The Last One!

Declan is the last little kid in our family. I don't think there'll be any more after him. So, because he's old enough now to know what's going on at Christmastime, and because his big sister Bridget has one, I made the last Advent Calendar. Ever. As with anything you do over and over, the first is always the most ornate, and as you get toward the end, well, simplicity rules. This will be my 11th, starting two or three years ago. Every year we send 25 little goodies for mom and dad to stash in the pockets and that's our gift to them. The kids seem to really love it, which is the only reason I still do it.

This year's booty. I think it's all about the UNwrapping. So my sister says.

This is Declan.

This is Charlotte's from last year:

and if you're interested you can go to my November 2005 archive to see the rest.

Snowpeople

Can you believe how cute these are? These are the results of the workshop I held at our local library tonight. Needlefelting is so cool.

I'm Around.

I'm busy with this and that. Just stuff. But I have been working on the challenge piece for our group.

Black and White and One Other Color.

Detail:

For Family,

who missed the great Halloween Creepover, here are a few of the very creative costumes wandering around.
Some of you will recognize this Joker...his hat says something like, "Caution, gas leak below."

We had a football player (sorry, can't remember which one Charlie), a rock star, tiger, Indiana Jones, the soccer playing chicken, a great witch, Jason,

a salty lobsterman, though it could be the Old Man From the Sea,

and a very shy kitty. Only shy at the beginning. It didn't take her long to get into the action. And for dessert, this creepy cheesecake, complete with spider:

Happy Halloween!

Halloween cards again...

Happy Halloween everyone.

What's This, You Say?....

Isn't this fall? As my granddaughter Charlotte says" look at the fall!" Beautiful leaves everywhere, and right now they're in a pan on my counter soaking in glycerin and water, being prepared per directions from here for winter projects. Another great article from my fellow Frayed Edges friend Sarah Ann Smith. Good stuff.

Another art form

Check out this link:
http://www.smh.com.au/interactive/2008/entertainment/sids-waltzing-masquerade/index.html

for a look into artistic talent in the form of dance and choreography. My energetic, artistic, handsome, sweet, and very talented nephew Ian is in Sydney, Australia working with Azure Barton (same adjectives apply except instead of handsome, substitute lovely) on this ballet, put together, FROM SCRATCH, in only 6 weeks. To make a 2 dimensional piece of art in that time seems reasonable, but 3 dimensional or more (things MOVE, no one stays STILL, it all needs to be DIRECTED) seems unbelievable. 'Course this is a new concept to me so of course it seems unwieldy. The clip shows stills of the dance as well as Azure speaking about her creation process. If you're in the area....

Printing on Tissue

This is a warbler printed on green tissue paper that is ironed to freezer paper to help it through the printer. Why green? I'ts what I had on hand.

I attached fusible web to the back and ironed it to my fabric.
Stitched with the correct, (or nearly correct) color threads. Thread painting!
...and a close up. I think it came out alright.

Play day

Today is an experimenting day. Printing, painting, whatever. JUST PLAYING. Below is something I watched on the Quilting Arts DVD series 200. Painting on fusible web and then ironing it to your fabric for a different look. I love the way this came out, but you better be sure your fabric is smooth before you adhere this to the surface because you can't iron it after!

I cut a small area of this piece off and adhered it to a piece of overdyed blue fabric and this is what it looks like now:
Next, I'm going to print on tissue and adhere it to web and see what happens. If it comes out good, you may get to see it. Or maybe if it doesn't...

WIP

I've had something like this image in the back of my mind for several months and when the blue sky fabric came out of the dye bath, I knew what it needed to be used for. I think the green cheesecloth is not going to survive. And I'm not sure of direction at this point, but hopefully something will pop soon....any suggestions?

Book Jackets

Back this spring, Frayed Edges had decided to cover an artist journal with our own designed covers and swap them at our meeting in September. This is the one I made. It's hand painted fabric, in blue of course. I'm getting pretty sick of myself for always choosing blue, but I can't HELP it! The leaf print was done by holding one foraged from a walk on top of the fabric and using a paintstick, blending out from the edge. Wish I had taken a picture of the inside because it had a place to hold a dozen colored pencils. Ready to go!

