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Archive for the ‘studio’ Category

What is Normal?

Tuesday, November 15th, 2016

I was finally able to get my studio ready for some major creativity to happen. We were able to assemble a large double sided design wall. But…..

As many of my long time readers know, I am very vested in politics and I am an unapologetic progressive. I have been spending a lot of time over the past month following the presidential campaign and found the ugliness disturbing. I believed the polls and thought for sure Hillary would be the first woma n president. My hopes were dashed a week ago today, and I spent much of the week wavering between panic attacks and sobbing. Yesterday, I decided I needed to get back to some sort of normal and because I have meetings almost every day this week, I needed to buck up. So that explains why I have been mostly missing.

While I have been keeping track of politics, I have been doing some slow stitching. I wanted to make a 7 x 10 piece for the SAQA trunk show. I cut up some shibori circles to use as jelly fish bodies and made the piece up above. Then, I reread the prospective and realized all the pieces had to be a portrait orientation so I started over!!! I am seed stitching the back ground right now.

Mr C finally figured out all the parts we would need to make a portable design wall that I had seen on the internet. It requires pvc pipe and fittings, U-bolts and foam insulation. Here are photos of the assemblage.

This is my daughter cutting the felt to fit the insulation. So glad to have her help.

This is a U-bolt!

The felt still needs to have some spray glued to attach it better to the insulation.

There is felt on both sides. It is 6 x6 so that it fits easily in the space I have to store it. It is very light, yet sturdy so I can pull it out for working. I am so happy with this. It was something I really missed in my closet studio! Next week, I hope to start on something big.

On Sunday, Mr C and I decided to get out of the house for an art date. We went to see the Warhol exhibit at the Portland Art Museum. Here are some images from that.

So, what is normal. My life has been so topsy turvy for a year, that I am not sure. I do know that I am feeling so much better. Getting my energy back. Working on the lower back problem. I want to be strong for the times ahead of us. I will end with this:

Posted in handstitching, My creations, politics, studio | 3 Comments »

New Studio Update

Thursday, October 27th, 2016

Here is my corner of the new studio. There is space for me to work on the cutting table and then my print and ironing table is closest in this photo. My paint caddy is to the left of my work space. There is a utility sink for us to use in the common area.

I should explain how this space is set up. We are sub-letting the ground floor of a live/work space. The upper two floors, which would normally be the living space, are occupied by a group of women who make wedding gowns and do other wedding related activities.

Our space had to be sectioned off from the entry area and a room where they meet with brides and their entourage. We contemplated having walls built which would have included a design wall for me. That proved to be expensive and would have a big time lag. So, instead we hung off white draperies from poles that hang from the ceiling. Lisa needed the wall space for her paintings. She rented this space to do her fine art painting. Here is the space showing her work in progress. My space is just to the right of where I was standing when I took the photo. You can click on photos to see larger versions.

There is a wall of windows which limits wall space but gives nice daylight. Lisa works in this area, too.

Mr C took some of the shelves from my old studio and put them up for Lisa to have for storage.

The actual footprint for my studio stuff is smaller, but it is a big room where I can breathe and move things out when I need more space. We are going to make a portable design wall with insulation and pvc pipe that will be double sided and can be moved easily.

I always had a problem with parking in my old studio. I have never had a problem here. It also has air conditioning for the summer. I love that there are other creatives coming and going.

Today, I finished an old project as my first project in the new space. I used some deColourant Plus which is discharge paste with color added.

I started this t-shirt a while ago as a demo that I did for a guild group. Today, I added color to the rest of the letters which is freezer paper ironed on to the shirt.

This is not a very good photo, but you get the idea.

So, I am gearing up to get some work done.

Posted in Discharging fabric, studio, Surface Design Techniques, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

The 70273 Project

Monday, October 17th, 2016

I don’t remember where I first heard about this project, but I was immediately drawn in. It was founded by Jeanne Hewell-Chambers. You can followalong and find out more on her blog. Here is what she has to say about how she came to start this:

Between January 1940 and August 1941 (before the Holocaust began), 70,273 physically and mentally disabled people – men, women, teens, boys, and girls – were murdered by the Nazis. Though they never even laid eyes on the disabled person they were evaluating, the Nazi doctors read the medical files and, if from the words on the page, the person was deemed “unfit” or an “economic burden on society”, the doctor placed a red X at the bottom of the form. Three doctors were to read each medical file, and when two of them made a red X on the page, the disabled person’s fate was sealed. Most were murdered within 1-2 hours.

I will commemorate these 70,273 voiceless, powerless people who were so callously and casually murdered by gathering 70,273 blocks of white fabric (representing innocence and the paper the doctors read), each bearing two red X’s (representing one person), and I will stitch them together into quilts.

She soon realized she could not accomplish this alone so she reached out to the world via the internet for help. She has specific dimensions and some instructions, but how you make the red x’s is up to the maker. Here are my first 3 in the 3 different sizes. I fused some red linen x’s to white cotton.

I then stitched them down.

Here is one of the quilts that Jeanne has made.

This is a big deal and a lot of work. I do hope that some of my readers will jump in and help with this. Just go to her blog. In the sidebar, you will find every thing you need to know.

I have finished one HRC hat and am working on the second one.

I am busy cleaning, packing, purging and moving my studio. Most every thing but the furniture has been moved. The furniture will get moved on Sunday. Then Mr C and I have to clean and paint the old studio so that I can get my deposit back.

Posted in knitting, Quilting Friends, studio | 1 Comment »

Checking In

Tuesday, October 11th, 2016

I have not posted new blog entries for a bit as I am in the throes of moving my studio. I am knitting when I can get a few spare moments. My niece, who is a huge Hillary supporter, sent me the link for the above knit cap with the Hillary logo.

I have been running into the studio to purge and organize all my stuff. The space that I will share with my daughter is not a lot bigger than I have now, but more open and I will be able to have a decent sized design wall. I will share photos and more progress as we move along. I hope that this will jump start my creative life.

Posted in knitting, studio, Uncategorized | Comments Off on Checking In

Getting Up to Speed

Tuesday, September 27th, 2016

Just a quick post to let you know what I have been up to. First, I am happy to say that I am getting stronger every day. I can get back up the hill to the condo faster and without stopping to catch my breath! I can stand up from the sofa faster ad easier each day. My backaches are subsiding. That is great progress for me.

Above you see the house that I created from the blue moon quilt.Here is the original – kind of boring. I love it as a 3-Dconstruction.

It was on display with other fantastic 3-D objects at the Oregon SAQA conference. Our Blending Poetry and Cloth exhibit is on display there now at the Salem Historical Center. I loved getting reacquainted with my Ode to aTree quilt.

That was an all day affair, and the next day, I took myself to the NW Quilt Expo to wander amongst the quilts and do some retail therapy. I love Marcia Derse fabrics and I selected these from her new line. Love the greens! I also picked up some thread and needles from Superior Thread.

The big news is that I am moving my studio next month to a place a bit larger where I can have a design wall that I can stand back from. It will be a shared space with my daughter Lisa who needs a place to do her fine art painting. More about that as we progress with the move and setting up the space to accommodate both of us.

Posted in My creations, SAQA, studio, Stuff I Buy, This and that | Comments Off on Getting Up to Speed

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