Under construction

Neighbors on one side told me they were remodeling their bathroom. The project has expanded to the kitchen, the roof and the exterior. One day recently contractors were jack-hammering out their front steps - solid concrete - while neighbors on the other side are cutting stone for their patio. Construction in stereo.

I'm in a remodeling mode too. In the garden I've moved three existing plants, put new ones in the ground, regraded the soil along the new-ish fence, and dug up five gallons worth of calla lilies rhizomes. I put the container of roots at the curb with a sign to take them. They were gone in flash.

In the house, I've taken a major step toward the new studio:

new studio storage ready to load up

It only took a month to assemble due to multiple breaks and waits for more hardware, tools and muscle power. In another two or three months I might even be working in this new studio.

Meanwhile, in the current studio-cave, a quilt top undergoes remedial reconstruction:

squared for re-assembly

I'd tried to make this into a quilt sandwich twice. First the batting bearded like crazy. The second time I noticed one side was significantly shorter than the other. Why didn't I see this the first time?! It bugged me that no amount of tugging would square it up. Un-sandwiching began an odyssey of identifying and fixing the unsquareness. Turns out each of the three larger areas down the center needed trimming.

This was my very first improvisationally composed quilt top. I must've thought ruler cut pieces would sew up square. Goes to show I've learned a few things since.

Portrait of an artist

There's still a pile of stuff to put away from a two-day deconstructed screen printing workshop with Kerr Grabowski.  After fabrics have been batched, washed and dried, I'll share the results.

In the meantime, here's a gem - the result of a fun little exercise arranged by Kerr:

Kerr paired us up, gave each of us two minutes to get acquainted, then instructed us to print a portrait of one another. My partner, Sherri doesn't consider herself an artist, but isn't she wrong?! I love it!  She has charmingly captured the real me.

Organic shapes

Developing Your Shape Vocabulary with Terry Jarrard-Dimond was a two-day workshop.


The first day we made geometric shapes - see previous post here. The second day we made organic shapes. All shapes were cut freehand and raw edge appliqued.


What different results. Geometric shapes were minimalist, whereas these curvaceous organic shapes went Baroque. Can you tell I had fun cutting them? Also these module sizes are all over the map.


The cutout from behind the first was used for a second module with some shape modification. Could have repeated this ad infinitum, but two are enough. At the top are loose leftovers.

basic shapes,

Except for the top left corner, they look plain Jane. So I played with leftovers.

layered with leftovers

Now I am waiting for divine guidance to make this all come together. 

First Friday favorite photo - June