We went to Kokomo Opalescent Glass which is about an hour from me (what a treat!) where they still make art glass sheets using old methods and have been in business since 1888.

mom designed the piece with magnolias to coordinate with her black and white checkerboard pattern in the border of her tile and with the pink of the rest of the bathroom tiles.  We planned for mostly opaque glass as there will not be any natural light.  The contractor is going to back light it.

I haven’t delivered it to her yet, but sent a photo and she was thrilled.  It makes me happy that I will be contributing to her beautiful historic home!  Thanks for your vision and faith in me, Amy!  Thanks to my mom for making it stress free and doing so much!  Now I want to make a couple of pieces for myself, also.

The large tree in the foreground is a dark maroon leather applique.  I have been enjoying using leather in my quilts over the last year and do not feel I have finished exploring its use in quilting.

stamped and thermofax screened trees

I used the tree challenge fabric to make a similar hand carved stamp that I used with thickened dyes on hand dyed fabric, the unobstructed tree in the photo to the right. The tree on the left partially covered is a thermofax screen print and is from a photo of a tree I took in Bolzano Vicentino, Italy,  Where I lived for three years.  My sister and her husband came to visit and we decided to take a walk and found a path with a sign about an old church that led back behind houses and into a field where the church was.  The old church is utilized once a year for a communal celebration.  We enjoyed seeing the old church (look for a quilt with photos of the church in the future) and found a tree with the trunk covered in ivy.

The other thermofax screens were made with my photographs as well, one in Italy and one since moving back to the U.S.  I enjoyed using so many different techniques and exploring the use of various methods to overdye and remove color from the commercial fabrics.  You can scroll down to earlier posts as I worked on dyeing the fabrics.

I did a piece with corn startch resist and the wooden stamp again.  I also got my new thermofax screens and can’t wait to get a chance to try them out!