Art/Quilts

Photos of the new studio!

2011-09-11T06:32:00.014-05:00

These are the before and after photos of the new studio. My art group met there yesterday and I fully intended to get photos of everyone working, but I was so excited I forgot to! We obviously have lots more to do, and we're not doing anything to the individual studios (we'll let the artists do their own spaces) but at least it's useable space now.

We've gone from this...

To this, in just under 2 weeks...

This is our studio "suite" before ...

And after...

Our HUGE classroom/workroom space...

The kitchen/community area...

We've done everything from painting to laying now plywood on the floors to installing 26' of counters in the studio, not to mention all the general cleaning up and moving stuff around.

In addition to the the 4 studio spaces inside, we also have a greenhouse, storage shed, pool and 2 bedroom guest house, all on a double lot with a creek along the back property line.

Our next order of business is to get the rest of the shelves and bookcases and storage stuff put up and arranged and then get all of our supplies sorted and stored. We will be moving the last of our stuff from the old studio at the MS Craft Center this week, and then we'll be diving into the organization at the new studio. It's a pain that the fully-loaded shelf units from the other studio are the last things to be moved but the first things needed at the new studio.

There is no way to describe how excited we are to have the new space! Based on our limited use so far, we think it will be perfect for our needs. Ultimately, we'll have 3 other artists in the studios, and the workroom will be available for other artists to rent for classes. Judging by our art meeting yesterday, the space can easily accomodate a dozen people working on projects.

We have a studio!!!

2011-09-09T05:05:00.002-05:00

Closing papers were signed and keys were handed over on Aug 29 for the new studio space! It is unbelievably perfect for what we want to do with it too. Anne and I will share a large studio and storage room at one end of the house, and there are 3 other studios at the other end, with a HUGE classroom, kitchen and den in between. Our first "event" is going to be tomorrow when my art group meets for the day in the classroom. We've been working ourselves silly getting it ready and have made great progress on it. Today is reserved for just small details and cleaning up to get ready for tomorrow. The location is perfect, plenty of parking, plenty of room, large double lot, fenced, a pool, a deck, tons of windows and good light. There's not a single thing I would change about it.

So far, we've installed 26" of counter space in our studio, painted, added shelves, paint racks and power strips, and started sorting and storing all our supplies. Much, MUCH more to go, but at least we can get in there to work. We laid sheets of flooring in the den and then floated out the kitchen, den and entry floors before painting the whole thing lime green. Yes, an unbroken 40' expanse of bright lime green floor! The area looks huge now, even with furniture in it.

We took 3 full-sized louvered bi-fold doors and painted them orange, teal and lime, then mounted 2'x3' black numbers on them for the address. The shutters will be lime by the end of the day, and the back door will be orange. The 4'x5' crawfish painting is hung, the 2 fluorescent shop lights and 2 industrial wall fixtures are up in the classroom and the 4'x8' table is ready to go. The wall of dry erase board will go up today, as will the chalk board.

We're not sure what the floor in the classroom is going to look like, but we're leaning towards painted foot prints. It's bottom of the line laminate that was badly installed so we're not ruining anything nice if we paint over it. And we LOVE color. The more the better. The hot pink sewing cabinet we're using for a table by the back door looks great against the lime floor.

Even as excited as I am now, I think I'll be more excited next week when my time again becomes my own and I can get in there and sort and store and actually start working on real art again! I did get a bunch of before pictures, but of course my camera is someplace else, so those will have to wait. I'm also getting "during" phoros and will take "after" photos too, if we ever actually finish. I'll try to get some of the pictures up later this evening or tomorrow.

We are officially "Bottle Tree Studios" and will eventually have a facebook page and website, but for now, the really cool bottle tree in the front yard of the studio, and the 2 hanging bottle trees on the porch will have to do.

Lots of news...

2011-07-24T08:36:00.007-05:00

...and a bit of shameless self-promotion, as my friend Marilyn says. First up, my entry to the Hoffman challenge was juried in for their traveling show. It's in Quilt Trunk B, so if you're close to any of the shows, check it out! I had a lot of fun with this but only decided at the VERY LAST minute to even do a submission, so I'm amazed it was accepted. Her face is dupioni, the mask is velvet, pink lame' lips, some sort of green sequin stuff for the hat and of course, the challenge fabric for the headpiece. The large mums around her face are 3-D, first mounted to Peltex and quilted, then fussy cut and only stitched to the quilt in the centers of the flowers. The edges are finished/sealed with gold metallic paint. Lots and LOTS of free-motion thread painting on the wisteria, leaves and flowers. Most of it was done with metallic Sulky in a variety of colors. Some beading and sequins on the smaller flowers and across the top of the mask. I drew off a sort of Art Deco looking feather to use for the background quilting. Little puffs of some kind of weird gold metallic mesh, and finished off with the gold ribbons in 3 different widths.

GSQA had their quarterly meeting in Lafayette yesterday and they introduced the new group of circuit teachers. I am one of them so I got to get up on stage and talk to a captive audience. One of my favorite things to do! Everyone was very polite and acted like they didn't even mind me showing a huge stack of work and talking and talking. I'm really looking forward to seeing what opportunities come from this. One thing I noticed yesterday from the comments was sort of a surprise to me also. Because this is what I do, and I partly do it because it's SOOOO easy, and I'm used to doing it, it sort of took me by surprise at the complete lack of knowledge of the techniques and supplies I use. Of course, I'm basing that observation on the questions I got after the program, and obviously, the people who are already familiar with the process wouldn't be asking questions. Still, the number and type of questions struck me. Maybe that will translate into some classes! One can hope....

These are a couple of the pieces I showed. Painted, stitched, stamped, resisted, etc.

One fat, and one skinny envelope from MAC (MS Arts Commission) last week from my grant applications. I was accepted again for the Master/Apprentice program, and will begin working with my new apprentice Gwen next month. I am really looking forward to working with her. She has her traditional skills well in hand and is a very open-minded and enthusiastic explorer of quilting. Can't wait to see what she comes up with to work on! A little background on how it works: We start off by designing a quilt, go from there to choosing our fabrics (Yay! Fabric shopping!) then the construction, quilting and finishing. So we basically go from a piece of graph paper to a finished quilt in 2-3 months. Marie Yonko (last year's apprentice) and I have pieces hanging at the MAC office in the Sillers Building until the end of Aug if anyone has a reason to go by there.

Marie Hull Gallery in Raymond contacted me a couple of months ago about doing a show down there in Mar 2012. My mind is racing with all the work I have to do between now and then, and coming up with enough interesting stuff in the same style, but I'm very happy to have that kind of worrying to do. And I always laugh when they start the conversation by saying "Would you be interested..." like they expect you to say anything but "YES! YES! A thousand times YES!"

Leslie Silver, over at the Attic Gallery in Vicksburg, has asked me to do a piece for their 40th anniversary invitational show. I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am to be asked to do this, although I won't even be able to make the opening reception! She is assigning each artist a specific number as their inspiration, and the rest of it is up to us. The best part about it to me is that as soon as she explained the concept, I had instant inspiration for what I wanted to do. Every other time that's ever happened, I wound up with a piece that I was extremely happy with. No reason to think this time will be any different.

asymmetrical shirt and pattern

2011-06-05T11:28:00.004-05:00

This is the completed shirt that I demonstrated yesterday at the MQA June Gathering. I'm also including the pattern that I passed out. If you have any questions, or need more info just let me know. I'd also love to see any shirts you make for yourself, and any other variations you might come up with. Happy sewing!

in-progress floor cloth

2011-02-18T20:02:00.002-06:00

Not done yet, but making good headway.

2011-02-13T11:37:00.001-06:00

And now for something completely different....

2011-02-12T10:09:00.003-06:00

Painted whole cloth quilt. 24"x31".

MS Arts Commission

2010-07-23T05:22:00.004-05:00

A little late getting this posted, but I'm still excited about being approved for a grant through the MS Arts Commission a couple of weeks ago. The grant is for an apprentice to learn quilting. My apprentice is Marie Yonko (thanks for the recommendation Marilyn!) and she's doing a great job. At our first meeting we designed a medallion quilt and only used about a ream of graph paper doing it. Then we went shopping! Boy, did we go shopping! A trip to Stitch-n-Frame in Vicksburg, with a side jaunt to Diane Jordan's. $200 later we were ready to go. We intentionally designed the quilt to use a variety of techniques, some of which Marie has used before, some not. And because it's me, the first traditional block we used in the center is a 'variation' of the Bear's paw. Then we move onto some log cabin-ish trees and some HST mountains and some machine applique, and some other stuff as we build out with the borders. Each border will use a different technique and what we've already done looks great! We met this past Monday in the lobby of the Craft Center to work on it and Portico magazine was doing a photo shoot. She got a bunch of photos of us working and called back the next day to check the spelling on our names, so I'm hoping that means the pictures might actually show up in the magazine.

The ultimate goal is to have a finished quilt, from design to binding, in time for the Quilting Heritage Day on Sept. 18. Marie wil be doing all the work herself, including the machine quilting on her full-size quilt! We are usually in the lobby of the Craft Center on Wednesdays from about 10-noon if anyone wants to drop by and see her progress or watch us work. The periodic stops to talk to visitors gives us a little break now and then.

Other than that, I need to get myself in gear and get my submissions together by the end of the month to re-up as a member of the Craftsmen's Guild. There are at least 3 locals who I know are applying too. Good luck to all of you. Knowing your work, I have no doubt you'll all be juried in!

For anyone interested in the Quilting Heritage Day, we'll have a quilting frame set up at the center and you are all invited to come by and take a few stitches on a quilt. We'll also have exhibits and displays and demonstrations and vendors. It's like a county fair and we always have fun doing it.

For those of you who have asked about a surface design class, I'll be teaching a 3-hour introductory session over the Labor Day weekend, on Monday, Sep 6 from 9:00-noon. You can see the details at MSCrafts.org or call Sheri Cox at 601.856.7546 for more info and to sign up. If there is enough interest I can add a second class with different techniques.

And my oldest daughter made it to S. Korea safely and is well on her way to world domination! She seems to be settling in nicely and is incredibly excited about getting into the classroom, although she will be teaching elementary students rather than high school. If only everyone could have the same passion and excitement for their chosen profession.

Houston bound!

2010-07-17T06:31:00.004-05:00

Houston, here I come! Well, here comes my quilt at any rate. Still not sure I'll be able to visit it since that's the weekend before the Congo Square festival in New Orleans. Speaking of Congo Square, we (Anne and I) got the official notification last week that we've been juried into all 3 New Orleans festivals that we applied for. Blues and BBQ in Oct, Congo Square in Nov and Treme' in Dec. We did well at the 2 we were juried into last year and we always have a ton of fun! The music at the festivals just makes it 100 times better than the money!

OK, back to the Houston quilt. A call for submissions went out a while back for NOLA: Still We Rise Again and I put it off and put it off submitting anything until a friend mentioned it in passing and I went back and read the guidelines. A full-blown design immediately popped into my head and off I went with it! Two days later I was overnighting the CD so it would get there on time. Nothing like last-minute scrambling. After all that, the notifications were 5 days late, but I was juried in so at this point I don't care! Marilyn Rose was also juried in with the Katrina quilt she made right after the storm with the NOAA hurricane maps on it.

A little about the inspiration of the design. The traditional jazz funerals in New Orleans have what are called second-lines, which follow the casket, the family and a brass band. The funeral procession to the burial is somber, with dirges being played. After the burial, the music is upbeat and faster in celebration of the life of the deceased. The second-line consists of friends and acquaintances and mere observers, who join in the parade. Umbrellas and handkerchiefs are often used by the second-liners. The call for submissions specified the theme as: A juried exhibit featuring quilts that celebrate the unwavering spirit of New Orleans, the Gulf Coast, rebirth, renewal and the recovery of a city devastated five years ago by Hurricane Katrina. I can't think of anything that personifies the spirit of New Orleans more than the second-line. What most people consider one of the saddest times in their lives is instead celebrated as a new beginning. After the devastation of Katrina and now the bleak future of the coast and wetlands due to the oil guyser, many people across the country expected her residents to give up. I never expected any less from them than to throw a party.

I used commercial batiks for both the coastline and the Gulf, and black Kona for the silhouettes. Hand-beaded umbrellas, mixed Angelina fibers for the "oil slick" and free motion quilting on the whole thing. Finished size is 36"x40" and there is a beaded spiral (hurricane) just below MS on the coastline.

So without further ado, New Second Line.

What I'm working on...

2010-06-24T05:19:00.008-05:00

Periodically, the topic of what we're currently working on comes up on the QuiltArt list so I'm jumping in. We have some shows coming up so I'm trying to get ahead, instead of behind, on producing some work. I have a few pieces in exhibits and galleries right now that can be used for the shows, but not nearly enough. The upcoming event I'm most excited about is the Blues and Barbecue festival in New Orleans later this year so I'm sort of stressing the Blues aspect. The funny thing is, as I'm thinking of the Blues stuff designs, I'm getting flooded with ideas for other projects too. I have little design lists jotted down and scattered around my studio so I can come back to them when the time is right to put fabric to batting for them.

All three of these pieces use Lesley Riley's TAP for the faces. The transfers work beautifully on the burlap. I love working on burlap and I'm a recent convert to TAP, which I now love also. I've never been able to successfully transfer to burlap in any way that satisfied me before now, but this stuff is perfect for it. I did a quick and dirty demo of it at the June gathering of MQA after getting a ton of questions about it when I showed one of the pieces that I used it on. Thank goodness I bought the huge pack when she put it on sale.

Honeyboy Edwards, batik, burlap, cotton and upholstery fabric. TAP transfer and stamping. "The Blues is not going to never die."

Muddy Waters, batik, burlap and cotton, with TAP transfer and stencil. "That Mississippi sound, that Delta sound, is in them old records."

Robert Johnson, batik, burlap, cotton and upholstery fabric. TAP transfer and stamping. "Don't ever knock a bottle out of my hand."

New from old

2010-04-14T10:48:00.003-05:00

This is a patio table and chairs I got at an estate sale a couple of weeks ago. Stripped and scrubbed the metal and glass, and then re-painted the whole thing in bright colors. I also painted the underside of the glass table top and now I have a bright cheery set to use on my deck! The paint is dimensional fabric paint and craft acrylics so it'll be easy to scrape off and re-paint whenever the mood strikes.

High Cotton

2010-02-15T14:30:00.004-06:00

This is a piece I did yesterday. I wish all my quilts were this fast from original design idea to finished piece. Raw silk, painted, dyed, stamped, stencilled. I first painted the sky with thinned latex, then moved on to the cotton field. Procion and Dylon dye powders sifted onto the wet fabric, a torn strip of paper for a resist to make the furrows, then stamping green dye on with a nylon bath scrubbie. The cotton is white Scribbles fabric paint stamped with a piece of bubble wrap. Crayons, markers and some dye for the tree line then a little thread painting to define the trees. Mounted on an old window frame. The bottom two center panes are gone, but the rest of the panes of glass are intact, including a BB hole in one of them. Total size 36"x32". If this doesn't sell by then it will be going to the Juke Joint Festival with me in Clarksdale in April.

We're not dead!

