Thursday morning

As I walk from the dorm each morning, I pass the loveliest little spot full of cattails and queen anne's lace. While the campus is not entirely bucolic like this, it is lovely and manicured and buildings are a much easier walk than they were at Morrisville.

The teachers here are top-notch and some of them have taught at places like Arrowmont, where Judy Langille tells me she will be teaching in September. The class is called"Torn Paper and Textures:The Art of Original Cloth". It is, by the way - a wonderful class - which I know from first hand experience. The dates are Sept.20 - 26.
Go to www.arrowmont.org; Judy tells me there are all sorts of scholarships and deals available that can be found on their site.

Back to this campus - today there will be a tour for the public of what's going on in the classrooms around QBL and I hope I'll have a chance to duck out at some point and see for myself. Yesterday, my class was just getting warmed up with some exercises on working with photos and here is Lori's quick study. More from everybody else later. I'm off to start my day!

shifting gears

Last night was the mini-mall at QBL - the vendors were open and the teachers and students who had goodies to sell were there, too. Bob Adams sold some quilts -- one of which I was sorely tempted to buy, but was grabbed up by someone just ahead of me.

Randy Keenan was vending Helene Davis' fabrics and wonderful t-shirts and I bought a yard of fabric and a wonderful long-sleeved tee which I will wear tomorrow. Judy Blaydon was selling prints of her work and keeping her company was Rosalie Dace. She was in a conversation when I snapped this photo, listening intently to someone.And Jane Sassaman, who spoke tonight about how she designs her fabrics, was there last night with a table full of goodies for sale. She has a wardrobe of snazzy aprons made from her bright fabrics. I could use one of those, if only I didn't have to make it. I don't sew.
My friend Barbara Conte-Gaugel, who lives in Syracuse, came to visit me and we caught up with each other. It was so good to see her after several years - and it is always as though no time has gone by.
Today, first day of new class, which is turning out to be a guided studio class. This semi-private workshop has five participants with varied goals and it will be exciting to see how their work develops over the next couple of days.

was it only day #2

It is already Wednesday morning--where did yesterday go??
I don't know what was going on at this table, but obviously, everybody was having fun. That's the kind of class it was -- and I'm sorry it's over. If I remember correctly, almost nobody had done screen printing before and they all surprised themselves with the fabric they ended up printing. For a change (or should I say "as usual"?) some of that work gave me fabric envy - aka I wish I'd printed that! Denise's fabric looked good enough to eat and I wish I could remember how she got those cool shapes on the upper right. I'll be interested in seeing what she does with the blue fabric on the lower left. Ruth printed this piece on some out-of-date fabric she had never used and it made a huge difference.

More of Charlotte's work. Lori's pieces
I can't remember whose this graphic fabric was.
Diane printed on a piece of old linen and I think she'll have a hard time cutting this one up. The photo does not do it justice. It's been such a full schedule that I can't believe the first part of the week is over! But tomorrow I start another class - so more adventures.

printing with found obj - day one

I lucked out again with a great class! Was too busy giving input and so forth to shoot many pictures, but I did get a few in process. Today we worked with paper resists, found object resists, syringes, and we prepared glue screens to work with tomorrow.

In the meantime, a couple of pix - Donna's piece in process was done with freezer paper on a screen. Came out great!And I think this was Charlotte's - tape on a screen.

And I'm thinking these were Sherry's, done with newspaper resists. Cool, huh?

Tune in tomorrow.

classes start tomorrow

Meantime, the weekend has been good. I drove up to Syracuse yesterday, settled into the dorm suite that I am sharing with Jane Sassaman, Dorothy Caldwell, and Elizabeth Barton. Then I went over to the classroom and unloaded supplies.

Last night, Jane and I went to dinner with Anna Hergert, Donna Lamb, executive director of the Schweinfurth, and three veteran QBL'ers - Emily, Barbara, and Alice. We ate downtown in an area that reminded me of the Short North in Columbus: dinner was excellent and a lot of fun. Barbara, Anna HegertEmily, clowning around, and Donna. If you think Emily looks familiar it's because you just saw her identical twin in the previous photo.

