Fall Drive..Road Trip to Web Fabrics….

So took my Road trip to Web Fabrics ….. how do you like my new fabrics…… then enjoy my Fall Photos….no sun today but still some pretty fall colors….

 

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Road trip day?

So my hubby had to take a fast trip to CA for a meeting..and I mean quick…Thurs morning till midnight Fri….poor guy….at our age trips like this can be rough….lol….  but oh well…..I’m sure he’ll find some fun out of it, he took his camera as usual.

But so let’s see….no sun outside yet think today is good day for a road trip to spend that gift card that’s been sitting by since July… so Web Fabrics here I come….might also be a good test for my back…. might get to see if the injections seem to make a difference? I hope I hope……

Also I have a couple ideas possibly even a series in mind to work on… involves leaves…….more so I mean using my leaf printing on fabric and my leaf cyanotype on fabrics……. here is a little peek……

 

A downtime day…..

So today will have to be a downtime day orders from headquarters…..  Actually I mean the doctor….. I had some injections in my lumbar today in hopes of some successful pain management???  Wish me luck…. since the injections were this morning I’m to take it easy all day…. I can’t drive a car for 24 hours sooooo I assume I shouldn’t drive my sewing machine either?

So that leaves me time to ponder? Has anyone noticed? Are Christmas stockings  right or left footed????? Since I am working on Christmas Stockings for the kids and their families it suddenly  hit me?  Which way are Christmas stockings to hang? hmmmmmmm opinions anyone?

For example….  Here is photo are the ones I gave Brian and Heather at one of their wedding showers this summer.

Now here is are photos of the  front and back of one I am working on right now?

 

 

 

 

 

 

So is there a right or left foot to a Christmas stocking?  lol  and is it just a personal preference;  which direction one hangs them?

Surface design is fun!

So I’ve been having fun experimenting with surface design and dyeing lately…remember this photo? well it turned into……

 

then remember the rusting?? well it turned into….. 

Sadly the fabric does not photograph that well but the two pieces are great and somewhat  different dependant on which side of fabric you choose to view… the black was created by using tannin….my first time messing around with that….I look forward to more experimentation……. but for now…I’m suddenly busy working on some Christmas items I have promised my daughters….. have a great day!!!

I intend to just keep on sewing away……

 

So a road trip day or…..stay home and sew?

Okay so it’s one of those days….too many choices? I was going to make a road trip today to Web Fabrics since I have this wonderful gift certificate wanting to be spent…..BUT……the weather sucks….it’s now officially raining and even starting to get foggy so that would not be the enjoyable drive i had imagined….I wanted a nice sunny fall day drive….it’s amazing how the colors have changed since last week

and Purcellville can be a pretty country road drive dependant on the route one takes….oh well there’s always next week….if this fall is like my last 5 fall seasons in VA we’ll have the colors for a while ;-)

So I wandered downstairs to move my rusting fabric outside in the rain but instead decided it had rusted enough sooooooo to unwind the fabric to see what I had created…..the piece of

fabric I used the powered tannin along with the steel wool turned out interesting but I was not completely pleased with the results of the other fabric which you see on the left side of photo. It had large areas of white due to the water it sat in so I am experimenting once again….will let it sit a few more days to bake…lol…… then see if anything happened.

So I hopefully have finally settled back in at home after my whirlwind summer and early fall and am trying to reset habits…..back to blogging and hope to set a daily agenda to keep me on course I’ve set for myself. today since I’m going to skip the fall drive I’m heading off to the bank for quick errand then hope to settle in for a day of sewing! Hope  the weather has cleared in MI so Bill can complete his Harsens Island workday…..

Nice quiet day!…. Happy 90th birthday Uncle Howard!

So let’s see…….Bill is in MI helping celebrate Uncle Howards 90th birthday! YAY! While Bill has a very busy jammed packed agenda in MI …. I intend to have a quiet but hopefully productive weekend in VA. So far today it’s been quiet yet yucky weather…thus I delayed my road trip to Purcellville to spend the gift certificate I got way back in July from Jb and Claire….that should be fun…..Web fabrics is a great store!

