I like that both the list and these blogs are written by PEOPLE. Melody gets too lazy to cook, and the image of Robbi tossing rolled socks at her cobwebby ceiling is just too much.
So many 'traditional' artists make everyone around them build pedastals for them to stand upon. I love that OUR heroes are not only not full of themselves, but even volunteer stories of their own very human moments.
It gives me hope... >:)
6.30.2005
6.29.2005
Electric woes
Well, DH blew out my power strip mowing the lawn (don't ask), and I'll be darned if I'm going to crawl under my sewing desk every time I want to iron something, so my machine is persona non grata for the time being. That said, I'm getting lots of fabric painting done!
Painting is WAY less of a pain in the @$$ than dyeing is - no soda ash solution, no rinse baths, and the colors that I mix up don't require breathing masks, and don't go bad in three days! On a lark yesterday, I stuck some still wet piece up to my backdoor window with my brayer - it worked GREAT! Now I am looking at all of the really large (yard plus square) windows in my studio and living room and am imagining light pouring through my stained fabric windows! It even puts a nice super-smooth hand on one side of the fabrics! Who needs irons! Maybe I can plug my sewing machine in after all! ;)
In other news, it looks like I am employed after all! 2 of the students who had signed up for my cancelled class are interested in my tutoring them for decent pocket change, and one of them is a definate. Hurray! No walking around, and an air conditioned library to boot, although it will be a brand new prep (new book, no sink, let alone lab!), and I have to buy my own supplies and haggle with parents over getting paid. At least I am no longer having to scrounge the want ads, and will still hopefully have time/energy to get some serious work done in the studio and on the house this summer, along with the money to fund it all!
BTW - Melody has company. I hereby officially announce my Hall of Heroes! Melody still gets the seat at the top of the dias, but Robbi Eklow now gets a nicely carved and upholstered seat of her own, and all for sharing so many of her little tricks of the trade in her new book. Never before have I actually seen anyone *explain* things like how to get the bobbin thread up to the surface of the quilt, or how to avoid those little thread nests. Plus - she tells some 'don't give the judges anything to complain about' tips that are just terrific. Hurray! Thanks ladies!!!
More pictures coming, and soon! I promise!
Painting is WAY less of a pain in the @$$ than dyeing is - no soda ash solution, no rinse baths, and the colors that I mix up don't require breathing masks, and don't go bad in three days! On a lark yesterday, I stuck some still wet piece up to my backdoor window with my brayer - it worked GREAT! Now I am looking at all of the really large (yard plus square) windows in my studio and living room and am imagining light pouring through my stained fabric windows! It even puts a nice super-smooth hand on one side of the fabrics! Who needs irons! Maybe I can plug my sewing machine in after all! ;)
In other news, it looks like I am employed after all! 2 of the students who had signed up for my cancelled class are interested in my tutoring them for decent pocket change, and one of them is a definate. Hurray! No walking around, and an air conditioned library to boot, although it will be a brand new prep (new book, no sink, let alone lab!), and I have to buy my own supplies and haggle with parents over getting paid. At least I am no longer having to scrounge the want ads, and will still hopefully have time/energy to get some serious work done in the studio and on the house this summer, along with the money to fund it all!
BTW - Melody has company. I hereby officially announce my Hall of Heroes! Melody still gets the seat at the top of the dias, but Robbi Eklow now gets a nicely carved and upholstered seat of her own, and all for sharing so many of her little tricks of the trade in her new book. Never before have I actually seen anyone *explain* things like how to get the bobbin thread up to the surface of the quilt, or how to avoid those little thread nests. Plus - she tells some 'don't give the judges anything to complain about' tips that are just terrific. Hurray! Thanks ladies!!!
More pictures coming, and soon! I promise!
6.27.2005
soon!
I'm home from the Vermont Quilt Festival at which I met no one, took tons of pictures (some of which I'll share soon), and barely shopped at all, right up until I did - at the ProChem booth!
Now my parents are even on-board with Kevin's idea for my selling my fabrics. He thought my stuff stacked up well with what we saw on sale on Saturday. We'll see! Sheesh! No pressure or anything! lol...
Sat night was spent roasting hotdogs over a campfire with a dozen or so friends, and sleeping like I'd never slept before.
Sunday? Well, it lived up to it's name! Potluck brunch with same friends was followed by three plus hours (felt like a week - so great!) floating down the White River on an inner tube. About 20 of us went, each in their own tube, except for two kayakers who helped when folks got stuck in eddies, on rocks etc. I dang near sprained my ankle when I got stuck on some rapids, but mostly the damage was in the sunburn and sunstroke departments. Can you tell that I got nothing done today?
Ah well - at least I'm creative when my brain has been cooked - I actually did some sketches! I also read Robbi's book (a VQF purchase!) and it was worth every penny for just the first half of it, and the second half was just as good!
But for now? Back to brain addled channel flipping and more Phishy Foody! TTFN!
Now my parents are even on-board with Kevin's idea for my selling my fabrics. He thought my stuff stacked up well with what we saw on sale on Saturday. We'll see! Sheesh! No pressure or anything! lol...
Sat night was spent roasting hotdogs over a campfire with a dozen or so friends, and sleeping like I'd never slept before.
Sunday? Well, it lived up to it's name! Potluck brunch with same friends was followed by three plus hours (felt like a week - so great!) floating down the White River on an inner tube. About 20 of us went, each in their own tube, except for two kayakers who helped when folks got stuck in eddies, on rocks etc. I dang near sprained my ankle when I got stuck on some rapids, but mostly the damage was in the sunburn and sunstroke departments. Can you tell that I got nothing done today?
Ah well - at least I'm creative when my brain has been cooked - I actually did some sketches! I also read Robbi's book (a VQF purchase!) and it was worth every penny for just the first half of it, and the second half was just as good!
But for now? Back to brain addled channel flipping and more Phishy Foody! TTFN!
6.24.2005
What *have* I gotten myself into?
I said I'd try and organize a little AQ group here in Burlington. Now it is the NW chapter of the VT Art Quilters, and I am organizing a Dye Day at my local park (right on Lake Champlain, for a mid-dye dip!) for maybe as many as a dozen people on July 9th. Oh boy.
I get to meet more of them tomorrow at VQF, and I still need to make my tiara. Yikes! Faces to names, and pictures galore! Hurray!!!
I get to meet more of them tomorrow at VQF, and I still need to make my tiara. Yikes! Faces to names, and pictures galore! Hurray!!!
6.23.2005
Time on my hands
Remember how I was going to be starting a new teaching job this coming Monday? Well, they cancelled it due to low enrollment (not enough kids flunking biology, apparently!), so I am offically unemployed. I've been waiting on this for months; ever since I started feeling better, and now, well - I'm sort of all sixes.
I could try and get another part time job. I could keep on working full time in the studio. I could put my time into working on the house. I could do some of each.
It just feels very odd to not have anything lined up. I will probably be able to go back to the afterschool program in September, but that is 2.5 months from now. We could use better cashflow, certainly. Kevin thinks I should start selling my hand dyed and painted fabrics! Needless to say, he has more faith in my work than I do!
Ah well, back to the sewing machine! I'm working up a baby quilt from my abortive experiment with that foldy 9 patch technique. I had the fabric cut, and one of my Drs is having a baby and moving, so why not? Nothing like a little mindless piecing to keep the hands occupied while the mind spins...
I could try and get another part time job. I could keep on working full time in the studio. I could put my time into working on the house. I could do some of each.
It just feels very odd to not have anything lined up. I will probably be able to go back to the afterschool program in September, but that is 2.5 months from now. We could use better cashflow, certainly. Kevin thinks I should start selling my hand dyed and painted fabrics! Needless to say, he has more faith in my work than I do!
Ah well, back to the sewing machine! I'm working up a baby quilt from my abortive experiment with that foldy 9 patch technique. I had the fabric cut, and one of my Drs is having a baby and moving, so why not? Nothing like a little mindless piecing to keep the hands occupied while the mind spins...
6.22.2005
so much for that theory
Ok folks - I tried that new paper piecing technique they showed last week on SQ (the foldy one with the 9 patch?). Good idea? Not so much. Putting the sucker together was easy, but getting all that paper off the back? Nightmare!
Out of this anarchy though, I came to a new solution to an old problem. You know how when you are starting a stitch line diagonally from a corner, how the fabric gets sucked into the sewing machine? Well, I noticed that I didn't have this problem when I am paper piecing on a foundation, so I cut strips of parchment paper to run under my diagonal seams, and it works GREAT! Wahoo!
