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Saturday, July 09, 2016
Friday, July 08, 2016
~
The events of the week, national and personal, have been enough to make me want to sign up for a stint in an opium den. Can't stitch, can't type, can't write or read three lines in a row without dropping the reason for opening the book.
I don't know why, but at some point this morning, I tried to say the Pledge of Allegiance. I got to the second phrase “...and the United States of America” and... nothing. The problem is that I learned it before they slipped the God business in there. The anticipation of the gap was preying on me. I was never able to stay in sync with the rest of the class, always finishing ahead of them. I had one teacher scowl and call me a Heathen.
Fearing early onset Alzheimer's, I tried again with something simpler with deeper roots. “Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake..” that's the one that kept me from getting a decent night's sleep from the time I was two or three when my aunt, grandmother or mother sat chanting that to me at bedtime waiting for me to join in. I never did.
“If I should die??? wtf?” Problem solved. Do not close your eyes. I don't think I willingly fell asleep until collapse before I was a teenager. Not to mention that whole 'bless this one, and that one' and so on, because if you missed someone, they were dead meat. It wasn't too long before I would deliberately leave someone off the list if I was tired and a looking forward to tomorrow.
My mind properly misdirected with pious drivel, I took another run at the Pledge. I made it to “the Republic” and again, the yawning silence.
A little voice inside my head said, “We are so fucked up.” I knew that voice. You can always count on Jiminy Cricket for the truth.
Then a TV sound bite chirped, “God, help us!”and Jiminy answered from my disordered mind,
“Do you think I'm a damn vending machine? You put your money in the plate and I fix everything to your satisfaction? Nah! I'm done with your stupid shit.
You'll have to solve this problem on your own. The lesson endeth here."
Amen
Sunday, June 26, 2016
Hurry up and flounder
Sunday morning is prime creative time for me, but today I checked the calendar and realized I have about three weeks to finish and ship a quilt so, no writing today.
Colors and cloth were already chosen but I had to ditch the original plan that included a lot of hand appliqué and substitute a technique I used once a long time ago. Pretty straightforward as machine sewing goes, but when I sat down at the Janome I discovered that I was suffering from a combination of Shriveled Skills and residual deficits from the NOT stroke or some other dire diagnosis that had me in the hospital for a week exactly a year ago.
My left hand is clumsy and not steady and I had to slow down to avoid stitching my fingers together. Not good with a white base cloth.
We won't talk about the machine needing a good cleaning, oiling and new needle – things that were new project standards in the past. I had to think hard about how to use the bobbin winder, thread the thing, and when it did glitch (of course it did) when I looked into the bobbin nest I didn't recognize it and kept visualizing the innards of my long gone Kenmore.
All in all, a disturbing few hours but, I won't give up on the machine if this project turns out the way I hope it will.
Sunday, June 19, 2016
Saturday, June 18, 2016
wandering scraps
On my last run to the post office to ship off a fat baggy, I couldn't cram it all into the envelope.
I brought them back in the house and they'll get included in the next shipment!
On and on
Thursday, June 16, 2016
discipline...
...is what it takes, something I have never been awash in. Still, it's never too late to change.
I've started committing my best hours -between wakeup and tennish- writing. I have a not quite first draft that's leprous with issues and has never been seen by a beta reader and I cannot waste one more of those precious minutes on anything that doesn't matter as much to me. November will be on us before we know it.
Sometimes I long for the mindless hours I spent on cloth. Not really mindless, just a completely different place in the brain at the helm. An autopilot who had a great sense of color, was a fair hand at design and technique and had all the confidence in the world that what she was doing would turn out okay, sometimes even great.
Deep in the stash closet, I came across a batch of old school cottons. I think it's the last of the Thompson muslin that I rescued from a wholesaler who pushed bolts of cloth around with a small bulldozer on the concrete floor of a musty warehouse. It might be the last cloth that company made with American-grown cotton.
Anyway, I can see I was intent on getting as much dye into the cloth as possible. It has a wonderful hand and I'm looking forward to all the hand applique I have planned even though the deadline for this project is about a month away. Family obligations are the best kind.
Charlie moving all his worldly goods into the playhouse. Moments later, everything was transferred back to the crib. (Repeat cycle four times before lunch.)
I've started committing my best hours -between wakeup and tennish- writing. I have a not quite first draft that's leprous with issues and has never been seen by a beta reader and I cannot waste one more of those precious minutes on anything that doesn't matter as much to me. November will be on us before we know it.
Sometimes I long for the mindless hours I spent on cloth. Not really mindless, just a completely different place in the brain at the helm. An autopilot who had a great sense of color, was a fair hand at design and technique and had all the confidence in the world that what she was doing would turn out okay, sometimes even great.
