Perfecting the slug

I think I have gotten the slug act down pat. I have done almost nothing this summer. I do have a valid excuse for most of it though! I was getting ready for DD's wedding. Of course I got sick and have been recovering ever since. To make matters worse, this has been the worst summer since I moved here 11 years ago. I feel like I am back in New Jersey. The monsoon season here has broken every record in rainfall and I think damage as well. With normal summer temperatures up in the 100's , humidity has been way up there as well. Not a good combo for me. I do not mind the heat. I cannot stand the humidity. Oh well... only a month to go.

I have started to get back to some art stuff. I am working on a black and white challenge piece that of course I am winging my way through. Sneak peak photo. I also did some mad scientist dyeing with some leftover concentrates that have been sitting in my refrigerator for 2 months. I was going to use them for dye painting but I did not have the energy. The colors came out a lot better than I expected. While I probably cannot duplicate any of them, I am pleased with the results. I have used my "bible" from Carol's class successfully for something else I needed and was thrilled that it all worked! I signed up for part 2 in October at Nancy Crow's Barn. Watch out Carol.... there are 5 of us returning! Dyeing in a bucket is definitely a group project. Now I just need to find some like minded friends who want to spend some time at it with me.

I am also finally getting back to working on some of the pieces I started in Pamelala's online class last winter. The UFO's are piling up. I need to reduce that pile.

This is the year I am going to stick my neck out and enter some stuff for shows. I may be getting lots of thin envelopes back but I need to start sometime.

What we do for our kids

This post is based on Alex Anderson's blog "My Dress" that was posted today on The Quilt Show blog. I had to chuckle. When my daughter set a date for her wedding, the hunt for a mother of the bride dress started in earnest. My only restriction was that it couldn't be too bright. The affair was to be black tie in the evening. This should be easy right? WRONG. I knew what type of dress I wanted. It had to be silk chiffon with some layering. I spent months looking and was getting frustrated. Forward to wedding dress shopping with DD. We arrived at store in NY at appointed time (yes, you need to make an appointment) and they were having several trunk shows that day. One was for several designers of wedding gowns, and the other for mother of the bride/groom dresses. My DD found the perfect dress so we all trouped over to see the trunk show for the MOB dresses. I figured what the heck, I haven't had any luck so far. The dresses were gorgeous and the price tags matched. A bit out of the range I had in mind (understatement). My DD said I should pick out a few and try them on anyway so keeping in the spirit of the morning, I complied. OK, I fell in love with one of them and so did everyone else (yes, we had a group)however, I almost fell over in a swoon at the price. I will admit the dress was drop dead gorgeous and made me look good. I got my arm twisted (you all know the argument.... only one child, only one wedding, blah, blah). After the initial shock I let them take measurements. These dresses need to be ordered and they are made to size. I only had to put down half the amount and had 6 months to pay the rest!!! They know how to get you. I had my first fitting 6 weeks before the wedding... they forgot to bill me for the rest after 6 months so I got an additional 2 months before my credit card went into cardiac arrest.

Fast forward to 3 days before wedding and final fitting. My fitter, who was a dream, says to me..... "What are you going to do about panty lines?" Huh?? I never even thought about it. This dress draped and hugged and I had to admit, you could see lines. She told me that there was a Victoria's Secret around the corner and I should get a thong!!! Oh yeah, right. I am 58 years old and I am going to start wearing thongs???? Hello. After the initial shock I figured, OK, it was only for one night, I could handle this. Now came the final blow. This is a strapless gown and they managed to give me cleavage, ha ha. She says to me... " The dress looks terrific but it would look even better if you had a tan". I am very light skinned and never go out in the sun and I do admit I am rather pale looking. This one I was not succumbing to so easily. Back to the dress. Being naive about transporting gowns, I assumed they would put it in a bag and I could take it with me... with cab and ferry back to where I was staying in New Jersey before checking into hotel in Manhattan. She sort of looked at me like I had two heads and said I would not be able to carry it, I needed a car or taxi. I had a car to use so I said I would pick it up the next morning before we checked into hotel. Turns out they stuff this out so much that there seems to actually be another body inside.

