Journal quilt #23 - and . . . 75 posts since January 2007! I’m so happy to have this deal with myself to try to create one of these JQs once a week. I have been too busy putting in extra hours at work lately when the assistant manager was off getting married! I have not done as much art as I usually do . . . just not enough time. It was a great feeling to make this Journal Quilt today! Here's what I wrote for the back of this little 6" x 6" JQ --

June 19th, 2007 * Journal Quilt Number 23 *Follow your Heart*

It was Tuesday . . . after work, and walking with the dogs, plus an appointment. My thoughts were, “Yikes! What am I going to do for my Journal quilt this week? It’s Tuesday already . . . .” But I made myself go into my studio, I am lucky and have one - and I cleaned off the table that had not been worked on or visited for a whole week (too much work). I slid things over to one side, and put down clean scrap paper on the table (always a good sign). I spied the large scrap of painted silk hanging over the closet door that I had used as a test when I was writing an on-line lesson for silk painting & stamping . . . . AH HA!

I cut out a section of this scrap piece of silk and added another stamped piece I liked to it with fusible webbing. I played with small cut scraps of the painted silk and “wove” them together in one corner. The whole piece had me thinking of my husband Steven, so I found a transfer I had done to fabric many months ago -a photo of Steven and our friend Garth’s dogs. The transfer was just perfect for this journal quilt! I added additional stamps by my friend Claudia Rose – follow your heart & the little heart.

I love the colors in this painted silk – achieved by sponging on Dye-Na-Flow paint by Jacquard. The stamping inks are VersaCraft, heat set to be permanent. The sentiment of this piece is from MY heart. I was very smart; 5 weeks after my ex-husband left me, to really listen to my heart about Steven Deming.

Below is a photo montage of my process; sponging Dye-Na-Flow on the silk, dripping watered down light green Citrine Lumiere paint on top of this, and the finished section I cut my Journal square from . . . then adding extra stamped pieces, weaving small strips of leftover cut edges, a bit more stamping, beading, printing the journal entry on fabric and putting it together! voila! : -D