2010-01-18T05:24:00.003-06:00

Thank you to everyone who has called, emailed, posted and texted asking about Mark and checking in on us. And the food! Oh my goodness, the FOOD!!! He's doing great and headed back to work tomorrow. My work has suffered a little, mostly from time constraints, but I'm getting back to it now, slowly but surely. Anne and I are doing the Juke Joint Fest in Clarksdale in April and I'm looking forward to having to produce some Blues-themed pieces for that. Lots of ideas, just have to drag out the fabrics and stuff and get started. I've done one very traditional quilt over the holidays as a commission and I was extremely pleased with the way it turned out. It's been a while since I quilted a full sized bed quilt on my machine but it went pretty smoothly once I got a top-stitch needle that wouldn't shred the thread. It was good practice for me too since I started piecing a bed quilt for us last night. All these years of quilting and I've never made one for our own bed! I have 2 completed batik tops but neither of them are quilted yet.

No photos this time, but I'm determined to post more regularly on the blog (and remember to take pictures when I finish something!) so maybe I'll have more interesting posts in the near future.

Treme' Gumbo Festival

2009-12-07T17:04:00.003-06:00

Anne and I have a booth at the Treme' festival this weekend in New Orleans and I'm doing recycled, painted clothing. These are some of the pieces I did at the studio today. The pink with the purple design on it is a suit and the design on the pockets is repeated around the hemline. The denim is a skort and the big Fleur de Lis are all over the black blouse, not just on the front.

The khaki colored blouse is an absolutely gorgeous Liz Claiborne with metallic paints. All clothing is either linen or cotton or a blend of the two.

Good News/Bad News

2009-11-30T06:48:00.002-06:00

My husband goes into triple bypass open heart surgery at noon today. That's the bad news. The good news is that we had no idea he had heart problems and it was caught during a doctor visit for a totally unrelated complaint.

We are very happy with his team of doctors and optimistic about the outcome. His biggest worry is if the Saints can go 11-0 tonight (he should be just about coming out of anesthesia for kick-off) and my biggest worry is how the hell I'm going to learn to cook without frying anything, or smothering everything in gravy, or tossing out the bacon grease as seasoning. 50 years of cooking style down the drain!

The best thing is knowing that I still literally make his heart skip a beat, even after 26 years of marriage, when I walk in the room. I saw the ekg that proves it!

It's a wrap!

2009-09-23T05:35:00.002-05:00

The show is over, the quilts are back with their owners and the building is empty once again! All in all, it was a wonderful show and we had some incredible quilts on display. The workmanship just blew the judge away and renting the pipe and drape hanging system showcased the work beautifully. The last 2 of us were out of the building less than 2 hours after the show closed. We were amazed at how quickly and smoothly the take down went this year. Good thing too, since I got home Sunday evening with a 102 fever and I'm not sure I could have lasted much longer than that. We had an incredible response to the opportunity quilts and did very well with the quilt sale. Lots of good comments on the width of the aisles and the quilts not looking crowded. I think 150 was a good number for the exhibit and I'm glad we cut off entries at the actual cut-off date. The weather was warm and humid, with a couple of very light showers so using the patio area worked well also. At least people had a place to sit down for a few minutes. The Craft Center seemed pleased with the Saturday sales in the gallery and our general stewardship of the facilities. That's always a good thing, since we love having the show in their building and don't want to do anything to jeopardize that. If you'd like to see the building check it out at mscrafts.org It's absolutely gorgeous and really showed off the quilts with lots of natural light and open space.

When I was asked to take over as director of the show, I was scared to death to step in, and spent weeks feeling like I was in over my head, but I had a tremendous amount of help from everyone, especially a core group of committee chairmen who never once failed to offer suggestions, support, advice, opinions, and on a couple of occasions (well, maybe more than a couple) a shoulder to cry on or an ear for me to rant into. There is no way in this world that I would have been able to pull this off without the help of everyone involved, from the people who entered the quilts to hang, to Myra, Lucy and Ann T. who got us from point A to point B.

Again, a huge thank you to everyone involved in making this show such a success. You should all be very proud of yourselves.

More clothing

2009-09-14T05:00:00.005-05:00

My stress level must be higher than I realized, since I'm still sewing clothing. This one is for my sweet Madeline, Ben and Kaylee's first born. She's the closest thing I have to a grandchild yet.

I started out with some vintage embroidered organza and went from there. I had one long thin piece of it with a finished edge and one shorter, wider piece with a selvage. The long piece with the lace edging became the bodice and bottom overlays and the sleeves, and the selvage piece became the crown of the bonnet. The original intention was to use a classic Vogue pattern, but I wound up only using the sleeve pattern and even re-drafted that to get what I wanted. #40 satin ribbon was pleated for the brim of the bonnet and candlelight satin ribbon used throughout the rest of the dress. White cotton lawn for the dress with the candlelight embroidered organza over it. Candlelight sparkle organza for the collar overlay. Fully lined with a white cotton slip.

Ben's family gown is "too fragile" to be used any more and Kaylee's family lost everything in the storm, so we're starting over with Madeline. I did the basic construction on the dress, Ben's mother is doing all the hand work on the lining and contributed the organza from her own mother's stash, and Kaylee's grandmother will embroider the name on the slip, so all of us will have had a hand in making it. Nick will be coming home from Okinawa around Christmas to be the godfather.

Back to my roots

2009-09-06T20:13:00.003-05:00

Woke up this morning with an idea for a jacket made out of a vintage pulled threadwork linen tablecloth in my head. So of course, since I have nothing else to do I made it. It probably would have gone a bit faster if I'd actually made a pattern for it first, but I'm happy with it anyway. I hate I had to seam the center back, but there was no way to get the pulled thread design symmetrical without doing it. I might have made the arm scythe a bit deeper had I started with a sloper, but maybe not. Ignore my son's blue shirt under it. It didn't photograph well without the contrast and that's just what was closest at hand to use. Hey, I was just glad I got photos of it at all.

It's funny, but I was thinking earlier that even after all these years, sewing is my release and relaxation. After all the details and minutia of dealing with the quilt show stuff this past week I think my brain just needed a break. I have several quilts here that need to be worked on, but none of them struck my fancy so I went back to my own "comfort food" of sewing, which is clothing. It surprises me at times that I don't do more wearables because I love to sew clothing. Maybe I know myself well enough to know I don't want to over-do it and burn myself out on something I love.

Festivalgirl's shirt

2009-09-03T15:21:00.003-05:00

My friend Chrissa's "Lily Flower (Fleur de Lis) Bouquet" shirt.

guild commission

2009-08-14T08:12:00.003-05:00

This is the quilt I'm working on right now for the Craftsmen's guild. It will hang on the back of the piano to hide the "guts" of it when it's in use. Morrison Brothers Music donated the piano and I used colors to pick up the stained concrete floors in the guild hall. The background is fabric that was rust stained on the piano sound board in my front yard, so the striped effect of the rust is from the actual strings in a piano. The walking people are an adaptation of the Craftsmen's Guild of MS logo, but the crafts they are usually carrying have been replaced with musical instruments. The outlines are couched pearle cotton and each one took about 2 hours! That much handwork from someone who doesn't even sew buttons on by hand is pretty strange, but it seemed to be the best technique for the effect I wanted. The piece is about 54"x36" and will be bound in black. Some quilting with gold metallic along the rusted string lines is next. The walking people are a little more apparent in the real thing than they are in the picture.

Satchmo Art Show

2009-08-01T07:33:00.003-05:00

Whooo hooo! Second place in the Satchmo show in New Orleans the other day! The show will be up through the end of August so maybe it will sell too. It was a real thrill to win, not only because it was a New Orleans show, in New Orleans, honoring a New Orleans icon, competing against New Orleans artists, but also because I won with a quilt! It's sometimes a struggle to get fiber and textiles accepted to art shows, although the biggest hurdle seems to be having a category to enter them in. I've never been rejected for an art show, (rejected for several quilt shows though) but there have been art shows I never entered because the work didn't fit into any of the categories.

The reception and show were at Crescent City Brewhouse on Decatur in the French Quarter and they did a nice job with the food and drink. Half a dozen of my local friends in NOLA showed up and we had a crowd at the table. Of course, I was off at the bar when they announced my name as a winner! My cousin went up and got the certificate and prize for me and I sort of hated missing out on hearing my name, but I'd have probably passed out from the excitement anyway and I had on a dress (YES! Me in a dress!) so that could have been embarrassing. When I got back to the table and they told me I'd won, I blew it off assuming they were referring to the fancy participation certificate. It took a minute to sink in that it was an actual prize with a ribbon and everything. I floated on air the rest of the night. Well, maybe longer than just the night, even though it was a long night.

My studio mate Anne had one of her shrines accepted also, and we were both down for the reception. It meant a lot to me that she was there to share the win with me. It has been a terrific learning experience for me to be working with another artist to bounce ideas off of and get good (honest!) feedback from, and I've grown as a result of working with her. Not only from her specific input, but just being exposed to the way she works and watching her decision-making as she creates her own art. The whole studio thing has worked out beautifully for all 3 of us I think. I'm producing more, and getting better exposure, and refining my work. I've accomplished as much in 6 months at the studio as I would have in 3 years still working for home, both in volume and quality of work. Even hanging the joint show at the Craft Center last month was a lot of fun once I decided on WTH I was going to do for it. Apparently, I picked the right thing though, since I sold 2 pieces right off the bat.

Without further ado, here is the piece. It now has a red ribbon hanging on it too!

more non-traditional surface design stuff

2009-06-16T06:05:00.004-05:00

Of course, after posting the last list, more things come to mind. Maybe if I made a list before beginning to type it would be easier. As it is, I'm just winging it with whatever comes to mind after I start writing.

Political signs - Those corrugated political signs make great work surfaces. They're sturdy, a good size to work with, free, and have a plastic surface that makes them reusable many times. You just have to remember to collect some after an election.
Fingernail polish remover - Does good copier transfers and bleeds Sharpies to either remove the marks altogether or make them sort of watercolor-y looking.
Alcohol - Plain rubbing alcohol also bleeds and blends Sharpies for a sort of tie-dye effect.
Aloe Vera gel - Thickens inks and thins acrylics. This usually needs to be washed out after drying.
Instant grits, mashed potato flakes and oatmeal - Mixed thick, spread on fabric and dried, these make good crackle textures for surface design.
Vinegar - Wet fabric with vinegar, wrap around rusty items, cover with black plastic and you get rust stained fabric. Also removes odors if fabrics are washed in it.
Bleach, bleach pens, Soft Scrub or Sunlight gel with bleach - Used to discharge fabrics. Each one works with different fabrics, but the experimenting is part of the fun! Always remember to neutralize the chlorine with Anti-Chlor or a similar product afterwards. Any fish tank chlorine remover (available at the grocery or dollar store) works to neutralize the fabric.
Tea bags - The most common use is probably for tea-staining but you can also use wet tea bags or strong tea when rust staining to get a grey/black with the orange. Loose tea can kill some odors in fabrics too. Place the tea in a closed container with the fabric for a few days.
Spaghetti, string, yarn, wire - Cooked spaghetti arranged on one of the aforementioned political signs (weigh it down so it dries perfectly flat) or string/yarn saturated with thinned Elmer's or thick wire make good rubbing plates, as does dimensional fabric paint just by making your shapes on the surface and letting them dry. They can all be mounted on a piece of cardboard or wood block to make stamps with.
Bar soap - Slivers of left-over soap can be used for markings on fabric that will be washed. A bar of Irish Spring (get them free at the St Paddy's parade in New Orleans!) in a closed container will kill odors on fabric. Ivory soap can be used to spot clean delicate textiles.

This is not a comprehensive list by any means, and I'll continue to add things as I think of them. Again, please feel free to add any others you think of in the comments.

non-traditional and economical quilting supplies

2009-06-14T08:20:00.004-05:00

Many of the supplies and tools that I use in my own work come from the grocery, hardware or office supply store. I'm a firm believer in never looking at only one way to use something. Please feel free to add any other suggestions for non-traditional supplies or uses in the comments. I'm always looking for easier/faster/better ways to do something.

Freezer paper - Applique patterns and stencils. Most of us already know of and use this one.
Glad Press-N-Seal - Quilting patterns and beading uses. Draw your quilting pattern on the wrap with a water-soluble marker, stick it to the quilt and you have a pattern to follow. You can also stick a piece of the wrap over a beading project. Just put the beads where you want them and stick the wrap over it. You can roll the wrap back a few inches at the time, attaching the beads as you go. Great for just rolling the work up with the beads already in place without losing your placement.
Elmer's glue - More uses than I'll be able to remember. A thin line around an applique pattern drawn onto the back of the fabric before cutting keeps the edges from fraying, similar to Fray Chek, but can be washed out. Use instead of Wonder Under to attach appliques until they are stitched down, then wash it out and you won't have the change of hand you get with WU or the bleed-through you see with thinner fabrics. Make your own silk screens by coating a piece of fine tulle with glue in every area where you don't want the paint/dye to show. Use as a resist for dying and batik. A thin wash can preserve colored pencil work on fabric. Elmer's can pretty much be substituted for any use of gel medium or Modge Podge. Add paint or dye to Elmer's and it remains after the glue is washed out.
Reynold's Release Non-Stick foil - NOTHING sticks to this stuff! It makes a great palette for paints, protective surface for fusibles, base layer for Elmer's glue silk screens, and "parking place" for adhesive labels.
Bamboo skewers - As a pusher when sewing small pieces. No metal flying if you accidentally get it under the needle. Point turner. Paint mixer. I've even used them as hanging mechanisms and surface embellishments for small art quilts.
Placemats - Bamboo placemats have a ton of bamboo sticks or slats in each one that can be used as hanging bars for art quilts and embellishments. Fabric placemats can be used as a base for art quilts. They come in a huge assortment of fabrics, weaves and colors. Check out kitchen towels and napkins too.
Laser Level - Great for squaring up a large quilt without a long ruler or hanging a quilt straight.
Carpenter's chalk line - Another way to square up a large quilt. Also makes straight quilting lines (I only ever use the yellow chalk, red and blue stain some fabrics.) I've seen the suggestion of replacing the chalk with Corn Starch but have never tried it.
Sheet rock ruler - 4 foot long ruler that is WAY cheaper than a 4 foot long quilting ruler!
Full-sheet adhesive labels - Useful as a carrier sheet to print fabric in your printer.
Graph paper - Useful for designing or enlarging patterns.
Spring hair clips - Used when hand-turning a binding. Cute decorated ones are 12/$1 at the dollar store or plain silver ones are 18/$5 at the quilt shop. You decide!
Spray baste - Of course the intended use of sandwiching quilts, but I also use it for tacking stencils down, tacking patterns to paper/mylar to cut stencils, and to place applique pieces on the background before stitching.
Make-up sponges - These make great stencil brushes.
Salvation Army store - Clothing, curtains, tablecloths, wedding dresses, etc. have lots of fabric, buttons, and trims for next to nothing in cost. Check out the purses while you're there to use for leather scraps.
Plain safety pins - Beyond the obvious uses, you can tie bright scraps of fabric to a handful of safety pins and use them as "look-at-me"s to mark places on your work that need to have thread tails buried, mending, repairs, or anything else that you might tend to forget.

I'm sure there is bunch of stuff that I've left off, but this is a good start on some of the things I use almost on a daily basis that are more cost effective and useful than having a studio full of specialized tools.

