I took advantage of the warm, sunny weather and dyed some cheesecloth on Friday. I spread the pieces on bushes and had a colorful display as they dried (photo below).




I used some Dylon dyes from England and I didn't get the vibrant colors that I wanted. I have been reading Judith Montano's new book Fibreart Montage, and she recommends Colorhue dyes. These dyes are for silk, so they would not have been much use with the cheesecloth. However, I have some silk to dye so I went to Ginny Eckley's website and bought a set 10 bottles of Colorhue and 10 pipettes. Amazingly, they arrived Saturday, but I haven't used them because I have been spending time with my son and his girlfriend, who are visiting for Thanksgiving (photo above).

I know that to get the colors I want, I am probably going to have to learn to use procion dyes and all the chemicals that go with them. I am dragging my feet because it sounds like so much trouble and expense. Sherrill Lewis of the Bead Ranch says I can come to her place to dye lace and fabrics, using the procion dyes, with friends Martha Green and De Crow. I think I will do that before I invest in procion dyes of my own. Maybe it's not as hard as I think.

We have had a wonderful family Thanksgiving. Barry's girlfriend is just delightful and I was was so happy to meet her. The photo doesn't show that she is smart, beautiful, and generally adorable.

Studio Bunny Has a Name!

It wasn't easy choosing from Minky, Fleece, Chenille, Barkely, Bilbo, HoneyBunny, Fiver, Alice, Snowy, Casper, Stitch, Stump, Zipper*, Button, Spool, Mr. Silkie, Chester, Dillon, Charlie, Oreo, Winston, Moire, Snuggle, Dusty, Hare E. Potter, Hare E. Etta, Mo Hare, Mr. Palestrina (Pallie), Stitches, Buttons, Snapp!, Marie Antoinette, Marianne, Tonette, Annie, Fluffy, and Fancy!

*I used to have a bunny named Zipper. He was the hare-of-my-heart and he died tragically and at a young age. I couldn't choose that name, as much as I like it, because there will only ever be one Zipper.

The name Mo Hare (think mohair) was entered by a "friend" who suggested that, reminiscent of the Three Stooges, I could start calling myself Curly. I will get even.

One entry included names suggested by the children of the adult entrant. I suspect that these little ones have been watching re-runs of Gunsmoke as two of the names entered were Chester and Dillon!

After carefully considering Studio Bunny's views on life (we have talked for hours), and his love of parties, I have decided, with his agreement, to name him Bilbo. Congratulations to Skye for naming Bilbo Bunny! We haven't decided whether to add Baggins.

Skye, if you will send me your snail mail address I'll get your silk perle on its way to you.

Bilbo and I wish to offer our heartfelt thanks to everyone who participated. Your names were creative and most bunny-like.

40's Music and Crazy Quilting

I especially enjoy stitching to the sounds of Benny Goodman, Glen Miller, Count Basie, the Andrews Sisters. I feel saner and more centered. I've always believed that the 40's were a time of ... well, integrity. In the midst of killing and mayhem our forebears believed that our country was "doing the right thing". I haven't had a feeling that anything was "right" in a long time. Maybe, briefly, last November. But not for a long time before that. I have this perpetual lump of tears in my soul. I want so badly, as do we all, for things to be "right" for our children and their children. So, I stitch and grieve while Frank Sinatra makes soothing sounds in the background. Sometimes it all seems too hard. And then Little Brown Jug comes bouncing out of the XM radio and my heart and feet are filled with joy while I dance. As we asked ourselves in the 60's: "What does it all mean, Mr. Natural?"

I love this marking pencil!

These are some of the pens/pencils I use to mark embroidery lines on my blocks, so that my stitches will be more even and straight. Not shown here is the plastic shoebox full of chalk liners, air erasable pens purple, water erasable pens in blue, and so on. Either the color is wrong, they don't really come out of the fabric as the mfg. advertises, the line is very thick and hence useless, and/or they wear off long before I stop needing them.

Yesterday I was sewing with my little group at the quilt shop, all sane quilters except me, and I mentioned my marking tool problem. Their heads popped up and they almost said in unison, "You need a Sewline!" A couple of women had their Sewlines with them and let me try them. I loved the results! It's a mechanical pencil with "leads" in various colors. The pens are marked with the color of the lead on the barrel. For example, the yellow one has a yellow band around the top. The display in the quilt store included blue, yellow, white, and black. Evidently there are more colors and even a trio pencil which holds 2 different colors of lead and a "tracer" (stylus).

