Like running in place

 The EPP piece is now at the long armer.  In the process, I was forced to realize that I had either become very lazy in my machine work, or had forgotten all of the stitching rules I had learned over so very many years of sewing.  I was embarrassed at the problems, but also realized that it was a lesson learned.  Since than, I've been amusing myself with working on charity quilts.  Unfortunately, on one of these quilts, I discovered that I had made the same mistake as I had made in the EPP one.  Time for a long serious talk with myself.

So today, I spent a couple of hours, picking out endless lines of very tiny stitches, as penance for getting lazy.  I've also learned the lesson, that these charity quilts are an excellent method of perfecting the techniques that make for a very good quilter, such as precision piecing.  Hopefully, by the end of the week, I will have also worked on perfecting my FMQ'g.

I'm so glad that I have done just about everything I can to prepare for Christmas, and can indulge myself with time in the studio, even if that means that we're going to have a take out Christmas dinner.  This will be a new experience.

Very slow progress, but a light at the end of the tunnel

 Sorry, no picture yet, nor maybe ever.  Over the past couple of years I've been slowly hand piecing (EPP) a larger top, based on a diamond shape, that I found in the book Susie Teacakes guide to English Paper Piecing.  It was finally finished, and the papers taken out. but most of the basting was left in.  The long-armer asked that any knots be removed, and that was slowly accomplished (v-e-e-r-r-y slowly).  then the narrow 1/4" seam allowance along the multiple edge pieces has to be straightened out and carefully pressed.  Finally a 3" (cut not finished) border sewn on.  As it turned out, the actual shape was an octagon, with very short "squared off" corner areas.  I put the "squared off" in quotes because it was not really square at all.  Then I was to measure and cut the backing and batting.

This process took place over about 3 weeks and it was one of those times when every thing that could go wrong, did go wrong.  I won't go into details but I was almost totally frustrated and disheartened when it came to the backing.  When it came to the borders, they increased the measure size of the piece, and the fabric I had bought, so as to have an extra wide backing and no joins or patch work, increased the width by about 4 inches, and the purchased backing no longer fit.  I was distraught.  So upset, that I realized that my only solution--at the time--was to put the piece aside, and work on something else for awhile.

This is what I've done.

Finally completed

This quilt top has been in progress for over a week, with a bit being done every day.  Slowly my working time has increased, but my body has suffered, and I was more than ready to stop.  This is a design I found on the internet, and sketched out, but lost the reference.  It required a significant amount of precision piecing, really testing my skill level.  The inner heart requires 46 pieces, based on a 1"square, finished.  Overall each 12" square requires 64 pieces.  Finding enough reddish fabric to use was a challenge, especially as much of what I found was smaller scraps. But now I just need to sandwich it and machine quilt it.  It will finish at about 38" square.  It will be donated to charity.

Oh My! It's been awhile.

 There hasn't been much studio time the last few weeks.  Not sure why, but maybe life got in the way.  We've been very busy getting ready for winter, to the extent we can.

The Virginia Creeper piece is finished and has been entered in a gallery show for the month of December.

I did find some time to work on the small quilt made with the Kaffe Fasset Fabric.  I'm very much loving the design, even if I can't take credit for it.   It's now quilted and ready for binding.  I still don't know if I will donate it, or maybe keep it for any potential Great-grandbaby.  Not that I expect any in the near future.  It's about 36" square.

 In terms of future work, I must confess that nothing is lurking at the back of my mind.  I do want to re-make the whitework feather quilt I made earlier this year, as I wasn't happy with the final result. But I have a hunch my brain is going to insist that I re-draft the pattern.  Not that I'm adverse to that, but I know what a demanding, time-consuming process that is.  And, in  a dark, musty corner of my mind, is the knowledge that I have a gallery show next May, the one that has been short circuited twice by Covid.