MQA June gathering

2009-06-08T06:53:00.004-05:00

Another June gathering under our belts, and it seemed to go smoothly. It was nice to be a participant rather than in charge of anything this year and I enjoyed being able to visit and chat rather than have stuff to do. A few minor changes this year but nothing huge. They moved the meeting part to the auditorium, which didn't work for me at all considering my claustrophobia of sitting in a long row of seats surrounded by others,rather than having it in the big room. But they did have the vendors in the area where the stage in the big room usually is. I managed to get out of there with only a few yards of fabric, but that's not really surprising considering I'm buying much less commercial fabric nowadays. White pdf and muslin....that's another story....I was sort of surprised there was no coffee Saturday morning, but that was quickly corrected when Cheryl hunted down "the little maintenance guy" and had him make a pot.

We unveiled the "River Runs Through It" challenge at show and tell on Saturday afternoon and I was amazed at the variety of techniques and looks for the pieces. This photo by Myra Hester shows 7 of the 8 pieces (Linda McInnis has piece #1 but she didn't make it to the gathering....we'll see it at the quilt show in Sept though) all lined up in order. I am always happy and proud to see the results of the challenges.

Each participant was given a piece of muslin with 2 lines across the bottom that had to be water between the lines. The lines connected up from one piece to the next so there is a river running across the entire assembly of pieces. We used facings, rather than bindings, so there would be no breaks between the pieces. I'm very pleased with the final result.

another trunk show post

2009-06-05T21:46:00.002-05:00

Way back on Feb 9th I posted a photo taken at the February MQA gathering and I neglected to give proper attribution to Myra Hester for taking the photo and then emailing it to me! I have no excuse for not doing that. She takes beautiful pictures and I was thrilled she got that one and then took the time to email it to me. Her great eye for framing shots is second only to her great eye for color in her quilts!

full week coming up

2009-06-01T06:21:00.000-05:00

We had a great art group yesterday even though the gel plates were too soft. I need to figure out an alternate way to pour them at the studio when it's not feasible to do it at home. Even so, I think most everyone got the idea of how it's done, and I offered to pour some more for the meeting next month in case anyone wants to pursue it a bit further. Someone was taking pictures yesterday but I'm not sure who it was. I saw the flash but I was looking down while demonstrating and then forgot to ask, so no pics of our playtime.

I'm liking this idea of working on journals during the meetings also. Not only will we have a physical journal at the end, we're also "journaling" our techniques on the covers.

The Craft Center is offering a kid's art camp this month also, so I'll be working with a group of kids for a couple of hours each day. First up is Sharpie tie dyed quilt squares today. I drew off some simple shapes (we're working with 5-9 year olds) onto white fabric squares with paint pen. They color the squares however they want with the Sharpies, I'll hit them with alcohol to bleed the ink, then let them go back in tomorrow with crayons and colored pencils to finish them off. Stitch them all together with some bright sashing and a quick-and-dirty in the ditch quilting and we'll have something to show the parents on Friday. Or maybe they'll be individual quiltlets....we'll see. I'm also in charge of decorating the little invitation bags. Foam stick-ons and maybe stamping their names. That comes later in the week.

Meanwhile, I'm still working on my own stuff that is under deadline. The challenge piece needs to be finished by Friday and ready for the reveal at MQA. Mostly finished with it, and it's small, but I'll feel better when it hits the "all done" pile. Another class lesson from Graffiti Chic comes out today too. I still have 3 of those to finish for the show and 2 to bind.

Worked as a volunteer at the Renaissance Arts Festival in Ridgeland this weekend and had a lot of fun. I hate we weren't aware of the call to artists in time to apply, but there's always next year. Not a single textile exhibitor! 3 fiber artists but they were all paper I think. People from all over the country and there was some beautiful art. Some crap also, but that's true of any large arts fair I think.

The best part of that morning (other than meeting some of the artists) was getting word that I've been asked to produce a piece for the back of a piano that's been donated to the Craft Center! Every time they roll the piano out to use it, my piece will be seen! I know that doesn't sound like a big huge honking deal to anyone but me, but I'm excited about it.

more class stuff

2009-05-28T17:00:00.003-05:00

Elvis is in the house! This is the background (last one in the previous post) after I've "done stuff" to it. Painted (brush, roller and spray) stenciled, stamped, and paint penned. The entire lyrics for "In the Ghetto" were written on the first layer, then the piece was stenciled and stamped and some other stuff, then I printed off the small Elvii on an old sewing pattern and added those. Echo quilting around the crowns and the word "Elvis" in the middle. I'll add more gold glitter fabric paint tomorrow after I get it trimmed and bound. Simple diagonal grid quilting for the rest of it.

This is the second to last background shown in the previous post that I have stenciled, stamped, yadda, yadda, yadda, and added a gel transfer of a photo of Pinetop Perkins.

Alisa Burke's fabric graffiti class

2009-05-26T09:02:00.003-05:00

WOW! What a blast! Lots and lots of the same techniques I already use but she puts them in a coherent order and uses them all together. What a blast.

Here are 5 backgrounds I worked on yesterday. All are in varying stages of completion with each having at least 3 layers already. More layers to come on all of them.

A little bit of work

2009-05-14T08:47:00.003-05:00

But not much. I finished up this piece yesterday and then spent the rest of the day with Ann and Molly bouncing around an idea for an "installation" piece at the guild. Have I mentioned how much I love the studio and people I work with out there? We got the green light to do a couch-shaped bench and 2 cubes. After MUCH discussion and idea bouncing, it looks like we'll be doing slumped glass mosaic pieces. We got so far as to draw up a sketch for the shape/size and some good ideas for the design. Of course, that's all liable (likely?) to change a hundred times between now and completion too. I'm sort of excited about it though!

Anyway, the piece I finished yesterday is commercial batiks, beads and doo-dads, pieced, appliqued and hung on bamboo. Each piece is finished independently and then attached. Another shaped piece, but using a felt batting rather than Peltex so I could pillowcase finish the edges instead of a satin stitch.

Mother's Day and my kids!

2009-05-13T19:31:00.003-05:00

What can I say? These are my kids.

antique/vintage quilt

2009-05-13T19:23:00.002-05:00

A woman brought this quilt into the guild looking for information on it. I had no idea what to tell her so I'll just throw it out here. Almost every single one of the polka dots on the red fabric are missing so I'm assuming it used some sort of mordant that degraded, and the binding was maybe 1/8" wide and a self-binding, where the backing fabric (just one layer of it too) was just brought to the front and stitched. The only inkling of info the owner had was that it might have been a wedding gift in 1913, and it was found in North Carolina. Any information at all concerning block pattern, possible age, value, anything like that would be much appreciated.

Scatter shots

2009-05-10T07:14:00.006-05:00

A whole bunch of not-so-much to talk about. An update on the Shamarr quilt, some new work, and some random bits about nothing in particular.

The Shamarr quilt "Homage to Shamarr" from the Threadheads raffle http://artofquilts.blogspot.com/2009/02/shamarr-allen.html was won by Jenn Rooney, who promptly turned around and handed it to Shamarr to give to his mother on Mother's Day. If there is a higher honor for an artist I'm not sure what it might be. Melissa Lewis (who wrote the poem I used on it) and her mother both contacted me to say how pleased they were that I used the poem and they both gave their approval for how I used it. The poem is so beautiful it almost brings me to tears every time I read it so I was glad they were happy with my treatment of it in my own work.

Recent work has been sort of scattered and I can't seem to decide on a "style" to work on. I seem to have 2 very disparate styles that are warring with each other right now. Makes me feel sort of schizo and unfocused, but I can't seem to get past it. I've been through this before and it seems to pass eventually, but it's a bear to work through while it's happening. Yuck. The work I seem to be actually turning out is bright, almost whimsical stuff, but the work in my head that I want to produce is more natural fibers and darker colors and batiks. Heading in a new direction by working smaller seems to be getting some of the pieces out of my system without struggling with it so much. I've reached a point where I HAVE to do some of the quilting on the finished tops and stop just turning out tops. Here is a small piece I did the other day that's completely finished and ready to hang. The quilt part is cut out from behind the agate slice (which is very transparent) and the whole thing is mounted on the glass in the frame. The frame itself is covered with rust-stained cotton sateen. Commercial batik, silk yarn, agate, beading and small glass leaves. Machine quilted and hand beaded.

The fleur de lis was just for fun and it's next up for quilting after I attach the treble clef to it. Commercial prints, gold cotton lame' and my almost-trademark Peltex based individually finished treble clef. I have one more almost-finished piece ready for trimming and binding, that was a challenge of sorts from my friend Dorinda. She did a fused wall quilt using an oak leaf pattern and passed along the fused scraps to me to "put together" and I further challenged myself to only use fabrics that were within reach of my ironing board. I have it hanging on the design wall at the studio and it gets tons of positive comments so I should probably get it finished and down to the gallery, huh?

Codecutter and I took off to Belzoni, MS yesterday for the Pinetop Perkins blues fest and had a blast. I always look forward to the summer blues fest circuit since the majority of them are quick up-and-back day trips for us. Our kids think we're "cute" and "weird" (depending on which kid it is) for festing most every weekend. I think they're just jealous. Listening to an Alphonso Sanders CD we bought yesterday and that alone was enough to make the trip worth it! I also had a "small world" moment with him. During the performance (he was playing with a band, not by himself) Big Steve introduced the players and when I heard his name I turned to Codecutter and said "I get emails with his name on them!" The emails are from another man but are frequently forwarded with other names visible so I recognized his. After the set I went and introduced myself and asked if he was the same person. He is, and told me that the photo on the CD was taken by our mutual friend and even remembered seeing my work a year or so ago at Hoover's Kitchen in Clarksdale! I'm beginning to believe that working in a non-traditional media in the art world is paying off. People tend to remember the work a little more since it's usually the only example of fiber. I also connected with the CEO of MS Delta Blues, Inc who also remembered seeing my work. See what I mean about being memorable? Maybe one day I'll have the confidence to say they remember it because of the art, but for now I'm satisfied if they remember it for the media.

The deciding factor for going to the Pinetop fest instead of the Robert Johnson fest yesterday was the fact that the Pinetop-inspired quilt accepted for the corporate art program that hung at the casino in Vicksburg is one of only two pieces over there that had sold. Everything else was evenly divided and that seemed as good a reason as any to make the decision to head north instead of south. I'm glad we did!

Just for Stax!

2009-05-02T07:39:00.002-05:00

Here's your post Tom!

This is my studio space, although I've added (and added and added) stuff to it the last couple of months, and rearranged it a bit to have more table space. Also, it's not nearly this neat now that I'm actually working in it. I've always worked in the middle of a cyclone of fabrics and supplies and that seems to be where a lot of my ideas come from. Just seeing an accidental jumble of color seems to trigger ideas a lot of times. I've been working on a lot of rust stained quilts for the gallery (which I thought I had pictures of but can't find) and some brighter stuff that might go in the show. I still don't have a clear idea of what I want to do for that, but it will come. I've also done 3 bottle tree/pink flamingo/ Christmas lights things that are very bright and happy and getting good comments from people visiting the studio while I'm working on them. We'll see if I ever get around to finishing them. For right now, they're hanging on the design board as "decoration" for the studio. We also hung a bunch of finished pieces on the walls the other day. I should probably get more pictures of the current studio, huh?

Long time no see!

2009-04-14T08:05:00.004-05:00

And lots to catch up on too. I'm going into my second month in studio space at the MS Craft Center and it's absolutely wonderful. I have the best view from my 'office' window anyone could ever ask for. My fear of hitting a mental block hasn't materialized so far, and it's a wonderful experience to be around other artists to bounce ideas off of.

A few weeks ago I got an email asking me to be one of 15 local artists who have been invited to decorate a heart for the American Cancer Society's silent auction during the Heart and Soul Gala. I gladly accepted and immediately began trying to think of something to do with it. I knew I wanted it mounted on a quilt but I wasn't sure about the size or weight of it until after I actually had it in my hands. They are specially designed unfinished porcelain hearts and only 15 were poured. To be honest, I made 3 iterations of it before going back to my original design. I had initially resisted that one because it meant I had to paint the heart black and I wasn't sure how well that would go over, but I am happy with the result, especially after learning that only 2 of us had done anything with the heart besides just painting them. Ann (my studio mate) caged hers in some of her wire work and mine is mounted on an art quilt. As far as I know, ours are the only ones that hang. I have been assured they will figure out some way to hang them for the auction though, and not just have them lying on the table. The picture I took is of it lying on the table but that's because I forgot to get a picture of it before I delivered it. I frequently forget to take pictures of my work, and even had to run down to the gallery the other day to get photos of the stuff I have hanging there.

Our 3-woman show is still on for June and July at the Craft Center although I've done less than nothing as far as producing work for it. I'm still waiting on inspiration to strike, and if that doesn't happen I have no idea what I'll do, but one thing I'm sure of is that there will be SOMETHING hanging on the walls! I keep thinking if I can just get past this week I'll have the time (and room in my brain) to really think it through and get stuff made. I'm still leaning towards the rust stuff but that's about as far as I've gotten with the thought process. Good thing I work so fast!

The heart itself is about 7" wide. I forgot to measure the finished art quilt though. Maybe 24' wide?

Mardi Bra

2009-02-26T08:54:00.003-06:00

As requested, and appropriate for just returning from New Orleans....Mardi Bra!

I can't find a picture of "C Food" with the fish net and seafood, but this is "See Cup", which I had forgotten about.

Shamarr Allen

2009-02-19T10:21:00.005-06:00

Finished! 35x29, commercial batiks, organza and rust-stained muslin. Photo printing (all photos and text used by permission) stenciled, stamped, pieced, appliqued, echo quilted and faced. Assorted ribbon and embellishments.

Trunk Show - literally!

2009-02-09T07:40:00.004-06:00

We had our Spring gathering for the MQA this past weekend (it went beautifully!) and after it was all over JJ Foley asked to see some of my work since I had neglected to bring anything for show and tell. JJ was our speaker Saturday morning and those of you who are unfamiliar with her work are really missing out on some beautiful stuff! http://drawnink.blogspot.com/ She brought "9 Pages" with her and it's even better up close than it is in photos. Isn't that always the case though? At any rate, after the gathering was over we walked out to my car so she could see some of my own work. We literally had a "trunk show" on the trunk of my car! Or maybe that would be a "trunk turning" perhaps?

Marilyn Dedeaux did a great presentation on her self-portrait quilts she's been doing since taking a Yvonne Porcella class and it was all I could do not to make her an offer on the blue and orange one! Shelley Taylor did a presentation on her memory/signature quilts and I noticed several people who have family weddings coming up gathered around her asking questions after her talk. She may turn into our resident signature quilt expert!

All in all, a great weekend. Good to see the people from around the state that I only see at the gatherings, lots of catching up and shopping and chatting. Very relaxed and no big crises cropped up so I call it a success!

And in other news, as of the first load this morning, I'll be moving into shared studio space at the craft center http://www.mscrafts.org/facility.html to be up and working in the studio by Feb 21. I'm excited and nervous. Excited at the opportunity offered, but nervous that I'll hit a complete mental block about what to do once I get there. I love talking about my work and explaining how I do what I do, and I have no problem with people watching me work, I'm just worried about every design idea I've ever had flying out of my head with no new ones to take their place. I'm also excited at the idea of a real studio with things where they're supposed to be and enforced work time with no phones ringing or people needing something. I can just sit down and concentrate on what I'm doing without the distractions. I'm really looking forward to that aspect of it. Maybe I'll get my crap quota out of the way faster!