Jane Sassaman, obviously enjoying the spectacle.

This morning, Jane and I went to breakfast at a place called the Egg-Plant, in East Syracuse. Of course we got lost -- but eventually got there and had a good repast. Afterwards, we found our way to the art fair downtown and spent an hour wandering around, looking for something we couldn't live without. Jane bought two long skirts and although I tried one on, it made me look like a blimp so I left it there.

At dinner, it was big-hug time for some friends - Sally Davis, Sandy Donabed, and Randy Keenan whom I have not seen since last month at crit group(LOL). Also, students who have been in class with me at QSDS and other places -- it's always fun to see familiar faces. Judy Warren Blaydon was the first person I saw yesterday when I arrived and I was so happy to see her after 9 years. Yikes - how is it possible? It was good to see Jane Dunnewold, catch up with Rosalie Dace's adventures, and talk to Bob Adams at dinner, too. I was doing more table-hopping than eating (which might not have been a bad thing).

Bruce Hoffman spoke tonight and was his usual charming, frank, shoot-from-the-hip self. The thunderstorm started while he was speaking and while the rain slowed a bit by the time the evening was over, we all got a bit wet walking back to the dorm.

QBL's new venue at Onandaga County College is lovely: the facilities are nice (and air conditioned - hooray!) and everything is pretty walkable. However, my umbrella is in the car and since it is raining and I have some quilts to take over with me, I will probably drive to class tomorrow. I should have more pix to post by tomorrow night.

timeless

I had forgotten how liberating it can be not to know what time it is.

I am rarely without a watch on my left wrist and The Bracelet on my right. But this afternoon, in the midst of packing in preparation for my teaching trip to QBL tomorrow, I had to run errands and - eeeek -- I ran out without my watch. I made the round to Staples, Dollar Tree, K-Mart, and Whole Foods - all of which are in the same strip mall. I was so relaxed, just wandering from store to store, la-di-da that I lost track of time. And guess what? It was nice for a change.

I recycled my toner and picked up a pack of rubber bands - odd sizes & colors; a pack of two sharpie-wannabe black markers; a box of pencils and some cut-out cardboard letters I might be able to use for screen printing in class next week.

Time Bandits 2003

Then I wandered into K -Mart, where I found black cotton/rayon t-shirts on sale that might discharge nicely at some point. And my favorite summer uniform - the black capri pants (or whatever they call them these days) - somewhat unflattering but the next size up are three sizes too big.. They're cool (we're talking temperature, not style), comfortable, and I can't worry about the other part. Going into the dressing room, I had more items than they let you take in, so I left some with the attendant. Of course they were gone when I got out -- put back by some employee who needed to look busy. Fortunately, I had left my watch at home and could not aggravate over how much time it took me to remember where I had found them in the first place. Off to Whole Foods and I was so relaxed by the time I got home that I may go out without my watch again sometime.

By now, I am mostly packed (having removed the labels from my new garments) and have even started to stitch the quilt I finished this week. Another in what is turning out to be my X series - but certainly not by design and not all in succession. I am taking a sewing machine with me in the god-forbid case that I find myself without anything to do one night at QBL.

I also unearthed some hidden treasures tonight: pieces I created four or five years ago and had rolled up and stuck in the corner. They are fairly large and I suppose I should do something to finish or mount them. I didn't like them at all when I finished them but I quite like them now, with the passage of time. Here are the two I prefer.

So -- time to get some sleep so I can finish packing and leave in the morning. It i so nice to be driving instead of flying and shipping. Will post from the wilds of upstate New York.

finally done!

Yesterday, I finally finished putting together a quilt I have been working on for what seems to be months. I had arranged and rearranged it so many times that I think I shall make a power point presentation out of it for my Jump-starting the Art Quilt workshop next week: anatomy of a piece. A couple of the fabrics I used are on the left.

It's really interesting to see how it has morphed and changed. Finally, with some crit and feedback that kept me from giving up entirely, it has come together so that I am, if not deleriously happy, at least satisfied with it. Now I can stitch it and move on.