The sunprinting? Yeah, right. I've been working on my goal of not being a slob anymore, and have folded 3 hampers worth of laundry and sorted and moved all the clothes off of two dressers, and the junk off one of them too. I'm just tired of my house being a mess, and I want my home to be baby ready, for whenever that kiddo decides to show up. Roar.
Out of this anarchy though, I came to a new solution to an old problem. You know how when you are starting a stitch line diagonally from a corner, how the fabric gets sucked into the sewing machine? Well, I noticed that I didn't have this problem when I am paper piecing on a foundation, so I cut strips of parchment paper to run under my diagonal seams, and it works GREAT! Wahoo!
The sunprinting? Yeah, right. I've been working on my goal of not being a slob anymore, and have folded 3 hampers worth of laundry and sorted and moved all the clothes off of two dressers, and the junk off one of them too. I'm just tired of my house being a mess, and I want my home to be baby ready, for whenever that kiddo decides to show up. Roar.
6.20.2005
Ack!
I wasn't chiding you for not commenting! I *love* that you drop by here, and I just wanted to encourage you to drop your $00.02!!! (and maybe let me pick your brains a little!)
The commercial hand-dye was bought off a bolt in a quilt shop, so I'm figuring that it wasn't pre-shrunk. Off to the washer for that! (SUCH a good thing that I have the most wonderful DH going - he has no problem with running to the dryer in the basement for me with sopping wet bundles of fabric!!)
I made a pair of pants for work today (only one fumble that a dart took care of - phew!), but the fabric I've been spending the most time and energy on today is my skin - it is peeling off my arm in huge chunks!!! I brought the sunscreen with me last weekend to my friend's farewell party, but forgot to put it on for the 3 hour car ride, so... driver's tan!
I've also been trying to get an AQ group going up here in Burlington, and I'm getting some pretty good responses. It looks like we are going to end up with 3 new groups, spread to the corners of the state, and hopefully we'll get together and do large group stuff (maybe even shows!) periodically.
As part of that effort, I asked on the QA board if anyone was going to the Vermont Quilt Festival this weekend. I decided that I needed to make a tiara so folks could find me (I have some awesome blacklight frogs that a friend sent me that are just *begging* to adorn my brow), and then I realized - duh - that my most identifying feature is undoubtedly going to be... my crutches! Lol... I don't use them all the time, but for that much walking? Heck yeah! At least one, so I have one hand free for *shopping*!
The commercial hand-dye was bought off a bolt in a quilt shop, so I'm figuring that it wasn't pre-shrunk. Off to the washer for that! (SUCH a good thing that I have the most wonderful DH going - he has no problem with running to the dryer in the basement for me with sopping wet bundles of fabric!!)
I made a pair of pants for work today (only one fumble that a dart took care of - phew!), but the fabric I've been spending the most time and energy on today is my skin - it is peeling off my arm in huge chunks!!! I brought the sunscreen with me last weekend to my friend's farewell party, but forgot to put it on for the 3 hour car ride, so... driver's tan!
I've also been trying to get an AQ group going up here in Burlington, and I'm getting some pretty good responses. It looks like we are going to end up with 3 new groups, spread to the corners of the state, and hopefully we'll get together and do large group stuff (maybe even shows!) periodically.
As part of that effort, I asked on the QA board if anyone was going to the Vermont Quilt Festival this weekend. I decided that I needed to make a tiara so folks could find me (I have some awesome blacklight frogs that a friend sent me that are just *begging* to adorn my brow), and then I realized - duh - that my most identifying feature is undoubtedly going to be... my crutches! Lol... I don't use them all the time, but for that much walking? Heck yeah! At least one, so I have one hand free for *shopping*!
Update
Either there is no one out there reading this, or y'all just didn't answer my plea for help on that hand-dye. Fine. Be that way! ;)
DH Kevin just made up a little song about QA digests...
100 QA digests online, 100 QA digests! Load one down and read it aloud - 105 QA digests on line!
Sigh... how true!
Anyway - just got "off the shelf fabric painting" by Sue Beevers. WOW!!! I can use flour as a resist!?!?!? Gotta try that one!
And, despite your silence on the issue, I think that I just plain need to overdye those fabrics *again* - not much point working on it otherwise, if I am just going to be hating the lack of values the whole time!
Our Solstice festival went wonderfully yesterday afternoon - bunch of new folks showed up too, which was nice, and afterward a bunch of us went down the cliff to the beach and went in up to our thighs in good old Lake Champlain! Yummy!!!! I kept wanting to just dive in, but plastering a sundress to my skin in front of relative strangers wasn't really high on the list. Ah well... it is only 6 blocks away, and the summer is young yet!
I *wanted* to try some sunprints tomorrow - actual solstice day, so I thought it would be cool - but friends are getting married, and I should go, so... Maybe I'll sunprint on Wed - the first FULL day of summer!
It has *finally* stopped raining here, and is absolutely gorgeous! DH is going to mow the lawn today (which usually requires teeth pulling), so you just KNOW it must be nice out!
Just discovered that I need to make myself an official QA tiara for the Vermont Quilt Festival this weekend. I have some tacky silver cow earrings that a friend gave me ages ago, and will never be worn in my ears that I think can make a showing... DH says that I need a Flying Frog since that is my handle, but I don't know that I want to spend that kind of time on my tiara atm. I'm figuring that I'll make one that will suffice for a while, and then upgrade; sort of like my sewing machine!
Anyway, off to work - this is my last week of mornings at home until August, and I want to enjoy it!!!!!
DH Kevin just made up a little song about QA digests...
100 QA digests online, 100 QA digests! Load one down and read it aloud - 105 QA digests on line!
Sigh... how true!
Anyway - just got "off the shelf fabric painting" by Sue Beevers. WOW!!! I can use flour as a resist!?!?!? Gotta try that one!
And, despite your silence on the issue, I think that I just plain need to overdye those fabrics *again* - not much point working on it otherwise, if I am just going to be hating the lack of values the whole time!
Our Solstice festival went wonderfully yesterday afternoon - bunch of new folks showed up too, which was nice, and afterward a bunch of us went down the cliff to the beach and went in up to our thighs in good old Lake Champlain! Yummy!!!! I kept wanting to just dive in, but plastering a sundress to my skin in front of relative strangers wasn't really high on the list. Ah well... it is only 6 blocks away, and the summer is young yet!
I *wanted* to try some sunprints tomorrow - actual solstice day, so I thought it would be cool - but friends are getting married, and I should go, so... Maybe I'll sunprint on Wed - the first FULL day of summer!
It has *finally* stopped raining here, and is absolutely gorgeous! DH is going to mow the lawn today (which usually requires teeth pulling), so you just KNOW it must be nice out!
Just discovered that I need to make myself an official QA tiara for the Vermont Quilt Festival this weekend. I have some tacky silver cow earrings that a friend gave me ages ago, and will never be worn in my ears that I think can make a showing... DH says that I need a Flying Frog since that is my handle, but I don't know that I want to spend that kind of time on my tiara atm. I'm figuring that I'll make one that will suffice for a while, and then upgrade; sort of like my sewing machine!
Anyway, off to work - this is my last week of mornings at home until August, and I want to enjoy it!!!!!
6.18.2005
Yo! Help me out here! Yes, YOU!
ok - my title promises you quandries, so here goes - I have two of them for you! Thanks in advance for your advice and suggestions!!!
Quandry #1: I had my husband dry my own hand-dyes in a hot dryer. DUH. So now they are all shrunk up, and I usually do NOT preshrink my stuff. S0 - the other main fabric that I bought for this project was a hand-dye as well - 5 yards of the stuff, and gorgeous. My question? --> Are commercial hand-dyes pre-shrunk????? This is all for a project that WILL get washed LOTS (baby quilts) and I don't want differential weirdness, and I am *already* bummed out that it won't get that lovely puckered look around the stitching from drying that I love so much...
Quandry #2: Did I mention that I overdyed the hand-dyes I made for this project? The shrunken ones? Did I mention that I am STILL not happy with the value of the finished pieces? They are WAY too close in value to the commercial, patterned hand-dye piece, and the other color is white, so it really shows. WAAAH! My question? --> Do I overdye them *again* or what!?!?!? Yes, I am going to be experimenting with paints next, and no, I don't want to do that to these, for several reasons: I want to *get on* with these already, already; and I do NOT want to mess with these fabrics while still in the experimental phase of my painting work. Not that I'm not still in the experimental phase of my dye work too, but I got results that will work, even if not hugely well...