New work

 In my last post I mentioned that I had donation quilts on my mind again.  I was also itchy to work with the Kaffe Fassett fabric that I bought a couple of years ago.  I had seen a quilt on the internet, but I have no idea where, and it was some time ago, but it had been sketched out, so there was a reference.  The first efforts didn't work well, and there was a lot of ripping out to be done, but yesterday I managed to get the first two 12 1/2" squares put together.  3 more done today, and the pieces cut for the last 4.  So it should be put together in a couple of days.

Last month I took a zoom workshop with Dawn Piastra on using Inktense pencils with fabric.  I took several pictures of  the Virginia Creeper vines, in wonderful autumn colours, in the yard, and drafted a design for using the pencils.  Here is a photo of the work in progress.  The paler leaves in the center have just been coloured, but the brighter ones around them, is the finished colour, after the pencil has been activated.

Here is the full image.  I will have to heat set the ink, and wash the piece before finishing it, probably as a wall hanging, although I'm considering a cushion.  It is about 16" by 24".

Still Navel gazing

Still here, and with very little to show for a week's work. There is one finished piece.  I've posted a picture of this before it was trimmed, embellished and finished, but here it is in its final state.  It is finished at 16" by 24".

Once it was quilted and bound, I added some gold foil, but it didn't quite work out as I had wanted, still I think it adds that last little detail that makes this something that I would consider putting in a gallery exhibition.

I'm finding that routine household activities are taking up most of my energy, and  during any studio time I get, the artistic creativity just isn't showing up.  So my mind shifts to more basic activities such as donation quilts.  I also find my self spending as much time in my garden as I can, reading.  It's the end of September, and any warm day is a gift.  My quandary is the guilt I feel at not doing something productive.

Gotta' get over that!

Navel gazing again

 Time for another "who am I, what am I doing here, and where do I want to go" session.  In my last post I was a little jazzed about selecting items to take into the gallery in Selkirk.  The selected items were delivered and are now on display there.  Following each change-over of goods in the gift shop, artists are paid for items sold during the previous display.  I got the cheque yesterday.  The only items I sold were two that were bought by a friend who was in the gallery during the previous change-over, not a thing had sold during the three months it was all on display.  While I have not displayed art often during Gallery exhibitions over the past few years, nothing has sold from there either. 

Why am I doing this?  I'm devoting a fair bit of both mental and physical energy with no payback.  Time to re-exam the process.  Christmas is coming, and the two months before Christmas present many opportunities to sell, but for selected items.  I have a few such items finished, and ready to go.  However, I have offered the best of them to a totally different Gift shop. I am not fretting over this.  If they are not accepted, I have lost nothing but the time it took to fill in an on-line application.  If the commission I pay is 50% or less, I will have at least covered the cost of supplies. I will not make any further seasonal items.  Nor will I make any further specifically gift shop items.

This leads to the question of "What will I be doing?"  I'm not sure.  I have much less energy than I had even five years ago.  But--I have an instinctual need to create, and the time and supplies to do so.  Let's get started!

Time for a catch-up

 Many years ago, I created the pattern for a small zipper bag.  It has been most useful over the years.  It's proven an excellent way to test techniques,  but I often have no need to keep the samples.  It uses left over quilted fabric pieces, and can also be used with bits and pieces of older quilted pieces that I have decided to trash.  Instead of throwing them out, I cut them up  to make the basic bag.  For many years I worked craft shows and art shows, and found that these bags had  a ready audience, and served as "bread and butter" pieces that often paid enough to cover my booth rental.  I've probably made a couple of hundred over the years. More recently I've been selling them in the gift shop of a local art gallery.

Often, while sitting in my booth at shows, I take along some hand work, to use as a conversation piece with potential customers.  The very first bag I ever made would go along to hold my tools.  Frequently, some customers would ask for a bag exactly like this first one. As the fabric and design for each bag is one of a kind, I was never able to provide.  Besides, the very first one was special, and I wanted to keep it special for myself.  

