Flime ties!!!!!

Where have i been? Nowhere. Like most of us. I did manage to get my arse shuffling faster for the Christmas season in the shop, but that stopped mid December, with Dog Duties taking precedence.

I made a plan, yes i did, on the 2nd of January. It looks looked good, but as of the 28th, i haven’t taken it to heart. As of today however, i’m going to. I like what i do, when i do it, so what’s the dealio? I look at the calendar and all of a sudden it’s the 25th, and precious little has happened. A little has happened, but rare to show and some mostly unfinished. Reading has been the stopper on the creativity bottle (not a terrible thing in itself), but not conducive to any expressed rather than just internal imagination. Might have to pretend the computer is broken, as my escape is all ebooks online though our public library!

The Ragmates2020/DillyDally Coat is still in my stitch corner, and somewhere along the way since August (?), i did do some work on it. I’m going to switch out one section from the sleeve to the back when i saw that most of the work would be hidden on the inside of the sleeve against the body. Shall have to be less flamboyant there 🙂

I’ve been fiddling with Itty Bitty Beaded Bits, thinking the focus might help. Mmmm, i do ♥♥♥ the look of these!

(In the shop!) Two more are still in the studio be be completed!

I’m trying to figure out a way to make my own studio space more enticing too. Is it that the sun doesn’t pour into this one? Oh i miss that sun in my eyes! 🙂

DogFaced Girl has done very well through her convalescence and healing period, with no problems with the incision or the use of the leg. We have concluded however, that Madame is a Madame, apt to whinge and whine, pretending things are worse if she doesn’t want to be bothered! Perfectly capable of going for walks and excitedly bouncing when “go get ready” is mentioned, but oh what a Prima Dona when told breakfast is IN the kitchen and will not be served to her in bed, a mere 10 feet away. She does need help getting into the car, but that’s a confidence issue with ice and a bit of height.

Not an issue now, that last sentence 🙂

She can easily get into the back of this one, just like coming in from the patio to the livingroom! It looks rather “posh”, and is incredibly sporty, our “Bruce 2.0”. A 2018 Honda Civic CRX SI, we were looking at “new cars” lately because the Saturn we inherited from MIL a few years back is on its last wheels. It’s serendipity that we saw this one and amazingly, got a stupifyingly incredibly clutchthepearlsandsqueal far from a new vehicle would cost deal on it. We knew buying again, it had to be used and that it was something that would have to last the rest of our (driving) lives, because honestly, let’s face it, both of us are not *that* far from retirement age. (And i still haven’t learned to drive and never will now…) The bonus is this baby has only 18,400K on it, was serviced within an inch of “AGAIN you’re bringing it in for care???” in the time the first owner had it, Hondas have fabulous resale value, even years old and both of us are Honda fans.

So, back into the studio and off the arse!

Pick, girl, the roses

“Collige virgo rosas”, a Latin phrase found serendipitously on my birthday yesterday–i’m a Virgo, though i don’t believe in that either :)–it loosely is a carpe diem style saying for young people, but any of us can stop and smell the roses.  This will be the second of the Ensphere series. (First was “Sotto voce” in a previous post.)

I fell in love with these velvet dots when i was working on some of my moons a few years back, and woke one night with a whole series in my head. Of course, in daylight, all i remembered was lots of dots and Latin. I’m no completely dotty Yayoi Kusama, or a minimalistic Judy Martin, both of whom i admire greatly, for/from different perspectives, or a very organic Jude Hill, another of my absolute favourite artists (I’m sure you all know who she is, an article i wrote about her here), and circles crop up an immense amount it seems in Women’s Work (as the trope is….). I think with enough years put into one’s work, one eventually experiments with simplicity, and this is my time.

It’s not just the tidy shape, it’s the colours, textures, depth and light effects.

My start:

Look at these colours, swoon, natural dyes on silk/rayon velvet:

Madder, cochineal, and quebracho rojo, threads of cotton, silk/wool blend and silk in cochineal, madder, quebracho rojo, and no doubt some indigo with tansy, solidago or osage, for greens.

DD, part 3

Remember scale, visually and physically! I do like these dainty details, but i’d like them to be stronger. But i don’t like that indigo circle because it’s too strong!

I’m thinking too those deeper “grey” diamonds need only MINIMAL stitching as they are actually purpley ecoprints.

I still want the slightly aged effect i got with my first Suzani inspired piece:

Have to find the rest of that indigo cotton i used above. *That* is more the effect i want, a bit fadey, uneven, softer, more vintage. The deep indigo velvet i used in the top photo is beautiful, but i’m preferring more the “weaker” and the “mistakes” i’ve done 🙂

I need to do a quick sketch or two to size up motifs. I usually do a printout of this and pencil in ideas, though i don’t always follow it slavishly. It’s kind of a free association exercise to see what i *could* do when i can see the whole.