Bonus of the day? I found ANOTHER 40% off coupon for Michaels in the freebie paper yesterday. So... off to get that *other* book on painting fabric for dirt cheap!
Comment: You may have noticed that I said I was pretty broke the other week? Well, folks - Kevin got a job!!! He has lots of apps out, but has one solid offer, so we are off famine rations around here, even though he won't get paid for a month yet. He would like some of the other jobs to come through, since the one he got was his 'backup' job, but hey - money is money, and hopefully *another* job he wants will open up for him in Oct, so he won't be at this one long anyway. Hurray!!!!
Quandry #1: I had my husband dry my own hand-dyes in a hot dryer. DUH. So now they are all shrunk up, and I usually do NOT preshrink my stuff. S0 - the other main fabric that I bought for this project was a hand-dye as well - 5 yards of the stuff, and gorgeous. My question? --> Are commercial hand-dyes pre-shrunk????? This is all for a project that WILL get washed LOTS (baby quilts) and I don't want differential weirdness, and I am *already* bummed out that it won't get that lovely puckered look around the stitching from drying that I love so much...
Quandry #2: Did I mention that I overdyed the hand-dyes I made for this project? The shrunken ones? Did I mention that I am STILL not happy with the value of the finished pieces? They are WAY too close in value to the commercial, patterned hand-dye piece, and the other color is white, so it really shows. WAAAH! My question? --> Do I overdye them *again* or what!?!?!? Yes, I am going to be experimenting with paints next, and no, I don't want to do that to these, for several reasons: I want to *get on* with these already, already; and I do NOT want to mess with these fabrics while still in the experimental phase of my painting work. Not that I'm not still in the experimental phase of my dye work too, but I got results that will work, even if not hugely well...
Bonus of the day? I found ANOTHER 40% off coupon for Michaels in the freebie paper yesterday. So... off to get that *other* book on painting fabric for dirt cheap!
Comment: You may have noticed that I said I was pretty broke the other week? Well, folks - Kevin got a job!!! He has lots of apps out, but has one solid offer, so we are off famine rations around here, even though he won't get paid for a month yet. He would like some of the other jobs to come through, since the one he got was his 'backup' job, but hey - money is money, and hopefully *another* job he wants will open up for him in Oct, so he won't be at this one long anyway. Hurray!!!!
6.17.2005
Shopping!
I went out with DH for a few quick stops, and he made the mistake of letting me shop. >:)
I got sulky threads, rotary blades, a pillow form for my Hawaiian project with Kimberly, and fabric for new pants for work (trying to get my old pants to fit was like playing the lottery - very slim chance - emphasis on slim! NOT!), all on sale!!!!
Also, got foam brushes on huge sale at Michael's, some fabric paints and a book on putting them to use (50% off with my coupon!), a little summer hat to dye up, stickers for my students (hight school kids love them, even though they think that they are for kids) and some wire for my wierd quilt challenge. Yes, I know I said I wasn't going to buy anything for that challenge, but if I didn't, I would have used much more expensive wire that I *do* have, and that would have just been a waste of money.
On other notes? We've gone back in time here in VT - from 90 degrees last week, to 50s and flooding this week! Also - Batman Begins is BY FAR the best Batman movie to date. I could have done without the snarly lip, but WAY good!!! BTW - I am very happy for Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise, and I hope their love and marriage last until they are both old and gray. It is nice to see folks genuininely, stupidly happy. Especially Hollywood folks - it must get so easy to become jaded.
I made a present for some friends who are getting married this weekend, and I am wondering if the idea is marketable. Simple and sweet, and requiring of specialized knowledge that I possess. >:) So, I'm not going to tell you what it is, since I know how many millions of you read this, and you are NOT all cool, honest QA people who wouldn't steal my idea! Hmph!
I got sulky threads, rotary blades, a pillow form for my Hawaiian project with Kimberly, and fabric for new pants for work (trying to get my old pants to fit was like playing the lottery - very slim chance - emphasis on slim! NOT!), all on sale!!!!
Also, got foam brushes on huge sale at Michael's, some fabric paints and a book on putting them to use (50% off with my coupon!), a little summer hat to dye up, stickers for my students (hight school kids love them, even though they think that they are for kids) and some wire for my wierd quilt challenge. Yes, I know I said I wasn't going to buy anything for that challenge, but if I didn't, I would have used much more expensive wire that I *do* have, and that would have just been a waste of money.
On other notes? We've gone back in time here in VT - from 90 degrees last week, to 50s and flooding this week! Also - Batman Begins is BY FAR the best Batman movie to date. I could have done without the snarly lip, but WAY good!!! BTW - I am very happy for Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise, and I hope their love and marriage last until they are both old and gray. It is nice to see folks genuininely, stupidly happy. Especially Hollywood folks - it must get so easy to become jaded.
I made a present for some friends who are getting married this weekend, and I am wondering if the idea is marketable. Simple and sweet, and requiring of specialized knowledge that I possess. >:) So, I'm not going to tell you what it is, since I know how many millions of you read this, and you are NOT all cool, honest QA people who wouldn't steal my idea! Hmph!
6.16.2005
Bupkus
I have no idea how to spell that, but that is, alas, what I got done yesterday. No embroidery, no sewing. I guess I *did* overdye the fabric for the girls' quilts, but I forgot that I washed them in between dyes, so now I need to soda ash it after the fact (and I have NO idea how to do that! Dharmatrading to the rescue!)
I also spent hours working on sketches for my weird quilt, and I think that I am setting myself up for disaster. That is the problem with me - if I think about something for too long, it ends up WAY too convoluted to actually make! Honestly - 7 layers of fabric with crisscrossing threads and bead work between them - and concentric squares of said treatment... Oy.
I also spent hours working on sketches for my weird quilt, and I think that I am setting myself up for disaster. That is the problem with me - if I think about something for too long, it ends up WAY too convoluted to actually make! Honestly - 7 layers of fabric with crisscrossing threads and bead work between them - and concentric squares of said treatment... Oy.
6.15.2005
Take 2?
Ok, ok. I finished all the machine work on the purple farm animals quilt, and (Kimberly would be proud) am now hand embroidering the lower case letters next to their appliqued capitals. And I've been doing it in fron of CSI, no less. Maybe Star Trek DS9 and NTG will be so kind as to lend themselves as my backdrop today?
I just overdyed the colors for the girls' quilts today - the colors were perfect, but just not of a deep enough value to make the suckers sing harmony. Now I get to wait and see how these turn out!
BTW - I discovered, completely by accident, that leaving my pieces out IN THE RAIN works great! I had been going for a blurred look, and WOW! I definately got it!
Now I need to go back to boring dye. I'm NOT going to use my good dyes on Maypole ribbons for friends that are getting married this weekend. If RIT was good enough for my Beltain, it's good enough for their wedding! (Plus? They'll never know the difference...)
My DH also needs to get his butt in gear if he thinks we are going camping this weekend. With all this rain and heat and me in the doldrums, I would be perfectly happy to go to the SCA event for the day on Saturday, and leave it at that. He wants camping? He gets to get everything together for it, including garb and food for ME for three days! Humph!
I just overdyed the colors for the girls' quilts today - the colors were perfect, but just not of a deep enough value to make the suckers sing harmony. Now I get to wait and see how these turn out!
BTW - I discovered, completely by accident, that leaving my pieces out IN THE RAIN works great! I had been going for a blurred look, and WOW! I definately got it!
Now I need to go back to boring dye. I'm NOT going to use my good dyes on Maypole ribbons for friends that are getting married this weekend. If RIT was good enough for my Beltain, it's good enough for their wedding! (Plus? They'll never know the difference...)
My DH also needs to get his butt in gear if he thinks we are going camping this weekend. With all this rain and heat and me in the doldrums, I would be perfectly happy to go to the SCA event for the day on Saturday, and leave it at that. He wants camping? He gets to get everything together for it, including garb and food for ME for three days! Humph!
6.13.2005
Opposites connect?
I just spent the evening with my new QA buddy, Kimberly, browsing quilting books at Barns and Snowballs and nattering. We have interests in common (architecture - her profession, my former major, for example) but are VERY different people. I think that will make our budding friendship more challenging - in a good way. We made a deal that she will help me to actually get stuff done and in general be more goal oriented with my work, and I am going to help her play more and try new things. I think it should be a winning combination! She also does all hand quilting, so hopefully she can help me figure it out at long last. We are planning a dyeing day for some July weekend, but, in the meantime, we are both going to start coming up with the applique pattern for Hawaiian work; something both of us have looked at but never tried before. Nice middle ground, with stretches for both of us!
