mola samples

for my opus module on cultural stitched textiles, i have been exploring the mola. HA! i see how much more practice i need on my hand applique stitching!

the things we do for love OR sock goat on a boat

let me start off by saying i am not a sailor, but we do own a sailboat. sometimes things need to be fixed on the boat that require going up the mast. i have avoided this duty for years, but decided to give it a try today. BH flattered me by telling me he need a 'light weight' person to do the job...so i did and it was actually quite fun. i took a sock goat with me for good luck. the sock goat was made by my friend gavin. as you can see, i did make it down ok, cuz i am posting on the blog and i couldn't do that very easily from way up there! back to opus homework!

more recycled sweaters

my good friend in portland maine rescued an orange sweater from a yard sale and here is a doll i made for her from that sweater and a few others. since the doll, named 'funny,' will be living in maine, she needed a vest to keep her warm. here is a picture of her with the vest and without...and the beautiful portland head lighthouse in the background.

recycled patchwork

more stuff stitched with the theme of recycling. i made a pair of shorts and a quilt top from old scraps of other quilts and some cut up clothing. i think we used to call this stuff 'patchwork' or scrap quilts, but now it's considered recycled:)

recycled sweaters

for my opus BA coursework on cultural stitched textiles, i have been thinking of the culture of recycling. here is a doll/creature i made out of recycled sweaters from the thrift store. i washed and dried the sweaters several times to felt them. i'll be posting more recycled work soon!

PARADE SCHOOL

been doing lots of good stuff: stitching and painting and all. two weeks ago i went to parade school. what a great experience! we made all of these parade structures in four days and week culminated in a PARADE! great community event. i kind of learned how to stilt walk, altho most of the other students were faster learners. i made a big purple prom queen, and an apartment building. three people carried the queen and i was inside of the apt building, carrying it with tall pole.

pix of my studio work area

now that i am a little more settled, my studio and work area and quiet room is a little more settled, too. you can see pix of a few of my favorite things: my macbook pro, my red lips chair, and most importantly, my needlepoint chair. the needlepoint piece was made by my grandmother, helen, who i never knew. she stitched it in the 1930's or 40's and, i think, i got my love of stitching from her. my mom took the needlepoint piece and scoured flea markets and antique shops for just the right chair to use for the needlepoint. she gave me the chair as a gift many years ago and it has been my sewing chair ever since. my grown children sat on that chair when the were small and learning how to use the sewing machine.

my studio is in a small loft area overlooking our living area. i like that i can be up in the loft working and no one bothering me, but still hear my husband piddling around in the rooms below. we live in a restored school building from the 1890's and have 14 foot ceilings, so the loft space is just right.

embroidery and printmaking on pants

what to do with 40 pieces of printed fabric? use one to patch a hole in the knee of my pants! this is just like i used to do with old bell bottom jeans back in the day:)

for some of you asking about my OPUS work, i have taken an unofficial break for a few months due to moving a few times and starting a new job. but i am getting ready to catch up with my cultural stitch module. be on the lookout for some mola samples coming soon!

printmaking on fabric

i am experimenting with printing on fabric. i printed on linoleum with acrylic paint. the paint has lasted through two washings after i heat set it. not sure what i will do with this, but just playing around

painted faces

here are a couple of self-portraits i have been working on. i have decided to practice painting by doing self-portraits for a year. at least i will always have a subject available - day or night, rain or shine! it has been fun trying different styles and seeing the way i see myself at various times.

when i look at the purses i just had on the blog and the embroidered faces i did last year, i must have a thing for faces...gotta think about that one.

found objects art

more purses made from found objects and recycled materials. both purses have straps made of old neckties - very soft and comfortable to wear across your shoulder. the green purse is made from an old pair of corduroy jeans and the orange purse is made from old couch fabric. embellishments are broken pieces of jewelry and things i found on the street.

sandra dee dreams of the gee's bend quilts

a few years ago, our fiber group had an exchange challenge. we traded bags of unknown stuff from our studio floors and had to make a textile image out of what we had. the person who i traded with had alot of materials with a 1950's kind of feel. we did the challenge at the time the Gee's Bend quilts were starting to come into public view and there was an exhibit of the quilts in Washingon DC at the Corcoran. with all of that in mind, here is what i came up with.

file your taxes early

not only have i been rummaging through old boxes of stuff i haven't seen in years, but i just started going thru an old hard drive of photos. this is a fuzzy photo of a quilt, in progress, on my design wall. i was working on it five or six years ago, when my husband and i got too busy and didn't file our taxes on time. i was mad! i don't know what ever happened to that piece. i'll have to look around...

sowebo arts festival

sowebo arts festival is a local bohemian gig in a somewhat sketchy part of town that attracts lots of good art and music. this year i decided to enter their poster-making fun and submitted these two pieces. the top pix is made of cut up magazine pages i put together one day at work when the power had gone out and we had no phone, electricity or computer access. luckily i work in an art center with with alot of large windows and good natural light. the second set of photos are drawings made with oil pastels. i see faces in everything: water spots on the floor, shapes of leaves, clouds... these are some of the faces i see in my imagination!

embroidered diary

back to working on my diary...life story in embroidery. i love to get good sleep!

this is stitched on raw silk or sometimes called silk suiting or silk noile - hard to find, but great to stitch on! the thread is cotton dmc floss...what else is there?

hand-pieced quilt top

still spending my time rummaging through boxes of things i haven't looked at in ages. it is nice to put things aside and get a new perspective down the road. here is quilt top i hand-pieced about 10 years ago. oh how i loved my #10 needles that made such tiny stitches. and oh how i loved matching my corners so precisely. guess it is time to revive this top and finish it. i wonder how i will do it...

self-portrait obsession

yes...another self-portrait. it has become an obsession and catharsis for me. it's all i want to do and i am enjoying it alot. my opus work has temporarily gone by the wayside. i am discovering the value of people in my life, including the camaraderie of classmates, which i miss terribly as a distance learner in opus. not exactly sure how to resolve that at the moment. so i will paint and see what happens.