DillyDally coat, part 2

I pulled  a bunch of unfinished pieces, samples, chunks of fabrics etc and though initially i was going to spread them around the whole coat, realized that a lot of smaller pieces meant more time needed for figuring out layout and balance. I don’t want to just be dibbing together a bunch of small bits and then fretting about how to maintain continuity. This isn’t supposed to be a garment made of samples, it’s not to be a Sampler Coat, but a way to integrate and set off/off set certain components i already have, and to build a new Thing. Honestly too, though i have a lot of ufo’s, i don’t have enough to spread around the whole garment and feel settled as to design. I’d spend more brain effort trying to have meaning in placement and figuring out how to “blend” the “stories”, than i would have pleasure in the outcome!

So, obviously, there’s some new work to be done to make this mean something. One of the ideas that has stuck in my head was this:

I LOVE this piece, (sadly still wanting to be mounted on something), enjoyed the making, the design, the flavour, the colours, everything that occurred from a happy mistake in sewing together. This is a thing that can have size without being overwhelming, that fits (i think, and that’s what counts 🙂 ) with the esthetic and some of the bits in that top photo, and that i know i will like doing. I’ve chosen mainly tones of red from my madder stash, have seamed the pieces together and shall start the embellishing now.  This so far is the right sleeve, with the “front” of the sleeve being on the right:

Certainly more “regular” looking than the piece above, but it will evolve with the stitching, so could become quite irregular!

And as always, nothing is set in stone, so this or both pieces may migrate elsewhere on the DillyDally coat.

the DillyDally coat

My muslin base, a heavier weight than i would have deliberately chosen, but since it came in this form and was scrounged for free, it is what it is:

Whomever had made this originally obviously got confused about seaming for right side/wrong side, but since it will all be covered, it doesn’t matter.

 

I’ve been “mapping out” what i need, as *i*am larger 🙂 😦 and the muslin base needs to *be* larger than it is. Wow, tried it on, it’s fine except that it needs some underarm gussets and a bit of sleeve widening so i can wear things under, and a 3″ extension on either front edge so i can wrap and tie. I’ve decided to keep the colourway in the terra cotta, red, orange, redder browns range with flashes of yellow, and indigo as an accent. Linen, a bit of velvet, some cotton certainly, i’m looking through what i have, and will also rev up the natural dye pots again–i adore the terra cotta resulting from madder over marigold (top of the photo above).

And pockets, gotta have pockets!

I want to try a few things i haven’t ever done, and a few that i haven’t done in awhile. Because OMGZ, i was so bored i dug through a box in the studio that i hadn’t seen in years (HOW did i miss that in the move??) and it was full of ideas, sketches, photos, instructions, patterns and ephemera from both my Cap College day in ’93 to ’95, but my first year in “Deadmanchuk”*** (’03) and WAHOO! I love lush surfaces, both visually and as tactile texture, so some bits that were previously done as “samples” (ie bits that never made it to finished work, or were aborted work!) may show up, along with new ones. (AND I FOUND MY YULE GHOUL PATTERN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

 

 

 

***Deadmanchuk (also Deadmonton, Edmonchuk, The Chuck)–slang for Edmonton Alberta, usually used by people who hated living there…..

“Intersections” progress

The exhibit this was to be in was cancelled/postponed due to current situation of course, but i still want to meet the deadline of March 31st at 9AM!

So, orientation choices. Vertical or horizontal? (Bear in mind this is neither finished, nor edited well 🙂. (Mockup only, as the moon is not attached yet, and needs some fine tuning.) The moon itself can be a horizontal or vertical in relation to the whole as well.

“Intersections” progress

As much as i loved the squishy ruchy velvet moon in the previous post, it just wouldn’t “do” for this piece. Here’s its sub, muchly better, fitting, integrated, suitable. Nothing wrong with standing out, but not when it’s not part of the story.

 

 

 

As of today, i have 18 days left. Yup, no problems.

embroiderer overboard!

I had grand plans for this moon as being part of the “deadline piece” but it just *doesn’t* fit with the whole! It’s too heavy and powerful juxtaposed with the more delicate stitching on the main piece. I’ve set it aside temporarily, and it will become something else when the one i’m working on is done!

My stitchin’ fingers hurt like hell too, a lot of manipulation work here, and pulling loaded needles through the mass was cursey to say the least 🙂

Nope. At least i revived some old skills and ideas though!

progress is as progress does….

No worries on the deadline then, unless i hit a snag unexpectedly.

Today i’ll be concentrating on the moon.

24 days left.

deadline, schmeadline, back to stitching

Since i so rudely interrupted myself with all the thread dyeing, i now have (counting today) 25 days to finish a piece for a group show. But i *did* need those threads as the tub was emptying!

Looking rather a bit strange, but that’s how they start sometimes.

I had started with this sketch as the inspiration, but knew along the way that it would interpret itself for a new piece.

I’d also chosen that fabric behind, but realized it had spandex in the blend, which is sticky about needles and threads pulled through….

So, it became glorious pile of this:

TOO MUCH!!!!

It morphed smaller:

I tried to stare it down every time i walked by it, didn’t really like it, and it was saying nothing. Pretty but nothing.

Yesterday i took it down to the Dye Dungeon (where my studio is), and cut a piece out of it, then pieced back in some madder/marigold dyed linen. It’s started to sing now.

There may be a bit more radio silence here than normal, as i meet that pesky deadline.