mud

Those are the fabrics that just don't work as whole pieces -- or even half pieces.  Bleh colors and printed stuff you don't have time or energy to overprint -- or have overprinted so many times that they are - yep - mud. 

There's only one solution: slice thinly and try to hide them by combining them with other fabrics, hoping nobody will notice how awful they are.  In fact, when they are cut really thinly, they are not awful at all: amazingly, they often become little gems. 

You know those packages of fabrics that have been cut into strips 2.5" w x 40" (or so) long? Some call them "jelly rolls" (why??), others like Timeless Treasures, call them "treats." (better name, IMO). Irrespective of what you call them, the 2.5" strip makes a lot of sense.  It can be any length (mine vary between around 10"-20" (give or take) and the width slices nicely into two or three strips.

Yesterday I posted this picture on my Facebook page. I had cut a bunch of "ick" fabrics into strips, laid them on the table and photographed them.  The arrangement was completely random but when i saw the photo, I knew they looked great together. (these do not include the swatches above)

The fabrics work together because the colors repeat elsewhere,so that despite the varied patterns there is some unity. The black and white version showed me that there is sufficient value contrast. 

Now I have to decide where I am going to use it -- a task that will remain on hold for a while.

In the meantime, on another subject - I forgot to mention in yesterday's post about Lonni Sue Johnson's art exhibit, that the last thing in the exhibit was an interactive exercise for visitors.  These pieces of paper were on the table near the exhit, with a bulletin board overhead, on which there were tons of wonderful drawings done by people who had come to the exhibit.  I gave these to my grandchildren to complete and the results were delightful.  I offer you the same opportunity: print this out, enlarge and complete it, and scan it back in or take a photo and send it to me. I'll post your creative output.

therapy sewing, etc.

The last couple of days have been a blurrrrrrrr.  Monday I actually went to my studio -- air, light, space, and other artists!! I puttered around and don't think I accomplished much aside from auditioning some color combinations just for fun.  (if this is my idea of fun, you can imagine what my life is like these days - LOL).  The first two fabrics are from Handloom Batik.  Even though they are commercial fabrics, they are available only from Usha and in limited quantities so I never really consider them commercial - if you know what I mean. This purple one is a favorite.I also have it in red and in brown and have been rationing them for years.

The spirals are from Andover and the other one is a Troy fabric I found at Shiisa Quilts in Bloomington. Just mindlessly testing out the dark/light thing. 

  Oh, dear. After I gave away every speck of commercial fabric, here I go again. What am I thinking? Well, I'm thinking of combining some of these with my scraps of hand-printed fabrics -- guess I just need a change of pace.

So here I sit, gazing at my sewing room wall. Oops -notice the pedicure, which cheers me immensely on a dreary, wet, chilly Wednesday morning. It feels like October but looks as though it should be summer.

Now, what about the therapy sewing?  That was yesterday, in a palette that amazingly, matches today's weather.

I trimmed edges with my new ruler -- an Olfa with a nonstick surface that I have to say is wonderful.  I've been using Omnigrid forever but this is so much better because it doesn't move while I am cutting.   I also have a couple of new seam rippers (I can't have too many of those!!) - which I bought in Indiana - one from Fons and Porter with a really nice, ergonomic handle.  And a surgical one which seems sharper than any other I've used.  I used both of them last night.  I need to buy a few more because I can never find them when I want them.

Finally, back to the wall.  As an antidote to all the greyness, I played around with a more cheerful group of fabrics from my inventory.

 Don't know what today will bring, but we shall see.

evolution of a piece

Monday holidays throw me off, almost as if I had jet lag. It just doesn't seem normal-- whatever that means. Anyway, I started the week with a visit from Aleeda Crawley, who came to the studio today. We had lunch, chatted, laughed, and then Aleeda worked with thickened dyes while I mixed thin ones for Saturday's class in soy wax batik. Here she is, after steaming the piece and opening the package. Don't know what will happen after she washes it; i'm hoping it was soda ash water in the spray bottle she used - LOL.Tonight, it was back to work on the blue piece and after spending the entire evening on it, something was still bothering me. Most of it is sewn together already and while I liked what I had, it just didn't feel right. Then, as I picked up the last units to sew them to the rest, I realized what the problem was. The piece, loaded with horizontal lines, was too square. On impulse, I rearranged the pieces that were still loose and folded under a couple of sections (not ready to cut them yet) with my "what if?" idea. It wants to be a horizontal piece and it wants to be bigger. Stay tuned.

ho hum

I spent the afternoon in the studio working on something I hadn't planned to do, but I pretty much got the place ready for Saturday's Thermofax workshop. Since I won't be around tomorrow, I had to make a list of things I need to bring on Sat. But I think I left the list there, which is par for the course. Well, I'll remember the coffee and donuts and nothing else is that important.

