Summer

Weekend activities like crab cracking can cut into studio time, but when it is warm and stuffy in there with all that fabric, there are other activities that even the most nutty fiber artist will retire to. Here in the northwest we grab summer with claws because we know all too well the stainless steel skies that hang around sea side locals after these few fleeting months.

There are countless roses to be deadheaded, and I feel really blessed. The left-handed Felco's may work over time to keep the roses flowing. I'm still waiting for "Leda" and it is using up my patience.

The breeze ruffles the sheers and slams a door. Sweet, almost boy band hip hop syncopates soothingly on the system, and my thoughts are optimistic as the butterfly shaped clouds whisk by wanting a taste of my bubbling ginger ale, my drink of choice at times like this.

I accomplished some more free motion quilting on my Whale Horizon, and I am stopped due to one particular thread choice, (I find my vast jumble of noosed thread somehow inadequate in the purple range). I have been thinking of just serging the edges in black thread and calling that a frame??

My home-dec. projects are stacking up. So much to be done; and this mermaid begs for my attention gracefully arching on my design wall anticpating a head of famous hair.

Whale Horizion

This is the latest work. It is one of the pieces that I sun painted/dyed/painted. While painting the fabric I had the free-motion designs in mind and left areas open to thread play. The colors are kind of soft and muted, and even the bright (on the spool) Madeira thread seems to sink in and add the bold but gentle color that I was looking for.

What kind of quilting designs are in a Whale's Horizon? Mountian peaks, sea, trees, foliage, the sun? Stay tuned for the water, which I hope to finish tonight. Why do I seem to blank on quilting motifs when I sit down to the machine?

Today

These grace the table. My bright cheery roses.

And somehow I find that today, for today -

I have everything I want.

Othello's For Friends

The day is summer, but it reminds me of fall. Thankfully the lavender is blooming, and so there is no misconception. It's winter, charcoal dark outside and the seeming pineapple express rages. This day was made for studio time. I can hear the purr of fine stitches made by machine, though the lights are not on, and the machine will not go right now.

It smells of fine chocolate and nuts, and warm lemon cut out cookies. I get little whiffs of lavender still on my hands from picking the blooms to decorate the gifts. The last cookie has been pulled out from baking, and I just feel fortunate to know these women and to be able to bless them with a surprise. Surprises make life- living.

Why is it that rainy days are sew days? I hazard to suspect that it is not because one can't be outside, but rather that it is due to the somber light. It is this tone that make one seek color. And fabric and thread do not disappoint. Artists flock to their stashes and seek fibers to bless the lives of others with.

Do you give away your quilts? Your pieces of art? Do you use your talent to put beauty into this world? To bring resources to those who are in need?

There is movement in the rain which affects the soul willingly. Almost as if the ringed puddles could be permanent; not etched on cedar or grass. These days seem long and slowing.

HOO YA MASTER CHIEF!

IT'S CLEAN.
The counter anyways.
I know you want to cut on it.



I couldn't resist: they are wearing wedges and plaid pants, and a scarf- the precursor to dew rag hip. I will make the blue number and pray for some metallic wedges with hemp braid and ties up the ankle and then stumble across a wide plastic bracelet. . .


A bound washcloth made using a serged terrycloth square. I stitched it with a walking foot and a triple step zig-zag for durability.

And the best for last- this *WOW* halter dress number was acquired for less than the price of a spool of thread. Five minutes of repairs with thread I happened to have on hand, and I have a piece that fits as though it was custom fitted. It's not ready made, I can tell by the construction, but well done. I'm so thrilled with this, it must have been meant. . . for me.

The Rose Wristlet

This is the embroidery that I used from the CreativeDRAWings(r) cd, and now the wristlet is finished! It was done on microfiber faux suede and is fully lined and zippered with fringe applied on the bottom edge, ribbon is used to make a wrist loop and zipper pull. You may see it here soon? I have put the software instructions at the end of my post if anyone is interested.


Here are some glimpses of the process:







This was a fun little project, and a great use of those embroidered squares that people can sometimes wonder what to do with beside making a quilt. I like the not just embroidering on cotton idea.