That's JJ Foley on the left and her daughter's mother-in-law in the middle. My mind is drawing a total blank on her name and the name of the other woman.

This photo was snapped by Myra Hester, and I should be flogged for neglecting to attribute it to her when I published it!

Quilt Tsushin magazine

2009-01-14T05:22:00.004-06:00

The issue of Quilt Tsushin that we're featured in has finally arrived! Well, not arrived at MY house, but everyone else seems to have received their copy. I took pictures of "my" pages yesterday when I got to see Dorinda's copy. My fingers are crossed that mine will arrive shortly. We can't wait to find out what the article actually says either, but for now it's plenty exciting to just see photos of our work in an international magazine. I can't believe it's been so long since they were here doing the interview and photos either. Time flies and all that. It's a huge honor to be included in the same issue as Gwen Magee and I'm still sort of in a fog about that. Maybe after I have my own copy in my hot little hands it will seem more real to me. The colors are way off on a couple of the quilts, but I don't even care!!!

When I get my copy, I'll be able to scan the pages instead of photograph them so the pictures won't have the flash reflection.

New Year

2009-01-01T09:31:00.002-06:00

Yesterday was our 25th wedding anniversary. Over half my life! We had a great, relaxing day, my horrible cold and general yuckiness notwithstanding, then out to eat and home in time to watch LSU in a complete blow-out over GA Tech. Nice way to end the evening. I woke up cold about 12:30 this morning, grabbed a quilt and rolled over to go back to sleep, then I realized it was completely silent and dark. No streetlights, no red numbers from the alarm clock, no music, no heat, no power. Also, no corded phone anywhere close to call Entergy with and I wasn't getting out of bed to go get it. My solution of course was to grab another quilt and move closer to my hub and cat pile to get warm and hope the power came back on soon. We finally gave up about 6:30 and decided to go out for breakfast after Entergy told us power would be back on by 7:30. Not. It finally came back on about 9:00 and the house isn't warm yet. I'm still in my coat and my toes and fingers are like icicles. We have a restaurant style Bunn coffee maker that has a reservoir of water that stays hot all the time, and of course the water in the reservoir had cooled overnight so we had a pot of cold coffee when the power did come back on. At least the microwave came back on too.

The way I see it is we're getting the bad luck out of the way first thing and the rest of the year is going to be great!!! Corned beef and cabbage with black-eyed peas and sausage on the menu for later to guarantee it!

The ultimate MS State joke

2008-12-28T16:43:00.003-06:00

and unfortunately, it isn't a joke. This is a picture we took of the jumbotron during my oldest daughter's college graduation a couple of weeks ago. Six years of tuition to send her to a school where they can't spell "exercises." Sort of sad, isn't it?

As far as I'm concerned, State deserves every bad joke Ole Miss can come up with.

Gumbo and Jake

2008-12-27T19:28:00.002-06:00

Gumbo (coolest cat in the world) and Jake the dog. It's pretty amazing these two get along as well as they do since they were introduced to each other when they were both a couple of years old. We got Gumbo (coolest cat in the world) as a kitten and didn't get Jake until a couple of years later, and he was already about 3 years old when we got him. Gumbo (coolest cat in the world) doesn't make any sound, he just makes the mouth movements that look like he should be meowing. He can also open the front door by himself, which totally wigs people out when they're sitting there and the door flings open and in walks the cat. We're working on teaching him to close it behind him but he's apparently a slow learner. We also have a black lab and 2 other cats. They're all pretty laid back and fight less than the kids ever did. One of the funniest things they do is that (my sweet baby) Boo Radley (kitty) will grab Jake around the snout with his little kitty arms and Jake flips his head up with Boo hanging on. That's great sport for them to do that, at least until they start knocking stuff over wrestling around. Boo is pretty entertaining all by himself, racing through the house and flopping around. He also comes on command, but none of that wussy "here, kitty, kitty" crap for him. I just holler "Boo Radley" at him and he comes flying and talking. If it weren't for the fact that he had long, jet black fur you'd think he had some Siamese in him for all the talking he does. He's very skittish around people, but very affectionate towards me. He also loves being a cat more than any other cat I've ever seen. The whole running and jumping and swatting and playing thing is great fun for him. He races me through the house (skidding on the wood floors) leaping over things on the way from my work room to the kitchen, and when he beats me into the kitchen, he flops (that's not an exaggeration either...you can actually hear him hit the floor) down in front of me like he's accomplished something special. He also spends about half his time on his back legs, like a squirrel. He comes to the side of my chair and sits up to be petted, sits up to swat at stuff, and sits up to play with his fox and rabbit. A real fox and rabbit, both from vintage stoles, that look pretty freaky to see him toting them around like trophies until you get used to it.

Ignore the fact that the rug needs vacuuming too.

Finally!

2008-12-26T09:52:00.004-06:00

Some actual fabric-related content. Two finished tops that have to be quilted, but at least the tops are done. No idea what possessed me to make these, since I don't usually do fussy, pieced, precise measurement quilts, but they are what they are.

The one with the red is about 45x45 and uses a variety of commercial prints and a square of an African print on a background of Osnaburg. I'm thinking they'll both have very heavy quilting in a matching color and straight lines. Of course, that may change once I start quilting them, but for right now that's my intention. Lots of straight lines and angles for the quilting. You probably can't see it, but the WIDE borders are mitered at the corners, so at least the borders will probably be channel quilted in squares around the outside.

The one with the shiny insets is the Osnaburg again, with a beautiful gold/black block printed ribbon. Each piece of ribbon is surrounded by small black piping, and the small stripes on the left are more piping. The heavier vertical line is an even thicker piping. Top and left edges will have Osnaburg binding, bottom and right edges will have black binding. This one looks MUCH better in person than it does in the picture. It is about 36x45.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-21T04:56:00.000-06:00

HO HO HO! Or whatever sound flamingos make.

Life is........

2008-12-18T18:13:00.004-06:00

"Good" is usually the end of that phrase and for the most part that's true, but occasionally, well, "life" interferes and other adjectives take the place of good. Interesting, expensive (in an emergency-visit-to-the-vet sort of way), funny, expensive (in a truck-that-crapped-out sort of way), exhausting, expensive (in a more-was-wrong-with-the-truck-than-they-originally-thought sort of way), exciting and expensive (in a daughter's-broken-tooth sort of way) are all appropriate adjectives this week.

My oldest daughter (not of aforementioned broken tooth fame) graduated from college Friday night in Starkville. She's not actually through with school, but she walked across the stage in the long black dress and got the empty diploma holder. I have no idea why they "walk" before they actually finish school, but I'm not complaining. I'm definitely pushing for the others to time their graduations for the Dec ceremony rather than the May one. Fewer people parading across the stage, less traffic to fight to get to the auditorium and plenty of seats. We got the obligatory pictures of her holding up the empty diploma folder (to be photoshopped at will later) with the tape measure and shots of full face and profile. Yeah, mugshot was the scenario on those. I'm just hoping my parents or sister got real photos instead of the silly ones we were taking. Not hoping for our sake, we're perfectly happy with the mugshots, but down the road somewhere she'll probably be glad to have nice pics of it too. Or not, knowing her. She wanted to dye her hair fuchsia to graduate but my mom stroked out so I caught the daughter and stopped her. Fortunately, I got to her before application of the neon dye, but unfortunately, I didn't get to her until after she'd already stripped and bleached the front of it preparing to dye it. She didn't look horrible with the bright yellow stripes on the sides of her face. Or maybe it wasn't horrible because the hat covered it up.

If she had decided to get a 3-toed sloth tattoo on her right cheek I'd have been OK with that too. She deserves it after all her hard work over the years. Way to go, baby!!!!!

Let it snow....and sleet, and rain, and get nasty....

2008-12-11T10:39:00.003-06:00

Another reason I love the Kroger

2008-11-24T05:41:00.004-06:00

This is a wall hanging I made for my mother yesterday. You'll notice that the red burlap backing is a different color in the second picture. Once I got it to her house and we decided where to hang it, the red was way too harsh so I mixed up a concoction of instant coffee and some wine colored Rit liquid dye and just sponged it on the exposed edges. A HUGE improvement on it. Of course, the original picture is pure crap since I just shot it on the way out the door and didn't look at it before leaving.

The piece is made with a paper grocery bag from the Kroger that I wet, wadded up and ironed dry. Then I used acrylics to paint on it, fused interfacing to the back and then sprayed with water, wadded and ironed again. I ironed from the front side this time to get the crackly looking effect on the paint. The whole thing was then painted with a brown poly wood stain and fused to the burlap.

Jute hanger, wooden clothespins at the top and 3 rust-colored bells with a little piece of greenery and a tiny plaid bow finish off the hanging loop.

She loves it and I'm happy with it, so it's all good. And I had so much fun playing with it that I think I'm going to do one for myself. Maybe a snowman so I can work some blue into it.

mystery solved!

2008-11-20T20:32:00.003-06:00

The pattern is apparently called "peony" (some slight variations, i.e. pineys, paeony) and it is a variation of a Lemoyne Star block. Thanks to everyone who responded to my plea for help. It set me off on the right path to identify the block.

The Carolina Lily pattern that was suggested is very close, but it lacks the last 2 petals/leaves of a true Lemoyne Star/peony. The setting with the stems and vase are typical of the Carolina Lily, but the piecing is different. The leaves on the antique quilt are also pieced diamonds, not applique as most Carolina Lily patterns seem to be.

Antique quilt

2008-11-20T08:08:00.004-06:00

The Craftsmen's guild had three antique (I'm using 'antique' in the generally accepted definition as signifying 100+ years old) quilts donated recently, and I'm trying to identify the specific pattern used on this one. It's obviously a tulip pattern of some description set on point and is hand pieced, with machine applique stems. Those are the tiniest machine stitches I've ever seen, too. Hand quilted in a Baptist fan pattern, and only one small area about 2x4 inches is missing the quilting stitches.

The green has faded a tremendous amount, based on the non-faded seam allowances, but the red shows very little change in color. The single-fold green print binding is completely worn through all the way around, but as a whole the quilt is in surprisingly good condition. The backing is maybe a homespun? So thin, with a such a loose weave, it almost looks like cheesecloth or drapery scrim at this point. There are areas of quilting where green thread was used but the vast majority of it was done with matching off-white. A couple of mends on the backing, a big round applique and a couple of smaller darned areas, but they are quilted with the original quilting so I'm assuming the fabric was repaired before being used. One pretty bad mildew-y looking spot towards the middle of it and some smaller rusty looking stains but all in all, a very pretty quilt. Total size is 78"x82".

Any information on the block pattern or fabrics or anything else about this quilt or time period would be greatly appreciated.

Finally! Pictures!

2008-11-17T09:44:00.003-06:00

I finally got around to (finding the camera) (charging the batteries) (getting stuff together) taking some pictures of current stuff. These are 2 postcards and a quilt that I've done in the last few days. The first postcard is thread painting on batik, with tiny little Christmas ornament musical instruments. I love when Christmas rolls around so I can find all the cool music stuff. Miniatures and larger ones, although I don't ever really have a need for harps, lyres and French horns.

The second postcard is commercial print fabric with guitar strings and a pick. Both are 4"x6" and are intended as thank you gifts for friends.

The quilt is 28"x40" and I used a Loni Rossi commercial print and black. I'll win the lottery one day and buy a couple of bolts of the Michael Miller black too. I go through that stuff like toilet paper. You can still see the chalk quilting lines but I haven't washed it yet. This one has a facing rather than a binding because I wasn't happy with any configuration of any color binding showing at all. I'm using the facing more and more on my stuff and it's no longer the last option I consider. I don't like the pillowcase method at all and the facing gives the same effect with a different technique. 'Gye Nyame' got counted off for binding technique at the quilt show the year she won the big honking prize even though she also has a facing. Just one of those confusing comments that make you wonder if the judges are even looking at what they're grading. Or maybe if the scribes are a couple of quilts behind in the notes. My favorite comment this past show was "border needs more quilting." On a quilt that has no border. I've always thought it interesting that judges make comments like that to begin with, since it's a judgement call by the quilter for what effect they want to produce. It's about on a par with "I don't like that color" as far as useful critique. That partly explains why I tend to submit to art shows more and more rather than quilt shows.

Happy Birthday!

2008-11-14T07:27:00.002-06:00

To me! Monday was my 49th birthday and I spent 3 absolutely wonderful days in New Orleans with no plans other than to enjoy myself. And I did! Spent some time in the quarter doing pretty much nothing, then ate, then hanging with one of my best friends and catching up on life and stuff. An incredibly relaxing, rejuvenating evening. Got up the next morning and checked out some of the prospect.1 stuff then off to the Rosetree glass blowing studio over in Algiers. Mark (the owner) was working on some large vases so I got to watch him blow glass for an hour or so, then visited with his wife for a while in the showroom. He does the most gorgeous work and I wanted one of each. http://www.rosetreeglass.com/ One of the best things is the studio itself. It's in an old movie theatre and it is so freaking cool. Go read his story (history link on the website) about getting through the storm too.

Katy and I spent the rest of the day screwing around on Magazine street window shopping in the rain, no less, and then a grabbed a bite to eat. Headed out to a bar eventually and avoided a fight with the pool league players then off to Frenchmen st to finish up the evening (morning?) before heading back to her place. I can't remember the last time I laughed that much either.

The weather was perfect, the company was perfect, and my batteries got recharged. Good to know that my muse still lives there. I came home with several ideas for designs and I'll let them sit in the back of my mind until they develop, but the NO inspired pieces are usually some of my favorites when they finally come to fruition. Something about the colors and line and movement really seem to wind up being good pieces. Everyone should have a specific 'trigger' like that for designing. It's my guaranteed cure for artist's block.

Now that I got the minication out of my system, it's time to get some work produced! I have to have new stuff to hang at New Stage in Jan and I mostly have pieces of pieces right now. Maybe getting a plan as to what to do next would help. Cut the fabric for a new piece or finish some of what I've already started, or quilt what I've already finished? Decisions, decisions.

Maybe at least one picture later today of a piece that's almost finished.

And more than 10 days!

2008-11-09T20:38:00.002-06:00

I have no idea how time gets away from me like it does. I look back and think "where did the time go, and why don't I have anything to show for it?" I did manage to crank out a bunch of non-fiber Christmas ornaments to put at ARTichoke this week, and I got a quilt top done today, along with 2 more designs in my head. The ornaments were cute and I had fun taking a bunch of light bulbs apart to make them. Other than that, I've been pretty useless. We headed down to see Cassandra Wilson last weekend but after just a couple of hours it got a bit chilly so we headed home. I love her music so I hated wimping out like that.

When I took the quilt over to the casino, I stopped in at the Attic Gallery in Vicksburg and wound up leaving 4 pieces with them. One sold within just a couple of days so that was good. The gallery itself is so very cool too! I could spend hours in there just poking around at all the great art they have. Stacked, piled, leaned, puddled everywhere. I was in heaven for the 2 or so hours I spent just looking. Lots of local and regional artists and folk art, craft, outsider, all kinds of cool stuff.

