Year's End: Answering the Call

Cyndi Souder waxed rhetorical in her latest blog (http://www.moonlightingquilts.com/): why do we feel the need to count our accomplishments as well as account for our actions over the past year? Most of us don't have to deal with the breast-beating that can go on during Yom Kippur, and I, having only 1.75 breasts left, am neither going in for the beating nor for the fasting on New Year's Day. However, there's been history made and we need to learn from it lest we repeat our mistakes, right? Talk about pain!

My biggest quilt-related mistake and resulting emotional pain was answering a colleague when she confronted and accused me of selfishly making a cancer victim on our faculty a get-well quilt. Not only did I have the temerity to make the quilt, I also had nerve to ask faculty members help make blocks and then sign the quilt with their wishes for our friend's recovery. To this day I don't understand what that colleague's point was, especially since she had been included in the process, and I know I should have walked on. There will be other quilts if needed, but there will never be another reply to such a bizarre "accusation." I hereby resolve to smile, nod, walk on.

On-going mistakes: I cannot leave an interesting craft book in the store. I have books on all the varieties of quilts and the skills needed to make them (of course), collage, journals, altered books, book making (not gambling, the actual making of books), art dolls, surface design, embellishment, jewelry making, machine embroidery. I pulled enough books yesterday to donate to my quilt guilds so that I have only 260 left and now they fit on my shelves. Cool. A library is a wonderful thing.

Not necessarily. I actually memorize these books. I can't remember my sister's birthday (born on my 10th), but I can remember many trivial techniques so well that I'm often in the middle of using one before I realize what I'm doing. Ask me the best way to do something and I'll reply with a title and/or an author that will help you.

What's so bad about this? It's expensive. On the oft chance that I may ever want to use a particular technique, I scour the universe for all the supplies that might be needed. I spent three weeks last spring finding 1" acrylic disks and solvent ink to make 3-D embellishments for a fabric journal I may make someday. (Fabric Art Journals by Pam Sussman, page 47--took me all of 30 seconds to get my hands on the right book and find the page I needed for that piece of documentation.) I have cabinets, closets, shelves, boxes full of art "supplies" for any number of projects that have caught my eye. My kitchen should be so well stocked! I hereby resolve to use more stuff than I buy. What do I do with the finished projects?

NO PROBLEM! I never finish anything. Mistake Number Three. Why is closure so difficult for me? Fear of failure or fear of losing a good friend? It's like this: I never finished reading All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren because the man is a poet. I never, ever want to stop reading that kind of prose. Also, I don't want the protagonist to lose the girl. If I finish the book, he loses the girl and I lose a friend. If I finish a project, I no longer have that which has given me so much angst/pleasure and I lose a friend. After a LONG time, I just this week finished Ghosts of Jerusalem (see below). Sewing that label was very difficult because now the quilt is no longer my baby. It belongs to the world.

So, what have I accomplished this year? I've amassed volumes of knowledge, learned a bunch of skills, produced a few decent quilts, and entered two in a show. What do I resolve? Use the knowledge (and the supplies), work harder on the production end, finish that which is worth finishing, and finally get my work "out there."

Oh, and SMILE, NOD AND WALK ON.

Closure!

Pinch me. No, really. Go ahead and pinch me. I must be having an out-of-body experience.

I finished my plaid quilt ("To the Gypsy in Me") and readied it and my Jerusalem moon quilt ("Ghosts of Jerusalem") for the MAQF show. I made a special trip to the post office just to send my images, application blanks, and entry fees to New Hope. This is not me I've been watching. I am far too lazy to follow through on anything as important to me as entering my first juried show, albeit a "friendly" show, as Cyndi calls it. This must have something to do with all the other events bubbling in the bizarre cauldron called my life.

Here are the entrants:

The finished "To the Gypsy in Me" (31.5" x 28")

And "Ghosts of Jerusalem" (22" x 24")

Tomorrow I will experiment with gelatin monoprinting ("Printing From Your Panty" by Rayna Gillman) and hope to show off my efforts at HQU in February. I'll let you know how it goes.

