Keeping Busy in the Studio

I'm going to start this with an apology for some of the pictures, the light this season has been dismal. We have been experiencing a temperature inversion, which gives us grey skies. The wind blew and it rained last night which helps clear out the inversion, but now we have a grey rainy day. I've been spending most of my time in the studio, my happy place! As long as I'm creating I can shrug off the grey weather.

In late December I was given a bag of scraps to use for donation quilts. I've made three and they will be going to our local Project Linus.

Then there was a rust and indigo partially finished piece that's been hanging around in the studio for way to long, so a few hours of work finished it up.

Indigo Eclipse

23"h x24"w

2019 Weekly Leaf #3
 A gelli print found in my stash.

2019 Daily Stitching days 11-17
I'm filling in the large circle with smaller ones.

72 Days of Landscapes
Days 11-17

day 11

hand dyed cheesecloth, dyed paper towels and machine stitching

Day 12

hand dyed silk and cotton

based on my memory of Arches National Park

Day 13

watercolor crayons, hand dyed hemp and cheesecloth

Day 14

over dyed kimono silk scrap, hand dyed paper towels, machine stitching

Day 15

paper towel, discharged rayon, hand dyed cotton

Day 16

water color crayons and a stamp

Day 17

hand painted fusible scrap,paper towel, hand dyed fabric

These have been fun and I hope they continue that way. Most days I have no preconceived notion of what I'm going to do, I just start playing with my box of scraps that I've gathered for this project. I think I'm enjoying it because I have no plans to ever do something with these, they don't have to be perfect or even close, it's just an exercise. This is not the way I normally see things, I usually feel like I have to have a plan of some sort to put everything together or to be able to sell or show what I make. This is very freeing.

I'll be linking up with "Off the Wall Friday" and "Slow Sunday Stitching".

A couple more wet cyan pieces

I've had one of those weeks where I've been busy but not very much to show. Every year my dear husband celebrates his birthday by having a barbecue , this year it was a pig out. He smoked pork for pulled pork, smoked several racks of ribs and cooked up some sausage, a whole lot of pork. He then invites lots of friends over to eat, they all bring side dishes so there is a whole lot of food. Everyone then gets a bag of pork to take home, needless to say, his pig out was a success and we were both very tired when it was over and cleaned up.

The day before I had friends over for our monthly lunch and we played with the indigo vat. The only piece I did was of some ripped and woven fabric that had been rusted, now it's also blue and rust.

Monday night I got to go over to the hospital and do a sleep study. I did one about 6 years ago and have been using an oral appliance to curtail my snoring, unfortunately it is no longer working. I'm now waiting for the results to see what's next.

Then yesterday I helped a friend sew 8 dog beds, she layered and cut out and I sewed.

We have had some absolutely beautiful weather, so I did do a few wet cyanotype pieces.

These two will probably end up in a composition with the previous ones, they are hanging out on my design wall.

I also did one that combined cyanotype with solar fast.

2018 Weekly leaf Week #39

2018 Daily stitching #3 days 2-8

I'll be linking up with "Off the Wall Friday" and "Slow Sunday Stitching".

Baby quilt done

I finished the quilt for our soon to arrive great granddaughter and have the little stuffed toy made from the scraps almost ready. In answer to my question of any particular colors or theme for the baby, I was told unicorns, rainbows and stars. After an internet search I found a fabric that had all the above and a coordinating darker pink with stars. I kept it simple and also used the unicorn, rainbow and stars for the backing.

The indigo fabrics now have a bit of rust on them, I'm not sure if they are ready to stitch yet or not. I'll ponder it a bit.

2018 Weekly Leaf, week #27

2018 Daily Stitching #2, days 36-42

I'll be linking up to "Off the Wall Friday" and "Slow Sunday Stitching".

SAQA Benefit Auction and sewing leaves together

SAQA is starting to collect 12" x12" donation quilts for the fall benefit auction and I have one ready to send in. A few years ago I made a composition out of some of my indigo dyed fabrics and a piece of rusted milk filter, I was unhappy with where I had placed the rusted piece and never finished it.

The rust circle ended up right smack in the middle. I got it out and cut it apart, finished the stitching on it, faced it and now it is ready to go.

Indigo and Rust

The auction is not until September, but it feels good to have something done and ready to go.

The Weekly Leaf

There was a brown paper envelope in our  recycling pile that I rescued and turned into a leaf. This leaf was my inspiration.

 First I cut out the back of the envelope, got it wet and massaged it into a ball.

Next, it was sprayed with walnut ink.

Ironed flat and put misty fuse on the back.

Then the leaf was cut out and fused to the fabric.

Week #8

I've also started sewing the finished leaves together. First I cut strips of fusible light weight interfacing and fuse it to the back of two leaves butted together.

Then did a cross stitch from the front.

At the end of the year I will back the whole thing with one large piece of felt.

Here's how the first 8 look.

Daily Stitching updates

Gelli Prints #47- #53

Sri Ribbon #340-#346

Linked to "Off the Wall Friday"