In the meantime, I went underwear shopping (women's underwear is priced inversely proportional to the amount of fabric it contains)and met my daughter for lunch who also pushed for the tan. I had visions of turning orange or yellow or other such horrors and was not happy about this. Mom, says my daughter (you all know that tone of voice), they are professionals. They do all the stars for the Tony's etc and they have a reputation they have to maintain. No one is coming out looking bad. Sigh, OK, with much trepidation I make an appointment for the next day. I arrive at the place and have to fill out a questionnaire about what kind of tan I wanted. Then they have you go into a booth where you undress and have the choice of fully nude or they give you a paper thong to put on along with a shower cap to cover your hair. Since I haven't gone the nudist beach route quite yet, I opted for the sparse covering. They spray the tan on in several sweeps. The positions you need to maintain resemble something out of a mime show. At some point she stops and asks if I like the color. Surprise! It looks really good. I opted for one more coating. The tan lasts 5-6 days.

The dress, with added "accessories" indeed looked better. Kudos to my fitter.

Photo is of view of Brooklyn bridge with one of the waterfalls taken from our balcony. Still waiting on wedding photos....patience.

I forgot to mention that I have a wonderful new son-in-law and his equally great family.

Back home

... and happy to be sleeping in my own bed again. We have had a whirlwind month for sure but things seem to be quieting down for a bit.
Wedding was awesome... waiting on photos. Of course in all the excitement I managed to leave my camera in the hotel room. Probably just as well. I am betting the professional photos will be far better than mine. My daughter looked gorgeous (even if I am biased).
Shoes came out perfect so I stressed for nothing. Everything went off without a hitch. The food was delicious and the band incredible. They had almost everyone on the dance floor most of the night... all 185 of us. I have never seen that before.
Pre-wedding was a hive of activity as well. My daughter's friend owns a spa in Manhattan and treated the wedding party to manicures and pedicures. After downing 2 glasses of wine, I was able to let someone touch my feet. It actually felt very nice and I will have to try it more often....with wine of course or reflex action will be whacking someone in the face. Rehearsal dinner was hosted by the groom's family at a wonderful family style Italian restaurant. I couldn't eat too much for fear of not fitting into my dress. Day of wedding preparations started early.... just after noon. Family friends did everyone's makeup and photographers started early. I must confess, I downed several very nice glasses of good champagne during the afternoon. Since I am usually a cheap date... one glass is usually my limit, I was pretty surprised. Guess stress does strange things. Wedding ceremony actually started on time! I think that must be a first. It was held outside with the weather cooperating. The sunset was gorgeous and the background was the Brooklyn Bridge with the waterfalls as backdrop. This whole affair was very well orchestrated. They even took the bride and groom aside and fed them while everyone else was enjoying cocktail hour for fear they would never get a chance to sit down to eat. Very wise decision as it turned out. I think I danced all night... with everyone! I missed my piece of wedding cake (like I needed it) but got my midnight snack goodie bag with my favorite gummy bears in it.
Next morning we hosted a brunch for all the out of towners and those staying in the hotel. Nap was in order for the afternoon. Evening cocktails and appetizers were supplied on the roof terraces by the groom's parents. Ned and I went for Sushi across the street for dinner. Most of the other revelers headed for one of the bars. By morning most of the guests had departed, happy, I think. Those of us who were left went for brunch. The bride and groom went home to pack for their honeymoon in the Greek Islands and Paris. They are having a blast.

I am finally back in my studio but had so much other stuff to take care of after being away from home for 3 weeks, that it was not till this weekend that I was able to start to think of working on my projects. I am still not fully focused but at least I am doing something for a short period every day. I hope to be able to get back to dyeing next week.

Will post photos when I get them

Fun with color

I am almost always cold which is one of the reasons I chose to move to Arizona. Trouble is that everything is over air conditioned for me and carrying around a jacket all the time is a pain in the butt. I have figured out a way to brighten up my wardrobe inexpensively AND stay comfortable. I am known around here as the shawl lady. As part of my clean up and reorganize projects today, I decided to organize my shawl collection as well. These hang on a wall in my back hallway to the garage where I can grab one on my way out. These are not real pashmina's but the cheap ones. They work fine for my needs and certainly are cheaper than a bunch of jackets. Plus they never go out of style. Eye candy for sure.

Back home

I am home from my latest trips. First was Carol Soderlund's dye class at QSDS, followed by my trip back east to NY/NJ for my daughter's wedding shower and my dress fitting.
The shower was great and the weather held out so it could be held outdoors. I finished the veil, my shoes are being dyed to match my dress, and I finished embellishing the guest book. Everything seems to be falling into place nicely and I am looking forward to it in 3+ weeks.

The dye class was AWESOME. We worked like elves and had a blast along the way. The link for all the pictures is here.

Hope every one has a wonderful 4th.