This first bag started as a "ghost" print made during a printing session with friends, and started with some very pale yellow marks, on a white background.  During the recent printing marathon that I described in a recent post another pale yellow print on yellow was created.  I decided to see if I could actually re-create that first bag.

I didn't want it to be exactly like the first one, so only stamped two dragon flies on each side rather than the three.  I also knew that if I were to bead it, and sell it, I wouldn't have any profit, as I would have had to purchase at least two different types of beads.  So, no beads.  First I darkened areas of the fabric with Distress ink ( colour--Faded Burlap),  Then I spritzed it with Walnut ink.  Finally I stamped on the dragon Flies.  I think the result was worth the effort.  I made three of them, and one is now for sale at the Gift Shop.

I have made many of them over the years, using many, many different techniques.  I use them to hold the tools of the many techniques I practice.  Below you can see the original along with one made with Shibori  Fabric, one  of needle felted commercial felt, and one a hand dye.

"Secrets" finished

 The techniques used in making this piece were detailed in my last post.  But it is now finished, and I have entered it in the All Members' Show at Gwen Fox Gallery starting next Tuesday.  I am pleased with this piece, even knowing its flaws.

This is the first finished of the 30 pieces I started last month.  Two more are in progress, but will take awhile because of the very detailed FMQ'g.

The second layer

This week I've taken three of the pieces started last week, and planned out what additions I'll make in future.

This piece I decided that the changes will be made after it's machine quilted.  Then I will give it a layer of very diluted clear Gesso.  When that is dry, I will add a layer of Asemic writing.  It is quite small about 18" by 12",and will be finished as a very small hanging.

 To the second piece(below) I added a row of rubber stamping and then four lines, painted on by hand.  I used ultramarine blue acrylic paint with the addition of textile medium.  (I had to take this and the following pictures quickly this morning and didn't have time for squaring up, as I imagine is obvious. Sorry about that.) This piece was a previously LWI dyed cotton, to which I had attempted to improve, at some time in the past, by adding a leaf print  in one corner.  So firstly, I added another leaf print, from the same bush, in the opposite corner.  I had a Devil of a time mixing the same, or close, colour of paint for that. My next problem was in selecting a thread for machine quilting, and finally ended up going to my silk bin for Superior Kimono Silk, in a light gold colour.  This is the largest of the pieces, and I fully expect that it will be trimmed down, so hesitate to give a size, but figure that it started at about 26" by 40".

Then I wanted to try two new Thermofax screens, so found a plain piece of white cotton for the first one, a jumble of alphabet letters. Disaster!  The paint was too thin and crept under the screen, producing blobs.  I had created a mask of freezer paper for the hashtag, and that worked well, but the concept, of intergenerational miscommunication just didn't work out as I had hoped.  I have no idea what might become of this.  I will never display it, but it may work, cut up, for collaging.

The last piece is a pre-dyed piece, on which I used the other Thermofax screen, just works for me. I was immediately pleased, and plan to simply machine quilt it, and finish it as a hanging.

So next is the actual machine quilting, which will be free motion for the three pieces.  And then, I'll choose three more.  What fun!

Changing gears

After the frenzy of  more traditional quilting I spoke of last week, I dove into another frenzy, this time of painting and mono-printing fabric, in preparation for future, more creative, or art-y work.  This is more physically demanding work than I've done is quite awhile, and my husband and I spent some time figuring out how to make it less tiring on me.  So I worked in my studio, instead of out of doors.  This meant transforming the studio from a "dry" studio to a "wet" one.  This was much less demanding that carrying all of my supplies out to the garage and setting up tables, etc. out there.  I could also leave everything in  place over night rather than transporting it all back inside so the car could be garaged, over night. It then allowed me to work slowly over several days, rather than trying to do it all in one. The first day I got about 14 pieces painted, the second about 6, and the third about 10.  In the past I've made  +or - twenty, in a one day marathon, once or twice a year, which would set me up for work, over several months.  

