After yesterday’s perfectly patterned polymer eggs and and symmetrical canes, Doreen Willey’s penchant for grunge beads feels delightful. Wednesday yin, Thursday yang.
California’s Doreen says, “It’s beginning to look like the grungier I can make my beads, the better I like them. Seems like I’m trying to make a mess.”
I so sympathize with her sentiments but I also know how tricky the fine line between grunge and garbage is. Doreen does good grunge. See it all on her Flickr site.
These polymer covered eggs are remarkable not just for cheery seasonal fun but because they were created by students using an ingenious, no-fail method developed by Carol Simmons.
On the groups’ Facebook page, you can examine these eggs and other objects created last weekend at the Buckeye Bash in Dayton. Using kaleidoscope-patterned canes, Carol’s students created consistently successful veneers.
Her egg formula involves four strips of cane slices, some math calculations and a template. Unfortunately I left before all the secrets were revealed. The Ohio class was Carol’s dry run for her new class called “Intricate Cane Veneers.”
These new polymer quilt canes from Minnesota’s Jennifer Patterson are built from extrusions (with more on Facebook here). It’s fun to look closely and see how she assembles the shapes using marbilized clay that simulates fabric. The squares are further textured and shaped into beads and brooches.
The one on the far left above is a custom design commissioned by the Oregon Coastal Quilters Guild. The piece at the right is a famous Underground Railroad sampler design.
Click here to see how she stacks the long extruded strands of polymer. She sells extruder disks made specifically for quilt patterns. There’s a free Ohio Star Quilt tutorial on her site if you’d like to give it a try.