For the last several days, whenever I have a spare minute, I have been doing mindless sewing - strips. No idea what I will do with these or if I ever will do anything with them, but here, for your entertainment, are a few samples -- only one of which I like. In the meantime, I am quilting Urban Storefront and am almost done with it. Now I have to finish this blue thing on my wall but I keep looking at it and moving things around.When I took a picture of it I could see that my eye went directly to the the blue rectangle in the middle. Bleh.
So I moved it to the upper left and the piece flows better for me. But the blue rectangle is still bothering me . And really, all my attention goes to the upper right which is the strongest part of this piece (and the only section I have sewn together. Surprsingly, it works better for me upside down -- and now I see that I need another arch element in the corner where the blue is. Also, I think this wants to be larger but I don't feel like making it larger. So it will stay there till Sunday or Monday when I might have time to play around with it. But I have to fish or cut bait -- there are too many other things I have in my head and I want to be done with this. An unusual feeling.

Need to get up and out the door before 8: am so I can get to the Upper East Side by 10:00-10:30 and play mommy to my youngest tomorrow. It will be a long day, but one I look forward to.

ENFP

First, I have to thank Debra Spincic for the pleasant surprise on her blog today. Perked me right up!

Earlier today, I took the on-line quiz "What's Your Myers-Briggs Personality Type?" and got the result: ENFP (Extraversion, iNtuition, Feeling, Perception). What this quickie result does not tell me is that I am borderline I/E and could just as easily come out as an Introvert on a different day. But this will do because it's the NF that counts.

You are warmly enthusiastic and imaginative. You see life as full of possibilities. You make connections between events and information very quickly, and confidently proceed based on the patterns you see. You want a lot of affirmation from others, and readily give appreciation and support. You are spontaneous and flexible, and often rely on your ability to improvise and verbal fluency.

Went to the dreaded supermarket, spent a small fortune and came home with -- what??? Spent the rest of the day (and night) doing you-know-what. Here is tonight's wall as it evolves.
Tomorrow, back to the studio to see if I can do anything serious.

Saturday night & Sunday morning

After 1:am. It seems that at night is the only time on the weekend I can sew. Cup of coffee keeps me going for a while but doesn't seem to keep me from sleeping. Our bodies can get used to almost anything! Tired of sewing strips, I decided it was time to de-and re-construct a few of these babies. See that long strip on the far left? Too long. So I cut it into a few segments. The first piece, I left alone. (pardon the fuzzy shots, I am too lazy/sleepy to redo them)

Then I randomly sliced and diced it.

With this one I cut a narrow strip crossways and just added around the edges.I sent it over to join its friends

And here are the two originals, flanking the one I cut and pasted. Fun! More sewing tomorrow, although I think we might go to the movies.

Join me...

You may have noticed this little gizmo on my sidebar for a while and not gotten very far if you clicked on it. Now it's live and I'm about to do a bit of shameless self promotion. I'm teaching with LQuilt - joining a roster of international teachers like Els van Baarle, Valerie Hearder, and Cherilyn Martin. Several months ago the photographer-director came to my studio to film two on-line workshops; the first of which should be up and running now. If you can't take an in-person screen printing class with me, this is a great option to get you started - and while it's not quite the same as being in the classroom with me, I hope it will be a close second till we can meet in person! LQuilt launched at Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, England and has already generated a lot of buzz - so click on the gizmo above and go see what's offered. End of shameless s.p. and on to other things... Taking a break from sewing green strips, I decided to audition a background for last week's urban storefront piece.Same piece of fabric, 3 different placements. I have already made up my mind. This is a piece I dyed and it is so vivd that I can't believe it came from my dyepots. Also, it is not 419 - it is more like Kona so it is probably a piece I dyed last January in Pam Morris' garage when I was teaching in Fla. Hmmm....it must be the water. Speaking of water, we had more storms today, alternating with sun - another crazy weather day. Oh - my left hand, for those of you who asked: don't know yet. I have a lump. The x-ray didn't show anything and I have to have an MRI. Meantime, the doctor says it might be stress injury from repetitive motion and I have a wrist brace because it hurts more when I bend my wrist (only annoying me, not helping) and he has me on Celebrex which IMO is totally useless.The only stress injury I can think of is closing the tailgate door on my car because it is so damn heavy -- but I didn't think of that till now. I have to go back in 2 wks. So that is that for the moment. I have to stop typing now for a while because the lump is throbbing. Some gin might help...