I finally have my workroom (AKA-studio) set up and semi clean ;-) found all my UFO’s and put them in an order of possibly being worked on ;-) depends again on my focus lol lol or other obligations that tend to move ahead…….such as Brynn’s baby quilt and wall hanging…..and I want to coincide work on my material I made at the Nancy Crow workshop last week….

Anyway my dyed material is hanging to dry…..looks to be okay for messing around..or more accidental dyeing….    The fun part is always ironing the material after it’s dried..that’s when you can really see the results.

Then the room is great…..it’s huge so I’ve got two design walls and a work table to free cut my strips for my newer designs I hope to start making. Still have my other cutting table for my other projects….                                                 

and the empty floor space is perfect to lay out the work and pinning, etc.  Now to possibly focus on completing the “Color makes my world go round“ piece I started at the barn last week……

Productive morning….or day?

So let’s see….posted this morning but geeshhhhh then I started messing around in the studio.still sorting and trying to de-junk some art supplies……then down the basement for a little hit and miss dyeing….felt good to get two pieces of material set up for rusting AND 6-7 different pieces of material dyeing……hopefully I’ve got the colors I am thinking of towards the series of art quilts I have in mind?….

 

I sort of invaded Bill’s man cave….lol this is our lower deck, and where he goes for his nightly cigar and to watch for the deer and other friendly animals…(lately he has had a skunk visiting….lol….we’re right off the golf course.if you look closely you can see the post for 14th hole.

Was going to post on FB but geesh  for some reason I’m having troubles getting on….which goes along with an interesting article I read yesterday about social networking and how blogs and email will soon be out due to tweeting or posting on Face book instead……well I semi agree that I have sure cut down on email due to Face book, it’s just too easy to hit all your friends and family with a one liner then to pull up your email and answer one by one….but heck if FB or the other social networks keep having their technical problems it will push us back to email….lol

Go Figure?

It’s a sunny day!

So once again I’ve neglected to post daily on my blog…it seems that habit has gotten away from me …and guess only time will tell if I get my old habits back?  Isn’t it interesting how time changes ones path?  This morning I awoke for a few moments at 6:10am and realized that last year this time I would have been up, showered and almost on my way to work!!? WOW!  Have to admit that is one habit I am glad got away from me…. he he he……but  now is the time to practice some new habits I really hope become a part of my life.   Soooooooo with that in mind…..I’ve been working this week on cleaning out old art supplies that I quickly packed in boxes last May and June while cleaning out the school art room and bringing an end to my teaching career.  Do you know how hard it is for a person who is an art teacher or artist with ADH to throw things away?  Our minds constantly go to the what this could be instead of the I won’t be needing this again…..So I have a huge mess and I know I must organize the mess to help me be productive. Want to create my new studio…..

So this week I’m tackling the mess little by little but also trying to have some fun AND set new habits….

Bill (my hubby) has been walking daily and feels he almost has that habit formed…I think walking with him would be a great habit to have but sadly I have developed some major arthritic problems as of late so walking has my knee out of joint….(in other words deep pain ;-) but I am trying for a habit of jogging and exercising daily in the complex indoor pool. BUT today it’s sunny! and supposedly will be a beautiful day… I am going to postpone my workout till I have a little fun dyeing some material I bought while at Nancy Crow’s class last week. I’m still basking in all I took in last week studying with Nancy and on my long quiet 7 hour drive home last Saturday I took tried hard to jot down ideas or thoughts on where I’d like my quilting to go.  I have a few ideas for a couple series I’d like to create.

 

Okay so list of habits forming? blogging completed …… So now I’m off to dye, then pool, then studio! Have a great day!

Blogging can be hard …..

So though I used to be disciplined in blogging I’ve hit a rough patch and have not been consistent since last June, (yes I assume around the time I supposedly retired…..lol…the word supposedly was used to make a point….yes I have retired from my teaching career but I did not retired from life which has kept me in constant movement since last June.) 