I saw a flat palm-held thimble in one of the books that looks like it might be a heck of a lot easier on my fingers - any ideas on where I can get one?
BTW - I heard all of you kibitzing at me to 'show up at the page,' bored or not, so I did, at the fabric at least, and proceeded to sew right through my thumb for the first time. I changed needles and finished the motif after DH judiciously applied bandaids in a log cabin pattern to my digit, but then called it a day and went back to my book. I think I'll get the last bit of machine quilting done tomorrow, and then, lo and behold, I think I am going to use sashiko for some decorative work (Kimberly is already rubbing off on me!) and then it will be done! I'll post a shot of it in completed form, but not until then!
I did some beadwork on postcards yesterday, and had the kooky (or not so much, if I am reinventing the wheel here,) idea to make one of those fabric bowls out of the postcards I have received. I can add little triangles in the corners and make myself some baskets for the studio that will show off your fine work in a useful and visible way (and I can even look inside for the signatures when you are all famous!)
Now though? Bedtime and booktime, but I promise to show up at the fabric again in the morning. Ok? Sheesh!
I saw a flat palm-held thimble in one of the books that looks like it might be a heck of a lot easier on my fingers - any ideas on where I can get one?
BTW - I heard all of you kibitzing at me to 'show up at the page,' bored or not, so I did, at the fabric at least, and proceeded to sew right through my thumb for the first time. I changed needles and finished the motif after DH judiciously applied bandaids in a log cabin pattern to my digit, but then called it a day and went back to my book. I think I'll get the last bit of machine quilting done tomorrow, and then, lo and behold, I think I am going to use sashiko for some decorative work (Kimberly is already rubbing off on me!) and then it will be done! I'll post a shot of it in completed form, but not until then!
I did some beadwork on postcards yesterday, and had the kooky (or not so much, if I am reinventing the wheel here,) idea to make one of those fabric bowls out of the postcards I have received. I can add little triangles in the corners and make myself some baskets for the studio that will show off your fine work in a useful and visible way (and I can even look inside for the signatures when you are all famous!)
Now though? Bedtime and booktime, but I promise to show up at the fabric again in the morning. Ok? Sheesh!
Now what!?!?
Hm. The heat and humidity continue, and I have two weeks left before I start teaching HS biology for six weeks, and will basically get no studio time in!
So? So I'm in a creative slump! I have all sorts of dyed fabric around, pseudo-matched traditional quilts to design for my friend's twins out of some of said hand-dye, and several other projects in various phases, as my regular readers will know. And I'm bored with them all...
At least I have a good book and an air conditioner. And a sketchbook to doodle in...
So? So I'm in a creative slump! I have all sorts of dyed fabric around, pseudo-matched traditional quilts to design for my friend's twins out of some of said hand-dye, and several other projects in various phases, as my regular readers will know. And I'm bored with them all...
At least I have a good book and an air conditioner. And a sketchbook to doodle in...
6.12.2005
Brick Wall
While I really enjoyed my day yesterday, and got home WAY too late, my dear departing friend slammed me hard - she painted some henna on my upper sternum (it peeks out of my sundress!), and then did some tarot for me, and WHAM - told me that trying to get pregnant is hurting my body and soul, and I should quit it, and mother my art, my students, and the children of the world instead. She was vehement, and almost angry about it.
I read tarot too, and I work very hard to present my interpretations as possibilities up for consideration, not dictates from anyone or anything. She said that she has wanted to give me this message for a long time, but wouldn't have had the guts if the cards hadn't pushed her to do so. I know that she spoke/read out of love for me, and out of a sincere desire to help me to be happy and fulfilled. She spent half of her time telling me that she knew that I wouldn't heed a darned thing she was saying, and she was right. I'm glad that she could speak to me of her truth, but her's is not mine.
One outgrowth of this though, is that I had never really considered living childfree; I had always assumed that I would adopt or foster or *something* to create our family. I keep seeing that so many of our best and most prolific artists live this way (and that many have kids too), and think about how much time and energy I have for my work now.
I use the cards as pictures on cardboard that let me look at a situation from different angles. When I do a reading for another, I am just the linguist - I suggest possible meanings for a given set of symbols, and ask if those 'resonate' with the person's understanding of their path. I don't ask if they 'understand me' but more 'does this clarify your understanding of yourself?' When a reading is done, if the person asks me for advice, I try to share of myself and my experience with the person, but, unless the person is a darned good friend, I don't presume to tell them what I think they should do, and then only if we have that kind of friendship, which Sherry and I do.
She said that the reading that I did for her (how we met many years ago) was full of hard truths, and that this reading she did for me brought it all full circle; that she and I are opposite sides of the same coin in many ways. That said, I understand that part of her, no matter how much she loves her kids, is bitter over how much of her life they have dominated. Her feelings are valid, if painful, but don't acknowledge how much one can long for a child, and the bitter nature of empty arms, even in a full studio...
I read tarot too, and I work very hard to present my interpretations as possibilities up for consideration, not dictates from anyone or anything. She said that she has wanted to give me this message for a long time, but wouldn't have had the guts if the cards hadn't pushed her to do so. I know that she spoke/read out of love for me, and out of a sincere desire to help me to be happy and fulfilled. She spent half of her time telling me that she knew that I wouldn't heed a darned thing she was saying, and she was right. I'm glad that she could speak to me of her truth, but her's is not mine.
One outgrowth of this though, is that I had never really considered living childfree; I had always assumed that I would adopt or foster or *something* to create our family. I keep seeing that so many of our best and most prolific artists live this way (and that many have kids too), and think about how much time and energy I have for my work now.
I use the cards as pictures on cardboard that let me look at a situation from different angles. When I do a reading for another, I am just the linguist - I suggest possible meanings for a given set of symbols, and ask if those 'resonate' with the person's understanding of their path. I don't ask if they 'understand me' but more 'does this clarify your understanding of yourself?' When a reading is done, if the person asks me for advice, I try to share of myself and my experience with the person, but, unless the person is a darned good friend, I don't presume to tell them what I think they should do, and then only if we have that kind of friendship, which Sherry and I do.
She said that the reading that I did for her (how we met many years ago) was full of hard truths, and that this reading she did for me brought it all full circle; that she and I are opposite sides of the same coin in many ways. That said, I understand that part of her, no matter how much she loves her kids, is bitter over how much of her life they have dominated. Her feelings are valid, if painful, but don't acknowledge how much one can long for a child, and the bitter nature of empty arms, even in a full studio...
6.11.2005
Learning opportunities
Narf. I have to go today to bid farewell to a *very* dear friend who is moving to Florida. I haven't seen her in a year, for many reasons. Now I have to go say goodbye to both her and her son. Sherry is an amazing woman - tattoo and henna artist, and tarot interpreter - and shares so generously of what she has learned on her journey. Her son, Elias, is about 12, and tuned in like you wouldn't believe. They are such miraculous beings, and I am going to miss them like crazy! I know they will only be a phone call away, but missing seeing Elias grow into the wonderful man he is destined to become? No fair! DH Kevin says it will be a good excuse to go to Florida (yea, right), but I know that he would try to combine a visit with a shuttle launch, space geek that he is (this from the woman who was one of ten folks in a decade to get free access to the NASA stacks at the local federal reserve library!)
I also learned that the most important thing about dyeing fabric is the water - when, how, and how much! I like the effects that I am getting, but sometimes I like the effects and then they change on me - I think less water is called for! Hard to do when the water is *so* cool, and the air is *so* hot! All this mugginess isn't helping either - dyes are moving around just from the humidity!
Anyway, the funk is back in full force, and I just want to crawl into a hole and not wake up until I am pregnant. Again. I keep feeling like such an early miscarriage shouldn't be throwing me like this, but, after over two years of trying to get that far, I think it is more of a loss than I am letting myself believe. All I know is that I am putting tons of energy into being functional, I keep apologizing to my husband for my moodiness, and my brain and every book I look at keeps trivializing the depth of the situation. And that this isn't working for me...
I also learned that the most important thing about dyeing fabric is the water - when, how, and how much! I like the effects that I am getting, but sometimes I like the effects and then they change on me - I think less water is called for! Hard to do when the water is *so* cool, and the air is *so* hot! All this mugginess isn't helping either - dyes are moving around just from the humidity!
