Life with Michelle- and more pictures from the Covey

I'd forgotten how tired you can get with a newborn- even when it is a good baby, sleep only comes in small pieces. I suspect that will be the case for awhile, at least until she gets her days and nights down right. For the last few nights, she has been wide awake when we are ready to hit the sack, and does some of her best napping in the morning. Thank goodness I'm just the grandma!

I said I had more pictures from the show.



This is another of Patti Pitts' pieces- I finally was able to get the color right. I love all the subtle textures in the red.

Lisa Brothman did the next two.





Polly' dryer sheet piece has two very different sides. I tried to get a picture that showed the translucency.





And a detail--



Kaye Evans did this great selvedge purse, and the absolutely delicious silk bowl. The texture and colors are amazing.





Enough for now. Michelle, Marly and I are going to walk to the grocery store- before it gets too hot. It's still in the 90's here, but a cool front is coming in for the weekend!

La Princesa Preciosa, Michelle Sofia

It has been a week since I posted- mostly because I have been getting to know my new granddaughter. I got here very late Wednesday (or,very early Thursday)- so now we have had three days together. I can say she is beautiful, I can see bits of both her mom and dad in her. She is not an overly fussy baby, but she can screech to wake the dead when she's is unhappy.

And, she let Grandma have some fun yesterday, taking pictures with some of the onesies and bows I sent for her shower. I think she looks sooo cute!!!



Love the big flower, and the onesies look great on her.



I'm sure I will be taking lots more.

And, while I won't be doing any sewing/stitching/dyeing while I'm here, I do have more pictures from the gallery show to post. I found out yesterday that an article about our show, along with some of my pictures, will be published in Utah Valley Magazine for November!

Enough for now. I am enjoying Michelle, enjoying the 90 degree weather, enjoying being with Sean and Marly. Life is good!

USDG at the Covey, Part II

Going clockwise around the gallery, here's some closer shots of individual pieces. Right next to Jalaine's bright piece is a Hawaiian inspired work by Jan Tolman. Part is fabric, part is dyed or painted paper towels!



Here's the red silk I have to physically restrain myself from touching. Doesn't it look great with the sweater?



This one by Diane is fantastic, a combination of fabric, hand and machine stitching, and rusted metal from her barn. Loved it!



Further down the wall, five pieces from WAQ were grouped- our individual interpretations of 'passages'. Jalaine did the red and black one on the left, Sidney and Robyn did the ones in the middle, and mine and Kathleen's are on the right.



Here's some closer views--





On the opposite wall, our six Magnification pieces hung between two weavings- both beautiful pieces. The large one on the left was made from leftover woolen clothing.



Our six canvases played well together, and drew positive comments. On the left, top to bottom are Jalaine, Suzanne, and my piece; on the right are Sidney, Kathleen, and Robyn.



I am going to have to go back to the gallery and get better pictures of the pieces under the stained glass windows. I just could not get the lighting right, no matter how I tweaked it in PSE. And, I noticed I missed a few pieces, so I'll have to get those, and get some names. So, maybe more from the show before I leave for Florida on Wednesday!

USDG at the Covey Center for the Arts, October 2009

Last night was the opening reception for our show in Provo. Unfortunately, we were competing with a BYU football game, so traffic around Provo was awful. Most of the group members live in Salt Lake, so I held down the fort for the group. The gallery looked great, I met some other artists from my area, and we got really positive feedback. We were part of Provo's monthly Gallery Walk night, and gallery walkers were hearing from those who were at our show early that they needed to see what the Covey had!

Polly and her helpers did a wonderful job setting up the gallery. This is what greeted you at the entry.



On the pedestal is information about our group and the challenge- only using materials that we already had, or that we traded or found. It definitely sparked some imaginative work.

This is the view into the gallery.



And the wall to the left as you entered the gallery--



I have serious envy of the red silk under the sweater- I've had it since I saw it at our last meeting, and I got to caress it!

The wall directly to the right as you enter the gallery has some lovely red pieces on it.



