New Studio!

Well - the time has come and now I can share some photos of my new studio! I am so thrilled. Steve was so generous in taking out the twin beds. In his words, it really did sort of look like "a yard sale" with all of the stuff piled on the beds and everywhere else I could find to stash it. He has been an absolute gem in wanting to do this right. His eye for detail is spot-on and I am so grateful. It was also quite nostalgic for him to turn this completely over to me. We removed all semblance of the boys living there. He did have a couple of moments, but he was still all for it.

After my good friend, Lynne Lanning (Quilting Quest Quilt Shop!!) was kind enough to take the beds over to my mom's in her pickup truck to store, I cleared the room. Sorry I didn't take "before" pictures, but it was total chaos.

Last weekend we drove to Charlotte to IKEA to get the shelving. What I had seen online wasn't nearly big enough when I saw it in person. We did find something even better and it's terrific.

Here are the 2 shelving units we purchased. They can actually be used vertically or horizontally. I chose to use them horizontally, as I felt like they gave me more usable storage space.


Steve really wanted me to have a good place to work. He was concerned that I be comfortable and have good views all around me. Now I can see out the window on my left (no photo - duh), my stash shelves on the right, the doorway & hallway so I can tell when he's coming in without startling me (!) -



So now I have no reason not finish enough pieces for the show in April in Jonesboro, Arkansas. uh oh. ! ;)






I didn't have a design wall up yet and Steve had decided he wanted mine to be mounted on the wall and be framed. wow. I would probably be the only fiber artist I knew with a framed design wall. He thought about it some more and decided that a nice sized cork board would work (and relieve him of having to figure out how to frame the design board! lol!). I covered the cork part with flannel and Steve stapled it in place. It's not that large, but I work fairly small, so it's perfect for me. You can see a bit of the design board in this photo -



Thanks to Laurie and Ian (our kids) for their terrific taste in lighting fixtures. We went to Lowe's to look for one like they had, but they didn't have one exactly like it. We found this one, instead, and it works perfectly. I can change the arm direction and point the little spot lights wherever I need them. I love this fixture.




I promise to get better photos when it is all complete.

We intend to add a little more storage in a couple of weeks. I need a place to put my thread out in reachable distance from my sewing/work table. And there might be a bit of rearranging, but not much. Thank you to my incredibly supportive husband. I am a lucky woman!

Featured Artist!!??

I have to share the good news I received last week. A lot of people have heard this, but I can't help but be thrilled, so I'm repeating it here. I received a wonderful email from Nancy Chrisman, representing the Women's Advisory Council for St. Bernard's Development Foundation, Inc. in Jonesboro, Arkansasa (a non-profit organization supporting the mission of St. Bernards Regional Medical Center), inviting me to be their featured artist for their exhibit in April 2011!!! The net proceeds from the show are donated to The Flo & Phil Jones Hospice House in Jonesboro. The Council raises money from a silent auction, from vendors' booths and from sponsors.

Fabulous! Nancy said they could easily have space for 20-30 pieces of my work, since I work fairly small (not larger than 36" any direction). My dilemma is that I only have 10 pieces at this time that could be featured and sold (they appreciate a 20% donation from the sales). Holy Toledo! I have until March 1st, 2011, so I'm not too concerned. I'm sure I can get at least 10 made by then. If I work at it!

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I have been moving in a completely different direction with my art lately. I am an ardent admirer of Mary Hettmansperger and have taken the leap to using copper with my fabric. It is so much fun! I have a Fat Boy Bernzomatic propane torch for annealing copper sheeting! Woohoo! Is that ever a blast! Can't you just see me with a blow torch!!?? I hammer copper wire and have some beautiful color-coated wire. I play with copper foil and I got some Mica to have fun with, too. So - here are some not-so-great photos (sorry - copper is very difficult to photograph well).

This is the first piece I made. I used some tiny cloisonne' beads (on the right) that I just love, as well as the two in the center of the copper that I made with fabric. The copper piece has been annealed (torched!!!) and hammered for texture. The copper paddles have been hammered and then tied onto the copper sheet with very fine blue-coated copper wire. The pinkish-beige backing is actually paper ribbon and I hand-stitched this onto the multi-brown background. The small blue dot on the tiny copper piece is a French knot of embroidery floss.


