developing the pollock

I really have to start calling this something  else. As I work on it, I'm realizing that all my stitch and thread choices are about construction - the stitches are smaller and smaller and the color of the thread blends in with the fabric. All the big white lines of basting are slowing being removed.


The shapes, color and placement of all the elements are what matters here - I could be gluing them on, or painting them on for that matter, but I am staying with stitching for my own satisfaction.


The pace slows me down, forces me to consider and reconsider and, if something is not right, it's not a huge pain to clip the thread on the backside and snatch it out so the wayward scrap can be relocated or replaced. Slow going on purpose.

election day

After a sleepless night and a busy morning, all I felt like doing was mixing up these jewels and starting another pieced top.

We went out in the cold and rain and voted. Now it's nap and wait and see.

last of the trio

This is the third of my QN entries. "Los Dados Encantada" was inspired in part by Grace's black and white kids .

The ground pieces for this one (dyed and discharged vintage sackcloth, damask and sheeting)  have been "in waiting" for some time. Once I paired them with the high energy of the graphic pieces, the whole thing fell into place within 24 hours and is entirely machine stitched and finished out at 59x34 inches.

Despite the simplicity of the graphics, there's a lot going on when you come in for a closer inspection. This is another line that I will following in the months to come.

detail from Los Dados Encantada

a wistful day

Today is my Mom's birthday and I've given over much thought to her today.
I have to admit that I could never remember her birthday spot on..it floated between 11/2 and Election day in my mind but today, for the first time it was fixed and correct.

Jim read my mind and brought home a bouquet of red roses in her honor (she adored my husband).

This photo was taken in 2002 on one of her rare visits with us down south. She loved Jinx and Jinx seemed to love her right back. Miss you Rosie.

waiting in the wings

I'm finding there are some  problems and benefits to having a string of works-in-progress, especially if the the pieces are, if not a series, at least cousins in some way.

You fool with the thing until it begins to annoy you but don't set it aside at that point or you are asking for a permanent UFO bound for the shredder.  Find the problems areas and at least take some notes somehow towards remediation...that way you won't be stonewalled when (and if) you pick it up again. I unfolded this one grateful that I had pinned some bits and pieces of maybes and possibilities on it's face.

The base cloths for this piece are two very old huck tablecloths that came out of the dyes looking like a rainy weekend. Dreamy but coma inducting except for the way the woven textures came to light.

For a long time I wanted to examine just what the hell Jackson Pollock was up to/looking for besides wrecking his head. Without doing any reading or presupposing - except for that damn Ed Harris film - this piece is my exploration in that territory. It's going to be some time in the making because it will be all hand stitched in keeping with the very old and tender fabrics. I don't know how fast Jackson flung the paint around but I do know how long it takes to stitch a large piece by hand. Come next summer, maybe.

And now I have to go out and buy a new iron. The 9$ special that is at least five years old has bit the dust and puked on my cloth for the last time.