Well, today is the day that I put in my hour of cleaning the studio, I want to use this white polka dotted red sheer sometime soon and will need the cutting counter for precision. I am mustering up the courage to cut out my pattern for the storage towers later when all is done today.

Rose Wristlet Software Instructions:
Double Click the Creative DRAWings desktop shortcut to the open the software.
Click Create New
Click From Embroidery
Select Design Folder
Open the folder 01
Open the folder Roses
Select & open Tres rosas
Choose fabric type
Select Finish
Using the Rectangle Selection tool Click and drag over an area to highlight any areas that you may want to change the color of the design. ( The display models yellow roses with green stems and buds). When selected click on a color from your palette to insert the color change. Clicking on areas with this tool selected will highlight spaces to make color changes possible.
When finished with any changes select File, Save as, and choose the format you would like to save as.

Vogue 2939

Carolyn showed this on her blog!

OH MY GOSH! I could do it.

Fabric Covered Storage Carts

Oranges & Lemons (faded just a bit in sun)

Well the weekend was relaxing and fun, sitting by the water's side watching the muscle boats and the jet ski's. It made me long for more time off, but I feel fortunate to have the week that we will get sometime this summer. There may be the possibility to fly somewhere, and I am hoping that works out as I have wanted to see Monticello.

I realize that for now daily needs have trampled the studio time, and so that is just life. New fridges go out, cabinets are wrong, workouts and food shopping excursions get in the way of constant accomplishing.

However, the next project on the list is one I have been waiting to do, and having found the fabric, I will now proceed this week on it. For lack of a china cabinet (I will get one when the time is right), I store my china in it's boxes along with other entertaining paraphernalia on the wire rack shelving carts that roll (to be found at Costco). I have two of them pushed against the back wall of my dining room where they fit perfect. I wish I had written down the name of the decorator book that shows these nifty fabric enclosures, fore they are quite regal looking. The only thing is, they had no pattern, so I am making my own and it will take just a bit more time.

The long awaited fabric:

It is more navy/denim in real life. I am really happy to find a fabric that I feel will be great for this project at the price point I had to have in order to do this: $1 per yard. I figured that much more than that, and I would be well on my way to a china cabinet with no additional sewing efforts required. I plan to use the denim with white swirl fabric as the body, and then some white duck for a stripe along the bottom and down the center. I also may add custom piping between the dark fabric and the white, a perfect application for my serger's piping foot.

I like the future usability of this storage solution, because later when I do have grow-up furniture (I am visualizing a light wood antique number - a girl can dream) I can use these covered storage towers elsewhere in the house.

Now if this isn't motivation to get the cutting counter clean, I'm not sure what is.

I am so thrilled that I have the skills to tackle this project for two reasons:
1) This will allow more storage than a cabinet (which I require right now)

2) I can get a custom look without a custom price

Well if it weren't for all the practical stuff, Hmm, laundry, I would be getting down to this right now. I will use my drone time to come up with my mental plan.

Doesn't one need a mental plan before starting on such projects? Usually I splash right into something, but when fabric is tight, the ruler comes out and I actually draw diagrams.

Well I hope this inspires someone to tackle a home-dec. sewing project that may be just a little scary for them, because there is so much reward in having done something yourself that meets your vision.

Have Floss Will Travel

Well, we are off for the weekend, so I have packed a bag of cross-stitch stuff to keep me busy. I come loaded with presents, and water toys, and wear a wonder-woman hat. Cross-stitch keeps me supplied with a color fix when I travel. It also for me is a form of meditation, and I find rich and rewarding thoughts when I sit and stitch at little crosses. Yes, I could stitch by machine, and I do. I like the feeling of floss as the outdoor breeze disturbs it's behavior.
There will always be handwork. Hand stitches will endure. No matter your sewing machine or your equipment, or software or technology; deft little pinches of fabric will be tucked by hand. People have to stitch- they have to make things beautiful. What they find is what the stitches make of them.

New Motto: Only if I LOVE it!

I love it!

