Curved needles

One of the best tools I've ever found for finishing is a curved needle.  It takes a bit of practise to use efficiently, but well worth the effort.  When I started my finishing business, I ordered curved needles from California ( and what a hassle that was!) Several years ago, I found some curved John James beading needles, locally, that work well, but are so fine that they quickly break or loose their curve, and I go through them very quickly.  Well, old age is making itself known and I can no longer thread the little curved beading needles that I like so much.  I tried a wire threader and it worked--once! So one of my tasks today was to see if there was still a local source for any sort of curved needle, and the threader to go with it.  I found some huge curved needles in Fabricland that are sold for tying quilts, but far too large and coarse for what I'm doing. Then, in a little embroidery shop, that I went to in desperation, I found the exact curved beading needle that I had hoped to see.  She also had three sizes of curved tapestry needles, and --bonus!!--stronger wire threaders.  The tapestry needles can be sharpened with a bit of emery and elbow grease, and I'm thinking a size 24 will be perfect.  I intend to try it over the next couple of days, and if they work, go and buy as many as she has.  The other two needles ( size 22 and 20) are a bit too large, which means paying $2.99 for a single needle, but if it's the right  needle, it's worth every penny.

When my friend sold her emboidery shop a couple of few ago, and the new owner had a family member to do her finishing, I had thought that part of my life was over, but business still trickles in.  Thank Goodness, because it forces me to keep my hand in, and now I have a couple of pieces of my own that require a well-experienced finisher.  I know just where to find one, and I know she has some really good tools.

New beginning--Again (lol)

A new month and no looming deadlines almost makes me giddy!  I have a commission to finish a heavily embroidered evening bag.  I haven't been doing a lot of finishing lately, so wanted a practise run before starting.  A beaded evening bag has been hanging around the studio, unfinished, for so long that the fabric to finish it is long gone.  So I have turned it into a pendant.  This gives me the chance to practise my hand stitching and finishing skills before tackling the commission.  It's going well, but selecting something to hang it from is giving me pause for thought.  I have a twisted cord that would work very well, but is a little large for the pendant, and I have a black chain that may be a little coarse. The answer may be to go shopping--and who can resist that?

End of the art sale

Two of my larger matted pieces sold, so a bit of money coming in.  I only had 5 of them there.  Lots of positive feedback on my work.  This will allow me to consider working with this group again.  The most positive comments came in response to my larger, older work.  Since I'm now free to explore whatever I choose, I may take a look at working on a slightly larger scale.  Some of the other artists reacted well to my comments about doing some work with print making, and it would be no problem to enlarge the size of the basic prints that I start with.  All good food for thought. 

Progress and a lighter heart--

Having finished the second charity quilt, and no pressure to finish the third, I gave myself a day off to play with the latest Fast Friday Fabric Challenge. No deadlines looming, no pressure to do anything else,  I had pure fun. I had forgotten how much fun creating can be.  The piece is pieced and quilted, and a couple of leaves printed on it from one of my thermofax screens.( Gotta get some more of those!)  Today a friend is coming over to explore the wrapped stitch --just play, yet again.

But--working on the FFFC piece showed me how much my technical skill has deteriorated over the past few months of inactivity.  Have you every actually analyzed how much of the hand coordination of using a sewing machine is dependant on the left hand?  With a broken left shoulder, I've been forced to consider this, and I'm very surprised.  All of the gadgetry of the machine is set up for right-handed use, leaving the fabric manipulation and control almost purely a left-handed function. This means that you need a good range of motion and the ability to sustain a muscle contraction for a period of time.  FMQ'g and machine applique, when you want smooth controlled movement, becomes awkward and jerky with a left arm that can't sustain that control. I see a lot of practice FMQ'g in my future.  I also found out that a densely quilted surface is not good for screen printing.  Duh!  Today I hope to be able to do some beading and ribbon work on the piece. The picture is only of the basic background.

Ink

The inks weren't quite as good as I had heard.  I tried them on watercolour paper, and they worked very, very well--both on dry paper and wet.  I then tried them on Duippionni silk, and found that there was very little bleeding when the brush stroke went along the warp threads, but some bleeding when the paint was applied on the cross grain. The bleeding was worse with the pearlescent inks than with the regular colours. The result on cotton was very much the same , but not quite as dramatic.  I still haven't played with them on Lutradur.  I think I might do a little more with the watercolour paper, as I especially liked the effect when the ink was applied onto wet paper.  I have to wonder if I can create images by manipulating where the paper is wet or dry.

This week the first of the charity quilts was delivered.  The lady coordinating this particular project had asked that I not attempt to finish it, as she knows that I'm no longer capable of hand finishing.  But she has several volunteers who are quite happy to do any hand stitching required, so everyone is happy.

Yesterday I attempted to make a couple of more small matted pieces for the art show/sale next week.  The result was dismal, which only proves to me that, having made the decision to leave the production work for awhile, my soul objects to being asked to do more of it.  So I'm more determined than ever to leave that part of my life behind, for a few months. By coincidence, yesterday a friend sent me a quote that speaks to the same issue.
   
   "The notion of making money by popular work, and then retiring to do good work, is the most           familiar of all the devil's traps for artists."  Logan Pearsall Smith (1865-1946)

Now, for those of you who want more pictures, I'm sorry.  Right now I'm far to busy finding myself to be able to find pictures.  But I sure hope that , in the end, the results will please both of us.

Decision made!

No more sales/shows for the next year.  I can't believe what a relief it is to have had this conversation with myself and actually come to this decision.  This gives me a year to play and, hopefully, develop a body of work that I can draw on for exhibitions.  I figured out the $$$, and it makes no sense for me to be participating in these smaller shows, when I barely cover expenses.  I certainly don't make enough to pay myself any sort of wage, so I probably just end up making myself crazy for nothing. And since I don't make expenses, it isn't going to affect my basic budget to continue taking studio supplies out of household $$$s.

Today I bought some acrylic inks to play with.  I want to experiment with them on various fabrics, including silk, as well as watercolour paper.  I've heard that they don't bleed, even when diluted with water.  This I've gotta see!  I read about them in Quilting Arts magazine and talked to the staff at the local art supply store.  Both gave me the same information. 

Weekend sale

This weekend we were part of a high-end craft sale that I had committed to months ago. Since I really haven't had much time in the studio, the stock I took was mainly what had been left from last summer's sales.  I took in enough to cover expenses, and a bit more, so a reasonable sale but not a great one.  Several of the vendors were talking, especially as one vendor had significantly lowered her prices, in response to weak sales over the past year.  Most of those there have concluded that their sales are down as a result of the economy, and no other reason.  Between them there was enough of a history with this sort of activity to make them believe that their prices are appropriate to what they are selling, but, given that this sort of thing is really a discretionary or optional purchase in the scheme of things, sales drop when the economy is poor.  There was excellent feedback on my items, and several people commented on how reasonable my prices were, so this downturn is just something to ride out.

I have no more sales like this scheduled at this point.  ( I have an exhibition/sale later this month, but this is quite a different type of event)  Before I apply for any more high-end craft sales, I need to look at whether or not I'm interested in producing more stock.  No, I'm not--I want to explore my creativity--but--will I continue to participate in sales?  I've been doing it for 30 years.  So, yeah, I'll probably spend a bit of time doing the "donkey" work, but I'm determined to find a better balance between the mind-dulling stuff and the creative stuff.