Happenin' Stuff

Open Studios for The Artist this Weekend

That's the operative event. Everything else stops. Rather, all personal activity for the week revolves around Open Studios. Last night when I came in all hot and sweaty after my Jazzercise class, the lights in my studio were blazing.  I knew what it meant. Time to move the furniture, knitting, yarn, fabric, paint, and all half-finished projects out of my studio and to somewhere else for the annual Presentation of The Artist to the Public.

"Okay, sweetie," I said, "Let's turn off the lights and cut down on the electric bill. I get the picture." We ate dinner. We returned to the room. I saved dessert for later to reward myself. He actually sat there and watched me pick everything up and move it. Fortunately for me, he sets up a room  about six inches inside the real room, so I can mash some things against the wall and not quite move everything. I thought he was crazy when he first suggested this, but it works well. (Notice the purple wall of the studio behind the green "booth" panels.)

Exhausted Artist Hiding his New Work

"You know, you could stop all this next year if you were to apply to Open Studios and were accepted," he said at one point. "Then you could keep the studio as it is and not move much. A consistent body of work. That's all it takes." Well, I'm not quite ready.

I finally have a photo of my watercolor fabrics combined into a quilt. (I who do not make quilts made it.)

Watercolor Quilt

I truly love the colors and the graphics. If you would like to purchase the fabric, you may.  (Link to Spoonflower on the fabric below.)

I'm back on the Laddered Turtleneck knitting project and have yarn for a Blossom Blanket. (Great name, huh? All pinks and purples.) Hope to get a lot done while I sit around in the back yard for two weekends. Well, actually, I'd rather be busy selling The Artist's stuff.

I took a class in Drop Spindle spinning last weekend. Lots of fun, but I don't know if my fingernails can handle it.

Tomorrow evening? Avocado minicupcakes, apple minicupcakes. Get those internal engines revving!

I ran into an old friend this evening. She told me that I never change. I always look the same. Like a little girl. What a wonderful compliment. It's just the way I feel. Thank you, Bess.

I think it's dinner time. Talk with you later.

Fiber Finish

This time it's the quilt I've finished.

The first fabric that I ever put on Spoonflower in 2010 was from a small watercolor painting that I did in a class in maybe 2000 at the Art League. I thought it would make the most wonderful fabric: bright, geometric and colorful. It does make a great fabric. Later, I combined two other paintings I did after that class into a one-yard "cheater" quilt for a Spoonflower contest, thanks to software help from The Artist. I thought they would make a great front and back to a quilt. They did.

But, I had no binding. For that, I had to paint another watercolor. The watercolor set I use, by the way, is a set of Pelikan paints that I got for an even more ancient Art League class. Since all the watercolors are straight from the pans, and not mixed, they always look bright and vivid, with the usual watercolor gradients.

I finished painting the binding in late summer, then finished the quilt and sewed on the binding. I'm not a watercolorist and I'm not a quilter, but I love this quilt. The sewing has problems, but the design really lends itself to making an easy "cheater" quilt that really shows well and vibrates a little.

I plan to "hang it high" so you can't see the mistakes, but only the beauty.