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Archive for September, 2009

A Green Flash of Inspiration

Sunday, September 6th, 2009

purpleorangeshibori

I love this purple and orange shibori and have wanted to use it in a piece. I started auditioning possible fabrics to go with it – different purples and oranges and a piece that I had painted. Believe it or not, that piece on the left is very purple.

shiboriandpaintedfabric

I decided I needed another color for a pop so I went to my color wheel to see what a triadic color scheme would add. I was so excited to see that it was one of my favorite colors – lime green!

triadcolorscheme

I immediately got the idea of an ocean sunset with the green flash that you hear about, just as the sun dips beneath the horizon.

Now we are getting somewhere. I went to Art Media yesterday to get canvas to stretch some work over and picked up some metallic copper paint and some pearl violet. I decided to over paint that other piece of fabric so that it would look like water with the reflection of the sunset. The colors on this are not quite true, but you get the idea. I really like it.

metallicpaintedfabric

Here is another audition of fabrics.

purpleorangegreenaudition

I wasn’t happy with that pure orange as the orange in the shibori is more reddish. So here is another audition.

finaltriadaudition

Ahh! I like this and I like the shimmering of the silk green and orange. I have actually drawn a sketch and done some chalk lines for cutting the shibori.

Yesterday was our 45th anniversary. We had a lovely dinner at Paley’s Place in downtown Portland. They knew it was a special day and treated us royally!

Sadly, we have come to the conclusion that it is time to let our beloved Maggie go. I talked to the vet on Friday and she helped me realize that we are not doing her a favor by waiting until she is even more sick. We decided to spend the week-end with her and will take her in on Tuesday and say our good-bye.

maggiecloseup

On a much happier note, I am picking up Laura Cater-Woods tomorrow at the airport. She is spending the next 5 days doing workshops and a lecture for Columbia Fiberarts Guild. I am so excited to meet her in person and spend some quality time with her.

On the Move

Thursday, September 3rd, 2009

leafycompplexcloth

My studio, that is. I have been frustrated that I was having a hard time getting any surface design work done. Earlier this year, Mr C was working on hiding the heating ducts in my office and studio. I had changed the configuration of the space at that time. I came to the realization that the layout was not at all conducive to doing the stuff that I love to do in that space. So, today, I moved everything and put my tables back in the middle of the room. I am already so much happier in the space. Maybe it si just that I need change!!

While sorting stuff, I found some things I had forgotten about. Like the leafy art cloth up there. It is a rayon piece that I did in a class with Jane Dunnewold. It was dyed and over dyed and then I printed and foiled with a leaf stencil that I made. I think I was going to make a pillow cover. Here is a detail:

leafyfabricdetail

I also found this radiant sun left over from a class I took with Cara Gulati, ages ago. It is sandwiched and partially quilted. It would make a nice pillow cover, too.

radiantsun

I had such a good experience today when I went to my local shopping area to do some errands. When I had my colonoscopy, they made me take my wedding ring off. Then, I couldn’t get it back on!! There is still an indent on my ring finger almost 4 weeks later. I took to the local jewelry store to have it made larger. Saturday is our 45th wedding anniversary and I thought it might be nice to wear it. Problem is, it needs new prongs and they said it would take until next week. They were so nice and told me they would have it done by Saturday.

Then, I went to the Post Office to mail the 3 Aspen quilts. Again, great service. Two of them had to be mailed to Canada, and she kindly showed my the best and least expensive way to ship them.

And now, for something completely different, here is a photo of my two favorite people.

mrcandscooter

Working in a Series

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009

daleannaspens

One more Spooner Lake Aspen. Dale Ann really wanted one of my tree pieces so today I whipped up this little piece for her. I like to reach into my batting scraps, pull out a piece and create something to fit. This one is long and narrow. It is about 6 inches by 14 inches. I am really guessing!

As I was quilting this, I thought about how much I love watching variegated thread blend with the hand-dyed fabric. Here is a detail from this piece.

aspenquiltingdetail

I wanted to get this done for Dale Ann so I can put away the fabric that I have been using and move on to another project that is jelling in my right brain. I plan to get all the Aspens in the post tomorrow.

Don’t forget IBOL!! To find out how to send a bundle of love to Iraqi women via Art La Flamme, just click on the logo. Since the 7th is a holiday, you can mail on the 8th, but no later.

ibol_yellow_130

Looking for Inspiration

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

designwall

This is my design wall. I was cleaning up from the Aspen fest and at the same time I was pulling fabric for my next project. It is nice to have the art cloth on the wall and I can audition partners and plan some additional surface design to add to the mix.

I have had this Perle cotton thread nest sitting on a table in my studio begging to be straightened out. I can’t put it away the way it is.

perlecottonmess

I cut some pieces of cardboard, and it will be my evening TV watching project until they all look like this.

perlecottonneatTonight, I also added bamboo hanging rods to the other two aspen pieces.

bamboohangers

And so that was pretty much my day.