All things Peacock

I have always loved peacocks and their feathers. It is kind of ironic that I married a man with the last name Cox. When writing my new married name, I realized I was P.Cox. Hence the name of my blog. I guess you figured that out on your own.
Since then, I have created some pieces using the peacock. I am posting my peacock jacket today. I have done an ATC which was in a previous post, an art bra which I entered into a contest but don't think I made it in and I have just finished a postcard of a peacock. I will put that up in the next few days.
I finished it over a year ago and had the guts to wear it to the International Quilt Show here in Chicago in April. It was my first art show attendance ever and I was so excited. I completely forgot I was wearing it until I kept getting stopped to "model" it for everyone. What a heady experience! I had one lady tell me to submit it to Belle Amore and another one asked me to show it off so she could take pictures! I felt like a mini celebrity. A lot of people wanted to pet it! I have to admit, my self esteem got a much needed boost that day. My mom kept teasing me because I would apparently blush profusely when stopped and asked about it.
What a glorious day. It made me all the more determined to keep at it with this medium. I think I have become more fearless because of that experience. So much so that I put my art quilt on line at HGTV's Rate My Quilt. If you would like to check it out, it is labeled as Waterfall. Too bad the photo was so dark. I think it would have done better had the picture would have been a little brighter. Oh well, you live and learn.

Rust Dyeing

I have been a lazy slacker when it comes to my blog lately. But in my defense, I have been busy signing up for various challenges and finishing up other projects.
For instance, I did rust dyeing on fabric for the first time and it inspired me to do my last set of postcards for my exchange. Very cool to get something done.
Rust dyeing fabric was deceptively easy. I thought it would be this long drawn out process that required all my time and a bunch of expensive materials. Was I wrong! I used a remnant piece of white cotton that was prewashed and soaked it in vinegar. I placed it in a pan and put things that rust on top of it. I used steel wool and long rust nails. I placed it in the sun - 90 degree days) and watched the miracle unfold. I just kept moving the material around as various areas rusted and added more vinegar when it was looking too dry. Two days later, I have new material to work with. You have to rinse out the vinegar. I rinsed until it was clean and then added some soap and water to make it smell less like rust. I let it hang dry and it was ready to go. I don't recommend the steel wool because it breaks down into tiny pieces and is a mess to clean up. Use nails, screws etc. - much better.
I am posting photos of the two I did. One was on the white fabric and then for fun, I used a predyed sky blue fabric. That one turned out awesome and was the inspiration for my postcard series. I will post them once I finish the last one. But the blue fabric turned this interesting rusty orange/brown and green color. So now I will have to make some more since it was fun and easy. However, I ran out of vinegar and need more. Some people add salt to there vinegar. I tried both ways and both work.
Later

What kind of flower are you?

I am a Snapdragon What Flower Are You?

Waterfall

Today I am posting a wall hanging I finished a few weeks ago. I created it to look like an actual waterfall with rocks and grasses etc. My camera was giving me a pretty hard time. Then I took the picture the wrong way and didn't have a program to correct the orientation. Steve finally helped me out. Thanks Steve!
I was pretty happy with the results. I created the log and the rocks out of the puffy paint and used dryer sheets to create the water cascading down. The finished piece came out far better than I had imagined. This will open the door to a lot more ideas and pieces. I have a few ideas banging around in my head. I just have to put paint to fabric and get started.
I have hit a period of burnout at the moment. School is winding down and summer is upon us so it is a little harder to get things done. I also have 6 more postcards to do and no energy to do it. Maybe when the slow pace of summer hits, I can get some things accomplished. Ha-ha.
Later

5 more postcards

Hello,
I am posting some more fiber postcards. The first one is called Bubbles. I was filling a pot with water to cook some pasta and noticed this really cool pattern. So I decided to try and create it in fabric and beads. Not really what I wanted but the final outcome was pretty cool.
The next three are a series created from hand dyed fabric. Finally had a nice day outside so I decided to pull out my sun printing dyes and create abstract flowers. Wasn't as happy with the results but . . . .
The last one was another experiment in textiva, free motion sewing, fabric sheets and beads to create a sea and sand kind of motif. I liked it a lot and think it might be a bigger project in the future.
Have a great day
Patty

Dance of the Jellys

Hello,
I am posting a photo of my latest creation. I hav also decided to enter it into a quilt show. The theme is Swirls, Twirls and Pearls. It was created on white fabric and I appliqued the jellyfish shape onto the background. Then I quilted the entire background by hand using silver thread. The next step was coloring the background. I layered dyes and paints until I achieved the colors I liked. Then the jellyfish themselves were painted. The fun part was then adding all the embellishments. The jelly on the left side was made from sheer fabric, cut into the shapes and handed stitched and beaded. They were also stuffed with irridescent fibers (the kind used in Easter baskets and wrapping). It was also used on the top of that jelly. The bottoms of the jelly's were made from material used to create roman shades. I dyed them and them pulled the tread to scrunch them up, stitched it to the quilt and then added beads. i couldn't find the color I needed so I painted them with irridescent paint after stitched. The top of the right hand side was white yarn, dyed to get the purple color. The litle jelly's around the quilt were created using textiva and mutlicolored fibers. It was a lot of work but I am pleased with the results. Hope you like it.
Patty

Devil is in the Details

Hello,
I just realized that I haven't posted a picture of one of the latest quilts I have finished. It was an answer to a challenge in the Quilting Arts Magazine. There were four phrases to choose from and devils in the details just jumped out at me. It looks like a rather simple little quilt at first glance. Then you notice the colors and you move in for a closer look. Then you see that the bark is actually millions of little stitches in various shades to help add texture to the trees. As you look closer, you will finally notice the tiny little ant walking across the leaf. I thought this perfectly fit the idea of devil in the details since it is the very small little things that make the overall piece a success.
Hope you like it. Feel free to drop me a line or comment.
Patty