working on the redwoods

finally got the table in the studio all cleared off so I could spread out the trees piece

I mixed two different shades of green airbrush ink then added textile medium and started stamping

about an hour later I decided I'd stamped enough and I needed to let it all dry so I can decide where I need to go next

and that is probably to the sewing machine to create some stitched parts to attach

I also think there need to be branches that look like they come out of the center of the trunks

there will be some more research and sketching

just another design opportunity

2 more hours of beading done yesterday, and now each "row" goes faster because they are getting shorter

so I'm starting to think about the next step on this piece

foot prints and tails

all will be explained in time!

its a "Return" -- and going to the dark side

this quilt was completed over a year ago and sent along to its destination -- but the image keeps returning -- how cool is that?

yesterday I got an email from the curator of the exhibits that it is in, along with a link to the Flickr gallery view of the exhibit

of course I went to check it out -- and it was really cool that this is the first image you see -- WOW

you can check it out for your self by using this link


for all of the years that I have been a quilter I have been a hand quilter -- the piecing, the appliqueing and the quilting all put in with my ten little fingers

not long ago I decided that if I am ever to have a chance get all the many ideas for pieces that are in my head finished, I need to learn to use my sewing machine to do some of the work

so I signed up for a machine quilting class at my local quilting store which happens in a couple of weeks

yesterday I went and bought the required (and expensive - $100+) presser foot for my machine

the gal that checked me out asked me if I had ever put one of these on a machine, and when I said no, she took me to a machine and showed me how to do it so I'll be ready for the class -- how sweet is that!

like I said, I'm going over to the dark side -- but I'm starting to think of it as chocolate -- dark is good!
more of the yellow beads have been stitched in place, and we're on the home stretch now

looking good


and last night I finished quilting the sky of the Hawaii piece, so now I only have the quilting of the ghost hibiscus in the borders to do -- neat!

time to go mow the yard

transformation

I have to say I was amazed at how different this looks now than it did when I started

a couple of hours in the studio with fabric, markers, scissors and the iron to do the fusing and now I'm happy enough with the way this looks to say I'm ready to do the quilting

one of the things that I did to soften the raw edges and keep things from sliding around was to put a layer of tulle over the center of the picture, using the framing to hold it firmly in place when I attached those pieces

today I'll dig through my stash and find some batting to do this with and pin the "sandwich" together

should be able to have this ready for a November show with no problem

time to get to the laundry

the envelope please --- aka be careful what you ask for

the envelope arrived yesterday

the one from the library district with the jury results

I could tell by the feel of it as I carried it in from the mail box that there was more than one sheet of paper inside

it was the waited for FAT envelope, telling me that my art work had been accepted for not just one show, but two! -- one in November and one in December

which of course doesn't give me a whole lot of time to get ready for them -- and to add to that, I don't really have any idea where either of the libraries where my work will hang it -- I'll be making a couple of "field trips" to check them out

I don't think this has quite sunk in yet
let me introduce you to the next PIT (project in transition) on the drawing board

(keeping in mind that I need to have about a dozen pieces to hang for those two shows)

I began this piece last summer in a workshop (where I totally digressed from the instructor's pattern and directions)

the bottom of it is just not finished -- it had some rocks fused on there when I brought it home, but I pulled them off because the scale of them just wasn't right -- I recently found the water print fabric and my new plan is to create a stream in the bottom third of this piece

time to get working!
this is the newly re-landscaped front corner of the yard

for several years we have tried every summer to kill off the weeds and get grass to grow in this spot along the sidewalk and the driveway to no avail

this year we got drastic

the DH spent a couple of days digging up the old grass and weeds, creating a neatly shaped area and yesterday we put down the weed stop cloth, the landscape timbers, the mulch and planted two new little fountain grass plants that will eventually fill out to cover much of the space

I think it looks much better
and in the later afternoon I worked on this some more

the bead embroidery field is now over 50% complete -- YIPPEE!!


