Category Archives: progress report

misty baby

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This was my carry along project when I went to Chicago for Renegade Craft Market. You know, in case I got bored. HA HA! Yes. The poor little thing has been sitting in a ziplock bag for more then a month now. Finally, finished.

The fabrics are mostly heathery and soft. The bird is a blue-grey piece of cashmere fabric that I dyed a while back.

I got the owls back from the Hoot! Show at the Renegade Spotlight Gallery and they are now in my Etsy Shop.  And yes, I am working on a pattern. No promises for how long though… since I am afraid to open Photoshop and InDesign… once I get over that hurdle, things might proceed more rapidly.

four ?

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beards! Trying out different shapes and colors. Hopefully there will be a group to show by the end of the week.

And now for a bit of a rant. I went to the Charles LeDray exhibit at the Institute of Contemporary Art this morning. The artwork was fascinating, but I found the museum experience annoying. I was actually feeling angry by the time I left and had to analyze why. I have had a number of experiences where the way the show is set up is so distracting to me, trying to figure out what someone was thinking when they set it up, that I have a hard time focusing on the artwork. It seems that chronological order is out of fashion as a way to organize a show- I guess I can understand that if there seems to be some other theory, but it means that the fun of seeing how an artist grows and builds upon what they’ve done before is difficult or impossible. Then there is the lighting. Yes, light can damage artwork, but keeping the lights so dim that the viewer is straining to see the artwork seems crazy. Lastly, what is up with placing the artwork so that it is too far away to really look at. One of the pieces in the show was called Village People and was comprised of 37 hats. They were hung high on the wall- maybe 8 ft above the ground? I certainly could not see any of the detail work, and this is an artist where the detail work is everything. Sigh. I have been to several shows in the last few years where I had the exact same complaints- even worse was the Joseph Cornell show in Salem. Doesn’t make me want to rush back to an art museum any time soon. The thing is, I really liked the artwork. I was trying to imagine what venue would have been perfect to see it in. I guess that seeing it in the artist’s space would be the most fun and illuminating for me.

cleaning up

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and a few other things.

I got an idea that if I raised the bottom shelf about 4 inches, I could actually fit another row of bins on the floor. Once it had occurred to me, it was the itch that had to be scratched.

Yikes- easier thought then done. Firstly, moving the individual shelves on these metal wire shelf units is no easy task- especially alone. And, I think it hadn’t really sunk in, how much stuff I have on that thing. Oh well, it was time to take everything off and go through it all anyway.

Here we are, shelves rearranged and bins starting to go back on.

I have been going back and forth- sorting and putting away until I am bored and then over to hand-sewing the edge binding on the quilt. Both are moving forward! Here is how things look this evening-

I just have a little left to go on the binding. Both desks are beginning to reappear. I have found many, many partially finished dolls- certainly more then I remember having. I’ve re-found fabric that I now have the perfect use for. Still a ways to go on the cleaning but I have made great progress.

Also, I took my Bernina 930 in for a spa treatment-  you know, a tune-up, and am using my Bernina Nova. What a great little machine it is. And speaking of machines… my son wants a sewing machine. I have one that I thought about giving him, but I have heard many tales of woe about shipping sewing machines- they just don’t like it. He lives in the Minneapolis area. Does anyone have suggestions for a place that sells good used sewing machines in the Twin Cities? I saw a perfect Bernette when I took my machine in today and would have loved to get that for him- but of course I would still have the shipping problem. Thanks for any help!

one more thing- Classes in October. I will be teaching my Fresh Fish during this Art Weekend that looks like so much fun! It would be great if you could join in the fun! Also, Tiny World Pincushion on Oct. 30  at my house- there is still space if you are interested. Check out the class link for details.

remember that quilt?

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I pieced the top in January. Fast forward to April, when I pieced a back and basted it together with the batting.  Now it is September!

I have quilted it. Yes- I was very nervous. I did not want to do that thread knot quilting method- (whatever the real name is, I don’t know) like I did on this one. I knew I did not want to hand-quilt another full size quilt. I wanted to finish this before  another 20 years had elapsed. And yes, I could have sent it out, but really, I am too cheap. And, I wondered if I would be able to let it go enough to accept what someone else did with the quilting. So what method did I use? I cut it into pieces that I could manage with my sewing machine, quilted them, and have sewn it back together. That took a lot of nerve and I’ve been talking myself into it for the past 5 months!

Here it is, in 4 pieces. Two pieces that are the middle section and two pieces that are the sides.

I slit the seams on the front, but had to cut through the fabric on the back. And, I pretty much had to rearrange my whole studio. That wasn’t a bad thing though- one of my post-Renegade Market resolutions was that I needed to do a major clean in there. In the above photo, all the pieces are already quilted and I am ready to start the sew them back together process.

Here, I am sewing the 2 middle pieces together. My plastic folding table (behind my machine in this pic) proved to be very useful. I move it to wherever I need some quilt weight-bearing.

Now the table is on the other side of the machine. I am getting ready to sew the backing together along the cut line. Yes, I lost about 1 inch in total quilt size for each of the cuts.

Here is stitching the backing together. I have pinned back the batting and the top fabric.

I did the top finishing seam by overlapping the pieces and carefully sewing down, as close to the edge as possible. My walking foot was invaluable. I could never have done this project without it. I know this because I started without it- since I don’t do much quilting, I don’t even think about it. So, I started and was unhappy and frustrated with the results I was getting- within about 3 minutes. Queue lightbulb over my head!

Here we are, all sewed back together and ready to trim off the excess batting and even out the edges.