On the left is Patti Pitts' last of her Peace series. Patti just finished Jane Dunnewold's master class. In the middle is a piece by Chris Bramhall- what a difference having work matted and framed can make! On the right is a weaving- I'm going to have to go back to the gallery to get his name. He does great structural weavings with vibrant color.

We had a lot of work on pedestals- some bags, scarves, and other mixed media work. These were the first you saw as you entered the gallery.



Kelly Sweat dyed the scarf- I absolutely love this one,the colors are stunning. Timmy Burton made the copper shoe mounted on a copper bowl- she has imagination without limits!

Timmy also made this piece, inspired by an accident in the diswasher.

It's various plastic bottles and other containers, melted into interesting shapes, and screwed onto a piece of clear vinyl. It was definitely a conversation piece.

The largest installation also drew quite a bit of attention. Polly Masaryk made this entirely from painted dryer sheets- some contributed by family and friends on the East coast!

The pile of sheets on the floor underneath was just the right touch of humor. Polly also did the graphic hand stitched piece on the back wall.

That's it for this post. Later today I'll post some individual pieces, including the challenges that my WAQ group did.

On the Run. . .

It's Friday morning. I've already been to my hairdresser for a cut- later this weekend, Shannon will make all the gray roots go away. Tonight is the opening for the Utah Surface Design Group show at the Covey Center for the Arts in Provo. Taking a cue from what was going on all over the country, we chose "Hard Times: Inspiration, Beauty and the Art of Making Do."



I have not seen the entire show hung, but hear it looks great.

I'm in charge of setting up for the opening reception tonight- it's the monthly gallery walk night in Provo. There's also a BYU football game, which should make traffic just lovely.

I got the tee and scarves done too. I'm still debating in the tee, I might add some more to it- just not sure what. The camo or baby diaper poop scarf?



Much improved after being hit with fire red!! I know I'm going to do some stenciling with metallic Shiva sticks on this one. The other two-



I like the blue and violet, not sure yet about the other one. I may do another red dyebath, I think it is just a little too orange for me.

In the midst of last minute shopping for some cheese and grapes for the show, I'm also trying to find a pair of jeans that hopefully fits the way I like. Busy day, I'll post pictures of the show tonight or tomorrow morning.

It's a good feeling. . .

to have everything done. The label is sewed on Passages I, Magnification: Ginger Beer is mounted, backed, labeled, and ready to hang. I am happy with how it came out.



I love the texture I got with the tissue paper. I will definitely use this again. The only thing I would do differently would be to mix black paint in with the gel medium, so the canvas looks really BLACK.

I've been so focused on these projects for so long-- what next? I will have to have some handwork while I'm in Florida, otherwise I will go nuts. Maybe time to get out the knitting needles?

Ten more days and counting until I hold Michelle myself. In the meantime, I'm waiting for a picture of her wearing one of the tie dye onesies I did!

What a Day!

i keep a sort of journal next to the bed, where I note what art project I've worked on that day. For obvious reasons, most of the entries are weekends. When I went to write down everything I got done yesterday, I surprised even myself. And, all this was done in between phone calls from Sean with the latest updates about Michelle!

I got Magnification: Ginger Beer cut to size and stitched around the edges. The next step was the canvas- clearly, black would be the best background but I didnt' just want solid black paint. I did undercoat the canvas with black paint, but then I applied torn strips of black tissue paper with gloss gel medium. Here it is, just starting to dry--



and here all dry, with the edges turned to the back and more gel medium applied.



This gave me just what I wanted, texture.

I also got the sleeve made and sewn on the back of Passages I, and the labels for both pieces printed out and ready to be sewn on today.

I grabbed the tee and silk scarves I'd thrown in the Thiox bath last week, for anther round in the dyepots. I got a nice fire red and golden yellow scarf, another that's blue and violet, and the last one is camo or baby diaper poop, depending on your mood. I hoped to get the green I've gotten by mixing golden yellow and charcoal gray- but it doesn't work that way on silk, apparently. I may hit this one with another color, maybe the red.



The tee, and another I just got from Dharma, are in the washer now.