Tyvek Explorations

"Tyvek Explorations" is an on-line class offered through Joggles.com. This piece shows some Tyvek that was painted on both sides with Lumiere then stitched onto some batik and some cheap velvet. The accompanying bright orange fabric is lame'. All stitching was done in one swell foop--fastening and quilting are the same threads. After all was fastened securely, I hit the Tyvek and the neighboring double-sided lame' with my heat gun. Tyvek melted everywhere except at the stitching. The lame' melted toshow the color I faced it with. Lots of controlled shredding.

The piece needs an edge. Typically, I didn't finish it. I had to be somewhere else instead.

Do I like it? Is it finished? Where is it supposed to go from here? All excellent questions and all without answers.

Fall-adelphia Weekend

Halloween weekend in Philadelphia seemed like such a good idea when we planned our trip. I had four stops on my itinerary: Ardmore and Lonni Rossi's store; Philly and the Snyderman-Works Gallery; Intercourse and The People's Place quilt museum and store; and Adamstown and some antiques malls. Mike added a few surprises: dinner with his brother--which turned into roll-on-the-floor hysterical laughing fun (who knew?), a cheesesteak lunch on South Street (NOT on my diet), and a visit to his JCFS woodworking teacher to tour his studio (almost as good as Carol Taylor's digs).

My priority was getting my foot in the door of Lonni's store. The last time I tried to shop there, the store was closed-not fun after a four-hour drive. But this time not only was the store open, everything was 20% off! Just think: Handpainted Lonni Rossi fabric! OH MY! And on SALE!!! See Susan drool. See Susan buy a few yards of very damp fabric just to avoid a lawsuit. Only the white and gray fabric is handpainted. The other $70 worth is "merely" commercial goods. I must say I was not eager to leave the store, but there were my husband and puppies to consider. Tell me why that's important, please.

Our next stop was Pa. Dutch country where we ate an abominable lunch of bland, fatty, uninspired sandwiches much like the food of my childhood--but at least there was no ring-balogna--and I visited The Olde Country Store and quilt museum. The store downstairs has every kind of quilt fabric in print, except, of course, Lonni's. It's not cheap, but there's a lot of it: traditional, dependable, predictable. I bought some fat quarters in shades/hues/tints of browns, rusts, and beiges, plus two yards of Amish black. I was wearing my Obama button and as I paid for my $50 worth of fabric was treated very curtly by the proprietress. McCain country. Gun-toting, Bible pounding, right to lifing, capital punishing, war mongering, half-truth and scare tactics spouting McCain country. I wonder if they every saw pictures of Sarah in her thong.

But I digress. We met Mike's brother for dinner in Villanova (Maia--very modern, trendy, plus side of average food) and spent the night in Exton, PA. The next day found us in Philly at the Snyderman-Works Gallery and on South Street. The gallery is inspiring. Some of the art was bizarre and seemed as if it were torn from the artist's soul. Some was serene--apparently from more peaceful souls. I resolve to follow where my ideas take me instead of trying to impress other people. My current path isn't leading me anywhere. It's not working.

This may seem like a lot of driving. It was. We had planned to spend Friday in Philly, Saturday in Lancaster, and Sunday in Adamstown. But then the Phillies had to go and win the World Series. Philadelphia was NOT a place to be in on Friday. We flipped our plans so that there would be room for us in the city by Saturday.

Saturday's lunch, a cheesesteak hoagie, was an improvement over the previous day's pseudo-German garbage. After another night in Exton--early to bed due to sheer exhaustion of running heite to beite (forgive me, Yiddish police), we were off to Adamstown antique malls. We went to two large establishments and bought nothing. I was simply too tired to think clearly and refused to spend money on the wrong stuff and have a tastelessly over-decorated foyer. Consequently, my foyer table will remain tastelessly under-decorated for another year. We were on the road by 10:15 and paid a visit to Mike's woodworking teacher in Strasburg (whatever--the town with the railroad) before starting on our way home. It was fun, mostly, but I'm really, really tired of the inside of Mike's car.

