Sunday, October 28, 2012

madness

Started a small lap quilt this week, and am almost finished with it. Fun fabrics, soft prints, cozy. Made some invites for a family event, got the laundry done... sitting here, awaiting this storm they are calling "frankenstorm". With the history of my neighborhood I may not have power for a while, I try to stay optimistic, but I prepared this time. Finishing the small things, that make a big difference, that need power to work. Got some wine, and apple cider beer, pulled out our banangrams game, and the lanterns.  I even managed to iron out some fabric and cut some hexagons, there is always hand piecing that could be done by hand and lantern light.


These storms make me nervous, and uneasy. Maybe it is a control thing, but I hate not knowing how it is going to go. Hope everyone stays safe and warm!

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Chihuly, the master of glass.

Over the past couple of years Richmond has been home to some wonderful art exhibits. The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, was renovated and with the renovation came some great works of art. At the moment Richmond is lucky to be home to the Dale Chihuly exhibit. I have been impressed with his work for a while now. It is always nice to see a fellow craft person, and how they take their craft to the next level. His works are beautiful and captivating, I could stare at them for hours and never tire of looking for new things. Below are a few snapshots that I took at the opening night. 



The boats were one of my favorite things. the glass orbs are fantastic. 


How could you not fall in love with his ceilings... 



Brilliant, native American inspired works. Subtle and beautiful. 



Thursday, October 11, 2012

wings and things

A friend of mine is having a show this weekend in Petersburg, VA, at "Curl up or Dye." Instead of a first Friday, like RVA, in Petersburg they do a second Friday. This show will be part of that, and since it is October there is a Halloweenish theme. 


I decided to make some pillows and ornaments for the show. I will show the ornaments later, but for now the pillows.. 


I love the way the back of things look with the seams all pressed down, and separated, for a nice clean finish. 


These fabrics of course include winged creatures to make sense for the theme.. They also make me think of fall and warmth. Fall used to be very warm colors to me, and still is sometimes. However, since having a garden, I have noticed that fall means lots of purples and murky grayish tones. Not being one to use purple very often, I really enjoy this play on color. 






I almost like the back better than the front on this one. 


Finally I made myself a pincushion! I love these fabrics so I used the scraps to make myself a little pillow pin cushion. 

welcome to the current century!

So after many months of holding back I finally broke down and got an i-phone. I would have put it off longer, if an acquaintance hadn't made me such a good deal. I don't know how I feel about being "that connected" all the time! However it is like anything else I can hit the silent button and forget the world. The main reason I have been thinking about it, is so that I can make blogging easier at times, and so that I can check up on etsy and other projects from just about anywhere.

Well since I got this thing I have been playing with Instagram, which I really like so far.






The house is beginning to look a lot like Halloween! I still need to work out some kinks on how to get the photos on the blog, but here are the first ones. The pumpkins from below were actually a product of my garden! There are fake ones mixed in for a little umph! 


Tuesday, October 9, 2012

change in leaves

It has been cold and wet here, a sure sign that fall is here! I am trying to be patient with the leaves, that is my favorite part, when they turn all the shades imaginable. It has been a good couple of days for studio time, and while I have been working on things for etsy, I am going to make something simply for the fun, of making. I need a little break, a day or two, to just make without a goal. Let my mind and my hands free. Sometimes that jump starts something new. Maybe a little lap quilt, or perhaps pillows for my own sofa...

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Supernatural magic


If you know me, you know how I feel about Halloween! If you don't, then let me tell you I love it more than Christmas, and wait almost all year just for fall. I love everything about October and November, the fall, crisp air. The leaves changing, the wet rainy days, and especially I love Halloween! I have been collecting fabric for a while that is mainly black and white and supernatural or bone related. I finally carved out some time, and came up with these pillows. 
The Ghastlie family fabric is one of my favorites. A simple, and one of a kind, crazy piecing style was used on those. 



The Matriarch, is my favorite. 


The twins fall a close second for me... 




When I got this anatomical fabric I did not realize that it is GLOW IN THE DARK! Yep, all of the bones glow in the dark. I happily discovered this when I was ironing it, and the bones turned that greenish, white color. I must admit it is pretty cool! 


These pillows are up on etsy, and will be followed by more Halloween soon. 

september thoughts

September seemed to have lasted longer than a month, or maybe it was just how much I did in that month... 

It included: 
A trip to the Outer Banks, to celebrate my mom's birthday and Labor day... A new four legged, studio-mate, named Achilles... Seattle...Portland...and anything in between... Cultivating honey from my mom's beehives... friends' birthday's... and finally, a very amazing, Madonna Concert!

See I told you it was a busy month. All good, fun, things but by the end of it, I was ready for a nice cold cocktail, outside on my deck. I managed to make some things during that time, but mostly I gathered inspiration and ideas. I also managed to gather some fabric in Portland. By some I mean... over 70 new patterns... I know its insane! It even required its own suitcase. I finally washed and put it all away. 



My system for organizing fabric is simple. I bring it home, and it goes straight into the washing machine. Everything gets a bath, before it even enters into the studio. The reason I do this is so that no matter what, the fabric gets pre-shrunk. I know most everything says it is these days, but I like to be sure. By washing the fabric, it also ensures that any kind of coating that is on the fabric is removed and leaves a nice, clean fabric. 

Then I fold in my OCD ways so that everything is a nice clean little square. Then everything goes into my fabric cabinet. I used to have a plastic one, but the stash got too heavy so this little cabinet from, Homegoods, does the job now. I can even fit whole yards into the drawers if I fold the fabric a certain way. I like to keep things separated by color or by fabric line, depending on how I will use it. Of course I have fully grown into this cabinet since the shopping spree, so the shelf, pictured above, gets the bigger yardage and the solids. 



The fabric stores that I went to in Portland were really nicely organized, and had a great selection. If you are in that area, and your a fabric junkie check out;