Labor Day Sale

And now a word of crass commercialism from our sponsor..Random Acts of Dyeness..buy two get one free!!    (this is Helios...the more I look at it the less likely it is you'll be able to buy it :)

treading water

I've been MIA here for a few days and with not a whole lot to show for it. We had almost a week of crappy, rainy weather and I feel like I've lost the best part of the swimming season - a big deal for me because it is the only physical exercise that I get and for me, time spent in the water is as much restorative for the soul as it is for the body. I did get in the pool today and got ahead of the falling leaves with the net..the water is still warm and clean and the sun was strong enough to chase the chill of the breeze. Feeling much better now and can face another Shift of Fools (I have to work the day job this weekend).

I think I've solved a knotty presentation problem with a piece I'm preparing to enter in Quilt National. The piece is large with several layers of cloth and completely hand stitched – a recipe for a Bitch to Hang -which would be a provocative name for anything else that I undertake with this same combination of materials and methods. You read it here first...”A Bitch to Hang”. Another six or eight hours of stitching and fiddling on a sleeve and it will be ready to photograph.

My show at Phoenix & Dragon comes down next week and I plan on taking these giant bad boys with me. While Colin is taking down the show, I will put these up on the spacious wall and hopefully get some quality shots. Three birds with one trip across the metro Atlanta top end..otherwise known as the race track from Ben Hur. Now all I have to do is get them completed.

Oh...the prizes are in the mail, Dazzle is on a camel bound for Australia (two weeks the PO told me!) and there is a basket of beautiful cloth under the work table that has been whispering to me "come, sit down and play. leave off with that deadline crap. who cares anyway" 

another year, another Con

Nothing exciting from me but my son Colin is attending DragonCon 2012 this weekend and has sent back some pictures including this one which could be a fabulous quilt..

those broad strokes

It's been so long since I fired up the Janome and rocked that free motion foot...speaking of which I really need to find a replacement for this one, silly little open toed plastic bugger anyway. If you have any recommendations for a freemotion foot  that will fit the Janome 6500 I'd welcome the info.

I'm using a different sort of support for this one for the first time. Not a batting but a synthetic mattress pad. Weird stuff but I have acres of it so the price is right. It has no warp or weft like fleece but very stable with no stretch or give at all in any direction, needles like it's not there and not too heavy or thick although the size of this piece makes me feel like I'm making sails. (the oval in the center of this image 8" across) . There's just enough depth to show off the  machine stitches.

I am looking forward to more Broad Strokes using up those Usual Suspects.

Giveaway results..

I didn't forget..oh yes I did and Sweetie is mad at me about her new flea collar so there was no persuading her to pick a winner this time so I  it did it the old fashioned way..names scribbled on paper snips and drawn from the hat. First pick goes to Jeannie and second to Phyllis King. email me with your snail mail addresses and I'll get the out to you by the weekend.  Thanks for playing!

I will be doing more with this technique in the near future..stay tuned.

hunkering down

Some of the colors have gone soft and wishful while others remain fierce. The mixes are getting tired this late in the season. And of course, when I wasn't looking for it, a Stygian black blended from a little of this, that,and the other! The white spots are from soy wax resist. There are a few more pieces done with a second round of soy stewing in a dark sable brown and will have to stay until tomorrow.

sweet sunday

I made the mistake of spreading this one out on the work table this morning and then turning my back for a moment. After I worked on it most of the morning I put it up on the design wall and Jake said to stick a fork in it....it's done.

Then I headed out to the dye deck..today the colors were those of fantasy, dreams and superheros. These are destined for a series in the works.

There are several tubs with monsters sleeping too. Waiting for tomorrows washout.

busying myself

Not long after I finished my shift last night my sister called to let me know that she was waiting in the ER with Pop who was in great pain from a long ignored hernia. So it was middle of the night surgery and all nighter's for my sibs in NY.  

All things considered the surgery went well and he is in the best of hands if not the best of spirits and mood.

All I can do is  worry and harass the hospital staff long distance and lay awake plotting all that I was going to get done the  next day..all the fall back stuff you do when you'd rather be with family and you can't be there.

An impromptu dinner thrown together right after breakfast and I spent the entire morning machine stitching the WIP.

 Midday found me making up some more B&W piece-parts but tomorrow will be all about COLOR.  The beautiful weather will hold for another precious day. I just finished another set of cloth burritos and now it's time to settle in to the sewing chair and cheer the Braves on...they need my help.

testing new waters

Started machine stitching on the WIP  which is still  Unbaptized (which is almost  the name of one of my other pieces so I can't use it again). This one doesn't speak to me as much as it grabs me by the face and hollers.

I knew the machine stitching was going to be lost if I did not put something under all that damask, lawn, lace and linen so I basted the whole thing down to a raft of white polar fleece, properly oriented to be sure.

I've committed to mixing hand and machine stitching now but I have to stay my hand from cranking up the dials and using broad bands of machine satin stitching just because I want to see something materialize that can be seen from across the room.

Still looking for those broad strokes.

hanging on to summer

With hurricane Isaac bearing down on the southeast, today and maybe tomorrow could be the last really beautiful sunny summer days for this slice of heaven. My mission for the morning is to get the chores, house & studio, out of the way so I can get out there and make like a fish for a few more hours and then dry off with some stitching in the sun....restoring my soul.  Grace is right when she calls it "church"





TADA !!  nine new cloth burritos!   

Giveaway time!

Why wait for someone to copy my work (as if!) ...I did it mysef!

Inspired by something about making art accessible that floated through the info-waves and into my brain, I spent the morning cramming fabric into  a machine and pulling out these paper clones.  The detail is amazing - I'm so glad I remembered to bring the sticky roller in with me or you'd be marveling at the cat hair and cooties worked into the stitching.

This is an 11"x17" section of  one of the "grand rêves" printed on nice matte card stock and this one in the background .   While I do some research on archival inks and paper, signed and numbered copies and such, let's just have a giveaway with the proceeds of this day!

If you want to play email me  or leave a comment, which ever is easier,  and next Tuesday night I'll persuade Sweetie to pick two winners.

PS.. I recently discovered that blogger had decided on it's own to moderate who and how people could comment..I think I've whipped it into shape and will keep an eye out that there's no backsliding ....

camera historica

Once upon a time I had a wonderful camera called the Canon Pellix. It had a very short focal plane which made it great for stills or portraits.  This was way back in the day when you took pictures and sent the film off to be developed and printed...days, weeks of waiting to see if you got what you thought you were shooting. I had no training and I can tell you for every one good shot there were six or more crappy ones.

 There were no manuals available. At the time it came into my hands the camera was already 30 years old. Over time in the heat and humidity of the south, the interior light meter failed and the mirror film inside became clouded. I could never find anyone who could repair it and gave it up to a collector in England. None since can compare. I can still remember what it sounded like when you pressed the shutter..zzzwuck-clikt.

Karma  about nine months old, in 96.

touched

It's only ten in the morning and I have been moved to tears four times.

First, with coffee while I check email and such, the opening ten minutes of  the Prince of Egypt. The lullaby will be moving around in my heart for a long while and if you have seen it and really paid attention to the story, the music and the expressive animation and visuals, you know why. I will put it on later and watch it all, stitching.


 and then there's Wendy and Velma

 I got back up to the studio in time to catch CBS Sunday Morning's piece on Rufus Wainwright and then, the life and passing of Woody Davis



now I have to sit down to all this work and find heart there as well.