Studio time

I'm not sure if it really counts if you are only killing time waiting on a phone call.

Still, this piece has been promised to a show in the first week of September so something else is going to have to get back-burnered for a little bit. Today, I'm thinking it's pool time. Drat.

This is going to be a monster under the needle.

and the biggest irk is
...when I look at the original drawing, I'm not happy with the way this one is turning out.

The last time that happened, I would have fed the piece in question into the industrial shredder at the office but the door to the shred room was locked.  I finished the piece, entered it in a show and it sold. My first ever sale. Go figger.

TGIF

It's been a harrowing and hectic week at the House of Lacativa.

Fingers crossed that Missy and Charlie will be sprung from the hospital this weekend. They have hung out the No Visitors sign which is perfectly understandable.

When we first brought Colin home from the hospital, Jim and I were sitting at the kitchen table having morning coffee as we always had,  kind of planning the day.

 He said "What do you want to do today?" and before I could answer Colin made his birdie squawks from his crib in the next room and we both laughed and said
"Oh yeah, that's right." Somebody else had just taken the majority vote.
It takes a little getting used to.

shopkeeping

Always one for illicit activity..
I'm peddling cloth again. You know who you are and you know you want it.

Go thaw your credit cards out of the ice cube tray.

Fat Baggies are back.

He's landed!

Charlie James Lacativa came to us last night, a little early, but he and mom Missy are both doing well.

For 3.5 weeks early, he's a nice six pounds, four ounces and twenty inches long.  To me he looks just like Jake did the day after he was born.

Jimmy would be, is, so very proud of Jake & Missy and just loving this baby.

baby day....

This seemed like a lifetime ago and, in a way, I guess it was.

A few weeks short of nine months, my first grandson will be hurried into the world sometime in the next whirl around the sun.

Spontaneous colors

There's been a pile of cloth crusty with soda ash sitting on the deck for a few weeks.

Who knew that the soda ash would eat holes in the aluminum tub?

It was in the mid eighties by ten this morning so I pulled the colors out of hiding and called the dyefest to order.

I'm going to leave this lot out in the sun for the next day or so. A lot of other things are pressing...updates as they happen.

life's wheel

The Vigil Cloth   2013

Seth Says 2013

A friend I've never met is facing the end of her journey here.

A child I've yet to meet is getting ready to join life's party.


It's all so full that for once in my life I am without the right words and will just remain on full receive and pay close attention for the duration.

the first

Charlie's quilt finished out nicely. All done except for his name and birthday and my mark when the time comes.  A good thrashing in the washer and dryer and it already looks well loved.

garden redux

It's been raining for most of three days here now and the local greenery is happy. I thought I'd be happy with a little weather enforced confinement, but I'm getting stir crazy.

The mailbox garden which was wiped out at it's peak back in the middle of May, has come back in a wild way. The flat of marigold that I put in just to cover the bare dirt has been overwhelmed by the seed started morning glories, nasturtiums, Lantana and this gorgeous sunflower. Wild and undisciplined. The way I like it.

sweetness

These are things that make me smile. A new box of crayons, my floppy hat cause I got too much sun the other day and ten longhand pages to type up and build around.

We had a night of deep sleeping temperatures for the first time in ages last night after I got home from an evening with a different writing group. Different folks and slant. Nice bunch and luckily I won't have to choose between the two groups as they meet on opposite weeks.

I got my car back from the dealer this  morning prettier than it's been in years. Drove it to the park where I put in a fast mile and then drove the long way for some provisioning. That span of time gave me the bones of a scene that I have been sneaking up on..the Money Shot they call it in the film world.  Some pool time too.

Then I got an email from Bubbles reminding me that Fierce is expected at a show at the end of summer...best get back into it soon.

it's all a dream

I got a disturbing email from the hosting company that I have been using since 2001.

They have suddenly discovered that I am violating terms of service by parking files on  their server that are not part of the website that they host for me. Funny. I thought I was renting the space on a monthly basis.

 Without prior notice they have relocated them to some other place that I have to access with some esoteric app and imaginary keys.

Many of these files are pictures of family and friends that I have scanned, all other manner of digital files...

