Not Much News, But a Little

I haven’t posted for quite a while. My father-in-law reminded me this past weekend at our family reunion. He said he checks in from time to time to see what I’m up to! Well, I work a lot now and get very little done creatively.

A couple of weeks ago I stopped at a yard sale and purchased 14 old t-shirts for cheap because I want to make this. It just looks like fun.

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Isn’t it the cutest? Can’t wait to wear one, but it’s too hot here right now.

I entered this is in a show and it was rejected. 🙁

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Still a Collage

TriState Artisans will have a new name this year and a new brochure for our studio tour in December. We are losing a few artisans on the Illinois side and adding a couple of new ones. You won’t want to miss it! Here is a photo of my work that will be featured in the new brochure.

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More news: I am working on moving into a REAL studio space! A 20 x 80 foot building has come open across the street from where I work. The biggest portion of it will be my workspace and classroom for teaching. I am planning to put a small shop in the front part. Although I can’t be open every day, the shop will have my art for sale as well as consigned items by other artists/artisans. I am looking forward to getting in and getting some work done!

Another piece of good news…I was going to order another Square swiper yesterday because the one they sent me didn’t seem to work in my Android tablet. On a lark, I thought I would stick the one I had back in and check it. Lo, and behold, it worked! I could actually SWIPE the card, so I made two $1 payments to myself. Besides, I need to practice so I know how to use the darn thing. I guess the fees I paid were worth it! I think I’m going to love this little tool.

More “Stories”

Two more collages finished today.

Stories of New Harmony #8

Stories of New Harmony #9

Life!

I haven’t blogged here since November 4th…how can this be?  I guess I’ve just been busy.

First I was out of town for several days vending at a quilt show in Columbia, MO.  I just want to give a great big thank you to the girls of the Boonslick Quilt guild….they did a great job…their show was awesome…and they were so helpful to the vendors.  And believe me I needed help.  Having never been to Columbia, I was lost as a goose trying to get around and find my hotel room.  The problem lay with the fact that I misread the map.  I was beginning to think I was going crazy.

Here’s my booth set up.

I was very pleased with my sales.  I had a wonderful Mexican meal and margarita on Saturday night with some of the vendors, made new friends, then drove half way home and stayed the night with my friend Vicki.  We had a wonderful visit together (hope it was for her too) and then I came home on Monday.  It was a great weekend.  It was just a very fulfilling weekend.  Maybe I need to get out more?

Then the race was on to get ready for Select Collections.  I still had plenty of sewing to do since I was making table runners and table napkins from hand printed cloth.  I also finished two new pieces of art.  Here’s one.  I need to photograph them both now that they are finished.  This is Fragments #5b.  That’s right, 5b.  And there’s a #5a and #5c, but that will have to wait.  The reason for the odd numbering is because all three are from the same piece of cloth and actually FIT together, although one would never have to purchase them that way.  They measure approximately 17″x 14″.

On the second day of Select Collections I had to leave to go home for the holiday celebrations with families.  We were gone til Monday.  On the actual Thanksgiving we helped out at our church and my husband had a long weekend off work.  The most I got done is some cleaning and laundry.  The following week (this week) I made a trip back to Evansville to do some shopping and pick up all of my work from Select Collections.  I am now settling in and doing some ART!!!  Yeh!  About. Time.

Of course this coming weekend is Christmas in Harmony.  Find me and other artisans at the lovely Granary on Granary Street.

New Work…

Remember a very peaceful red/blue-green piece I was working on a few weeks ago?  Well, I  decided it was too one-dimensional… so I painted a very diluted layer of black paint on it.  I like layers.  It still wasn’t done, so I rolled some white gesso over the black paint.  Too much white streaks..still wasn’t done and didn’t have a name either.  I got out the paintstiks and brought some color back in over those two layers…AND got a name!  Now it’s finished and ready for the Arts Council exhibit.

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Weathered Places

I have to say, after working on this piece, Linda and Laura Kemshall’s practice of working everything out on paper first makes a ton of sense.  It got pretty scary adding subsequent layers to this piece after all the quilting was done.  I knew it wasn’t done, so I took the plunge, but it did almost take my breath away and make my heart race.  I haven’t developed the practice of planning ahead of time…that just doesn’t seem to be the way I ‘m working right now, but sometimes I felt like I just had a very close call…

Tuesday This ‘N That…

Here is the piece I started the other day. The quilt is red orange and blue green.  So I used blue green rayon thread on the red orange part and red orange thread on the blue green part.  I quilted a pattern and left parts of it unquilted, which, in the end, made another design, because the unquilted parts “pouf” a bit.  Can you see the “stripes” in the red part?

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They are very subtle… if you click to enlarge, you might see it better.

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Full view.dsc043222

I’m not sure that it’s done…I was thinking of doing something in those “poufs” but I don’t think I want big contrast, so I may just let it be.

On another note, I am working on a lecture/demo on Journal Quilt techniques.  This is a sample I did today using painted fusible web and dryer sheets on a gessoed quilt block.  The two metal pieces aren’t attached, but I like the looks of them.  I may use them…I may not.  I’ve been hoarding them because I couldn’t get any more.

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I shut the phone off today.  I can’t stand it when it rings while I am trying to concentrate.  And I only have two weeks left to plan this lecture and workshop.  I have to be able to think.  So I left a very polite message that I was working very hard on a class and wouldn’t be able to answer the phone today…it was heaven.

New thermofax screens arrived in the mail today…then I remembered…I forgot to send her toner copies.  Well…they still worked…printed on my Epson inkjet printer.  I guess there is carbon in that there black ink.  Lucky day for me indeed.