Commentary about works in progress, design & creativity
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I had no idea that Artquiltmaker Blog had become famous until I was testing out a new blog search engine called Zuula and found this blog all over the place there. Not sure how I feel about that! Happy, because of new readers, but scared because of the opportunities for spam. We’ll see how it shakes out, but it is exciting!
I had a lot to do today, as is par for the course, I guess. I needed to be out of the house early, because I had an appointment and wanted to stop by my designer as well as take my machine in for a service before the appointment. (Just to cut the drama, I accomplished it all!).
I was feeling quite sad as I packed up my machine, knowing that it would be at least a week before I would be able to work on the Pineapples again AND that now I had to spend valuable time going in search of a thimble. The thought of no fiberwork was too upsetting to even contemplate, but the machine really needed the service. My dealer went out of business and the subsequent dealer who serviced my machine was subpar IMO, so I hadn’t taken it in for service in a long time.
I sucked he drame, uncertainty and all of my worries up and took the poor machine in. Then I went about my business of the day. Eventually I made it home and went up to the workroom. The first thing I saw, sitting smugly in the middle of the floor looking like it had just returned from an illicit rendezvous, was the thimble. I was elated! And puzzled. The floor of the workroom was somewhere that I searched and, unless I am going selectively blind, the thimble wasn’t there.
Regardless, I am thrilled. I can make progress while the machine is gone and I don’t have to go and try to replace the thimble. I will definitely buy a second thimble the next time I am at a quilt shop or show that has them.
Today I lost my thimble. It was in my little handwork bag, I think, when I worked on the Cross Blocks (Flowering Snowballs) on Tuesday. Now it is not there. I loved that thimble and used it constantly for handwork. I can’t do handwork without it. It was a small silver thimble in a very classic style that my mother gave me some years ago. I supposed I have to go and seek out a new one, but it won’t be the same. I am really sad.
Yarnstorm is my new heroine. She put a post with a postage stamp quilt inspired by blue cupcakes! I want to steal all of her photos and be her. My photos are completely terrible compared to hers. I am glad I found her, so I can be inspired.
In the course of my non-quiltmaking work, I read a newsletter which periodically tempts me to try new technology. Today I tried Keotag. Keotag appears to tell you about references to your search terms (blog, in this case). I found that this blog was linked by the Thumbelina Pear blog. It is a foodie blog (I wonder if s/he posts on wheat-free dishes??). It is a nice looking blog – clean look and fresh colors which appeal to my sense of color and design.
I am also quite flattered that a foodie would link to this blog. Check it out!
I received a Sacchi tri-fold portfolio with paper and colored pencils in it as a Christmas gift. The portfolio is turquoise. I love it. I have started to carry it with me in order to have art supplies available when I feel creative.
Last night, on the way home on the train, I took it out and doodled while I listened to Anita Shreve’s book A Wedding in December. First I doodled the designs that are stamped on the edge of the pencils, then I drew some blocks. I felt so out of practice. It was hard to doodle. I need practice.
I am glad I took the Liz Berg class, because hopefully, it will get me going. Not sure if I will be able to create an idea journal like Liz’s but I can do what I can do.
Not quilt related, but useful to bloggers. I’ll get back to the quilting soon. Lots to talk about.
We had sun in DC today for the first in 2.5 months. It was a thrill to get off the train and see sun. I know some of you are sick of the sun, but I have worn a jacket and long sleeves all summer. School starts tomorrow for the kid, so I have been working on that rather than sewing. Still, I did finish sewing the binding on to Feelin’ Blue, Too yesterday and immediately started working on the sleeve. The sleeve is just a tad too big, but I will sew it to the binding rather than redo it. This means that both bindings are done. Hopefully, I am on the home stretch.
I contemplate this view a lot. I am not always sure if I am thinking or just pretending to think so nobody will bother me. It is hard to know when I am writing about it and not doing it now. This is the Real View.
I took the Real View because of the fog… and in spite of the fog. It is a kind of defiance, I think. Summer is such a foggy time for this area. I feel I have to see the beauty in the fog. I don’t really see beauty in this photo itself, but there is a kind of beauty in the calmness of it.
After I took the photo, I couldn’t stop thinking that someone would be able to find my window by looking at my neighbor’s house and that I should conceal my view further.
All I could think of was a view I call the Pencil View.
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I did it with Paint Shop Pro. I didn’t draw it as I possibly would have at another time. I am not very confident with Paint Shop Pro, but I am pleased with how this turned out. Not completely pleased, though. I wanted less details and more lines and contrast. I couldn’t figure out how to adjust the pencil view to just leave the lines and eliminate the dots. No, I didn’t read the help file.
I tried another of the “Artist’s Effects” in PSP and came up with the Blue View.
This view has the clarity I want. This reminds me vaguely of a quilt I saw at New Pieces a long time ago. The quilt was made by Angie Woolman for a series of classes she taught there called Color Me Orange. Color Me Orange was very blocky and orange. Somehow this picture is just an impression in my mind of that quilt.
I am more than half way through Five Quarters of the Orange, listening to the digital version as I drive around. I like the descriptions, especially of the food. I am not much of a gourmet, so I think it is hilarious how much I enjoy books about food- this one and those such as Ruth Reichl’s books. I am enjoying it, even though some people don’t like it. It is nice to have something to listen to as I drive around. I have been out of sorts today. I am not sure why. Not enough sewing, not enough free time, I imagine. Perhaps I’ll have some time off after next week. I haven’t made any appointments. I have a hard time sewing during the weekdays, so we’ll see
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