Seth

Since there is no end of snappy sayings, I could on making these, but I have to stop.

There are other things that I want to do.

Not more important things, just different things.

time tattered

The shawl has been around a long time; whipped up in haste from three yards of panne velvet that had to have been half price somewhere.

The machine appliqued flowers added on years later when I started dyeing cloth.

It used to be my go-to wrap for anything after dark.
The vintage damage is evaporating and I'm not going to try and stop it.

This also reminds me that free motion machine appliqueing damask over a substrate with some softness/depth gives wonderful dimensional results.
The quicker and dirtier the stitching the better.

pool trouble

You know how you should never badmouth your good used car or covet some other set of shiny wheels while old faithful still gets you there and back?

 Yesterday I went to the aquatic center at the park not five minutes from my house and spent a solid hour wearing out my lane of their Olympic sized pool and woke up none the worse for the first real exercise in ages. Delightful.

My blue heaven

This morning I was greeted by the sad sight of our pool down about a foot of water. The hard freeze that lasted most of the week has taken a toll on some point in the pool infrastructure. The liner is fine, but the  hoses that run under the decking have not been replaced since the pool was put in.  We put off replacing them for many years now, but I think brand new hoses would have not stood up to the kind of cold we've just been through. The leak is slow so I'm hoping it's not the tank. At any rate, come spring, it's gonna be a mess but I WILL see my blue heaven restored.

1999..my guys getting it done

Jim & Jake

and the winner is.....

Karoda.....

be in touch.

lenses updated

I probably should have taken more time moving the circular viewfinder over the UFO before selecting this segment.  Even then I was enamored of the pink french knots and the fragile piece of gold/pink damask.  Enough..

It's too easy to keep going, but once the piece is cut from the whole it can quickly become distorted and I want to keep the circular shape/boundary so no text for this one.

lenses

I've taken one of the hoops and used it to isolate a section from an unsuccessful UFO in hopes of rescuing this small segment rather than trashing the whole piece.

But now I'm screwing up my courage to venture out in sub-freezing temperatures to go to the aquatic center and see if I remember how to swim.

the arctic south

It was SIX degrees this morning. I slept on the floor in the office last night next to the space heater with Sweetie and Voodoo. Just finished breaking up almost two inches of clear, black ice on the pool to keep the steel frame from breaking. The cold should take care of the fleas and mosquitoes for the coming season.

Hot summers past are just a dream away.

badges

It's no bigger than this. I just wanted something in my hands while I watched the new season of Downton Abbey last night.  He just had to say "great love comes with great heartache"  or somesuch.

We were talking about tattoos today but instead I'm making badges..

Sometimes we need our stinking badges.

just not feeling it..

I spent most of the morning yesterday in the unheated studio laying this out. Now I marvel at the myriad ways I find to waste precious time.

That piece of brown and lavender damask that is the base of this twenty inch square is going to devil me.

It's been in any number of false starts.  It's only quick basted so tonight I'm going to take it apart, pack all the pieces in a baggy and have a giveaway. Leave a comment and Wednesday I'll pick a winner..maybe you'll have better luck with all this than me.

the Auction

I'm happy to report that my silent auction worked well.

"Solstice Eve, 2013" has a new owner!

I have to admit that I really didn't think the whole thing through beyond the few instructions laid out in the original post.

The odd starting price was to encourage equally odd bids on the crazy chance that two people might make the same offer.


My objective is to clear my studio of all these recent pieces. I need a clean artistic slate and plan on similar auctions in the future. In this age of self-representation I'm going to find new ways of using technology to get pieces out of storage and  into someone else's world at a price that works for everyone.

I have to admit that when I hit "post" that day,  the girl I used to be worried about  how she would feel if no one bid on it. The person I have become was quick to remind her that this kind of worry was a waste of emotional energy and time.

 (advice: don't check the email until just before the deadline!)

There were a handful of bids, two international. Congratulations to the winner!
One thing I know for a fact- as great as digital  pictures of  fiber art can appear on the web..nothing compares to holding the real thing in your hands and seeing it in person.

So, which piece should I put up for next auction? Do you have a favorite from the main gallery? Or something from the mists of the blog. If it's not on the Buy Art page, describe it to me and I will try to dig it out. I won't do it right away but if I know people are interested in specific pieces I will take new pictures and post them here.

What are your thoughts about buying and selling art this way? Will you try it for yourself? Do you have any suggestions to make the auction process easier, more efficient?

Nothing like a big juicy can of worms for breakfast, eh?

The Lives They Loved

I posted this elsewhere but will make it my last here in 2013

_______________________________

The Lives They Loved

The NY Sunday Times magazine runs a feature at the end of each year called "The Lives They Loved". If you go there prepare to lose a lot of time and be deeply moved.

 I don't know if my submittal made the cut, they must receive thousands, but here is what I sent. It was very hard to keep it to the two hundred word limit.

"Jimmy made me laugh and I'm a tough comedy customer.

From the first day we met his mission was to make me happy, to hear me laugh. He wasn't a joke teller – it was all lightning wit and the gift of knowing just which funny bone to tickle. He would whisper something bawdy in my ear just to see me pretend to be a prude all the while peeing myself with laughter.

People were always glad to see or hear from him because they knew that at some point in the conversation there would be genuine laughter. He was a construction superintendent, the guy

 who is caught between management and labor and he always took pride in his ability to bring everyone around to his way of seeing and doing things. I think they wanted to share in his boundless sense of fun and good humor.

He was a wonderful father to our sons Colin and Jake and I'm so glad that he passed on his amazing gift of laughter to them both. Now, whenever I really laugh at something I hear his

 booming laughter in my heart I'm sure that he sent that moment my way with his love."  

Karma VI

Changed my mind about hard mounting this one mostly because I couldn't find the right sized canvas. It's faced and signed and ready to go.
details here.




"Our lives are not our own. We are bound to others, past and present, and by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future.” 

― David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas

Solstice Eve, 2013

Solstice Eve 2012

Hand appliqued and embroidered vintage hand dyed cloth, 14"x20", faced and signed, ready for framing.

 I will be taking silent bids via email (deborah@lacativa.com) until midnight on New Years Eve.

Please put SE BID in the subject line.

The opening bid is $86.47  US. Shipping included.