Meditations

Here's a rhetorical question for you: Did you ever have a piece of fabric that you just couldn't cut?

The real question for me is: Who created this beautiful piece of cotton shibori that I could not gather the courage to cut?

As many of you know, I'm not often very happy with the fabric that I dye and only somewhat happy with my discharging efforts. This is exactly why I support others who are successful. I buy their work.

This shibori was purchased from someone...probably within the last year (dating it by the depth at which I found it in my stash). Connie Rose? I don't know...I think I bought greens from her. Sunny Bunny? No, I think I bought warm colored arashi shibori from her. Anybody gotta suggestion?

I have to get better organized (want to enter a poll on how many years THAT'S been on my New Year's Resolution list?). I'm going to try to remember to write in the selvedge the name of the source in the future. I'd love to be able to thank them again, and give them credit, when I have used their work.

I can say that the binding was fabric that I discharged. :^) At least I remember THAT.

Summer's Last Kiss

That's how DH described our stay in New York City this past weekend. He's a romantic, but he was referring to the weather. It was wonderful! And, I think it infected everyone from security, to tourists (who were really plentiful!), to cabbies, to wait staff. Everyone was in a friendly, festive mood.

Example: One of our cab driver's radio was playing Mozart when we entered. I commented on how I liked what he was listening to. He said yes, and he thought that it was probably unusual to hear in a cab. I asked if he was a musician himself. He said he was and asked if I could guess his instrument. I could not...with that he began to SING! He was his own instrument. He sang opera...all the way uptown! Gotta love that!

We were in NYC to rendezvous with one of my brothers. He and his wife were celebrating a significant birthday with a cruise to Quebec, beginning in NYC. The meeting also provided me with the opportunity to see Carol Taylor's exhibit at Art Quilt Gallery next to City Quilter.

Here are two of the pieces in her collection. I've long been an admirer of Carol's work.

The second reminded me of the photo that I had taken the night before from our hotel room.

We had a wonderful weekend...NYC at it's best.

Self Portraits

On the "continuing to evolve" front, I have just finished another self portrait, titled "It's Just Me (with a slightly checkered past)". This one is for the newly formed art quilt group CT Fiber Arts Collective.

The third exhibit (!) for this group is coming up in November at a library in Middlefield CT. It's a small venue. The group has elected to put together a collection of "Identity" pieces that are small (12" on a side max) and displayed on small easels.

To further that sort of display, I gave a little demo on Saturday on how I mount pieces on foam core. I was able to save them time...at least I know some of the pitfalls.

This most recent self portrait seems a bit intense...in retrospect I think it might reflect my anxiety at having so much to say and, as I age, not enough time to say it all....forget about my ideals about making any real difference in this world.

The second one, Two Heads Are Better Than One was created in 2006 for an exhibit of "Sayings/Axioms/Truths in Fiber". I think I look a bit bewildered....

The last is still my favorite....where I'll stop without analysis.

Another SAQA Auction "win"!

Yeah!! I have been able to add Sandy Gregg, another of my favorite artists, to my growing collection of art quilts. This one is titled "Leaf Litter 9".

Okay, I have this huge collection of my own work...but that's clearly not a good thing. I need to find appreciative homes for them.

In the mean time, I can't think of anything that is more fun: collecting artwork, especially that of friends. That's a bonus.

Thank you, Sandy, for supporting SAQA's annual 12" square fundraiser.

SAQA Auction "Wins"

I was so happy to have "won" the bidding last week for Cathy Smith's wonderful piece in the annual SAQA fundraiser.

Titled "Waiting for Roasting" it is part of her "Roasting Marshmallow" series that incorporates digital images of her rural surrounding. The "marshmallows" refer to the giant hay bales that are wrapped in white plastic for storage.

I was also delighted that my submission to the auction "Shards of the Day" went to a collector in Bend, Oregon!

The last phase of the auction is on at this moment....go check it out. I am ;^) There are a couple I have my eye on. Click here

Fiberactions "Texture" revealed

I participate in the online group Fiberactions. Every other month a member proposes a word to inspire the group. This month the word was "texture".

Pictured here is Electorate in Tatters, another of my cathartic creations...or rants, depending on how cynical one is. Using the challenge word "texture" as a vehicle rather than a subject, I put together this piece describing my concerns for our country.

These 13 traditional log cabin blocks represent the 13 original colonies of the US and their roughly 33% of the electoral votes (158) and, coincidently, roughly the percentage of the population eligible to vote in our great nation, that actually opts to exercise that right in national elections.

The 37 stars represent the roughly 67% of the population, undoubtedly self-described patriots eligible to vote, that opt not to exercise their right in national elections.

In this detail it's easier to see the multi-colored “logs”, created from a “haystack” of sliced fabrics. The white is wool batt.Both light and dark are dense and highly textured.

The process might be working...I'm less agitated...but I have also been limiting my exposure to "news".

Countin' Cowboys

Gosh, it's been a long time since I last posted. Most of that time was spent coping with the Hurricane Irene's visit to the Northeast. Eight days without power certainly turned schedules upside-down.

We are now back to normal (whatever that means).

I made this baby quilt for my nephew's third son, expected to arrive on October 10th. His wife has been having problems with this pregnancy and is in bed until then, hoping that little Adrian (the last name we heard about) will opt to stay put until the appointed day. It's the first machine work I've done in a couple of weeks, for obvious reasons.

My nephew and his family live in Texas...actually always have...born and bred. That's why I decided to build a "user", fun baby quilt around the little bit of cowboy fabric that I found in my stash.

I'm thinking that, by baby boy number three, a "user" quilt would be most appreciated. And this one, with its flannel backing and binding will be fun to play tent under, nap with and drag around.

"Countin' Cowboys: Red Hot and Star-spangled"