Anyway, the funk is back in full force, and I just want to crawl into a hole and not wake up until I am pregnant. Again. I keep feeling like such an early miscarriage shouldn't be throwing me like this, but, after over two years of trying to get that far, I think it is more of a loss than I am letting myself believe. All I know is that I am putting tons of energy into being functional, I keep apologizing to my husband for my moodiness, and my brain and every book I look at keeps trivializing the depth of the situation. And that this isn't working for me...
6.10.2005
Blahsville
VT is a sauna, and I'm feeling a funk lurking, so I did some more dyeing today! I got really nice sunrise and sunset pieces and am trying to think up good ways to use them. Color therapy like this is good, but isn't really getting the job done...
6.09.2005
DD3 experiments
Yes, the orange is deliberate! Sheesh!
These were muslin that I treated and wrung out, but did not unscrunch. I dyed right from the bottle onto the scrunched up balls, and this is what I got!
Did I mention that I need to buy WAY more squeeze bottles?
Anyway, I'm trying to figure out how to get all those cool patterns that I see others getting...
The experimentation will continue, but Flickr says that I have already used 3/4 of my bandwidth for the month, so you might not get many more pictures until July! How do folks get to post so many pictures? I couldn't get hello to work for me at all, but maybe I should check it out again if that would let me post more work...
Ah well - Kevin is out applying for jobs, and then we go to the bookstore! Hurray! Now I just hope that it doesn't rain on my latest creations!
These were muslin that I treated and wrung out, but did not unscrunch. I dyed right from the bottle onto the scrunched up balls, and this is what I got!
Did I mention that I need to buy WAY more squeeze bottles?
Anyway, I'm trying to figure out how to get all those cool patterns that I see others getting...
The experimentation will continue, but Flickr says that I have already used 3/4 of my bandwidth for the month, so you might not get many more pictures until July! How do folks get to post so many pictures? I couldn't get hello to work for me at all, but maybe I should check it out again if that would let me post more work...
Ah well - Kevin is out applying for jobs, and then we go to the bookstore! Hurray! Now I just hope that it doesn't rain on my latest creations!
Dye Day #3
I picked up a shower cutain to lay out on my deck, and it seems to work great!
These were done with left over dye from DD2 - just playing around with different patterns, water treatments and scrunching here...
These were done with left over dye from DD2 - just playing around with different patterns, water treatments and scrunching here...
DH Kevin and results of Dye Day #2
These were both dyed with blends off of the orange Procion MX - one with a little red, and one with a little yellow!
I also keep mentioning Kevin, so I thought I'd put him in the picture too - he is SO supportive of my work, and is very excited about my new dyeing projects.
I also keep mentioning Kevin, so I thought I'd put him in the picture too - he is SO supportive of my work, and is very excited about my new dyeing projects.
Gobsmacked
Ok - I get that Melody is a Goddess. We knew that.
I just picked a random year and looked to see what Michelle Hardy was up to during it. She was in *28* shows and had 4 publications - IN ONE YEAR.
I get that these are professional artists at the top of their careers, and I get that they don't have kids (not sure about Michelle, but that certainly seems to apply to MANY of the professional artists I've been reading about), and I get that they do not (or at least publicly are not identified as having) a disability.
I am NOT a professional artist (yet? yeah, right!); I am starting to think that trying to get pregnant is almost as time consuming as having a baby, and hopefully will be a Mom SOON; and that I DO have disabilities. That said, *28*!?!?!?
If I complete half a dozen challenges (I'm not Melody - they still stretch me), maybe 20 total pieces, and even GO TO three fiber/quilt shows, I will consider this a bumper year, and I might have worked my teaching gig 15 hours a week for about 15 weeks of that, and have been 'free' other than that.
My mind boggles...
I just picked a random year and looked to see what Michelle Hardy was up to during it. She was in *28* shows and had 4 publications - IN ONE YEAR.
I get that these are professional artists at the top of their careers, and I get that they don't have kids (not sure about Michelle, but that certainly seems to apply to MANY of the professional artists I've been reading about), and I get that they do not (or at least publicly are not identified as having) a disability.
I am NOT a professional artist (yet? yeah, right!); I am starting to think that trying to get pregnant is almost as time consuming as having a baby, and hopefully will be a Mom SOON; and that I DO have disabilities. That said, *28*!?!?!?
If I complete half a dozen challenges (I'm not Melody - they still stretch me), maybe 20 total pieces, and even GO TO three fiber/quilt shows, I will consider this a bumper year, and I might have worked my teaching gig 15 hours a week for about 15 weeks of that, and have been 'free' other than that.
My mind boggles...
Plans for a hot day
90 degrees is the forecast here in N Vermont today. Yipes! SO what to do? Spend the morning washing up from Dye Day #2 and dive into Dye Day #3 with a yard of fabric I pretreated the other day, and some more that I will treat today! Hurray!
I want to play with various direct application methods on dry, redampened, and newly-treated cottons. I figure that I will try the same ideas in series on all three, and see what I get for results. Yup - little old fashioned scientific method in action! The one 'extra' variable (bad scientist!) is that the newly treated bit is going to have to be muslin, as I'm out of the Quilter's cotton. DD1 used muslin, DD2 used QC, and I got comparable results, so I'm not really worried (I was concerned that the heavier fabric would take the dye differently, but not substantially).
Then? Off to Barns and Snowballs with DH for some air-conditioned delving into expensive quilting magazines! Yipee!!! (I start teaching again in 2 weeks, so I am trying to make these last full days into mini-vacations for myself...)
I want to play with various direct application methods on dry, redampened, and newly-treated cottons. I figure that I will try the same ideas in series on all three, and see what I get for results. Yup - little old fashioned scientific method in action! The one 'extra' variable (bad scientist!) is that the newly treated bit is going to have to be muslin, as I'm out of the Quilter's cotton. DD1 used muslin, DD2 used QC, and I got comparable results, so I'm not really worried (I was concerned that the heavier fabric would take the dye differently, but not substantially).
Then? Off to Barns and Snowballs with DH for some air-conditioned delving into expensive quilting magazines! Yipee!!! (I start teaching again in 2 weeks, so I am trying to make these last full days into mini-vacations for myself...)
6.07.2005
Wow oh wow
Melody is my personal hero. Pam is my Muse, but Melody is my Hero. I may never sew a binding by hand (and take FOREVER to do it) again. The Escape Hatch finish (which must be capitalized, due to it's near-divine status in my heart) is... well, WOW.
I used it on MBD #1 yesterday night, AND did all of the stitch in the ditch work with monofilament on top, cotton behind, and did it ALL in about 90 minutes. (Insert angelic choir "aahhhh" here -> :) :) :)
Now it is ready for decorative machine and handstitching, which I am actually looking forward to, now that I know that hand binding the sucker isn't the following step!
Only problem? The back is a complete DISASTER. Look up Pucker in the dictionary and get a picture of the back of MBD #1! Now I understand why someone said that I should make the back piece just a tad smaller than the top; in order to 'roll' the front fabric to the back so the backing doesn't show on the front, the end result is WAY flappy fabric on the back, and that is BOUND and DETERMINED to become a prototype for a country fair kissing booth - one big pucker after another!
Ah well. Karoda isn't a big fan of the borders on it (neither am I), but I assured her that this is only #1. I am going to leave the borders off of #2 - I promise! I was playing with balancing the luminosity of the pink and purple sort of after-the-fact with those borders and they *don't* really work, but I am trying to give myself permission to screw these up and see where they take me anyway.
BTW - I discovered another really cool thing about my new Husky Star - it isn't constantly trying to trim my bangs! I used to get my forelock (sorry, I know sheep people!) caught in the uppy-downy bit on the top of my machine, and even though I haven't had bangs cut since my last abortive attempt at short hair, you can't tell that from my hair on a humid day - frizz central, and all up front!
This reminds me of something I have been meaning to ask you all - how the heck do you get close enough to your machine to see what the heck you are doing? I keep hearing about folks who have their machines lowered down so they are flush with their tables. Heck with that - I've got mine RAISED on a DICTIONARY (you know - the one with a picture of MBD#1 under 'pucker') so that I can see the darned thing stitch, and even then, I spend most of my time with my head leaning against the top of my machine! My back obviously doesn't love this either, and it is seriously cramping my style as well! Should I get glasses with a different focal length, or what? Suggestions MOST gratefully welcomed!
I used it on MBD #1 yesterday night, AND did all of the stitch in the ditch work with monofilament on top, cotton behind, and did it ALL in about 90 minutes. (Insert angelic choir "aahhhh" here -> :) :) :)
Now it is ready for decorative machine and handstitching, which I am actually looking forward to, now that I know that hand binding the sucker isn't the following step!
