more hand music

(14" square) Little mudcats wrangling over fruit. I am besotted with hand stitching raw scraps onto a thin sandwich of muslin and batt.

webwork

By demolishing my index page I've committed to updating my main website. With nearly a dozen new pieces to add from 2007, I though it needed an entirely new look. What that look might be is just dawning on me. Clean, simple and to the point. It's got to be about the art. To keep cobwebs from growing in the studio, I keep pulling UFO's out of the closet and at least turning them into something functional. Idle fiber is the devil's playground? Just look what can happen. This little number will actually keep a small person warm and company soon.

And to remind myself what a lucky woman I am, here we are 31 years ago standing over our wedding cake- a giant strawberry shortcake that I baked myself earlier that morning. I whipped 3 quarts of heavy cream with curlers in my hair as the first of 120 guests began arriving at our home for the ceremony.

There was a piece left over big enough to cover a dinner plate and I think I ate the whole thing for breakfast the next morning.

a dark day

Nothing like dyeing with a mystery black to pick up a dark mood. But for starters, I worked on one of my PIFs last night to see just how happy my Janome was after a tune-up. I highly recommend it for anyone who is in the sewing doldrums. It feels like day one and now I remember just why I was so hot to go into debt over this machine three years ago. I had been dreaming of a design that required a great expanse of dark fabric. There was a bottle of black dyestock in the deck fridge but I fiddled with it by adding some of this and some of that. It looked very neutral on paper. So I threw caution to the wind and hung some fabric just to see what would happen. What happened was my crusty shower got visibly nasty - nice that it cleans up so well. Jim will wonder what came over me. The results were worth every minute of scrubbing. There are three feet draped over the back of this seven foot rack.

Hand work continues.

Waiting on the storms. I took Big J to the sewing machine wizard yesterday. It's been cranky lately probably due to the fact that it's never had a professional cleaning or tuneup since I bought it late in '06. I'm worried he's going to report me to someone somewhere for machine abuse. Still, he did offer to carry it to a more convenient location for me to pick it up at noon, or will They be waiting to take me into custody and put Big J into the sewing machine foster care system?

Caesura

It's time for a little hand music. Something to do while the mind is elsewhere. My mind has been like a rabbit on the lam lately and I won't go on and list all the things I should be doing instead of this but know that I have a list and I'm checking things off one by one. I haven't gotten an email regarding my Visions entry (another person has heard) so I'm assuming that I didn't get in. After reading the fine print on the prospectus which informs that the piece will be gone for a whole year, I'm kind of relieved because the three pieces that I submitted are a set thematically and now I can post them on my website, finish my portfolio and set about the mission of getting into a gallery somewhere. I am gearing up for some real tasty rejection, not the "We don't want you for this exhibit" kind - the "We don't want you HERE" kind. Yummy. addendum - from the Visions website - "March 1, 2008 NOTIFICATION SENT to ARTISTS of preliminary quilt selection or nonselection" so since I have not heard either way, No news is Good news - one of my parents favorite sayings.

Done & done

Here's the big reveal! And no nicks, cuts or scrapes this time. Just blurred vision and a few stab wounds. No blood on the fabric though. Well, the verdict is that I'm happy to have gotten this stuff out of my system and there won't be any repeat performances anytime soon. Making them is kinda like eating Marzipan or Cinnabons - it seemed tasty at first bite but by the time you were finished, you were sick of it. I'm going to re-shoot and measure everything and move it all over to the hand dyes for sale so I can get back to working on things that actually move me beyond the moment. Then again, I might try this one again.It has promise as long as I remember to change the stitch length on my machine.

Pell Mell to Hell

Did I just invent an expression that means "here's what happens when you are in too much hurry to read directions or think through processes." On the surface most of these pieces have turned out pretty good for my first time folding, stitching and otherwise torturing perfectly nice fabric. But look at all those stitches that have to be removed. My eyes have given notice that even this computer is more than they want to deal with for a few hours.

Dye Day!

A small scale dye day underway due to the constraints of my kitchen. Can you imagine - I had to do the dishes first! This piece has been folded, stitched and had hot soy wax applied before the dye. I want to know just who is going to pick all those stitches out. And just a like a kid at Christmas I talked myself into opening just one present on the Eve instead of waiting until morning. Who can wait wait with a color like this?

nudge, nudge

My brother just gave me a long distance nudge indicating that he's a regular reader (and where's the latest and greatest post?). After three weeks of having a cold I just spent 24 hours waltzing with the flu and today feel great for the first time in ages. Wait, it's early but there's fabric stewing in soda ash waiting for me to make magic. Rob - here's a sneak peek at a blankie in progress that will fall into your possession, maybe not in time for the house warming but I'm working on it. And here's another sneak peek at a PIF in progress. Let's just say it's just the right size for a catass.

A Great Saturday

Gifts in the mailbox came first - Nellie Durand's PIF arrived and I am the proud owner of #52.2. in her amazing "Lake Series" series made especially for me. Does this classy packaging tell you what a gem was inside? I'm inspired and reminded that one day last week was the anniversary of my 4th year of blogging. To celebrate I'm finally posting my own PIF declaration: "I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this "Pay It Forward" Art exchange. I don't know what it will be and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week but you will receive it within 365 days. The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your own blog." Later in the day I attended a meeting of the Georgia chapter of the Surface Design Association at the home of artist Leisa Rich (go here for some fabulous eyecandy) where we were hard at work plotting a group showing someplace in Georgia so we can all get a taste of that Whine & Jeez!
Here's the contents...my camera does not do it justice