This piece I call "Verdigris I". It is not my favorite piece. I stitched a piece of cheesecloth that I dyed over a piece of green and blue fabric that I also dyed. Copper leaves and shapes are annealed and hammered for texture. Most pieces are held onto the backing with teeny tiny brads. One rectangular piece with a bent copper bead is tied on with the fine red wire and the paddles are stitched down with thread. The square in the upper right corner is copper foil. What appears to be a painting is some thread that I had stitched together with water soluble stabilizer. A piece of mica is on top of that to hold it in place. Fun techniques - not crazy about the outcome.


"Verdigris II" is a little better. This has 3 layers of cloth on a foam core base. The top layer of fabric is one I had previously rusted and thought it would work well. Again - lots of fun techniques here. Pounded wire into shapes, used leftover strips of copper sheeting to make the curly-cues, and more mica and copper foil with tiny brackets.


This last one Steve named "Reeds". We think it looks like sunrise at the beach or on a marsh, and the various colored and hammered copper wires are the reeds. When the light hits the colored wire, it is really beautiful. I'm quite thrilled with this one. Steve says it's not leaving the house. Guess he likes it! 8>)

I haven't decided whether to use some of these in the Jonesboro show or not. Steve thinks I should, to show part of the "journey" I'm on with my art. I'll have to think about it. In the meantime, I need to get back into the studio and get some work done, so there can be a show!!
Thanks for looking and feel free to comment.

A New Blog Year

So - it's been a year since I last blogged. Steve and I went to New England a year ago and I took so many photos that I was overwhelmed with them all, and when it came time to choose some for the blog, I abandoned it.

So now - Steve and I have just returned from a quick weekend holiday at the Outer Banks (OBX for those who don't know). I had never been that far up the NC coast and it had been about 40 years since Steve had. I'm not sure what I expected, but it wasn't a Myrtle Beach type of jammed up 3 story cottages and no view of ocean no matter where you drove. I felt somewhat like someone from another country coming to visit Texas and finding out there aren't really cowboys and Indians riding the wild west. I guess I expected there to be a lot more openness.

So - my main reason for going was to see the wild ponies up at Corova Beach - where the OBX road ends and you have to drive on the beach. It's important to check your tide tables before attempting this, which we did. Now, my 2009 Honda CRV has all-wheel drive, which is always good. Not quite great for driving on sand, but okay. It was the ground clearance that was the problem. Like a snow plow - it tried to push the sand, but wasn't strong enough.

So - here are the lovely ruts in the sand and here is Steve trying to shovel the snow out from under the engine.




He wasn't able to do that, but a nice gentleman from Utah stopped and pulled us a short way out so we could get back to the road.



Unfortunately, the nice gentleman didn't pull us out quite far enough, so Steve got the shovel out again. He still wasn't able to dig us out. And then another nice gentleman with a much larger pickup truck came to our aid and actually did pull us out far enough. Who says size doesn't matter? hah! In ground clearance, it certainly does!



We gave up on the ponies and decided to drive south to check out the other 2 lighthouses. We'd seen the Currituck light and it was pretty cool. But everyone takes pictures of light houses and I had a new camera, so I took this photo, instead.



We were disappointed in the Bodie Island Light - it is currently covered in metal scaffolding. You could see it through the scaffolding, but who wants a photo of metal scaffolding?

I was talking with Keri as we continued our drive south to the Cape Hatteras Light. Suddenly, on the sound side (right) of the road, we saw what appeared to be several large half-moon-shaped kites.



I quickly hung up from Keri & Steve pulled the car over. There were about a dozen sail boarders taking advantage of the 30+ mph winds. It was so exciting to watch them speed across the water and then fly up into the air! One guy was definitely a hot dogger and waved at us while I took his photo - too bad I didn't catch it! 8>) But these are some of the fun ones I did get.




Those guys really move and often look like they are about to run up onto the beach, but manage to turn on a dime and keep moving like the wind! Definitely a sport for the extremely fit!



The Hatteras light was nice and I took the standard tourist photos, which I won't bore you with, and we went back to our room (which did not have an ocean view!). We had some time before dinner, so we decided to take a walk on the nearby pier. The waves were incredible, thanks to Igor. "No Swimming" signs everywhere.



But the signs didn't deter this young daredevil - it took him forever to fight the waves and current to get out far enough to make it worthwhile, but he finally did.



When we got back to the motel after a fabulous steamed clambake at the Black Pelican (a MUST-DO!), Steve went out to have fun feeding the gulls, although it looked like they really meant business!






We'd had more than enough sun, sand (stinging our faces, arms & legs with the wicked wind) and waves and, not having been able to see the wild ponies, decided to cut it short by a day so we could relax where we really enjoy it best -




And when Steve had filled the bird feeder, our resident wildlife were glad we were home, too. (there is actually more than one bird - but he was the only one willing to pose!)