The actual technique changed this time, mainly as a result of the on-line courses I've taken over the past 15 months.  I put much more planning into each piece, and chose to work mainly in sets of two or three pieces related by colour, with future piecing or collage in mind. I also worked with the expectation of adding future surface design, once the basic colouring was completed and dry.  I also chose a few hand dyed pieces, for additional surface work.

Here are some of the results. There is a third piece coloured to go with these two

This was a previously dyed piece that I tried to over print.  Didn't work well.

This is a series of hand-carved stamps that I hope to be able to use in collages.

This is worked with bubble wrap, but I found a large 1" size bubble which ended up looking almost like lips.  The second one is a shadow print, made by printing with the same paint after the first print has been made..

These are painted with the same colours, believe it or not.  

This is a lino-block print made with two different colours mixed on the same palette( red and fuchsia)

A cleanup rag, but I see possibilities in it

And finally, yesterday's work.  as you can see I was looking much more for pastels, that could take future surface work.  But still keeping with at least two of the same colour for future possibilities.

Changing Gears

Not feeling particularly creative lately, so decided to tackle getting rid of the massive stash of fabric I've accumulated over the past 60 years. I've been posting about the process as things moved along, but now I'm moving on to other things. A few years ago, my husband was helpful in cutting many, many fabric scraps into commonly used, size pieces. Recently, I was shocked to discover a box full of 4" pieces of fabric--three large Zip Loc bags packed full! So, over the past month, I've produced 7 smaller, charity quilts, using some of those pieces, and a small box of scraps. There are still enough squares for about 3 quilts, and the scrap pile now fills a laundry basket. Don't know how that happened! Here are some pictures. It was interesting how much creativity was involved. Each of these is about 36" square. The whole process left me very much re-invigorated, and the project this weekend is producing about 24 prints on fabric, with the objective of adding several more layers, and producing 4-5 finished pieces.

The Orange Quilt

 A couple of times I've mentioned that my next charity quilt will be orange.  This quilt is now sandwiched, ready for machine quilting.  The machine quilting will give me an opportunity to fully test out my walking foot, something I know little about.  This orange came about when I won a set of fat quarters in a raffle at the LQG.  They had been hanging around the studio for several years, before they were cut into 4" squares, when I was culling my commercial fabrics.  These squares were among the last few to be worked into charity quilts.  I think there are enough cut squares for one more quilt after this one.  Anyway, these are the two fabrics I won, the black is mainly pumpkins and the orange is witches, ghosts, and Frankenstein's monster.

I'm quite pleased with the finished result and hope the machine quilting only enhances the fun.  Since I hadn't added any special touches, as I had with the others, I made the border a little fancier.

Re-thinking the problem

The problem of the White on White Quilt has continued to bother me.  I had an idea of how it might be used in some assembled fibre/mixed media project, even if it had to be dyed, but then had a lot of trouble trying to come up with the right sort of  design.  I also found some very obvious black marks on the front of it.  So the quilting was finished, and the result disappointing. I washed and blocked the quilt, got rid of the black marks, but then decided that there was no way it would be useful in any future projects. Rather the design itself could be re-worked, should a project come to mind.  The problem was as described in the last post--a poor choice of batting, leading to very poor  visual discrimination of the various quilted motifs.  But it could still be useful as a utility quilt for a small child.  So to the donation pile it goes, once  some binding is added.

Here is a basic view of the finished quilt that shows how poor the loft is in the quilted motifs. 

This shows a better image, but required special lighting for the effect to be seen

Here are the hand drawn patterns that were used.  I must confess that once I got going, I used these more as suggestions than actual designs to be perfectly followed.  Since I was limited by a 4" width to the rows, the planned Victorian feather design, was very much tamed down, to the extent that may even be lost.  

