Thought I would show you a purse I made awhile back. This is a variation from a past Lori and Carla Creative Adventure Week. My friend, Lori, showed me how to make this bag, and I have made several over the years.
bag by Carla Barrett
This bag was made on a DSM machine, but you could make it with a stand up quilting system like a longarm. This is one of those fun projects that just make you happy to look at. 🙂 Happy sewing! Carla
Hello, I thought I would share the wonderful news that I will be traveling to Australia in October, 2014, to teach 7 classes at the Australian Machine Quilting Festival in North Terrace, Adelaide. I have always wanted to visit Australia, so I was honored to be asked to teach at this event.
Here are the classes offered at this show:
Avoiding The Oops! Learn what not to do before an oops- or how to fix the most common issues seen in machine quilting if you do. After a decade of machine quilting, Carla has either made a mistake, repaired one, or seen issues at quilt shows. This class is for beginning to intermediate machine quilters who want technical information presented in a fun way.
Freeform beaded purse by Carla Barrett
Freeform Beading for Quilters– Join Carla Barrett for this innovative, exciting, beading embellishment class that introduces you to freeform beading and how to use this stunning technique for all your quilts! No prior beading experience is necessary, though a pre-class handout on selecting beads, learning two simple stitches and supply list are provided to a create an optional small purse. Warning! This technique is very addictive, fun, and can be used to make jewelry to match, too!
Design for the Foothill Guild’s Opportunity quilt by Carla Barrett
Quilt Whispering: Design Basics– If you have ever struggled to design a quilt top, then this is the class for you! Learn Carla Barrett’s unique approach to more easily design any quilt, tips and tricks of designing, locating inspiration, and becoming a more confident machine quilting designer along the way. Discover why thousands of students have taken the online version of this class to rave reviews! Registered students may send a quilt top photo to Carla by September 1st, 2014 to be designed personally by her.
By the way, here is a photo where I have executed the above design:
Quilting by Carla Barrett
Free motion quilting by Carla Barrett
Freeform Quilting- This class is for all free motion quilters, no matter which machine system you own or your skill level. Carla teaches her unique method of Freeform Quilting, which can be successfully used as a fast edge-to-edge design, quick border design, or as a unique fill on any quilt. This technique is also easily adaptable to match other designs used on the quilt, quilt design, or theme. Come and discover your own freeform quilting style and how to effectively use it in your quilting!
quilting by Carla Barrett
Freeform quilting used as a border design for this oak leaf quilt. Click to see the quilting design in larger format.
fabric crochet by Carla Barrett
Fabric Crochet for Quilters- Machine quilting and fabric crochet are a perfect combination! No crochet experience needed for this class in combining quilting and fabric crochet to make a functional and stunning purse. In addition, Carla will teach you some simple, yet effective embellishment and quilting ideas for finishing your purse. Many fabrics and fibers can
Fabric crochet purse detail by Carla Barrett
be cut or stripped, then used in this project, including hand-dyed, batik, selvages, and recycled clothing. Pre-class instruction in how to do two basic crochet stitches- the chain stitch and single crochet stitch will be provided to students, as well as how to choose fabric and what to bring!
Free Lace scarf by Carla Barrett
Mokuba Free Lace Scarf- Create a cool artsy scarf you can wear the same day! This is an exciting project class using Mokuba Free Lace water soluble to make a scarf on a domestic machine, with information provided for how to use this product on longarm machines, too. The techniques you learn are also transferable for creating 3-dimensional sculptures, wearable art, and art quilt embellishments, too! Carla Barrett will share several methods for working with this unique product to acheive different looks or effects- from sheer to opaque.
Tablet Design Class project by Carla Barrett
Tablet Design Class for Quilters- Have a Wacom style of tablet or Tablet PC, and want to learn how to design with it? This course teaches you several methods of using your tablet, along with Photoshop Elements (version 7-current) to create a wide variety of quilting designs. Carla will show you how to plan and design your quilt top image, draw quilting motifs, pantograph designs, wholecloth quilts, and more using your tablet device* and Photoshop Elements.
Tablet Design Plan by Carla Barrett
*To register for this class, you will need is one of the following types of tablets: a Wacom (or similar) brand of plug-in tablet for your laptop, or a Tablet PC (which is a tablet laptop or slate tablet capable of running Photoshop Elements). Your tablet set-up must have Photoshop 8,9,10, or 11 installed. Please note that this class is not for iPad or Android tablets. For more info about tablet types, please visit https://featheredfibers.wordpress.com/2012/02/06/buying-a-new-pc-tablet/
If you live in AU, I hope you will attend this show, take one of more of my classes, and come meet me!
Btw, in 2014, I will also be teaching in the midwest MQX, too. That is info for a later post. Have fun creating! Carla
Here is the second project in my series. I am creating jewelry pieces out of seed beads, fibers, metal or other beads, to match some of the jackets in my closet.