Deep in the stash closet, I came across a batch of old school cottons. I think it's the last of the Thompson muslin that I rescued from a wholesaler who pushed bolts of cloth around with a small bulldozer on the concrete floor of a musty warehouse. It might be the last cloth that company made with American-grown cotton.
Anyway, I can see I was intent on getting as much dye into the cloth as possible. It has a wonderful hand and I'm looking forward to all the hand applique I have planned even though the deadline for this project is about a month away. Family obligations are the best kind.
Charlie moving all his worldly goods into the playhouse. Moments later, everything was transferred back to the crib. (Repeat cycle four times before lunch.)
Sunday, June 12, 2016
blue sunday
We gathered close and celebrated Jim's birthday today. Just Jake tinkering on his car and Colin in the kitchen making chili and a mess. Me, out in the yard being Nana.
Charlie continues to be my soul salvation.
I have a lot of thoughts about the sad turn of events in our country, but I need to push it all away as far as I can. It's making my heart sick on a day when it's already aching.
Saturday, June 04, 2016
40 years
Despite what I said here, I doubt that we would have done anything different on our fortieth anniversary that we did on the vast majority of all the others. Stay at home, make a meal together, trade cards, flowers and perhaps small gifts.
Jimmy might have played DJ while I worked in the kitchen unless he made chili, then I would have sat and stitched.
We might have taken a dip in the pool, weather permitting. Then a shared movie and reminiscing over a meal. All of life's simple pleasures in one day, special only because of the date on the calendar. They were all special. I did my best alone today.
I got a great deal on some just marked down sunflowers and roses. And I couldn't resist a little Charlie chair to match mine.
Jimmy might have played DJ while I worked in the kitchen unless he made chili, then I would have sat and stitched.
We might have taken a dip in the pool, weather permitting. Then a shared movie and reminiscing over a meal. All of life's simple pleasures in one day, special only because of the date on the calendar. They were all special. I did my best alone today.
I got a great deal on some just marked down sunflowers and roses. And I couldn't resist a little Charlie chair to match mine.
and the mail man brought treats too.
Friday, June 03, 2016
hydrology
I spend Thursdays and Fridays with Charlie. The best days of my week. There is nothing else to do but watch and participate if I can. It's what I did when Jake and Colin were this age. Be present.
Watching him discover things for the first time is so delightful. The public pool where he lives is big and crowded so we cooled off on the patio this morning.
What gets him laughing? The slapping sounds our feet make in puddles on the concrete. The wet squeaking squirts from the little rubber ducks. A wren perched on the railing a moment to see what we were up to. Charlie held out a cup of water with a hopeful look on his face. Life is good.
Wednesday, June 01, 2016
Saturday, May 28, 2016
harvested
You can clearly see the difference between the wet and dry cloth when you look at the header. Me? I like loud. I know others, not so much. So, there's something here for everyone.
This latest batch makes me wish I could take a two-week vacation from the day-job (what doesn't?) so I could work out this thread of hue, tone and texture, but I'm well aware of the serendipitous nature of my process.
I'm inclined to want stronger, louder colors so you know where the next batch is headed, whenever that gets to happen. MORE COWBELL!
I've taken a few for myself. Another small group has been assigned for further development. The rest will be for sale, either in whole pieces or in small parts as part of the ongoing Fat Baggy campaign.
This latest batch makes me wish I could take a two-week vacation from the day-job (what doesn't?) so I could work out this thread of hue, tone and texture, but I'm well aware of the serendipitous nature of my process.
I'm inclined to want stronger, louder colors so you know where the next batch is headed, whenever that gets to happen. MORE COWBELL!
I've taken a few for myself. Another small group has been assigned for further development. The rest will be for sale, either in whole pieces or in small parts as part of the ongoing Fat Baggy campaign.
Friday, May 27, 2016
Stars so far
this group is turning out to be very special. Only a few decanted so far. The rest will hatch out later today. I'm going to be taking reprographs of some of these before they get used or sold. Also, thinking about selling some whole. Much more later.
They are all in the washing machine right now...it feels like Christmas eve.
I expect a loss of intensity, but I'm one of the few artists I know that will use colors as intense and rowdy as the one in my header above.
They are all in the washing machine right now...it feels like Christmas eve.
I expect a loss of intensity, but I'm one of the few artists I know that will use colors as intense and rowdy as the one in my header above.
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
quick & dirty
We all know about wet pictures. Still....
