Our weather is cold and dreary and drippy again. The weatherman says we will have a colder than normal winter with higher precipitation which translates to snow. I have decided that I want to embrace what ever comes my way. I do not want to spend the next two seasons kvetching about the weather. Do you think I am up to it?

Yesterday was a very busy day and I never got around to blogging. After my two meetings and a trip to the farmer’s market, I found several SDA website things that needed to get done. I decided to get those things done last night so that I could have a studio day today. Unfortunately, my computer work extended through most of this morning. I really didn’t get much done today.

The photo above is a basket of the felted soaps that I made. I created little tags with the ingredients of the soap and directions on how to use them. I gave them as gifts to the guild members who served on my board.

This is Yellow Dot, my latest fiber sketch. It is the same background as the last one I did.

I mentioned some time ago that my photo was going to be used in a show by Susan Lenz. There are about 170 different portraits of people and their decisions. Mine was to have a mastectomy. She sent me the following which is an ad for the show with my portrait. I was very excited to see this. Click on the image to see it larger. You can read about the installation here.

Today, I read Jane Dunnewold’s blog, Existential Neighborhood. It was about paying attention to details, but this paragraph really spoke to me:

I think that’s why eventually we have to get away from other people and focus on working alone. How can you discover your voice if you are always singing with a choir? Your timing, the phrasing, that lilt at the end of a line – you need the courage to go solo in order to unfold.

I sometimes feel lonely and wish for the camaraderie of other artists, but I also know that I am growing as an artist as I work alone in my studio. I do miss my monthly critiques with Terry and June.

Also, please take a look at the fantastic Mistyfuse badge that Iris Karp made for me. Isn’t it cool?

After a day of fooling around, I got back to work in my studio today. I love this little fiber sketch that I made. I titled it pods. I love compositions with skinny black lines. I am trying to see how I can incorporate some in my work.

We had the pleasure of listening to chainsaws most of the day, as they removed a couple of invasive Black Locust trees.

I am working diligently on my Allegro piece. It is very time consuming compared to the work I usually do. I have to stitch and trim the little pockets and then get them in proper order and pinned to the background. This is the background. I like the way it adds another dimension when the organza pieces are placed on top.

I am not using any batting since I have the background and a backing and then the layer of organza pieces. I am getting each row lined up an pinned in place. I will probably play with the white pieces some more.

Look at what Mr Scooter did — knocked a box of bead soup on the floor. I had to get the cleaned up today. Maybe he was just sending me a message — clean up your mess when you are finished with a project.

I received some exciting news today. I have two pieces in the Blurred Boundaries show at the Fabrications Retreat. Apparently, Indigo Construction has sold and will not be coming home to me. That quilt has traveled a lot and I think it is great that it will have a permanent home.