Here is what this jacket looks like- a colorful blend of fuschia, purple,coral, and orange.
Hard to see the true colors in this jacket picture, but it looks better in person than in the image. I picked it up at a Chico’s sometime in my past.
The goal was to make a matching jewelry piece that I can wear with this jacket. So what pattern did I use?
I used my peyote pattern, titled Undulations, from the free tutorial page, to create the necklace, which looks like this:
Here is a close up image of the necklace’s button closure:
I do love that the colors chosen for the necklace mimics the flow of colors in the jackets. I plan to make a matching bracelet, too.
Here is one last image of my finished creation, next to the jacket:
I had an hour of free time last night, so I decided to recycle one of Joe’s old t-shirts and make myself a scarf out of it. This project was fast, easy, and only took me less than an hour start to finish (not counting the paint drying time).
Supply List: 
Tip: Cut off the t-shirt hem and under the arms as directed in the photo above. Notice how the t-shirt material curls and rolls as you tear? You will want to paint on the top side, which may mean you turn the shirt inside out before painting
Once the above items were gathered, I laid down the plastic trash bag to protect my kitchen counter and just started painting. In the photo below, I used some purple, blue and silver metallic fabric paints. I work very fast, so it took me only 10 minutes to paint the t-shirt. Note that I used an inexpensive foam paint brush and some fabric paint I had on hand.
The painted t-shirt was then taken outside to my garden faucet. I scrunched up the shirt and lightly soaked it to blend the paint. I used my fingers to blend any white areas or would simply rub the damp fabric to saturate the t-shirt fabric. Here is what my painted fabric looks like after wet blending the paint:
Next, I hung up the fabric outside until dry. Notice that I left the hem on, knowing I would tear it off later.
Tip: Once your fabric is dry, I recommend you heat set it, depending on your brand of fabric paint. If you are not sure, go ahead and heat set the fabric to prevent color bleed.
The next step is to cut and tear the fabric into strips. Here is a helpful illustration to show you visually what I plan to do next:
I found that by snipping through the side seam first, then tearing until reaching the other side (about an inch away), you could then use the scissors to cut your t-shirt strips to create a long loop. Here is another visual for you:
Here is what your loop will look like:
To make the t-shirt fabric roll nicely, you just need to stretch it gently. Here is what my finished strips looked like once I bundled them together and used other rolled t-shirt strips to tie them into a lovely scarf:
At this point, you could embellish your scarf, add beads or tie charms to it. Braiding some of the strips is another option to try. Really, how you finish it off is up to you. I used the leftover strips to make dangling bits and for added texture.
If you make one, I would love to see it! My contact info is above. Hope you enjoyed this free tutorial. If so, go ahead and leave me a comment. Regards, Carla
Hello, been busy lately creating, so I thought I would share what I am working on. This is the first in a series, which is making special wearable art pieces to match some of my clothing.
Freeform Beading by Carla Barrett
To the left is a pendant I call “Wine Harvest.”
The piece of clothing this was designed to match is actually 2 items: the jacket I am wearing in the blog header photo, and a purple sweater, too.
The colors in the piece changes- depending on the lighting and the background the pendant is laying on. Here is the same pendant, and the colors have not been altered in any way. I think the only difference is that I may have flipped the piece over:
By Carla Barrett
The background in the top photo is my black Coach bag, and if anyone is into fashion, I found it in the men’s section of the local outlet store. This messenger style bag is great- carries my wallet, some make-up essentials, and also room for my iPad and Kindle Fire, too.
The bottom background is my quartz kitchen counter, which provides a lovely backdrop to show off the beading. Notice the color difference between both photos. Actually, in person, the bottom color is most accurate.
Finishing: I haven’t yet decided how I want to finish off the pendant, but until I do, I used 3 strands of yarn and tied it to the pendant and also the clasp on both sides. I did this so I could wear the pendant immediately- like tomorrow. 🙂
The next color palette will be different, since I am choosing the colors by pulling out a top, sweater or jacket, then creating the piece inspired by the clothing. Anyone want to play along? If so, here is your challenge- go into your closet and pick out a dress, top or other item that you like. Next, pull out your fibers and beads, paint and anything else to create a wearable jewelry to wear with the article of clothing. Send me pictures, too, when done.
Have fun! Carla
Do you ever get the urge to create- and just have to create something, anything? I sure do, and sometimes this happens if I go too long in between projects.
This time, I knew to act while the craving desire was at an all time high. So I pulled out a fast project, a package of Mokuba Free Lace water soluble, and loaded it on my longarm table. I took photos of all the steps, but here is what my finished scarf looked like:
Mokuba Scarf by Carla Barrett
This scarf looks fabulous on, and I may sew on a beaded closure and add some beaded bling towards the ends. It is very soft, too.
Love fast and easy projects- especially when you just have to create something! Hugs, Carla
Carla Barrett 