Sun and Moon

I've blogged lately about my Tiffany sun and moon piece I was struggling with.  I wanted to use Susan's, tried and true!, reverse applique technique, but had huge struggles this time!  OK, I did struggle with 'Georgia' the first time too, but she ended up just great!

You can read about the last struggle I had with the 'sun and moon'  here!   So, yesterday, I removed all the stitching (again!) and then fused some black bias tape for the leading!  Woohoo!  Finally...I am happy with the piece!

I still have quite a bit of work to do on the bugger but I'm glad to have it at this point. I plan to do some Trapunto and of course I'm sure there will be beads in addition to the quilting.  The sun orange is quite a bit brighter than appears in the picture...but I will have to continue to keep it brigh compared to the background orange/green.
The piece will be put on hold for a day or two as I've got lots going on this week.  We're headed to the kids today to celebrate Amber's BD, a few days early, with the rest of the families.
Speaking of Amber, here's her Kumi bracelet all finished.  I added the clasps for her and will take it with me today.  She did a good job for her first bracelet!

We had lots of rain again yesterday and tonight!  Temps have dropped to the 60's and I even turned on the heat this a.m.!!!  I know...something must be wrong with me!  Warmer weather is headed our way this week.  After all...it is almost August and it is Michigan!!

Different forms of art...

About two months ago, we changed from our local cable  to DirecTV...with that change, they gave us all the movie channels (which we don't usually subscribe to).  Of course, I've been recording movies like crazy before our so called 'freebies' are gone.
Recently, I recorded a documentary on Marina Abramović who is a performance artist.  To quote Wikipedia, "Abramović's work explores the relationship between performer and audience, the limits of the body, and the possibilities of the mind."  


Well, I have to say I was quite engrossed with this film, which focused on Marina's performance at the Museum of Modern Art in 2010, called The Artist is Present.  This 'performance' consisted of  "a 736-hour and 30-minute static, silent piece, in which she sat immobile in the museum's atrium, while spectators were invited to take turns sitting opposite her".  Of course, the film also showed previous exhibits and bits and pieces of her life, which in itself was so interesting.

I am not a 'deep' person when it comes to describing my art or art of others....I'm just a "I liked blue and wanted to make a blue quilt" kind of gal!  I don't look into blue being part of my inner feelings, yada, yada.  I just can't get that deep!!!
But I have to say I actually understood some of what Marina was trying to convey!  Scary!!  I also have to say I am SO impressed with her strength and fortitude.  She is one strong lady...and to sit in this performance for over 736 hours (March - May) takes a lot of inner strength.
So if you want to get a different perspective on artwork, do watch Marina Abramović: The Artist is Present   if you can find it on Netflix, HBO, wherever...it is rated MA for mature due to some nudity, you are warned.   Overall, it certainly gives you another look at artwork....and appreciation of another art form.

Mid week!

Can't believe it's middle of the week...or should I say the week almost over!  Yikes!
Making progress on my beaded cuff....I'd say it's half done...or close to that.  The colors don't show up as nice as they are in person.  I'm using Delica's in Cinnamon Rainbow for darker area, Copper Lined Crystal for background and Lt Peach lined crystal for the 'X' areas and diagonals.  

I also finished another Kumi bracelet, this one in narrow yarns.  I have another one started so I can wear them as a pair.  It's in shades of brown and beige.  This one has a really pretty yellow in it.

 So yesterday was my day with Amber & Nick.  We were quite busy as they helped clean out the garage for their mom and dad.  They each did a great job cleaning.  Next off to grocery store to return bottles - kids split the money!  Then we had a good lunch at Subway then home to help Nick paint a wooden box with his air brush gun and Amber to make a bracelet.
They each did a great job.  Amber finished her braiding (Kumi) but my glue wasn't working so I'll put the closure on it today and take back to her this weekend (she's having her BD party for family on Sunday).  Amber's bracelet turned out nice!  And it didn't take her as long as she thought it would!  Surprise!!!  I gave Amber some yarns, as she and another friend want to make bracelets.  She found some YouTubes  for braided bracelets (not Kumi) which look quite interesting and very easy.  I'll be anxious to see what they come up with.

