presents to myself

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First an announcement! Tomorrow, Wednesday October 13 is Crafty biz meet-up day at Diesel Cafe in Davis Sq., Somerville.  All are welcome. Contact me if you need more info or want to be informed of future meet-ups.

My personal economy  has improved a bit lately and I have treated myself to some sewing presents.  I re-subscribed to Selvedge magazine. My first copy showed up the other day. I had a subscription a few years ago and I’m happy to be getting it again. It is a beautiful magazine.

Next I bought a new pair of scissors- 5″ Ginghers

I love them. They are the perfect size for cutting out applique pieces and clipping curves. If you saw how many pairs of scissors I already own (many of them originally from my mom), you’d be wondering why in the world I needed another pair. But, even though I have so many, there is just a few that I ever use. I became much more aware of that when I was working with my intern this summer. So, it turns out that I own a lot of decorative scissors and just a few functioning ones. I am very happy with with this gift to me.

And, I got my machine serviced. We are both happier now!

No more chunk, chunk, chunk noises when I sew. The tension is looking good too. I had a list of problems when I took it in and I have forgotten what they were- that is a good sign. When I was at the shop to pick up my trusty friend, I remembered that I’ve been wanting an extender table for my machine- like this. I am waiting for it to come in so I can pick it up.

And lastly, some new needles. I know, it seems like such a small item, but really, good needles make such a difference! I ordered them from The Colonial Needle Company.

I am trying out the small size Chenille needles (#24 and 26) with crewel wool. So far (they just came today), I really like them. I have been a fan of John James needles for a while, but my local store stopped carrying them so I was happy to find another source. Good tools are such a pleasure.

big man with beard

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and chandelier. I love that chandelier.

He is totally bald. I am loving the applied ears. They are fiddly but I really like how they look.

Vintage button, embroidered belt-

Shoe laces-

and his back with cherubs.

And then we got silly. Exercise time! And a one-

And a two-

And a three!

trip to Cape Cod

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Yesterday, a friend and I drove down to Cape Cod to visit Salley Mavor and see her show at Highfield Hall. What a wonderful expedition!

First we stopped and chatted and relaxed in her studio for a bit.

I didn’t take a lot of studio photos (here are some old ones), but here is one- I loved seeing her thread in the baskets-

We went out to lunch and then to the show. It is amazing. The book photography is beautiful but a completely different experience then seeing the artwork in real life.

Here we are at the show-

If I could have taken any of the pieces home with me, it probably would have been this one of winter. I’m not sure why, but it really spoke to me. Here it is in the book-

And here is my blurry photo of it at the show. It is difficult to get a decent photo with low light and glass fronts.

I now have my book and Salley gave me a poster to hang in my studio-

And look at the wonderful inscription!

After the show, we were on our way. Since I was on the Cape, I wanted to make a few more stops. We made it to Yummygoods and said hello to Melissa! I got to visit her gorgeous little shop, see her studio when it wasn’t all gussied up for a photo shoot (real life workspace, I love it!), and see the new fabric line, all close up and personal.

And then to Tumbleweed, one of my favorite fabric store destinations. It was a great day!

red beard man

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I always put photos of the dolls on Flickr. Often not the exact same photos as I put on the blog. If you go to Flickr, you can click on “all sizes” and see them REALLY BIG and see all the details if you are interested. Here is the face.

This is how I get orders to the post office when I have more then I can fit under my 2 arms.

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.

using some buried treasure

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The best part of doing a studio clean-up is that I find things that I’ve forgotten about. And when I see them again, they connect with something I’ve been working on more recently… you know, since I hid them in that far corner of the top shelf.

I found a bag that had some of this crewel fabric in it. I immediately knew that I wanted to make some fish with it. I made both of these fish from one large fabric sample piece.

I needed to make fish because I had a request that I couldn’t refuse- my son wanted one for his birthday. I won’t post that one until he receives it. But, of course, I can never make just one of anything!

Next on the agenda- focus on beards.

quilt details

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since you seemed interested…

here are some close-ups. This fish fabric was something that my mom bought for me when I was in high school (think early 70’s). I loved it so much, I could never bear to use it. I have finally gotten to the point where that seems very silly. I worry a bit about how the older fabric will hold up.

This is a piece of Japanese cloth- probably a gift wrapping cloth. The weave is slightly looser than a standard quilting cotton but still a solid fabric.  I have been collecting Japanese cloths for years. My mom had some that I got when we cleared out the house. I got other from various places over the years- I visited Japan in 1983, my brother gave me some (he lives in Kyoto), there is a Japanese Cultural group in town and they have a yearly yard sale. I am always keeping my eye out.

This piece is more of a gauze fabric. Maybe a towel?

Another gift wrapping cloth-

And the top swirls are another one of the gauzy fabrics. I hope they hold up. The chain design cotton along the sides is from a roll of kimono fabric that my mom bought, sometime between 1965 and 1986- she went to Japan a few times during those years.

None of the main pieces are pieced- just big blocks. The strips of red and navy on the front, and golds on the back are pieced. On the back, that center section is Marimekko fabric. The stripes are printed on it.

I have made great progress on my studio clean-up. I think I am about to call it done… for now. There are always a few things that I can not deal with. They usually look like this-

Sort of my studio version of a junk drawer…