Only problem? The back is a complete DISASTER. Look up Pucker in the dictionary and get a picture of the back of MBD #1! Now I understand why someone said that I should make the back piece just a tad smaller than the top; in order to 'roll' the front fabric to the back so the backing doesn't show on the front, the end result is WAY flappy fabric on the back, and that is BOUND and DETERMINED to become a prototype for a country fair kissing booth - one big pucker after another!
Ah well. Karoda isn't a big fan of the borders on it (neither am I), but I assured her that this is only #1. I am going to leave the borders off of #2 - I promise! I was playing with balancing the luminosity of the pink and purple sort of after-the-fact with those borders and they *don't* really work, but I am trying to give myself permission to screw these up and see where they take me anyway.
BTW - I discovered another really cool thing about my new Husky Star - it isn't constantly trying to trim my bangs! I used to get my forelock (sorry, I know sheep people!) caught in the uppy-downy bit on the top of my machine, and even though I haven't had bangs cut since my last abortive attempt at short hair, you can't tell that from my hair on a humid day - frizz central, and all up front!
This reminds me of something I have been meaning to ask you all - how the heck do you get close enough to your machine to see what the heck you are doing? I keep hearing about folks who have their machines lowered down so they are flush with their tables. Heck with that - I've got mine RAISED on a DICTIONARY (you know - the one with a picture of MBD#1 under 'pucker') so that I can see the darned thing stitch, and even then, I spend most of my time with my head leaning against the top of my machine! My back obviously doesn't love this either, and it is seriously cramping my style as well! Should I get glasses with a different focal length, or what? Suggestions MOST gratefully welcomed!
6.06.2005
Your wish is my command - at least if you are Karoda!
Ok folks - I just posted pictures of all the latest work, and it should be up soon (Flickr takes a bit)! I can't figure out how to put several pictures in one post though, so pardon the multipost format. I would LOVE tips on how to do this from anyone else who uses Flickr (I could never get Hello to work AT ALL)...
Anyway, I am off to buy more thread so I can actually finish some of this stuff. I actually ran out of hot pink thread. I'd never used that color before this recent stuff, and now EVERYTHING has hot pink in it! What the heck! It must be the hormones...
Anyway, I am off to buy more thread so I can actually finish some of this stuff. I actually ran out of hot pink thread. I'd never used that color before this recent stuff, and now EVERYTHING has hot pink in it! What the heck! It must be the hormones...
closeup of Jesse's quilt - FMQ
Here's some of my early FMQ - I was feeling confident enough with it by this time to use a contrasting color, and I am happy with the result.
My FMQ is a lot 'looser' looking than most that I have seen, but I like the sort of 'Lazy doodler' quality of it...
My FMQ is a lot 'looser' looking than most that I have seen, but I like the sort of 'Lazy doodler' quality of it...
Jesse's quilt
Talk about UFOs. I started this about 2 1/2 years ago for my then housemate as a graduation present. He chose the colors, and was a music major, which made the fabric for the big star a no-brainer. I set the points in on this one (thanks, Ruth McDowell!) with varying success. This was also some of my first FMQ, and you can see a close-up of it below. I was pretty happy with it, overall.
Now it just needs the binding finished - and it has been in this state for the last 2 years! Maybe I'll get it to him in time for his wedding? I think he is planning to propose sometime soon....
BTW - that is Spike (aka Booger) crawling into the frame. He is half of the major reason why I don't actually use any of my quilts... at least his fur coordinates with this piece!!
Now it just needs the binding finished - and it has been in this state for the last 2 years! Maybe I'll get it to him in time for his wedding? I think he is planning to propose sometime soon....
BTW - that is Spike (aka Booger) crawling into the frame. He is half of the major reason why I don't actually use any of my quilts... at least his fur coordinates with this piece!!
Swoops and Spikes (in progress, duh)
Ok - this is coming along, and I'm pretty happy with the development and changes. I'm still working out a fabric to line the lower half-circle, so it is sort of stalled out atm.
However, I just got benched for this cycle (stupid estradiol), but I am not really surprised since it looks like I was retaining still retaining some of last month's pregnancy until at least yesterday. So, I'm out of running for Mommy-to-be for at least 3 weeks, and that gives me time to get back to this piece while in the requisite headspace.
I discovered a new magazine at my Dr's office yesterday (ovaries don't wait for Mondays), called Concieve - it is for folks in fertility treatment, like me! It was really good, but I wonder about their marketing plan. I mean, who is going to take out a year's subscription to a magazine they hope they won't need in just a matter of weeks? No one wants to think that it will be a year before they get pregnant... in reality though, I've been trying for well over 2 years! Ah well... I'm still an optimist, so I won't subscribe, but I *will* read it at the bookstore and Dr's office!
However, I just got benched for this cycle (stupid estradiol), but I am not really surprised since it looks like I was retaining still retaining some of last month's pregnancy until at least yesterday. So, I'm out of running for Mommy-to-be for at least 3 weeks, and that gives me time to get back to this piece while in the requisite headspace.
I discovered a new magazine at my Dr's office yesterday (ovaries don't wait for Mondays), called Concieve - it is for folks in fertility treatment, like me! It was really good, but I wonder about their marketing plan. I mean, who is going to take out a year's subscription to a magazine they hope they won't need in just a matter of weeks? No one wants to think that it will be a year before they get pregnant... in reality though, I've been trying for well over 2 years! Ah well... I'm still an optimist, so I won't subscribe, but I *will* read it at the bookstore and Dr's office!
Mending Broken Dishes #1 (in progress)
Well, I am becoming a devotee of Melody's. It was bound to happen sometime, and here are my early results - this whole piece has not a single bit of piecing! All fused - BRAND new for me (rarely used fusing before two months ago) so I'm pretty happy!
It is FAR from flat, the diagonals aren't straight, and I used too much pink (luminosity balance? What's that!?!?), but I am looking forward to trying the Escape Hatch on it as well (more Melody Magic).
I'm having problems with the bare WU sticking to my sewing machine base (since I still had to zigzag all the exposed edges with monofilament top and bottom), and I'm glad that I didn't put WU on the back of the white piece as well!
I'm still trying to work out how I want to quilt this one, but hopefully I'll get it done this week...
It is FAR from flat, the diagonals aren't straight, and I used too much pink (luminosity balance? What's that!?!?), but I am looking forward to trying the Escape Hatch on it as well (more Melody Magic).
I'm having problems with the bare WU sticking to my sewing machine base (since I still had to zigzag all the exposed edges with monofilament top and bottom), and I'm glad that I didn't put WU on the back of the white piece as well!
I'm still trying to work out how I want to quilt this one, but hopefully I'll get it done this week...
Dye Day #1 results (just for Karoda!)
See Karoda? I DO take hints! Lol...
Anyway, here they are! I started with a basic orange dye solution (3 teaspoons of undiluted mix into 3 tablespoons of water) for the far left piece, diluted it by half for the next over, then divided it in half and added yellow to one, and fuchia to the other!
The small bits at the back were undiluted dye solutions through several layers of fabric. You can see some of my RIT batik experiments behind the frame.
I am really happy with the results (these were muslin, right off the cheapy bolt, with a soda ash prewash!), and am hoping to do the big, expensive fabric pieces (still not PFD, but here now, and that is important!) today or tomorrow.
Anyway, here they are! I started with a basic orange dye solution (3 teaspoons of undiluted mix into 3 tablespoons of water) for the far left piece, diluted it by half for the next over, then divided it in half and added yellow to one, and fuchia to the other!
The small bits at the back were undiluted dye solutions through several layers of fabric. You can see some of my RIT batik experiments behind the frame.
I am really happy with the results (these were muslin, right off the cheapy bolt, with a soda ash prewash!), and am hoping to do the big, expensive fabric pieces (still not PFD, but here now, and that is important!) today or tomorrow.
postcards to date
The ones on the left are the ones that I've made (the bottom two are from Mending Broken Dishes's first draft, and still need beading) and the ones down the right side are the ones that YOU LOVELY PEOPLE have sent to me!
As you can see, I have some catching up to do! (I'm going to mail them all out at once so they ALL get done!)
As you can see, I have some catching up to do! (I'm going to mail them all out at once so they ALL get done!)
6.05.2005
Drying in the sun
My rinsed out dye products, and my ovaries! My dye day went great, and I am very happy with the results, although I am slacking some on getting going on the next (needed) round. I stitched down my fused applique for Mending Broken Dishes, and am procrastinating on pulling out the batting (anyone else often get stalled out at this stage? How do you bust through?).
