Tuesday, May 5, 2009

some overdue thanks

A roll of thank-yous!


To Katie at scrumdidlyump for her notes on my shop in the Howard Street Handmade blog. It's exciting to see someone else's view on your work. Howard Street is good fun to participate in, and I'm glad it's going well!

To fellow Etsyian mysticwynd for including my mossy tree in her lovely Arbor Day treasury.

Check out her shop for pretty pretty jewelry pieces, with some gorgeous glass and floral details.



And to KBShimmer for including one of my wraps in her sweet treasury for picnic time! Perfect for the warmer weather and sunny days.

Check out her shop for handmade soaps & bath bombs. I'll admit I'm intrigued by "Chocolate Beer cold process soap" and there's some Mint scrubs that make me want to actually clean the dog hair out of the bathtub so I can relax for a soak myself.

Many thanks, ladies!

Monday, May 4, 2009

time flies...

...whether you're having fun or not. Some space has been made in the studio as one project has made it's way out the door:



And I've annexed the guest room for auxiliary studio space, to stash my portable design boards (on blue insulation foam) and rolls of fabric for the next project. Striking the balance between what needs to happen NOW--or better yet, yesterday-- and the flow of ideas for pieces I want to make or have already started, isn't easy. I suppose that is the difficulty for anyone working at making a living doing something they love.

It's been a pleasure, though, to spend some time with my old machine, referred to as Nasty Maury. I can't imagine, now, how I managed to quilt a queen-size paper pieced quilt on this monster. I'm probably blocking the memories for a reason.

I'll admit, though, that I miss Maury's ability to adjust the pressure of the presser foot-- it's awfully handy for getting over high spots and thick seams. The Pfaff doesn't allow for that, and I remember asking about it when I was shopping for that machine; the saleswoman looked at me like I was nuts. If any of you out there find yourself shopping for a sewing machine, always ask questions! Think about what you want to do, or what you may have had trouble with in the past/on a previous machine. Think about the features you envy on your friend's machine. Test drive, test drive, test drive-- would you buy a car without taking it for a spin first?

This piece, Leaves #2, will be making its way to the Etsy shop this week. The frame measures slightly more than 8x10, and the stitched portion is about 3"x7". I'm really happy with the way it looks in the frame and will probably list it that way-- something new for me. I've also been listing some new wraps, ready to take along on your next outing.

We used ours for a take-along lunch on a trip to the Asheville Art Museum this weekend. The goal was to check out the Christo and Jean-Claude exhibit, but we had to wait about an hour and a half (waited down the street at Barley's Taphouse, with some local brews...) for a panel discussion to clear out. Who schedules a discussion to take place *in* the sole room of the exhibit, for 2 hours, on the last day? It was interesting, though, to see the sketches and topographical maps used for presenting the art installations. He had used the actual fabrics in the rendering, coloring and shading over them, stitching them down, over photographs of the space- a cool mixed media vision all on its own.