The pencil was priced at $12.95 in my quilt shop, so they are not cheap. It came with lead in the barrel and a little box of several more leads in the package. Of course, there is no reason that you couldn't buy one pencil and change the leads as needed. I asked if anyone had tried to put the leads in a cheaper mechanical pencil and was told that they were too fat for a 0.7 pencil, but no one had tried a larger sized pencil.

The pencil makes a skinny line, does not require much pressure to make a mark, shows up well on fabric, and comes off with the built-in eraser or a damp cloth.

I really wanted the trio pencil but there were none in stock so I settled for a yellow one.










The line is narrow and easily visible.










The mark is removed by the pencil erase but there is the tiniest bit of fuzziness, probably from little eraser crumbs.












I used a damp q-tip to remove the residue, and the mark is completely gone.












I have been looking for this pencil for a long time. I am going to get the trio pencil and keep it in my sewing box.










I think this pencil will work very well with Carole Samples' Dream-a-Seam templates or marking with a ruler. I know I will be doing more layered or stacked stitches now; this pencil makes it so much easier to get a result that pleases me.

As usual, I have no affiliation with the Sewline company in any way other than owning one of their pencils. Carole Samples is a brilliant author, designer, and teacher. Val Bothell is a vendor of lovely cq supplies. I am not connected financially in any way with either one, although I am very fortunate to call Carole a friend.

Studio Bunny & Name Contest

Do not ask me why because the only answer is that I am nuts. I got a bunny. He's getting some fresh air while my dog Abby protects me from my studio door.

He doesn't even have a name other than Bunny, Bun, Mr. Bun, and Bunzer. Hey, a contest! I'll send a 10 yards of of Gloriana silk Princess Perle to the person whose entry I choose. Post your entry in the comments. Do not send directly to me. Contest ends August 21. If I don't want to use any of the entries, I will have a drawing for the winner of the thread.

I wonder if bunnies will start to appear in my work.

Is That Light at the End of the Tunnel?

I have been working on a "big quilt" for 3 years. Sometimes months go by and I don't touch it. Somehow, my studio makeover has inspired me to get it out, and leave it out, so that I can work on it daily.

My friend and teacher Martha Green says to "work your stack". This is an excellent piece of advice. If you work through the blocks for your piece in a stack, you can achieve a kind of continuity that's difficult to get any other way. At least it is difficult for my ADD brain. For example, as you work your stack, choose a particular thread, and go thru every block, stitching next certain pieces of fabric with that thread. Might even be the same stitch. As you continue to go through the stack over and over the quilt begins to take on its own character.

I have diligently "worked my stack" for three years. The blocks are mostly finished. A few days ago I decided that I was on my last pass through. As I work on each block, I complete it. I have left beads and silk ribbon embroidery for last, so this is what I am working on. Today, I am working specifically on beading, and is it fun! I love Nancy Eha's book, Bead Creative Like Crazy, and I meander through that every day to inspire me.

I am listening to music from the 40's today and remembering my Mom and Dad dancing to Glenn Miller in the living room when I was a little girl. I am beading up a storm and counting my blessings. Life is good today.

UFOs: A Special Kind of Crazy Quilters' Hell

The evidence is everywhere: the big quilt started three years ago, the crazy quilted clock, the bright colored wall hanging, a piece for my sister's birthday (last April), numerous ribbon flowers, origami flowers, yo-yo's, fabric books, postcards, atc's, class projects -- all unfinished!

Crazy quilts take time to make. From beginning to end, it takes me weeks, months, and sometimes years to complete a project. I don't know how to sit down and work on one project until it's finished. I get bored. I decide that I need a break from it in order to see it fresh the next time I work on it. So I put it away for a while. And then, I engage in dangerous, high risk behavior -- I start something else. Dangerous and high risk because Future Me is going to have to confront what the Past Me did to her. Poor Future Me is going to look at these projects hanging around from the Past Me and wonder what I was thinking. She's lost interest in these old projects and finishing them seems like a chore. But abandon them? Not a chance!

So here I sit, with literally dozens of unfinished works around me, and boiling over with ideas for new things to make. Present Me plans to finish up most of these UFO's before saddling Future Me with more. I am diligently working on finishing the blocks for the Big Quilt, about 90% complete. I am finishing this year's class projects from the CQS retreat earlier this month. Then I'll prioritize what's left.

Of course, finishing these projects has to be squeezed in between making Christmas gifts (it'll be here before you know it!) and the odd hostess gift or friend request.

You can find me in my studio.