Chaotic Stitching

For today's experiment, I decided to do some haphazard stitching and encourage the frayed threads. My elephant example seems a bit too confusing. I think I'll try some more organized stitching next time.

Tomorrow I think I'm going to use watercolor paints on some muslin I've soaked in home made soy milk. Supposedly, the soy makes the fibers resistant to bleeding, so hopefully I can do some teeny paintings with tiny brushes.













Today was a bit overcast so I thought I'd make a piece with a flower in the sky to cheer myself up. It's not finished yet, but you can get the idea.

A Pause for a Date with my Husband

This morning we started out by having breakfast at Court Street Dairy cafe in Salem, where I sipped coffee from the perfect cat mug for the cat lover. Witness:


Then we walked over to the Riverfront Park where there was a dedication ceremony for a new sculpture of former Governor Tom Mc Call.

It started out covered with a black sheet, which gave it a decidedly early-Halloween appearance.

The bronze statue rises nearly 10 feet and weighs more than 1,000 pounds.

It was made by sculptor Rip Caswell, who has been involved in the design process for over nine years. The actual fabrication took months.

This is Rip Caswell on the left. Tom McCall's son is on the right. I think the guy in the middle is a reporter.
When the sheet was removed, the crowd gasped appropriately. It really is a great sculpture, and the Salem Riverfront Park is the perfect place for it.

In this photo, you can see current governor Ted Kulongoski in the light gray suit, and former governor John Kitzhaber on the right with his usual Levis and sports jacket.

Governor Tom McCall was a very important Oregonian. He helped us all understand how much we need to appreciate and protect our beautiful environment. He was responsible for Oregon's bottle bill (deposits and refunds for pop bottles), and most states eventually followed the idea.

This statue depicts him as a fisherman, which he truly was. He was also famous for his "We should welcome folks to Oregon for visits, but don't encourage them to stay" ideas.

















Then Jim I went for a nice long walk on Minto Brown Island. It was a perfect day. Lots of geese, herons and humans.

Here's Jim gaping at the Willamette River.

Anything Goes

In spite of the fact that I have a couple of big quilts in various stages of completion, I can't seem to get enough of making these little experimental pieces.

I love, love, love the freedom to let my curiosity run amok, without fear of "wasting" too much time or fabric. Plus, it makes me look at different fabrics in a whole new way. (i.e. Wow! Look at this piece of thick big-weave fabric. Maybe I could use it as a background for an embroidered aardvark!)



I've had this old flour sack for a long time. I decided to stuff the center circle to make it bulge forward.


This one isn't quite finished yet, but I'm having loads of fun doing it.






Here are a few more that I think I've finished, but who knows? I may get a new inspiration for one of them. These little things are all about doing whatever inspires me in the moment...very zenlike.

Folksy

I'm still on my folk-art binge.

I decided to make a bunch of 11 x 11 inch square pieces of muslin to use for as many experimental small quilts as I can manage to dream up. I have no idea how (or if) I'll use them, but they give me a huge sense of freedom that I love. I can try absolutely anything, and if I don't like the end result...no problemo...back to the scrap bag it will go.

I start by putting stuff onto the muslin almost at random. Then I arrange the pieces until I like the composition, pin them all in place, and then sew all the pieces down by hand with heavy cotton embroidery threads.

Naturally, this required a return trip to Goodwill (not that I don't have enough stuff already), but there were things (like lace) that I wanted to incorporate, but didn't have. This first one has some lace that I cut from a black slip.


This next one includes some vintage fabrics and a piece from an old flour sack.




The idea for the last one arose from an interview of an African-American woman I saw on TV. She was talking about her experience after huricane Katrina, and her hopes for the presidential election... Barrack Obama being her choice.

Goofing Around with a Raw Vision

I recently finished an attempt a sort of folk-art quilt that I quilted by hand with heavy cotton thread. I loved doing it.

And it looks sort of great too...in my opinion. Just LOOK at all them birds!


I decided I should try my hand at more folk-art and hand sewing with heavier threads projects, and thought it'd be fun to create some sort of non-existant animal figure.








So here you have it: My ethnic snaggle-toothed folk-art creechure. His name is Senior Bumblethorp.


I used leftover Guatemalan and African fabrics, as well as plain cotton. Then I fashioned triangular teeth out of white cotton, stuffed him with poly pillow stuffer, and put it all together, mostly by hand.

This was a good day for this because I wanted to watch TV to see if hurricane Ike demolished my sister's Rockport, TX home. (It didn't!!!). I was able to stitch and watch at the same time.























After all that TV, Senior Bumblethorp and I got hungry, so I made a fish for him, and I ate watermelon, out on the deck.

Bliss...

Quotes and Kingfishers

While I was goofing around on my computer this morning, I found this blurb by Henry David Thoreau.

I take his meaning to be that if we can look at the world with beginner's eyes, or fresh eyes, we will see the beauty to which we might have become desensitized.

It's not easy for me to be that conscious all the time, but I do like this reminder.






Yesterday, I was lollygagging on the deck, taking in the beautiful day and reading my book. This little bird caught my eye, as she sat on a rock by the river. She was obviously fish hunting.

Later, I was able to identify her as a female belted Kingfisher. I also found a website that has the sound she was making, recorded so you can hear it too. Here's the link: http://animalbehaviorarchive.org/assetSelect.do?assetId=795995&section=summary

Carrots, Cucumbers and Catz

Today, our good friends Tom and Norma Mack invited me over to raid their garden. Look at this haul!

Their garden is huge, with way too much produce for the two of them, so they're big on pickling, pie baking, dilling green beans, and inviting friends to come and plunder.

We're so lucky. Thanks, Tom and Norma!




My friend Bonnie sent me a whole slew of cat pictures with funny captions. These two made me laugh out loud.

Cats and Quilts

Today, Phoebe tried to hide in the azalias so she could catch a bird. She missed every time.

She's pictured here, contemplating her options, but hoping no one was watching her failed attempts. How humiliating!










I've been working on hand quilting a sort of folk-art quilt that I made. I'm using thick cotton thread.

Don't I look intense?

When Phoebe catches me doing this, she pushes her way into the middle of the quilt and flops down for a nap.

Goodwill is a Very Good Thing

When I was in Seattle a couple of weeks ago for the quilt show, we went into the niftiest little shop that had all sorts of unusual folk art things. I spotted a stuffed cat that I thought would be perfect to get for granddaughter Mia. It was made out of knitted fabrics, and was so soft and cuddly. However, the price tag made me gasp...$56!

So I decided to make one myself.

When we got back, I went to Goodwill and bought some old sweaters that I cut up, and I already had some polyester stuffing from a pillow I'd made. I just finished it this afternoon, and here it is!