I'm moving right along in the quilting of the Hawaii piece too -- now working in the area of the sky, so the end is getting closer!

time for some breakfast

waiting to exhale

sometimes when I'm doing something difficult I find myself holding my breath

this week I held my breath, took photos of the finished coneflower quilt (both the whole image and a detail shot) and packaged it up to mail it off for the competition

it has to be there by a week from Monday (Aug 15), so it really was time to stop fooling around and get it in the box

as I write this the mailing tube is waiting for my post man to come and pick it up

so now I'm trying to get the Hawaii piece complete so I can take similar pictures of it

because I'm working myself up to applying to a really big competition and I only have until August 31 to do the paperwork

no actual quilt piece required here, just really good pictures of five pieces that I've already done, and the competition is to be one of 32 people chosen to create a specific size piece for a future series of exhibits

I really want to get to do that

must.quilt.faster!

the field of yellow is growing

it is almost half finished

feels like this one is moving like the proverbial molasses in January

just because its so - so - boring!

ok, I just keep telling myself that the results will be worth it

today we're going to do some work in the front yard where we're redoing the area around the mail box -- the necessary evil of being a homeowner!

time to get something to eat before heading out to work

chugging along

another couple of hours and this has progressed this far

(are we there yet?!)

it is looking pretty good though


and in the meantime, the first sleeve on the Christmas sweater knitting is finished -- maybe -- I followed the pattern worked the cuff and I'm not sure I like it because it may not be tight enough, and I'm not sure it's long enough for the recipient's taste either -- but I have decided to go ahead and knit the second sleeve, make the changes on that one and then decide -- fixing the cuff won't be hard because I haven't woven in the ends yet

we'll see

the art corner, the new toy and some work

well, it only took me 7 months to make it happen but yesterday I finally got the picture my son in law painted hung

this little corner of the room is all original art work -- and I love it

(the DH, however, thinks those two pictures are too close together -- so there's a chance here that one of them will get moved slightly, just so it doesn't make him crazy!)


and sitting right in front of the bookcase that you can see the top of in the first picture is this new toy

a gift from my sister after her DH bought her a new wheel that will actually travel well in the front seat of her VW bug

it needs some oil and a new spring for the brake (being old enough that it originally just used a rubber band!)

this also means I have to remember all the little ins and outs of using it (it's been over 25 years since I actually used one -- hope it's like a bicycle!)

guess there was a reason I hadn't been successful in finding someone to spin that Jacob's Sheep fleece I have -- I'm supposed to do it myself!

since my sister was here to visit yesterday I didn't work as much on projects

I'm okay with that

I did work on this beading a bit though, and it is moving along

looking good

first UFO

here in Esmerldas Studio we have a very narrow description of what qualifies as a UFO

because we may have as many as half a dozen projects in the works at once, almost everything is being designed, being stitched, being quilted or is currently classified as a "project in transition"

so for the most part we have no UFOs only PITs (heh, yeah)

this piece, however, has been officially deemed the first true UFO

when I created it about 8 years ago my intent was to use it to create a sign to hang in my craft booth at shows with the studio name and city on it -- because of that I made it as a very basic, simplified piece

well, fast forward 8 years and the past couple of weeks we've been working on drawings for a piece that is loosely titled "Colorado quilt" -- and our original intent had been to pull this piece out and use it with some additions as the center of that quilt

except my style and ability to work in smaller details has changed so much that it just won't fit in the vision we have for this project

so this one is going in the box to be held until next July when my local quilt guild holds their birthday party and we bring UFOs to exchange in a spirited game of "pirate" -- fun!

and we'll be designing a whole new center for that new project

two more hours of work put in on this project yesterday -- looking very good

if I can continue to put in that daily time this should be ready for the next step by this time next week

not bad!

no fair

no, this is not a whine (ok, maybe just a tiny one)

after spending some considerable time perusing the booklet of categories to enter at this year's State Fair I have decided that the five or six entries I would have do not warrant making three trips to the fairgrounds -- or even the mandatory two trips

maybe next year

another hour and a half of stitching and the project is progressing

looking good

and yes, because of the very disciplined format of this piece, my brain is already on auto pilot while I'm stitching -- thinking about the next piece already

heh, not even surprised

more art work from the garden

this is what I picked yesterday morning -- another zucchini, more beans and the first tomato and peppers