My oldest child is so sick of the incompetence at MS State that she now says she's ashamed it will even have that name on her degree. For a child who loves learning and is going into the education field, it says a lot that they are so bad she feels that way about them. At least they haven't turned her off of teaching (yet) just student-ing. Who knows how the other 2 are doing. Our usual conversations go something like this:

ME: How are you doing in your classes?

THEM: OK as far as I know

ME: How do you not know what your grades are?

THEM: Well, I had a test a couple of weeks ago and I passed it.

ME: What about the rest of your classes?

THEM: Can you deposit some money in my account please?

Occasionally, there is some variation in the first 5 lines of that conversation, but the 6th always rolls around eventually. I'll just be happy for the day that one of them, any one of them, finally graduates.

If there is anyone in existence with a more mundane life than mine, I'm glad I don't know them. They're probably the most boring person on the planet.

10 days!

2008-10-19T04:20:00.002-05:00

Time flies! I've been busy painting fabric and more fabric. I started out doing my own thing and then I was invited to an artist demo at ARTichoke next Saturday. I wanted to do a make it and take it thing so I asked if I could do some fabric painting with the visitors. Of course, that means I have to get a bunch of samples (and small things to sell!) ready. Hence my awakeness at 4:00 am. It takes a while for the paint to dry so I do a piece, set it aside to dry and start on another piece. I have 3 or 4 pieces in varying stages of paint/dry all over the house and as soon as I deem them done, I'll get started on the construction. I'm thinking checkbook covers, placemats, table runners and journal covers. We'll have small pieces of fabric and plenty of house paint available for the visitors to create their own masterpieces on this Saturday. If anyone is in Jackson and wants to come play with us, it's from 10-2 at ARTichoke on Fortification St, between Jitney 14 and New Stage.

I have to deliver 'Piano Tornado' to the casino in Vicksburg tomorrow so it will be hanging when the casino opens. I'm not sure when the grand opening is though. The weather has been so nice the last couple of days I'm sort of looking forward to the short roadtrip. I hope it stays nice through the weekend too, since I'll be working outside for the demo.

Another post!

2008-10-09T09:46:00.004-05:00

Can y'all believe it? Two posts in three days! I've been having fun with the fabric painting stuff that (hopefully) will eventually become whole-cloth pieces. Or maybe I'll just keep painting fabric and then have a stack of painted fabric and no quilts. I'm sort of stuck on the graphic stuff right now, but I can feel the Jackson Pollack coming soon. I like the geometrics but I have to restrain myself from getting more and more non-geometric as I'm working on them. When I get to the point that I want to just do it freehand, I stop and call it finished. It's a bit hard to force myself to keep it graphic looking, but I think it's good practice to work on pure abstracts. Line and shape and color are much more important. Maybe another 1 or 2 of these, then it's off to the freeform abstracts. I'm looking forward to the comparison between the 2 styles when I get enough to compare.

I added a little more red to the first one, and did the second one this morning. I like the second one much better.

"Don't feel bad" I tell myself

2008-10-07T07:49:00.004-05:00

Nobody else is updating their blog with any frequency either. But I do have pics today! My youngest daughter on the cover of a local magazine and a whole cloth piece that I just HAD to do. It's been rattling around in my head for a a couple of weeks and I finally just bit the bullet and did it. I like the process so well I'll probably do some more of them. No idea where the abstract, graphic sort of feel to it came from but I see great possibilities for different designs. I had originally intended to use some text on these, until the subject came up on the QuiltArt list and then it sort of felt like I'd be jumping on the bandwagon with it, so that idea may have to wait, although the lyrics and words I want to use are still there and still an option. White PFD fabric with acrylic and rust staining. Stamps, stencils, templates and masking tape shapes. The rust stained stripes are from the piano sound board in my front yard. Most people have garden decorations. I have a 400 lb chunk of a piano. I also rust stained stripes on a white linen dress with it the other day. Totally cool, and the dress only cost a quarter at the Salvation Army.

The cover shot is for a new magazine called Metro Teen and it's published by the same people who did the other magazine she was on the cover of. There are several pictures of her throughout the magazine too and they all look great! I might be biased.

like a bee

2008-09-27T18:16:00.002-05:00

My poor blog looks so neglected! Maybe because it is. Too much drama and crisis in my life lately. 3 funerals in less than 2 weeks, all sudden and newsworthy, and nothing I want to talk about. Just say it's been a couple of weeks of rough going, so I sort of have an excuse for not updating.
Now that I am updating, I have news! I submitted for a corporate art exhibit at a casino being built in Vicksburg and I am officially one of their "inaugural artists" as of yesterday! The stuff hangs in Oct, reception in Jan, and hopefully sold! I've also got to get stuff made for the show at the New Stage Theatre in Jan and Feb. Trying to develop an outline for 2 classes, and I'm the new incoming VP of my 'home' quilt guild! I'm really excited about that, and will write more on it later. My brain is still sort of scattered from the last week or so.
My oldest daughter is on the cover of another magazine and we just got a stack of copies of it so I'll have to scan that and post it.
7 quilts off to the Pinebelt show next week and then a quilt/wallhanging/crib set thing for the sis-in-law's baby, which is expected soon!! Maybe after that I can take a break.

busy, busy

2008-09-13T04:15:00.002-05:00

Hung a bunch of my quilts at Cups, a local coffee shop chain (better than Starsucks!) yesterday with my friend Chris. I wish she lived a bit closer to my regular orbit so I could see her more often, but it was fun spending some time with her, and meeting the owner at Cups. The work will be hanging through the end of Sept, then some of them are off to the show in Hattiesburg, and hopefully some will be off to the casino in Vicksburg shortly after that. No word on acceptances for that yet though.

An email the other day about putting together an exhibit at the local community theatre at the end of January in conjunction with their performance of the Gee's Bend play. No, before you ask, the exhibit won't be Gee's Bend-ish quilts created for the production but a variety of quilts to tie in with the quilting theme. I have to go down next week to see the space and how to hang them and that sort of thing. I love that the theatre has related art exhibits for each play too. They had an invitational for the current "Sherlock Holmes" and local artists created SH related work. The next production is To Kill a Mockingbird, so much a favorite that my cat is named Boo Radley.

Some other stuff coming up or already happened, but I've been up, glued to Ike reports since about 2:30 and my thinking is a little fractured, so you're getting stream of consciousness more than any real thoughtful posting. Hey! At least I'm putting a post up!

I had big plans to post a picture too, but I'm on the laptop so I can watch the weather channel so the pic will have to wait.

I'm off to a sew day today with a group of other quilters and I am inordinately excited about it. I know a couple of them, but not as well as I'd like to, am acquainted with a couple others and don't know a couple of them at all. Judging from the ones I do know, I'm sure I'll like all of them and would love to get to know them better. No idea why it's so hard for me to reach out and do the work involved to make friends, but I'm always grateful when others make the effort to include me. There's probably some deep psychological reason for that, or maybe it's just because I'm in the habit of being solitary and a bit isolated in my daily life. I do try to get involved with stuff, and don't mind volunteering and being active, but that's different than making friends.

Speaking of being active, another surprise the other day when I was asked to be one of the committee chairs for the upcoming quilt show this fall. I scribed last year and absolutely loved it! I can still scribe this year since my duties won't overlap the days of judging. We've also put together a very basic crit group and I'm hoping my scribe duties will expose me to some real critiques from the judges. I'd love to be able to apply some of that to my own work also.

After much angst (and laughter with Cindy) we have finally gotten the October gathering put together I think. We even got the info together for the newsletter, which Leslie got out even though she was in the middle of Gustav! The gathering is on the coast, and I'm hoping to get word on a training seminar in Ocean Springs I've applied for through the Arts Alliance that will be held the 3 days following the seminar. One trip to the coast instead of 2 would be nice since the following weekend is the Hattiesburg show, and that's halfway to the coast. Lots of driving (and gas!!) in a week and a half if I have to go down and back for each.

Big prayers for everyone in the path of Ike, and I am dreading the aftermath with so many people deciding to ride it out. I can't help but think of the hurricane party at the apartment complex on the coast during Camille, and the result of that.

"The Storm"

2008-08-28T19:09:00.005-05:00

It's been a week of unbelievable tragedy and crisis for someone I love very much, so my posting and working has suffered. I've done some mindless piecing on a quilt sort of loosely based on one I saw earlier in the week (thanks Rosemary!) that was loosely based on one she saw in a magazine. It is morphing from what I started with to something a little more involved, but the base idea is still there.

The only piece I have actually finished this week is the one I did for the Breaking Traditions show. It's another Katrina piece using some more of my debris, and it was another one that was hard to work through. The storm pieces are getting easier, but still not (maybe never) easy. And now we're all on edge with Gus wandering around. This piece is 12"x12" and constructed on a commercial print cotton base using blue tarp, a scrap of Army fatigue, reverse appliqued Red Cross, scraps and bits and orts of MRE packaging, nails, a chunk of roofing, and a bunch of other stuff. A paint-covered screwdriver, a beaded cross, and some Mardi Gras doubloons from the 70s. Between working on this piece, the personal crisis and the nerves from Gus, I'm about wiped out emotionally this week.

OK, enough whining and on to the picture!

We're gonna give it a shot

2008-08-26T16:42:00.003-05:00

Me and my big ideas! We're getting an on-line art quilt crit group together. So far, we have 7 people participating, and once the fog clears from my brain I'll be putting together the "official" guidelines and rules. Right now, I'm just sending out links to existing crit forms and info so everyone will have an idea of the direction we're trying to go. I'm actually sort of looking forward to it too. I've discovered that I can learn as much about my own work by analyzing other people's as I do by analyzing my own. It's almost easier to define and verbalize the elements of someone else's quilt. Maybe I just "know" in my head how I want to do something without having to put much more thought into it than "it looks better at the bottom than it does at the side" when I'm working on my own stuff. Looking at someone else's, I have to decide specifically WHY it looks better at the bottom and be able to put that into words.

Concentrating on the art aspect can only help and it's never a bad thing to be able to get some insight into how others perceive your strengths and weaknesses in design, color, etc.

A post!

2008-08-21T09:21:00.002-05:00

Not an important one, or an informative one, and probably not even an interesting one. But a post nonetheless, which is more than I can claim from the last 2 weeks or so. Deadlines for three really big things that have all fallen at the same time. 2 show submissions with the gobs of inherent paperwork, and a newsletter deadline with a bunch of information and phone calls back and forth and emails flying to get complete and accurate info.

Both show submissions are going out today, then a couple of quilts to finish up for one of the shows and I'll get a break. I think. At least the kids are all back at school so I have the time for my own work. Having the energy and motivation is a different story.

My oldest daughter started her practice teaching yesterday to finish her degree to be a high school English teacher and she is SOOO excited. She's assigned to a school less than 2 blocks from her apartment so she plans to walk as often as possible. Her original assignment was 41 miles away and we were sweating the gas costs for an entire semester of that commute. She's thrilled with the teacher she's assigned to, and she has only Jrs and Srs and at least one AP class to work with. She's in hog heaven and can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel! We're incredibly proud of her.

Good vibrations

2008-08-12T08:07:00.003-05:00

I sort of had a lapse there with the chronological steps on this one. It's ready for quilting now though. I added some notes, a black and white flange between the background and the narrow black inner border, and then finished off with a wider print border. The outside border is the same fabric as what's behind the notes, and the colors were perfect with the hand painted background, although I painted the background over a year ago and the fabric was a gift last month. Worked perfectly though. Not sure yet what the quilting pattern is going to be but I'm leaning towards some big sweeping curves sort of echoing the lines of the staff and the keyboard.

the Satchmo piece

2008-08-01T10:52:00.002-05:00

It didn't even occur to me to re-post the Satchmo piece that was in the show! This is "Primarily Jazz" and it's 35"x35", hand painted and commercial cottons, pieced, appliqued and thread painted.

Satchmo art show

2008-08-01T07:45:00.003-05:00

The reception was great! Wall to wall people, open bar upstairs and 3 buffet tables of food. The only glitch was the fact that, because of the lay out of the exhibit, it was hard to hang out by my piece to eavesdrop on the viewers and there was no way to identify the artists from the visitors. I did pass out a bunch of cards and talked to a few people and just enjoyed the experience of being in an art show in New Orleans. The president of the City Council (her name escapes me, unfortunately) spoke, and we were all given fancy certificates signed by the Mayor. They were worded strangely and it sort of looked like the kind of thing politicians do so they look like they're doing something, but at least they went to the trouble of doing it. I'll stick it up on my wall with the ribbons from local shows and call it a souvenir, although I actually like the poster better. It was pretty cool to see my name on the list of artists though. No prize, but I didn't expect one. I was just happy my work was accepted for the show to begin with, considering the caliber of the local artists. The 46 pieces of art are on exhibit until September 1.

I didn't realize until the speech that this is the first year back since the storm, and the 25th anniversary of the Satchmo art show, so maybe it's an even bigger deal than I thought it was. At any rate, I'm happy and proud and excited to have been included in it.

36 hours I won't soon forget

2008-07-27T07:26:00.002-05:00

Bear with me here. Wed evening I headed down to Biloxi to spend the night with my uncle before heading over to NOLA Thurs to deliver the quilt for the art show. Nice drive down, pleasant evening with my uncle and a good night's sleep. Up and out around 10:30 the next morning for the hour drive to NOLA. Plenty of time, since I had to be there between 10-4. 20 minutes down I-10 and the car died. Crap. Call Rickey and he comes over with his truck and towed me maybe 2 miles to a repair shop in Diamondhead. So far, so good. It's now about noon so I have time to take him back home and still get to the gallery by 4:00 with plenty of time to spare. Drop him off and head back down I-10. Beautiful day, nice drive and not a lot of westbound traffic. Everything going great until about the state line, then it came a flood. Literally. I was in his big, heavy pickup and I was STILL hydroplaning occasionally. The 1 hour drive took over 2 hours since we were lucky to be hitting 35 mph for the last half of the trip. Nerve wracking doesn't begin to describe driving across the bridge in an unfamiliar vehicle that's much larger than my Honda, with about 10 feet of visibility through the rain, and half the morons driving without their lights on. Apparently, God was just washing the city down for my arrival though, because about the time I pulled on Canal St. the sun broke through and the weather was gorgeous! Thank goodness, too, since I didn't have plastic over the quilt, just a fabric wrap on it. I found a free parking space literally at the door of the gallery. One of the secretaries squealed with delight when she saw my work too. After dropping it off I hooked up with my friend Charles for a beer at Ryan's and then down the street for lunch at Maspero's. It was great chatting with him and catching up on stuff. The only hitch was the call from the repair shop that the bill would be $950 for a blown radiator and head gasket.

Friday morning I took off in Rickey's extra car to go put the deposit on the car repairs. Great trip over to Diamondhead and back until I got ONE BLOCK away from being back at the trailer (yeah, he's still in a FEMA trailer) and the car overheated. Cracked radiator housing. Crap. Good thing the truck is in great condition, huh? Meanwhile, I'm looking at an overnight trip turning into a 6 day saga on the coast. Quick trip to the Family Dollar to at least get something to change into since I only had 2 shirts and a pair of jeans with me. Another meeting with the powers-that-be about his grant from the IRD at 1:30. He didn't qualify for that grant, and they knew it the instant they looked at the paperwork. They SHOULD have known it 3 months ago when he submitted the paperwork and told him then. It would have cut out all the worrying he's done in that time. Drop the car off on Pass Rd. to be repaired and get another call from the people fixing my car. Once they got into the engine, they magically discovered there was an additional $400 of necessary repairs needed that they "missed" in the estimate. Um, no. We'll be by tomorrow to pick the car up so figure out what I owe you for what's already been done. An hour later, another call, this time from the owner of the shop. "Gee, we're real sorry we screwed up your estimate, so we'll make it right by eating the extra cost and fixing your car for the original quote." Yay! Something finally going right in this comedy of errors!! Back to the trailer about 5:00 for a nap.