My next step may be re-doing the Victorian feathers, but with a wider row, producing long strips of FMQ'g to be inserted in larger designs.

What determines a successful project?

 I have been slaving away on  my latest small quilt for about a week now.  I had to draft a very detailed pattern, transfer it onto the fabric and then stitch it, using a free motion quilting technique.  More than half the FMQ'g has been done. Yesterday I worked too long, and had to force myself to quit. Later, I took a good look at the piece and it just wasn't "right". 

This bothered me, even to the point that the problem kept percolating in my brain during the night, keeping me awake into the small hours.  Finally I realized that I had used the "wrong" batting.  There were three to choose from, and I chose the whitest one, as the stitching was to be done on white Kona Cotton.  This was a lovely, soft, bamboo based, commercial batting, but it didn't provide the "loft" that a feather based design requires. The whole thing is very flat and none of the beautifully quilted feathers show, even with stippling between the rows.  Amazing how quickly I fell asleep once that came to me! But, at this point I see no reason to carry on.

My reasons for making this quilt were three-fold.  Good FMQ'g requires regular practice, and my skill has deteriorated over the past couple of years without it.  I have donated such quilts in the past, and the organization has appreciated them, telling me that they would keep them for very special uses, such a for prizes in charitable raffles. This means that I have an excuse to make a fancy quilt, and to make it in a small size, gaining some practice while doing it.  But, it also requires my best work.  I don't feel I can donate anything that isn't my best work.

So I have a half-finished quilt and no use for it.  My FMQ'g skill has been exercised, but, if finished, the quilt won't be donated.  I have 5 other quilts ready to donate, and pieces cut for a sixth.

Am I unhappy?  Not really.  More disappointed  But, my brain is already considering how I might be able to re-work this into a very different project, where the very low loft won't be an issue.

Sorry--no pictures

 The new machine is working fairly well.  It came with a video that is supposed to show me how to do everything, but I found that the video and manual disagreed over several very important points right from the beginning, so have relied mainly on the manual. After very little experimentation, I realized that the machine works in basically the same way as the old one with the exception of having a walking foot, rather than a more built in form of specialized feed.  I've never used a walking foot, so tried it out while putting the binding on a small quilt.  I was not pleased, and switched to normal feed system, fairly quickly.  One major issue was that there were many skipped stitches while using the walking foot, but these continued when I used the normal foot.  So I have to blame the actual stitch setting that I was using--one that I probably use more than any other stitch setting.  I'll be calling the store today to mention it to them.

Next I tried free motion work, and the machine performed well, my free motion skill less well.  I've always been well regarded for my free motion work, to the point of teaching it several times to different groups.  So practice is in order.  The next charity quilt will be entirely done with free motion feathers--and I'm looking forward to doing it.  I very much favour Victorian Feathers , as demonstrated by Karen McTavish on Utube, and that's the method I'll be using. Using this method in the small scale of a 40" by 40" quilt will be challenging.

Big decision, big changes

 My wonderful, reliable Janome sewing machine, is still working, but many small issues are making using it frustrating.  So today I bought a new one.  I was even offered a trade-in for the old one, as I'm dealing with the same retailer/repair depot that I've dealt with for almost 15 years.  They had a wealth of wonderful machines that would do everything but walk the dog.  However, I took  my age, as well as the work I usually do on the machine, and selected almost the same machine but a couple of generations more newer.  I don't pick up the machine until tomorrow, and have spent time today getting the old machine ready to go.  Unfortunately, many of the gizmos and gadgets that I've purchased for use with the old machine, are of no use with the new one.  The only one that I feel is really important to me is the thread cone attachment that was added to the machine when I bought it, 14 years ago.  I will be wanting something similar for the new machine, even if I have to pay for it.  Tomorrow I hope to be able to post pictures.

Life gets in the way

 The most recent charity quilt was finished last early this week, but beautiful weather sent me outside to sit and read, and drink Starbucks coffee.  Then tiny canker worms drove me inside a couple of days later.  Now we're dealing with extreme heat and that finally drove me to the basement studio.