I also played with some screen printing yesterday - going back into a couple of fabrics, and pulling a print or two on paper. This is on newsprint - an audition to see whether I liked it before printing it on fabric. Yes, I liked it, but I never did it on the fabric. The orange print is the original; the left one is the ghost. This was a deconstructed screen print on fabric - the first pull was subtle.
Here's the second pull, which I did on paper. I really like this.

Off to start the day's errands and appointments before I spend a few hours in the studio.

rain

Impossible to photograph the raindrops: at least with my camera and lack of training. But before I have even have my coffee this morning, I am at the sliding glass door, photographing the reflections on the deck. This is my glass-topped table.

The last two days have been beautiful, so I suppose it was too much to ask that it continue. That's okay. This weather has its own beauty, which I am trying in vain to capture. Here's a better reflection of the table. Almost like glass reflected in glass.

and look -- my trees!In the front, my poor, sad garden is looking healthier. Everything looks exaggeratedly, vividly, green in this weather. Or maybe it really is. But just to the left of all this green, another palette more indicative of the day's mood. I slept late and half the morning is gone in the procrastination of taking pictures and writing. I need to go have coffee, pay bills, and then,this afternoon, go back to the studio to do more work on two pieces in process.

it felt like a Sunday

which is never, ever my favorite day. Since childhood, I have hated Sundays. So this weekend, a double whammy.

We went to the park this afternoon. Verona Park is about two minutes by car from my door: it was designed by the Olmsteads, who designed Central Park. It has 54 acres, bridges,2 lakes, lawns, tennis courts, a boathouse and it is lovely. Olmstead also designed Branch Brook Park in Newark - another county park that has more than 2,000 cherry trees (greater both in variety and number than the famed Washington, D.C., display). But I digress...There was an arts event going on, so there were more people than on a normal Saturday - and tonight at 5:pm there was a free production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. We could not stay for it.

Marty sat by the tennis courts while I went out of the park to get the car so I could retrieve him. Here is some of what I saw as I walked.
Maybe if I'm lucky, tomorrow will feel like a Saturday. I will go to the farm to buy corn and peaches and then go to the studio. Late afternoon, Todd and Lesli Gillman and our grandkids are stopping en route from VT to D.C. after Lesli and the 3 kids had a month at camp. And their uncle Ross cousin Alexander will be coming by to visit. Hamburgers and chips on the grill: let's hope the rain keeps its pants on.

I meant to do some art tonight but can't seem to get going. Maybe tomorrow in the studio will be productive.

going back in

I like to say that I started printing on fabric because I’m such a terrible dyer. However, since I started printing, I haven’t made a great effort to improve my dyeing that would give me the good, rich colors that so many people covet. I can buy those from Helene Davis, master dyer extraordinaire.

In my experience, you can save almost anything– but even I have been known to throw fabrics in the garbage. Not, however, before I have gone back in and added layers in hopes of improving the cloth.

Since I’ve been cleaning out and sorting my fabrics, I’ve found more than my share that fall into the category of “just because you can (use them) doesn’t mean you should. Of course, this is a matter of opinion (one person’s trash, etc) – but did I really want to use something that looks like this?

Lots of layers but b-l-a-h. Layer #1 was a deconstructed screenprint on white fabric. Layer #2 was a blotchy overdye in golden yellow. Layer #3 was tape on a screen, which looked too dark, so I washed it out. Layer #4 was a misguided attempt to add another color with oil pastel rubbings (in red).I tried cutting a strip, but it didn’t look like much.


Then, I wanted to see what it would look like if I cut it into squares. But this one just reminded me of a dissected frog in high school biology class.


At that point, I gave up and put it away. Yesterday, as I was sorting my stash, I found it and decided to try again. I got out my screen, tore newspaper strips and added irregular black stripes. The finishing touch was a layer of red stripes, courtesy of a Thermofax screen. Much better.


But now it has six layers! According to the formula for pricing hand-printed cloth, this piece (about a fat eighth) would sell for about $8. Not enough to put food on the table and below poverty-level wages per hour, considering the time I put in. So why do I do this? Why do you do this? (if you do).

