Flowers Everywhere!

"Skitching" - sketching with stitch.  Did some experimenting with that last week. Soaked a piece of Kona muslin in water, "blopped" some various colors of gouache on here and there, let it dry and then "skitched" with black cotton thread.  Love these. 

Also paint-dyed some little pieces of muslin and then stamped music, french words and some nature textures with "stayz on." Not sure what is to become if these - if anything, but they sure are pretty.

Also worked a bunch in the yard this past week.  Got the vegetable garden and herb garden cleaned out and put in.  Now they've just got to grow!

Brina's on Spring Break this week so we are heading over to University of North Carolina School of the Arts where she will be attending  for a  month in the summer and taking their Visual Arts program. So excited for her. 

 It's a four week intensive study visual arts program and cello instruction - 3 college credits. She will be staying in the dorm during the week and then they go on all these cool trips on the weekends - white water rafting, museum visiting, all kinds of fun places. 

Something in Hot Pink Maybe.....

Uggh.  I really need some new stuff.  I want to buy some white shorts and a hot pink top.  Or a cute little denim skirt and a flirty Bohemian blouse.  Something.  Anything.  As long as it has COLOR --lots and lots of color. I'm sick of wearing jeans and dark sweaters, heavy black leather motorcycle jackets, black leather boots.  So today to celebrate Spring - I liberated myself and tucked all my winter stuff away.  As for the bikini - a girl can dream can't she!? 

Slice Quilt/Fractuired Quilt - Spring has also made an appearance in the downstairs studio by virtue of some "Spring-esque" projects.  I dug out the Van Gogh Iris slice quilt.  The panels have been sewn together and now I'm trying to decide what to do next.   I don't think I want to "box it in," with a traditional border.  I've been entertaining the idea of   making iris petals and leaves to carry over and "out" of the quilt along the edges.  Deconstructed.  I've also been free motion quilting some the panels by the other artists - by way of adding the "black" outline to more of the iris flowers and details to leaves.  I can see this is going to be a long work in progress - but I must finish it by June 1st as I want to bring it to the June Cyberbee meeting.  I'm the last one to finish.  Everyone esle finished their quilts and they came out just beautiful.

Here's a tiny peek at a little blackbird I threadpainted for a special friend. I don't want to spoil the surprise as she hasn't received it yet - so I'll show the entire thing at a later date.

How did YOU celebrate Spring this weekend?  Did you stay inside and Spring Clean??  Or did you run outside and embrace Mother Nature?   Me - after I cleaned out my closet - I got down and dirty.  Got all the vegetables in the ground, the sunflowers planted and the corgis bathed. 

After a full day spent in the dirt - EVERYBODY needed a bath!

THIS is the face I got when I said the word, "bath!"

WINTER be Gone.....

I am a wee bit  sick of clouds today.  While I love a good thunder storm - these lifeless clouds, suspended from the heavens  --  neither raining, nor snowing - are really begining to bore me.

I do believe I'm ready for Spring.  I walked about the yard today surveying the property - thinking about what I'm going to play and where I'm going to plant it.  I miss fresh herbs, juicy tomatoes and crispy peppers.  And I long for the sight of big, beautiful sunflowers. So I say, "Let the Sun Shine!"   Winter be GONE!

Queen of Hearts...

Corny, I know - but I still love making hearts.  Always have, always will.  I keep making them for Sabrina and she doesn't have much interest in them - they're for "little girls."

NOT SO - say I.  Hearts are everywhere.  Carolyn makes beautiful textile hearts.  Babs makes gorgeous clay hearts.  My hearts - well, I like to start with a fabric base and then I attach all kinds of stuff - plastic, floss, yarn, fibers, wool, buttons, ribbons, etc.  I paint them, melt them, stitch them - whatever I feel like doing.  Many of my leftover scraps get turned into.... HEARTS.

The purple heart above, is one I made for Babs. I've loved purple since I was about 13.  It's still one of my favorite colors and I love working with it.

This is the Heart that Babs made for me.  It's clay painted in the most beautiful Earthy colors, embellished with copper and beads.  I love it.  I met Babs through the Girlfriend's Traveling Sketchbook.  Her stuff is so cool. 

 My  bezzy, Carolyn  (Love Stitching Red) , made me a delicious little purple heart (right).  I've admired her heat distressed, stitched and embellished work for a very long time.  You may remember the Global Warming piece she made for me a while back. Her work is so unique and her blog is a work of art in and of itself.

My mentioning hearts would be amiss had I failed to mention that Blaise, Sabrina and & I saw Alice in Wonderland this weekend at Imax in 3D.  In a word - MAGICAL. "What does that have to do with hearts?" you ask.  Helena Bonham Carter played the Queen of Hearts...

she was fantastic - as was Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter.
Coolest movie - loved it!  "I need a PIG!!!"

My dear Sabrina.....

Heart's are NOT

 just for little girls.

Two Different Kinds of "Stitches..."

While sitting with Gizmo the few days he was in dire straights - I found it hard to read or watch tv. Instead, I worked on the applique blocks for the wall hanging I've been playing around with.  I found the repetition of the stitching (without having to put too much thought into it) calming and very "zen" like.  I got the entire thing  pieced together (even the borders) and now I'm going to work on doing some serious embellishing with fibers and floss - maybe a few beads. 

                                                                      There's a little rabbit that goes on the bottom. I've cut him out of wool flannel and I'm going to blanket stitch him down.  I've never really worked on a "traditional" piece like this before - it's really kind of fun. 

I had so many things "in the works" when Gizmo got sick and time just stopped.  It is nice to be finishing up some things that I've promised out.

Here's an "initial" bag that I made for Sal's sweet little girlfriend, Lindsay.  She picked out the fabrics and asked if I could make it with her initial "L" on it.  I made a little pocket inside for her phone and camera.  It came out cute. 

On thing Gizmo's recent "mishap"  reminded me of - was the importance of PATIENCE. 

 Those who know me know I'm not a very patient person when it comes to accomplishing things.  I begin tasks with one thing in mind - to get them DONE.  Sadly,  I find that holds true even in my stitching - and while I have such a high regard and admiration for "slow cloth" - doing anything "slowly" used to just about KILL ME. But the last few weeks have demanded me to slow down and "wait."  And you know what.... it didn't kill me.  

 It has been nice slowing down and taking my time with these projects - remembering that the joy of things is found in the JOURNEY and not just in the DESTINATION. 

So let's just sit back and enjoy the ride.

XO

UPDATE: Gizmo has returned to his blanket -

in my studio - right by my side. He gets his tummy staples out next Monday. 

A Simple Equation for You.....

This........

PLUS this....

Equals this.....

......a Tummy full of stitches (inside and out)

What  was supposed to be a fun weekend (I was supposed to go to the Mid Atlantic Quilt Festival - something I have been looking forward to for months) turned out to be oh, about 4 days of  sleepless nights and living hell.

To make a very long story short - Gizmo is home today, resting comfortably (!) and enjoying all the attention and freshly cooked chicken, brown rice and cherry yogurt - being lavished upon him.  It was a very close call - but it looks like he's gonna be just fine!

Thank you so much for all your notes, e-mails and concern.  I know lots of you visit - not because you could care less about what I'm doing - but because you love to see what Gizmo has been up to!!! lol

It won't be long before he'll be  up and about - smiling and posing for the camera again - warming our hearts with his impish antics. 

Get Well Quick Little Gizmo. WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

P.S.  - Got a bunch of hand sewing (applique and embroidery) done while I've been siting with Gizmo.  I'll be sharing that soon!