And I had another ultrasound and bloodowork this AM, and got the call (right after DH left for the afternoon without his cell phone, natch) that my cycle has been cancelled earlier this afternoon. Lots of money down the drain, but it was worth a shot. My estradiol levels are lower than they were on my baseline day, and that is after six days of injections at $90 a day, plus labs and appointments! They figure that it is just too soon after my flash-in-the-pan pregnancy, and, since I only stopped spotting yesterday, I guess I can see their point. Oh well. Trying this cycle got me through the time immediately following my miscarriage, and that was worth it all by itself. The dye day yesterday offically pushed me out of my funk, and now I guess I just have lots of work to do to get ready for my next cycle - in July! (I'm doing important stuff, but it just feels like killing time until I finally get pregnant - for real!)
I don't have a dining room btw, I have a studio. It has 2 6x6 foot windows on the south side, a windowed door and long 3x6 foot window on the East side, a French door opening into the living room (with DH, computer, TV and air conditioner!) on the West side, and a window and door into the kitchen on the north side. It is a hideous grey-lavender, but also has 4 skylights in the cathedral ceiling.
All of that natural light is terrific for my mental health here in northern Vermont, but NOT so good for my fabrics, obviously. I have the sun fading issue beat (closed doors and drawers, duh) but dust is another issue entirely. Also, my eldest cat, Spike (aka Booger) has decided that his favorite puke spot in the entire house is on the floor in front of my design wall. I try not to take it as a critique of my work, but that gets hard when my other cat, Hagar (aka Fu), tries to cover up Spike's puke by pulling my design wall fabric (grey fleece) down to cover it up. Sigh.
Two corners of my studio are a shambles though - I have those plastic storage bins neatly organized on top of a dresser filled with drek that needs to be sorted out/gotten rid of, and an old table in another corner that is just covered with all those oddments that have no homes - picnic basket, music stand, etc. I *always* dawdle on the dragging-out-the-batting phase, and I'm thinking that having a 'sandwiching' table might be just what I need - bolts (like my budget is up to that - HA!) of warm and nartural, timtex, WU, black and white fabrics etc, all in a sun and cat hair proof container that let me open it up and roll off what I need, right onto a cutting table. Yes, I am solidly aware of the fact that I am dreaming. Plus, I saw Freida's plexiglass dying/drying area on Melody's blog, and I am in lust for a space like that for my very own. Maybe if I can't figure out a really good use for the dresser space when the drek is gone, I could replace it with drying racks? Keeping the cat hair off those would be the biggest trick!
The space is excellent, and I could get UV film for the windows to help with the sun issue even more, but I still need to move house; if/when we ever get to have said often aforementioned baby, I can't climb the stairs to the second and third bedrooms. We are going to look for a split level ranch next year (hopefully), and, while I'm not counting on having as much studio space available in the new house (unless we win the lottery between now and then), I AM enjoying the idea of actually having access to my washing machine, since now DH has to do all the laundry - down the steep basement stairs!!!
Enough of my babble. Time to deal with the Batting Beasties. Enjoy!
And I had another ultrasound and bloodowork this AM, and got the call (right after DH left for the afternoon without his cell phone, natch) that my cycle has been cancelled earlier this afternoon. Lots of money down the drain, but it was worth a shot. My estradiol levels are lower than they were on my baseline day, and that is after six days of injections at $90 a day, plus labs and appointments! They figure that it is just too soon after my flash-in-the-pan pregnancy, and, since I only stopped spotting yesterday, I guess I can see their point. Oh well. Trying this cycle got me through the time immediately following my miscarriage, and that was worth it all by itself. The dye day yesterday offically pushed me out of my funk, and now I guess I just have lots of work to do to get ready for my next cycle - in July! (I'm doing important stuff, but it just feels like killing time until I finally get pregnant - for real!)
I don't have a dining room btw, I have a studio. It has 2 6x6 foot windows on the south side, a windowed door and long 3x6 foot window on the East side, a French door opening into the living room (with DH, computer, TV and air conditioner!) on the West side, and a window and door into the kitchen on the north side. It is a hideous grey-lavender, but also has 4 skylights in the cathedral ceiling.
All of that natural light is terrific for my mental health here in northern Vermont, but NOT so good for my fabrics, obviously. I have the sun fading issue beat (closed doors and drawers, duh) but dust is another issue entirely. Also, my eldest cat, Spike (aka Booger) has decided that his favorite puke spot in the entire house is on the floor in front of my design wall. I try not to take it as a critique of my work, but that gets hard when my other cat, Hagar (aka Fu), tries to cover up Spike's puke by pulling my design wall fabric (grey fleece) down to cover it up. Sigh.
Two corners of my studio are a shambles though - I have those plastic storage bins neatly organized on top of a dresser filled with drek that needs to be sorted out/gotten rid of, and an old table in another corner that is just covered with all those oddments that have no homes - picnic basket, music stand, etc. I *always* dawdle on the dragging-out-the-batting phase, and I'm thinking that having a 'sandwiching' table might be just what I need - bolts (like my budget is up to that - HA!) of warm and nartural, timtex, WU, black and white fabrics etc, all in a sun and cat hair proof container that let me open it up and roll off what I need, right onto a cutting table. Yes, I am solidly aware of the fact that I am dreaming. Plus, I saw Freida's plexiglass dying/drying area on Melody's blog, and I am in lust for a space like that for my very own. Maybe if I can't figure out a really good use for the dresser space when the drek is gone, I could replace it with drying racks? Keeping the cat hair off those would be the biggest trick!
The space is excellent, and I could get UV film for the windows to help with the sun issue even more, but I still need to move house; if/when we ever get to have said often aforementioned baby, I can't climb the stairs to the second and third bedrooms. We are going to look for a split level ranch next year (hopefully), and, while I'm not counting on having as much studio space available in the new house (unless we win the lottery between now and then), I AM enjoying the idea of actually having access to my washing machine, since now DH has to do all the laundry - down the steep basement stairs!!!
Enough of my babble. Time to deal with the Batting Beasties. Enjoy!
6.04.2005
Dye Day #1!!!!!!
Wahoo! I just cleaned up from my first ever Procion dye day!!!! I tested it all out on el cheapo muslin, but I actually got pretty darned near to the color that I wanted on my first go! Hurray!
I get to rinse these tomorrow and see how they come out, and then - on to the expensive fabric!!!
Bummer though - too many social obligations to make many SCA events this summer. Have to figure out how to make it up to DH... he does SO love climbing into armor and hitting people!
I get to rinse these tomorrow and see how they come out, and then - on to the expensive fabric!!!
Bummer though - too many social obligations to make many SCA events this summer. Have to figure out how to make it up to DH... he does SO love climbing into armor and hitting people!
My husband is delusional
I playfully kvetched about Melody being able to whip out 13 quiltlets (5"x7") yesterday, and to have sold one and have sale pending on 2 more out of the 5 she put on her blog 7 hours ago. $50 each. I say good for her, and - wow - it must be nice to have a following! DH Kevin? "Get working!" Like I can get $50 for an oversized postcard? I DO NOT THINK SO!!!
So now Kevin wants to be my "marketing manager." Oy. If I had product, I might take him up on it!
Off to play with dye stuff!!!
So now Kevin wants to be my "marketing manager." Oy. If I had product, I might take him up on it!
Off to play with dye stuff!!!
ok.. ok...
So I limbed weed trees instead. At least now I feel like I have gotten something *done*, and before it got to hot, too. What can I say? The stores don't open for another hour, and the pruning shears just leapt into my hand! Honest!
a HA!!!
I FOUND it!
I knew that if I read enough of Melody's blog that I would find that she had generously shared her dyeing 'formula' with us plebes, and LO AND BEHOLD - she did! (Fibermania, then to Lazy Dyer, incase I forget!!)
I knew about the squeezy bottles and dish pans, but Gladware? Good to know! I NEED to do some dying for the perfect pink and orange for the quilts for my best friend's twin girls (9 months old already!), but I DO understand the need to "surrender to the dye" (Melody, duh), and that I will get lots of other perfect colors long before I actually get what I set out for!
