back to the machine

Now that my sewing table is uncovered...
Nah, that's not why I decide to go back to machine stitching. This piece threw up the "STOP STITCHING" sign very early. Twice I did some hand work only to pick it all out. But it was still wanting and machine work seem to be the ticket, not to mention getting things done pdq.






While I was rooting around looking for a new needle for the machine I came across this little beaded bag that I made years ago back in some obsessive compulsive frenzy.  Just about I-phone size but it must weigh half a pound!

Pages Update

I've created a whole separate blog called
"Random Acts of Dyeness"  to showcase my hand dyed,painted and discharged cloth. I cannot justify another dye session without getting some of this fun out in to the world!  And if you do buy something please let me know what you make from it. It would be so much fun to share what other artists make from my raw materials.

Instead of selling single pieces, I've decided to put together groupings of fabric that play well together reasoning that this works better for the many artists who work in small formats.
One of these bundles goes a long way.

I 've posted titles from Archer (gone to Arlee) through Zenobia (just posted today) and won't be making any new groups for at least a  week. Once a week is enough already, but my studio is still knee deep in cloth. But of course you know I've kept the tastiest bits for my own.

Ridiculously cheap, always fabulous (well, sometimes there's the red-head step child that some mother, someplace will adore). Always email me for availability as these groups are all one of a kind and it's always first come first served. As they  are sold and shipped, I'll take them down and before you know it there will be something new and tasty.

family

Deedle-Dydle making a break for it.

Demons

Yep, it's still about the stitch. 
The lesson I want to pay close attention to
is stopping before too much unwanted
happens. No stitching just for the
sake of doing it.

happy Saturday

A. You mean like this? 

 

It's been suggested that I keep this set for myself and nail this particular arrangement in place with stitches. I'm mulling it over. Meanwhile I'm all better except for a bruise in the crook of my right arm that looks like I lost a bull fight. Sparing you pictures here.

Four new tasty  ones posted this morning....

Meanwhile, I'm off to work with high hopes that there will be no slip and falls, choking on oyster crackers, rear end collisions, etc and so on ad infinitum. There's a game on a seven and I have sewing to do.

let's play Operation!

After several weeks of struggle - mucking out the winter debris, finding and buying a replacement pump, we had to invest in a bottle of BLACK DEATH...to turn the pool from deep acid green to this lovely, if cloudy blue.

I am banned from the water for one week -time for the particulate to settle to the bottom - by doctors orders. My day surgery of a girly sort went well but I spent most of the daylight hours sleeping off the anesthesia.  What a waste and a bore. And now we are in for a spell of grisly weather.

too many choices

 

Part of my creative trouble in the studio is too many choices - I won't bore you with pictures of total chaos. It's too much input. I can hardly get close enough to the design walls to hang anything up. totally out of control. So yesterday before work I (over)selected some scraps for the travel bag. We've been terribly busy at the office - back to back calls never used to be the norm - but last night there was space and some silence between calls for thought and nonthinking and something new emerged. The fabrics balk at first and then fall into place and offer maturity, import and mystery. All the things I wanted from the work tonight. We'll see how it looks by the light of day.

                  

and once again I'm questioning the stitch.

 

things to be grateful for:


Homemade Chinese broccoli and chicken is successful.
Butter cream mocha bars are on the weekend wishlist.
The mortgage will get paid, just.
Braves sweep the Brewers in a day game
Karma brings a chipmunk to the deck, full of her old huntress self.
I praise her and the chipmunk makes a break for it while Karma is congratulating herself.
Vin played some incredible sets and the assholes let up long enough for me to listen and think.
Someone in the office is wearing a new and wonderful scent or is it the window cleaning stuff the cleaner guy is spritzing around the office?

treading water with cloth and stitch

Voodoo's eloquently evil expression asks me why I don't spend more time on something productive like mouse farming or tuna fishing?                         Nothing creative floats up that I can grab onto and run with.    

Mindless stitching is almost as bad a endless games of online scrabble - the minutes slip away and you've  nothing to show for it but cat blankets. Still, for the moment, passing time is what I have to distract me from momentary medical annoyances. Then I read about the real travails of Kate at  Needled and MV at Instant Poetry and I can quickly suck it up and quit bitching about a little achey arthritis or jet engines in my head.                                                            

Right after this shot, he bit me on the arm when I tried to take the cloth back and Voodoo, unlike the girls, does not pull his punches. Thanks buddy. You old grouch.

Mahonia Update

Here are some shots of the cloth that I attempted to dye with the Mahonia berries a few days ago.  You knew I would have posted faster if the results were anywhere near exciting.  I am consoled with the notion of dye painting this piece to look like it did when I first unwrapped it all dotted with the crushed berries. Now, That was interesting.

Maybe this coming Sunday if the sun takes part.


Although it's not the best day for taking pictures in the studio, I put together another three sets for Random Acts of Dyeness. 

(every day is) Mother's Day

I had a lovely Mother's Day - I don't care for a fuss. Every day is Mother's Day when you get your props from your family and I do.

I unwrapped the cloth I stained with the berries and shot a video..prepare to be underwhelmed.  And what a stink! I was glad the camera wasn't running when I rather haphazardly tossed the contents of that container over the deck rail and half of it splashed all over my back.

I spent the afternoon painting on a piece out on the deck while listening to a ballgame. While Jim made a fabulous pork roast dinner, Jake took me out for spin in a car in his custody this weekend. Who in their right minds would pay $100,000 for a way to get from here to there and back?  Granted it's nice ride but, geez.

Tradition takes root

The peonies to the right of the mailbox are from my grandfather's garden where they lived in Armonk. When my folks moved to the suburbs in 1956, Pop brought up some roots from the original bed to plant at the new house.

When we bought our house in in Georgia in '98 I brought some roots back down here with me after a visit home. Traditions take root. 

I've let them run wild up there in the only garden space we have with full sun. Anything that thrives up there lives on neglect and dog piss. Looks like the peonies have liked it well enough to throw off a mutation.  The bigger, pale pink blossoms on the left are new this year spread from the darker ones to the right side of the garden. They even have a slightly different fragrance.  The dogged persistence of Nature always lifts my heart.