So I made a new rule after moving, that the only things I was going to allow into my life from now on, were the things that I had strong feelings for. Things that had both the quality level and stylishness that I desired. This conclusion was reached not solely because I have lots of stuff (I do, everyone does), but because I began to contemplate the direction I wanted to head from this point forward concerning the matters that really don't matter- well in this case the stuff one lives with everyday. So I have instituted this rule in regards to matters ranging from clothes to household affairs.

Having in my possession a five-star kitchen in cobalt blue and copper (not the pots...yet), and a studio with equipment that is excellent, I am no stranger of fine affairs. But I noticed when I moved, that a lot of the decisions I had made in acquiring things for the rest of the home had simply occured spontaneously due to a need or decorating/storage requirement or a bargain, and not due to obtaining something that I really desired and thought of as the "best" item in my mind.

Now this rule is very easy to forget; this motto makes one examine their motivations and their problems to be solved. It requires sacrifice and fortitude. There are lots of choices out there to make and lots of temptation. There is cheap, there is will do, there is I kinda like, and these are rather like eating bland cardboard food that leaves you full but without energy. I found these are usually the items that one ends up throwing out or living with begrudgingly. I do not want a life that is cheap, will do, or that I kinda like. I want a life I LOVE.

Case in point. Lamps, I have been searching for lamps for my living room that I absolutely LOVE that are not too outrageously priced, (although I have sworn to myself never to buy cheap floor lamps again)and have still not found any. I have found cheap, I have found would work, but not ones I would look at every day and feel great because they are in my home. So I am still searching.

I realize that adopting this kind of purist philosophy is vexing. I now have some bare walls, and thoughts occur to me daily about what I want on them, and what would work. So they remain minimalist until I find a work of art that... well you know. I have been searching daily painting blogs. So it is a challenge to maintain this motto without coming to the cross in the road where you become a person who never makes a decision. There is a difference between finding what you want after a decision has been made, and never making a decision.

So what is on my mind today, well I almost caved and bought some towels that were 1/2 off. They were the right color, they were good quality, they would have worked. Mine are embarrassing right now, but they still do the job. Then I remembered the ones I absolutely love that I saw in a catalogue. I remembered being good and telling myself I couldn't buy them and throwing away the catalogue because that was way too outrageous to buy towels for that price. But it has been quite some time, and those towels were in the back of my mind. And so I realize that living on purpose requires making decisions that will allow you to make steps towards your goals, however trivial those goals may be, it's good practice, achieving these little goals, to get ready for the big whammy goals.

So read this post with a multi-level approach, because I am not talking about luxurious cable textured white towels here people. I am talking about it's your one life you get to live once. What type of person do you want to be for the rest of your life? Cheap, just kinda working, kinda like, will do? Nah, when nothing before you will do, think about what you really want, narrow it down, inspect for quality of life, wait and go on, what does it take?

So save your hundred bucks a month, buy the towels. And everyday when you fold them and put them into place, they will bring a smile to your face. Be sure to treat decisions in your life with meaning, know when to wait, know when to act, and remember-

ONLY IF YOU LOVE IT.

Fiber Art?

Serging Washcloths

Normal Is Boring

My China, (picture from Lenox)

Good Morning! It is a day in the northwest when you remember why one lives up in these parts. The day that makes up for the grey, and the whispers of sun that visit in the winter time. It is summer, and I should not be posting a picture of a coffee pot. I don't even drink coffee hot. I love my Lenox.
Well in other news, is got so hot yesterday, that I also found some solice in serging, and I was thinking about how I wish my serger could keep track of usage time just like my sewing machine does? Machine companies are you listening? Then I could prove that I use that little hummer more even than the sewing machine(s), since no one really quite seems to fully believe me on that one. I serged some napkins for gifts using a three-thread rolled edge and Wooley Nylon, and some terry for rags using a wide three-thread overlock (I hate consuming wasteful quantities of paper towels), and I actually ran out of thread before I got to some dyed silk chiffon that I wanted to make into scarfs. I like the serger, because I like going fast when I sew. I like it because it is a professional finish, and washing machine proof.
Well I am thinking that the goals for the day include 1 full hour cleaning the studio. I think I will laugh myself if I ever get an "after" picture with a cleared off cutting counter to post. Chuckles, turn away and run, or move the piles strategy - I'm not sure the best approach right now? Sewers are messy? Art quilter's are cluster producing divas? Serging phenoms are irreverent about fuzzballs blasting all over their wardrobe and the weave of their berber?
Normal is boring, I faced that down with a hard stare long ago, muttering to myself that perfection is about getting better at making messes and mistakes, and stepping back long enough to allow perspective on the craziness.

