Playing with Paper

What with more upheaval and change in our home, I haven't spent a lot of time in the studio.  I have almost finished one piece that I am rather happy with- but I can't post a picture , since it is also my Tangled Textiles piece for September.  It will have to wait for a couple of weeks.

I am obsessing over what to do with this 18 X 29 hand dye that I've loved from the minute I pulled it from the bottom of a parfait.

So I have been drawing on graph paper, trying to come up with a design that will use every inch of this gorgeous fabric.  So far, this is what I have.

The last one looks too much like Christmas trees, so it's been eliminated.  The one above it has piecing issues, which I mostly resolved with the third drawing.  But I figured out that I don't have enough fabric to do the size quilt I was hoping for, and the irregular pieces don't use every inch of fabric.  The two top designs were attempts to utilize all the fabric.  I'll probably do a few more designs before I make a decision.  My plan (at this point, anyway) is to combine the patterned hand dye with solids- colors yet to be determined.

I am not accustomed to working this way, drawing and planning it all out.  I'm trying to identify what it is I like about the modern quilt design ethic and apply it to these, without losing 'me.'  It's turning into an interesting journey!

Only two weeks to go til the Dyeing to Discharge workshop with Carol Soderlund.  I've looked over the supply list, and it is a long one- but I have most everything.  I am so looking forward to a week with my work phone off!

Quiet before the Storm

I'm not referring to the weather, although it does look gray, gloomy and menacing outside.  It is the hour before the family start arriving for our annual Christmas party.  The house is clean (smells of Pinesol, even), the salad that is my contribution is ready, and Christmas music is on the stereo.  It is my rather eclectic mix, to be sure- to DJ's chagrin.  I have everything from Transiberian Orchestra to medieval Christmas carols, and lots in between.  I can only take so much of the stuff you hear all day on the radio this time of year.

And I have been sewing- the stockings I started last year are done and hanging by the fireplace!

 

I am dressed, and admittedly feeling rather pleased with the new skinnier me- even found some jeans that fit great and show it off!  If I have to hit my sixth decade shortly, I can do it looking good.

I have also been doing some preliminary work on my last IT! piece.  I've done some playing in PSE with the filters, and done some sketching.  Still haven't decided which direction I'll go, but I'm not stressing- I'll have time off the week between Christmas and New Year's, and the reveal isn't until mid-January.  Plenty of time to think and ponder before jumping in with the fabric.

If there's one advantage to getting older, it's learning that the holidays aren't worth stressing out over.  I do the best I can with the time and budget I have, and just try to enjoy the season.  It sure beats the alternative!

Busy Week-

and now I'm wondering where the weekend went.  At least the allergy attacks have gone for now, I feel much better than I did last weekend.

Shannon and I joined a gym last week.  We'd been spinning two evenings a week through a community education program since late last summer.  Then in April they canceled the 7 pm class we'd been attending since a lot of people dropped out.  I knew I couldn't handle spinning at the 8 pm class- I'd be laying in bed awake for three hours trying to wind down.  So we joined the gym, which has a lot more options for just a little more money.  In addition to using the cardio machines, I'm hoping to find a stress relief kind of class I can do. I tried yoga last Thursday night, and it about kicked my butt.  A couple of times I honestly thought I was going to heave my dinner right up on the floor.  So I'm not so sure about that.  They have Pilates on Monday and Wednesday nights, I'm going to try that out this week.  Another nice thing- it is one block from my office, and I can spend half an hour exercising three days a week and count it as work.

I am trying to NOT approach this as a weight loss venture, but as a healthy choice.  If I lose some weight, great- but it's not my primary motivation.

I dyed a couple of shirts for Michelle, I will get those off in the mail tomorrow.  I got both the blanks from Dharma- I sure hope they fit her, she is growing like a weed!  Here they are--

Yeah, I bit the bullet and stirred the dyepots I had these in.  The parents are more conservative than me when it comes to Michelle's clothes.  The yellow one has ruffles, and I stamped the flowers across the front with Tsukineko inks.  The other one is a polo, specially for my son, who loves to golf.  I asked him what color he wanted one shirt, and he said Chicago Cubbie blue.  This is probably too light, but it's blue.  Then I took it to an embroidery place in town, and had them do this.  I love it!

Put a headband on her, she already has pierced ears- everyone will know it's daddy's darling daughter in the golf cart with him.

I got more done on my Interpret This! piece.  I've changed directions again, that seems to be par for the course for me.  I like how it looks, but I'm not getting the sense that it's a masterpiece or anything.

I've also been trying to work with some photos for the design class I'm doing online with Elizabeth Barton.  She has some good ideas, I just wonder if I've found the right photo to work with.  I started out with Marly's flower from Colombia.  I got some good drawings, but some just didn't work.  Then I found some pictures from the Moab car show last year, and played with them.

I thought this one would work great for one idea, but it didn't pan out at all.  So now I'm trying this one--

Couldn't resist the Oldies sign over the car!  I'm going to try different crop options and see if anything develops.

Finally, I had a nice surprise when I walked out onto our patio tonight- my daffodils are finally starting to bloom.  So I'll leave you with this bit of spring color- hope your week is a healthy and creative one!

Well, I got the message that Blogger has decided I need to switch to the new version- so I just bit the bullet and did it.  I'm still playing with a Wordpress blog I've set up- but the learning curve on that one feels steeper to me than Blogger has been, and there are not many outside resources to help the process.  So we'll see.

I have finished a total of 16 Valentine theme cards this week.  Five I've already sent off to Karey Bresenhan's Heart 2 Heart project, 5 are for my Art2Mail group, and the rest are for family and friends.  In my last post, Nellie commented about ways I can deal with the flatness I disliked about some of my hearts.  I decided to do an experiment with one card.  I'd already outlined the hearts with beads- and was not happy with the result.  So even though I'd already backed the card, I ripped off the beads.  I had some Bling Bling yarn in a color that went well with the card, so I couched it around the hearts.  While I think I will avoid yard with intermittent blobs of fiber in the future, I am still happier with this.  And, since this card doesn't 
have to go in the mail, I just covered my threads with more hearts, fused on.  Here's a picture of all three versions:

And, a selection of the other cards I finished:


I think I am done with hot pink and red for awhile.

I am now halfway through my six week drawing class. I wish the teacher had done more basics, but I am still pleased with my first drawing, one of my daughter. I've still got work to do on it- but for someone who's been convinced her entire life she can't draw, this is a major breakthrough. With some coaching from the teacher, I was amazed at how her eyes came to life under my pencil.

Like I said, still work to do on it- but Shannon is recognizable!

I'm in one of those "what next?" stages. I think it is time to move beyond the ideas floating in the brain, and start committing some of them to paper. And, I know what I want to do for the last year of the Journal Quilts- totally different from past work, and it will be a stretch for me. For that one, I'm signing up for Marilyn Belford's portrait class at Quilt University. You'll hear about my progress- or lack thereof, since I can't post pictures before the Houston show!