L’Heure Bleue

  The sun is gone, the stars are holding their breath and one can reach back in time at will but I am hollow-eyed with introspection and melancholy. Blue? Why not. I'm told it's my best color.

I have been listening to Will Patton reading "Nightwoods" by Charles Frazier and it never ceases to amaze me how the emotions and revelations of good storytelling affect me.

A question about how we first came to stitchery was posed on the QuiltArt list and, in response, I dug back into a story of my own invention  and shared it  remarking that all fiction has it's roots in someone's history.

Writing with intent is emotionally exhausting and it's no surprise how many authors were seen as crazy to start with or wound up that way eventually.

A glass of Lazy Girl, cool sheets, and the pine needle sachet balanced over my third eye..all will be well in the morning.

trying not doing

Nope..not happening. And I knew it wasn't happening when I first stuck that reconfigured chambray shirt up there when what I really want is another linen jacket to hack up. Wishful thinking won't get it done.
 I have recognized the difference between the work that  springs from a spontaneous confluence of mood, intent and materials, and the work that just tries too hard.

Looking back over stuff, I found perfect examples.
"Frida Brings Home the Bacon" literally fell out of the scrap jar when Jinx gave my glass fish bowl scrap jar a nudge and it smashed on the floor. I remember picking up the pieces one by one, shaking them over the trash basket for shards and laying them out on the table. 

I was really hooked on watching Frida and Diego on the Owl cam at the time, despite the tragedies,  I quickly wanted to follow up with another piece showing the chicks.  Contrived and studied is all I can see in the results, as cute as the little buggers are.

So the lesson for me today?  Fuhgeddaboudit trying to get from A directly to Z. Side trips, getting lost and stops along the way are mandatory.

first day of summer

Really? It's seemed like summer here for a long time. A pool day for sure, I brought "Ocean Homes" outside to check the color of the water  and it's perfect. This one is going to be for sale as soon as I can get some good detail shots. If you want it for the wall, I'll make a sleeve for it. Right now, it's bedware.




Colin captured one of the first recruits at my dragonfly training camp. The Braves are busy loving the heat and humidity at Yankee Stadium and I am going to be missing my nap.
Oh well, there's always coffee.

I miss my lifeguard.

lone find

When I went to Goodwill this morning I was looking for another linen blouse or jacket to dismember and reassemble as a base for my next piece. Instead, I found this dress. It's lightweight linen and flawless, as if never worn.

 I cackled gleefully when the clerk told me that it was 50% off today, $3.79 please! At that moment I still intended on taking it all apart, starting with picking off all the mother of pearl chips sewn to the bodice. She was appalled.

Once I got it home I made the mistake of putting it on.
 It's so Not Me that it might as well be a Chanel suit but looking at myself in the mirror wearing it was a surprise. I started imagining what I could do to make it right.

I have so few occassions to dress up that I need the yardage (and there are acres of it - it comes down to within inches of my ankles and all those pleats!) more than I need another dress. There are enormous shoulder pads tacked in that will be gone before the beads. I'll be taking that schoolmarm neckline to dizzying depths and maybe cutting out the tops of the sleeves. Those points on the bodice could be extended and the pleats stictched down to the hip maybe...I checked and linen will take the dye ...hmm, deep purple, teal, golden brown... What makes me think I'm a dressmaker? If it goes down in flames it can still be part of the Art.

Consolation

I got a lot of stitching done on this one over the last few days. Despite the many layers of cloth, four or five in some places, this one is easy to needle.

The act of stitching itself has been a much needed mental place of refuge - the buzz rarely fails. I've learned to recognize the pitfalls of zoning out while stitching and have had only one or two episodes of having to pick out lengths of "stitching crazies".

 I'm still debating with myself about if and how this one is going to be shaped at the finish. The "skin" shaped linen is one option, with folding and stitching a rectangular shape around the skin and base is another.

I have to set it aside now, dress and get off to the post office. Heads up Felicity, El, Bea and Kara - your packages will be on the plane at Hartsfield by 4:00 pm today (or so they tell me).  The sale will continue until this Friday at midnight. Thanks to everyone who jumped on board early.

Grace, you are right. The usual shelves seem to be bare here as well. It must be my timing. I had no luck in the usual places the other day but have a special stop to make tomorrow.

Happy Father's Day

...to the co-author of my two finest creations. 

 and none of this would have been possible of course, without my Dad, here with my baby brother..

warming up

I haven't had the heart (or raw materials) for a dyefest since April and back then I ODed on pure, wicked color. I think I was trying to distract myself from weighty life matters at hand.

Now I'm feeling the need for some textural color and subtlety (don't call 911 - I'm really OK) but I have not got a speck of white cloth to work with. I've just wasted an hour trolling my usual web haunts so I'll be suiting up and checking into a couple of local shops where I've made finds in the past.

The dyedeck is a mess. A little bird has built a nest in a cardboard soda carton that was left on top of the cooler where I have a dozen bottles of dye stock just waiting. I'll have to keep it quiet out there so's not to disturb them.

In anticipation of fresh fruits from the dyedeck, let's have a sale at Random Acts of  Dyeness! How about "Buy One get another for 1/2 off!" and,  as always, shipping is included.

(lest ye think I'm cracked, this is an old picture..all are juicy oozy with color now)

back to the stitch

I'm all caught up with most of the domestic necessities so I spent the early part of the morning stitching in the  studio..making those changes real with needle and thread. Sitting in the bright light sewing is like a good drug. The change of light as the time passes is my signal to stop, sparing my hands and eyes.

I got an email yesterday from a childhood friend offering condolences and memories. I volleyed back with a long letter and hope we can keep up the exchange. We were close friends and neighbors from the time I was 7 and it's interesting the memories that one has kept and the other has forgotten.


I don't want to rush this piece so I'll be picking up the trail with the one on the wall soon and another that's just inside my head. Hopefully working from one to the other will keep them all fresh and relevant. Things are getting bigger despite stitching by hand. I'm still loathe to chain myself to the sewing machine.

SUN-day

Only time for a few trial changes today..pins and time on the wall. time in my eye just to see where else it's trying to get off to.

It's my Goodman's birthday today so there were things to do, things cooking. First thing this morning I had to haul my work computer across town so it could be brought into the 21st century by our new IT guru. We shall see how that works out in a few minutes.

and TADA! I finally got into the pool today for the initial hands on scrub. There's just a hint of algae so one bottle of Black Death is called for. Pictures when it's perfect.

traveling companion

I brought this piece along with me on the trip but only had a few minutes where I was inclined to take it out and work on it. Of course, the TSA kept me from bringing pins and my little scissors. With the help of other eyes I made a few compositional changes to the "water" area were very satisfying - the kind of unexpected changes that give a piece new forward sparks. I can't wait to finish chores and settle in to consider further stitching/changes. Getting back to the new normal.