Pumpkins -- or why making art is sometimes like beating your head against the wall

this started out as an experiment with using paint on fabric and progressed to an actual finished piece

along the way there were some, uh, "technical difficulties" (bang head here!)

the photo on the left was the first attempt at "framing" --- the stitched piece was stitched to some fabric (that I really liked the color and texture of) and I made the attempt at putting it on a wood framing (stretcher bars)

hummmm, well, what are the flaws there -- let me count them up -- never mind

after some ranting, some ripping and a trip to the art supply store, it has been put in a frame with a mat

and here is a detail shot that shows the stitching of the shadow under the pumpkin as well as the "crackle" of the paint experiment on the wall behind the pumpkin

I'm really pleased with the fiber piece -- I still want to do something with the stretcher bar idea, but that is for another day

so since we're talking about pumpkins -- here is the next wall hanging project all drawn with pencil onto the muslin that will be the "paper" on which I "color" with fabrics and stitching

this is a seasonal wall hanging for my daughter, so it needs to be something that can be rolled to store, so no using of paint or stretcher bars for this one

I am going to do fusing and machine thread painting though

hopefully today I can find the fabrics I need in my bins to get started

further experimenting with beads revealed that I could use the same technique that made the triangles to create a square -- cool!

so now I want to make some more pieces and see if I can put this all together as something

time to get busy!

thinking outside the box

to consider another shape -- the triangle

I needed to figure out if my pencil drawing was even possible

so in a couple of hours yesterday I did these two interlocked triangular links --- together they measure about 1.5 inches

this morning as I was waking up I had an idea to take this pattern and try making a square --- we'll see how that works

perhaps this picture should be titled "I can't come back, I don't know how it works"

during this morning's walk with lab, this was what we saw -- it was good flying weather!

fall is coming

while it is still hot right now, the birds have begun their migration from wherever they spent the summer to wherever they spend the winter

this morning we had dozens of grackles strutting around the back yard, perching on the fences, making a lot of noise outside my patio door

guess it was good flying weather for them too

work from the garage workshop

earlier in the summer the DH started working on these flowers for my garden

since we didn't put in plants, it does give a pop of color out there in the garden area

he has some plans for some iris for out there too -- just have to get some lumber to build them out of (we used to be able to pick up stuff he could use for these projects for 51 cents at the Home Depot here, but now they just throw those small pieces away -- guess they weren't making enough money on them, which is a bummer for the DH and a lot of other folks that were using that as a good source for small projects!)

since I'm getting close to being done with the knitting part of the bag I'm working on, I did some prep work for a project I'm going to start next

a couple of  years ago I made a knit hat that had a spiraling pattern -- the pattern included instructions for adding beads, which for that particular project was not what I was looking for

I've decided to give it a try

so I spent some time stringing about 200 green and purple beads on the very fine green yarn that will be knit in with the purple to make what I'm thinking of as the "Eggplant Swirl Hat"

I've never tried to knit with beads before, but I think it will be interesting

finishing, updating and still working

it's done

this is not the best of all possible pictures, but it was a "quickie" taken yesterday afternoon as I was pretty excited about having this done

today I will take some better photos that will show the clasp and some better shots of the fringe

I'm really happy to have this finished because I'm starting to think about what the next piece will be

I've been thinking about playing with some 3D beaded links for a bracelet, maybe something like this drawing

time to teach myself a new technique to make those triangles

I've been thinking about "remodeling" my Etsy store and actually creating a working website of my work

part of what I'm thinking about is a unified "look" 

which includes sprucing up the "models" I take pictures of my pieces on

this styrofoam head, for example -- I've had this thing for over 30 years -- it's been used to style wigs and as a "holder" when I was spray painting some head shaped objects -- most recently I've used it as a hat stand to photograph hats that I have created -- but it looked pretty ugly

yesterday I made a trip to the hardware store and plunked down the money for a can of spray paint in a soft brown tone --- this is the neutral I have selected to use for my new display pieces --- it is enough contrast to show off the work but not so much that it conflicts with the lighting for getting good photos

