Category: Fiber Art

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The Start of a Crazy Week.

This is going to be a crazy week. I have somewhere to be and something to do every day. Most of it involves hauling things and having lists ready. I love being involved, but I sure do hate to be out of the house and away from the studio/office all the time. Especially when I have a ton of things to have ready before I leave next week.

Last night I picked up some knitting that I started last year. I have a book on tape I want to finish and needed something to do while listening – a murder mystery set in wintry Wisconsin. (Will post the title and author when I have it in front of me – don’t want to give misinformation.) The knitting project is a cuff-to-cuff sweater/jacket using a variety of brown wools and novelties. Most of the browns I dyed in walnut juice years ago and never got around to using, so I’m feeling good about working out of my stash. I’ve got both sleeves going at once using two long circular needles – that way I know they will be the same length.

Drat, I don’t seem to remember to take pictures until I sit down at the computer. And the studio is inside the house and downstairs. And it is raining outside right now. And … I’m just going to be lazy about it and promise a picture another day.

Need to get another list ready….

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Busy Week

It’s been a busy week in Lake ……… sorry about that – got carried away! It HAS been a busy week, but when I try to remember what it was I was so caught up in, I have trouble spotting any one thing that took all my time. Lots of little things, important at the moment, that needed doing. Now all I remember is the time lost.

Some of my busyness was in free-arm quilting two more quilt tops. I’m feeling more comfortable doing it – and have a better control over the machine now, too. Here’s a shot of the third one – of course, the back shows my work. #3 quilt finished

Some of the time spent was computer related – getting things working correctly again. And that always takes more time that you ever anticipate. My love says I have expectations that are waaaaay too high and that I should just be glad things work when they do! I won’t go into my harangue about computers.

Two more women joined our little troop going to Mali in January! Our merry band of seven should have a grand time with each other, much less our journey. Starting to seriously think about mosquito netting and hand sanitizer and camera supplies.

The camera is the thing I’m concerned about the most. Mine is old enough that they have discontinued making the cards for it and when you can find any they are really expensive. If I can be sure of the ability to upload my pics off the card while at an internet cafe, that would be fine. Otherwise, I’ll need some other means of storing pics – either an expensive chip or maybe another camera (those one-use wonders would work if I bring a lot). Decisions…..

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Jurying

The jury system is an interesting and humbling process. I witnessed the action today during the Ohio Arts Council’s Individual Excellence Awards jurying. I had submitted my gut work in the crafts category and was sort of holding my breath as the awards are in the thousands of dollars.

As an observer, we could take in the proceedings but could not make any comments or ask questions. We were treated to images of a wide range of work: metals, glass, jewelry, quilting, ceramics, wood, weaving – some serious, some humorous, some traditional, some very out-of-the-box, all of it well crafted.

My submission was deleted during the first round. So much for thinking I have quality work! I know the quality of my images was up to par – I’ve got a great photographer who does a super job. But the order of the images was not the best – it is hard to imagine how they will look as they are shown three at a time – and I don’t think my work is as ‘polished’ as a lot of the others. That’s my initial deduction from getting cut – I’ll have to think about it a bit more.

The jurors didn’t make any comments during the first three rounds of voting, so it is hard to know the exact reasons why some work was rejected and others kept in. When they started discussions during the 4th round, it was interesting to hear what caught their attention. I captured some of their comments and thoughts:

– dont’ necessarily like the pieces but I respect the work involved – complex image – texture surprise – body of work is important to show a complete look, to show growth – narrative within the piece – stimulating, makes me think – challenging, edgy – intellectual and personal – letting the ordinary become more/something else – the images shown together need to work together

If nothing else, this gives me something to think about when I hit the studio next. Of course, the next time I submit will be with different jurors and different competition. No guarantees on anything.

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Kites

I like small things. And huge things. This past week I’ve been into small. A friend of ours is very into kites and suggested I think about making miniature kites – they don’t take much material or space and are ever so cute when flying.

Well, that piqued my interest for sure. Found some construction info on one of the many kite websites and tried my hand at it. Used regular paper, some nice rice paper and a plastic grocery bag for the bodies of the kites. Flat toothpicks and horse hair became the spars (the cross pieces that stretch out the body – I think I got that right!). Curly gift ribbon became tails.

One or two of the minis (all under 4 inches with the smallest being about 1.5 inches) actually seem to fly decently, although I’m finding it hard to determine. You don’t use a very long string (actually sewing thread) for these little guys so there is lots of arm waving to get them moving. There seems to be a pivotal point of weight vs size of kite surface that I’m not sure I have quite right, yet.

Oh, and here I sit describing them without having a picture to upload. Will get to that tomorrow. The kites are in the basement studio and I am not. Way too much to expect me to dash out of the office and down the stairs for a picture. Even though I am breathing now…..

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Hang-on

My friend D just had back surgery. This is the third time she’s had surgery to alleviate extreme back pain. By all indications, it seems that this might work. All her friends are certainly hoping so.

While brainstorming what to do long-distance to let her know we care, I was reminded that D has made what she terms ‘hang-on-ladies’ – little clay figures of mature women hanging on for dear life to a beaded cord. She usually gives them with a card that says: “At the end of your rope? Tie a knot and hang on!”

D needs her own hang-on ladies from her friends!

About an hour after that thought struck, I happened to be in my sock drawer pulling out a few items to get ready for our trip north for the Thanksgiving weekend. One of the socks I was going to use had a big, gaping hole in the heel. Just the thing for a h-o lady!

So, with scissors, needle and thread, a few buttons and a bit of yarn, I changed my useless sock into a charming (at least I think so!) hang-on lady for D! (And I’m having trouble getting it to show properly on this blog – darn!)

Well, with Thanksgiving around the corner, I wanted to do something with chocolate and pumpkin – just have a craving for those two together – so I threw some canned pumpkin pulp into a brownie mix and added pumpkin pie spices. Topped it off with a melted white chocolate icing. Not too bad, except the brownie part is pretty dense. I kept telling myself I like dense as I ate my way around the edges. Gotta save some for T-day.