Right Brain Left Brain

Sometimes I can't resist these silly little quizzes . I learned to fly to prove to myself that I HAD a left brain - thankfully I did seem to have a left side - and did quite well ! I still wonder what a "real" right brain left brain test would show ... hummmm I wonder if there really even is a "real" test ... Contrary to what is indicated below, I DO NOT prefer sports (at least of the team variety) I would prefer to read, or draw. I AM more fond of cats than dogs but love dogs too .... where do they get some of this stuff I wonder ! You Are 20% Left Brained, 80% Right Brained

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning. Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others. If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic. Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet. The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility. Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way. If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art. Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports. http://www.blogthings.com/areyourightorleftbrainedquiz/

The First of Three New Pouches

Here the first completed pouch of the felted pieces I wrote about earlier. I have so much fun with these! This one is made from merino wool and cotton (lining) with machine quilting, beads and Stewart Gill Alchemy paint. The detail photo is from the front - it shows the multi bead closure. I also had fun using my Kumihimo disk to make the the handle -something a bit different from my usual simple felted braid.

I had wanted to play with the Kumihomo discs some more anyway - and these short handles are perfect for trying yarn combinations. I had gotten the discs (both the square and plate versions) last year at Houston Quilt Festival. Helen Deighan had them in her booth - and it looked like something I might enjoy trying. Helen's books are always pretty straight forward (at least to me) and I generally am able to get what I need in order to play "my way" from them quickly. I wish I had bought more fibers to play with - but at the time I had no idea what, or indeed, if I would find a use for this technique. Now that I have found a use - I think Joggles will be the perfect place to get fibers from - what a great selection they have ! I think Joggles offers one of the most complete selections of textile arts supplies on the web. They do a great job ! By the way, Joggles has what looks like a great option to using the Kumihimo plate - it's called the Diva Custom Cord Maker. If I could afford to get it - I would...looks like it would work very well. I always really have to restrain myself when I go to the Joggles website !

Just found out that Sue Bleiweiss will be teaching a new felting class through Joggles this Fall. I'm looking forward to because I have been wanting to explore Nuno felting - and that's one of the things she plans to cover.

Chellie The Beast

While I am in my "cat " mode - no display would be complete without my pride and joy. Her name was Chellie - aka/the Beast. I still get really teary when I see a photo of her - and though it has been 3 years - I am still not over her passing onto the happy catnip fields. She was an absolutley beautiful feline - the quintessential cat. She was very loving, very fussy and had a 'very' attitude that just always made me laugh out loud. Her Journal Quilt page was painted with acrylics and then thread painted ...I am so glad I made it !

My Buddy Bart

Bart, aka Mr B., wandered in about 10 years ago - and the vet figured he was about 3 years old at that time. I have no idea where he came from - no one claimed him. I think he was left to fend for himself - or perhaps ran away. Thankfully he was already neutered. Bart and I claimed each other - despite the fact that I was not wanting another feline friend in any way shape or form at that point in my life!

Bart seems to get anxious when I go to work. When I get home he generally is not too far from me - and he sticks to me like glue at bedtime. He likes a pillow and he likes to put his paw out to touch me - just to make sure I am there ... and he takes up a good half of my side of the bed !
Bart had his own Journal Quilt Page last year - and below you can see both the front and the back .....The thread painting does not show up in this photo of the front very well - but does on the back .... I am so glad Bart claimed me as his person !

Traffic Jams

I do live on an island, but that does't mean that we don't have our share of traffic jams. I took this photo from my car one morning as I was driving to work. It took a few minutes for these guys to clear the road, they were not really sure which way they were supposed to go !

Our other big traffic problem is caused by critters like the one shown below. We have a large (some would say overly large) population of deer here. They have a fondess for strolling across the roads early in the morning (and at twilight as well for that matter). Their furtive dashes across the road can make a drive to work a hair raising experience on occasion. When one deer ambles out you can be almost certain that a friend or two are lurking in the underbrush - you always need to proceed slowly when you see the first one. They must just be trying to to ensure that your blood pressure is up to snuff for the beginning of your work day ! Hard to resist those faces though !