I'll be making some changes to some other display pieces too

baby steps to something much bigger

this is for sure a "did I do that" moment

it took a little over an hour to do the stitching on this piece, and I'm VERY pleased with the results

today I hope to get the edges done so I can have the DH build me a wood "frame" that I can mount this piece on

certainly it is very different than anything else I have ever done

another picture from the neighbor's flower garden taken this morning during the "walk with lab"

we had over an inch of rain and some hail last night, so the petals of some of the yellow flowers have been beaten off, but I still love the look of this

time to get busy

experimental work continues

this piece, for instance is a test of using several techniques combined to create a small art quilt

the top section is painted and crackled, and the bottom section as well as the pumpkin are fused

next step -- the stitching -- I plan to do a lot of thread painting on this

we'll see how this goes

making progress on the knitting of this piece --- still have to do the gussets and the strap

I hope to have this ready to go in that felting load on Monday

and an actual finished object

a baby's hat that will go into the box for the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation

I love this color combination -- reminds me of an egg plant

this morning's walk with lab resulted in this photo

one of the biggest mushrooms I've seen growing in the yard

it reminds me of my grandmother, and this poem she used to recite to me:


UNDER a toadstool crept a wee Elf,
Out of the rain to shelter himself.

Under the toadstool, sound asleep,
Sat a big Dormouse all in a heap.

Trembled the wee Elf, frightened and yet
Fearing to fly away lest he get wet.

To the next shelter—maybe a mile!
Sudden the wee Elf smiled a wee smile.

Tugged till the toadstool toppled in two.
Holding it over him, gaily he flew.

Soon he was safe home, dry as could be.
Soon woke the Dormouse—"Good gracious me!

"Where is my toadstool?" loud he lamented.
—And that's how umbrellas first were invented.

let the fringing begin!

I finally got all of the necklace strung together

and I've started working on the fringe

fringing is a very time consuming process -- this one will be less so than some others  -- when I fringe I'm usually aiming for a variation of lengths, which usually entails careful counting and recording so both sides decrease evenly, etc.

because the bottom edge of the pieces already are at different levels, I can do this one by making each strand of the fringe the same, which is much faster

while there were times that I thought this piece was never going to be finished, I'm now getting excited to have it done because I think I'm going to like the finished product

and since it is "hump day", it seems right to show the picture of the surgically corrected camel

he's all ready to go into the washer to be felted

I had to remind myself as I was stuffing him with the ordinary fiber fill that I had available that he will get smaller and not to overfill him lest he blow up in the felting process (I don't really think that would happen, but it is an interesting mind picture!!)

the felting load is currently planned for next Monday -- I've found that it works best to do the felting load after all the laundry is done, immediately after the towel load because the water is the hottest then -- and I hope to have that bag I'm working on ready for the felting stage by then too

time to get busy -- I have a group meeting this evening, so I need to get things done

projects in process or pictures of nothing much

the knitting on this continues

right now it's not clear exactly what this will be by just looking at it

this started out when I was able to pick up two skeins of felt-able wool yarn that were not the same brand, but were colors that would combine well

and I'm knitting those two yarns together by alternating them back and forth every 2 rows

the plan is to felt this, make it into a hand bag with some cool embellishments

this doesn't look like much either

it was the first go at using paint and crackle medium on cloth

it didn't really crackle

but I'm still going to use this piece to experiment with some other techniques

and I'll be doing another "test" on the crackle idea (I think I messed it up by overworking the crackle layer)

we'll see

and then there is this

which will be having some rework done on it

the pattern instructions for knitting him were awesome --- the instructions for the sewing up not so much

so he wasn't ready to go into a felting load this morning --- maybe by next wash day!

time to get to that laundry

time with the colored pencils

before I start fiddling with fabrics to create this piece, I wanted to try out some color and figure out what I want to use as the background behind the pumpkins

this version has a sort weathered siding

this version has a brick wall behind it

and this one has a rock wall

I think the first one is the best one -- there is better color contrast and the back wall is not so busy that it takes away from the pumpkins -- since they are the point after all!