Melange Mania

Good news! A very nice woman came to take away my Civil War fabric, freeing me to play with my painted canvas. Et voila!

I lie. There was nothing fast and easy about this mess. I painted (stamped, dabbed, spritzed, silk screened) every piece of the fabric used in this 34 x 29" rag. I began it months ago for Cyndi's class. It started as a mark-making exercise using black paint on watercolor paper. I criss-crossed my paint, added something puffy, and came away with plaid.

Since then I've been arranging, stitching, ripping, rearranging, stitching, ripping, gluing, trimming, ripping, and stitching painted canvas until I'm sick to death of the piece and may need to put it away for a while before I quilt it. On second thought, I never get back to projects once I put them away to "cook." I'd better keep it out in plain sight where it will continue to annoy the heck out of me so that I finish it. THEN I'll hide it away.

The quilt (still to be quilted and embellished) contains fabrics I painted (etc.) in classes and at home over the past year and a half. It's busy since I still don't know when to stop adding things. At least I'm restricting myself to a few colors (yes, that's a few), and that's progress.

My husband (bless his heart--Southerners know what that means) commented that I'm developing my own style. Sure is: Schizophrenia.

Civil War Sale

Every time I come home from a cash therapy session, I wonder where I'm going to put my therapeutic goodies. It's been flying under the radar for some time, but there's a bin in my closet devoted to Civil War and 1800s reproduction fabrics. Say WHAT? Have I been paying attention lately? Couldn't that space be put to better use?

I was collecting those fabrics for a very good reason, and they are very good fabrics at $10 a yard or so. My husband was interested in joining a Civil War reenactment group a couple of years ago and I was going to make quilts to sell at the events. Now that he's over it and on to studying physics and the origins of the universe, and I'm over using old-fashioned designs, the fabric must go.

A couple of weeks ago I spent an entire weekend cutting Eleanor Burn's Underground Railroad quilt and have been assembling it ever since. The borders are ready to apply and I've gathered the larger cuts of my CW collection to piece into a backing. In a couple of hours this puppy will be ready to find a willing (and cheap) quilter. Because I chose all the fabrics in one swell foop, I'm not pleased with some of the choices but am sure others will not object. This 60 x 90" quilt will be for sale at cost. There is just too much money invested in it to donate it.

The remainder of my CW fabrics will be offered for sale. Most are fat quarters, some are odd large scraps, and some are half or full yards. A guesstimate this morning told me I have about 10 yards left. I would be happy getting $50 for the lot.

I can't wait for this episode of my quilting life to be over. Is there a traditional quilter out there who would like a bargain?

A day with Laura Cater-Woods

Artistic Annex is hosting workshops with Laura Cater Woods this weekend. I participated in Laura's "Off the Wall and Onto the Page," a mixed media (me? mixed media? go figure) class. Laura showed us the effects of so many nifty, gotta-have items like Drainage Screen (cheap-o garden supply) and Lutradur (not cheap, not garden, but very cool stuff). Then there was all the nifty, gotta-have stuff at Judy Gula's shop in Alexandria. If you have never met Judy or taken a class with her or shopped with her at many quilt or surface design shows, you are missing something special. Check her out on line. She doesn't sell yard goods, but if you're serious about surface design, you canNOT live without what she does sell.

The project: A two-sided, three-panel standing "book"

I used one of my Immaculate Conception's images (Ateroa in New Zealand) as the basis for my "book" still in need of "binding." I made several prints on computer fabric and one on Extravorganza. One of the prints came out in gray tones for some reason (user error, no doubt), but it was a wonderful mistake that became a Unifying Element for my piece. I added some silk paper--needs trimming--I made two summers ago at John Campbell (I can't remember whose class it was, and I remember everybody memorable. Shame!) and some of the canvas I painted with Elizabeth Busch this past summer at QBL. I used lame' and trapped some charms in tulle as touted by Bernie Rowell, but with limited success (read: looks like yetch and needs a bit of re-thinking). Embellishments to date are gold thread and some of those Middle Eastern evil eye charms that have a name but I can't remember that either.