When It's Too Hot To Iron - Embroider

Inspiration
Into Stitches


This embroidery was inspired by my bouquet of Golden Zest and I think Teasing Georgia. You know that you are blessed when you reach the point where the roses are almost out of your memorization field. This piece is going to be a wristlet, the cute ones I have seen all over have really inspired me, although I do think this would make a pretty pillow or sachet.


The house smells like Grapefruit, and the floors are clean
wash hung out on the line since it dries fast in 90+ heat.




I am thankful that I live not far from the sea, and so even in the extreme heat, there is that wild breeze. I organized my cross-stitch stuff into a neat bag, and so this summer hopefully I will have nice relaxing places to take it with me when I get away.
I ironed all my pieces that I fabric painted/dyed/sun resisted, and I am very pleased with how they have come out. I have one all safety pinned ready for thread play, and I will get that posted soon I hope.
Machine embroidery is such a good thing to do when you have clothes to put away or a closet to organize, because you can multi-task. Now I know that detracts from the art process, but sometimes it is nice to have some embroideries ready and stitched for when you sit down to sew.
I have been listening to this ambient music all day, different, but nice because it allows you a lot more thoughts than when you listen to music with words.
I am pondering what it means to make art. Why is there this thread of needing to make stuff ourselves nowadays? People are so tired of the cookie cutter same (can't find what they want), longing for distractions and de-stressing, and wondering how they fit into a world already arranged for them by manufacturers and big box stores.
Sewing can open up a world to people. If they are willing to make mistakes and move on down the line, sewing can showcase their dreams, and manifest visions into a product that is useful in daily life. And when you sew something yourself, you have a valid right to claim this is mine and at least for now exclusively.

You don't Stop?

Embroidery I re-designed and stitched on disappearing stabilizer.


I have been plugging away at getting my kitchen clean, laundry clean, house clean? Well, the house part will come slowly. I am behind, and there is a lot to do. But sometimes one just needs a break, and in my life as a SAHW, I sometimes forget to take breaks, and lunch breaks, and I have to remember not to wear myself out! Some days I remember why I am so tired, yeah, well, I don't stop.

I was reading http://veganruthie.blogspot.com/, and liked her thought about the lack of support for SAHW. I think a lot of women are realizing that they don't want two jobs. They would rather focus energies where they think is important.

Well, it is off to make dinner, and finish cleaning the kitchen. The studio needs some help too! All those new supplies are just waiting to be played with.

Thrifting First Class

Today was extremely hot, and the soreness from a July 4th hike was intense. Goat Mountain was scaled on a clear hot day, and imagine the irony of slipping and falling on your butt in snow on the 4th. Today I stocked up on some embroidery floss and basics (new cutter and machine needles) and then hit the thrift store. Sometimes I go and I wonder why, and others I go and find all kinds of cheery stuff. You will notice the champagne classes and the old flask. I have flutes but not these shaped ones. I always wanted to do the champagne glass tower some time when I entertain, so I will be keeping an eye out for more. A old perfume bottle and a covered glass dish. The Popsicle mold is my favorite, and I just happen to already have tops that fit just right. Thrift stores really can set you pondering on the meaning of life, certainly it is a little eerie when you find that missing component or an item you had been looking at, but didn't want to pay a lot for, and along it comes for a little over a buck. It is like God kicks in and just decided to tease you, and it gives you a smile.

The rose "Pat Austin" delights the sewing room, and these are pictures of my sun painting experience on my one day off, which I must say when better than planed except for the neck sun burn. I am going to do a lot of thread painting too as I quilt the surface of this painting.

I think of what it would be like to have the time to complete all my fiber fantasy visions, and I wonder how a lifetime will suffice, and yet, it is all passing as the petal and the breath, and I will now go dream, wandering into the colorless waterfall of dormancy.