Cleo in Repose

This is one of our little divas. Her name is Cleo - she came with my husband. Being a red head - she has a mind of her own and it took her some time to adjust to me. After 11 years however, she has decided that I am not so bad. She like to curl up in her basket - dreaming no doubt of the latest way to terrorize her provisioners (us). The photo below is of the Journal Quilt of her I did for last years project. My cat series.
I have been in a bit of a funk recently- with no reason for it either. I am working on three small pouches that I should have photos of soon. I like this batch and am taking my time with the beading. I am also working on another piece - the one that was brewing in my head for many years. After I looked at the portions I had painted I decided that it was not working on the cloth that I had chosen to paint... so what to ?....do what to do? Start Over ? Cut it all up? Throw it out? Hummmm. I decided to cut out the portions that satisfied me and use them - and throw the rest away. I pieced kimono silks (I get a monthly "present to myself" from Ah! Kimono) and am currently hand appliqueing the saved elements onto the new silk ground - once again it is time consuming and would not look like much at this point if I posted a photo ... but I'll have something to show for all of this time soon !

Felt Fabric Update

Here are two of yesterday's pieces embellished and quilted. Unfortunately the very cool Stewart Gill glitter that I used in the black one does not show up well in the photos. No chance to take pictures out doors today either. We have had 1.75 inches of rain in the few days and it's VERY soggy and humid enough that I am hoping mushrooms don't sprout in my hair !

Next step for these fabric pieces is making them into my favorite little pouches.

New Felts

I am becoming a total felt freak. Can't stop making more fabrics. Here are some 'before felting' and 'after felting' photos. I'm also in a circle state of mind I guess - I see them everywhere ! Today I am going to start quilting and turning these pieces into some more small pouches for Ipods, cell phones and "whatevers".

Denise at Try Our Designs has a great selection of merino rovings - and some wonderful silks too - she is also the hostess with the mostest of a great machine needle felting yahoo group. Lots of great ideas and fun people sharing their enthusiasm for machine needle felting/punching. Another incredible resource for needle felting supplies is OutBack Fibers - they have wonderful prefelt material that they carry in lots of great colors. Also, Fine Fiber Press is one of the best resources . Their prefelt material is simply the BEST - though it is available n white only. It is a dreamy fabric all by itself. This is also where you will find lots of great information about a wonderful felting teacher, Pat Sparks. Pat also is list mom for another awesome feltmaker's list.

Another of today's activities will be to add the hanging sleeve to my Journal Quilt 2007 piece for Houston this Fall. Finally, I'll be done early for once !

PS: your eyes are not deceiving you -the photo below is a third piece of felt.

A Few Minutes of Play Time

I took a few minutes and played with some design elements for felted cards (or perhaps textile cards) last evening. I used just a General's sketch pencil and paper - though I tried adding some dabs of watercolor pencils before I got too tired to really play with the colors effectively. I am not too fond of watercolor pencils - I can never get the colors I want from them - but that may be due to operator error and ignorance too !! I hate it when I am too darn lazy to get up and mix color to make it what I want it to be - then I KNOW I need to stop and go read and then go to sleep !

I am a "circle person" - it is most definitely the symbol that is the most meaningful to me. It symbolizes the cycles in my life - the cycles in my interests and it also symbolizes life's beginnings and it's closures. My personal circle always seem to return to where they began- often many years later - in order to complete their cycle. I began as a weaver and a spinner almost 35 years ago....and am now, once again, cycling back needing the feel of wool running through my fingers via knitting, felting and spinning. Completing one circle begins another - and I hope they continue to spin through my life for many years to come. I am even working to discover a way to combine my favorite mediums -textiles, wool and glass. Don't hold your breath - but you never know when I might find the answer I am looking for !