This quilt was supposed to be in an entirely different technique, but I discovered that my big basket of pre-cut had been culled, and I'd forgotten about doing it.  Damn brain fog!  Since I had planned to work with browns, I carried on and just sewed brown-ish squares together.  The result wasn't terribly appealing, so I added some yo-yo's to scattered squares.  I had forgotten having made these, but had a box marked "yo-yo's" on one of the shelves in the storeroom.  Funny what a variety of treasures are tucked away in storage, especially treasures that I had forgotten having.

The other techniques I had wanted to try is now in progress, but using various blue scraps, as that was the only colour left in the scrap basket.  I hadn't wanted to make another blue piece, as I've made so many.  I know that the charity  gets quilts in colours normally associated with babies-pink and blue, but usually receive very few appropriate for boys. Everything I'm making is in bright colours that I hope could be used for either.  This technique is very labour intensive, and I don't anticipate it getting finished for at least a week.  There is also a chance that I will have to buy more thread, in a certain colour, and this will require a trip across the city, something we really don't want to do in this heat.

Donation quilt No. 3

 The third donation quilt is finished.  This one has proven the most challenging of the bunch, so far.

It is about 36 " square.  I say "about" as, although each square was planned and trimmed to 12" square, in the piecing I had to do a little more trimming on a couple of them.  I used a modified version the the Sharon Pedersen method of making a reversible quilt. In putting together this latest charity quilt, I made a couple of "rookie" mistakes, both of which required 1/2 hour or more of ripping before I could go about correcting them. I was annoyed with myself, and frustrated, even though the darn thing was finally finished. And the glass of wine my husband served me, when it was done, was most welcome.

This most recent quilt used quite a few of scraps, but left quite a few as well.

Most of these are longer strips of Kona Cotton, left over after I worked my way through Maria Shell's book on Patchwork.  I've added a few strips deliberately cut from good quilting cotton, so as to add some variety to the sold colour strips.  Many of the strips are less than the width of the fabric, some quite short, and they are a variety of widths, so coming up with ideas for using them is difficult.  And I paid too much for the fabric to use it for making dog beds to donate to the local Human Society shelter, even if I knew how to go about that.

So while I let that percolate in my brain, I'll start the prep work for a fourth quilt. This one will involve 4" squares, toped with a 2" square, which is appliqued on with a zig Zag stitch, through fabric, a batting square, and backing square. Then all of the small squares are stitched together with sides butted right up together, using a wider Zig Zag stitch in close to a satin stitch arrangement.  I like this as it uses up all of those small pieces of batting that are always left after putting together larger pieces.  It uses a bunch of small pieces of fabric, and a lot of leftover thread, as well.  And that will be my job to for today--after cleaning the kitchen, of course.

Busy staying at home

 I haven't been out of the house since last Wednesday, and won't be going out today.  This. of course, means studio time.  But I'm finding my tolerance and endurance is not what it was pre-Covid.  I can manage about 1 1/2 hours at a stretch, and then need about an hour of down time before starting again.  That second stretch is even shorter.  But I'm in my studio and that's what counts.  Here is what I'm up to.

This first picture is of three painted fabrics that are planned for my next art piece.  It will be very similar to the last art piece, and I'll exhibit them as a pair.

Here are the two solid fabrics I plan to add, as I need more variety as well as more yardage for the piece planned.

Here is the charity quilt that I completed this morning.  It is about 36" square, and the individual squares were cut 8" square, before piecing.  All of the individual squares are improvisationally pieced from scraps.

There is another charity quilt in the works.  I pieced the center section with scraps, this morning, and only need to add borders, before sandwiching it, for machine quilting.

And here is the one I both started and got to the stage of being sandwiched, ready for machine quilting--today. It is slightly smaller, about 31" by 36".  I guess I have to confess that some, but not all, of the strip piecing was done and in my scrap box before I started.

