Perpetual Motion

When it gets cold out, I get the crochet hook cranking and I've finally settled on a stitch/sequence that I plan to see through to the end of this piece. I am fully fed up with making beanies, mittens and plain scarves. This is a boa built from chained loops covered with single stitches and intertwined together like so many cotton worms..well, they look like worms to me and since I make it up as I go I guess I'm entitled to name it. I'm also in the middle of constructing a garment from a pattern and things have changed quite a bit since my last garment making attempt back in 8th grade. The tissue is much finer and somehow, I managed to select a pattern that only has instructions in French. I keep telling myself "This is NOT brain surgery". Also - I'm still giggling over an ad I just read in the Jobs section of Atlanta's Craigslist. 6 On line Criminal Researchers needed ASAP (Duluth GA)!! ".....Knowledge/Skills: Bachelors degree or commiserate experience required...." I think I may have found my true calling.

Production

Lots materialized this weekend. I hope I haven't gone too far on this one with the paint. I look back on earlier images and now I miss those big white cottonball looking areas. It's a path/technique I want to explore in more detail once the demands of the holiday have relaxed. I spent all of today bringing these pieces together to be "of service". Taking my time and auditioning the talent was worth every minute. I can't reveal the finished product because it's a gift in the making but I like it so well, it will be hard to part with.

Ghosts of Christmas Past

On a Roll

Uninspired for anything new, I've been tackling the river grass basket full of UFOs and this piece got soy waxed and overdyed yesterday. Today I started in on it with textile paints and something interesting is coming around. I had forgotten how much I like working close in with textile paint on wet fabric.

This top was not quite big enough for a working quilt so I rummaged about in the stash and came up with a bizarre piece of hand dye that seems just about right. The flannel back on this one had been waiting for this job for about 25 years.

And finally, maybe best of all, the rain stopped and the sun came out just long enough to get a shot of these prayer flags that I finished early this morning. Here's a modern interpretation of Tibetan Prayer Flags - the images are contemporary, the language unwritten except in the heart. This set, $SOLD. More when I can.

Putting Art to Work

I loved Kim LaPolla's description on the QA list of how her daughter favors their old, raggedy dog quilt because of the memories associated with it. I daresay I won't want to see the same Art (any Art!) hanging on the wall for twenty-five years. But to snuggle under a warm if worn blanket with all that family history is another good thing. Time to rethink what I am doing and why I am doing it. This discussion about Quilts & the Economy (read 'sales and lack thereof') and functional quilts has me wishing I worked even larger than I already do. I'm seriously contemplating taking three or four of my dye-painted, finished pieces and whacking them up and then "Frankensteining" them into something functiona along the lines of this digital example with three pieces from my gallery. What a challenge - first, the letting go of the "Art" and then rebuilding something both useful and lasting. Taking some 3x4 footers and going Queensized! I'm happy that I haven't wandered too far from traditional quiltmaking when it comes to construction techniques. It will make the transition easier. And pursuant to sending folks off the QA list to blogs to read all about it, I like the idea of having some discussion out there in public if it's relevant to the group in general and posting it with eye candy here the the blog.