Sooooo yet another accomplishment completed from my wish list!!!!  I  just fulfilled one of my “I’ll do that when I retire” dreams. ;-))  I’ve always hoped that someday I would take a class at “the Barn in Ohio” from Nancy Crow and I would prefice that thought with an “as soon AS I retire”….. and Sooooooooo YAY!!!   I DID it even though I was a little intimidated to take the class  since I’d heard many rumors of NO coddling….lol Well…coddling or not… I FOUND my week long class to be everything I hoped,  Nancy encouraged me to stay for next weeks sequential class but at this time I just can not fit it in my schedule. I do hope to complete more study under her next summer 2010.

here are some pics from my weeklong Nancy Crow class…….

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I highly recommend this experience to all quilters…..one thing to know though is that Nancy’s class is not for the weak! we sewed from 7:00am till they kicked us out at 10:00 each night and still did not finish ;-) Nancy runs a tight ship…yet no one complained about not being finished…I did hear someone state “wow and to think I am paying for this torture” lol lol but it was said in jest……I really feel I learned a lot and look forward to seeing where I can take this information in my practices and work…..I also hope I get on the list for her summer classes….)

Now to post this and sign off for possibly a few days…I have my list of “must do” and if I let the computer distract me it will never get done! first job on list? to clean out my art supplies and set up a studio. Also order some more solids….so I can continue in my color studies…. ;-))))

Nancy Crow = Composition!

 

So this posting will have to be quick since I need to get to sleep…….long day today in class and even longer tomorrow ! lol

We started out on the first day of class with instruction beginning at 9:00am. Tomorrow the studio opens at 7:00am and I along with most of the others need to get in to complete sewing my strips and shapes in my composition before the 9:00am deadline!

So today to give you a quick review….we first made 12 new fabrics which were to be completed by 3:00pm……lol oh sure…I don’t think anyone quite made that deadline…..next we got second half of assignment….create composition using our strips….we were to use squares or rectangles and everyone one of our new fabrics.

So first two photos = strips of new fabric being created…….

 

 

 

 

 

Next photo = start of strips being cut up………

 

 

Last photo = where I left off for the evening……..wish me luck with deadline!

Good Night….hope to continue with post tomorrow night!

 

So hopefully back to norm…

Well it’s been a whirlwind summer and then the wedding  Sept 26….what a year I’m having!

The wedding (reminder: I mean my son’s Brian and Heather’s) was wonderful….family came from Chicago, Denver,Ct., and other…the reception had over 350 people dance the evening away in grand style. Everyone danced so much the dance floor ended up moving a foot by the end of the evening we were told…..Here’s a few photos from the day….….

 

 Now fast forward to Oct!    Wow I haven’t been too disciplined with my blogging, sadly for that matter my quilting either…..BUT…….

Hopefully that stops now! I am in Ohio this week taking a class from Nancy Crow…. www.nancycrow.com

What a beautiful drive today from VA to Ohio, the colors are just starting to change so the drive was terrific….I attended the opening dinner tonight and intro’s were completed. Students are from all over, Alberta Canada, California, London, Texas, VA, Ann Arbor MI. I’m intimidated a little….but it’s going to be a great week! Class begins tomorrow morning bright and early….

  I’m here…….roadway to Nancy’s barn…..

  

This is some of the student work hanging in the studio from students that attended last weeks session and are back for more….just call me intimidated!

Can it really have been that long?

It’s sad to think how long it’s been since I posted? But the facts are I’ve just been too busy with life to take the time to post or share….then with the intro of Face Book sometimes we share a little on that site and just forget to slow down and blog….

So now lets see? Wonder where I was when I last took time to post in my blog? A lot has happened in my life during the last few months…I retired ;-) I traveled away from my VA home for weeks on end…first MI, then Hawaii, then Denver, then back to VA to pack for MI …it has been so much fun yet sure has gotten me behind in my normal day to day stuff.

Okay so let’s see I think I shared that I got a brand new grand-daughter born in Denver….heck I’ll let her birth announcement speak for itself…..

Isn’t she beautiful? And check out the middle name ;-) 

Well this is it for my first segment of trying to catch people up on where I’ve been ….I will continue with more info tomorrow I promise….It’s time to try to get back on a regular schedule for me…minus of course the day to day teaching job…instead I hope to get on a schedule that allows me to try to further my own art work, #1 step:  try to focus myself….lol ….something we all know will be very hard for me yet necessary!