back to the stitch

I'm all caught up with most of the domestic necessities so I spent the early part of the morning stitching in the  studio..making those changes real with needle and thread. Sitting in the bright light sewing is like a good drug. The change of light as the time passes is my signal to stop, sparing my hands and eyes.

I got an email yesterday from a childhood friend offering condolences and memories. I volleyed back with a long letter and hope we can keep up the exchange. We were close friends and neighbors from the time I was 7 and it's interesting the memories that one has kept and the other has forgotten.


I don't want to rush this piece so I'll be picking up the trail with the one on the wall soon and another that's just inside my head. Hopefully working from one to the other will keep them all fresh and relevant. Things are getting bigger despite stitching by hand. I'm still loathe to chain myself to the sewing machine.

SUN-day

Only time for a few trial changes today..pins and time on the wall. time in my eye just to see where else it's trying to get off to.

It's my Goodman's birthday today so there were things to do, things cooking. First thing this morning I had to haul my work computer across town so it could be brought into the 21st century by our new IT guru. We shall see how that works out in a few minutes.

and TADA! I finally got into the pool today for the initial hands on scrub. There's just a hint of algae so one bottle of Black Death is called for. Pictures when it's perfect.

traveling companion

I brought this piece along with me on the trip but only had a few minutes where I was inclined to take it out and work on it. Of course, the TSA kept me from bringing pins and my little scissors. With the help of other eyes I made a few compositional changes to the "water" area were very satisfying - the kind of unexpected changes that give a piece new forward sparks. I can't wait to finish chores and settle in to consider further stitching/changes. Getting back to the new normal.

traditions

We are back from my mom's funeral in New York.

I'm still processing the loss of the person who knew and loved me longest apart from my Dad. A day before the ceremony I was asked to speak a few words at the service. My sisters and brother kept asking me "have you made any notes..what are you going to say?" but I couldn't bring myself to dwell on the task. To do so would have been acknowledging the reason we were gathered and I just didn't want to to do it before it was absolutely necessary.   I was quite overwhelmed with the great number of people who came to pay their respects at a beautiful ceremony, the details pulled together so very well with love by many caring and dedicated friends and family to whom I am so grateful.

We spent the time reconnecting with loved ones and friends,  the place we used to live, and mourning and celebrating Mom's life together. Family, friends, memories, food - doing, I guess, what people do all over the world when they gather on this solemn occasion. There were many tears and much loving laughter.

mum

I'll be traveling to New York to be with family and celebrate Rosalie's life. No internet, no cell phones.
Time to be in the moment.
Back next week.


Thank you all for your thoughtful kindness and compassion.

time and distance

            My mother passed a little while ago. I wish I was with my family in NY. I feel unmoored.

sunday sunlight work

The sun was strong in the studio early this morning and I stitched through CBS Sunday morning with a little extra attention during the segment on England's Royal School of Needlework .


I have a dozen or so new cloth burritos for the shop that have to be ironed, photographed and posted. There's a celebratory meal to put together - our 35th wedding anniversary is tomorrow!

And maybe the Braves will favor us with a win just for fun.!

Jake and Missy will be by later today on their way home from the Fabulous New York City vacation...there will be more pictures!

This one inspired me to tears and a resolve to go there.

the shuffle

this is how we begin...

dancing with the rags and pins,









bemusing onlookers to sleep.

Friday Eye Candy

I'm going to treat myself to some extended time in the studio this weekend. Time to reorder my priorities in here; take a hard look at things in progress, acknowledging failures and move on.  There's a trend going on that I want to encourage and I want to get some new pieces and raw materials into the shop.

In lieu of getting falling down Friday drunk, here's some fun stuff that's taking up about a cubic yard in the closet. I was thinking of leaving them in public places and taking pictures of people's reactions but I am fairly sure that some citizen will call the bomb squad and my 3D Uninformed Innards will be blown to smithereens by  a swat team robot and then I would be arrested for littering as the polyester stuffing creates a snowstorm.  Most of these are twice as big as an industrial meatloaf, quite the threat!   Any suggestions?

larger things calling

I set aside the current WIP for a rest and pulled this monster from the UFO pile this morning and started the hand stitching. Still wondering if and how it will make any impact on such a large piece. One stitch at a time I guess.


Put in another couple hours of Hard Labor this morning trying to get the pool cleaned. Life, death and circumstances have thrown the pool schedule way off.

The eight inches of sludge in the bottom of the pool was so inhospitably nasty that the frogs wouldn't even lay their eggs in it. They all went next door to the neighbor's pool so there's no need for a big tadpole rescue this year.

starting places

I spent some time stitching this morning; the sun is breaking through the heavy cloud cover from yesterday that was just plain depressing. A serious change of pace is in order so I'm off to attend to a long overdue outside chore. Pictures when it's gorgeous again. ..

A note on my design process - it always starts with color. the shapes are already there, the hacked remains from other projects jumbled together in the big scrap basket.

 I settle on three to five major elements, a base, and then spent a good bit of time shuffling the shapes around until I'm happy with how they are relating to one another.

 I rarely trim the pieces, more often rip, fold or turn the shapes as needed. I try to work from all four points of the compass to make sure that the design is working well.

Many people, myself included, "find" creatures in my work. I can't deny that they turn up but feel the need to let people know that "representing" is not my starting place.
 
No need to delve into the why of it all. There they are, even if I change the original orientation of the work. I'm just happy that people look long enough to find something that intrigues them.

vicarious fun

Jake & Missy are in NYC all week as genuine tourists.
 I saw them yesterday on a live webcam from Times Square! I hear there will be Sabrett's hotdogs for lunch!

Time to start planning my own trip!

and time now to stop stitching  now and do larger, standing up things...

b&w tribute

It's much too soon but eventually I will challenge heart and soul to work in black and white.

Karma was an endlessly fascinating photographic subject. Her rich lack of colors on both ends of the spectrum, the length of her silky coat and flexible laziness made it appear that her markings actually changed from day to day. Some kind of cat magic.

Some days she appeared more white than black, other days, the other way around.

I don't think I have cloth black enough.