So - back to work tomorrow. Blogger has definitely changed during the past year, so I apologize for the erratic photos and I fully intend to get more up to speed with it, but bear with me. I promise to post about my art and show some photos of the new copper stuff next time. Thanks for reading and enjoying my very short vacation with me! I hope you read again soon!

I am ecstatic that tomorrow morning Steve and I are beginning our vacation. We begin by driving to Boiling Springs, PA tomorrow. It's a beautiful and interesting town/area. Very American Revolutionary style of homes and buildings. And there is a fantastic river for fly fishing - which I'm hoping Steve will take advantage of.

Saturday we will drive to Bridgehampton, LI, NY. "The Hamptons". Steve's Uncle Dick just turned 97 and, though hard of hearing, is still quite clear thinking. He has self-published 3 books in the last 8 or so years. One historical about the weather of the Hamptons - he's been doing the weather since he was 17 - and 2 poetry books that are just fabulous. We get to spend the afternoon and night with Dick and his wife, Lillian.

Sunday morning we will take a ferry to Shelter Island and then drive to Greenport where we will catch an hour and a half long ferry to New London, CT ($47!! for the car & driver - I have to pay extra at the gate!, but it's worth the shortcut). Then we will drive to Freeport, ME.

Monday Steve will get to revisit (and likely mourn) seeing L.L.Bean (he was there 30+ years ago when it was the only thing in the area). Then we get to do the lighthouse photoshoot - there are tons of lighthouses in the area. And eat LOTS AND LOTS OF SEAFOOD!! And we will drive to Camden, ME.

We will actually be staying a few miles north of Camden in a cabin resort area where Bob Lacey (Bob & Sheri radio show in Charlotte & nationwide) stays a lot. Camden is supposed to be an incredibly picturesque harbor town. I am really looking forward to that. And more seafood.

Wednesday we will drive to North Conaway NH. We will see the something Birches- a big birch tree area. Looking forward to that. And some personal reasons for Steve wanting to visit.

Thursday - our 15th anniversary!!!- we will be in Manchester,VT. Another personal reason for visiting. It will be a special night for our anniversary, so I hope there's a good restaurant. If not, a good pot roast will do.

Friday - I hope we can drive to Williamsville to see Deirdre Scherer's studio. Susan's partner, Richard, gave me her phone number, as her open studios are generally on the weekend. He also gave me directions to his family's farm, which is nearby, and if we get to visit Deirdre, we will definitely drive by his farm. And then on to New Paltz to see my new great-nephew - Kelso Ronald Woodburn. From his photos, he's adorable. and Keith says he is very good.

Saturday - alas, we will drive home. But I will be much rested and fulfilled with nature, great food, incredible love, and the warmth of family.

So - now we begin that much-needed journey. Later.


Monday

It's been a very productive weekend. Yesterday Steve and I made our monthly sojourn to Winston to Total Wine and Fresh Market. Managed to spend a bunch, but it will get us through the month. Well, the meat, anyway.
I got my most recent fire quilt back on Friday and was thrilled to see that I still like it. I will have to think about where to enter it in the next year or so.
I am even more thrilled that I finished the coleus leaf yesteray. It was a bit wonky, so I threw a damp linen dish towel over it and pressed it and it took the waviness right out. It's more perpendicular than the Lily. So - here it is - what do you think?

Here is the whole piece on a black background. I haven't made the quilt backing for Jennifer to work her magic on yet. This took longer than the lily. Not sure why. Here is a closer up:



Got a lot of house cleaning, some birthday cards, and lots of laundry done. Wednesday, Sept. 2nd., is Steve's uncle's birthday. He will be 97 years old and still an incredibly alert and intelligent man. We get to visit him in 3 weeks when we make our New England trip.

I have to make a not-fun comment here. I have always liked WonderUnder as a fusible. I especially liked reusing the paper backing from it. I got a bad bunch back in the early spring and, after posting about it on Quiltart digest, I got the info to contact the company and complain. Michele was very nice and apologized and sent me an entire bolt of WU, along with their new paper-less WU, and some new thing that has a clear backing. Karen Fridy and I have had some problems again with the new bolts. It has to be a different product. The fusible webbing doesn't want to melt and stays quite stringy. At the same time, the backing is still peeling off in strips and small pieces. I am very unhappy and will let Pellon know. The fusible that has no paper backing is heavy and not a great find. I have been a little hesitant to use the new product, having had few reasons to use fusible at all this weekend. I will be contacting Pellon again. They really need a product control person to be checking this stuff.

that's all for now.