Amber didn't want her picture taken....oh well!

Her braid is in pinks and purples.  Really nice!

This was a wooden box Nick painted

and put stencils on!

Nick learned a lot about 'masking' off areas when you want to paint.  He made sure to remove all the screws and hooks too.  I think he did a great job as well!


We just had a fun day!  Well, grandma did anyway...just more memories!!!

Here we go again, for the 3rd time!

What can I say....I'm a ditz!  I started the reverse applique on my sun piece (again!) and guess what I did!  I cut into an area that I shouldn't have...I can't 'fix' it and I'm getting frustrated with this piece SO...I ordered some Clover 1/4" fusible bias that I'll fuse the leading for the stained glass look!   Now I just have to 'unsew' all the basting, red line stitching and the parts I've already appliqued!  BUT.....

I found another stained glass pattern to do for my Tiffany piece!  I'm using some silk dupioni for some of the applique and then some old, old Pat Campbell's Fossil Fern!  I just had a small piece but enough for the feathers.  I'm using a white batik for the white you see in the background.
I'm also going to add some circles of the silk dupioni in the feathers and lots of hand stitching once the leading is all in place.

Today I basted the black fabric in place and I'm now working on stitching the center of my lead lines.  Woohoo!!!


And in between time, I'm still working on my latest cuff.  This is about 3" of beading so far and I really like the pattern and the colors.

We had an early dinner of  chicken kabob's w/ veggies today so dinner and dishes are all done!  Tigers won their game so Kalee and I will go out on the deck and either bead, unsew or stitch!  Decisions, decisions!!!
Temp is still 80 @ 5:05 p.m.  Our walk won't be until 8 p.m.!

For your viewing pleasure!

First, have to show the progress on my beaded cuff!  Didn't work on it last night but made good headway on Tuesday night.  I'm on row 70 of 230!  A ways to go and yes, for those 'eagle' eyes...I just noticed that I messed up and have the wrong bead in my triangle!  Grrrrrrrrrr  Since this 'bead mistake' will be in the back perhaps I'll be the only one to notice!  I might rip it out and replace...yea...that's what I'll have to do.  I think there's a way you crack the 'bad' bead and then stitch back through to replace it?  I'll have to look that up!

At our fiber meeting on Monday, I asked two of our ladies, Carol and LoisAnn, if I could post some of their watercolor work they do.  I'm always impressed with any painting or drawing since I can't do either!  So here for your "viewing pleasure" are some of the art work from my talented friends!

Carol was working on an online class called, Fantasy Journaling, by Diane Hollingsworth.  If you want to see  Diane's studio and some of her artwork, check out her YouTube here.  WOW!

Here are some pages from Carol's Fantasy journal.  I love the look of these pages and it's all done in watercolor!   Look closely at each of the elements in her pages.   Cool!

And these are just a few pages from Lois Ann's journal.  LA did these while sitting beach or ocean side! She just takes her watercolor paints with her and these are her results!  Amazing!

Hope you enjoy seeing some of my friend's work(s)!

Another warm one today.....looking forward to fall already!

Beading again/still!

Well, heck...I have to have more than one project to work on at a time...so...in addition to my Tiffany piece I have some beading to work on.

 I finished my 2nd cuff using Sand Fibers, (Carol Sharpe) pattern.  This was an even count peyote pattern called Dramatic Abstract Peyote.   I added a toggle made of beads instead of a regular closure.

The toggle closure was a little tricky as I had to follow the pattern while creating a hole in the cuff to slip the toggle into...also the little tag the toggle was attached to had to continue the pattern!  Talk about challenging my brain!  But I did it!!!  

I love Carol's patterns.  She offers both a word chart and graph for her patterns.  Check out some of her patterns and cuffs for sale in her Etsy shop here.

This is my 3rd pattern from Carol that I started on Sunday.  It's odd count peyote and called Verdant Enchantment Peyote.  You can see Carol's cuff & pattern here, which is beautiful in shades of greens.  I didn't have the same color beads so I used what I had on hand.

