BLACK LAB'S MAY BE HUMAN

We are eagerly awaiting family who are coming from Wisconsin for a visit......so not much is going on in the studio this week.  Even the dog is aware of a change in our schedule.

Sooty, our rescue black lab acts human at times.  Here she is pouting after realizing she wouldn't be going in the car with us.

And here she is perking up after I had to come back inside for a forgotten item.....soon to look dismal again I'm sure!

SILENT SUNDAY - 9/11

SEA GLASS

I just returned from a late summer mini vacation to visit my brother/family in Eugene, OR. The trip was too short, made even shorter because of the limited flight schedules available at small airports.  4 flights & 15 hours of travel, door to door each way, takes a toll.  It was sure a good reminder of why I decided to retire from travel teaching!

This is not to say it was anything but totally worthwhile......face to face sure beats Facetime.

 My wonderful SIL grew up in the same town our family did.  Her family home was on the shores of Lake Michigan.  As a child she used to collect the sea glass that washed up on their beach.  She estimates these treasures have been sitting in this empty whiskey bottle for 50 years.

 We emptied it and washed the bits and pieces.  Barbara gave me free rein to take as many as I wished.

 Here's my pile....now that I'm home, I've got it soaking in some white vinegar which should hopefully brighten them up.

This is my favorite piece.....look carefully to see the twisted wire embedded in the glass.  I plan to use the sea glass to embellish my next batch of hand felted bowls.

FELTING ONLINE WORKSHOP REGISTRATION

The very informative and active Felting and Fiber Studio has just announced a new online workshop in October.  Galina Titova will lead a Felted Fantasy Fish class.  Click here to get the details and see more photos of her fabulous work.

This looks like great fun with the opportunity to learn new techniques!!

I KNEW THIS WOULD BE DIFFICULT

I had this crazy idea that I could create a fabric portrait of our now nearly 11 month old grandson.  Okay, I also KNEW it would be difficult....yet the challenge was intriguing.

I spent hours and hours and hours online researching various techniques.  Lea McComas lessons were quite helpful. By combining several approaches....here's what I did.

 It began by selecting a photo

Cropping it

 Posterizing in Photoshop - I'm not Photoshop savvy so this took some doing, of course now I see how really simple that task was! 

The photo was printed and with the aid of a light box and freezer paper, the face was traced, divided into sections.  Each was assigned a number for its value, with a total of 5 to correspond with 5 solid fabrics. 

Next, each of the marked sections of the freezer paper were cut out and pressed to pieces of Wonder-Under prepared fabric.  One needs to keep careful track because once the piece is cut it's hard to know whether it is the outline of an eye or the mouth!  As is typical in appliqué, you start from the back and work forward, adding each piece to complete what feels like working on a jigsaw puzzle. And like a jigsaw, where one often begins with the corners, I found it worked best to get the outline of the face fused first.

So....finally all the fusing was completed.  AND DRAT......regular blog readers are aware of the trouble I've had with my cataract surgery. My vision is much, much worse than pre-surgery.  AND the promise of seeing color so much better.....NOT!!  So, that's my excuse for not realizing just how dark the #3 color was.....way too dark...which contributed to making this darling little boy look like he's 5!

I kept thinking that quilting with lighter thread would lighten it up....but it didn't.

 After countless days, much hand wringing, and with the help of my fiber buddies......all possible options to rescue this piece were examined.  Finally, it became clear that I'd have to paint it.  GULP!  Thanks to my pal Kate who introduced me to Golden's Paint Medium....which helped the paint flow and blend better. 

 I did several light layers to achieve the right color.

An email from talented blog buddy Gwyned Trefethen, (written after my posting of my last project which also needed rescuing), helped to steady my hand as I painted.  She said: If anyone has courage as an artist, it is you, Mary. Lopping off the bottom of your quilt, then finding a way to make the pieces work together. Courageous and brilliant!  I'm sharing this because it meant so much to me......and it's a reminder how much we share, inspire, and encourage each other via our blogs!  

It took over two weeks to decide how to finish it.  Cropping the face, eliminating the too skinny neck seemed to make him look more his age...though still too old.  I must have pulled every piece of fabric from my stash auditioning ideas for borders.  I cut who knows how many different colors and sizes of mats and tried who knows how many frame options.  In the end, instead of lopping off the bottom of the tree as in my last project.....I lopped off his neck.  

This isn't a masterpiece and I'm not sure I'll attempt another one......yet there is a certain sense of satisfaction that comes from creating such complex piece.

Elan Stori 2016

11" x 13"

Please take the time to visit other artists to help encourage them on their journey....it does make a difference!!    Nina-Marie's Off The Wall Friday, Sarah's Whoop Whoop Friday.
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GROWING STRONG

Last week I blogged about this piece, which almost got the better of me. The comments and encouragement many of you shared were so heartwarming. Thank you!

The changes on the finished piece may not appear as if a lot went into it, yet it actually took considerable thought, auditioning and testing to find the appropriate construction process to add the three details that now connect the two pieces.

Once again this is an example of the complexity and joy of creating one-of-a-kind art quilts!

GROWING STRONG    26.5" X 26" 

AVAILABLE HERE

Artist indigo-dyed and ice-dyed cotton, machine stitched.