Not Un-Busy

Between sessions of wrestling with two uncooperative art quilts in progress, I've been honing my biking skills. Yesterday morning found me at the motorcycle cop rodeo near Pentagon City. The police competition featured teams from the mid-Atlantic states, including one awesome team from a Florida (mid-Atlantic if you include South America) sheriff's office. Whoo-Hoo #18! You are my HERO! Their riding was inspiring and now my goals are set much higher than just managing Snickersville Pike.

Several of the group drifted over to the Pentagon Memorial. I must say that if I ever feel the need for a good cry, here's the place. Benches pointing towards the Pentagon acknowledge those who died on the plane; benches pointing away, those who died in the building. Kudos to the designer.

I hope to get The Gate "published" soon. I spent some quality time picking out a section of less-than-acceptable thread painting and now must deal with some less-than-acceptable residual holes. One of the women in CQU answered the summer challenge with a tree done in couched threads on tulle. There's a question of balance with my adding too much texture to one section of The Gate, but a bit of light couching for the trees on the bottom edge might be the answer and might not overpower the threaded grain of the gate's wooden elements. To be continued...

Where I've been for two weeks

Ok, so this isn't a sewing machine I'm riding, and I admit, I should have been home finishing The Gate (still not completely thread-painted and bound) or at least making a feeble attempt at dealing with this month's art quilt homework (mia culpa, Cyndi). But what a glorious day it was! And I can announce that for probably the first time I actually had FUN riding!

Cut, Piece, Paste

My Immaculate Conception took this photo during a business trip to Tokyo a couple of years ago.

When I needed to find an image suitable for a pieced art quilt workshop, I chose this because of its simplicity.

I pieced the sky from several fabrics and made the arch as an applique. I am auditioning border ideas and hope to have the top nailed down today.


Eventually I hope to add details to the arch and to the trees/temple with quilting. I'm contemplating making the brass ornaments out of one of the many little-used mixed media embellishments in my stash. Tyvek? Foil? Shrinky-dink? Foiled shrinky-dink?

The Road

My class at QBL worked next to that of Fran Skiles. Every so often I'd wander through Fran's area and become transfixed by the processes taking place there. I can't pretend to understand anything they were doing, but I have pretended to make a Fran Skiles inspired collage. Fran doesn't seem to have a website, but please google her name to see some of her work. This design is based on the black and white paper "doodle" posted a several days ago.

Active Procrastination, Part III

Here's one of the pieces of rusted muslin. I'm wondering about how this fabric will behave in a quilt. I read that the rust has to be neutralized and that it is not archival because the fibers just keep rusting. Since I have no idea how to go about neutralizing rust (Rustoleum?), I'm going make something out of this nifty fabric and enjoy it. My work has never been intended to last for centuries, anyway. Here and now, Baby!

Active Procrastination, Part II

His name is Hwemudua after the Adinkra symbol meaning "measuring stick." A tad ironic, don't you think?

Active Procrastination

It's been a busy week in my studio.

I am monitoring fabric that I've put outside to rust. This is a passive activity, so maybe this doesn't count as my being busy. I made a QBL video twice—NOT a passive activity either time (counts double). And I am making the first doll from the book Art Doll Adventure. The doll is less than successful, but I’m learning a lot.

After a morning of concentrated reading, pondering, and composing, I got caught up in my on-line class. While on-line, I visited Amazon and bought a Canon MP970 printer so I can work with photos. It was delivered the very next day (because of luck and a wonderful UPS hub near me, not because I opted for upgraded delivery), so I set it up (hours) and immediately made a poster-sized image for Sheri’s pieced art quilts class (http://www.theartfulquilter.com/) next week. Piecing and pasting together the partial "poster" images took the rest of the day.