Ever a glutton for punishment, I did one more experiment. I had found an over-zealously over-dyed piece, resulting only in values so close the layers below hardly showed.

There was so much dye in the fabric that it would not have taken any more, so I decided to take out some of the color, instead. Out came the Thermofax screens and the Thiox paste (I prefer it to commercial discharge paste). And this is how it turned out.
Not bad but it still needs something and will probably percolate for a while. At least there is a difference in value. What would you do next?

What fascinates me is that no two people would do the same thing with this fabric and I’m thinking that I ought to just tear up an unsatisfactory piece into bits, send the bits off to a variety of people, and see what they do with it. Now THAT would be an interesting experiment! Any volunteers, should I decide to do this one day?? E-mail me, just in case I get around to this, or any other experiment.

Now that I’ve done True Confessions about some of my failures, you can be confident that anything goes! And I invite you to visit my website, if you haven't already done so, to see what I do with my fabrics. And before you go, don't forget to leave a comment here!

a fresh start

My design wall in the studio is covered in white batting; the one at home has always been gray. Yesterday, I decided it was too dark and depressing and I covered the whole 4x8 piece of Celotex with thin white batting. What a difference! The fresh cover on the wall made me want to play around with the few scraps that are still at home. This is about a 9x12 piece, I suspect. Still pinned and I took it to work today to see whether it should be bigger. It's now on the wall in the office (as I refer to it when I'm at home). As usual, a couple of auditions.

As you may be aware, I've been playing around with arrangements of these random strip blocks. Last week or so I had a really nice arrangement on the wall at home and then I took it down and started again. Here's as far as I'd gotten and I was thinking that should be IT. This morning, I was all set to finish it and gallery-wrap it.

Now here's the interesting part (or at least I think so). Tonight, when I was getting the photo ready to upload, I flipped it and realized I'm not ready to be done with it.All of a sudden I saw what looks like the beginning of an entirely new piece, done with many more solids (well, actually, Helene Davis' fabrics) and using the prints more sparingly. Turning the piece upside down gave me a whole 'nother vision - instead of looking integrated, that section of the piece looks like it needs to break away.

Now I'm excited about playing around with it to see what happens.

I baked after dinner tonight. I think this recipe (and a similar picture) find their way to my blog every year or two. Can't help it. They are so quick and easy and delicious that I have to post the recipe periodically. I think I got it from a Good Housekeeping in the 1960's (which is when I was reading that magazine) and have never seen as good a recipe again. They are basically shortbread. I've been baking so much this week that I'm running out of butter. I only use sweet, unsalted butter for baking-- and a food processor, which is not in the original recipe.

Cookie Crescents

Into the food processor, throw:
3/4 c. unsalted butter (1-1/2 sticks)
1 cup flour
1/2 c. cornstarch
1/2 c. confectioner's sugar
As soon as dough comes together, stop. Take about 1 tsp of dough (or less), roll between your hands, make into crescent and flatten. ( I get about 6 doz).
Line cookie sheets with parchment (or not)
Bake at 300 degrees for 15-20 min or till slightly brown at edges. Yum yum. You can dust them in confectioner's sugar but I find that too sweet.

Working backwards...I didn't do any fiber work tonight because I spent much of the evening on the phone with my friend Laura, who is mourning the loss of her mother and her brother-in-law within 12 hours of one another.

Today, I was in the studio before lunch putting together the piece that has been sitting on my wall for a couple of weeks. Things never go together exactly as they have been arranged on the wall - or the way you think they should. And sometimes, you'll surprise yourself by making a change at the last minute that works better than you would have imagined - or that you hadn't thought of till AHA! "Aha" is sometimes very subtle and this is not the final version.


Some of the pieces are lightly Misty-Fused together at the edge,others are just pinned to the wall. Normally I stitch, but today I thought I would fuse edges because I can move the pieces around and eventually, straighten them out. Of course, when your printing is askew it always looks lopsided, even if the fabric pieces are straight. Or especially if they are straight.

