never enough time

some days i pull into the garage and want to go straight into the sewing room instead of upstairs to responsibility... today i had promised to make a lasagne from scratch for my husband and my son... it was fun... i do like making pasta from scratch.... and i like it that i grew the tomatoes last year and canned them and now have made sauce with garlic and basil i have grown and that i make the bechamel sauce for on top and then grate the cheese and spread the duxelles anf the ricotta. it all pleases me very much... but its what i have done all my life. now i finally thought i would have time to pursue fibers. no kids at home...far from it... and no need to go to work each day. but i am older and it takes more time to do things. and i have to spend more time taking care of my body. family issues take up time too. and caring for a husband... not that he has intense needs... he is an artist and understands if the dishes aren't done. he even does them from time to time and his own laundry too now. all in the guise of helping me to have more time in the studio..... so why don't i seem to have "enough" time?

trying something new

before i could quilt this piece that i did in jean wells' intuitive quilting class last may... i wanted to test the new batting i am trying out. this is called "deconstructed nine patch"



so i challenged myself to work quickly without over thinking...something i tend to do if i am not under a time constraint. i've been thinking of my next series since i got back from morocco... you can see the pictures here... http://web.me.com/nddas
there are also pics from japan there...
i'll talk more about my new series later but for now here is what i did today. it is not quilted or embellished yet. its working title is "listen to the call". ignore the little white squares... i couldn't crop them out.

front

back

apricot jam

i made three batches of apricot jam. although i haven't been in my studio creating, i have been in the kitchen and the garden. and today 3 books from jane dunewold came, all except the new one... so i have inspiration at my finger tips.

peach season

today i am off on another track... i have so many things i like to pursue that its hard for me to stick to just one. i am a gemini, after all! here are some peaches that i was commissioned to do.. this is before photo shop...which i will use just to brighten and clean up a few blemishes on the peaches. its been such a cold summer here that peach season is late. these aren't perfectly ripe and are from the grocery store. usually i get them from the farmers market. i like the peaches from maryhill the best but they aren't here yet. i suppose these are from california.... not local unfortunately but i have an august deadline and i don't like pushing things too far. i wonder which one she will choose. i like the peachy background myself.

anna's quilt

here is the finished product....of course i've got the back shown first... the back is a direct result of being in jean wells class. i am happy with how the colors all worked out. . its always amazing that the same colors can read so differently in various quilting styles.i am finished with this type of quilt for awhile.... this was one that i based on a kaffe fasset design... his was square and just used a featured fabric in the center where as mine is rectangle with an appliqued center. i just felt like a bit of hand work to see how my hands would respond. happily, in small doses its fine. needless to say anna was thrilled. i was happy to make it for her as she is someone quite special.

results & analysis

i am not feeling that the colors have been reproduced exactly as they really are but its close enough for today. i was underwhelmed at first... but now i have ironed them and looked at them again and i can see that they will work together. it will be much lighter in value than i regularly work. i don't think of myself as only liking bright colors but these could have a bit more depth for my taste. if i have a grey to put with them i think that would make them work better. not a dark one... just a little darker in value than these, enough to set them off. my favorite piece of all is the little gold one. and then the center of the green. and the pink petals from the peony. when i made the bundles i think i used too long of a piece of fabric. i like the resist of the string but the dye did not penetrate deeply inside. so next time maybe a few twigs for the center and shorter strips. and that last photo is much paler than the others... it wasn't like that in i-photo. i have to work some of the technicalities out in transferring photos. i'll be easy on myself here because this is the first try...

out in the sun in quart jars :
all fabric is drenched in vinegar 4:1
1) rust bundle with vinegar water.
2)artemisia, lily petals, yellow alstromeria flower petals. wrapped up on apple branch. onion skins and a few nails in plain water
3)a)wad of onion skins and curry powder, b)curry pwder sprinkled on with calendula bud centers, c)more petals of lily and alstromeria, wrapped on apple stick, in quart jar with plain water, 7 lilys and alum
4)lichen covered sticks bundled in quart jar with 2 tea bags and alum
5)camponile flowers with peony petals and centers rolled on apple stick in quart jar with rest of the artemisia 3 lilies and alum.

that was a lot of work...gathering supplies making bundles and putting it all away... in the heat... but its done and it will stay there for awhile. we will see how patient i am.