Progress but still under pressure

The deadlines for me to finish stuff before August 1 are looming fast. The countdown is 17 days that I will be home between now and then. I finished the SAQA 12 x 12 piece. I have to add a label and figure out what size sleeve to attach to it. I am not thrilled with my quilting but I do not have time to start from scratch. I have always been my own worst critic so I am just holding my breath and sending it out into the world.
I also got my Journal quilt started. I have never done one of these before but I am going to have fun with it even though it is a serious piece.
Over the weekend I finished the veil for my daughter's wedding. It is a double veil with the edges encased in ribbon. Don't think I will do another one of these. I also got my mother's old pearl necklace restrung and knotted. Ok, so it only took me 5 tries. I have never done beading before and there is a learning curve especially since I am a perfectionist. Sitting in the wings is an onyx and gold necklace I broke ages ago and keep forgetting to take in and restring. I should be able to do this one in less than 5 tries.... one would hope!
On todays agenda is over dyeing a linen skirt for my Aunt. She got some sort of spot on it, tried to get it out and was left with a white spot. I am hoping that linen behaves like cotton. I am slowly getting organized for my Carol Soderlund class at QSDS. I leave on Friday. I will do some more work on the JQ. I still have pesto to make before my basil plants get wild. They are getting out of hand.
This was the latest visitor to our garden. We are not suppose to have squirrels here in Arizona. I think he got very lost. Now I know who has been eating my tomatoes. He waits until they are just ripe and grabs them! My roses are having a 2nd bloom. The lilies are almost done. The lavender blooms all year here and is spreading like crazy. I am going to have to figure out how to divide it in the fall and find a place to put it. The white garbage can needs to go!
Back to work for me.

Funky Dye Day

I just got some of Hoffman's Lawn PFD fabric and is it yummy feeling! I decided to play today. I had a yard piece from my last dyeing batch that I hated and was going to overdye next time I pulled the dyes out. Since I was experimenting anyway, I decided to play with some of Elmer's Blue Gel. I "drew" designs on the outcast fabric last night and let them dry. This morning I sprayed dye over it all. The result is quite funky. The 2 sides are different. The image on the top is the front side and the image on the bottom is the backside! Wild. I love it. I think this one is a keeper.... although I could get my arm twisted.
I am adding a bunch of new pieces to my other blog. The lawn fabric is soft as butter and the colors come out really rich and there is great color saturation. Did I mention I hate ironing???

Not having fun!

I have been working on a piece for SAQA that was going very well till I decided to quilt it this morning. The quilting is nothing to write home about but I really screwed it up with the color. If I had just used something neutral, it wouldn't have been so blatantly bad. I am going to just start over. Thankfully, it is a small piece.

I also finally set up another blog to sell some of my hand dyed fabrics. It is called Fields of Color and you can find it here.
I have to take pictures of the rest of it. I just got a tripod which has made it a whole lot easier for me. Now to just do it!

Great time but nice to be home

Heads up... there is nothing quilty about this post!
I spent a wonderful week in NY/NJ but it is nice to be able to sleep in my own bed. I did some fun shopping with my daughter and managed to find the elusive shoes that will fit my feet.. and on sale! I bought a gorgeous silk skirt for her shower at the end of June and a dress for the rehearsal dinner. Very productive. She got want she wanted as well as some office clothes for the summer. I now just need a swatch of my dress fabric so I can have the shoes dyed. I am afraid to do them myself. We also stuffed and stamped all the wedding invitations (they are gorgeous), and put labels on the "goody bags" that will be handed out. Things are progressing very smoothly but that is not surprising as my daughter is very organized ... unlike her mother.
I got caught up in the bead stores. My Aunt got me some beading tools for my birthday so of course I had to buy some beads to string up as well. I decided that I would try to restring some necklaces that have broken. I have a pearl necklace that belonged to my mother that I would like to give to my daughter. I am going to have to learn how to make knots. I also have an onyx and gold necklace that broke ages ago and I never got around to having that restrung. I am going to practice with that one before I tackle the pearls. Thankfully, I still have the findings for both of those because I forgot to buy findings for the other beads that I bought. I got some funky colored mother of pearl disks that I am going to sew on quilts and some lovely ceramic cube beads that I will play with. I inherited a ton of coral beads that have been sitting in a closet for ages that I may now bring out and do something with. I will need to get some findings for those. I should also probably invest in a DVD because I really have no clue what I am doing. For right now I am mostly relying on what I am finding online as well as some of the emails nice people have been sending me which also have wonderful links and instructions.