One thing I discovered: it is much more physically exhausting to print than to put together a quilt. My afternoon felt very leisurely and la-di-da as I carried fabrics from the wall to the cutting mat to the ironing table and back to the wall. I was relaxed. My feet did not hurt.
And when I left at 4:something, I even had the energy to stop at Whole Foods and pick up an item or two, make a quiche for dinner and bake after dinner. Maybe I should stop printing and just make art from what I already have.

The weather has been pretty nice - breezy and not humid. But I've been running the A/C in the studio because we have a southern exposure and it is SUNNY. Tonight I actually put the air on in the house because it is turning humid. And we did not take our usual postprandial stroll. Here is Marty, just before we took our walk last night.

And here is the beautiful pool in our development that we used to go to when we first moved here but haven't been to in a while. Nonetheless, we walk past it every evening (not tonight) and it is very nice to look at.
I think this post has been somewhat out of sequence and disorganized but that's the way my life is these days - LOL. I finally got my car washed today but it needs another run-through because of the sticky goo from the damn tree next to my driveway. I am parking across the street for the rest of the summer.

One more thing just flew through my head but it's just as well it vanished because this post is too long, anyway.

Happy Bastille Day

I remember the first time I was in the Place de la Bastille: June, 1963. I looked down and realized I was standing within the outlines of where the walls of the Bastille had been. I was 21, just married and just out of college, where I had majored in French. To say I was in awe to be standing in the footprint of la Bastille, was an understatement. There was, in those days, a patisserie that stood at the Place de la Bastille that served the best Café Liégeois I have ever had. That elegant patisserie was no longer there last time I was in Paris and la Place is marred by the Paris Opera House - but it is still one of my favorite neighborhoods - walkable from the Marais and the Beaubourg, where I am always happy. That I did not spend the rest of my life there, tops my list of regrets. I try not to think about it.Instead, I spent today in the studio again. Yesterday I had gotten out the wax pot and played with my two new tjaps and one other I might sell, just to make sure that I won't miss it. Because I was playing, I took a few pieces of nondescript fabric, one of which had been gelatin printed with paint and overdyed. Now, everybody knows that you can't dye on top of paint: paint is a resist.The beige dye had not covered up the paint but I decided I'd go back in with a layer of wax and more dye just to see what would happen. This is what happened. The leaves and ferns had been printed on the gelatin plate with the maroon paint.Then I stamped with wax and painted into the cloth with dye on the obverse side. I like the way it seems to have more dimension.
I will continue tomorrow. Past my bedtime.

New! Studio Classes in New Jersey

By popular demand, I have finally scheduled the first two of my studio workshops.

So, for those of you who have been saying "let me know when you give workshops in your studio," I'm letting you know!

Space is limited to 6 people.

Saturday, Sept 5 Thermofax Magic


Saturday, Sept 12 Soy Wax Batik

To register and for driving directions, go to this page. Supply lists will go out in early August. Hope to see you!

another gorgeous weekend

Saturday night we entertained for a change -- something we haven't done in a long time. Our friends came for dinner and it was so nice. They used to live in this condo development and it was the kind of easy friendship where we could call each other on the spur of the moment and say, "come over" or "let's go out to dinner.
Since they moved away a couple of years ago, it takes planning; my Thurs. night invitation for Sat. was pretty spur of the moment, considering.

So this was what was left of the Flourless Chocolate Cake last night and I think I can slice off a little edge while I give you the recipe. So easy and fast and fabulous!! You can make it a day ahead and refrigerate it but you really need to let it come to room temp...and serve it with REAL whipped cream, which takes about 3 min to make. No shaving cream served in this house.

Makes one 8" cake - line bottom of pan with parchment paper or buttered wax paper.
INGREDIENTS
4 oz. fine quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened)
1 stick (1/2 c) unsalted butter
2/3 c sugar 1/2 tsp vanilla
3 large eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
Cut chocolate & butter into pieces and melt in microwave for 1 to 1-1/2 min. Whisk sugar into mixture. Add eggs & vanilla and mix well. Sift cocoa powder into mixture and whisk till just combined. Pour batter into pan and bake in middle of oven 25 min at 375 (or at 350 if convection oven) or till top has formed a thin crust. Cool cake in pan on rack 5 min and invert onto serving plate. I dusted w confect. sugar and threw some berries on top, as you can see in picture. Supposedly, cake keeps in airtight container 1 wk but it won't last that long!