I've been picking about this many beans every day for several days, so now there are enough that we'll be eating a batch tonight

and the little zucchinis have been being cut into small pieces and tossed into salads -- very tasty

we're finally beginning to be rewarded for all of the hard work of tilling and planting and weeding

and we continue to do the "No Hail" chant


my dad is notoriously difficult to buy a gift for

at 85 there's just not much "stuff" he wants to acquire

in fact, for the past couple of years my Christmas gift to him has been a year long process of making up frozen meals and taking them to him during the year

yesterday we were walking around the new Antiques/Art Mall that has recently opened in our area -- I've been trying to decide if I should put some of my art in there, so I'm keeping an eye on what's there and talking to vendors as the opportunity arises

while I was strolling through this red pick up truck reached right out of the glass case and grabbed me -- it is a die cast metal model of a 1956 Ford pick up -- and (as you can tell by the picture) the hood, doors and tail gate move -- and since my dad only ever had Ford pick ups, it seemed to be just the right present for him

neat

and then, in another booth there was this

this is an additional house that goes with the set that were my grandmother's (which my mom gave me a couple of years ago)

there actually were two little houses like this one and another, larger structure in the booth, but the larger structure was too big and this was the one I liked best

the colored cellophane is in really nice condition and the tree is nice too

it was fun to add to this little collection with a piece that is the same vintage as the original set

so for now it's sitting on the bookcase in my studio, and it will go in with the rest of the pieces when we do the decorating for Christmas

time to go get some breakfast

things to do on a hot day

crank up the stove and make jam of course!

seriously, we got a great deal on some blackberries, and there is a limit to how many of them just two of us could eat before spoilage becomes a problem

never mind, we like jam, and it is an ages old method to preserve fruit

nothing like the sound of the jars "pinging" as they seal on a hot afternoon -- nothing except the sweet taste of summer on your tongue when we spread some of this on toast in the middle of a winter storm

so after that adventure I went into the studio and finished this pair of pants that had been waiting for elastic

cool

I have two brand new pair that will take me into the cool weather months

(and most of the time in the cool weather I wear sweat pants around the house)

this fabric is pretty neat -- I like the pattern and the colors -- maybe should have bought a bit more of it to use for some other project


the beading has begun!

this is an hour's worth of work

for a long time I have kept really good records on what materials go into the jewelry I make -- and how much they cost -- and used it as a guide for what to charge for a finished piece

the problem with that approach is that it is perfectly possible to make a really elaborate piece that uses materials that are really inexpensive -- but takes hours and hours to complete

so beginning with this piece I am also going to start logging how much time goes in these -- it should be interesting

time to get to the laundry

Blue necklace finished!

like with quilts, when I'm doing something as free form as this blue necklace is, part of the challenge is knowing when to stop

after every addition on each side I ask the question "are we done?"

yesterday the answer was yes

so here is the finished necklace -- and I'm really pleased with how it looks

and even though it appears very spiny, it is actually very soft and comfortable around the neck - the result largely of using that flexible right angle weave tube as the base

nice

this is the beginning of a piece I'm working on as part of the Etsy Bead Weaver Team's September Challenge

(I know, yellow ink on white is pretty hard to see - I'll probably be hating myself for that decision when I get into the beading!)


and today's pictures are the result of a enormous work around -- take picture with camera, download picture from camera through laptop computer to USB drive, take USB drive to desk top computer and use software to edit/size/etc., take USB drive back to laptop computer to access the internet -- time consuming, but for now it's what I've got -- and about now I'm really glad I hadn't gotten around to getting rid of the desktop -- think I'll be hanging on to it a bit longer!

geesh!!

stamping in the redwoods

ok, it's not quite stomping at the savoy, but hey, we do what we can

yesterday afternoon I drug out the materials and tools and cut three redwood stamps

I decided that more than one size and shape would give a more realistic look to the project

these came together really quickly, and I'm pleased with the way they look

one of the things that didn't occur to me until after I had finished cutting is that I'll be use these to stamp right on the quilt and on some tear away stabilizer so I can do some "free floating" pieces that will be added like the aspen leaves later

I'm a big fan of back to school sales

every year when they are on I go and buy the supplies that I will need to have for office and creative projects for the next year

this year's haul included ball point pens in black and red, plastic sheet protectors and a stack of letter size legal pads that I use for lists, drawing designs, writing letters, etc., etc

that stack of legal pads was the best deal -- less that 50 cents each because they were on a close out sale -- nice
and I'm now ready to organize another 56 quarts of fabric

heh - I love the way these kind of tubs are sized by a liquid measure -- like I'm going to pour anything liquid into a container of this shape!