Through this all, I have successfully procrastinated doing my homework quilt for Cyndi’s class. It's not that I haven't worked on it. One of the canvases I painted last week was based on the design I’m supposed to use. I'm having issues with my vision for this project, a vision which does not match what I've been able to produce so far. I could quilt this canvas whole-cloth, maybe add some bling. In the meantime, I'll keep moving. I can get a lot accomplished when I’m avoiding something.

Forced March

It's a miracle that I didn't gain any weight during my two weeks plus away from home and to ensure I don't, my husband conspired with the dogs to lure me on a walk to the swamp near our house. What he neglected to tell me is that it's 90 degrees with MUCH humidity and the swamp part of the walk was only during the first of a five-mostly-boring-mile circuit. I need a nap! No finishing that UFO in my plans for this afternoon.

Another UFO!

I swore I would never take another workshop that yielded UFOs and here is another one! This needs to be quilted and the edges, now held back with straight pins, hemmed down in the back.

I stopped at the Quilt Odyssey in Hershey, PA, on the way home from Morristown, NY, and saw so many gorgeous quilts my head is still fuzzy. The best part was that I now know some of the Famous Quilters over whose works I drooled. Mop, please!

Finished

I dumped the original busy project and replaced it with this one. I may return to it tomorrow if time permits. In the meantime, I have a finished product for show and tell tomorrow afternoon.

This quilt (about 20" square) started out with my favorite painted canvas (textile paint texturized with a tiling tool). I cut it into several pieces and rearranged them to create an acceptable composition. Another canvas that had been painted with blue acrylic and stenciled with metallic copper acrylic provided the blue elements, and the red is a Moda marble.

I stitched in the ditch around all the geometric shapes with monofilament, quilted the bamboo stenciling with gold metallic thread, and quilted around the abstract globs with variegated thread. I also stitched straight lines along some of the stripes. The edging was finished with satin stitching in two colors of variegated thread.

I'm pleased with the overall effect. Cyndi is going to be proud of me because it has a focal point. Teddi is not going to see arrows that point to nowhere since I was so very careful to create a flowing composition. Elizabeth likes it, too, and said so. Yippee!

What I would do differently next time: use facings for the edges instead of satin stitch, and plan my quilting. I lied. I won't plan my quilting. I have no idea how to plan my quilting which is why my quilting is always the weakest element of my projects. Maybe next year I should take a class on how to develop quilting patterns that enhance projects.

In the meantime, I like the composition and the colors of this project. I'll try another one at home and may be able to enter it in Hampton in January. (Workshop projects are not allowed in many juried shows.)

Slice and Dice

Painting is finished and the stash is ready to chop into useable shapes. So far I've been working with the typical straight edges, but I plan to try something different tomorrow. One of the teachers has shown her class a technique for inserting strips (not unlike the flange I've used before) and one of my classmates has inserted a semi-circular flap into one of her seams. I like both ideas and intend to steal them. Teddi says I need to add another small square since I have only two. My thought on the squares is that the uppermost one on the right is too small and if it's the right size, I'll need only one.

As is usual for me, the first attempt at this project is over-designed--WAY too much "stuff" to look at as it is. I may have to work on two pieces at the same time to use some of these ideas. But I know how I work: my first attempt is always busy and complicated and then pared down. Tomorrow is Pare-Down Day.

Day One--Splash and Splatter

Ms. Elizabeth Busch teaches Creating Small Works this week at QBL. Today she taught us to use acrylics and textile paints to alter the formerly unadorned canvas that we'll make into a quilt starting on Wednesday. Besides being an outstanding artist, this lady is a great teacher and fun to be around. Please look her up at her website.

So many of the class objected to my having a camera that I am not permitted to take photos of them and their works. However, I have no objection to your seeing and maybe even "stealing" my ideas. Help yourself!

QBL

Teddi and I arrived here at Morrisville State (a SUNY campus) after a 7 hour drive yesterday. Check-in took me back to my freshman college days in--gulp--1967. The dining hall food is pretty much the same (starch and mystery meat), so I'll be hanging out at the salad bar.