Today, I took my mother to the Montclair Art Museum to see the Wyeth exhibit: N.C., Andrew, and Jamie. It was okay, but I wasn't overwhelmed by the work. What I did like were these three guys standing in the front hall of the museum. Made me smile!For those of you who keep asking when I'm going to teach locally -- I've been working on a studio workshop schedule for the Fall, which I'll talk about in more detail in the next few days. Small groups (limited to 6). Stay tuned!

it doesn't pay to stay home

The last two days I was in the studio. On Wednesday I did a little scrunching and throwing into a quart plastic container with dye. Most of my studio dyes are used up and all I had left was strongest red and some teal. So, into the red went a couple of small pieces. They looked like this when I took them out. Yesterday, I simply couldn't resist stopping the sorting process to see what I could do with these (and a few other) bad dye jobs. The piece above still looks like that. The red had been used up, so I overdyed the other one by throwing it into the teal. What a horrible combination; especially with the layer of some random deconstructed screen printing under all of it. So I decided to play "Can this Fabric be Saved?"I picked up a partially used deconstructed screen that was lying around; mixed up some thiox paste and put it through the screen. I had no idea what would happen but I knew it couldn't be worse. I was right. Here's what it looks like today, after discharging and washing/ironing. I don't know how or when I will use it but at least it has potential.


Now I have to go change because Marty and I are going to Happy Hour at a local restaurant and I can't go with chocolate all over my shirt.

Superwoman crashes to earth

Serves me right for being up till 2:am, blogging. Not tonight! Busy day -- I am exhausted and I am going to bed.

today I was Superwoman

I baked this morning. Having company for coffee tomorrow morning; a friend who will go home with a car full of fabric and books, if I have my way.

Kate's Brownies

Melt 2 sq. of baking chocolate + 1/4 lb butter Add 1 tsp vanilla, 1 c sugar (I add about 3/4 c) and mix. Add 2 eggs, mix. Add 1/4 c flour, 1/4 tsp salt & 1 c. either choc. chips or walnuts, or both. (I add choc chips). Bake in 8" pan at 325 for 40 min (unless you have a convection oven, in which case, check after 30 min). To die for. Ask anybody who has ever eaten my brownies.

I went to the studio before lunch and mostly ironed/sorted (you know the routine). While I was at it, I decided to do something about all those dreadful things I dyed last night (and other nights) and throw them into Thiox. That's when I made my big discovery: you do not have to boil the mixture to have it work. Hoo ha! I threw some thiox and soda ash into a little plastic tub and added boiling water. Voilà -- discharge!! I use my electric tea kettle and this works fine if you aren't discharging a ton of fabric.

It's late so I will cut to the chase. When I left the studio this afternoon, these works-in-progress were on my wall. I found the middle piece while I was sorting stuff at home and am thrilled! I could not for the life of me figure out where it has been for the last X years (you don't want to know how many).

Here is a closer look.

Then, after a gourmet dinner (hamburgers on the grill) I took some pictures of this pristine room of mine. I took down 1 section of design wall and it is in the garage, waiting for someone (ahem) to help me lash it to the roof so I can take it to my studio.

view from the door (2 hours ago)

Hi. this is where I am right now. I live in this corner and this is the blogging chair. My laptop is on my lap.

When I sit here, I can see the design wall right across from me.It didn't take long for the table to get back to its normal state.
I got out a bag of strips and blocks I had pieced last year, when I was doing therapy sewing and threw them at the wall to see what would happen.
This is the design wall right now: another work in progress. See you tomorrow!

creative blogging

It's a challenge, I will admit (and I'm sure you'll agree) to keep things fresh and interesting. Did you ever simply run out of things to say? Well, if you have, I hope you've had the good sense not to blog that day. If there's one thing I can't stand it's somebody who just blathers on about nothing simply to fill up the page.

