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Archive for July, 2012

A Good Day for Dye Batching.

Saturday, July 7th, 2012

We are having temps in the high 80s so I decided it would be a good day to do some deconstructed screen printing. These are the first pulls that I got. I had used blue and yellow and green when I created the screen. I wanted to get some  prints that would look like water. These are a bit green for what I wanted.

I mixed up some cobalt blue to add to the prints.

That is more like it. I think I will use these in a deep blue sea piece. I want to have some kelp in it, so I dyed some chartreuse.

Kerr had these wonderful little mini t-pins for stretching and holding the fabric for printing.

I bought a half pound!! Certainly a life time supply for me. Here is a link, if you are interested.

Here is today’s 3 x 3.

Friday, July 6th, 2012

This is the cover of the catalog for the Dinner at Eight Rituals exhibit which will debut at IQF Long Beach at the end of the month. Scooter and Mr C are in the slice that is second from the right!

You can go here and have a peek at all of the beautiful quilts. The show is sponsored by Moore’s Sewing in Long Beach and Havels Sewing will sponsor the show at IQF Houston.

It is such a pleasure to have summer ensconced in Portland. I spent most of the morning formatting a huge e-newsletter for Northern California SDA members.

I got down to the studio this afternoon to figure out what was wrong with my satin stitch using the zigzag stitch. After some research, I decided that the acufeed foot might be the problem. I switched to the applique foot and with a bit of tension tweaking, I was in business.

I still need to do the edging for the air piece. I want to print with the deconstructed screen that I made in Kerr’s class. It will be nice and warm for batching tomorrow so I am hoping to play with that.

Tonight, I went to a beautiful concert with Mr. C — part of the Oregon Bach Festival. It was a choral concert. The first piece was a Bach Mass; the second piece was A Child of Our Time by Michael Tippett. It was amazing. Here are the notes about the piece:

Compelled by the needless suffering he witnessed in World War II, British composer Michael Tippett created the modern choral masterwork A Child of Our Time. Its story concerns an act of justice in a time of war. But its effect is one of urgency and somber beauty, like the work it was modeled upon, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. Tippett integrated American spirituals such as Steal Away, Go Down Moses, and Deep River in place of the Passion’s chorales to reach the deepest levels of our common humanity. Its haunting narrative and rich climaxes embrace both the shadow and light of our collective whole.
We had a great dinner out before the concert. And here is today’s 3 x 3.

A Good Thing

Thursday, July 5th, 2012

I am not sure why or when it happened, but I now feel so happy in my studio, full of ideas, getting work done and feeling good about it. I used to feel this way, but something happened to me last year — maybe a several things — I don’t know for sure. I just know that I am happy and creating again. And that is a good thing.

We had a fairly uneventful 4th of July. It was a perfect day. We took a long walk with Scooter and checked out the end of the parade that our neighborhood has every year. I quilted the air quilt. In the evening, the Barnes family, minus Mia, came for a BBQ on the deck.

Here is the air quilt which I think will be titled, Riding the Thermal.

I am in the process of finishing the edges of this quilt and the fire quilt. I decided to do satin stitch edges, but my satin stitch on my Janome is nor behaving. I don’t know what the problem is. I have cleaned my machine, changed the needle, fiddled with the tension. Not sure what to do next.

Yesterday’s 3 x 3 – up there – is a piece of hand-dyed fabric which I cut and stitched. Here is today’s:

You have to love magenta and lime green!!

Wordless Wednesday

Wednesday, July 4th, 2012

I Did, I Put a Bird On It

Tuesday, July 3rd, 2012

This piece is moving right along. And, I am having fun with it. I started quilting the thermal tonight.

I will applique the bird once the background is quilted.

I have had a busy and productive day. I got Alternate Universe labeled and the hanging sleeve is attached. It is ready to send to SAQA for the I’m Not Crazy exhibit.

I got my hair cut and did grocery shopping and picked up some great veggies from the CSA farm. I don’t have any big plans for the 4th of July, but I think Steph, Jack and Miles may come over for dinner.

Here is my 3 x 3 for today. I am enjoying the red/violet color.