We napped until about 9:00 then decided a run to the Waffle House was a good idea. That's one reason I love my uncle Rickey so much. His sleeping and eating patterns are as weird as mine, and he thinks a run to the Waffle House is a good idea any time it's suggested. So off we go in the one remaining vehicle that still runs. The aforementioned honking big-ass pick up truck. The WH is maybe 3 miles from his house. We made it 2.99 miles of that distance before we were broadsided pulling into the WH and the truck rolled. Not a lot of detail about the wreck, other than the fact that we (I) had now gone through THREE vehicles in about 36 hours. Well, that and the fact that we were now trapped in the truck in the middle of Hwy 49. The cops and firemen were great, and neither of us sustained any real physical injuries, although the wreck was pretty impressive looking strewn all over three lanes of traffic. The truck looked remarkably good for being turned over in the middle of the road too. Rickey's ex-step-daughter's ex-husband came and picked us up (after we ate, of course) and offered us the use of his spare truck to get back to Jackson yesterday. We'll take it back down on Wed when I go to pick my car up and then head over to NOLA for the artists' reception that evening. If any of you have any special pull, could you see about having the rain hold off this time?

The cops who worked the wreck said ours was the 4th wreck they'd had in the last hour and a half on about a 1/4 stretch of highway right there.

My dodo chair

2008-07-17T04:09:00.002-05:00

Another of those phrases (like "make groceries") that has crept into my vocabulary from grandparents. This one from my maternal grandmother. A dodo chair is basically that soft, comfortable chair that you sink into that seems to have the magical ability to make your eyes heavy within minutes. It refers to sleep, not the bird. One of my kids thought for years that it meant it turned you into a dodo. Not too far off the mark if you have a really good dodo chair. Think Sunday afternoon football games snoozing in the chair.

From Wiki: Fais do-do is a name for a Cajun dance party, originating before World War II. According to Mark Humphrey's notes from the Roots n' Blues CD "Cajun Dance Party - Fais Do-Do", the parties were named for "the gentle command ('go to sleep') young mothers offered bawling infants." He quotes early Cajun musician Edwin Duhon of the Hackberry Ramblers, "She'd go to the cry room, give the baby a nipple and say, 'Fais do-do.' She'd want the baby to go to sleep fast, 'cause she's worried about her husband dancing with somebody else out there."
'Do-do' itself is a shortening of the French verb dormir (to sleep), used primarily in speaking to small children. Comparable to the American English "beddy-bye", it is still commonly used by French-speaking people.

Que'?

2008-07-15T05:21:00.004-05:00

Fairly early Saturday morning, my husband came in here and said something weird had just happened to him. He was trying to watch a movie in the bedroom and was having trouble understanding what they were saying so he kept turning the tv up louder and louder. Nothing strange about that since none of us can hear very well to begin with, but he realized after he'd turned it ALL the way up that the movie was in Spanish! Seems like he would have noticed that sooner.

A couple of days later, he came in the living room and asked me to flip over to another channel for a minute. He was again watching a movie and it was in Spanish. When I changed channels in the living room, it was in English. He went back and forth for a couple of minutes, looking very confused. After much discussion and playing with the settings on the remote, we discovered you can actually set the movie channels to broadcast in Spanish. It took forever to dig through all the settings to find it, but eventually we did. That might also explain why the NWS alerts come across the screen in Spanish on that tv. Mystery solved!

I'm off to New Orleans next week to deliver my Satchmo piece for the art show, and then back down there a week later for the artists' reception. I hear Crescent City Brewpub has great oysters! I'll go armed (discreetly, of course) with plenty of business cards and a portfolio. I mean, ya know, just in case someone wants to see more of my work. After being so productive last week, I wrecked my back cleaning house...a lovely reason to NOT do housework...so sitting at the machine or computer is a touch and go proposition. I haven't forgotten about the updates on the piece I was posting pics of so religiously for a few days! I just haven't done any more to it yet. I did find some absolutely gorgeous gold metallic fabrics at Hobby Lobby and Hancocks (I almost typed "Kilgore" just then. Old habits die hard.) on the coast that will probably find their way into the gold and black piece. Most likely, those pics won't show up any time soon since I intend on submitting that one to a show in Hattiesburg this fall.

Since sitting in my dodo chair is more comfortable than sitting in a computer chair, I did manage to get some beading done this week though. I finished another piece for Dorinda and did a peyote stitch bracelet and the beginnings of a necklace for myself. Still dithering about exactly how I want the necklace to look but at least I have the rope part of it made. It's all copper and bronze and metallics with some black glass cubes and seed beads. I love the look of the flat peyote bracelet but I'm thinking of putting some danglies on it too. We'll see.

And a gratuitous quilt photo. The topic of bad hanging at quilt shows came up on the quiltart list the other day, and we had just discussed that very thing the day before. This piece is mounted on black fiberglass window screening, intended to disappear into the black drapes at the show. For some unknown reason, they decided to go round up a white background to pin to the black drape, which they then pinned my quilt to. Hanging sleeves be damned! It looked like crap I hear, and I was very surprised it took a ribbon.

WOOOOOOO freakin' HOOOOOOOOO

2008-07-10T09:17:00.002-05:00

Got this in email this morning! Any of you who will be in New Orleans for Satchmofest are invited to drop by and see it. I am SO excited about this!
Talk about doing a happy dance, I'm dancing so hard I think I pulled something.

Good morning Rhonda,
Congratulation, we are delighted to have “PRIMARILY JAZZ” as part of the Sixth Annual Satchmo juried art Show. Please plan on delivering it on July 24/25/26 (10am to 4pm) at French Quarter Festival office@ 400 North Peters St in the French Quarter. (522-5730 or 957-3540). If you need directions let us know. Call or e-mail your time choice or if you need other arrangements. Joann

Oh! And one more

2008-07-04T07:45:00.004-05:00

I completely forgot about adding the info on this one. It's going back to my original idea for the gold and black with the same horn pattern. (I really, really like that graphic.) I figured I better use it before I lost the already prepared pieces of the Liquid Gold fabric I'd originally started with. (Is "originally started" redundant? Probably is.) I grabbed this piece of Michael Miller fabric yesterday on my daily jaunt to the quilt shop, and it's working perfectly for the image in my head. I know it's sort of hard to see the effect in the picute since the gold has such a reflection and the little confetti pieces (in gold and copper) don't show well on the picture, but you can take my word for it that it really does look just like I wanted it to. Eventually it will involve narrow gold ribbons, gold mesh and probably gold sparkle organza.

on blogging and comments

2008-07-04T07:31:00.003-05:00

Thank you all for the comments you've left. I love getting comments, but I don't really expect them. I rarely leave them on other blogs. Not for lack of thoughts on the work or posts on the blogs, just some sort of weird reluctance to say something to someone I don't know.

During this hemorrhage of thoughts and pictures throughout the process on this quilt, Mary Ann commented that this is what blogs are all about. The next comment by Michelle made me think "this is what blogging is all about!" She said she agreed with my thought on enhancing the horn since she hadn't even noticed it. If left to my own eye I might never have gone back and outlined it, or maybe I would have dithered around indefinitely about if I should or not. I truly appreciate a well-thought-out comment about a design or color or placement question. A good comment about a problem spot, or the way a viewer sees something that I might have missed or overlooked is always welcome. I love getting true critiques and opinions on a piece as I'm working on it and have several friends I shoot pics in progress off to for that very reason. I'm just as likely to verbally describe something to them too, and sort of let my mind go with the back and forth that stems from those conversations. It's not that I feel my designs need any 'help' from other people, it's just that I appreciate hearing how something comes off visually to others. Sometimes I listen, sometimes I don't.

So, without further ado, here is the horn, enhanced.

...and then the staff

2008-07-02T14:39:00.003-05:00

The lines for the staff have been making me crazy! The black lines are just under 1/4" wide, so it was a lot of little fiddly stuff to try to get it even and a soft curve and not fray into nothing. After several starts and stops and regrouping, I finally landed on a workable solution. The black is cut double width, as is the teal behind it. A line of liquid fusible (thanks, Terry Grant!) down the middle of the teal, fuse the black down the center, zig zag the outside edges of the black and THEN cut it apart! The black is already stitched to the teal and I'm not working with something so narrow it stretches out of shape. Another line of liquid fusible on the face of the quilt and fuse the strips down. All that's left is to do the narrow zig zags on the edges now, but at least it's secure while I'm stitching. And yes, the 'shadow' on the top line is intentionally wider than the others. The staff will ultimately have some music notes on it, probably with the multi-print from a previous pic. Again, subject to change!

Is anybody but Mary Ann even reading this? I've made more posts today than I usually do in a week. I'd like to get this one finished (at least the top finished) by Thursday since we're heading out Friday morning for the coast. Long weekend with my uncle in Biloxi and a side trip over to New Orleans just to play. My uncle has already laid in some shrimp and oysters (sto' bought since it's the wrong season) for us, and I'm planning on cooking stuff for him that he can freeze.

progress....again

2008-07-02T08:58:00.002-05:00

The more I look at this, the more I think I need a stronger outline around the horn itself.

or maybe I'll use lime green

2008-07-02T07:50:00.002-05:00

and more....

2008-07-02T06:52:00.003-05:00

The next couple of steps ion putting this one together.

I've been wanting to do this keyboard for a while but never had a piece that it worked with. It's sort of fiddly to do but I like the overall effect of it. Not sure if I'm going to use the orange behind the bass clef or switch it to a bright teal blue. That decision will come after I get a bit further into it. The keyboard and clef will ultimately be sewn down with a black satin stitch.

and next comes....

2008-07-01T12:10:00.002-05:00

Some of the details. Tissue patterns (sort of....mostly just the shape and size I'm aiming for more than a lay-it-out-and-cut-from-it pattern) for 2 of the 3 main elements. The second pic is of some of the possible fabrics I'll use. Or not. I never can tell until I'm actually assembling it which ones will make the final cut.

I think of my friend Sunny Mayeaux every time I use some of that tissue too. It originally came from an entire roll of vinyl that we used to make tablecloth covers with for her daughter's restaurant. That was probably 10 years ago and I'm still ripping off hunks of the tissue. She thought I was insane when I rolled it back up on the bolt to save, just in case.

In the beginning....

2008-07-01T08:43:00.002-05:00

...there was a horn. And that horn made music. Or it will once I finish this piece. So far I have the background and the horn done. Maybe this will be one I actually follow through with the procedure as I go along. I keep saying I'm going to do that, but so far I never have.

The original plan for this one was the 'Liquid Gold' fabric on a black background (see previous post.) But as usual, things changed drastically. I even have the gold one cut out and fused to WU. Maybe it will show up in something else later. Maybe not. I'll probably lose the pieces before something comes to me to use it for. The horn has now become a tangerine cotton lame' that came in a mis-ordered bundle of fat quarters from Fabric.com several years ago. I thought I was ordering the primaries but I actually ordered the sherbets. Not my usual color choice, but it worked well for this. Fused to the background (more Sonji-class hand-painted stuff) and then a narrow zig-zag in a weird orange-y metallic. Maybe I can use one more hyphen in this paragraph!

I have a plan! It involves some lines and some curves and some shapes and some more color! I'll try to get pictures at each step to document the progress.

Any of you have any great suggestions for using soutache braid that doesn't require hand sewing and doesn't make it lump up and stretch under the foot as you're sewing? Preferably suggestions for standard feet that don't require buying a cording foot. I'd rather spend my money on more fabric but I may have no choice. Fuse it down and then stitch? I may just wind up buying an extra package of it and playing until I get the technique down. The lines have to be VERY smooth so I don't want any pulling or stretching.

flotsam and jetsam

2008-07-01T05:24:00.003-05:00

My blog is listed on the new Quiltinggallery.com website and it has generated a bajillion hits. No complaints from this end about it since it will most likely motivate me to post more regularly. I occasionally ("occasionally"....hahahahaha....I crack myself up) need a little structure to keep the procrastination at bay. Maybe that's why I work so well under deadlines. Anyway, check out the website. You can search for quilting blogs by state or country to find like-minded souls in your area, or other areas if you're traveling. I've also run across some fun blogs just mucking around with no real purpose.

"Primarily Jazz", the Louis Armstrong piece, is finished and pics were submitted last Friday for the show. No official word from the review committee yet on acceptance, but I did get an email from the owner of the gallery and she liked it. I felt like Sally Field. Even if he doesn't get in, I'm happy to have a piece that I really like and the fact that the gallery owner likes it too will soften the blow if it's declined for exhibit. I was especially happy with the use of the hand-painted fabric and the thread painting for his face.

This is a piece of fabric painted last year at Art Colony in Sonji Hunt's class. I can't believe how many yards of painted fabric I ended up with and how often I use it. I've even gone back and added more painting to some that were OK to begin with but just needed that something extra. I've also taken what I learned that week and started from scratch painting pieces for specific purposes. And of course, I've screwed around just to see what I came up with with no real destination in mind. I think of Thelma Smith every time I pull out the tubes of acrylics too.

I got started on a new piece yesterday using 'Liquid Gold' fabric. Damn, I love that stuff! Of course, right off the bat I screwed up my fusing and had to cut it all apart and fuse it to more WU. It'll be fine though, since I'd fused it to black and I just cut the shapes out. It'll never show when I fuse it back onto black and stitch it down. I'm in a quandary now for the next step although I know the shapes and design I want. Just not sure of the colors. Definitely a keyboard, a bass clef and a staff, but that's about as far as I've gotten. Strangely enough, it's the size that's throwing me off, not the actual design. I may need to re-think the black background too. Arrrggghhhhh.....I hate when I get an idea but it only comes to me half finished. Maybe my muse is on a coffee break!

And I have been sewing clothing! Yes, actual stuff to wear. It's been several years since I've sewn any wearables, and many more years since I've sewn anything for myself. I picked up 5 or 6 colors of linen last week and drafted a pattern for crop pants and tank tops. I'm having too much fun playing with my vast assortment of fancy variegated threads and the specialty stitches on my machine. The best art is, the first time I wore one out in public someone asked where I had gotten it. WOOT! And my penchant for creating a piece of jewelry at the last instant to go with my outfit is apparently intact. I made a necklace, practically on the way out the door, to go with the oatmeal colored set.

If I get a flash of genius on the new piece, I'll get pics posted later. It's a relatively simple design so it shouldn't take long to assemble once I get a clear picture of it in my head. It's just that whole 'clear picture' thing that's throwing me right now.

