eagle, are found in Spanish and Mexican embroideries. In design and function, the linen and silk embroidery of Spain and Mexico is closely related to the colcha embroidery found in the American Southwest.

http://www.newmexico.org/hispanic/learn/colcha.php

HGTV - That's Clever - Painting and Wool Work

This Week in Wool.

This week's project is comprised of a simple denim jacket that has been felted on. I chose the matroyska nesting doll as the primary image. Needle felting on denim is difficult because of the rigidity of the fabric. Breaking needles is not uncommon. But in the end, after all the work, the denim jacket has a new life.

I started with a denim jacket to up-cycle. I always "draw" the design on the surface with an outline of wool. I was going for rich jewel like color, to which a thick black line always looks good.




The second step is to block in your design. Using a variety of rich colors, I tried to mimic the design of a Russian nesting doll.




After deciding on the initial design, I continued to add more and more detail with the black line.





The image above shows the beginning of adjusting the facial features. Faces are sometimes excruciating to complete. This pictures exhibits how sometimes in the beginning it can look a little off. I just kept working on it.




The last picture shows the nearly complete version. I ultimately added more design elements around the sides and the front of the jacket to really 'finish' the piece. Cohesive design always adds impact.