I still need to finish my SAQA piece but I hope to do that by the end of this weekend. It is coming along fine. I will get back to more dyeing next week. I am looking into setting up a paypal account but I will open a separate bank account for that first. Maybe I will get to that tomorrow. I am still a bit jet lagged from the 3 hour time difference.... the flight back was a pain. There was a 2 1/2 hour delay because all the NY area airports were shut down due to weather. I found out we were lucky... some planes were delayed 4 hours. I got home about 3:30 a.m equivalent NY time.

Quilts as Art

I have been spending a wonderful few days in NYC with my daughter, close friends and family. For a change we have been in a hotel in midtown across the street from several bead shops.... I was pretty good! The art work in the hotel we are in are all quilts that have been framed. There is nothing sophisticated about them but they are all charming. They are made out of cottons that look like they were probably dyed using natural dye and they are all hand stitched. I was able to take some photos... not very good ones but at least the idea is here. The hallways are narrow and the angles were not good. Enjoy.

Rewarding day

We had an unusual nighttime visitor... a desert toad, on our back patio. He was kind of cute. Want to guess what toads do when they are scared half to death? Ned had some cleanup to do!

The tomato garden is coming along nicely. I have some yellow grape tomatoes which are actually returning from last summer on their own. I have never seen a tomato plant regrow itself. The first crop is in and they are delicious. I have also planted some Heirloom tomatoes but they are just flowering and a red sweet pepper. Hard in the desert to grow veggies without a lot of effort. Hopefully when I get back from NY next week my 12 rose bushes will start a 2nd bloom. I am sorry I did not take a picture as they were a riot of color. I had upwards of 50 blooms per bush.

Yesterday was dye day and this morning ironing day (yuck). I did another gradation run and some 3 color multi's. I had some dye left so I just tossed it onto a couple of yard pieces and I really love the results. My favorite is the red piece but that one was planned. I tried to get 2 black but one came out brownish and the other blue. Not bad, but not black.


I would like to get rid of some of these and the previous ones. I will have to figure out how to set up Paypal or something.

In the meantime, I got lucky and got a mileage ticket to NY for this long weekend. I am going wedding shoe shopping with my daughter and will attend to other related things. When I get back I need to finish my piece for SAQA and some of the other things I would like to do.

Phoenix Botanical Garden

I spent the morning at the Phoenix Botanical Gardens, a place I love to go but is almost an hour from me. The cacti are in bloom and the weather is gorgeous. Not much more you can ask for. Enjoy the slide show. I also will be adding fabrics to the slide show from yesterday... I added 2 more but probably will not do any more dyeing till Monday. Bridge calls this weekend. If you are having problems viewing the slideshow, I can make it smaller, just let me know.

It doesn't take much to make me happy.

My new washer arrived and I have started dyeing again, mostly yards and half yard pieces. I did a 2 color multi hued 6 piece set that I love and a 3 color parfait that is awesome. I did some solid pieces as well. I have 2 dogs, woof, that I can live without. One, I can probably overdye as it came out pretty blah. It is a very pale pink with very light green highlights. Not my style. The other is very pale apricot to peach that is pretty but too light for me. I may think about selling some of these. I have taken pretty good notes and can probably duplicate the colors if not the colorations and designs on almost all of these. Thanks to Deb Lacativa, I have a gorgeous red piece. She very generously shared her recipe. I still have lots of dye left and lots of fabric, but I ran out of steam. Ironing them is a bitch. I want a mangle!!! Enjoy the eye candy. You can see larger images if you click here.

Done

I made a covered corded binding that got sewn to the back to finish this off. I forgot what a pain in the butt that is, but it is all done. This was a great learning experience. I am not sure what I am going to do with this, but at least now, I like it.

The plumber was here this morning and set me up with a new washing machine hook up in the garage. Machine arrives on Tuesday and then I will get back to dyeing without breaking my back. Chore for the weekend is putting back the sheetrock and taping it all up. Fun.

Sunflowers in Blue Greens

I am done! I am going to put a corded edge on this piece and call it quits. I added more stitching to it and a smattering of French knots. This seemed to be a lot of work for such a small piece, but I learned a lot in the journey and had some fun on the way. That is really all I ask for in the end. I want to thank everyone who left comments and those who emailed me. I appreciate you all taking the time to look and for the feedback.

Lizard Love

We live out in the desert and we have all sorts of critters, including several types of lizards. I was doing some work in my courtyard today and noticed a whole bunch of activity in the bedding area and saw more movement than usual. The lizards are pretty use to us and tend not to run off but I don't usually see them chasing each other around. For hours these 2 were following each other and chasing one another. I think it is mating season. They were good enough to pose for me.