We are supposed to hear today about acceptance for the artist book exhibit at the Abecedarian Gallery in Denver. I don't have high hopes for that one getting in, considering the competition I'm up against, but it's an intensely personal piece that I just had to make, so it wasn't wasted effort.

just playing around

2008-06-30T07:15:00.003-05:00

These are two thread bowls I've been playing with. Neither will go any further than this probably, but they were good practice for one I have in my head. They are stitched on a base of water-soluble stabilizer, so once that is rinsed out, the entire bowl consists of nothing but the thread from stitching. I totally get in the zone doing these since it's very much like thread painting or free-motion quilting. I do have a timer set for 15 minute increments though so my back and shoulders don't get wrecked for a week by losing track of time. And if I push my machine too hard it overheats too. I usually work for 15 minutes, take a short break, and after 45 minutes I turn the machine off completely and take a longer break. For the 'real, true' bowl I have in my head, I'm thinking maybe solid black rayon (sort of shiny) for the bowl with lots of beading. I like the effect of the fringe on the edge but I'm not sure how that would look with beads mixed into it. I do want a pile of beads in the center, maybe spilling out of the bowl somehow. We'll see. It'll probably turn out nothing like I envision it anyway. And I have another idea for a quilt that's percolating in my brain too. A trumpet/piano combo design. What a surprise, huh? It's a relatively simple overall design, but pretty fiddly so we'll see when it actually gets made.

No pictures today

2008-06-27T06:03:00.002-05:00

At least not yet. I got "Primarily Jazz" finished yesterday and wonder of wonders, it lies perfectly flat and perfectly straight and is apparently perfectly square. Of course I decided to use a technique that I've never used before when I quilted it, so I was worried I'd screw it up. And I used that evil monofilament thread too. Between sewing through the painted fabric, using the mono, different color top and bobbin threads and the double layer of felt for the batting I was expecting the perfect storm of bird nests, bad tension, lots of frogging and a back full of pleats and tucks. I got none of those! NONE! Do you hear me? I was in the zone with the stitch in the ditch, the tension stayed right where I put it, the back was smooth as glass and the only frogging I had to do was about 6" where the excess backing got folded back and I stitched through it while quilting. I even remembered to put the sleeve on it! I'm hoping and praying that the relative ease of getting it assembled and quilted is a good omen for it getting accepted to the show. A label, good photos and off goes the submission. Wish me luck!

Now, on to some other ideas I have in mind for the next one. And the next one after that.

This is a test

2008-06-25T19:04:00.002-05:00

Do you recognize this man? This is a quilt I'm submitting for an art show in New Orleans. Hopefully, I'll have the binding on this evening or tomorrow and then I'll get good pictures of it and off it goes for jurying. Think really good thoughts, really hard, for me to get in. I'll invite everyone to the reception if it's accepted! (Any excuse for a party in New Orleans!)

Another weekend of Blues

2008-06-23T07:02:00.003-05:00

We spent the day Saturday at the Bentonia Blues Festival at the historic Blue Front Cafe' and had a blast. Only in the Deep South can Wonderbread, fried catfish and mayo be considered a meal. With a side of boiled peanuts and a cold beer. The heat wasn't so unbearable as it was at Leland either. Only a few degrees cooler on the thermometer, but it was on grass this time instead of dirt. At one point, the clouds moved in carrying rain and it got downright cool even though we never got any of the actual rain. The trains passing on the very busy tracks directly behind us were a nice touch, and it was funny how people all turned and waved at the City of New Orleans when it came through. The musicians jamming in the cafe' never stopped even though they were about 10 feet from the stage and every time there was a break between songs you could hear the music coming from the cafe'. Nobody seemed to mind either. Duck Holmes' 91 year-old aunt spent the entire day on the stage dancing and nobody seemed to mind that either.

It's great living in a place where we're only 2 or 3 hours away from all these festivals that celebrate the birthplace of so many types of music. A 3 hour drive in any direction gives us Blues, New Orleans jazz, hill country music, cajun, pretty much anything we want to hear on any given weekend is a day trip for us. Our kids think it's "cute" that we go to all these festivals now too. We would have been going to them all along except that we started having kids practically the minute we got married so we never had the time/money/freedom to do much of it until we got them out of the house. My youngest daughter has expressed an interest in going with us and my son already hits the festivals he's interested in. It's pretty cool to be able to talk music with the kids and know that we have a lot of the same tastes. It's also nice to swap CDs with them (except their definition of "swap" is to go shopping in my CDs and then report back how much they love the most recently lifted CD of mine) and to suggest new artists to each other.

No art quilting in this post other than to say I'm really struggling with a piece right now but it's not ready for me to show yet. I have done a lot of the detail work on it and I've started piecing it, but it's a very organic sort of piecing. Add a strip here, a square there, a border around that and then hold it all up and hope it works together at each stage. So far, so good, but it's slow going for some reason.

Congratulations Amy and Gregg!

2008-06-16T10:32:00.003-05:00

We missed the wedding, but we'll be around for the marriage! I think I can safely post a pic of their quilt since I intend to deliver it before they see the blog. At least that's the plan. Upholstery fabrics in tapestry, chenille and silk. It will be hung by brass rings on a decorative brass rod.

"The Storm" redux

2008-06-10T13:21:00.002-05:00

The pictures I sent in for the submission are much better than these, but the files are freaking huge so I'm not posting them. Use your imagination for color adjustment and cropping.

The Storm

2008-06-08T16:20:00.002-05:00

I took down the pictures of the artist book in case they have an objection to it being posted somewhere. If it isn't accepted I'll re-post the pics or add them to the photobucket.

My brain really isn't hitting on all cylinders apparently. I sent all the submission info and files they asked for, and promptly forgot to add phone number or email addy to the contact information, and I doubt they'll be sending me anything through snail mail. Hopefully, I didn't hose things up badly enough for them to refuse the submission.

the mechanics of art

2008-06-02T07:45:00.003-05:00

Whew...my mind has been racing with all the combinations and permutations of assembling an idea I have for an art project. I have stacks of little test samples pinned all over my work space and 3 pages of notes on what I want to include on the actual project once I get the technical details worked out. I'm actually taking notes for this one since every time I make a new sample I have to wait...and wait...and wait...for it to dry so I can see the final effect. o any of you have any idea if I can add acrylic paint to polyurethane to give it color? I may wind up just buying a can of tinted poly wood stain or something. I'll apparently be investing in yardage of wonder under too. And probably a new printer that will take fabric sheets without totally hosing up everything on my computer. MY fabric sheets, not the commercial ones. The commercial ones are never the right fabric, or the right size, or the right color, or the right texture, or the right price. I have a very specific design that I want to TRY to achieve with this particular piece, so all of the pre-prep work is necessary. Unfortunately, it also has a very short deadline, and a very personal message, but I want to get it right. We'll see. If nothing else, I'm learning the properties of several different techniques for surface design. That's never a bad thing.

Oh yeah, and my dumb ass decided to make a quilt for a gift.....that's due NEXT SATURDAY! Thank goodness I seem to work best under pressure. I would post some pictures today, but one project can't be revealed until the middle of the month, one is in the planning stage and I don't even have the fabric yet for the other one.

artist's book

2008-05-31T08:53:00.007-05:00

Like I need to take on ANOTHER project! At least I'm down to the quilting and embellishing on the quart bag quilt that is due June 13 so I have a bit of breathing room. The new project was inspired by a call for submissions from the Abecedarian Gallery for textile related artist books. http://www.abecedariangallery.com/ It feels like a good fit for my current experimentation with the journals I'm making. They have been well received by people who have seen them and I really enjoy working on them too. As soon as I saw the prospectus an idea came full-blown to me from something that's been on my mind for a while now. Of course, I have a feeling it's going to be VERY labor intensive but better to spend the time working on it than leaving it in my head to distract me from everything else. As long as I resist actually creating something from the idea, my brain won't let me do anything else other than think about it. It's almost like it fills up all the creative cells so no other ideas have any room to exist. Maybe if I get it out of my head and onto fabric I can move on to something else. I hope, anyway.

These are all hand stitched pages and beaded, embroidered pieced, embellished, etc. The one at top left with the batiks and rust stained fabrics is my own personal notebook and is made to take a standard size spiral bound book. The rest have 96 page sewn signatures. You can see the different signature treatments on the shot of the spines. All but one of them has a bookmark sewn into the cover. Several of them use pieces of my rust stained fabrics on the inside. Dupioni silk, commercial print, mud cloth and batik covers. 9"x6"

A memorable Memorial Day!

2008-05-26T07:02:00.008-05:00

My new Marine! He graduated Friday at Parris Island, SC and we drove all the way out there to see him. Thursday was family day so we got to see him doing the marching thing and then had about 5 hours to hang out with him on base. We grabbed a bite to eat (he ate like they hadn't fed him for the last 13 weeks!) and then, because my daughter was with us, we went shopping. We hit the museum, the gift shop, several side roads as we got lost a time or two and lots of just aimless wandering as we chatted and caught up on things. The feelings switched back and forth lightning fast between feeling like it had been a year since we talked and feeling like he hadn't been gone a week. He seemed to be glad we made the graduation, although we've been telling him since he left that we'd be there. I think he was a bit worried about how his friends here would receive him when he got back (10 days leave at home before heading to Jacksonville, NC for another month of training) but they seem to have not even noticed he's a Marine. I'm sure there were jokes about the hair, but that's about it.

Aidan was so happy to see him she was practically giddy the whole 3 days. He's trying very hard to maintain his Marine face" and not smile, but he's not having much luck. I think he was as happy to see her as she was to see him. We teased her all weekend about getting a shirt that says "Proud sisterwife of a U.S. Marine." One awkward moment when he was trying to introduce us to his Sgt, but it passed quickly with some laughter. It meant a lot to me when he finally decided the appropriate introduction was "This is my second mom" though.

My "second son." I couldn't be more proud and happy and hopeful for him.

Mudbug chair

2008-05-17T16:46:00.002-05:00

My husband liked my chair so well he wanted something on his too. He considered and discarded several ideas before coming up with the crawfish. I did it right quick before he changed his mind! The chair isn't actually that green looking. It's a true lemon yellow, but it's fixing to rain and the light is funny.

the link between visual stimulation and creativity

2008-05-17T07:04:00.003-05:00

Long and wordy and no pictures (but I did add the link for photobucket to the sidebar) this morning.

Catching up on blogs earlier, and as I was reading fellow-blogger Karoda's most recent post about sorting and organizing her stash, it occurred to me that it is very likely that my current dry spell has been precipitated by the cleaning (translation:shove shit in boxes and out of sight from the main living areas of the house) frenzy that occurred when the Japanese quilt magazine people were here to interview me. Most of the clutter/supplies/stash/fabric were willy-nilly stuck in boxes, bags, tote bins, and one lone hat box, and then stacked against the wall in my son's room. More stuff was crammed onto the shelves in there and then the stacks, fat quarters, dyed, stamped, stained, painted, yardage, cotton, poly, mesh, novelty, ethnic, and commercial prints were (sort of) separated by color or theme and stacked on his top bunk. Keep in mind that I'm about 5'2" and the bunk bed is one of those dbl bottom and twin top things so I have to stand back a bit from the edge of it and it's not much lower than eye level for me and the entire top bunk is covered in the fabric stacks. It makes it VERY hard to see more then the folded edge of the front row. So much for the design ideas flowing freely without the visual stimulation of being surrounded by "stuff" in every direction.

To make matters even worse, when I had the "cleaning" (I use that descriptor very loosely) hemorrhage for the aforementioned interview, I stupidly decided that my "workroom" (another loose term) should be for the actual work, and not storage. It made perfect sense at the time for the sewing machine to be in here and not on the dining room table (and kitchen table and living room floor) and for the ironing board to be in here with the sewing machine, and a cutting surface, and all those other tools of the trade I use. There is simply not enough room for the actual work space and the fabric and 'stuff' storage to be in the same room. Hence the fabric and stuff storage in the other room. BUT...and this is a big but....without the supplies where I can see them my mind darts off in too many directions to get a good grasp on any one specific design or project. I am struggling mightily with one piece right now that has a no-flexibility-at-all deadline of June 13 and I am so totally clueless it keeps me awake at night. I have several fabrics that are mandatory to use and I have never been at a loss to come up with something based on a specific fabric or theme or color palette. I had one really good idea that I was ready to run with, but due to circumstances beyond my control (or maybe mostly due to my own internal integrity concerning my work, or possibly simple bullheadness about what I think is right) that idea is no longer an option for me. Unfortunately, I am bereft of other ideas and options. I'm guessing that a June 12 marathon is not out of the question unless I have a stroke of genius between now and then.

All this nattering to say that I have discovered the correlation between being surrounded by the visual cacaphony of my materials and the free flow of ideas. That is apparently a necessary element of my creativity. I realize there are others who are the exact opposite (a repeating topic on the Quilt Art list) and require an orderly space to create in and are distracted by a jumble of colors and fabrics. I ain't one of them. I'm not sure what the solution is though. I know that if I start bringing materials back in here where I can see them, I will once again expand the boundaries of my work space back to the rest of the house and I'm sort of enjoying being able to actually sit at the table to eat.

Pictures!

2008-05-16T18:46:00.003-05:00

Well, not actually any pictures in this post, but I have finally gotten off my butt and put them all in one place anyway. You can check them out at http://photobucket.com/DeltaMoon

Some of these go back 3 or 4 years and there are a bunch I never got pictures of before they went off to take up space at someone else's house. I haven't had a camera but a few years either so that's another excuse.

edit: I have added a direct link to the photobucket thing on the sidebar, and it only took me 15 minutes!!!!

Festival Chairs

2008-05-16T11:18:00.002-05:00

We just bought new chairs last week for the RJ fest and they were sort of plain looking. Like all the other hundreds of identical chairs. Soooo......after a great idea from a JazzFester, here is the unveiling of the new and improved festival chair! The quote is used with permission of Funkkiejunkie. Thanks!

Happy day, mothers!

2008-05-11T20:02:00.003-05:00

Mine was great! A trip to the Robert Johnson Blues Festival in Crystal Springs yesterday started off the weekend just right. We got to hear the Copiah County InBreeds (or whatever they called themselves) butcher some perfectly good music. They butchered some crap too, but that was to be expected. After a couple of hours of bleeding eardrums, the emcee brought out this CHILD all spiffy in a starched white dress shirt (92 degrees and humid....I was impressed) and black dress pants. I think I have blue jeans older than this kid. He was absolutely incredible though, and about 3 seconds after he got cranked up, you totally forgot he was barely out of diapers. I talked to him later and asked how old he is. 14. Only 14 years old and only been playing since he was 11, and he's already traveling the country (he lives in CA, I think) and playing. His name is Gabriel Lambirth and we truly enjoyed his music.

Jessie Robinson and the 500 lb Blues Band took over after that and rawked! The first time my husband ever saw him play, he was sitting outside the Piggly Wiggly playing for shits and giggles while he was waiting on somebody. God, that sounds country. Running into a famous blues player in the parking lot at the grocery store (especially one called the Piggly Wiggly of all things), killing time with a free impromptu concert among the Fords and Chevys. Willie "Big Eyes" Smith sat in for a couple of numbers with the band and he was so good! Then they brought out Steve Bell, just landed from Vegas they said, and I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. He played a good 30 minutes or so at least, and the band really let him showcase his stuff. They backed off and just let the harmonica music take over. I'm out of words to even describe how good he was. The way he moved holding the cordless mic it looked like he was blowing a horn, and he made the harmonica sound like one too. It was the ONLY set that the sound engineers got right, too. The woman on the bass, Nellie Somebody, got her 5 minutes of fame and showed her stuff. I can see why she plays with Jessie!

