NEW BEGINNINGS

It's been a very busy week so far.  The hurricane mess is behind us and we are all wishing the best for those affected so badly by Florence!

Our 2+ month exhibit at the NC Arboretum has ended.  We are so pleased with the success of this our 3rd show at this beautiful place.

It also means it's time to freshen up my space at Woolworth Walk Art Gallery in downtown Asheville.  So today, off came everything from the walls and new pieces/new arrangement were hung.  

Yup, I should have had an extra set of eyes....the lower piece to the left of the ladder needed to be lower....but hanging by oneself has its challenges, happily for the most part the pieces are straight!!

Fall tourist season will begin ever so shortly.....may they find their way to the lower level of Woolworth's when they stop by to see the original charming working soda fountain!

See what fellow artists have been working on this week:  Nina-Marie's Off The Wall Friday, Sarah's Whoop Whoop Friday.

GOODBYE HURRICANE FLORENCE

Good riddence to Hurricane Florence.....really, it was thankfully sort of a non-event.  We lost our internet most of yesterday afternoon and into the early evening but otherwise we fared well.  Of course our hearts go out to those so severely impacted.

A tad over 3" in a little over 24 hrs.

It was so moist this morning....this stand of ornamental grass was covered with tiny water droplets....beautiful.  Now back to normal life...if there is such a thing!!!  Thank you to all who sent well wishes....it was certainly appreciated!!

HURRICANE REPORT FROM THE MOUNTAINS

It's hard to believe that 6 hours away from the coast, we'd experience any impact from Hurricane Florence, even considering how big it is. Naturally, one's heart goes out to all those who are truly coping with the storm.

We started getting a light but steady rain about 4:30 PM yesterday, 20 mins. later it stopped.  Sometime over the night hours it began to rain again....still light with moderate winds. Our county has declared a state of emergency as rainfall predictions are said to be very high which will cause flooding, mud slides, and downed trees.  Thankfully all is well here in our Upper Crabtree mountain valley at 3,200 feet elevation.

 This isn't to say we've taken the warnings lightly....our two tubs are filled with water.  WHY?  Because we have a well and when the power goes out.....there's no water....among other negatives it means no toilet flushing!

All our devices are charged.  We have food on hand that can easily be heated on a camp stove, propane canisters for our Coleman lanterns, our outdoor furniture is tied down.  Now we are hoping none of these precautions will be necessary.  I get VERY crabby when we are without power....so it may be character building time if it comes down to that.

OH DEAR...WHAT HAVE I DONE?!?

After having the nerve to share the drama I was having with my troublesome quilt, you dear readers came up with so many good suggestions.  Thank you for taking the time and brain power to connect.

Carole of "My Carolina Home", a talented blogger who freely shares so many clever quilt techniques, not to mention all things "Carolina", suggested replacing my original lower left block with a darker one to help balance the two large blocks. Seen in this photo. Good grief, I can't believe I didn't think of it....brilliant...thank you Carole!!   I didn't go quite as dark as the other two because it seemed to create a bulls eye.  Hard to believe given the impact of the other two blocks, but that's the way I read it.

 I had already decided to add black circles to the corner squares...a motif found in so many Japanese designs.  It helped to add more black, plus it set off the outline of the two rectangles by its omission.

It still needed additional color balance and I thought that could be accomplished by adding a dark border.  Oh dear....now the rectangle on the lower right looks very odd.  Perhaps I should have left well enough alone!

My now - 10:30 PM decision (way past my bedtime mind you) was not well thought out and I could kick myself for not waiting till the next day.  I opened seams and added 4 more corner squares in the center of the rectangles.  Already regretting that rash move I went to bed....again wayyyy past my bedtime about midnight.

Overnight the quilt didn't miraculously fix itself.  But after giving it murderous looks in the morning, I folded back about half of the width of the border and it looked better.  I may decrease it even more.  But first I have to applique all those circles...yuck...however that will give me time to think this through before I again jump the gun and sandwiching the piece too soon.

Say tuned....

Linking to:  Nina-Marie's Off The Wall Friday, and Sarah's Whoop whoop Friday.

HURRICANE FLORENCE

Thank you everyone who took the time to reach out to me wishing us well as Florence heads to NC.  We are about 6 hrs. from the coast so our impact is expected to be lots of rain and wind.  The biggest worry we have is loss of power.  I'd like to say I'll treat that as a character building moment/s/days perhaps, but I will whine for sure.

I can report I drove round trip 50 mins. each way to Asheville today, most of it on I40 and there were lines and lines of power trucks heading south.  Seriously.....convoys of 10 + and then another grouping and another and another.  

We've become such a critical and complaining nation lately.....it's heartwarming folks to know that help is already on the way for those impacted.  Of course, the problems will be bigger than just loss of power but clearly advance aid is in the works for one aspect of the recovery!  

TOO STUBBORN !!!

 DRAT.....why didn't I listen to that little voice??  Now I'm not only second guessing....I'm struggling to find a way to make this new piece work.

 My biggest sellers are the Asian style patchwork quilts I've been making (who knew??)  They are totally not in my normal wheelhouse but I can't ignore their success.  So, here's another one and clearly I didn't have the right fabrics to do what I wanted.  I can't tell you how many different sashing fabrics I tried.....