No new pictures, but progress none-the-less

 The past year and a bit has been a very emotional time for most people. Creatively, I was preparing for my scheduled show this month.  The pieces, that had been prepared for the show scheduled for May 2020, were sent to other shows during the too brief summer of 2020, when things were somewhat open in this area. After the May 2021 show was taken down so prematurely, I was physically and emotionally exhausted and took a few days to pull myself together.  That may sound like an exaggeration of what was going on, but statistics on current levels of mental health issues are staggering.  I am not alone in my feelings.

This last week I took action.  The charity quilts that have accumulated over the past year were taken to the appropriate donation site.  There, I was given supplies to make even more quilts, and have started to do so. I'm purposefully making them somewhat challenging and not just mindless "donkey work".  I'm having fun.  The batting I was given is one I have wanted to try and I find that I love it.  I have a hunch it is quite expensive, and may only come in pre-packaged lengths, rather than by the meter.  It may well be out of my price range.  But if anyone wants to experiment with Quilters Dream batting, it has my vote.

I apologize for not posting a picture of the quilt I recently had returned from the long-armer ( Geesje Barron at Conundrum Quilts, if you're interested)  I had thought I had a picture of it in my files, but it appears that it was lost when my computer crashed and had to be replaced, just over a year ago.  I promise to be more careful, and post pictures of each charity quilt as it's finished.

Constant changes

 Well, the gallery was forced to close a week ago, and my show did come down, last Saturday.  I agree with the need for Public health orders, but have trouble keeping up emotionally.  Again, I try to keep creative by looking into the past and re-visiting techniques that have worked well for me "way back when".  The most recent technique is mono-printing fabric, and then using my own designed fabric to create a piece. Here is the most recent effort.

I used Seta-Color Fabric paint straight from the bottle onto a large piece of Plexi-glass, using more than one colour, at a time.  I spread it with a brayer (roller), and than laid PFD fabric pieces very gently into the paint, before using a clean brayer to push them firmly into it. Then I pulled the fabric carefully off, and hung it to dry.  This took about 24 hours.  It was then heat set with the iron.  Two of the pieces didn't quite work, colour-wise and were eliminated.  ( I have another project in mind for those)  Then the rest were cut randomly and improvisationally, before being stitched down, using a "sew-and-flip" technique.  The design layout is also improvisational, but is very loosely based on a "log Cabin" or "crazy patch" pattern. Instead of batting, I used a piece of black industrial felt.  I quite like working with this, as it behaves much better than batting for this technique.

Here are the pieces that were painted. 

And here is a close-up of the ones that were actually used in the piece.

Finally here is the finished top, prior to backing and binding.  All of this has been done since Saturday, which I think is an accomplishment, as I had to take the first version partially apart and re-make it, after a problem developed within the focal area.  the finished piece will be 21" by 27".

What a difference a day makes!

The newspaper today states that Galleries won't have to close. What a relief!  But the change in my mood is now scaring me a bit.  I know that I've always cycled a bit in my moods, but the change coming from a good night's sleep and this bit of news is significant.  Maybe I can  use it productively.

why do I bother?

Yesterday  the Gallery show I'm participating in was hung.  I was pleased that there weren't many greeting cards on sale, and my mixed media postcards certainly held their own.  Some were even given space on a short plinth, and my larger pieces fit in well with work from the 3 other participants.  This has been such a struggle for me to envision and physically create, when my health ahs been un-predicable for most of the past year.  This show was originally planned for May 2020, and was cancelled because of the critical Covid lockdown.  

Today, the government announced much more stringent restrictions that will undoubtedly close the gallery and cancel the show yet again.