Then Honeyboy Edwards. Oh my. Honeyboy. The last living Bluesman who actually played with Robert Johnson. He's 93 years old and hasn't lost a step. They got him on stage and settled, then hovered around adjusting the mics, moving things around just so, making sure there was water and a towel handy, just generally making him comfortable, and it was all done with an incredible reverence. They were at the feet of one of the greats and it showed. Then he started singing. About 70 of those 93 years fell away and it was pure heaven for the duration. There was some sort of glitch and he showed up a couple of hours late so Pinetop Perkins and the rest of the line-up had to be pushed back to later in the afternoon and we missed them since we had to cut out about 4:00 to get back for a supper/Stanley Cup playoffs date here in town. We met out at Corky's and ate BBQ and drank swill. Good food, good friends, good times.

We headed out to the lake this morning for Mother's Day lunch. Just hung out with the kids, threw a few casts into the lake (caught nothing, but the youngest girlchild snagged a branch) drank a glass of wine, ate too much, laughed with/at the kids and siblings, and came home and crashed for a nap. All in all, a very good weekend.

And for your viewing pleasure, a picture of me and Robert Johnson's son Claude. The t-shirt he's wearing is one of only 150 printed. We bought two of them, but Robert Johnson's family doesn't own the copyright to either of the 2 pictures of him in existence so they have to license them just like any random Joe Blow does.

WWYD?

2008-05-08T19:42:00.002-05:00

What would you do? I just posted a comment on another blog that I've seen in passing but don't check regularly. She was excited about being contacted by a woman in London who wants to buy 2 of her quilts for her new home in South Africa. This is a scam!! It has been all over the QuiltArt list and a couple of other lists I belong to and the circumstances and arrangements are always the same, and it's always a scam! They send you too much money and then want you to deposit the overage, then their original check bounces and you're stuck with not only the amount of the original check, but also the additional money you deposited back into their account. I hate to see anyone get taken unnecessarily but I don't know this woman and am not a regular reader of her blog. I felt bad about raining on her parade with even the suggestion it might not be legitimate. Now I'm second-guessing myself about making the comment at all.

Would you prefer to have a stranger steal your thunder by telling you it was a scam, or to just not know? That question sounds like it's loaded to be answered a specific way, but it's not. I'm honestly interested in knowing if you would rather a stranger comment or keep their mouth shut? I guess it's a little late since I've already commented on her blog, but I'm curious all the same. Any thoughts?

Song of the South

2008-05-03T16:56:00.002-05:00

I love Mississippi. I love the history and the land and the people and the music and the weather. It is a state of contradictions. It's the KKK and the old white woman at the Deep Delta Festival today leaning in to whisper in the Black man's ear as they both swayed to the Blues pounding from the stage. It's the flash-flood rains we had last night that broke limbs and flooded streets, but mostly washed everything clean and green for the sun today. It's the pine forests, and flat cotton fields for miles, and the sand and live oaks, and the rolling hills choked with kudzu. It's the land of every Camaro-driving-redneck stereotype ever conceived and it's #1 in the nation in charitable giving.
In the last 8 days I have driven to a quilt show in Koscuisko, a Marcia Ball concert in New Orleans and the blues festival in Rolling Fork today. The coreopsis, Queen Anne's lace, spiderwort, vinca, red clover and wild roses are everywhere. The magnolias hang heavy in the tops of the trees. Corn, cotton, beans, pecan trees, cows and horses as far as you can see from the highway. We took the "scenic route" up through Satartia but had to turn back because the road was flooded. An extra half hour down to Vicksburg to go back up Hwy 61 didn't even seem like a detour. At the place where Hwy 16 was flooded out, there was a group of men sitting on upturned 5 gal buckets fishing from the road.
The weather was perfect, the sunburn only minor, the music good and the fried catfish delicious. We have so many festivals this time of year it's hard to even decide which ones to go to. There was another one in Leland today too. And of course, JazzFest and Memphis in May. Blues festivals every weekend through the fall.
For all the insane politics, hurricanes, tornadoes, illiterates, bad roads and worse crime rate it's still home, and I still love it. My feet are planted in the rich black soil of the Delta and seawater runs through my veins.

Patchwork Quilt Tsushin

2008-04-15T17:02:00.002-05:00

The editor of Patchwork Quilt Tsushin, and her photographer, just spent 2 and 1/2 hours at my house interviewing me and taking pictures of my quilts. The article won't be published until Feb '09, but it was an unbelievable experience. It didn't really seem like a big deal until today, but not because it WASN'T a big deal, just because I had so much other stuff on my plate for the last 6 or 8 days I didn't have time for it to really sink in exactly how big of a deal it actually is. I made it through though, and it wasn't an ordeal. It's easy for me to talk about my work because I love what I do. I love the processes I use, and the materials and the techniques and the design aspect and the creation aspect....I consider myself extremely fortunate to be able to live my passion, and to be able to share it with others. I'm so excited and overwhelmed about all of this right now that I have started typing 3 different sentences in this post and gotten halfway through them and forgot what I was going to say. Let's just say I'm happy and tired and excited all at once and leave it at that for now.

No art, no quilts

2008-04-09T08:42:00.003-05:00

No power! 5 confirmed tornados around Jackson last Friday. We finally got power back yesterday evening. No damage to our house but terrible damage all around us. We were in the last 1500 customers to get our power back, and it was SOOOOO frustrating to see power restored on all sides of us, but our little 3 block cluster was without for several days longer than the rest of the neighborhood. Maybe the delay was due to the HUGE trees down across the roads and through the roofs of houses on those 3 blocks. The front page picture the day after the tornados hit was a house about 2 blocks from us. Driving anywhere took 3 times as long because of no stop lights, blocked trees and streets down to one lane. Of course, this all happens when everything else is happening too, but nobody ever gave me a copy of that master calendar to schedule acts of God around my own deadlines either. Well, they may have given me a copy of it but it's probably buried under the mountains of other crap in my house and I can't lay my hands on it. I should probably locate it before hurricane season starts though.

Without further ado, pictures of stuff within one block of our house. We were extremely fortunate.

gel printing at the craft guild

2008-03-31T04:49:00.003-06:00

One of the obligations of membership in the MS Craftsmen's Guild is to sign up to do an all day demonstration every so often. Saturday was my day. I would have gone insane sitting there sewing all day (especially after we discovered how much the tables shook when we were actually using the sewing machines!) so I decided to do some gel plate printing to get some fabrics for a piece I'm working on now. Poured the plates the night before and gathered all my stuff to use. I have this fear of forgetting to bring some crucial component every time, so I tend to over pack. I did have fun though, and even though the rain they promised never materialized, I think it kept people away from the craft center. Very slow day for visitors, but I enjoyed having the room to stretch my stuff out on the tables and just do nothing but create art fabric. No distractions like I have at home. And yes, that is latex wall paint from Lowe's that I use for the gel printing. The gel plates are much smaller than I normally use, but it was a demo and I only needed small pieces for the string piecing I had in mind. I did spend the last hour or so of the demo cutting and piecing, but the majority of the day was spent just getting paint on fabric. The colors are darker and a bit muted, but it was what I needed for the chosen project. If nothing else, the setting is absolutely gorgeous, as you can see from the huge windows behind the work tables. I even took a nature walk to pick up some seed pods, stones, sticks and other assorted detritus, including dove feathers from a freshly-dead dove who thoughtfully committed hari kari against the window. The treasures will be incorporated into the quilt I'm making from the gel printed fabrics, so it all dovetails (hahahaha, I crack myself up) nicely.

And the beginning of the final piece. It's all pieced and quilted and I've just started on the embellishing. There are tiny slivers of maybe 5 commercial fabrics in the string piecing, but everything else is painted/dyed/printed by me. The color is bad (as usual) in the photo, but I'm pleased with it in real life.

Rust staining classes scheduled

2008-03-27T16:29:00.002-06:00

I have finally got a rust staining class scheduled that's open to the general public. June 17, from 9-noon, $25.00 plus your supplies. The class will be taught at Quilt Arts on Lakeland Dr. If you can't make that one, we've also discussed running one (or more) rust stain classes at ARTichoke this summer. I much prefer doing it in the heat of summer since you can see the results immediately. I have a piece of raw silk that's been on the rusty pole out back all winter and all it has so far is half a dozen small spots. I could do the same piece in the height of summer and have a deep golden brown in 48 hours, and a good mottled piece in 24. I have no idea why the heat makes any difference but it seems to. Maybe it's the "cooking" that goes on in the black plastic with the Mississippi sun beating down on it. Anne and Marianne have ordered in some PFD fabric for us to use and of course they have all the tone-on-tones and solid colors already. I played with some prints and colors last year and my favorites are the black and white prints, and a few solid colors like blues and greens that play well with the rust stains. Not every color does, but it's like the entire process of rust staining....trial and error. I do know that it doesn't have to be 100% cotton though. That's always nice to be able to do some surface design on non-cottons.

I'll be demonstrating gel plate printing Saturday from 10-4 at the MS Craft Center on Rice Rd. too, if anyone is interested in that technique. A quick stop at Hancock's on the way out there for some scrim and muslin and whatever other weird fabrics I see and I get to play with paint all day! I have what's left of the pints of wall paint from last summer, and the bajillion bottles of the craft acrylics, and a pkg of plastic bowls and spoons so I'll be a mixing fool trying to use up some of the remnants of crap I have. Maybe I'll even finish off enough that I can throw some of the containers away. "And my color inspiration for this piece was using whatever I had the least of so I could throw the can out." I'll have to round up my foam stamps (at last, a reason to use the Fluer de Lis!) and bubble wrap and assorted mark making tools. Pour the plates tonight, clean house all day tomorrow and then demonstrate all day Saturday. Gee, I can't wait!

Into the Woods

2008-03-19T07:48:00.004-06:00

For the first time in several years, I'm actually enjoying the costumes and props duties of a production! It sure is easier to get motivated and get things done in a more timely way when I'm having fun doing it. The storms came through last night and our power was on and off this morning so I wound up dipping the buns and rolls in polyurethane in the dark. Literally. I was doing it at 5:00 am and it was absolutely pitch black in the house except for the flashlight. The bread needs to bake a few more hours and then I can coat it with the poly. What the hell am I doing, you ask? This is stage setting for the play. They need an assortment of breads for the baker's shop and the cheapest, easiest, fastest way to get it done was buy a bunch of different kinds of day old bread, bake it overnight on a warm setting on the oven and then seal it with the poly. We'll probably wind up adding some color to some of it and maybe frosting it with drywall mud "icing" before all is said and done.

The dresses are cobbled together from some basic ready-to-wear pieces from the Salvation Army. The Snow White bodice was originally a very expensive suit jacket and I just replaced the sleeves and added the collar and skirt. Some cheap accessories from the Dollar Tree and it's good to go. The gold and silver dress was originally 2 separate dresses that I just cut the skirt off the silver one and added it to the gold one. A yard or so of the silver and gold fabrics and it's done.

Busy, busy

2008-03-12T04:25:00.005-06:00

I completely forgot to post a report on the closing reception Saturday! It went off without a hitch (or a power outage) this time although we went to bed the Friday night with dire predictions of up to 2" of ice and snow overnight and the first thimg I saw when I woke up was the totally covered roof of the house across the street. At 5:00 am it never occurred to me that the house was vacant and had no heat so I almost panicked at the thought of another reception in bad weather conditions. Fortunately, it warmed up into the 60s by the afternoon and everything was good. Everyone who walked through the door had a joke about my luck with the weather though.

I had a bit of a jolt when I walked in the door too. A small Robert Johnson piece I sold last fall was front and center, beautifully framed in a shadow box and sitting on an easel. Anne said the owner had seen the announcement for the reception and offered to let her display his piece during the show. What a rush to see to see it professionally framed and displayed! I kept going back to it and thinking "Did I really do that?"

I've been doing a ton of beading lately and have pictures of some of the stuff but not of others. I also realized last night while working on a book cover for Aidan that I have like ZERO beads in the yellow/orange range. I think I had one tube each of seed beads and a few bugles from a bag of mixed colors. Other than that, I was reduced to cutting up old jewelry and fudging into the gold and brown spectrum. I also re-drew the pattern to make the yellow and orange parts a bit smaller. At least it gives me an idea of where I need to fill in the holes of my bead stash.

The "Earth Fissures" series of small beaded pieces I'm doing using rust stained borders is coming along, although none of the 3 I have now are completely finished yet. I am really loving doing the heavy beading sort of free-hand. Some with a theme in mind, some just as it comes while I'm working on it. My cats thought they had hit the jackpot when I started making a lap so often when I sat down to bead, except that I put a tray across my knees for a beading surface. You can just see their little cat brains wondering why I go to all the trouble of sitting down and then not letting them get in my lap. That doesn't always stop them from trying though. And sometimes they even succeed in getting under the tray to curl up between me and the arm of the chair. At least they don't swat at the beads and thread.

Keep in mind that neither of these are finished yet.

How strange!

2008-03-01T06:44:00.003-06:00

My fellow blogger Penny Sanford Fikes http://pennysanford.typepad.com/ has a post this morning about some fabric collage plates. What a shock to open up her blog and see a red version of my husband's grandmother's green plates! Even the patterns for the individual pieces of fabric appear to be the same. This is apparently something that was a thing to do at one time, although I can find zero information on where they might have come from or what era they might have been popular. That is assuming they were ever "popular" to begin with. They are relatively detailed for what they are, just sort of strange in a weird, creepy sort of way. Fabric pieces just glued to a standard cafeteria ceramic plate. No markings on the back of the plate, and all of the painting on the front is obviously hand-painted. Rick rack, nylon netting, sequins, and a button for the embellishments. The date is 1922 on James' plate, and 192? on Eula's. The second number on hers looks like it was scraped off and changed, although the changed number has apparently flaked off also. His geneology records say June 1920 was their wedding date, so who knows what the real story is with them, or even who made them, or when, for that matter. Interesting sort of thing to run across though.

If any of you have any clue what these things are, or any other information on them, I'd love to hear about it.

Art in the Dark

2008-02-22T07:49:00.002-06:00

Music by candlelight. I encourage people to feel my work, but not usually to feel their way through the rooms displaying my work! The reception last night was a smashing success (if 3 cubes of cheese and a strawberry with a nibble out of it being the only leftovers is any guage) even without power. We had just gotten into the rhythm of things good when the lights went out. The power actually went out in the entire downtown area. They say this is only the second times that's happened in years. So of course it happens during the reception. Carmen and Ann calmly began passing out candles and people just chatted with whomever was standing next to them. I did my "elevator pitch" for the allotted 3 minutes then the party continued as usual. The surprising thing is that nobody left right away. And people continued to arrive. I'm not sure exactly what I expected from an artist reception (this is my first, remember) but if they're all like this one I think I'm going to become like those old ladies who show up at all the wakes. I'll just make the rounds every week to all the opening receptions for artists all over town. Carmen and Anne made things unbelivably easy and (other than the power) the evening went off without a hitch. As a testament to their calm approach and composure, I only worried about the whole open flame + melted wax + quilts thing for about 30 seconds.

For those of you without the inclination to buy a quilt, you should check out Carmen's new "Blues Tapestry" candle creation! I felt so honored by her doing that.

Many thanks to everyone who showed up, whether I knew you or not, and to Kenta for the incredible food, and most especially to Carmen and Anne.