Blogging is really akin to doing a monologue....and you know how hard THAT is to do: at least for some people. Nonstop talkers can be very wearing--especially if they are neither funny nor interesting.
On the other hand, if you're the listener you don't have to expend much effort since it is not necessary to hold up your end of the conversation. In fact, with some people, you don't even have to listen; they're so busy they don't notice your glazed look.(How did I get onto this topic?)


So this afternoon, I packed all my commercial fabrics, put them into assorted bundles, and filled a rolling bin. This place is looking tidy again. At least, as Helene says, "comparatively speaking." Keep in mind that if I don't see it, I don't own it. This does make life a little more complicated...but I'll cope.


Then I pulled yesterday's overdyes out of the dryer and ironed them. To say they need work is an understatement. I won't bore you with their lack of variety in a color I already have too much of.

Instead, I will go have my beauty sleep so I can be bright eyed in the studio tomorrow.

trash and treasures

When I talked to my son Jeremy tonight and told him I had been in my sewing room for 4 days, cleaning up, he responded, "you mean the disaster in the front room?" Yep. That one. Leave it to Jeremy to cut to the chase.

TREASURES
The room looked neater yesterday but it really is getting there. I took the six-year-old notices off the bulletin board and tacked everything in rows. Among the detrius was an envelope full of fortunes. Here are a few of the better ones.

• Try to channel excess energies into rejuvenation. (huh?)

• You have an unusual equipment for success, use it properly. (this was not meant for me)

• Good clothes open many doors. Go shopping

• You will make a sudden rise in life. (this presumes that I have gone shopping)

• You are almost there. (this is almost as good as "The answer you seek is in an envelope," which I once got; "Soon and in pleasant company," which was Jessica's, and "You will go far but you will come back." Jeremy's)

• Your experience will bring you to an inevitable conclusion.(it already has)

and finally -

• You can only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.

Now I just have to play the lucky numbers on all these fortunes in next week's lottery.

MORE TREASURES

As I've been going through the commercial fabrics, I have been making a pile of yardage for backs...and a pile of batiks and brights I can't part with, just in case I ever have to make another baby quilt (which I swore I would never do). Many fabrics were a trip down memory lane. Here's a beauty by John Caldor, who broke my heart when he went out of business.

Who remembers these? Nancy Crow for John Caldor. Good grief - what year was that?TRASH?
Yes and no. Hidden in this messy bin of strips and scraps were sewn-together strips from therapy quilts I had made (or never made) and I'll play with those again. Many incorporate Usha's wonderful Indian batiks. Treasures.

There were leftover fragments from fabrics I had printed long ago and used. Even better, there was a big piece of long-lost gelatin-printed fabric I have been looking for. Oh, joy.

Then, I discovered fabrics I had printed but had no memory of having made. This one made me smile and I can't tell you why. But it's on the wall and I am motivated to use it. Treasure.


Blocks and blocks and blocks. Three leftover blocks from the quilt I made for Josh when he got his bed. He is now 10. Piles of one-of-a-kind traditional block experiments like the one below. What will I do with them? Maybe incorporate them into those potential baby quilts. I can't throw them, but they should be trash.


All the strips of fabric left in the bin might be somebody else's treasure, but I don't have the energy, patience or room to deal with them. And behind the bin is another container full of folded fabrics I don't want. I will offer them to a quilter I know and if she doesn't want them I'll have to figure out something else. Oh, dread. I think there is more fabric in the basement. Trash.


And buried among the trash, this journal quilt I made in September, 2002. I actually had all of this fabric in my stash from pieces I had printed a long time before the event it commemorated ever took place. I was too close to this event to be able to blithely sit down and make a quilt at the time. I find it painful to look at, even now.

On another note, the fabrics I overdyed today are in the dryer. Mostly, mud. But what do you expect when you use old dye stock? I had no idea what anything was; I just poured it to get rid of it. I do most of my dyeing in the studio these days, so this stuff has been sitting around since the year of the flood. Tomorrow, I'll iron it and put it in the pile of fabrics that need help. Or not.

Happy 4th on the 4th

Tonight's fireworks were not as loud as yesterday's and I was so busy that I wasn't even aware of them till it got quiet out there.