You can see all of them by going to Sarah's blog and scrolling through her pictures of Mt Washington to reach it.

Common Ground Fair

Every year in Maine this country fair is a much anticipated event. It draws people from every walk of life. It bills itself as a "celebration of rural living" and promotes all the things we should all be conscious of. Recycling. Promoting sustainability in gardening and energy. Behaving like the responsible human beings we should be. Truth be told, I love this fair but can only take it about every other year. This was an on year and along with 59,000 others (over three days) I checked out some new crafts, some cute animals and ate some not so "fair" food. No sugar allowed, as well as coffee, though you can get that outside the gate. One year I went for the fried dough (it was okay) and Maine's famous John's ice cream. (disappointing, but that just proves how addicted to sugar I am). Moving on...

Beautiful handcrafted canoes being made while you watch.


Gorgeous colors!

Wool in the most beautiful shades.

Socks just waiting to happen!

Some new and different pottery this year. Always in the past, too much pottery, but this year the balance was just right.

Rug hooking, the old fashioned way. Made me want to take a class and learn how to do my own.

And of course vegetables: tomatoes and pumpkins along with some of the best looking herbs and flowers.

A good day and a great fair.

Already????!

Something happens this time of year, no matter how much I want to hang onto summer. I'm NOT ready for it to be over. NOT. But there's a tug inside me that I'm realizing is as strong as the tides and the full moon and despite the fact that I'm FIGHTING it, I start to gather and store. Just like the squirrels. I start looking at pumpkins in the field and think about putting them all over my house, for decoration at first and then to use for pies. I look at all my beautiful herbs in the garden and start making pesto like crazy, bring my rosemary inside, freeze sage and thyme. Fresh corn right off the cob: freezer. Applesauce. Zucchini bread. Blueberries picked straight from the field and into the freezer. I'm retired now, so I can.

We had our first mild frost last night...just nature's way of saying, "Be Prepared! It's coming!" Yuk. But really, well defined seasons are the reason we stay here in Maine, despite the fact that I don't want summer to end.

Fall Flowers

Lovely

Read It!!!

I'm enthralled with this book. Garth Stein wrote it. Whoever would have thought I'd read, and ENJOY a book written from the viewpoint of a dog? I've been listening to this as I do tedious machine quilting on a new piece and I love it. My daughter gave it to me months ago, and I really put off listening to it thinking it was just going to be another sad ending, dog dies(as they do) story I didn't think I wanted to experience. But my enthusiasm for this book equals that I had for Water For Elephants which up to now has been my very favorite book this century. I find myself laughing and at the same time, surprising even me, find tears in my eyes. I promise you, if you read this, you'll never look at a dog in the same way again. And for an even greater treat, listen to it. The reader, Christopher Evan Welch, is talented and reads with perfect inflection and voice changes.

Some things never change.

Another two picture comparison...this was taken last year when Deborah and I sat in the early morning sun and just enjoyed being feet apart as opposed to miles (Texas to Maine) apart. This year was no different. Friends are the best, after family of course. I feel rich with both!

We, (the frayed edges) stayed in a sweet little Maine cape right on the edge of the river. Beside the very large pine tree with the eagle nest practically out the back door.

What do these....

...two pictures have in common???? This is why I would NOT make a great photographer. I have the perfect cute, handsome, and awesome subjects in my sight and something always gets in the way. Charlotte having her first ever merry-go-round ride with her dad, a moment to surely document as the horse moves by...and I get the pole. An eagle in it's nest just feet from me, and I get the limb. Drats.

Disclaimer: No, I'm not pregnant...

We had a fabulous visit, my Frayed Edges friends and I. We took this picture at the end of the point overlooking the Kennebec River, or is it the New Meadows River...no matter. Sarah Ann Smith, me with the wild wind blowing my cotton shirt, Deborah, Kate and Hannah. Presents exchanged, wine drunk, good conversation, and the finale, a workshop with Natasha Kempers Cullen. More posts and pictures tomorrow.