 Because the two bigger blocks are quite a bit darker, I went with black. After that decision was made, the blocks were rearranged on my design wall and I liked this look and actually considered using an off white.  But again, the concern over the two bigger darker blocks led me back to choosing a two tone black print.

My piecing process is probably the slowest anyone has...but I find it so much easier to keep track of the patchwork that way while having half an ear and eye on trash Bravo TV shows!  I cut strips and position them, take them down one block at a time, sew, press and put that block back...ya I know.....why not chain piece....??!?

 So....all along I KNEW those dark blocks didn't work but I kept talking myself into using them, wanting the diversity instead of using blocks all the same size.  Too stubborn and now regretting it!

 Yup, the more I did, the more I realized this didn't work....big sigh.

 To help balance the color contrast I added black circles in each corner square.  Perhaps that helped but not enough.

Now, compare this last photo to the one above. Oil pastels in about 4 colors were used to lighten the two larger blocks. I'm trying to talk myself into saying this is okay....but know it isn't.  I'm guessing my 2 AM thought will confirm my current instinct....to add a larger black border or ditch the two bigger blocks and go the more boring route...blocks all the same size.  

Dare I ask...what do you think?? 

FIBER JUNKIES - SEPT. MEETING

The Fiber Junkies met this month at Judy's home.  Her fabulous studio with excellent lighting and plenty of table space for everyone, plus a outside deck for the messier work is such a perfect environment.

 We start with coffee and morning treats faithfully brought by Denny....and launch right into show and tell.  Our newest member Susan dazzled us with this SAQA Global Exhibition book "Dusk to Dawn" where one of her pieces is featured and will be traveling with the exhibit for 3 years.

 Denny was our go-to leader this month.  Here are a few of the examples she brought to provide inspiration for our day of mono-printing.

Not only did she bring these samples, she had handouts, all the prepared dyes, spray and squeeze bottles to apply the dyes, and a big array of items to texture our prints.

 None of us had done this specific approach to mono-printing before, so Denny graciously demonstrated the steps she uses.  She begins squirting mixed and slightly thickened MX dyes onto Plexiglas.

 ....and more.....

 Next, dry fabric (which had been prepared with soda ash) is pressed onto the glass.

 Now she begins adding more color......first with a spray bottle containing mixed dye that has not been thickened.

 She moves it around using a textured paint roller.

 .....Now more dye....

 This is such a clever idea to add texture...it's an electric coil from a kitchen stove that no longer worked.

When she was satisfied with her design......

....It was wrapped and arranged in a coil with sheets of blank newsprint. 

....Placed in a turkey roaster which was located on Judy's deck & filled with a small amount of water.  Once covered, it was left to steam about an hour.

After steaming, the fabric was unwrapped and soaked in water with a few drops of dawn.  BUT....darn it.....do I have a picture of her finished piece?!? Nope....as usual we work in a very frenzied environment......ideas flowing, all talking at once.  Our pieces will return at show and tell next month and I'll be sure to share the results.

 We were all delighted with the left-over paper.  Gen works almost exclusively with paper now, so this and more went home with her.  We look forward to next month when she returns with what she's done with them!

 I have to admit.....I had no success at all.....here's a landscape piece I was attempting.  You can see it again on the last photo...middle piece of fabric.

 My goal was to create some background fabric.....specifically marshes/ponds.....but failed on both accounts.  Of course over-dyeing may save them.

My three uglies....of course cutting them to use for patchwork is another possibility, rather than over-dyeing which is my current thought.  

Next month we will again be doing transfer paints/dyes......in the meantime....

I'm seeing the end of the quest to find homes for my friend's quilting treasures.....  I have three newly made quilts left.  2 are king size...the other is big too 89"x89", all beautifully pieced and custom machine quilted.  Look for them in tomorrow's blog.....I'll post them for the final time with hopes that someone will give them a home.

ART RAMBLE

We belong to a very active local car club.  The event chairperson, Jim Moore has boundless energy and spends an enormous amount of time developing/organizing and running special outings for the group.

This past week we had an 'Art Ramble' to the NC Arboretum where 20+ members visited the quilt exhibit that my two buddies (Judy Simmons, Kate Weston and I) have on display.  Jim arrived in his 1986 Carrera....he called that 'stretching its legs!!  What a beauty!

I was amazed how quickly I slipped back into my teaching mode! My mini-presentation was so well received. I brought lots of labeled fabric samples to help the viewers better understand the terminology they'd be reading on the signage next to each quilt.  Very few non-quilters would even have a clue that one could transform a piece of white cloth in so many different ways.

During my travel teaching days this quilt was always a crowd favorite and of course Porsche owners welcomed it as well.  It's called "Waiting For Spring"....a spoof of my husband sitting in the garage in the middle of winter with the top down on his speedster, blue face due to the cold despite wearing a Green Bay Packer hat!

I was flattered by the number of members who visited and expressed so much interest in quilt art.  It was truly an enjoyable time.

FABRIC DILEMMA

Okay so I'm being stubborn......

Do you ever spend far too much time auditioning fabrics, trying to make what you have work, instead of purchasing what you know will?  Yup...that's me.  I've tried at least 8 different fabrics to use for this in-progress piece.....and can't make any of them work.

Maybe I'll go clean my toilets today instead!

LABORING ON LABOR DAY

The morning mist on this huge spider web caught my attention......this sure was one busy spider!!  Just another reminder to 'self' - slow down and look at the world around you!!