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Archive for the ‘Bird’s Eye View’ Category

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Ready for Hand Stitching

Thursday, January 14th, 2010

I am liking this now. It is all Mistyfused and ready for hand stitching. I want to start it right away, but I think I will save it for our trip to Hawaii next week.

Speaking of handstitching, Laura Wasilowski is blogging about it. I love the stitching she is doing.

I had a great time at STASH today. It is always fun to sit around and chat with like-minded good friends. We had a little talk, a little show and tell and a great lunch. Terry made sweet potato soup and beer bread and for dessert, Panna Cotta with fruit.

When I got home, Mr C and I decided to run out to the Dr’s office to get H1N1 flu shot which they are now offering to old folks like us.

Then, I ran down to the studio to fix the problems with the circle piece before making dinner. Now, I am watching Project Runway. I think it is going to be a great season.

Posted in Bird's Eye View, Quilting Friends | 3 Comments »

A Pause to Recoup

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

Yesterday, I awoke feeling rather crappy. I felt I was coming down with a bad cold so I took it very easy and drank tea and zinc lozenges. I awoke this morning with a bit of a sore throat, but as the day progressed, I felt better. I even did a short walk with Mr C and Scooter before the weather turned really awful.

Tonight, I was able to tack the pieces to the batting so that I could get it up on the design wall for a good critique. I can see areas that I need to reorganize or change, but overall, it is looking pretty good. I am so glad I did this smaller piece first because I have learned a lot about how to manage the layout.

I was not happy with the shibori that I had used. It was organza and was not fusing well. So, tonight, I used my color hue dyes and whipped up a few more pieces.

These are all small pieces of habotai silk.I love the last piece – whee!! I’m thinking I might add a few more shibori pieces.

I had a lot of clerical/computer work to do again today. I got all of my images for the book burned to a cd and sent off to Lark. I also had a big SDA job to do. I have been gathering images of my vintage Japanese fabric quilts to send to Judy Mathieson who is doing a talk about the use of Japanese fabrics in quilts. I have done quite a few.

STASH is tomorrow at Terry’s house. I am looking forward to some girl talk.

Posted in Bird's Eye View, shibori | 2 Comments »

Bloom in the Muck

Monday, January 11th, 2010

In Eastern religions, the lotus flower is an important symbol because it starts life down in the muck and dirty water. As it emerges from the muck, it becomes a beautiful flower. The dean of the cathedral reminded us of this on Sunday, reminding us that we are always some where between tragedy and ecstasy. He admonished us to not wait to bloom. If you have gift cards, spend them; if you have unused airline miles, use them. If you have been meaning to spend time with some one special, what are you waiting for, do it. I loved the sermon and the symbolism, and perhaps, it is my age, but it was meaningful to think about reaching for what makes me happy and not worrying about what might be. It fit with my word for the year, to follow my bliss.

Today was a busy day of doing SDA website stuff, handling some guild issues, taking Scooter to the vet and getting homework done for my theology class. I did manage to get some more fabric cut for the silk irrigation circles. Here is my workspace. I love the circle cutter.

Here is the piece so far. I am hoping for a pretty full day in the studio tomorrow.

Scooter has yeast infections in both of his ears. Apparently this is a common problem with dogs with floppy ears. The vet taught be how to clean them and he has drops to put in his ears for the next 10 days. He is such a good boy at the vets. Their resident 3 legged cat walked right up to him, sensing that he was a total woose; it was so cute.

I hope you are blooming in the muck!!

Posted in Bird's Eye View, Scooter, Spiritual Life | 8 Comments »

Going in Circles

Sunday, January 10th, 2010

You didn’t think that I would make irrigation circles that look like the real thing, did you? I spent most of the afternoon, fusing silk fabrics to start a smaller version of the irrigation circles. I made two copies. This one is about 18″ X 21″.  I am having lots of fun with this.

However, while I was pulling out silk fabrics, I found a discharged piece of silk that is just yelling at me. I put it on the design wall and I keep looking for fabrics to work with it. So I feel pulled in two directions. Can I make two pieces at the same time? Oh, and don’t worry, I don’t think that lime green is working, either.

I haven’t posted a photo of Scooter lately, so here he is, doing what comes naturally, sleeping. His winter coat is at least and inch and half long, now. He looks like a little tub of lard!

Posted in Bird's Eye View, Construction series, Scooter | 7 Comments »

In Plane View

Saturday, January 9th, 2010

High Fiber Diet is doing a show titled Bird’s Eye View. I looked through my photos taken from planes. I cropped out a section that looked interesting and printed it in black and white. I took it to CopyMax and had it enlarged to the max. You can see by my shoes how large this is. I will start with this size, but I think I want to make one larger. I will have to slice the photo and enlarge each section and then tape them together.

I am so excited about the possibilities of this layout. I can’t wait to get started. I want to do some hand stitching when I am on a trip later this month so I need to get at least one put together. Woo hoo!

Yesterday, Mr C and I went on an art date to the Portland Art Musem to see the China Design Now show. It explores the explosion of modern design in many areas  including architecture, print and clothing. The architecture is amazing. My favorite items in the show were these large birds beautifully adorned with organza rectangles that had been stitched like pojagi with French seams. So gorgeous. The fabric was laid over a metal frame like feathers.

We had a lovely dinner out at one of our favorite restaurants where we sat at the bar and had a good time chatting with the young bartenders, who doubled as our waiters. I had lamb spiedino with sauteed spinach and pickled red pepper. The lamb melted in my mouth. We shared a grilled Jerusalem artichoke, red onion and arugula salad.

We stopped for gas on the way home, and the Lexus would not start. We got a shove into a parking spot. I used the AAA app on my iPhone. It took about a half hour to get help. But after a battery charge, we were on our way home. This morning, Mr C took it for a new battery. We were wondering why the automatic key entry was not working very well. Every thing is working perfectly again. We have had the car for 7 years. It had the original battery. Pretty good.

Posted in Art Dates, Bird's Eye View, High Fiber Diet | 9 Comments »

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