Visit these inspiration blogs to see what others have spent their week working on:  Nina-Marie's Off The Wall Friday, Sarah's Whoop Whoop Friday

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LEARN FROM AN EXPERT

The Felting and Fiber Studio has just announced a new online workshop that is sure to be lots of fun and wonderfully educational.  It will focus on how to print, stencil and play with Thickened Dyes on Felt.  They reall know their stuff so it's a great opportunity!!

Click here to learn the details.

SUN PRINTING - FIBER JUNKIES PLAY TIME

Life happens.....we had planned to do part two of our paper transfer printing at this Fiber Junkies meeting....but since two members could attend we shifted gears.  Besides, that can be done indoors and with summer waning....we have only another month or so to work in Val's perfect garage/outdoor space.

 Some areas of Asheville have had rain daily, not so in the mountain valley where I live.  It's as dry as a bone.  Even so, we planned to do some sun printing.  The last time we did this several years ago it rained and we got almost no decent prints.  Hummmm....look at the sky!

Fortunately, the sun peaked in and out and for the most part we were able to print.

 We thinned, one part Setacolor with 2 parts water.  Felted wool isn't necessarily a good option for this process....the surface isn't smooth enough. However, this blotchy mess was from some other failed experiment.....have no clue what.....so as is my motto, "If you are unhappy with your results you can (a) stay unhappy, whine, and moan or (b) get fearless and do something about it."  Really, there's nothing to lose....there's always more fabric where this came from!!

 So I painted each half with a different color. Then placed leaves on the wet surface....with some rocks to hold them down.  The more surface contact, the better the print. SURE....I know a piece of glass would have done a better job....but since I didn't have one......

......The results are disappointing.  But definitely not the end of the world and I can layer/paint/dye/stitch and continue to make lemonade from a lemon.

 Here I'm painting the diluted Setacolor onto a piece of white on white fabric.

 Covered with found object and set in the sun.....well, set outside hoping for the sun.

Quite amazing.....it actually printed some designs.

 This fabric was painted with teal Setacolor (not shown) and covered with sequin waste.

Positive results again!

Clever Gen brought some popcorn kernels which I scattered onto the other half of the teal coated fabric. Perhaps a greater length of time in the sun would have helped.....but it clouded up again and this is what appeared. I'm okay with it.

We are hoping to get in a day of marbling before we have to start meeting indoors.....and of course I'll report our adventures.

RESCUED OR FAILURE?? The jury is still out.....

My week, actually closer to two for this project hasn't gone well.  Just when I thought my vision issues were a thing of the past, I've had a relapse.  Hopefully it's temporary but it's so annoying to cope with these limitations.

This piece started out so simple.  I've enjoyed creating a couple of pieces recently using uneven patchwork sections, surrounded by either narrow black or white strips. My indigo dyed fabric stash is almost depleted so this was a way of stretching what I have left.

I envisioned a sketch of a tree as the focal point.  There was no intention to echo the look of a traditional window, rather I was thinking more along the lines of a piece of stained glass.

My drawing skills are almost nil, but determination, a pencil and eraser yielded the image that fit nicely into the piece.

I'm still struggling to achieve acceptable machine quilting, especially when using this programed serpentine stitch.  Although I promised not to complain about my new machine.....surely you could hear me hollering no matter where you live due to all the distortion that developed. Yes, it started square and flat, basted within an inch of its life.  I used Janome's pale imitation of the Pfaff's dual feed feature......called Accufeed.  Enuff said.....I'm not sure whether you can see the horrible distortion above.  After blocking it more than once I had to decide if it could be rescued or considered a failure.

After considering all possibilities, I cut it apart, eliminating a small section to get rid of the puckering. My original intention was to deep six the bottom section, bind the top, then go back and add more detail at the bottom of the piece.  BUT....as a lark, I added binding to the bottom to see how it would look if it was displayed as two pieces.  While working, an idea emerged to possibly attach the two by joining the roots from the bottom to the top.  Or???  I'm still considering whether to use just the top or both pieces as shown here or somehow connecting the two.  What do you think??

Follow these links to see what successes others have had this week:  Nina-Marie's Off The Wall Friday, Sarah's Whoop Whoop Friday.

BLUE GRASS IN THE MOUNTAINS

Long time readers of this blog know how much I enjoy Bluegrass music.  Luckily, there are lots of opportunties to enjoy live Bluegrass right here in our mountains.  

 'The husband' and I have seen Darin and Brooke Aldridge numerous times and they never fail to entertain with his fabulous instrumental talents and their blended harmony.  She has such a strong voice, you'll often see her stepping back from the microphone to prevent it from shattering as she belts out the lyrics.

 Waynesville, NC, has a population of about 10,000 and sits at 2,750 feet elevation.  It's our nearest town with a charming downtown featuring galleries/gift shops and restaurants, approximately 25 mins. from our house. 

 A young couple recently purchased the old movie theater on Main Street and are slowly bringing it back to life with live music and evening movies.  The Strand was built in 1945 and was said to have around 400 seats.  Now it's a tiny venue with 75 seats, padded armless chairs situated right next to each other which makes for a very intimate setting!

Bluegrass groups generally consist of a guitar, mandolin, banjo, upright base, and fiddle.  Occasionally, groups will also highlight the dobro, a personal favorite of mine. Country music quite will often feature a pedal steel guitar (as seen here).  The sound is similar to the dobro....but twangier.  We were lucky to get front row seats, seriously no less than 5 feet from the stage and dab smack in front of this musician (who also played the banjo and guitar.....sigh....what talent!)

My toes are still tapping this morning......