This is the first odd count peyote I've ever done...and I had a heck of a time teaching myself that so called "turn".  BUT...once again Carol came through and had a tutorial on her FB page.  She had pictures along with explanations of the turn which made it so easy for me to follow!  I did check YouTube and wasted so much time looking at videos and ripping out my beads before finding Carol's tips!

But now I've got it down pat and it's easy, easy!!!  I like the colors in this smaller cuff as I wear a lot of beige/gold.  Hopefully, my future pictures will show the colors better.

We're off  for carpet shopping today...not something either of us are looking forward to.  But our carpet is 17 1/2 years old!!  And really needs to be replaced.  It's held up well over the years and we've put this 'buy' off for the past year or two.  Finally going to bite the bullet!  But I might get a lunch or dinner out at the same time!  Might be worth the trip...maybe a margarita or glass of wine will be needed too - good excuse!

Here we go again!!

Since I'm so good at 'unsewing'...I thought I'd give it a go again on my Tiffany piece!  Sure, why not...I'm not doing anything else!  NOT!!!

I'm using black cotton sateen for the leading, which I didn't think would fray as bad as some other cottons.  But....I kept having problems with fraying...hence, this is me starting to unsew my lead lines (red threads) and my reverse applique stitching (around the orange fabric)....it was good TV work and kept me busy while listening to the Tiger's!

I did come to the conclusion that I'm cutting my turn under area(s) too small...so, I'm going to try the cotton sateen again!

This is what will be under the black sateen...the pale lips you see won't be pale.  I'm going to cut a heart shape and fuse to the piece when all the stitching is finished.  OK, at least that's my plan!!

Yesterday I did the basting of the black fabric and then last night I stitched the center of my lead lines (next photo).  I want to make my mentor, Susan, proud of my work...so if I have to redo again and again, I'll do it!!  Just hope I don't have to!!!

Temp is already at 81!  And we're expected to have temps in the 90's for at least 4-5 days this week!!  UGH...as I've said before...not my kind of weather!!  Monday we have our fiber meeting since it was canceled last week.  We'll have a nice time with all the show and tell...and of course lunch somewhere!!!

I did finish my cuff so I'll be posting pics of it later!!  Now to decide what else to do!!!

12 x 12 Group Quilts!

This past winter six of us participated in a 12"x12" quilted square exchange.  We were to make six squares (one to keep for ourselves) and pass onto the other five ladies a square.  They could be all the same or different....just so they were finished and 12" x 12".

Here are all the 12" x 12" quilts I received!  They reflect each of our styles and art work!     I really enjoyed working on my piece as well as looking forward to the mail and receiving a square back!!  Thanks, ladies!!   I'm showing them in alphabetic order by first name:

Gayle Kush/Monroe, Michigan

Irene Armock/Lansing, Michigan

Judy Sebastian/Eastham, Massachusetts

Mary Ann Van Soest/ DeMotte, Indiana

Tommy Fitzsimmons/Romeoville, Illinois

And my 12 x 12

4-H Fair Time 2013!

It is fair time again!!!  I told the kids today it was our 10th fair together but I just looked at the kid's books I keep and.....Amber's first 4-H fair w/grandma was July 24, 2002!  Nick's 1st fair w/grandma was July 27, 2005!  So it's really our 11th year of fair going!!!
I sure hope the kids had as much fun as I did!  It's great to see the kids happy and enjoying themselves!  Amber took her friend, Aly, and Nick brought his friend, Jacob.  All the kids were great and I enjoyed being with them all!!!

Just one of the many rides kids went on

This was a scary ride!  Jacob even went on it by himself!!  Brave kid!

Amber & Aly waiting on their 1st ride!

Nick & Jacob on their 1st ride

Aly on bumper cars

Amber driving!  Scary!  

Nick doing flips on bungee jump!

Jacob joining nick!

This little guy would hold the carrot with his paw!!!!  SO cute!

Jacob said 'ugh' when licked by the animals!

And to make a long story short...I know...not something I do....Amber and I switched shoes.  This is me wearing her blue tennis shoes...so now I have the blister on my heel!!!

