Author: Judy Coates Perez

  • When in Rome…

    Okay so I bit the bullet, now that I live in Chicago, I thought I would try my hand at a fused quilt. Actually, I have also been wanting to use some of the fabric I dyed right before I moved, and fusing seemed to make the most sense, I am not much of a…

  • Awesome Balloon Sculpture

    Saturday afternoon we were coming back from the Origami Society meeting and saw these large creatures bouncing and jumping in the alley outside the NavtaSchulz gallery around the corner from our loft. They were having an opening for Jason Hackenwerth the creator of these fantastic balloon creatures. Inside we were greeted by this gaping sucker…

  • 200 Origami Butterflies

    My son was hired by Chuck over at Aiko’s Art Materials, a japanese paper store here in Chicago, to fold 200 origami butterflies. Chuck is going to attach them to his business cards and hand them out at a scientific illustrators convention. Ty folded all these butterflies in four weeks from two sided origami paper…

  • 2 socks on 2 circular needles

    I have finally gotten the hang of knitting two socks at the same time on two circular needles. The benefit to this method is you don’t end up with a bunch of single socks or socks that are slightly different sizes. It was very confusing keeping the yarns from getting tangled and picking up the…

  • My kids first quilts

    My kids first quilts

    This is my son Ty’s first quilt. He made it last year when he was eleven. I designed it and he chose all the fabrics, cut out each piece and fused it in place. I helped with the fusible seam tape because I did not want him to burn his fingers. He quilted along each…

  • Sweater #2

    Success, I have actually knit a sweater that fits and looks good. Oh, I forgot to say this is the Penelope blouse from Oat Couture.

  • Handmade book

    I went to Papersource in Lincoln Park last week and bought precut book board and bound paper in a little packaged set, a roll of binding tape, bookbinding paste, several sheets of gorgeous paper and a new bone folder, my old one is probably still packed away in some box. It sort of felt like…

  • Lutradur

    Lutradur

    I bought some lutradur to play with. This is a polyester fiber that is kind of like interfacing but not. It is fibrous like fiberglass looks, but it is pliable and you can do almost anything with it. It takes paint beautifully. you can cut it up, collage on it and sew on it by…

  • Knit top

    I just finished knitting and blocking this top. It is rayon and acrylic yarn so it is nice and drapey, Unfortunately my gauge was off and it is way to big and fits me like a sack. Fortunately for my sister it fits her perfectly. So Deb just had Christmas in May. When I bought…

  • Tin Quiltlets

    I am having a lot of fun making these little painted quiltlets. Each of them are 4″ x 5″ with a painted top and an embossed metal piece machine stiched into place with beads to hold down the corners. I have three more that I will post after I sew the beads and hanging ribbons…

  • Nick Cave Soundsuits

    On mothers day my sister, mother, step dad, my son and I went to see an exhibit at the Chicago Cultural Center of Nick Caves Soundsuits. These are absolutely amazing. They are a rich collage of all kinds of handwork; knitting, crochet, sequins, embroidery, feathers, sticks, hair you name it, sewn together to make these…

  • Goddess Icon

    I have always loved religious iconographic art. For several years I have been thinking about creating my own little version of an icon. I like the idea of making an image of a Goddess in a tradional Christian iconographic style. I think Mary is the embodiment of the Great Mother. So this is an image…

  • Deb of Artella

    This is my sister who I am picking up at the airport today. She is going to stay with me for two weeks. Lets hope she behaves and doesn’t embarrass me too much. Being the big sister she seems to take particular delight in doing that.

  • Anime Convention

    Just one month ago I was at this same hotel and convention center for the IQF Chicago quilt show. What a difference this show was. The cosplay (dressing up as anime/manga or video game characters) made for some great people watching. I recognized only a few characters, my kids recognized all of them. Nina and…

  • PAQA Water Challenge

    Frieda has organized a water challenge for PAQA that is due next wednesday. I feel like I am getting the energy and drive to work on some art again. Four weeks on Thyroid hormones sure makes a differnce even my head feels clearer. Last week I bought this gorgeous piece of silk that shines blue…

  • Americans all but on paper

    Yesterday there were Immigrant demonstrations in our Chicago neighborhood. My neighbor told me they estimated 400,000 people marched. As they marched down Randolph street they chanted “U.S.A., U.S.A….” then when they got to Harpo studios next door they switched to “Oprah, Oprah, Oprah…”

  • Health Pill

    Tuesday night my friend Michele “Mookie” Pusateri picked me up for a dinner of mole enchiladas at one of my favorite mexican restaruants called La Cabanita, before meeting with my old art quilt group. It was so wonderful to see them and see the work they have been doing. Michele suprised me with the gift…

  • Happy Easter

    We are not eating this cake today. We are on a plane to Los Angeles instead. This was last years cake. We will spend the day in Venice with my husbands family. The kids have a big list of things to do while in Los Angeles. At the top of the list is a trip…