Luscious colors

I decided that instead of cutting up and reorganizing my painted piece, I would cover it with swaths of painted sheer silk organza to give it a dreamy, filmy, rich look. I just love layering sheers that I've painted over cotton that I've also painted -- it completely transforms it into deeper, shifting, rich, mysterious colors. 

I pinned through the silk, the cotton background and batting and then started hand stitching along the organza edges.

I have a luscious pile of silk and other sheers that I've collected over decades, but I still needed more blue and green so I painted another piece and put it outside where it dried in minutes in our hot desert sun. (It's still in the 80s here!)

I debated how to attach everything. Normally I machine quilt, but that would make too harsh of a line on what I want to be a delicate airy piece. I finally decided to use just two strands of embroidery floss and do a loose herringbone stitch along the edges of the silk.

It's not quick, but I love the rhythm of the slow hand stitching. I do it standing, with the work spread on my ironing table and the Grateful Dead providing the beat. On one hand I find the work very relaxing, but on the other the beautiful colors are so uplifting!

We also have some beautiful colors going on outside. Here are just a few photos from a one-block stretch near my neighborhood.

Have a colorful day

New desert pieces

I'm working on more pieces for my Louisville show, "Homegrown Stories," which will have three artists sharing the entire PYRO Gallery. My take on the theme is "At Home In the Desert." 

The idea for this piece (above) was to layer sheers over the big piece of fabric that I painted. It was supposed to give the effect of the desert sky above mountains and green desert, but I don't think it works.

So I think I might cut it up and shift it around to be totally abstract, then layer it with sheers.

I'm nervous about just cutting straight into the fabric, so I took a picture of it and printed out two copies to cut up and play with. I think I'll go with this one. I cut it in the picture above and then shifted the blocks in the picture below. I haven't gotten up the courage to cut into the cloth yet!

Or should I stick with the whole cloth?

But I did finish this piece, "Sonoran Desert." My sister, who belongs to PYRO and is organizing the show, wants the three of us to each create an 18x24-inch piece in blues and greens to hang together as unmounted work. She's a painter, so hers is on a piece of canvas with raw edges. My quilt also has raw edges.

It started as a vertical, but when I realized that hers was a horizontal I changed mine to match. Here's my "palette," a jumble of blue and green fabric on my sewing room floor.

Ta da! Now it's a horizontal. Then I machine quilted it (see the first photo).

I was struck by how my succulent on the back patio echos the greens in my quilt.

Finally, this is my quick and cheap Halloween costume. I'm a Spice Rack!!! (I got the idea from Instagram.) And my shirt is the same blue as the desert sky. Having matching blue tape was serendipitous and totally unplanned.

Have a colorful day

Sorting through memories

My sisters, brother and I converged from around the country at my parents' house in California over the weekend to sort through things we want to keep before we put the house up for sale. It was a big trip down memory lane.

We found this photo of us as kids gathered around our dining room table in South Park Township outside of Pittsburgh. And here we are today (plus Terry's husband), gathered around a table at Eat At Joe's in Redondo Beach.

And here we are in my parents' kitchen sorting through dishes, and on the back patio.

This is my great aunt and great uncle's family cottage in northern Pennsylvania where we spent wonderful summer vacations running around the farm, fishing in the creek, shucking corn grown by Uncle John, running down to the outhouse and hauling water from the spring. The cottage had no electricity or running water, but as kids we didn't care! My aunt and uncle lived in their more modern home in Bradford, PA, but the farm stole my heart.

My sisters and I took a few photos of us. Do you see any resemblance to the photo of my mom in her much younger days? There was no date, but I'm guessing she was in her 30s or 40s and we're all in our 60s. It was the first time I had seen that photo of her.

Besides oodles of photos, we found this poem written by my paternal grandfather, who loved writing and painting. I'm wondering if he painted the background picture.

It was a quick trip, so one morning stroll by the water in Redondo Beach was as close as I got to doing any SoCal.

Have a colorful day

My quote collage books are done!

I finished my three sparkly little books 

of collaged quotes yesterday!

As I brushed the last scraps into the wastebasket I was sad to be ending this project, which I started months ago not sure how it would go. But I took the advice in these two quotes and forged ahead, making design decisions as it progressed and trusting that it would be fabulous.

"And suddenly you know: 

It's time to start something new 

and trust the magic of beginnings."

"Overcome fear, behold wonder."

The impetus for the project was an art show I'm going to be in with my sister in February. The theme is "Homegrown Stories," and my sister suggested that we each make an art book to go along with the "stories" part. I'd never made an art book before and spent a few months thinking about possibilities before coming up with the idea to do little collages featuring the inspirational quotes that I began collecting six years ago during a difficult time in my life.

Then the challenge became deciding which of my several hundred quotes to use! I ended up splitting them into three books with a total of 22 quotes. I could have made dozens more because it was so fun hand stitching the little bright bits of fabric. But I had to make myself stop so I can make big art for the show.

I like their little size and how soft and light they are in the hand. One reason I love working with fabric is because of its softness.

I was concerned that my machine wouldn't be able to get through all the layers to sew the book bindings on, but with a big jeans needle my trusty 35-year-old Bernina 1230 did the job effortlessly. It beautifully sewed through 16 layers of fabric plus the heat and bond in between the layers in the thickest book.

 

Have a colorful day

No Kings!!!

I went to the No Kings protest in Oro Valley (just north of Tucson) this morning and was elated at the huge crowd turnout. We lined Oracle, a major road through town, and it seemed as if nearly every passing car honked in support! 

It was joyful despite the seriousness of what we're protesting. And it felt so good to be surrounded by "my people," even though I didn't know them personally.

I bought a sign from this guy's trunk, and I filled out postcards to all three branches of government at the Oro Valley Democrats booth.

Some snapshots ...

Adelita Grijalva is Tucson's representative who Speaker Mike Johnson is refusing to swear in. Lots of support for her here.

I started with my homemade sign, which is kindergarten level. Luckily I could buy a better one there:

I read that 7 million showed up to protest all over the United States, plus many more in other countries. Here's my sister at her protest in Port Townsend, WA. And my brother in law sent the next one from Chelsea, MI.

So proud of the big turnout in my hometown, Pittsburgh!

Have a colorful day