A Plea From The Back Yard

As you can see - it has been raining in our neck of the wood's. The last two days have been more like a day in late October. Heavy rain and heavy fog - the good side of that being that the temperature is a wonderfully comfortable 65 F. (18C). I went out the back door to get something and ran into this little fella. I ask you - is that a pleading look or what !? He (she?!) just sat there looking at me - moving his little "fingers". When I tried to shoo him him away he just "stood up" and looked like he was saying "all I want is a little to eat" ! Hard to resist. I think raccoons are amazingly intelligent - and also a little too domesticated for comfort. My husband is softer with them than I am ... but they make it hard to hard hearted !

Happy Birthday Mother

Today would have been mother's 80th birthday. She was a beautiful Irish gal - born in Brooklyn, New York to a staunchly Irish Catholic family. She died in 1973 at 46. Mother loved - art, creativity, children (although I was an only child), family and home. Mother also developed an affinity for alcohol - and that is what killed her.

I believe that many sensitive, talented people develop this addiction, In the 50's and 60's, although those daily stressors were most certainly different than we have today - I don't think that they were any less pressuring. I don't say that Mother drank to escape the stress as as an excuse for her - but let's face it - there are many addictions that can call to us - it's just that some are more deadly than others. We all face choices just about every day of our lives. As a child of not one but two alcoholics I am still mystified how that gene has, thus far, bypassed me. Not that I am without vices mind you - we all have at least one or two (I am addicted to art supplies) ! I have just made choices along the way that, so far, have been more good than bad. I am keenly aware of the potential I must have lurking somewhere in my DNA - and try to be mindful it. I still miss my Mother every day and hope that somehow she knew how much I loved her. When, God willing, I turn 80 - I will probably still be wondering what she would have been like - had she been able to welcome the ninetieth decade of her life.

Needle Felted Confection

This is a needle felted project that grew ! After wet felting the piece I machine quilted it, used Stewart Gill glitter and paints and then beaded it. It's small but is one of those pieces makes me happy to look at. I need to get a decent full size photo of it - the ones I took are just not good enough to post.

Friends Forever

I am in the process of making several of these for friend's who are special to me. I can pretty much count on one hand the friend's who have touched my life - and continue to do so - in very deep and meaningful ways. As I have perhaps mentioned before - I have many acquaintances, but my close friends are the ones who will tell me if I have something stuck in a tooth or white cat hair all over my black dress - they are also the ones who will gently call me up short if I am way off base and will love me for who I am (and am not) through thick and thin; good and bad. These friends are my chosen family- and I am grateful for them.

It's Case of Obsession

I must be becoming obsessed with making these small cases. So much fun and such relatively instant gratification ! This one is , of course, needle felted with my trusty Pfaff Smart 350 - I have become increasingly fond of this machine's smooth operation and strong, quiet motor. I really agonized over choosing the Pfaff over the Babylock Embellisher. The fact that I really like our Pfaff Dealer (even if I do I own Bernina sewing machines now!) helped me decide - and of course it was a wonderful gift from DH.

I used Madeira polyneon thread for the quilting and then added some Stewart Gill glitter. SG glitter is different that any other type I have ever used - which ,granted, is not that many since I was never fond of glitter before this. SG glitter seems much finer to me that other brands and adheres very well. I used a gel medium with this project but am planning to try SG Beadhesive (which is, of course, recommended) next time I place an order.

I lined this one in a Chartreuse Dupioni silk - not sure if I prefer them lined or unlined. The lining is nice but I love the look of the quilted needle felted wool too. Finally, I braided some like colored yarns, needle felted them a bit for cohesiveness, and then added a few beads along the length of the cord for a it sparkle.

Anyone think there is a market for these? I'm running out of friends that need a case for their IPod or cell phone !

Vintage Cheddar Quilt Top

Another little double sized treasure that I just had out for airing. The cheddar fabric in this top is still perfectly intact - but thinner than lots of the other cottons that were used. It appears that the nine-patches were all made of utility or clothing scraps. The top is all hand pieced. Other than the thinness of this one fabric the top is in very good condition and I love it's stark simplicity.