Mother and baby continue to do well, hopefully they will get to go home tomorrow. I'm glad they've got plenty of people who can come stay with Marly during the day until I get out there. Ten more days!

Isn't She Cute?!!!

I promise not to turn this into a baby album- but humor me for a bit. I'm glad to finally get some photos where she's not screaming her lungs out!






I've told Sean I'm waiting for my picture of her in a tie dye onesie, before they leave the hospital!

Happy Birthday, Michelle!

She arrived on schedule, healthy (one ounce shy of eight pounds, 20.5 inches), and with a good set of lungs! Mom is doing fine (although a little groggy, which is to be expected), Michelle's already had a couple of meals. Can't wait to meet this little beauty in person!

Waiting. . . .

It is mid-morning on Friday. The vacuuming is done, the laundry started. No grocery shopping til this afternoon- I've delegated planning dinner to Shannon. And right now, she has Shiloh off to the vet for some shots.

I am waiting for the phone call and picture from my son Sean that all has gone well, Marly is fine, and baby Michelle is safely delivered and healthy. They are at the hospital for the scheduled delivery- big baby + small mom= C section, something with which I have no personal experience. They figure she'll be born about 1 pm Florida time, if the hospital and doctor are on schedule.

I would have loved to be there for this, but when I bought my (nonrefundable, nonchangeable) plane tickets, the baby wasn't supposed to be here for another couple of weeks. All that changed in the last month- so I leave for Tampa on Oct. 7, and will be there the rest of the month.

In the meantime, I am working on the 6 X 9 piece, which is all by hand. It has gone really quickly, getting it done this weekend won't be a problem. Here's what I started out with--



Just a little bit of seed stitching, however, made me realize that the hand stitching would just get lost on this fabric. So I found a piece of black sateen that I'd discharged, and used that. Here it is with the first layer of stitching. yes, I added some colors- I decided I needed a zinger, and since all the colors were warm, went with a cool but intense turquoise pearl cotton I'd dyed for 'Out of the Blue.'



Here's the link to the inspiration image. It's a microscopic image of some Australian ginger beer- sounds yummy to me!

So, I stitch and wait. This will probably be a multi-post day!

What I Learned This Weekend. . .

---Turquoise dye REALLY does not discharge- no matter how long you cook it in Thiox! I was trying to un-dye a tee that I totally botched with the addition of gray over cerulean blue and turquoise. The gray is now light blobs of a sickly yellow, and the turquoise is still turquoise. A couple shades lighter, but that's all. I think I'm to the point of overdyeing it in a black or navy immersion bath.

---Turquoise doesn't come off silk scarves, either. I thinkI'll hit this one with grape next.

---Hand stitching can be a great relaxer. My 6 by 9 piece is well on its way, all by hand except the edges. And, I can take it to work and keep my hands busy during meetings- another bonus!

That's it, no pictures tonight. Later!

It's Done!

Well, except for the sleeve and label- but the quilting is done, and the facing is on. Just in time for me to spend tomorrow working on a 6 X 9 piece to mount on canvas!

Here it is, along with a detail shot showing all the quilting.





I like the background quilting, but don't know if I would do it again on a quilt like this. It is just around the edges, and getting all those lines straight was a bear. I also had lots of stops and starts- no way to do this in one pass!

We had our Surface Design group meeting this week,and many of the pieces that are going to be in the show were there. Plenty of good work, in keeping with the theme 'Hard Times.' We hang the show on the 29th, and the opening is Friday October 2.

In the meantime, back to the studio!

Quilting- Almost Done!

I got all the quilting except the background done this afternoon, and I am happy with how it came out. Here' what I have so far-



And some closeups--





I'm thinking I'd like to do a geometric based design from Charlotte Warr Anderson's latest book, 'One Line at a Time.' It's the book this quilt was in, and I like the idea of a geometric structure under all these elements. The only issue I can see is that it could be a challenge getting it consistent, since the background is mainly around the edges. So I'll think about that overnight.

In the meantime, I have plenty to keep me occupied for the rest of Sunday- ironing clothes for the week, putting away the laundry, that sort of mundane task. And, I plan to watch the women's final of the US Open tonight. Hope your week is a good one!