I want to experiment with a technique -- my idea for that background is to have it look like weathered wood -- the way I've created that look in other projects has been to use a crackle medium on an acrylic paint

the technique works really well on wood -- I'm not sure how it will work on fabric, so I'll be doing a bit of experimentation with it

do you remember this piece I did a while back?

I'm happy to report that it  made $50 for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) --- happy dancing!!

this also means I'll be pulling out another piece to send them --- it is a cause I support, and since I'm making these pieces anyway, donating some of them for this purpose makes me feel good

the knitting of the camel is complete, and last night I started stitching up and stuffing -- I'm having to remember to stuff lightly because once I'm done with this step, he goes into the washer for some felting

while I was knitting I was quite willing to just follow the instructions even though from time to time I was thinking "what is all this weird shaping?"  --- NOW I get it!

time to get busy!!

a little bit of this, a little bit of that

after being activity restricted for almost two weeks, I decided to break in to doing more gently

I had been going great guns on this chair project "before the incident", and it was good to get back to it

the fabric for the back of the chair has now been cut and pinned -- all ready for the stitching, which I hope to do (at least some of) today

work on this piece is coming right along

once I had the top line all put together I put it on the display stand so I could figure out how long the outside edge needs to be --- so today it will be back to working right angle weave to create more "cords"

looking good

this week's "walk with lab" took me past the neighbor's great wild flower garden --- I love these kind of "ferny" plants -- they look too fragile to hold up those big lavender flowers

Fizzz!

it's finished!

titled "Fizzz!" as it makes me think of a glass full of something bubbly

the deadline on this piece isn't until later in the fall, but I'm happy to have it done

this is coming right along! 

next step is to build the pieces that connect to the clasp

looking good!!

still doodling

 

more drawings for the fall project

I'm enjoying the drawing part -- pumpkins are a shape that is deeply ingrained in my brain, so I can draw them without having any "models" to pose for me

in actual fiber creation, this one would probably include some autumn leaves too

so which one do you like best?

Saturday studio time

it's been cooler the past few days, and since I'm still not supposed to be doing heavy lifting, bending, etc., I spent quite a bit of time in the studio yesterday

the redesign of the clasp for the piece of jewelry I'm working on is complete

I've only used one of these slide clasps before, and that was on a bracelet -- I'm starting to get the hang of installing them

next step is that little cubic right angle weave project

all of the stitching of the sky is finished now -- this picture was taken while there was still that little area at the right hand side that had pins in it, but that has now been stitched as has the very first of the mountain pieces

cool

seems once I started drawing again, it just continues to flow out onto the paper

a while back my daughter asked me if could do her a fall wall art piece (I've already done her a Christmas one and a Halloween one)

I'm not sure if this is more "formal" than she had in mind, but I do like this drawing

it has that "did I do that" feel to it -- so I think rather she likes it and I do it for her or it just goes in the sketch file for future "slice of life" work, I'm hanging on to it

another afghan square got completed when I talked with my sister yesterday

we have good news -- her DH is home!  he still has health issues to be dealt with, but they'll be doing it together with their doctor's advising

I offered to help if I can

I see more afghan squares getting knit!

a new "slice of life"

for a while I've been working on little sketches for a series of pieces I want to make that is titled "A Slice of Life"

this little drawing is the latest in the series and it's titled "The Entry Way" -- when I was a little girl the house I spent the most time in was my grandmother's -- you came in the front door into a long narrow room -- on one side was the old, upright piano, and on the other side under the 6 over 6 windows was a row of white bookcases that my grandfather built -- on top of those were pots full of violets that my grandmother lovingly tended (it's funny that even now almost 60 years later I can close my eyes and see this room -- and every other room in that house)

I decided to go back to using the smaller bead embroidered piece at the back with the clasp, but because I changed the rest of the layout, I needed to have two of these smaller pieces instead of just one

so yesterday I did the bead embroidery on the second one -- today I should be able to get the backing onto both of these and start the next part -- I'm going to try doing right angle weave with the tiny size 15 beads -- we'll see how that goes

you may remember this little piece I did a few weeks ago

the voting in the competition it is entered in has begun

you can go and vote on your favorite piece  HERE

some design work?

ok, I'm getting a little better every day -- still can't breathe through my nose so I wake up in the mornings with a sore throat from mouth breathing, but I'm feeling stronger every day -- and getting impatient about being able to "get back to it"!