My Favorite Apron

This is my favorite apron ! It is from the Calico Cat in Washington State . It is a reproduction vintage 1940's apron. I love the style and it is so comfortable ! I have made two this week. Thankfully I have stash of reproduction fabrics on hand. The most time consuming feature is the binding - which I prefer to make especially for each apron. It's worth the extra time. My brain is heat addled right now. It was 97F in the house this afternoon and is "only" 86F now !

Two Hot Catz

It's seldom hot enough here to long for air conditioning. If we had any stores nearby, however, this week I would have rushed out to buy one ! Yesterday it was 93F in the house - with every fan we had churning as fast as it could! Today, it is supposed be be hovering around 100F. Tomorrow not much better. Thankfully, the evenings still cool off and I breath a sigh a relief. We should return to our blissfully temperate 70's this weekend. Last evening I enjoyed a free "concert" as I sat on the porch to cool off - someone near the water side of our street was playing some of the sweetest jazz (on an oboe i think) that I have ever heard. I have to locate the mystery musician so I can see if they have recorded music I can buy - yes, it was THAT good !

I also managed to use the hot weather as an excuse to work on beading another birthday project. Photos to follow soon.

Veils of Many Colors

I made this self portrait some time ago for a QuiltArt Magazine challenge. Somehow it suited me. It was me and yet it wasn't me. I realized that I like this piece because it shows what I actually think about presenting myself to the world. We all have a persona , or a veil color, of one sort or another. There is generally one for work, one for home , one for parties, one that no one else but you ever sees. You get my drift. Each of us is a composite of many colors, many facets.

I like to think that we all have veils of many colors - one for home, one for work, one for parties, one for art, one for real - that's the "UN-VEIL". All of the veils are useful, but no single veil is a complete picture of who the person underneath really is. The veil that a person may see me surrounded by is their impression of who and what I am - not nearly the reality. I think that one reason that very close friendships and marriages take work to remain strong and healthy is that, over time, we start to see under the veils - and it isn't always a peaches and cream complexion under there ! To love and really know a person we have to be able to a their faults and weaknesses - along with all of the pretty colors. We have have to be able to know and love ourselves - with all of our many veils - as well.

I'm not sure where this all came from - or why. Every time I look at my self portrait I start to think of veils and what we present to the world - that's all I guess. What color is your veil today?

Old Fashioned Clothespin Bag

My friend ,Lauren, asked me for a clothespin bag as a house-warming present. She has rediscovered the pleasures of the greatest clothes dryer of all - el sol. We have recently been blessed with a bounty of warm sunshine. I vaguely remembered what a clothespin bag was supposed to look like and so I made a pattern and stitched it up using some fun oil cloth that was on sale at SewMamaSew and a vintage wooden hanger. I think it looks like what I remember and should hold all of the clothespins a person might need. I hope she will like the result. Maybe there is a market for these ?! I am adding a couple of other little goodies to her house warming - but she needs a surprise !


Meanwhile, Mr. T, our Samoyed, was hoping that the cooler weather weather would reappear soon and the Wisteria was threatening to take over the garden - despite the very dry weather !

Koigu, Beautiful Koigu

I have heard about Koigu yarn for as long as I have been interested in knitting - which in my case has, admittedly, been only been a few years. I finally felt ready to try some Koigu Kppm yarn and one their pattern for a shawl - "Charlotte's Web". I discovered a wonderful resource for Koigu (as well as a great selection of other fine yarns) on the web at GotYarn. They stock LOTS of Koigu colors, their prices are reasonable, shipping and communication very prompt. They even include a mini "blanket bag" to hold and protect your yarn order .

I have never worked from a charted pattern - nor have I ever made a lacy kind of pattern - for that matter - this is the most expensive yarn I have ever splurged on. Koigu is truly luxurious - it feels more like heavy silk than wool to me. Heaven in a skein !

Ignorance can be bliss - I hope. No one has ever told me I can't manage to knit something like this - so I have no preconceived notions that it will - or will not - be too difficult ! Wish me luck.......