every-single-day

Pushing the Work

I worked on this piece as much as possible this weekend and I have to say that it was a struggle. A good struggle but still and all, it worked me.
I ripped out a few go's at quilting the layers together, I sampled quilting on a separate piece, I daydreamed about what colors I felt the piece needed. I got angry and had to walk away!
Today, I figured it out. The piece needed to be pushed further, it was scaring me. I got to a point where I liked it too much but was dissatisfied with it all at once. So today I gave the nude a cloth to sit on, painted some acrylic gold to the right of her head and torso and finally committed to a quilting technique.
I like what I did.
I also dyed some embroidery flosses for later in the work. I tried to photograph them but the reds would like to remain mysterious, as they should. Sometimes a work has a mind of its own!

I know Arrow is the main focus of this photo, little king of my heart.
But do you notice anything wonky in this photo? It's definitely not that I am wearing my pajamas!
...My nails are painted!
Red!
Did I mention that my nails are painted?
Red?
The girls from work and I had our nails painted today. This is the second time in my life that I have done this. I am not one for the trappings of femininity, I don't own a pair of heels, I just started to pluck my eyebrows for cripes sake!
I did it because there is going to be an opening at work later in the week and it seemed like a fun thing to do in preparation.
You know what? I like doing it! I saw some other colors I would like to try, but you know what else? I don't have the sort of job that allows me to be able to do this sort of stuff. I have to dip my hands in a bucket of water and squeeze sponges, I iron and use paint and get really dirty, but I am going to have to do this a few more times! I saw some fabu pinks and purples I need to try out.
My toes fell left out too!

And do you remember months ago when I mentioned that my Man and I were having wedding bands made for us? I never put a photo up because it is so difficult to photograph! Click here to see it. This photo really doesn't do it justice, the band is a rounded square and it isn't as shiney as when we first got them! I love them!

Because you need to know everything about me, we are getting our house painted. Sage green with cream trim and slate shutters. Very exciting. Off you scurvy country cute coloring!

She's Talkin' to Me!

I can't write a long post right now. My art is asking me to purchase supplies.
CCE Supplies and Digitizing sells the rayon threads I love! I can heavily quilt without fear of breakage and without the need for a special needle! This piece is calling for some Cream, a gradation of gray, some greens, yellows and oranges.
I listen when my art makes demands from my pocketbook.

Elphaba Reigns Supreme!

My mom and I went to see Wicked in New York City on Saturday. It has become a tradition that my Mom gets the two of us tickets to see a Broadway Show for Christmas each year, and I love it!
Wicked was tremendous. The set and stage were phenominal, the costumes were fantastic! My favorite scene for costumes were when Elphaba and Glinda went to the Emerald City.
Each year I create an itinerary and we spend an entire day together, I wish this day lasted for 72 hours.
This year we went to my favorite bead store. There is a cache of loot in this story, the dragons are sleeping on it upstairs! And to the Mysterious Bookshop where the above photo was taken.
I know it is a slightly wonky photo. I brought my camera hoping to get a fabulous framable photograph of my mother over dinner, but I forgot about the camera and this is the only documentation I have of the day! Mom was talking to my Dad, so it is really a photo of the three of us! :)

Macaroni Necklaces!

I didn't know what to name this entry. I am not feeling particularily snappy today!

This tiny little piece was a quick finish. I started it a week ago Sunday and finished it this morning. I am exploring how to recreate artwork from my art journals and this is the first from last years journal.
I used reverse machine applique, machine embroidery, hand embroidery and absolutely no beads. I think I should get a metal for that last one. I love to bead things, but this piece didn't ask for it!

It was super fun to do, and has made me want to create another entry from that journal. I did work on this today but failed miserably. I had to go back to the fabric store and buy another yard and a half of Silk Organza, which is dripping dry (from Soda Ash) as we speak. At least I have learned from my mistakes. Seeing as I killed a days work I am not going to show my failures.

Instead I would like to formally announce that I am ready for winter to be over, the weather to warm up and to be able to walk in the mornings again.
Just a little grumpy right now!

Experimenting

I have been thinking about this piece for about a year now, wondering how I could get it out in fabric.
Last week as I was making the pattern for Chairs, I turned the chair over after reverse machine appliquéing the image and looked at the machine drawn image. It took a long time for this to occur to me and I wonder at the circuitry of my thought processes but all of the sudden it dawn on me that I could draw with my sewing machine!
And I know that I just recently posted this link, but it has just begun to occur to me how to use what I learned when I took my sewing machine to figure drawing studio. It is exciting that this knowledge is coalescing!

Marvelous, Magnificent Melanie

My class went really well! Above is the sample I worked on and taught from during the class itself.
I learned quite a bit from the whole experience!
First!
My students taught me how to tie off from the face of the quilt as I begin sewing each appliqued section with my machine.
Second!
My pattern was pretty good. I will update the supply list to clearly suggest color combinations that work well for this medium, and will also discuss the usefullness of a specific type of embroidery scissors for the cut work that is essential to reverse machine applique.
These are the pair I have owned and loved for the last 15 years, they were 40.00 when my brother gave them to me as a gift. The blade is incredibly narrow, long and unobtrusive. They get into and very close to the sewn edge of the machine applique easily.

My class was small, intimate and easy to manage, which is good, because I was teaching this workshop for the first time.

I especially liked this student work, (Carol), because of the fractured 'floor line'. I hadn't thought of doing that and felt it was an ingenious approach.

I had so much fun! I was quite tuckered at the end of the day!
Carrie... please check out this link to see the macarons we discussed. I would nap in a bed of these cookies, if I could!

I am Teaching Today!

Wish me luck!
This is a new class, just developed and I am both excited and nervous!