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.