After dealing with our priorities (checking-in to the show, shopping at the vendor mall, viewing the quilt exhibit, shopping at the vendor mall, unpacking, and finding the dining hall) we found our classrooms to drop off our machines and supplies. My room is a gym! With a huge blue tarp covering the floor! And buckets! And I have a roller-bag full of paint and canvas!!! Oh, this will be Heaven on Earth! I'll get back to you.

Standards of Learning--off topic

Every year we teachers turn ourselves inside out preparing students for their SOL tests. We work hard and hope the public takes us seriously. Try as we might, people are just not getting the message. Here's some evidence of local math at a gas station somewhere along I-81 in southern VA. In math students learn to look for a bargain. In English they learn to read the small print. Where do they learn about signage?

Sunrise in Brasstown, July 18

The Apron

It's finished.
The vinyl goth apron destined for the auction block at Quilting By the Lake was completed yesterday around dinner time--and I swear the image is not sideways in my photo gallery. What's that all about? Maybe there's a Goth in the machine.

What I love: the reactions this item gets, the neck strap made out of grommeted vinyl tape sewn over twill tape and fastened with mitten clips and a very large safety pin, the way it looks on me (too bad I'm giving it up).

Issues:

• I was going for something with a bit more edge, but once I saw how the pretty little housewifey flounce looked in vinyl, I stuck with it.


• I wanted to use expanding paint for the Gothic letters. Doesn't work on plastic. I wanted to use fabric paint to stencil the letters onto the vinyl. Again, not on plastic. I tried to use Staz-on ink but the color I brought didn't show up. The ink, however, stuck wonderfully to the counter top, to the sink, and to the stencil film.


• I used vinyl glue to tack down the facings and to attache the skull applique. Vinyl glue eats vinyl, so there may be a lump or two here and there. What the heck--it only adds to the attitude.
  
  
  

The Fun Begins

Our ten-hour drive began yesterday morning at 6:15, 6:23, and 6:30. There are no images of that comedy. We arrived at JCFS at 4:30.

The drive was fairly successful until we got to Asheville, NC, where the road system defies anything that resembles driving in a logical universe. I wanted to photograph a plate of spaghetti and caption it "NC 19, 24, 40, 26 East and West, towards 240 North and South."

My class this weekend is Precious Metal Wire Weaving. So far, it's been an easy fit for me. Image shows my first attempt in copper wire. Today we will learn variations of plain weave. My current sample is more even and tighter. I am brainstorming ways to use this mesh in a collage.

Who is the woman and why is she grinning?

A. It's me.
B. I have an Eye-Fi card in the camera and this picture is being instantly and simultaneously sent to Phanfare and to my computer.

Ok, I admit that I could have combed my hair and smiled less threateningly, but I was caught up in the moment. My new camera (Canon PowerShot SD 1100 IS) arrived after dinner yesterday. Installing the software for it and for the Eye-Fi was a whole lot easier than waiting patiently for the UPS guy!

We leave for camp (www.folkschool.org) tomorrow at 0-dark-30. The car trunk is already full of my projects--here's hoping I don't forget my sewing machine--and I'm working through my list of last-minute to-dos. Don't worry: I won't bore you with those details. Been there, done that.

What I'm most excited about is being with the other "campers." If you ever wondered where all the Hippies went, they have jobs (many of them are English teachers like myself) and spend their summers at places like JCFS. [I know we are alive (and maybe even well) since I did see a VW bus sputtering down VA Rt 66 the other day. Perhaps it was on its way to a commune in a big farmhouse.] The demographic is inspiring: we are green, we are liberal, we are interesting, we are sociable. Just what you'd expect of Flower Children, all growed up. Mealtime conversations are energetic and inspiring, whether we are solving the world's problems or brainstorming a design solution. Camp "fills the well" and is more than whatever someone chooses to produce over the course of a five-day class.

Having said that, Quilting by the Lake (the week after camp) had better be all about the class. I hope to be surprised and inspired by that population as well. (Did you hear the but?)