Poppy Play

I'm trying really hard to practice 'playing'. The goal is not to have a finished product in the end. Just use the materials on hand and play with them. And I guess when you do you're sometimes pleasantly surprised by the outcome. That's what they say, and I guess the more I look at this the more I like it. Anyone familiar with Linda and Laura Kemshalls books will recognize the poppies, though I have poppies in my own garden, (and this year made poppy head dolls) and I designed and cut this stencil, and used a scrap of my own hand painted fabric, so it really is mine. Paintsticks, too. Maybe I'll do more and see where I end up.

Deborah's coming all the way from Texas next weekend for a big Frayed Edges weekend! We'll be taking a workshop with Natash Kempers Cullen on Monday, so big things in store!

Fall Socks

Vacation is over, birthday is over, and I have my repaired camera back!!! Now I can show you the socks I made while riding in the car to Prince Edward Island and home again. You know, "Idle hands are the devil's tools" and all. I made a trip to my now favorite yarn store, Halcyon Yarns, before we left and found not one but two beautiful merino wool hand dyed sock yarns, so I bought them both with high expectations. Two pair of socks. I usually finish one sock and I have to force myself to finish the second. And now, another head game...i made one of each pair so now I have to finish both. Of course there is a little loophole: they do sort of match in a funky way. But I will finish them both, she said with determination!

Birthday Gifts

She said she wanted color, texture and doo-dahs. What she really said was "I want that quilt hanging in your bedroom." This will be a miniature version of that. Well, there's lots of color and some texture which you can't see very well. Next comes the doo-dahs.

I think I'll call this one 'Patched Work' because it really is scraps just thrown on top of a base fabric...scraps from old projects and the triangles of color are actually a piece (about 20x20) I started and didn't like. It was even quilted and I still cut it up. Wow. It wasn't that hard because it wasn't very good. Too busy. This one is too but at least the black areas give your eye a place to rest.

Camera Woes.

I'm at a loss without my camera. It's on it's way to Idaho? Ohio?, to be repaired. My pop up flash isn't popping up. Frustrating. Mostly because I'm finally doing some work in my studio and I can't show you. Yesterday my husband let me borrow his to take a few shots of my in progress piece, but of course I forgot to download them last night (company for dinner) and he had the nerve to take it with him today. I'm kidding. Probably because it's his birthday and maybe his co-workers are going to have a little party for him and he wants to remember the moments. Ah, well.

I have two things going at the moment. One is a request (not commission because I won't get paid :) and the other is influenced by Sandra Meech/L and L Kemshall/and the need to create something that's different for me. I'm stuck at the point where you say to yourself over and over...PLAY, JUST PLAY, IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE PERFECT. We'll see.

I love the 12x12 journal project that's going on and seeing how differently everyone interprets the theme. Deborahs piece is amazing, tying together her passion for her medium and her confidence in herself and who she is and what it all means to her and how she puts it all together to make an abundant life for herself and her family. All in a 12x12 square. And my interpretation of the theme "Illumination?" I have no idea... and it's not like I haven't been thinking about it. It's a stumbling block for me for sure, this process. Maybe if I really had to come up with something I could. Joanne has been doing it independently and has a beautiful piece to show for it. Maybe I need to push myself more. I'm all for that.

Sticky Buns and Journal Writing

We're back from our fabulous family vacation. I'm one of the lucky ones who has 7 brothers and sisters and each has a spouse or significant other who all like each other so we all spend a week together in Bayside on the coast of Maine. I posted this winter about something I was planning on doing with all the kids while we were there- journaling our week. So I made journals for everyone, baked sticky buns and froze them, gathered doo-dahs and crayons, markers and glue and packed everything to go. What a fun way to start the day! By eight o'clock I had between 4 and 12 people drawing, writing and eating! I was so surprised at how much time the little kids spent on their journals, first decorating them and then thinking of things to write about.

We had little kids like Charlotte and Ella:

And Katherine and Bridget:

And big boys who very possibly only came for the sticky buns and white donuts, though they did make an effort the first morning :)

And white donuts. Why do kids like white donuts????

The writings and drawings were inspired by what happened the day before and what was to come. Such a nice vacation! And now back to reality and my studio.