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.