Details: Quilter's Quest Blocks

Check this out: Yesterday I cut out all the pieces and made a zippie for every remaining QQ block pattern AND this morning I finished the Most Dreaded One of the bunch (see comments in a previous post). I need these kits for portable hand work during our 10 hour drive to/from JCFS. Oh, but I am good today! Just for that (TMI alert), I get to go to coffee with Sheila and Kristin after I drop my crash bars off at the Honda dealer so they can be installed on my motorcycle (bike is already at the dealer).

And here's another kick in the head: I bought a good camera and Eye-Fi. I won't be using the Webcam when I'm too lazy to track down the "family" digital in its three pieces, all in various locations. MY camera and ALL its pieces will be accessible to guess who? ME! Yippee! Things should be looking a bit better soon.

Apron update: found black pleather and fancy tulle at Joann's yesterday. I'm sketching a composite of a few Goth dresses/corsets/tops and the See and Sew apron pattern. This is do-able and should be pretty funny when it's finished. I need larger grommets, though, and see a shopping trip tacked on to the coffee excursion.

Too much fun!

Packing for Camp

This is a to-do list, so I don't expect ANYBODY to read this. Why are you still here?

Projects for camp (WAY too much to do in one week)

1. pear project: Fix shading on quilt. Now that I remembered I own a plastic pear, this will be easier. "Frame" will include bright green piping (a la Susan Cleveland: http://www.piecesbewithyou.com/) inner border and a 2" or 3" black outer border.

2. apron project: paint base fabric and make basic apron. Or maybe make the apron and then paint it. If I were any good at this "art" that wouldn't even be a question. Buy more netting/organza/webbing for the flounce.

3. silk triptych project: TBA. I have no idea how to proceed with this thing. Some artist! If anything I drew remotely resembled anything in this universe (monkeys really do draw better than I do), I could put this in a sketch book and see exactly how to proceed. I am better with a scissors than I am with a pencil. Maybe I should just shred it?

4. 2006 quilt quest project: I may just throw this out. Whoever "designed" some of those quilt squares is a sadist. I never saw a worse designed basket than the pattern that came from one of the studios on the quest. So convoluted! Gratuitously difficult (snob appeal?). But I started it and have the fabric. There is no due date.

5. Cyndi's homework: I found an image on line that will work to remind me of the hell I went through during my bike ride on Wednesday. Heavily shaded macadam road, no lines, drainage ditches along each side, big trucks coming the opposite way, lots of curves. When I got to AQ class that evening, all I could think about was the horror of the ride. I'm thinking a woven quilt that will somehow show the filtering sunlight that wreaked havoc with my perception of where the road actually was and overlay my nightmare image.

I'm sure I've left something out. ONLY 5 projects? I may be back.

Blooming Nine Patch

This top, an attempt to use the left-overs from another quilt top, took over a week to finish. My problem is that since I've begun making original quilts I can no longer follow directions. I must have ripped out more stitches more than I left in. The irony of this is that I still had to buy fabric since no fabric other than the Moda Marble (that orange and blue smoosh towards the center) will do for the binding.

This mess-terpiece will be quilted by Not Me.

Now, on to the truly fun: the soon-to-be offensive dominatrix kitchen-wretch-wear.

Would You Buy this Apron?

I will be attending Quilting By the Lake at the end of July. One of their fund-raisers includes an auction of functional aprons. I have issues with wasting money on experimental garments, so I bought a pattern:

Now, if you know anything about me you'll understand how this June Cleaver image just will not do.

My version of June and Her Cleaver:

The Dominatrix Apron

Black fabric with black skin rubbing plate= leather
Brads and zippers, other silver bling
Netting ruffle at bottom.
Tattoo element
Skulls
Ties will be woven like whips
Laces a must

Here we go!

To be perfectly honest, I have been forced into starting this blog. I'm taking an on-line class that requires I start one, but it's supposed to be an educational thing, not a self-promotional thing. And then there's Teddi who is the kind of muse one can't resist. Can you say nag? She's always right, though (how boring for her) and I know this is the thing that will get my art off the ground--where I am constantly throwing it, crumbled and torn. Here's a picture of a quick journal entry I did on Monday.