Now here is the kicker... I want to do it TODAY. I have my little pots of MX dye, in - gack! I forgot to buy fuschia!!!! Sigh. Guess I just have lemon yellow, medium blue, and black. Kind of hard to make either pink or orange out of those! Blast it! Nor do I have PFD fabric. I was planning to try this all out with some muslin first (that 'play with stuff you don't care about' theory that works for both me and my non-existant budget), but now I need to go out to Williston (30 min) to get more dye first, then go to the market and get gladware, and *then* hope that Ben Franks is open by the time I get back (those lazy scrapbookers! Hah!) to get squeezy bottles that I just KNEW I should have gotten last time I was in there? Sigh. I even have soda ash!
Hm. Can I play with the muslin without doing anything to it first (other than the soda ash wash?) I *know* that it isn't PFD, but what *makes* something PFD? I know that that means that the sizing, etc has been washed out, but I dye my muslin all the time (with RIT, heaven help me) without doing anything fancy first. Maybe just posh fabrics get the presumed 'good stuff'? Who knows.
Anyway, I can feel my funk of these last two days creeping into my day today if I don't DO something, so... (Yes, I know that I should help DH with chainsawing our yard into submission, but, whine, do I *have to*? Yardwork sounds darned right funk spreading anyway, and I KNOW that he wants me to feel better, so... >:)
SO. Now I need to bite the bullet and actually get up the nerve to go do this dying thing. Mum even kindly sent me some pin money yesterday - and in big enough quantity that I can feel even downright virtuous spending such a small quantity of it on my funk-destroying-dye-day. Heck - this is WAY cheaper (maybe not with PFD fabrics, mind) than therapy, and has NO CALORIES!!! That does it. Time to get off my keister and make this DYE DAY HAPPEN!!!!!! (If I slow down or chicken out, give me heck and a big shove, ok? Thanks!)
I knew that if I read enough of Melody's blog that I would find that she had generously shared her dyeing 'formula' with us plebes, and LO AND BEHOLD - she did! (Fibermania, then to Lazy Dyer, incase I forget!!)
I knew about the squeezy bottles and dish pans, but Gladware? Good to know! I NEED to do some dying for the perfect pink and orange for the quilts for my best friend's twin girls (9 months old already!), but I DO understand the need to "surrender to the dye" (Melody, duh), and that I will get lots of other perfect colors long before I actually get what I set out for!
Now here is the kicker... I want to do it TODAY. I have my little pots of MX dye, in - gack! I forgot to buy fuschia!!!! Sigh. Guess I just have lemon yellow, medium blue, and black. Kind of hard to make either pink or orange out of those! Blast it! Nor do I have PFD fabric. I was planning to try this all out with some muslin first (that 'play with stuff you don't care about' theory that works for both me and my non-existant budget), but now I need to go out to Williston (30 min) to get more dye first, then go to the market and get gladware, and *then* hope that Ben Franks is open by the time I get back (those lazy scrapbookers! Hah!) to get squeezy bottles that I just KNEW I should have gotten last time I was in there? Sigh. I even have soda ash!
Hm. Can I play with the muslin without doing anything to it first (other than the soda ash wash?) I *know* that it isn't PFD, but what *makes* something PFD? I know that that means that the sizing, etc has been washed out, but I dye my muslin all the time (with RIT, heaven help me) without doing anything fancy first. Maybe just posh fabrics get the presumed 'good stuff'? Who knows.
Anyway, I can feel my funk of these last two days creeping into my day today if I don't DO something, so... (Yes, I know that I should help DH with chainsawing our yard into submission, but, whine, do I *have to*? Yardwork sounds darned right funk spreading anyway, and I KNOW that he wants me to feel better, so... >:)
SO. Now I need to bite the bullet and actually get up the nerve to go do this dying thing. Mum even kindly sent me some pin money yesterday - and in big enough quantity that I can feel even downright virtuous spending such a small quantity of it on my funk-destroying-dye-day. Heck - this is WAY cheaper (maybe not with PFD fabrics, mind) than therapy, and has NO CALORIES!!! That does it. Time to get off my keister and make this DYE DAY HAPPEN!!!!!! (If I slow down or chicken out, give me heck and a big shove, ok? Thanks!)
6.03.2005
Tip trade?
I'm trying to figure out how much sewing down I need to do with my fused applique for a wall-hanging, ain't going to be washed application. I am experimenting with blind stitch with monofilament, but the whole thing? Would freemotion over the surface tack it down enough, or would the edges gap between stitch lines? Not so sure... Ideas would be MOST welcome!
Anyway, here's one thing that I have worked out for myself - I might be reinventing the wheel here, but it might be unknown to *someone*, eh? What is it? Scotch tape. I draw lots of my patterns on copy paper, and then want to cut them out, but how to keep intersecting curves consistent? How to make sure it all goes back the way it is supposed to with matching cut lines? I cut it up in one way (say along the diagonal lines) then tape it back together, then cut along the curved spiral that intersects all of the diagonals. How the heck does it make sense to cut lines and then tape them back together again? Because after I have cut the spiral, I can very easily tear the tape out along the previous cut lines, and voila - perfectly fitting pieces! It works for me, and maybe it will work for you. Added bonus? I get reinforced templates for all those finicky points and isthumi! (What a word! Yikes!)
Anyway, here's one thing that I have worked out for myself - I might be reinventing the wheel here, but it might be unknown to *someone*, eh? What is it? Scotch tape. I draw lots of my patterns on copy paper, and then want to cut them out, but how to keep intersecting curves consistent? How to make sure it all goes back the way it is supposed to with matching cut lines? I cut it up in one way (say along the diagonal lines) then tape it back together, then cut along the curved spiral that intersects all of the diagonals. How the heck does it make sense to cut lines and then tape them back together again? Because after I have cut the spiral, I can very easily tear the tape out along the previous cut lines, and voila - perfectly fitting pieces! It works for me, and maybe it will work for you. Added bonus? I get reinforced templates for all those finicky points and isthumi! (What a word! Yikes!)
What a thing to be right about...
Your Birthdate: March 17 |
Your birth on the 17th day of the month suggests that you are very lucky financially, because this date indicates a solid business sense. Although you are probably very honest and ethical, this birthday enables you to be shrewd and successful in the world of business and commercial enterprise. You have excellent organizational, managerial, and administrative capabilities enabling you to handle large projects and significant amounts of money with relative ease. You are ambitious and highly goal-oriented, although you may be better at starting projects than you are at finishing them. A sensitivity in your nature, often repressed below the surface of awareness, makes it hard to give or receive affection. |
So - who wants to take a guess at what the ONE thing that this report is correct about when it comes to my personality? Sheesh!
Like you need to answer that! Lol... anyone who reads this who doesn't know by now that I start stuff and then dawdle to the finish line, if I head in that direction AT ALL, obviously hasn't been reading this blog for very long!
Truth be told, I am TERRIFIC at organizing things - in small chunks. The pencil and paper database that I put together for our wedding planning got me a job offer from a hotel manager! When I am gettting paid for something, I am likewise VERY organized. My books (when I can get to all of them and my back is cooperating) are organized by subject, and my undies aren't in with my jeans.
That being said, I want to know where all this money is that I'm supposed to be so good at organizing? Hand it over, and I'll get right to work on it. I promise!
BTW - I redid the applique for that "didn't come out the way I wanted it to" piece, actually called Mending Broken Dishes. How was I supposed to know that you can't piece appliqued bits until Melody alluded to this in her blog? Sheesh! (See? Now I can blame it on lack of info, rather than lack of precision. Much easier on the ego, if completely self-delusional...) The main lines of the broken dishes block didn't come out straight, but I had already determined that this is the first in a series, and that I can get it right next time around! Another good hint that I got from an AQ member? Experiment with stuff you don't care about - I had *scads* of purple and pink WU'd already (NOT my colors of choice) and a bolt of muslin. Presto whammy - #1 in a series! I still need to sew it down and finish it obviously (see above about my birthday - oy) but "progess in a day, not perfection in an hour" IS my studio motto!
Also? I cut up the didn't-meet-my-expectations first draft of the piece, and got the makings of two art postcards out of it! If you get a pink and purple card from me, now YOU TOO have been blessed with a little piece of my creative process!! Lucky you! Yah right. Honestly, I really like the pieces, and am playing around with beading ideas for them. This is also my first time playing with vast quantities of monofilament, and the blind hemstitch applique idea. I'm getting mixed results, but that is all part of the process too, right? Anyway, I'll put pictures up as soon as DH gives me back the memory card for the camera!
On a completely NQR note, I am on track with my cycle to get to trigger ovulation early next week. Nothing like getting back on the horse! Meanwhile, I am grossly underwhelmed by my life, but, hey, that happens sometimes...
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