Okay - I'm not blogging very frequently, but I'm trying. Just too much going on. Gosh, it feels like I just bought that car last week.
But what was better last week was taking Sarah and fishing and....(DRUM ROLL) A NEW GRANDDAUGHTER!!! Iris Grace Williams arrived about 5 weeks early and we got to go up and see her. She is doing well, but at this time (born Sat. Aug. 8th and today is August 15th) she is still in the hospital. Ian and Laurie were hoping to take her home by the end of the week because she seemed to be doing quite well, but now it will be another couple of days. So here is the new baby beauty!

And my bonus son, Ian, with his beautiful daughter...

Last weekend we also took Sarah fishing. She had a blast, Keri had a blast, and even though he would never admit to "having a blast", so did Grampa. We went to Finch Park in Lexington, NC and this was taken by Keri and it looks so cool in black and white. You can just hear someone whistling the theme...

Sarah was so excited when she caught the first fish - it was very tiny, but the next one - a blue gill, was a keeper. She decided she caught it, but Grampa needed to get it off the hook. Keri had to walk back to the car for the bucket and after that, Sarah kept trying to feed the worms to the fish. (Guess he'd learned his lesson). But Grampa was explaining the high science of fishing to Sarah...and named her "Worm Girl" so she could bring him the worms. So we all became "Worm Mom", "Worm Grammy", and "Worm Grampa".


This is a photo of a really cool tree stump laying on the ground near the pond. I have not PhotoShopped it or done anything to it. I don't think it had been burned, but it was very cool. I will have to find a use for this, furshur!

Is that cool, or what?

I totally forgot to post this picture of my finished Dandelion Fuzz. I had threadpainted it months ago, but wasn't sure how I wanted to finish it off. So = I just did. I like the way it came out. It's a small piece - about 9" x 12"? I added beads for the "water droplets" and I like how they look.

I think you can see the beads on that, but just in case, here is a closeup.



This afternoon I had a visitor to my goldfish pond. It was really pretty funny because I collect frogs and have them posted around the pond. Some have been assimilated into the periwinkle around the stones, but some are very conspicuous. So - a real frog - the very first one - on a lily pad! He appears to be facing off against the big daddy frog I bought in Blowing Rock...


So today I worked on my next total threadpainting some more. Ran some errands. Bought some country cd's I'll give to Keri. And had fun. Tonight I made a new gelatin mold -(the one I made 2 weeks ago I screwed up - only put half the needed gelatin in), so I'm trying again. Tomorrow I will play with that again. After I give Bev a haircut... for those of you who don't know - Bev is my mother. Laugh-a-minute in-your-face-with-fun-Bev... Can't you just see it?

I know it has been a loooong time since I posted. Too much going on, too much to pinpoint and too much to try to recount. So I'll just start this past week. So much even with that!

First - I have a new great nephew! Keith & Mary had a baby boy on July 15th and named him Kelso Ronald Woodburn. Kelso is Mary's maiden name and a pretty cool name. I am hoping they will call him Ronnie, after Keith's Dad & my brother, but he's a gift, whatever they choose to call him. So -here's Kelso Ronald - (as long as they don't call him that!)


It was a really busy weekend - Keri came down and we did the WWPW (World Wide Photo Walk - you'll have to google it - it's too complicated, but a blast!) in Mocksville at the RayLen Winery. Got lots of photos of grapes and some cool leaves (and much more) in a two-hour period.


Next - I got into my car a week ago Tuesday and my AC didn't come on. Found out that the compressor exploded in the AC system, sending shards of metal all through it - to the tune of $3,000 to replace the whole system. With 94,000 miles on it, needing $500 worth of tires, and the 90,000+ ($600) checkup, we decided to nix it and get a new one.
I do love it, but it was totally unexpected!

Sunday morning Steve and I took the new ride up to Stokes/Surry County so Steve could check out the river for fishing. It's a beautiful river with lots of rocks in it - cool drifts. I was disappointed that there were so many trees along the river bank that I could barely see the river, but I found spot where I could...


And, one of the best parts of the week! I finished the Asiatic Lily some time ago, but couldn't decide how to mount/finish it off. After some collaboration with a very talented quilter friend, we came up with this - I think the quilting is exquisite and I am proud to be partnering with her on this.



And here is a bit of a closeup (I've had to really lighten up the lily in order for the black on black quilting to show up):


Peter & Jill came back from Italy yesterday and came over for dinner. Unfortunately, they don't have their photos yet. We did have a great visit and made fun pizzas.