This morning, my husband helped me make some very difficult decisions about older work--primarily items that had been made during the years I participated in shows/sales of art work, and those associated items that actually paid the bills.  I had quite a few items that were left after a few dismal sales, and helped spur the decision to no longer participate in such events.  These items represented a fair financial investment, but one that will never be recovered.  They filled  large laundry basket, and my heart broke, as I watched my husband drive away with them, headed toward a  thrift store donation.

To say that I'm devastated would be an understatement.  In the studio I have a work table covered with the first step of the postcards that other show participants had suggested I submit. I had also ordered online, and paid for, supplies for finishing them.  No point in carrying on now.

I can't even cry.  I just sit here and feeling sorry for myself, and wondering what my future might hold.  I don't see any doors or windows opening right now.

Where does time go. ( More navel gazing)

 My last post was the day after I had experienced an unexpected reaction to my first anti-Covid vaccination.  Unfortunately, the headaches, extreme fatigue, and even a bit of confusion, got quite a bit worse, and now, over two weeks later, I'm finally starting to feel like things are coming back to normal.  ( This will all be followed medically) Yesterday, everything except the fatigue appeared less, and today I felt able to attempt some non-demanding studio work, managing to keep at it for about 3 hours, with a short break for lunch.  By 3:00 I had obviously had enough, but spent some time watching a utube video about an historical archeological dig, and felt able to carry on with life, but without a nap--for today.

At this point, I feel ready for the upcoming gallery exhibition, which hangs a week from now.  There is still the paperwork, ( there's always more paperwork, no matter what you are doing).  I have realized that I have been pursuing, at an exhausting pace, the creative, studio area of my life for about 13 months.  I haven't even done much in the way of blogging.  Now this period of very frightening physical, as well as mental concerns, has brought me to my senses.  I have fulfilled all of my commitments, other than the volunteering that having pieces in the gallery requires.  I feel a need to re-evaluate where I might be going in my studio, even to the point of wondering if I might need to stay away from the studio for a period.  By this I mean, mainly, to stop relentlessly pursuing the creative aspects of my life-long relationship with fibre, even as I respect the knowledge that some time fondling fabric is good for my soul.

While I'm not setting any sort of time related goals, over the next while, I plan to spend some time reading and reacting to the book "Walking in this World", by Julia Cameron.  I bought this a few months back and never had a chance to actually read it.  I have also bought 3-4 art related resource books, and want to take a look into those. A couple haven't even been opened. I think I may spend some time on more traditional quilt making.  In terms of creativity, I'll remain open to whatever jumps out at me, but I'm no longer going to be seeking it out. Maybe most importantly, I'm going to rest, or nap, or sit in front of the tv, or even go to bed early, if my body suggests that this activity is needed.  Maybe I might even try to sit outside and watch the birds, or attempt a short walk.  Beyond that, I refuse to consider making any plans.

At the end of the Cloth to Codex workshop I recently finished, I mentioned at our Zoom "graduation" ceremony that I didn't feel I had done justice to the workshop. Then I decided to take a look at what I did get done. Here are some of the photos. I have a whole table top of paper books. I just couldn't get the cutting directions straight, and most of them are held together with masking tape, but I did get one accordion book with extra pages that I'm pleased with. I have a pile of fabric painted and ready for "something" and also have three large sheets of water colour paper, used under the fabric. Happy with that. The fabric painting on large scale with paint, India ink, syringes, and whatever gave me two large (36"by45") pieces. The first was cut, re-pieced, quilted, and then cut into three. I ended up with a larger finished piece with Asemic writing and a smaller beaded piece. Both finished and ready for exhibition. I have a large scroll book and my small "Snipit" scroll. I have yet to make and add the spindles, but know how that will be done.

Actually that's quite a bit. I also know that I got a huge number of just neat tricks for getting what you vision out of your supplies (Clear Gesso? Who knew?)I had never used markers before and now have a shoe box size container of them. It was a great workshop, and one appreciate more than I can say.

I'm sorry that the pictures are out of order. The technical aspects of posting have defeated me.

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