Now, on to the finish. And here I want to mention the power of stopping a project when you are tired. Last night I got the quilt trimmed, pulled out my bins of fabric with something in mind for the edging. I found it, cut out 30 feet of bias strips, sewed them together and ironed them. Then I went to bed. At some point in the early morning I got the message (weird, huh?) that I had made a very off choice. All wrong. This morning, back to the bins with a clearer vision. I am back on track and have spent the morning moving forward. Hurray!

and the winner is…

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drumroll please… random number generator picks #53-

Liz Noonan!

Thanks to everyone who joined in to wish me a Happy Birthday! It was wonderful!

Coming next from the studio-

There are 15 men dolls, cut out and stitched together, hanging from my rack. That is what Sage (intern) and I did last week. Next comes clipping, trimming, turning and stuffing. I am hoping to have about 4 done for Chicago. I am thinking ahead for the fall already- stocking up. Before I continue with them though, I need to get a few Tiny Worlds finished. I promised someone when it seemed like loads of time and now I have a deadline looming.

And the Fresh Fish class I mentioned in the last post? Here! It looks like a fantastic weekend of fun!

august updates

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It has been a crazy busy week. All kinds of things going on.

Today is the last day to enter the birthday giveaway. If you want to join in the fun, add your comment to the birthday post.

5 weeks until Renegade Chicago- Yikes! I am feeling the push. It is actually less then 5 weeks because I have to send out the work beforehand. This is my first travel-by-plane show. It will be interesting to see how it all goes. I am thinking a lot about the booth and how to set it up with the minimum of props.

I am going to be teaching in October. I will be doing a Tiny World class at my house on Saturday, Oct. 30. More info here. Email me if you’d like to join the fun. It looks like I will also be teaching a Fresh Fish class- more details on that coming soon.

And now a technical question- I KNOW that Bloglines is lame and all the cool kids are over on Google Reader, but, I started on Bloglines and moving everything seems like a big chore. I subscribe to several feeds for my own blog so that I can see how they look and when the new posts get published. About a month ago, one of my Doll feeds showed up with an exclamation point next to it. That one feed has stopped working- and of course, that is the feed with the most subscribers. Arg! I figured it would fix itself, but not so far. I checked out several other blogs in my list that also had the exclamation point- Yikes! Some of them hadn’t been working for many months! Does anybody know haw to fix this? It is making me sad.

Now, back to regularly scheduled programming… it turns out that mid-summer is a great time for thrifting after all. Well, this year it is anyway. I went to my favorite places on two Wednesdays in a row. I now have enough gorgeous wooliness to get me through the fall and beyond. I shouldn’t go back until January at the soonest. Right, shouldn’t, shouldn’t, shouldn’t.

And lastly, I am actually going to be participating in a few shows * in galleries*  this fall. WooHoo! More news on that soon, once I have some links for you.

The months ahead are beginning to look very busy. Full steam ahead!

what happened to June?!

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wow- I just realized that I will have gone a month without posting a new doll. What a crazy month! It is not that I haven’t been working.

Sage (my intern) and I have been working on a big pile of girls. We’ve got ten going. When I get home from Paris, these are going to get finished up. I also was working on a project that is one of those fun things that I can’t tell you about quite yet… actually, just having a project that I can’t mention is a thrill in itself! And, of course, there has been all my Paris prep. I am making myself a few new skirts and shirts. Hopefully I will actually finish them before we leave tomorrow.

If you are interested, here is the google map I am making with all the interesting suggestions people have made. I sure I won’t get to everything, but I have a lot to choose from.

And the garden is thriving. I’ve got my tomatoes in, using my containers, but this year I tried lining them with corrugated cardboard before stretching the t-shirts. So far, so good.

I am growing Carbons, Pink Brandywine, Copia, Bonny Best, Opalka, and Isis Candy.

Well, see you in Paris!

american in paris

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So I mentioned back here that I am going to Paris- less then 2 weeks now! My life has gone into warp speed. Crazy!

I’m getting psyched. I borrowed some cds from the library to see if I could remind myself of some basic French. The conversation that I am learning seems to lean heavily toward picking up the mademoiselle. Hmm. I might have to see if they have Conversation for Middle-aged Lady who likes Needlework. I took out these movies too. I just find it difficult to make time to actually watch them.

I’d love to meet up with any like-minded people if you are near Paris during the last week of June. I’d love any suggestions for fun places to go, especially related to what I do. And I speak virtually no French and will be on my own for the weekdays. I know there are lists of a sewers guide to New York- is there something similar for Paris?

And on the life front- I feel like I am just settling down from Renegade. There is so much to think about. I continue to be amazed at how fantastic it was. Travel plans always make me feel like I need a new wardrobe, so I’ve got a pile of fabric and maybe it will turn into some shirts and skirts in the next 1 1/2 weeks. The garden needs me- the weeds are taking over and I still haven’t got all my dahlias in the ground. The tomatoes are looking very happy though. And, my intern has started- 2 days a week.  I have the projects that she can help me with and the other projects. I’m going to do dolls with her and my other projects when she isn’t here. That means the dolls will get finished slower but hopefully everything will move forward. Yes, it is busy around here.

working on…

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Packaging up the new magnet sets. Until I ran out of bags. Now I am waiting for new ones to arrive.

Hard copy patterns. I still have to make the cds. Each step is a learning process, including getting my files to the printer.

And the dolls. In progress and also a few are being re-thought and tweaked.

Countdown to Renegade.

wips

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I’m off to Minneapolis tonight. It always seems to take me a few days to get back into things, once I return. I am leaving some partly finished dolls, all ready to work on. I am hoping this will help me jump back into the studio when I return.

3 tattooed ladies and one tattooed man-

And here is what I am stitching- a grey-haired, mostly bald dude. I’m having fun with my variegated floss.

See you next week!