All in all it was a fun day and our 11th year with no rain!!!  It got really cloudy and a few (I mean just a few!) drops of rain but over with in 30 seconds!!  It's always been sunny and hot!!!  Hope the next 11 are the same!!!

Break time?

  Well, it is break time from all the reorg I've been doing!!  But it does feel good to look at what I've accomplished.    I finished  the downstairs this a.m.  going through some of the old books I got from the library book sale...I  use these from time to time and I did get rid of some of them but saving most of them (I failed in this area, Lynn!).  I'll take some with me to our fiber mtg to see if anyone can use them.  The dye/wet room looks SO good!!!  And I even did a reorg in my closet today!!!  Bob took two bags to GoodWill this afternoon!

I'm making good progress on my Sand Fiber peyote cuff.  I'm going to try a different method for the closure that I saw on Beadaholic web site.  It's called a beaded toggle...now I just need to figure out when I stop my rows and start to create the toggle!  Might need some really quiet time for this step!!

This is the start of my Tiffany piece...these are the fabrics that will be under the 'leading'/black fabric.


The next picture shows the back of this piece where I've stitched the center line for the leading.

Lots of prep work for this reverse applique method but well worth it in the end.  It took a great mind to come up with this process and I'm so glad she's my buddy!  Thanks, Susan!

You have to look really close to see the red stitching, which is the center of the leading (reverse applique).

This is always the scariest part!!!  Cutting into the piece (black fabric only!) and starting to stitch the leading.

So that's on my to do list for today!  Start to cut and sew!!

On Wednesday, I'm taking Amber and Nick, along with their friends, to the 4-H fair.  This is our tenth year of fair going!!!  I love having this as our annual event...now to hope the rain holds off!!!

From a Tapper to an Organizer!

Whew!  I'm pooped today!!  Did some weeding early this a.m., washed some windows outside, started laundry and then headed downstairs to my dye/wet room to purge/clean/organize!!  And that I did - 3 trash bags...Hefty would be proud of how much I stashed in those bags!!

I figure, if  Lynn K. can post pics of before and after of her studio/warehouse, I should show mine as well!!  So here goes!!!   This is the view as you come down the stairs into our finished basement...

The next picture is the view from my dye/wet room and Bob's work room....a nice view this way.  We look out into the family room...but not so nice if the doors are open to our area and you look into the work room from the family room or playing pool!

The view into our work room - fortunately we put doors into the room on both sides!

We have a walkout directly to the left of my table, hence, the sun shining in!  

And this is my work table!  Yes, I am/was able to work on it!  At least I thought it was ok to work on!!

My work table (before!)

After - Didn't know I had this much space!

Under the table all cleaned up

And labeled

I am big on using my label maker or my permanent pen!  But I didn't have labels on everything so out came the label maker!!   My daughter bought me the label maker for a BD gift several years ago....thanks, baby!!  Everyone should have a label maker!!!

 Bob put 3 cabinets in my area to store my dyes, stamps, paints, etc.( they are directly behind my work table against the wall).  It's nice that they can be closed so you don't see the mess inside...

Before dye/paint cabinet - not bad...not good!

After - Does look better doesn't it

last shelves for my paints

Here this is my stamp cabinet.  

The center cabinet before - ugh...

And after!!!

The bottom shelf looks messy but it's not...

And everything is labeled on top of the cabinet -  fiber dyes in a bin, fabric to dye (in a bin) my screens for printing and some other synthetic fabrics (in a bin!).  

Another before  cabinet - it's not bad - holds my collage materials

After - I tossed a lot in the garbage!

I am quite happy with my effort today...now I want to go down and create something on my table!!!  I still have some books to go through and the very 1st cabinet holds empty containers and planters that I don't use anymore.  I'll get to those next week.   Just need a break!!  I take the kids to the 4-H fair on Wed. and I want to start on my stained glass piece!  I'm ready to do the 'cut'!!!  I just might start on it waiting for Bob to get home this afternoon.  I think it's getting close to margarita time!!!