A letter has been written. Hopefully, gracious action will be taken on their part.

Lesson...don't get to comfy with the web. Don't take it for granted. If something really matters to you, make sure you can hold it in your two hands.

wheels

This is the view from my writing space these days.  We moved Jim's truck in preparation for some tree work at the back of the driveway.
I don't always get the little heart leap that I used to get when I saw it parked in the driveway as I made the turn onto our block: or if  I saw one like it on the highway where the white Ford F150 rules the road, at least here in Georgia.  It's more a touchstone now. I'm looking forward to driving it once it's ready, but there's no hurry.

Last Saturday, my car was damaged in a minor wreck and Monday I'll be handing it over to the repair shop - the other driver's insurance company is picking up the tab for the fix and a rental for me for the duration.  I really wanted a convertible, but couldn't talk Enterprise into bringing one up from the airport location for me.

Not much from me on the fiber front. Charlie's quilt is nearly finished and good thing too, the baby shower is today and there's another tomorrow.  Pictures when it's properly finished.  Mostly what I have been up to is  here 

Of two minds

I was in a bit of a tailspin through the month of June but I've pulled up and set my feet back on the path. Consider the alternatives.

The baby showers are bearing down on me so I kicked the quilt making into high gear. The hand work - nothing fancy, just some very utilitarian stitch-in-the-ditch, felt good. A mild mind altering drug.

 It puts me in a place of no think to the point that I have to double check where I am at every corner's turn. Don't want to wander off course on this one.

This is where the real high comes from. The writing space.  After a week of not writing (or doing much of anything but taking an extended  wallow in sorrow and self- pity)  I was asked to write a deposition for a custody case.

I was given the facts, the groundwork for the piece, and from there I swung for the fences and it looks like my words may have made the difference for the clients.

While I was writing it, I found myself in a place of strength and competence that I  had forgotten about and it felt good. Felt like high test juice. Felt like something I need to do every day like any good junkie.

frayed

Summer, life, has left me frayed and unraveling and I have been unable to pick up the stitch.

Many friends have offered suggestions, all good, and I thank you all.

There will be time off for bad behavior.

building some Love for Charlie

Once I got past selecting the fabrics I was happy that the groove was easy to find and Big J was in tune with the project after so much neglect.

Since this blanket is going to be used, washed and dried several times a week I'm only using the best commercial batiks and cotton broadcloths. Now to find something suitable for backing...                                                                  




 I find I'm looking forward to              hand quilting this one...nothing fancy. Just lines of love.

Preoccupation

Moses and Jake 1986

I've been occupied with so many other things lately. Lost picture books being scanned, preserved. Walking, swimming, writing..anything other than picking up cloth and stitch. Is there an aversion there? I'm thinking maybe. I open the door to the studio and all I can see is the past. Nothing potential calls me.
Big changes? The summer weather? Who knows. It is what it is. No apologies here. Just Life.

store update

I've added some larger pieces to the store. These are all vintage damasks (and some linen)  that have been hand dyed with Procion MX dyes using a combination of distribution techniques.

 This batch included coarse grain salt and some split peas. This piece and few others were also discharged.

see the rest here

news from the burning dyedeck

Since my brain is still on vacation  (taking a few sick days too} I thought I'd take advantage of the heat today but it got the best of me in short order.
I needed to see some texture after all the pure color in the last group, so I found a box of clumped up salt and a bag of split peas to bring into the fray.

 There are a lot of vintage tablecloths and napkins awaiting transformation and every thing you see here will be available in the store  as I get them washed and dried, hung and shot...Sorry - there will be NO ironing!!  You'll have to discover how different this cloth looks once it's ironed for yourself!

pending dyefest

Can it be cloth~?

Yes it is. My sister Kitty sent me a fat box of vintage table linen and it's in the washing machine right now shedding years of starch.

The weather is holding brutal hot here, perfect for getting the most out of the colors I already have on hand and some textures that I have been missing.

There's a lot of hurry up and wait during the dye process. I can keep myself occupied.

father's day

Here's to the men in our lives who made the difference in who we all came to be.