at any rate, I'm on a "get it organized, clean it up" kick in the studio -- not to the point that I can't continue to work in there until its done, but just in an effort to make things more convenient for me and not quite so messy looking in case I want to have someone visit

the garden continues to provide inspiration for future work

one of the onion plants had hidden its bloom tip in among the potatoes long enough to get to to this stage

I pinched it off and brought it into the house for the photo session -- and when I was done it went into the bin for composting

I'm beginning to think about using some of these photos as the beginning of a small quilted piece that I could submit for next year's SAQA auction

and from the "Now What The ?!" file, this blog is being written on the DH's computer as this morning mine got to the "Windows is Starting Up" screen and hung there -- needless to say I'm plenty annoyed, and extremely delighted that I learned from the last painful computer episode to store all of my data on an external hard drive, so I can be up and running from a replacement on pretty quickly -- obviously I'll be having another discussion with the family Computer Doc --

NUTS!

seeing the forest from a different vantage point

last night I stitched down the last of the aspen leaves

the entire time I've worked on this piece I've never taken a picture of it other than laying it on the floor and taking "spot shots", which of course means every photo is distorted from reality

this morning it occurred to me that I should make use of the curtain rod in my studio to get a better shot of the entire piece

so here we have it

and I am amazed

it looks so -- real

when I was going through the folder I discovered about half a dozen leaves that didn't get pinned on before the great stitch in, and I probably will stitch those on, but other wise the aspens are done until I put on the 61 free floating ones

so now it's time to think redwoods

I've been thinking about how to do the back layer of color on these that will be the equivalent of the layer on the aspen side that I did by stamping with bubble wrap

last night the DH suggested I cut a stamp and use it to create some of that background , so today I plan to sit down with my stamp cutting supplies and cut a couple of different stamps to do that background with -- we'll see how that all goes

the quilting on the Hawaii piece is going well

I've done the quilting in that white band that runs all the way across the piece and in the blue and purple areas right below it

so far I'm pretty pleased with the way this piece is going

and it is moving along pretty quickly too

work on the blue necklace continues

yesterday I started working on the narrower tube on one end, where I'm using a smaller embellishment

today I'm going to go through my bead stash again and look for some more pieces that I can use in the center section to add some more -- there are still some places where I can see the base tube and I'd like to change that, but I'll need to search for some usable embellishment pieces



progress is also being made on the Christmas knitting project -- last night I finished the body of the sweater and bound off the ribbing, then started on one of the sleeves -- yippee!!

if you've been reading along here for a while, you may remember this project

after considerable experimentation with techniques I have decided that my idea of being able to "paint" the sunset sky behind the animals is not going to work

along the way I've had plenty of time to think about where I really want to do with this, and I'm starting to think that in a mat isn't it -- at least not in the traditional sense -- and I don't think it will end up being rectangular either -- I'm thinking about running the tree branches up and out

obviously this is still morphing

time to go get some breakfast and make a quick trip to the store for a couple of things then its back into the studio!

waiting for the fat envelope

yesterday morning we took these five quilts downtown to the main branch of our library district

(we've lived here for almost 10 years and I had never been in that library -- there has never been a need for me to go there because our library district has it's card catalog available on line and you can request things which are then sent to your nearest branch library -- it's a very cool thing)

anyway, the pieces were there for the annual jurying -- we took the pieces in and spread them out on tables for the process (which made me wonder why they put us through the whole business of having them "hanging ready") -- later in the day we went back to pick them up

while we were in the library we had the chance to see the work that was currently on display -- which just happened to be quilts -- it was nice to get a close up view of where the pieces might be hung and the way they hang them

so now the long wait begins -- their process takes up to 2 weeks and they send the notifications by snail mail -- I'll be stalking the mail man

the embellishment has begun on the blue necklace

using a variety of odds and ends of beads I'm wrapping the outside of that tube with a second layer of decorative beads

this layer is running around the tube and the next layer with go from end to end with more things -- probably bugle beads with a tiny seed bead at the tip

this method of embellishment is relatively easy to do on a right angle weave tube

the first of the zucchini has been picked!

this will be going into a salad (along with some lettuce out of the garden)

yum



time to get busy --- lots to do