And what, you may ask, was I doing?? See these bins? Three -- count' em. THREE:empty!! I took out every scrap and piece of yardage. They have all been sorted, ironed, and put into plastic bags (one of which is trash). I have only 3 ins to go - but they are all commercial fabrics, which I use for backs. I just need to sort, iron, and neaten.

The weather was delicious today: the first day without rain in a month. It was clear, breezy, and warm with no humidity. Perfect!
So perfect, in fact, it was a shame to be in. So I set up a thiox bath on the deck and decided to do a little discharge. All of my resists are at the studio so I didn't do anything spectacular -- but I was very pleased at the color of this piece: yellow - and brighter than it looks on my monitor, at least.


In addition to discharging a few black fabrics, I used the bath to take out the color of quite a few pieces. I must have been on a medium-blue binge at one point because everything is the same (boring) nowhere blue that is too dark to print on and too light to provide contrast.

Actually, I realize that I don't love blue. So, lots of fabric went into the thiox bath and I will overdye it in some other color. This piece was so dark that I could hardly see the printing, but once it discharged to a beige-y color I was able to see that it must have been a demo piece for a class. Base color will remail and I'll add another layer.
Instead of dyeing/printing new fabric, I am going to go back and revise what I already have and see what I can do with it. Lots of possibilities for new work in my stash.

Here's what I did yesterday and forgot to post. I stitched on these two pieces, which are pretty much done and not finished at the edges yet. I'm happy with them.


Can't keep eyes open. G'night.

Happy 4th on the 3rd and other topics

Fireworks on July 3rd?? Who ever heard of such a thing? It's a good thing I didn't go to bed early because at 9:pm the booms started right outside my window (or so it seemed). At first, i thought it was kids playing with illegal fireworks because it was so close. Get this: the next town held their fireworks tonight -- about a mile from our house. Why tonight? Because it was originally scheduled for July 1 with a July 2 rain date. Since it rained both nights, they held the fireworks tonight. HUH?

I'll leave that to the calendar experts: it's like celebrating Washington's B.D. a week early because it is convenient for the government.

On another subject - I have not blogged for the last couple of nights because I have simply been flat-out too tired from turning Fibber McGee's closet into a habitable room. Trust me, this is NEAT. The clock says 12:30 (a.m.) - I've been sewing (gasp!) and ironing (double gasp)and at midnight there were kids screaming and yelling out in the street, so after I went outside and did a little screaming myself (they were accompanied by their parents, no less - unfortunately our new across-the-street neighbors) I decided I had better post while my adrenalin is flowing.

Going through all the odds and ends and deciding what to do with all of the little things is the hard part. I could open my own optical shop with all the old eyeglasses I found. Most of them will go to New Eyes for the Needy but I will need a couple of pairs of frames in which to put new prescription sunglasses. Next: what am I supposed to do with this item?
It's an am/fm/micro-cassette player. I have no idea to whom it belonged or why it is here. Who listens to micro-cassettes with earphones? or even without them? I think the only micro-cassettes I have are in my non-functioning answer-phones. Maybe I should dig them out - I might hear voices of the dead whose messages are still recorded. But afterwards, what do I do with this machine?

I haven't even gotten into the trunk, which is full of antique quilt blocks I once bought at a flea market. Anybody want to buy antique quilt blocks? And then there are the two Polaroid cameras for which they no longer make film. Speaking of film - ROLLS that need to be developed, probably of my 10 year old grandson when he was a baby. And several flash cards for my Canon, one of which had about six pictures of this on it. Another quilt I never made.

God only knows what else I will find once I look beneath lids and doors and in drawers. I think I'll skip that part.

Bactracking: I was in the studio every day but today and my roommate was there two days this week, which was a pleasure. On Wednesday, I finally had an arrangement on the wall that I was happy with and I left it sitting.

I've been ironing and sorting, which is interminable but must be done. I'm doing a little bit of over-printing as I go through the fabrics, just to change the pace. But because I love the printing so much, I can't let myself get sidetracked from the task at hand: filling plastic storage boxes.

Tip of the iceberg. I am going to bed.