The downside to living out where we do is the threat of fire in the summer. We had 2 wet winters and the brush and weeds have been going gangbusters. We have been working hard to clear the area around the house out. When we get dry lightening, I start bouncing off the walls. This is going to be a very bad season for fires.

I have some planting chores ahead of me. We bought a seedless grape vine and a climbing rose to go in the back along with my other 12 rose bushes. I had previously ordered a Brugmansia seedling and one of Iochroma.. they arrived yesterday and have to be potted in LARGE pots. I lost my marbles and bought some Basil plants. I love making Pesto but the plants seem to grow faster than I can make it. Does anyone know if you can freeze Basil leaves to make into Pesto later? I freeze the Pesto in portion sizes and can use it all winter.

Progress

I spent the morning gardening before it got too late. My roses are in wonderful bloom. I then tackled my study in blue green. I pulled out the Stewart Gill paints I have been staring at since Houston but never opened, and just played with the colors. I knew the effect I wanted but have never used the different types of paint that came in my set. I wound up using Colourise, Pearlise, Alchemy, and Metamica. What fun! Here is the result. I still need to fix the top right corner. I am going to add more stitching and make it more grass like and then add other bits of it in other places to balance it out. It will not get painted. This piece is starting to grow on me. It is 8.5" x 12". Not sure what I will do with it when I get it done. I will probably put a cord around the edge and bind to the back. I do not think a border will add to this but I will audition something when I get there.
Tomorrow is another day.

Thanks everyone who left comments and also wrote me privately. I appreciate you all.

Trying to make a silk purse from a sow's ear

I belong to a great group where it has been decided that we will have a challenge every month on some sort of Art skill. This month was balance.... I failed BUT, I decided to use it to practice my sorely lacking skills in quilting and I wanted to try my hand at fabric painting. I got as far as the quilting part. I also have an aversion to blue so I decided to work in blue-green.... as close to blue's as I have. I have hated this piece from the beginning and it will probably end up in the round file.
My drawing skills are on par with my quilting skills so all of this was done free hand. Next step is to paint.

Feel free to throw darts at it.

Garden eScape

I haven't updated the blog in a while so I am doing catch up today. Life has a tendency to throw curves just when you think you can relax. After finishing up Pamela Allen's class I took a few days off to relax. I had just gotten back into the swing of things when I found out my Aunt, who had a rare cancer was really starting to fail. She was only 70, 13 years older than I am. I made plans to fly to Pittsburgh in 2 days but she passed the day before I arrived. The memorial service was lovely. I have wonderful memories of visiting her. She was incredibly creative and well ahead of her time as she never thought in the box. We started cleaning out her apartment and I took home a lovely vest made of exotic fabrics. It is too big for me but I will take it apart and create something in her memory.
When I got back I really buckled down to finish the commissioned piece I had promised by the end of the month.
We took a weekend trip to Irvine, California for Passover Seder and while we were there I got the opportunity to see my Grounds for Change piece, And the Circles Go Round and Round, hanging in the the Gallery.... thanks to Annie Copeland ( she is a hoot) who had a key and took the time to show us around. I also spent some time at Rogers Gardens which is a wonderful nursery. Back to work when we got home.
This past weekend we had friends come in from out of town and had previously made plans to go White water rafting in the upper Salt River. We had such a blast! I have never done that before but I am now a convert. We only took a half day trip because we hadn't a clue what we were in for. We are planning to do at least on full day trip next year and if we can handle that, then hopefully we will do a multi day trip.
My piece Garden eScape is now finished and being shipped off today to the new owners. I am planning on acquiring a top loading washing machine from the proceeds so I do not have to break my back hand rinsing my hand dyes!
My next project is to make a veil for my daughter for her wedding. This about catches me up.

Moving right along

The fantastic class with Pamela Allen is done. I am sorry it is over but it sure was a lot of work. The last lesson was more independent and I spent a week trying to get a particular result. I am not happy with it and will not post it. I think I tried for something that is still beyond my technical reach... one day. In the meantime, I finished 2 pieces ... they are quilted and bound and I must admit that my quilting is getting better and I did not have an attack of the hives! I did have to remind myself to breath and to relax my shoulders. Just keeping my shoulders down made such a difference in my movements. I might get adequate at this. I need to finish my commissioned piece then I will work on the other 2 pieces I started in the class.. Then back to dyeing. In the meantime I have lots of gardening to do. My roses have started to bloom and in a week will put on a spectacular show.
I still have a veil to make for my daughter's wedding in August along with the covers of a wedding album and guestbook. I haven't a clue how to do either just yet.