A Studio Saturday

I have been in the studio since early this morning. I have most of the 'doors' quilted, and all the circles. Some of the doors were very insistent that they did not want to be quilted with just the geometric straight lines I started with. I listened, and have to admit they were right. Maybe I'll get the rest done tonight after we get back from a wedding receiption- we'll see.

I also washed out the hand dyes I did yesterday, and I'm really happy with the results. I got a Sabracon blue value parfait (sort of), and a color parfait with cerulean, turquoise, and grape--



two color parfaits, one with golden yellow, red-violent, and blue violet, and a the second with maroon brown, golden yellow, Palomino gold, deep yellow, and ecru. I can't tell for sure which is which, but they all go together really well. And the pictures don't do them justice, the variations on these pieces are beautiful.



But the prize goes to the two pieces of Radiance I dyed. This fabric is gorgeous, wonderful soft hand, and the silk side has a shimmer to it that I love. This piece is a little over a yard- made me think of the California wildfires.



The second is three yards, and should make me a lovely blouse. I used grape, Cerulean blue, and light red on it.



The two sides really do take the color differently. Here I've flipped over one side. It looks blue on the left (cotton) side, and lilac on the silk side.



If you ever see this stuff in a fabric store, grab it- it is worth the price!

WAQ-y Dyeing

WAQ this month turned out to be just me and Suzanne- two others weren't feeling well, and another couldn't make it. We did some dyeing out on Suzanne's west-facing patio, which made for some good heat for the dyes. I did a bunch of color parfaits, and two different lengths of this fabric I got in Grand Junction, Radiance. It's 55% silk and 45% cotton, and has a wonderful hand. I'm hoping one came out good enough to make a blouse with. I did blue, violet, and fuschia on one piece, and red, lemon yellow, and golden yellow on another.

I got all my jars home, and here they are baking in the sun some more.



Suzanne had some mixed colors, so I got to sample a couple- Palomino gold and maroon brown. They're in the very tall value parfait, where I did five half yard pieces in those two colors, golden yellow, deep yellow (which is really orange), and ecru. It will be fun seeing how they wash out.

I've also got three of the circles quilted on the Passages piece. Hopefully I'll get a lot more done tomorrow.

Ready for Quilting!!

I stayed up late doing laundry and cutting out 'doors', and was at it again early this morning, fusing the pieces in place. I've done the satin stitching around them, and it's on to the quilting. Here's how it ended up--



If you compare this with the picture of the 'doors' I was auditioning yesterday, you'll see they are very different. The more I looked at the first set, the more I realized I had too many colors going. So I limited the doors to reds, oranges, and violets- which seemed to work great.

So now it's on to the quilting. I've already got a back, with all the dyeing I had to do to get the background. Hopefully I can do some auditioning of patterns today.

Lazy Long Weekend

Well, I did resolve the problem with the dyes. I took cobalt blue and yellow, with some Kona cotton I bought Monday, and did some much more structured experimenting. I started with the same recipe I used before- but instead of just plopping the fabric in, I brushed some on watercolor paper, and hit it with a hair dryer. Mmmm, too blue. I kept adding yellow, 1/16 teaspoon at a time, until I had the green tinge I was looking for. THEN I put the fabric in the dye.

The color is not exact, but it is close- and the difference I believe is due to differences between cerulean and cobalt blue. So, I finally have my background, and I learned some new tricks for mixing colors to match something I've done before.

I have noticed that my color sense has altered over the years. This piece has colors that I would not have dreamed of combining years ago.



I've also started auditioning the fabric for the other elements in the quilt. This part is still a work in progress.



We'll see how far I get on this today and tomorrow.

We had a lovely full moon Thursday night, and I managed to get this photo of it over the mountains just to the east of our home.



I'm still taking all kinds of pictures with my camera, just to see if I can. Friday we took the dogs out for a walk on the Spanish Fork river trail, and I got these shots of sunflowers.





Love the one with the grasshopper! I took several shots, and he never even moved.

Hope your long weekend is restful, fun, productive, creative- whatever you desire!