This one is staying with me even if it loses a step after the wash, which I don't think it will. This is that Irish double damask, 42x36 give or take a bit. I think this is going to be my personal Freak Flag!
This one is staying with me even if it loses a step after the wash, which I don't think it will. This is that Irish double damask, 42x36 give or take a bit. I think this is going to be my personal Freak Flag!
lying in wait
And wait they will. I'm so done now and won't have time to open these bundles until.
Late Friday or Saturday. We chill and poach.
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
the Haul
It's finally coming 'round to hot enough for dyeing here in Georgia after a long spell of wet and chilly. I went to Goodwill this morning to drop off a set of frilly curtains that I've been saddled with for a while. Never went inside! Such willpower. Then I saw the 20% everything sign on the antique/consignment depot that's right next door.
There WILL be a new dye session tomorrow and it's gonna be HOT!
Buggy Oatmeal, Soggy Cheerios and Rice of Questionable Age will be shouldering the color. I'll remix and recalibrate the colors away from the previous sessions. The recipients of all this glory? A half ACRE of premium, heavy-weight muslin from India, complete with yards of cotton stitched eyelet lace and another acre of superb double damask from Ireland. The latter has been professionally laundered and ironed to death, poor thing. I can barely make out the pattern but the cloth is rich and thick and will drink up the color.
There WILL be a new dye session tomorrow and it's gonna be HOT!
Buggy Oatmeal, Soggy Cheerios and Rice of Questionable Age will be shouldering the color. I'll remix and recalibrate the colors away from the previous sessions. The recipients of all this glory? A half ACRE of premium, heavy-weight muslin from India, complete with yards of cotton stitched eyelet lace and another acre of superb double damask from Ireland. The latter has been professionally laundered and ironed to death, poor thing. I can barely make out the pattern but the cloth is rich and thick and will drink up the color.
Friday, May 20, 2016
no chimes
I took a fat handful of cloth from my private stash in the river basket late Wednesday night without really looking at the contents. Stuffed everything in a gallon Ziploc bag and took it with me to spend the day with Charlie.
No needles, pins or threads. Just planned on looking. We sat on the floor in the sunlight and dumped the baggie out onto the carpet.
He was happy to help. He folds. Sort of.
I remain uninspired. Tomorrow, early I'll empty the bag back into the river basket in the studios morning light. See if anything speaks up.
No needles, pins or threads. Just planned on looking. We sat on the floor in the sunlight and dumped the baggie out onto the carpet.
He was happy to help. He folds. Sort of.
I remain uninspired. Tomorrow, early I'll empty the bag back into the river basket in the studios morning light. See if anything speaks up.
Wednesday, May 18, 2016
Got cloth?
freckles, speckles, splashes, soy resists and so much more..this is the stash that I'm picking fat baggies from and there are two other baskets not in the shot!
Monday, May 16, 2016
Charlie Monday
I had mixed feelings about this picture, but there's just no denying that Charlie will be using technology in ways we never dreamed of.
He's so good at it too. The ease and accuracy when he pecks and swipes at the screen is eerie. We've agreed to limit his e-time and I've come up with the sneaky trick of letting him use my tablet only when I know the battery is about 15% or less. When the low battery message pops up he says "Uh-oh!" and when it shuts down he knows that the tablet is tired and has to take a nap. No fuss, no crying.
He's so good at it too. The ease and accuracy when he pecks and swipes at the screen is eerie. We've agreed to limit his e-time and I've come up with the sneaky trick of letting him use my tablet only when I know the battery is about 15% or less. When the low battery message pops up he says "Uh-oh!" and when it shuts down he knows that the tablet is tired and has to take a nap. No fuss, no crying.
Saturday, May 14, 2016
hot stuff
There's a double armload of cloth from the most recent dye-fest in my stitching chair. You can open this image in another table to see the variety of textures underlying all those freckles. Some of those troublesome batiks are there too, now that I've made them presentable to the public
I've picked what I wanted, and a few other pieces have gone off to other artist's studios.
The rest will get churned into the blend over at Random Acts of Dyeness. If you want a bundle that is ONLY freckles and batiks, let me know asap. There's not a ton to go around.
PS - Arlee. The black bits have to qualify as failed. The blue-gray you see here was as strong as they stayed. Dye age? Perhaps. Operator error? More likely.
I've picked what I wanted, and a few other pieces have gone off to other artist's studios.
The rest will get churned into the blend over at Random Acts of Dyeness. If you want a bundle that is ONLY freckles and batiks, let me know asap. There's not a ton to go around.
PS - Arlee. The black bits have to qualify as failed. The blue-gray you see here was as strong as they stayed. Dye age? Perhaps. Operator error? More likely.
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