I sat at the table for a while yesterday and worked on possible layouts for connecting the embroidered pieces of this necklace

my response to this -- meh!

it really needs more beading instead of using just the silver cubes

so I'll be doing some more "fiddling" with this piece to get it to what I see in my head

I've been doing some mindless work in the studio ---

I had picked up an assortment of wool yarns that I plan to make into felted bags -- in order to knit the yarn so I can felt it, I needed to get the yarn into balls or "cakes" that I can knit from

these are all ready to go (and yes, each one of them has the paper label that came on them tucked inside the center of the cake)


have almost finished the sky on the big quilt I'm doing applique work on --- looking good --- I'll try to get a picture in the next couple of days

time to try to catch up on paperwork

moving slowly

I'm slowly recovering

the nasal packing from the cauterizing is out and there has been no new bleeding -- still taking an antibiotic to stave off the sinus infection

you don't realize how much bending and lifting you actually do in the normal chores of something so simple as loading and unloading the dishwasher until you're told not to do that bending --- the DH is having to deal with all that for now (and doing a very good job!!)

the up side of not being able to do much real physical work is that I've spent a lot of time working on the two quilts I'm in the midst of and doing some knitting

this fabric arrived in the mail along with a couple of spools of Sulky thread and my pin for participating in the Hoffman Challenge for this year

when Iopened the envelope my first thought was "what will I ever use that for", but it's growing on me -- I'm thinking about using it for the lining in a felted bag --- we'll see

there was also the flyer for the fabric for next year's Hoffman Challenge --- it's very different from anything they've had in recent years, so I'll need to think about it for a while to see if it speaks to me

I've spent a bit of time on the phone with my sister this week -- getting updates on how her husband is doing -- which means another afghan square is complete!

the real good news here is that her DH is recovering -- he has some challenges to be faced in some life style changes as they are unraveling the interrelated issues, but if he'll do what he's told he should be ok -- now begins a new challenge for them


today I hope to get a chance to actually work on the piece of jewelry that has been languishing since Saturday -- we'll see

short update and a request of my readers

just because I like to put in at least one picture -- here is my mother's day violet sitting on the window sill in my kitchen

my daughter was worried that she would kill it -- but it's doing really well


just an update on my little journey to the doctor yesterday -- the nasal packing from Saturday night's ER visit was removed and it started bleeding again, so the doctor cauterized it

the new packing comes out today and I'm restricted for the rest of the week -- no bending over, no lifting, no stressing of any kind --- I'll be ready for the funny farm by then -- thank goodness the DH is doing well and we got the lawn/sprinkler issues handled last week

my sister was with me on Saturday evening, and little did we know it was just prologue for what she was going to deal with next -- when she got home on Sunday evening she had to call the EMTs when her husband stopped breathing

he's now in ICU, and we're praying for his recovery -- I'd appreciate your prayers too

just in case you thought you had any control

a little catching up is in order here

the burning bush plants and the new mulching has been all installed

and after three trips, the sprinkler system is back in running order -- whoot! whoot!  no more hauling around hoses and we don't have to worry about watering on the proper days when we're not at home for some reason


on Thursday I got the backs all done on this piece, and it's ready to be strung together

since my sister was here, we did a "field trip" to the yarn store --- I picked up some yarn from the discount bin to do some felted bags with --- I have a plan for what I want to do with these, now I just have to get to it

on Saturday evening around 9 pm I was sitting in my chair quilting on a piece and my nose started bleeding (for the third time in a week)

unlike the first two times, it just kept bleeding, so off we went to the ER where they packed one side of my nose and sent me home with antibiotics to stave off the possible sinus infection

this picture is the inside of my arm where they tried to get blood to do lab work -- they could have just put a tube under my nose instead of doing all this digging around -- I would have been less bruised!

since my little ER trip, I've largely just snoozed in my recliner

I did get this afghan square finished

this afternoon I go to the doctor and they will remove the packing and hopefully tell me how we can put a stop to this

thank goodness I now have health insurance!