Pearly Gates

Been having a little home improvement done around the place. Here's our new fence that goes all around our corner property. I think the neighbors are even happier than we are. The old fence lasted 15 years, which is pretty good for wood, most recently held together by paint, green mold, and chicken wire at the bottom to keep the little dog in because he discovered in the last couple years that he could squeeze through the spaces between the pickets. He's foiled now because the spaces are smaller!

How long does it take to chose the right shade of green? The answer is that there's never enough time. I chose one, it's still not perfect, but it'll do, even though I have to see it every morning. It's for the master bath, which is small.  Happily the shade of blue in our dining room that I've lived with and loved for many years worked well for the hall bath.

As the days get colder my gorgeous impatiens are losing their kick. They were spectacular this year, partly due to all the rain we had but also due to the fertilizer I forgot I added to the pots. I will miss them. Now looking forward to getting some mums, though I already have some pumpkins that the critters are munching.

And now it is raining, raining, raining. And will continue through the weekend. But no snow here.

Monotypes and Monoprints

Last week I was lucky enough to spend some time with Rayna at her studio. We worked with Akua color paints using her table top press to print on paper and fabric. (I tried to remember the difference between a monotype and monoprint. I do know--now--but don't ask me.) The colors we used were red, yellow, and black. We got tired of them by the end of the day, but were so busy figuring out how much paint to use, how to apply it best, what difference the paper made, what fabric worked, etc., etc., that we'll have to save color play for next time.

We started out with leaves. And did a lot of experimentation.

Then I made a collagraph plate using masking tape, duct tape, cut paper, bark, fabric scraps, and thread:

And here it is after being used and its printed image on paper:

We were both amazed how the subtle elements in the materials you use--for example, teeny pinhole stripes on the duct tape--show up in the print. And I kept forgetting that the image gets reversed.

Vacation

For 41 years I have been coming to this same wonderful lake in the northwoods of Michigan. It has always been a time of rest and renewal. There are friends and family to visit with and beauty everywhere. I hope you enjoy these pictures.

Wind rising.

Sometimes the dog gets in the picture.

Sunset light on cedars.

Sunset light on docks.

Sunset through trees.

Moon rise.

To, Too, Two

So, what have I been up TO? Well, it's certainly been TOO long since my last post. More than TWO months. The weather here has been depressingly rainly lately, although everything looks very green, including some things--like my white picket fence--that shouldn't. In April I managed to work outside and discharge a number of pieces. More on those when I make more progress. I also soda-ashed a number of fabrics for continuing work. When it's a sunny day, the front bushes make an excellent drying rack.


I also concluded an eight-week workshop at the Newark Museum. Here are some of the results. More work needed.

This is a close-up of one piece I've been working on. It started out as four small pieces, which I sewed together and am now trying to make into a whole. It's looking better, but still needs more work.

I'm lagging behind on the quilting of the Celestial Navigation series: one down, two to go. Crit group is coming up in about a week: nothing like a deadline to spur progress.

Hope the weather is good where you are.

Annual Pilgrimage

I'm back from my annual trip to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where for two days I enjoy food, friends, and fabric. The weather was on the damp side, but nothing can deter us from hitting our annual high points, including lunch at Glassmyers in Lititz where we go for sustenance in the form of BLTs before the fabric hunt.

Nothing fancy, but awfully tasty and a once-a-year treat.

Then it was on to various locations in search of that "must-have" fabric. After visiting Zook's, I was surprised to find this fellow staring at me.

One of my purchases was backing for a small oak leaf and reel quilt. Every now and then I feel the need to work on something more traditional, and I think this is the next project. I completed the applique blocks a while ago--well, a long while ago--and I think it's time they got put together before they become a forlorn little pile in an antiques shop.

Also enjoyed seeing the quilt exhibits at QHL. Always neat to see the work of people I know only online. And also great to see award-winning work created by people I know in "real life."

As fun as this annual trip is, it's also a time for me to quietly pay respects to the part of the family that arrived in the Lancaster area almost three hundred years ago and built a homestead that still stands.

Back to the Studio

Well, not exactly my studio, but back to Newark Museum's Arts Workshop and an eight-week class with Judy Langille. Someday I'll get my basement studio organized for dyeing, but that will be a long time coming I'm afraid. In the meantime, the space and company is great at Newark, and I'm getting back into some previously started pieces after a too-long hiatus. I forgot to take photos of befores and afters, but I did snap this photo after adding three colors. It's still batching, so I'm not sure the colors will be as strong as I'd like, but as I don't like the piece at all yet, there's more work to be done anyway.

Sometimes It's the Little Things

On Sunday, I had a chance to exercise the knee at the Somerset, NJ, quilt show. (The knee survived, but is still a bit stiff. More physical therapy today.) The Somerset show has become a sort of harbinger of spring for me: it falls between the one in Willamsburg, which I never get to, and Lancaster, which I've been going to for ages. I always like to see the ribbon winners from Williamsburg, especially when they are by friends, like Gloria Hansen who won a blue ribbon for Blushing Triangles #4. There were also some interesting special exhibits, including an exhibit of an every-AKC-breed dog quilt by Linda Hibbert. (Need I say I still have the patterns and the black and white fabrics to make blocks for an English Springer Spaniel and a Shih Tzu?)




I was overwhelmed by fabric and gadgets. But so happy with the things I bought: a small hoop, a piece of beeswax, and a fat quarter of a fabric that called to me. Plus I treated myself to a beautiful scarf from Usha at Heirloom Batik.